The Tower that Still Stands – Nehemia Gordon (Open Door Series – Part 11)

The Tower That Still StandsIn The Tower That Still Stands, Nehemia Gordon tells the story of how he found the name of God with full vowels as the Twin Towers were falling on 9/11, and how we can find strength in the Migdal Oz, the “strong tower” that still stands. Sarah wrote: "This episode gave me chill bumps, again and again! I just had to stand up and shout!" Continue reading

Information Unleashed – Nehemia Gordon (Open Door Series – Part 13)

Hebrew Voices with Nehemia Gordon - Information UnleashedIn Part 13 of The Open Door Series, Nehemia Gordon explains how the Hebrew Roots of Hanukkah reveal the origin of the pagan ban on God's holy name. Learn how Judah the Maccabee ignored the noise of the multitudes, to stand against the ban and reclaim the true miracle of this holiday by proclaiming His eternal name! Get ready for Information Unleashed! This episode is available as a video and as a podcast.

Michael wrote: "I called on God for years not knowing His real name and He answered my heart's desire to have a relationship with Him. I now do call on Him by His Hebrew name and my life has changed." Continue reading

Decision Time – Keith Johnson (Open Door Series – Part 16)

Keith Johnson presents the Decision Time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R20_Lo2d60E?rel=0 Transcript

Decision Time - Keith Johnson (Open Door Series - Part 16)

You are listening to the Open Door Series with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Keith: Well, you all, this morning… I was up early this morning and I was supposed to do something that Nehemia and I had talked about, but this morning, it changed. So I’m going to do what I was given this morning, if that would be all right with you. I want to be sensitive to time, but I also have to let you know that when I heard last night with the water going off, I just figured, when the water comes on, it just takes a little moment, or something.

But I’m going to tell you what happened to me this morning, when I found out about this water. For those that don’t know, we’re here in Fort Lauderdale during this weekend. And in Fort Lauderdale, there was a main break, the mainline break. And as a result, they’re saying there’s now sewage that is getting into the drinking water.

Now, I don’t know if you know it or not, most drinking water’s really not that healthy anyway. [laughter] But when they tell you that there’s a problem with the drinking water, you’re supposed to really get your ears perked up and listen to what they say. In fact, I have a note here that they brought all over the hotel. It says, “Dear Guests, please be advised that we have a boil water order in effect until further notice. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Best wishes.”

Now, here’s my question. I’m in a hotel. How do I boil water? Now, what I think they’re saying to me is that, if you don’t have any fire to boil the water, don’t drink the water. Is that fair? I think that’s what the hotel is saying. And I’m going to tell you something. When I read this, I think about brothers and sisters all over the world today, all over the world today, because you guys might be so disconnected. Myself, I’m not so disconnected. Did you know that right now, all over the world, this particular day happens to be Christmas Sunday? Did you all know that?

Audience: No.

Keith: You all probably didn’t know that. Today is Christmas Sunday, and so all over the world, there are people that don’t have the fire but they’re being given dirty water…

Audience: Oh, yeah.

Keith: …and they’re drinking it.

Audience: Oh, yeah.

Keith: Now, I talked to my wife, and she begged me not to say what I’m not going to say, because I love my wife, Andrea. I’m not going to say it, and so instead of saying what I was going to say, I simply want to give you a picture, if I can. So here’s what I wanted to say that my wife told me not to say, because when I woke up this morning at 6:30 this morning and I heard about this water, and just before I heard about the water, my whole message changed, which I was excited about. I go downstairs, I hear about the water. You know, I kind of wanted to say what I thought about this water. But my wife said, “Honey, don’t say that. Please don’t say those words,” so I’m not going to say those words. But you guys know what’s actually happening right now with the water? You know what it is? So instead of me saying what I wanted to say, I simply want to show you this sign, so that you can see it. It’s called “Warning! Sewage” Say, “sewage”.

Audience: Sewage.

Keith: Now, for my neighborhood, sewage has a different way of saying it. But that mean there’s something in the water that you don’t want to get in your system. But I am concerned that no matter how much we will say, “Warning! Sewage”, people will say, “But I’m thirsty. But I need something to drink. I’ve got to take a shower.” And this has bothered me, you all, because when I learn a thing, when I start understanding something, there’s just something in me that says, “Once I’ve understood it, once I learn it, I must apply it.” This is part of the reason that I’m so concerned for the people from where I come from. Many of them don’t know about what’s in the water.

Would you do me a favor and stand to your feet? And I want to do something really radical now, if you would. I want you to grab a hold of somebody’s hand. Touch somebody. And I want you to bow your heads, whether you’re listening to us online or you’re here in this room, I want you to bow your head. And I want to pray, “Father, I want to thank you for how amazing You are. I want to thank you for being the great orchestrator, the maestro in heaven that even affects things on earth. Father, I want to thank you for a mainline break that has caused all of us in this hotel to see a very clear picture of what we’re dealing with. Is it a coincidence that it’s this particular time, that the very root of this particular time, mixes that which was supposed to be clean, and that which is dirty, and then serves it up to the world and says it’s good for them?”

“Father, I pray right now that Your ruach hakodesh, that your Holy Spirit, would not only touch us in this hotel, but also those that are listening today or in the future. Father, we want to do something radical. We want You to tell us the truth. And then, as a result, help us to deal with the truth, whatever it is. We thank you in advance for what You have done, are doing, and shall do in Your holy name.” Everyone, say it together, “amen”.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: You can have a seat. Now, here’s what’s going on with me. Nehemia usually tells me what I’m supposed to speak about. I then try to take what he tells me I’m supposed to speak about, and we do that, and we’ve done this for three times. If you guys didn’t get a chance to get these particular DVDs, I want to say something about this. I want to tell Michael Rood and A Rood Awakening, thank you for this. They have captured through Shavuot and Yom Teruah the spirit by which we spoke the truth, and now it’s available.

This particular weekend, I’m not sure whether they should make a DVD from this particular weekend, especially for what I’m about to say, because I’m going to do something really quite radical. So what I’d like to do before I do that, can I do a little public relations and close the gap on the whole name issue? Would that be all right with you all? Because I’m going to tell you something, if you haven’t gotten the book, His Hallowed Name Revealed Again, if you haven’t got the DVD series, if you haven’t got the… Hey, do me a favor. Just let me know, “Yeah, I’ll consider it,” and then I won’t have to talk about any of that and I can just tell you what happened to me this morning, and share with you that which is fresh, and that is new, that came to me early this morning. I’ve got two choices, go with what Nehemia said, or get what the Holy Spirit said.

Audience: Go with the Holy Spirit.

Keith: How many of you all want me to do what Nehemia says? Say, Nehemia.

Man: Nehemia.

Keith: One, Amen. [laughter] He’s a paid participant. How many of you all want to hear what the Holy Ghost gave me this morning?

Audience: Yeah. [applause]

Keith: Amen. So what I want to do is, I want to close this section out, because this is really important to me. I met a lady this morning and her name is Maria. Maria, where are you? Oh, amen. Would you come here, my friend? I want to show you just where I’m at in my commitment, and Nehemia, this will encourage you, especially. Would you come here, Maria? Is there a microphone anywhere? Does this work over here? Come on up here, just for a second, right here. Maria came to me - and this happens to me so often, so many times - people from other parts of the world, other languages, will come to me and say, “You know what? The light has come on.” I’ve had people from China come to me and say, “Keith, we have read His Hallowed Name Revealed Again, and we realize this is the name, and even the pronunciation, from our own language.”

There are people in India that have said, “We’ve looked at this information. We’ve watched the video. Would you please come and help us? We want to understand the name.” You guys, I’m going to tell you something. There is a worldwide movement and awakening regarding our Father’s name. [applause] That is why I want to thank Michael, who’s got enough chutzpah to say, “Though the Christians will say we’re afraid,” he’ll say, “hey, if I can get the resources, we’ll let the world know.” Nehemia, who says, “Look, I know that my brothers and sisters say I shouldn’t do it, but we’ll do it.” This sister comes to me today, and she comes in this humble sort of way, and I simply want you to do what you did for me. I want you to read in the language of the Bible that you had from your mother, the verse that you brought.

Maria: First of all, when I woke up this morning, I grabbed this Bible, and I was looking at the dedication my mother gave me. And she wrote, “Numbers 6:24-26,” that Nehemia had mentioned about the blessings of Nazarites. And also she wrote Psalms 9:10, and so I went to read Psalms 9:10.

Keith: Ah-ha. And what language has this been written in?

Maria: My Bible is from Brazil, I mean, Portuguese.

Keith: Portuguese. [speaks Portuguese]

Maria: [speaks Portuguese]

Keith: I speak a little Portuguese too. Can I get an amen?

Audience: Amen.

Maria: There is another brother there, he’s Brazilian.

Keith: Okay, all right.

Maria: So it says in Psalms 9:10 [speaks Portuguese]... “Jehovah”. [applause] This Bible, she gave me like 10 years ago. So I was amazed, because I said, “I have to read this to Keith. God put this in my heart.” I said, “I don’t know why He said, ‘Read this verse to Keith.’” So when I saw him, the first thing I said was, “Can I read a Scripture to you?” And he was like, “Oh, of course.”

Keith: And you translated it into English.

Maria: And then I would translate for him, and he was like jumping all over the place. [laughter]

Keith: That’s between us. The people don’t need to know that. Okay, you’re going to learn that. You don’t tell everyone. This is the world listening, right now.

Maria: Oh my, okay. So it says…

Keith: Are you kidding me?

Maria: …in English, “And those who know Your name will trust in You, because those who search for Yehovah, Yehovah, will never be forsaken.”

Keith: Can we get an amen?

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Oh, thank you. Thank you, thank you so much. You know, I want to tell you something, and I’ve got to just tell you this, you all. What excites me about this, I mean, Nehemia and I fight. Did you all know we fight? [laughter] We fight, and here’s why we fight. Because sometimes we realize that we come from different places, and we’re trying to find common ground. But let me tell you where this Methodist and this Jewish man have found common ground, and you need to hear this. We have found common ground in this book, right here. This book is the very Bible that Yeshua read, and within this book, we have also found common ground in the name of our… say, “our”.

Audience: Our.

Keith: Heavenly Father.

Audience: Heavenly Father.

Keith: So Nehemia and I have found common ground, but I will tell you something. Nehemia, you did something... This probably means this is the end of our shtick, because I’m going to have to do something radical. I am going to challenge my brother, Nehemia Gordon, to keep reading. [laughter] [applause] Now, when I challenge my brother, Nehemia Gordon to…

Audience: Keep reading.

Keith: …I’m also challenging you, to…?

Audience: Keep reading.

Keith: Because here’s the issue. Sometimes we can take a verse, declare a verse, but not let the verse be in context or maybe even allow the verse to minister to us about maybe something that’s going to get our attention. So sometimes we’ll take a verse out and run from the context. I’m wondering, Nehemia, when you decided at the end of your message - and I’m so glad that after this, you know, this is our last committed deal, because I’m sure you guys are going to say, “Keith, look. He’s a nice Jewish man, a Karaite. He’s been with you this whole time. He’s put up with you.” You know, this guy challenges me on a regular basis. Can I challenge him for just a moment?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: To…?

Audience: Keep reading.

Keith: He used the verse, Psalms 22:22. Would somebody put that up?

Woman: [laughs]

Keith: She’s laughing about this. It says, “I will declare Your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise You.” When Nehemia used that verse, I got so excited. I thought, “Wow, he’s using Psalms 22 to say to us, he’s not afraid to stand up and proclaim the name in front of his brethren.” Nehemia, I want to tell you, you have been true to your word, but I’m not sure you should have used that verse, because you’re using that verse amongst a group of people that when they read that verse, they think something else.

When they see… Come on, put the verse back on here. When it says, “I will declare,” they’re asking a question. Who will declare? Can I get an amen?

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Let’s look at Psalms 22:1, the beginning of the verse. “Eli, Eli…” You all learned how to say, “Uh-oh?”

Audience: Uh-oh.

Keith: You know that was me that came up with the “Uh-oh”? [laughter] Psalms 22:1, Nehemia says, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” Now, I’ve done a radical thing. The Methodists, I am convinced this is probably… Could I tell you all something really radical? Michael, I’m going to make a confession. My wife, I’m going to make a confession… my lovely wife, Andrea. Nehemia, I’m going to make a confession to you, you’re my friends. Arthur, I’m going to make confessions to everybody that’s listening. It has been such a difficult time for me over the last two years. This last year, I did something so crazy. I actually allowed my name to be put in a pool of names to take over a church. Not a Methodist church, but a church. I put my name in there, just to see whether or not I’d been effective.

Come to find out, when they had my name in there, they looked, “Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, cum laude. He’s had all these 20 years, he’s done this, and this, and this.” Then, they pushed the button and listen to what I said. They said, “You are no longer in the process for this church.” [applause] Now, I cannot figure out what the problem is with me - why a church wouldn’t want a guy like me. I mean, I think I can preach just a little bit. I think I can read a little bit. I think I can communicate a little bit. But the problem they have with me is that I keep saying this: I am tired of tiptoeing around the tulips of tradition, especially when you are tiptoeing on the truth of the word of God.

[applause]

So Michael, Nehemia, my lovely wife, Andrea, I’m just telling you guys, I tested it and it’s true. I’m too controversial for the church. [applause] Now, when I look at verses like this, people shouldn’t get as nervous, because when I read, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” I think about this person who actually walked the earth, who had a name - and this is pretty radical - the name that he actually came in was the name that’s supposed to make us remember his Father, but instead, because we changed that name, it separates him completely from the name of his Father, and that is why today, if he were to walk in Fort Lauderdale today, and walk in most churches today on Merry Christmas Sunday, he would say, “What in the heck are you doing?”

[applause]

But if I’m going to be fair, my brother, Nehemia, you’ve picked the wrong Psalm. [laughter] Somebody tell me the name of the one that we know as the New Testament, the legal book says, “Who was the one who said, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?’”

Audience: Yeshua.

Keith: So you all got that?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: Okay. Nehemia, are your ears open? [laughter] Psalms 22:14 it says this. “I am poured out like water and all of my bones are out of joint.” Who does that remind you all of?

Audience: Yeshua.

Keith: You all don’t get excited about that? Come on, man. It’s Christmas morning. If you don’t want to say, “Yeshua”, just say, “Jesus”. [laughter] Come on, somebody shout, somebody get excited. Somebody let Nehemia know it means something to you. Who is the one that you think his bones were broken? What is his name?!

Audience: Yeshua!

Keith: Psalms 22:18, it says this. “They divide my garments among them.”

Man: Uh-oh.

Keith: Yessir. “And for my clothing, they cast lots.” Now, some of you that don’t choose to read the Hebrew Bible, maybe you only read the New Testament, at least you know there was one, I think around 2,000 years ago, where they divided his clothes. Somebody tell me what you believe his name to be?

Audience: Yeshua!

Keith: Are you listening, Nehemia? [laughter] Psalms 22:16 says this. “For dogs…” And you know, Michael and Nehemia have both stolen my “keep reading”, and I’m glad they have. I only pray that they keep doing it.

Audience: Doing it.

Keith: “For dogs have surrounded me. A band of evildoers has encompassed me.” Now it gets really radical. Somebody, in Psalms 22:16 is saying, “They pierced my hands and my feet.”

Audience: Hey.

Keith: You all believe that to be…

Audience: Yeshua!

Man: Hallelujah.

Keith: Now, you guys, I’m preaching this in the presence of my Jewish roommate, Nehemia Gordon. [laughter] And some of you are saying, “Get him. Hit him harder. Knock him down. Make him say the name, Yeshua.” But I’m going to tell you something about Nehemia Gordon. I think he selected Psalms 22 on purpose.

Audience: Oh, yes.

Keith: I think Nehemia Gordon selected Psalms 22 on purpose, and I think partially, the reason that he selected Psalms 22 is because there are people in your movement, the Messianic movement, who say this: Yeshua never would have proclaimed the name. Now, forget theology, just for a minute. Let’s see what Psalms 22:16 and Psalms 22 is talking about, for those of you that believe that it is…

Audience: Yeshua!

Keith: Here’s what it says, Psalms 22:22.

Woman: Oh, yeah.

Keith: If this is who you believe to be…

Audience: Yeshua.

Keith: Come on, somebody. It’s Christmas morning. If this is who you believe to be…

Audience: Yeshua.

Keith: This is what it says, for those that are saying, “Doggone it, that Nehemia Gordon, and that Keith Johnson, they’re now teaching people how to say the name, pray the name, proclaim the name. They’re even going so far as to say that Yeshua did not go by the tradition of the Pharisees.” Let me tell you something. As sure as he said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” He also said in Psalms 22:22, “I will declare Your name to my brethren in the midst of the assembly. I will praise You.”

Audience: Hallelujah. [applause]

Keith: Now, I want to tell Nehemia “thank you”. Look at him back there, weeping. He’s getting closer. [laughter]

Man: Amen.

Keith: No, no, no, you’re all right. You’re all right, because now, that was for Nehemia. The second part is for you. Grab somebody’s hand and say, “I hope I can make it through the second part.”

Audience: Make it through.

Keith: Because for those of you that want to say Psalms 22 is Yeshua, and you want to pick and choose in the Tanakh where it feels like, sounds like, smells like, looks like him, either you’re going to have to take the whole role, or don’t take it at all.

Audience: Amen, that’s right.

Keith: The Bible that he read is the Bible that my Jewish brother has sat down with me on a regular basis, every consonant, every vowel, every accent, every Masoretic note, we should give this man a hand. Now, I will tell you something before I say it, here’s the controversy about me. Now, let’s just be real. Michael is one of the few that will say, “You can come.” But can I just be really real with you guys? Do you know what one of the big problems is with me? It isn’t just that I’m a Methodist, it’s that I’m a black Methodist. [laughter]

Man: That’s true.

Keith: And let me tell you why. I have a few people who will actually say this. In South Africa when we were there, one lady said this: “I never thought I would learn the name from a black man.” [laughter] The man that is singing and strumming from South Africa yesterday said it to me clear as day. Andrew Hodkinson, what I love about Andrew, he’s just honest. “Keith, I got to tell you something. It would have been easier if you weren’t black.” [laughter] And his point is clear. What in the heck is a black Methodist doing learning Hebrew from a white Karaite Jew? Somebody say, “God has a sense of humor,” [laughter] because I believe He has gone to others of Nehemia’s brothers and sisters and they said this: “We ain’t doing it.” I believe He’s gone to others from my background, and you know what they’re saying? “We ain’t doing it.”

But here’s what He did with Nehemia and with me. He let us know something. He’s so amazing, He’s so powerful, He’s so wonderful, He’s so magnificent, He’s so awesome. There is nothing we could do more important than embrace Him in everything He has revealed to us. Now, you all, it has cost me just about everything. The Methodists don’t like me. The Messianics don’t like me. The Jews don’t want me, [laughter] and I am in the best place I could be. [applause]

Audience: Amen.

Keith: And I’ve got to tell you why I am so excited to speak today. My wife did say this. She said, “Keith, yesterday you sweat out a shirt. Find a black shirt. [laughter] You are embarrassing the family. You are not doing… Find a black shirt,” so I found a black shirt so that when I begin to sweat, because I will tell you something, the fire is still inside of me. I’ve tried to go like this, but this morning I felt it again. And the fire, as sure as they say, “You’d better boil the water,” what they should have said is, “We need the fire to make the water pure.”

Audience: Amen.

Keith: It’s still in me. Now, I was saying something, and I’m going to get to that. This morning, I’m dealing with this, and I’m saying, “Wow. Here, there is this amazing God, this Creator of the universe, and there are people that are saying, ‘Keith and Nehemia, if you would just be someone else, look different, act a little bit different, we will invite you.’” We’re saying this. “Keep your invitation. Keep your invitation, but please, interact with the information, the inspiration, and the revelation.”

That’s what happened to me this morning, and so now, the first part was for my brother, Nehemia. We’ll let him work through what it means - Psalms 22. I’m not saying what I think, I’m not saying what he says, but I was pretty consistent in saying you all believe that the one who was speaking in Psalms 22 was?

Audience: Yeshua.

Keith: Let’s now move on. If you have your Bibles, I want to go to Deuteronomy 7:5, from the Torah. The word of God, given through the one named Moshe, whom we are to believe in, and do that which he has given us to do by God giving it through him. It says this, in Deuteronomy 7:5. “But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars. You shall smash their sacred pillars and you shall hew down…” and the word for hew down in Hebrew is the word “gideon”. Say, “gideon”.

Audience: Gideon.

Keith: “…their Asherim.” Now, Asherim, you all have heard enough about it this weekend. If not, you might want to check your Bibles for what Asherim means. And it says, “and burn their graven images with fire and I will declare your name…” Oh, that’s Psalms 22, and it says, “And burn their graven images with fire.”

So in Judges 6:11, here’s what we do. I want you guys to go to Judges 6, if you would. We’re going to talk about this man named Gideon today. This is the man who I have been given some direction to talk about. Go to Judges chapter 6, if you would. And in Judges 6 it says this. “Again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of Yehovah, and for seven years He gave them into the hands of the Midianites.” It says, “For seven years, the Midianites came.” No, it says, “For seven years, He gave them into the hands of the Midianites.” God is amazing. Do you know that sometimes the Father in heaven will allow us to be put in the midst of those who are not even connected with Him, to try to get us to get to the place where we will reconnect with Him?

It says this. “Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other Eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing.” Verse 7, “When Israelites cried to Yehovah because of Midian, He sent them a prophet, who said, ‘This is what Yehovah, the God of Israel says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you to give you the land. I said to you, I am Yehovah, your God. You shall not worship the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But you have not listened to me.’” You know what? Is this not where we’re at today?

Woman: Oh, yeah.

Keith: He says, “I am the one who did all of this, and I have told you, Please, whatever you do, do not have any other little gods in My face. But you have not listened to Me.” Verse 11, “The angel of Yehovah came and sat under the oak that was in Oprah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite, as his son, Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.” Now, when I read that this morning, I thought about myself. Sometimes, you all, I say to myself, “Maybe what I have done is, I’ve gotten my wheat in the wrong place.” It says, “He’s beating out his wheat in the wine press.” The wine press is for the wine, not for the wheat. But why is he beating his wheat in the wine press? He’s trying to protect his wheat from the enemy, so he’s gone into the wine press where he was nice and safe, to do what he was doing.

Up until 2009, you all, I was beating my wheat in the wine press. Man, I was learning. I was growing. I’m spending hours with Nehemia, we’re going back and forth. I’m learning Hebrew, I’m speaking Hebrew. I’m opening up the scroll, I’m learning it. I’m having a great old wonderful time, but you know what I come under conviction for? I was dealing with my wheat in the wine press of safety. And in fact, there are people out there that need the fruit of the labor, not for only the information but the inspiration, not so they can say, “Wow, isn’t he smart? Oh, isn’t he amazing?” No, if you asked anyone that deals with me, I will say this, as I’ve learned from my friend, Nehemia. I do not want you to say, “Keith taught me.” I want you to say, “I learned it for myself.” And one of the things I struggle with, with the leaders in our present denominations, fellowships and everywhere else, they get nervous because they say, “I cannot let the Karaite Jew come in and teach my people, because he might know something I don’t know.” Welcome to the party. You probably don’t even know as much about your New Testament as the Karaite does. Can I say that?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: And let me tell you why, not because I’d lift Nehemia up to some great place. He has done what he has taught me to do; he has sat down, opened up the actual sources, and looked at them letter by letter, vowel by vowel, accent by accent, and guess what happens? The truth comes off the page, and we’ve got leaders that are saying this; “No, I cannot let you come in and speak to my people, because then my people might look at me and say, ‘Why is it that he had to teach us, and you didn’t?’”

So instead of giving you the truth, they’d rather you have tradition and stay in the place where you’re drinking bad water. [applause] Now, we’re in trouble. We are in trouble. I don’t know if he’s told you, the guy’s become too politically correct. Nehemia won’t tell you. Most of what you heard, if you go back and listen to it, is a direct result of a direct attack on him and on me from the spiritual police. They do not like us giving you access to information so that you can be on your own, confident of what it is you’ve learned.

For those of you that have certain pronunciation, or certain theologies, or certain practices, if you can’t show me where you got it and where you understand it, you’d better start questioning it yourself. Can I say that again, or should I move on?

Man: Say it again.

Keith: Come to the place where you become like the Berean. Search the Scriptures daily to see if what your rabbi, your pastor, your teacher, your leader, is saying, whether it be true or not. And if it is not true, you challenge them to say, “Show me in the…” Can I not be so excited? What is it about me? Why can’t I just be calm about this? [laughter] I talked to my wife last night, I said, “Hey, honey.” Arthur will tell you about this. When you talk to your wife after you preach you think, “She’s going to be like, ‘Wow. You were really amazing.’” I called my wife and she said, “Boy, you sure hollered the whole time.” [laughter] Now, that’s a way for me to stay humble, so I’m trying to remember what she said. I don’t want to holler. I want to be calm, would that be better for you guys, if I just calm down a little?

Audience: No, holler.

Keith: I’m going to calm down a little bit. It bothers me. It bothers me.

Audience: No, holler. Holler.

Keith: It upsets me.

Audience: No, holler.

Keith: It frustrates me. It makes me angry…

Audience: Yeah!

Keith: …when I see the sheeple… [laughter]

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: …being abused by those that call themselves the shepherds, that are making themselves fat off of bad information. [applause]

Man: That’s right.

Keith: That is why they don’t like me, and I’m glad that they don’t. However, Nehemia is not near as angry as I am. So don’t invite me, but please invite my friend, Nehemia. Can I get an amen?

Audience: Amen. [applause]

Keith: Let me move to the next Scripture, 6:11. It says this. “When the angel of Yehovah appeared unto Gideon, the angel said, ‘Yehovah is with you…’” and I love this, “…mighty warrior.” It’s almost like the angel of Yehovah could go beyond the fact that Gideon is hiding in the wine press, beating out his wheat. You know what it’s almost like? It’s almost like the angel of Yehovah could see Gideon’s future. I wonder if the Creator of the universe doesn’t sometime want to call us “mighty warrior” even before we’re willing to fight. I think there are people in here that are mighty warriors, that are just waiting for the verse that I’m going to get to.

Man: Right.

Keith: And it says this, “‘But Sir,’ Gideon replied, ‘if Yehovah is with us, then why has all of this happened?’” And you all know the story, he goes through the story. And it says to him, “The Lord, Yehovah, turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have.’” And then it says, “…and save Israel.” I want to go to Judges 6:12, I’m going to show you here. “The angel of Yehovah appeared to him and said, ‘Yehovah is with you, O valiant warrior.’” And then it says this. “Then Yehovah turned to him…” and this is where it gets a little controversial, “Then Yehovah turned to him and said, ‘Go in this might of yours and you shall save Yisrael.’”

Now, my friend, Nehemia and I, have opened up the Hebrew Bible and guess what it says? What it says is, “Go in this might of yours and you shall yeshua Yisrael from the land of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” Now, here’s what’s happening right now. There are some people that are listening to me that are Jewish, and they’re thinking, “Uh-oh. He has left the farm.” There are other people that are Christian and they’re saying, “Uh-oh. He has left the farm.” Let me say to both of you, “I have left the farm.” [laughter and applause] And I will tell you why. What I love about my friend, we will read it as it is written, and what it says here is not “Yeshua” the name, yeshua for the word “salvation”. Are you with me?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: “Then Yehovah turned to him and said, ‘Go in the might of yours, and you shall yeshua Yisrael from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?’ ‘But Yehovah,’ Gideon said, ‘How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh. I am the least in my family.’ Yehovah answered, ‘I will be with you, and you will strike them down.’”

Now, I will tell you something. I’m not going to bore you with the entire story, because I don’t have that much time. But I want you to do me a favor. I want you to do what I did early this morning. I want you to read everything you can about the man named Gideon, because I believe that it is a word for us today. Here is what we find in Judges 6:15 and 16, “‘Oh, my Lord, how can I yeshua Yisrael?’ And Yehovah said unto him,” the thing that more than anything else I want to hear is this; ‘I surely will be with you.’’”

Woman: Hallelujah.

Keith: If you don’t hear anything else, pray that you hear that. Whatever it is that you’re doing, there are some of you here that have left churches. Some of you have left Messianic fellowships. Some of you have left people that you believe are not telling you the truth, and you are attempting in your own strength to do some things.

But the only thing that I pray that you would ask is this: Whatever you are doing - and I’m speaking to everybody, I don’t care if it’s business, I don’t care if it’s education, I don’t care what it is - there’s one thing you want more than anything else, that He would say this; “I am with you.”

Judges 6:23 and 24, you all know the story. He goes about the process, Judges 6:23 and 24 it says this. After he’s dealing with this situation he says, “Oh, sovereign Lord, I’ve seen the angel of the Lord face-to-face, Yehovah.” And Judges 6:23 says, “But Yehovah said unto him, ‘Shalom.’” Say shalom.

Audience: Shalom.

Keith: “Do not be afraid.” Say, “do not be afraid”.

Audience: Do not be afraid.

Keith: “You are not going to die.” That’s what it says. And then, in verse 24 it says this. “So Gideon built an altar there to Yehovah.” We’ve talked about this the entire weekend. What did he build the altar for? Because he’s going to call upon the name, and what is he going to call upon him? The very thing that Yehovah said to him. I want to stop. I pray that you would hear these words from Yehovah today, “shalom”.

Audience: Shalom.

Keith: That you would hear Him say to you, “shalom”. For what it says is, “Gideon built the altar there to Yehovah and called it Yehovah Shalom”. So every time he prayed at the altar, he did a radical thing. He looked up at the altar and he said, “The one who said shalom to me, Yehovah Shalom, He proclaimed His name and His description.”

One of the things that I do, and I will say this. I won’t talk a lot about it, but I love that I did this. In the back of this book - 80 different descriptions like that that we find in the Hebrew Bible, where we take His name, Yehovah, or one of His titles, and we add the description that talks about who He is.

Why is this so important? One of the things that I do is, I will turn on the CD in the morning, in the evening, and I will sit there and just say those names and those descriptions over, and over, and over again. And there are some of you here that do that in your devotions. Some of you use this with your children. Some of you use it in your family, but some of you do not even know about the powerful descriptions that we find in the book that Yeshua himself read. These descriptions are multifaceted. They are deep in dimension. They are like a wonderful, wonderful buffet of information, inspiration, and revelation about our Heavenly Father’s name.

So he says to him, “Yehovah Shalom”. But then, Judges 6:34 comes, and here’s where I’m going to give the Christmas message. Look at your neighbor and say, “Keith…”

Audience: Keith…

Keith: The Methodist…

Audience: The Methodist…

Keith: Is going to give us...

Audience: Is going to give us…

Keith: A Christmas message.

Audience: A Christmas message.

Keith: And the Christmas message that I’m going to give on this particular day, 10 years after I was in the Old City of Jerusalem, is a Christmas message. And listen, I’m going to say this. This is a message for both Jew and Gentile. But I guarantee you something; there ain’t another pastor around the world on Sunday morning that’s preaching this message. [laughter] No Christmas service has said, “Turn,” after all the music… And you know, they have the camels, and [sings] “Away in the…” and all of that. You guys have got to feel special. Touch somebody and say, “I feel special.” Guess what? I am convinced. Hey, Michael, I want to say something. I’m convinced there’s not one pastor on a Christmas Sunday anywhere in the world that’s going to bring the Christmas message from Judges chapter 6. Say, “I must be special.”

Audience: I must be special!

Keith: Here’s why I’ve got to bring this as the Christmas message for the Jew and the Gentile. Now, don’t be offended, you all, about me using the word Christmas. We all know what that word is. Hey, this is just my shtick right now. I’m using it. They won’t let me preach in the Methodist church. Michael said I get to preach on Sunday on Christmas, so this is my… somebody say, “Christmas message”.

Audience: Christmas message. [laughter]

Keith: You know what? I’m going to have to do something really radical, you guys, if it’s okay, on the Christmas message. 6:31, it says this. They asked the question, “Who did this?” Did what? 6:29, “In the morning, when the men of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar demolished.” Where did that come from? We have to go a little bit further. “Yehovah said unto him…” verse 23, “…take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one that’s seven years old…” and listen what Yehovah says to Gideon. “Tear down your father’s altar to Baal.” He says, “Take the second bull,” that means there’s two. Say, “two”.

Audience: Two.

Keith: “…from your father’s herd, the one that’s seven years old…” in other words, this is a specific bull, it’s a strong bull. It’s a tough bull. It’s one that’s not afraid, it’s a bull that’s not afraid. So literally, what happens is this, and I want to slow down and let you all know this. What Yehovah told Gideon, “Gideon, go get two bulls, because it’s time to tear down the altar of Baal.”

Now, can I say something? I’ve found two bulls. I’m going to say it right now. One of them is as bullheaded as I’ve ever met. His name is Michael Rood. [laughter] The other one’s more bullheaded than Michael, his name is Nehemia Gordon. [laughter] And do you know what has happened for me? These two bulls have helped me do what Gideon did - tear down the altar that was built to Baal. I’m glad you guys are quiet. You should get quiet. There aren’t many pastors that are preaching about the altar of Baal being torn down.

And then it says this, “And cut down the ashra pole.” Now, if they were consistent, they’d probably leave a little note to tell you what an ashra pole is. Maybe they would tell you that it was the Sidonians who created the Ashtoreth. Maybe they would let you know that it’s the Sidonians who used to cut down trees and put trees up, and call them by certain names, and worship certain fertility goddesses.

And maybe there would be some people that are listening right now that would say, “Now, what seems familiar about the fact that the altar of Baal was torn down, and I’m calling upon something that is not God’s name at an altar. And what is consistent about these trees, that they keep telling me, “Bring in your house and adorn them with gold, and with silver, and don’t worry about it. The children will love them. They’ll make your house smell good. They’ll make your house look good.” But somebody say, “It’s possible, some of those trees are being treated just like the ashra poles of ancient Israel.”

Oh, I’m convinced nobody’s preaching this on a Sunday morning. “Then Yehovah says…” and I love this, “…build a proper kind of altar to Yehovah, your God. As to the top of its height, using the wood of the ashra pole that you cut down. Offer the second bull as a burnt offering.” “So Gideon took 10 of his servants and did as Yehovah had said, but because he was afraid…” say, “afraid…”

Audience: Afraid.

Keith: “…of his family,” say, “his family…”

Audience: His family.

Keith: “…and the men of the town,” say, “men of the town…”

Audience: Men of the town.

Keith: “…Gideon did it at night.” Now, there’s a transition, you guys have to bear with me. Stay with me on this, have your Bibles open. At this point, Gideon has had a legitimate visitation from God. He’s built a legitimate altar to Yehovah. He proclaims the name, Yehovah. He calls upon the name, Yehovah. He’s even had a meeting with Yehovah. And at night, because he was afraid of his family… say, “family”.

Audience: Family.

Keith: And afraid of the men of the town, say, “men of the town”.

Audience: Men of the town.

Keith: …he did the work at night. I’m here to tell you all something. Ain’t no reason for me to do anything at night anymore. The cat is out of the bag. [applause] The Methodist wants to tear down the altar of Baal and cut down the trees that are being worshipped, that are opposite of the worship of the Creator of the universe. Can I get an amen?

Audience: Amen. [applause]

Keith: Then it says this. “In the morning, the council got together,” you know, the group, the men of the town, “and they said, ‘Where is Baal’s altar? It’s been demolished. Where’s the pole that was there?’ and they said, ‘Who did this?’ They said, ‘Who did it?’ And when they carefully investigated, they were told, ‘It was Gideon, son of Yoash.’” He has been found out.

“The men of the town demanded of Yoash, ‘Bring out your son, he must die because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the ashra pole beside it.’ But Yoash replied to the hostile crowd saying, ‘Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning. If Baal really is a god…’” and everybody say, “We know he ain’t…”

Audience: We know he ain’t.

Keith: “‘…He can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.’ So that day, they called Gideon “Jerubaal”, “may Baal contend against him”. And then it says this, verse 33, and I’m getting excited. You guys ain’t excited yet. Verse 33 says, “Now all the Midianites, the Amalekites and other Eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.” Now, can I do the radical thing? Can I switch books? Can I go to the book that Yeshua read? Can I pick up the book in its original language and history and context, and give you the Christmas message?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: I’m so glad. I’m not sure you’re going to be so happy after I give it to you, because it says this in 6:34. Can I read it the way Yeshua would have read it?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: After the meeting, after he gets enough guts to pull it down at night, after the town has come to him, after he’s been kicked out of his denomination, after they’ve been kicked out of the fellowship, after they’ve decided, “We’re not going to celebrate the pagan festivals, we’re not going to deal with the issues that you tell us to do.” After all of that, something happens in heaven, and I’ve got to slow down for a minute, because if you get this, you’re going to leave here with a different understanding. If you get this, you’re going to leave here with a different perspective. Something happens so powerful in the Hebrew Bible, that in English, they couldn’t let it be written.

And when I read it this morning, I started to shout. But I had to go outside, because Nehemia was in there, snoring. [laughter] And I couldn’t hear my own shout. I went outside and I read it with my Hebrew Bible again. And you guys, when I read it - and I want to slow down, please bear with me. Look at your neighbor and say, “Hey, this might be his last Sunday.” Come on, tell them, “Hey, he’s a Methodist. Give him some grace. He’s going to give it to us just the way it was read in the Hebrew Bible.” And here’s what it says, brother Arthur. I want you to write this down. Brother Michael, I want you to check it for yourself. Nehemia, make sure that I’m saying it the way it is in the Hebrew Bible. And it says, “Veruach, veruach.” Say, “ruakh”.

Audience: Ruach.

Keith: You all know about the ruach, right?

Audience: Oh, yeah.

Keith: Now, the ruach was hovering over the face of the deep, you all know about that?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: The ruach of Elohim was hovering over this, the same ruach, the ruach. And then it says this, “Veruach Yehovah”. Oh, my gosh. You guys don’t understand what’s happening here. Veruach Yehovah did something, and here’s what the ruach of Yehovah did for Gideon. In your Bible, it probably says something like what? “It came upon him.” Let’s go ahead and look at the slide, because if we go by the Methodist Bible and the way that we’re supposed to read it, it says this. “But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon. Then he blew the trumpet and the Abiezrites gathered behind him.” Now, that is a wonderful translation. The problem is, it just ain’t - as Nehemia said, “That’s bad English” – right.

In the Hebrew Bible it says this, and I just wish that we would raise enough resources for me to have my own KJV, the Keith Johnson Version. [laughter] “But the ruach of Yehovah lavshah Gideon. Then he blew the shofar…” I guess you all didn’t get it, so let me go back to the book, just in case you think I’m not saying. Here’s what it says, ladies and gentlemen. “Veruach Yehovah lavshah.” Guess what that means? It means that the ruach decided to wear Gideon.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Hold on. Can I preach this for a minute? Let me just preach this for a second. Here’s what the Bible says. The Bible says that sometimes, the ruach goes shopping. Oh, you know, the ruach here is feminine, you all know that, right? The ruach is in the feminine form, and lavshah is also in the feminine. So the ruach sometimes goes shopping. Say, “shopping”.

Audience: Shopping.

Keith: And the ruach was shopping at this time, and looked and said, “Now, who will I wear?” [laughing] And so the ruach saw Gideon after Gideon had stood against the people, after Gideon had called upon the name, Yehovah. After Gideon had stood in front of all the controversy, and found two bulls, the spirit said, “Now, Gideon has my attention. I think I want to wear him.” [applause] Listen to me, now. The Hebrew Bible says this, that the spirit of God put on flesh…

Audience: Oh, wow.

Keith: Nehemia will get excited about this, because this is the Tanakh. You see, you guys will get nervous because you’ll say, “Wait a minute. Hold it, just a second now. That ain’t till the New Testament.” Look at your neighbor and say, “Keith and Nehemia are happy right now about this.” Why are we happy about this? Because the Christmas story all of a sudden ain’t just in the New Testament. We got the Holy Ghost putting on flesh in the Tanakh. [applause] Nobody’s excited about this?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: Listen to me again now, my wife will understand this. Sometimes, my wife asks me to go shopping, but I hate… Let me say it again - I hate to shop. I hate this idea that you try on things you cannot afford. I hate that she goes into sections of stores, and we know we can’t go in that section of the store, so me and her have a big fight. I don’t like to shop, but the ruach of Yehovah loves to shop. And this weekend, the ruach is shopping.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Oh, come on, now. Come on, now. The ruach is shopping this weekend, and he’s checking some of you saying, “Can I put you on? Can I wear you? Can I take you over? Can I tell you where you’re going to go? Can I tell you what you’re going to say? Can I tell you how you’re going to deal with things? Can I put on your flesh?” It is foreshadowing you all, for what I believe happened in the New Testament. You see, I believe I can tell my friend, Nehemia this, and he and I, we won’t even have to argue. Nehemia, sometimes the spirit of God puts on flesh. Come on, you all, work with me now. You’re supposed to be excited about this. And Nehemia’s like, “See, they don’t even understand, Keith. You have gone over their heads.” Tell me you understand what I’m saying.

Audience: Yeah. [applause]

Keith: Who I’m possibly talking about right now. Tell me this is not too overwhelming for you, that sometimes the ruach of Yehovah will put on flesh.

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: It didn’t happen on Christmas morning.

Audience: No.

Keith: Do you know that God actually can do it when He wants, where He wants, and whoever He wants, however He wants, just like He did, mm, with Gideon? Now, this is big controversy. I’m sure I’m out after this. Are you telling us that God put on the flesh of Gideon, just the way it says it? Check the Hebrew for yourselves. It says, “The ruach of Yehovah put on the flesh of Gideon.” Now, I’m not going to go a lot further. I’m going to get out of here. My plane leaves early in the morning, hopefully you all won’t beat me up before that. I’m going to tell you who I’m looking for.

It says this. After the spirit of God put on Gideon, it says, “Then Gideon blew the shofar.” Why? Because the ruach hakodesh had put on his flesh, and the ruach hakodesh, through the spirit of God, wanted to call the people to respond. And I love what he does. He blows the shofar, and then this radical little group of people called the Abiezrites gathered behind him.

I’m going to be completely honest with you, I’m going to tell you exactly where I’m at. I’m not going to do nothing at night. I’m going to tell you exactly where I’m at. Michael, I give you the Hanochites. Michael has come up with a whole thing. I mean, that’s powerful, man. He can do things better… He can market better than anyone I’ve ever seen, and he means it. You are called what?

Audience: Hanochites.

Keith: Michael, stand up and tell us how you do it. How do you do it, Michael? You go like this, come on. Lead us now with the Hanochites.

Michael: Who are you?

Audience: We are the Hanochites.

Keith: Amen. You all are the Hanochites. But let me tell you what Pastor Keith is looking for, right now. I need some Abiezrites. Let me tell you why. This group of people can’t be everybody in this room. Now, I’m going to do something radical in closing. I’m going to show you who I’m looking for. I’m looking for the remnant. I’m looking for the remnant group of people, and probably everyone in here, those that are listening are saying, “It ain’t me.” But I’m going to tell you something, the Bible that we’re reading right now tells us a powerful story, and I’m going to try my best to say it without going into great detail. And if I could just have some grace, you all, if you’ll check the Scripture for yourself, can I just give you my quick overview of what happens, without going verse by verse? If that’s okay, say, “amen”.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: I want you to open it and check it for yourself. But here’s what happens. After the ruach put on the flesh, and after the call that went through the shofar, those that are Abiezrites, which means “my Father helps”, these are the helpers now, they gathered behind Gideon. And then the Father said this, “You know what? There are too many of them. I can’t work with this many. Because of what I’m going to do, I’m going to have to cut them down.”

So the first thing that He says is this. “All that are afraid, go home.” 22,000 people out of 32,000 people said, “Oh, no, no, no. Hanging out with that dude, dealing with what they’re talking about, that ain’t nothing but fear from me. I am out of here,” and I have lost many friends that say this. “Keith, you have gone too far.” So unfortunately, a large percentage of people that I’m looking for are too afraid to go where Yehovah is calling me to go.

Then He says, “Okay, there are still too many. There are still too many.” He says, “Take them down to the water,” and if I can just show you what happened. He says, “Take them down to the water, and I am going to sift them for you there.” How did Yehovah sift them? He said, “Some of them will get on their knees, but others will lap like a dog.” And so guess what happened? They were probably thirsty. And it says that most of them went to the water and probably did this. “I’m thirsty,” knelt down and got everything they needed. Took care of their physical need, and the other thing they did, it was probably too comfortable there, because they bowed their knees so quickly. Maybe they were used to bowing their knee to Baal. The Father says, “For what we’re about to do, I can’t have those kinds of people with what we’re about to do.” He said, “But there’s another group of people that’ll do this. They won’t be on their knees. They’ll probably go like this, you all. They’ll see the water. They’ll know the situation we’re in. They’ll know we’re in a war. They’ll know the circumstances. They’ll know that the enemy surrounds us,” and I believe that 300 did this.

“Oh, I’m going to get my water. I’m going to keep my eyes out. I’m going to make sure I know my circumstances. I’m going to make sure that I understand that if I’m going to help somebody, I can’t help somebody just taking care of me.”

Man: Amen. Hallelujah.

Keith: Oh, I’m going to tell you what I’m looking for. Oh, I’m by myself on this. Nehemia and I, we said today, “This might be the last time we speak together.” I might have offended him, I don’t know. He offends me, sometimes. But you know what we’re committed to? We’re committed to keep reading. We’re committed to understanding it. This man has brought more revelation for those that come from the Christian Messianic background than their own leaders, and their own leaders say, “We don’t like him, because he don’t think like us, act like us, believe like us.” Hey, man. Nehemia’s all right. I’m praying for them.

Audience: Amen. [applause]

Keith: But I’m going to tell you something, and I’m serious about this. Michael, if you just give me a few more minutes, I’m serious about this. I am at a place right now where I’ve decided I want to go forward. I’m going to go wherever I’m asked to go, where there are people that I consider to be the remnant. And I’m going to be able to tell you who the remnant is. They’re not selfish. They’re not afraid. They’re willing to not only look out for themselves, but they’re willing to look out for somebody else. I’m looking for those that are willing to help. I’m tired of dealing with the masses. I’m tired of dealing with just everybody, “You got to make the message this way, because that would be offensive to everybody.” Guess what? Be offended by me now. And maybe that means this is my last opportunity, but I will tell you something. It just seems like sometimes, that the ruach hakodesh will stop by and say, “Keith, excuse me. Could I do something?” “Yeah, what do you need?” “I need you to get out of the way.” [laughter]

Man: Amen.

Keith: And I believe today is one of those days.

Man: Amen.

Keith: I believe that He’s shopping, looking for somebody that will say this; “Put me on.” And then, once He finds that one that he puts on, that person will stand up, grab the shofar, make the call, and there will be some people - probably not the masses, just a few - that will join. Now, I pray that every single need that we have from this weekend would be met, plus. But I also pray for this. I believe there are some of you that are ready to move beyond what’s happening with the general. I believe there’s some of you here that are saying, “You know what? I think I am the remnant.” And if you’re the remnant, we’re going to be able to tell, based on this. Are you afraid? Are you selfish? Are you ready to help somebody else do what God has called him to do?

I believe you’re here. It might just be two or three. It might just be four or five, I’m not sure. There might be just one. But here’s what’s happened to me. He’s taken over. And I’m going to tell you something, it is the best place for me to be. I’m sure that this is probably the end of my ride, hanging out in the wine press, beating wheat. I can’t do it at night anymore, 2012, we’re going to the world, with everything that God has given us. But I believe we need some Abiezrites. And let me tell you about them, you know what they did? They took the shofars from everybody that was sent home, everybody that was selfish, and then Gideon told them this. “Take a torch, put it inside of a clay jar, and now, let’s go fight.” Take a torch, some fire. Put it inside of a clay jar, shofar in one hand, fire in the other hand. And when we get before the enemy, we will smash the jar and the light will come forward and we will win. Bow your heads.

We’re looking for those that are willing to be like the ones who are willing to help. It’s easy to say, “Yeah, we are.” It’s harder to say, “We do.” And we’re looking for the “we do’s”, because in the hour that we’re in, God is saying, “If you’re afraid, now is not the time. If you’re selfish, I can’t use you. But if you’re willing to keep your eyes open, your hearts open, your ears open, your minds open to everything I have, and if you’re willing to crush the flesh so that the light of our Creator would come forth and allow yourself to be put on by the ruach, it is time for you to come into your call.”

So I’m going to make a call. Oh, I’m going to do it, you all. I do it every single time. Keep your heads bowed, I’m going to do it every single time. I’m going to keep swinging. I’m going to keep swinging. Okay, you can open your eyes for a second. Here I am, you all. Here I am, right now. They’re going to keep pitching, and I’m going to keep swinging. And I’m going to keep swinging, and one time, I’m going to hit that thing out of the park. I’m going to find somebody that says, “You know what, Keith? I’m an Abiezrite. I’m ready to be everything…” say, “everything”.

Audience: Everything.

Keith: I have enough time, don’t I? Don’t I have enough time? Five minutes, do I have five minutes? I have five minutes. I’m looking for somebody to say, “I’m willing to do everything…” Say, “everything”.

Audience: Everything…

Keith: That He wants me to do.

Audience: That He wants me to do.

Keith: I’m willing to be… Say, “I’m willing to be”.

Audience: I’m willing to be...

Keith: Come on, now. “everything”.

Audience: Everything…

Keith: He wants me to be.

Audience: He wants me to be.

Keith: I’m willing to go…

Audience: I’m willing to go...

Keith: Wherever…

Audience: Wherever…

Keith: He wants me to go.

Audience: He wants me to go.

Keith: I’m willing to say…

Audience: I’m willing to say…

Keith: Whatever…

Audience: Whatever…

Keith: He wants me to say.

Audience: He wants me to say.

Keith: So here are the waters. They are not dirty. Ain’t no sewage in these waters. Ain’t no sewage in these waters. And I know that everybody is not ready to be an Abiezrite, but if there are some that would say, “I’m not afraid. I’m not selfish, and I’m not going to kneel down like they do for Baal, but I’m going to go like this. And I’m going to keep my eyes looking.” If that’s you, if you have a moment to let the Father know you’re ready, I’m going to blow the shofar. And if it’s you, do not hesitate. Let Him know, “I am one, that I will be however you want me to be, to help those that you have called to do Your will.”

Oh, before I blow it, I should tell you something. It’s not easy. It’s not easy. Oh, I should tell you one more thing. It’s going to cost you everything you’ve got. But I will tell you something. If you say yes to Him, there’s no better “yes” you can say in your entire life. The waters are here. He’s ready to sift. Are there any that would respond?

Keith: [blows shofar] Father, we present to You those that are willing to help. Yehovah, we present to You, those that are not afraid. Creator of the universe, we present to You those that are willing to say, “put me on”. We present those that are here today, that are not saying it’s just about them, but it’s all about You. Father, I thank you in advance for what You are about to do with this group of people. The world is going to know - Yehovah, hu haElohim. Yehovah, You are God, and there is no other. You can do what You want, when You want, with whomever You want. You can put on the flesh of whomever You want, just like You put on the flesh of the one whom some celebrate in the wrong way. But You’re able to do it.

And so Father, we come before You, and the first thing we say is, “We’re sorry for whatever we have done that has not been pleasing to You.” We repent right now. Say it, Abiezerites, “I repent”.

Audience: I repent.

Man: Right now.

Keith: And now, because I’ve repented, I’m going to turn my feet and be led by You into truth to Your glory. I will help whom You have called. Say, “I will help”.

Audience: I will help.

Keith: I am willing.

Audience: I am willing.

Keith: To be everything.

Audience: To be everything.

Keith: To go wherever.

Audience: To go wherever.

Keith: To do whatever.

Audience: To do whatever.

Keith: To say whatever.

Audience: To say whatever.

Keith: That will help.

Audience: That will help.

Keith: You, Yehovah.

Audience: You, Yehovah.

Keith: Through Your people.

Audience: Through Your people.

Keith: Amen.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: [blows shofar] Halleluyah.

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Taking Back the Truth – Nehemia Gordon (Open Door Series – Part 15)

Nehemia Gordon speaks about Taking Back the Truth. Transcript

Taking Back the Truth - Nehemia Gordon (Open Door Series - Part 15)

You are listening to the Open Door Series with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Announcement: For over 2,000 years, Jewish scribes and Christian translators have worked together to conceal God's name so that you could not proclaim it. Now, God has united a Jew and a Gentile for the singular purpose to reveal His name to the nations. “Therefore, My people shall know My name. Therefore, on that day, I am the one who is speaking. Here I am.” That day has come for God's people to know His name.

Within a year apart, God revealed His name to both Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson from the two most important Hebrew manuscripts in the world. Now, they are collaborating to bring all of their valuable information, inspiration, and revelation together in what they call the “Hammer Pack". These resources will break through layers of tradition to reveal the truth about the name of God that has been concealed for too long. In the Hammer Pack you'll receive Keith Johnson's book, “His Hallowed Name Revealed Again,” with a newly released complete “His Hallowed Name” audio-video study kit, which includes the 12-episode TV series, “His Hallowed Name,” and an instructional CD where you'll learn to proclaim the unique name of our Heavenly Father, and 80 of His powerful Hebrew descriptions.

Also included is an important research update, as well as an uplifting teaching regarding encountering the name of God. Included in Hammer Pack is Nehemia Gordon's latest work, “Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence,” where his search for answers leads him to uncover an age-old conspiracy of silence surrounding the Priestly Blessing found in the Book of Numbers that is based on God's name being unleashed.

Get the Hammer Pack right now, and you'll also receive the bonus DVD set, “Stand Against the Ban,” a live teaching series where Keith and Nehemia employ the linguistic, historical, and contextual hammer regarding God's name that you can use today. Remember, when you get the Hammer Pack, you'll be equipped to pray, praise and proclaim God's holy and powerful name. “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know. This time, I will make them know My power and My might. They shall know that My name is...” Visit our website now.

Nehemia: Yesterday, I talked about the literal Antiochus. He was a Greek ruler who tried to stamp out the Jewish faith, the faith of the Old Testament.

Woman: Halleluyah.

Nehemia: This is it. Thank you. Keith is jealous that I have a nicer shirt than him. That's what that acting out was about. So, I'm gonna talk to you today about the spiritual Antiochus. The literal Antiochus came along with a sword... where's my sword? He came along with a sword and threatened people's lives if they spoke the name of the Creator and followed the faith of the Hebrew Scriptures. The spiritual Antiochus tried to use intimidation to threaten your spirit, to threaten your soul.

Woman: Yes.

Nehemia: And what am I talking about? Now, growing up with my background as an Orthodox Jew before I realized I was a Karaite Jew, I was threatened by the spiritual Antiochus. I was warned that I must never speak the name of the Father of Creation, that I was always to replace it with a title, with a circumlocution, with “Adonay” or “Elohim,” with “Lord” or “God,” and never to actually speak the name that appears more than any other name in the Hebrew Scriptures. And here's one of the key passages that dates to around the year 150 CE or AD, which talks about this prohibition to speak the name, and actually it's a list of things. It opens up and says, “The following have no portion in the world to come.” I mean, if that's not spiritual antiochism, I don't know what is. They're threatening your eternal salvation here, these Rabbis.

This is the Mishnah, the writings of these ancient Rabbis. They have a bunch of categories and one of them is, “He who reads the outside books.” Does anyone know here what the outside books are, what they were referring to? They explain, in the writings of these Rabbis, that the sfarim khitzoniyim, the outside books or external books that they're referring to are what you refer to as the “Gospels.” It was forbidden by these Rabbis. A curse was laid upon anybody who read those books that they would have no portion in the world to come. And I've mentioned, I'm not Christian, I’m not messianic, but I've read those books and I think they got me on that one. Should I go run and be afraid?

Audience: No.

Nehemia: Okay, well, what's the second category of those who have no portion in the world to come? It says, “And he whispers over a wound saying…” and this is a verse from Exodus, “I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” And what they're saying here, is that anybody who prays over someone who's wounded, someone who has some kind of physical affliction, prays over them using the verse which describes the Creator of the universe as a healer, prays using that name and using that verse, that is someone who has no portion in the world to come. That is forbidden, to pray over someone, calling upon the name of the Creator of the universe. Well, they've got me on that one, too. Uh-oh.

Let's see what the third one is. The third one, they say in the same passage, in the name of Abba Saul, who was one of the Rabbis. He says, “Also, he who utters the Divine Name the way it is written.” So, three things they got me on. Three things according to these Rabbis, according to the spiritual Antiochus, I'm gonna burn in hell. According to the Rabbis, I have no portion in the world to come, in the future world, because I've read the Gospels, uh-oh. I've prayed over people who were sick, using the verses from Scripture. And I've spoken the name of the Father of creation the way it is written.

Audience: Oh.

Nehemia: Now, if you want to follow those traditions, that's between you and your Creator. If you want to say, “We must not speak the name of the God of the Hebrews, of the Father of creation, because it will offend our Jewish brothers and sisters.” Maybe you're Jewish, and you don't want to offend the Rabbis who have established this rule for us. Or maybe you're just like my good friend Tevya, from the movie, who says, “Tradition, tradition.” If it's just about tradition, or whatever it is for you… Should I give up my day job and become a singer? I don't know. I thought Anaise was good, but I think I'm better than you, Anaise. Let's admit it, come on. Tradition, tradition.

I dance with that song, yibbe-yibbe-yibbe-dum. So, whether it's about tradition for you, or you don't want to offend people, whatever it is, you're entitled to do that. That's between you and your Creator, I'm not gonna judge you for not speaking the name of the Creator of the universe. But I refuse to be intimidated by the spiritual Antiochus. And when I was studying this and came across this passage, I said, “Wait a minute. Abba Saul, who was the first Rabbi ever to say it's forbidden to speak the name of the Creator the way it is written, he lived around the year 150 AD, or CE as Jews say. He lived around the year 150. Well, what about the history of Israel for 1,700 years before Abba Saul? What did they do before that?” And this sent me on this long investigation that lasted many years, trying to find out what they did before Abba Saul, when they stopped speaking the name of the Creator of the universe, replacing it with these titles exclusively. When did that happen?

I looked at many ancient sources, and I did a little bit of investigation. One of my big questions was, “Did they speak the name of the Creator in the time of the Second Temple?” Remember, the Second Temple was destroyed in the year 70. And the popular belief and understanding is that sometime during this period of the Second Temple, the Jews stopped speaking the name of the Creator, and replaced it with this title, “Lord.” We know one specific group, the Essenes, the people who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, there's no question that they forbade speaking the name of the Father, that's for sure. But what about all the other Jews? That was one small little group with representatives on the shore of the Dead Sea and a few other communities. It was a very small group, though. What about the vast majority of Jews?

Well, I've done some digging and I found out… I discovered that there's actually some evidence that it was blasphemy to speak the name of the Creator of the universe in the 1st century, to speak the Father's name, and I actually have a video. Now, I was speaking before to Khayim, who is a videographer, a film guy, and I asked him when the first talking picture was. And he told me the first commercially produced talking picture was in 1927, “The Jazz Singer.” Great movie, if you haven't seen it. It's about this young Jewish man whose father is a cantor, and his father wants him to become a cantor just like him, but he feels called to go out and sing jazz songs, hence the name, “The Jazz Singer.” Amazing movie, I think it still has relevance even today. I kind of connected with the father and the son interaction there, which reminds me of my own experience, even though I'm not a jazz singer. But 1927, it turns out that there's a video going back 2,000 years. Can I get an Amen?

Audience: Amen.

Nehemia: Can we watch this ancient video that shows how the name was approached in the first century of the Common Era? Here we go.

Speaker: Matthias, the son of Deuteronomy of Gath. Say yes?

Matthias: Yes.

Speaker: Yes. You have been found guilty by the elders of the town of uttering the name of our Lord and so as a blasphemer, you are to be stoned to death.

Matthias: Look, I had a lovely supper and all I said to my wife was, “That piece of halibut was good enough for Jehovah.”

Speaker: Blasphemy. He said it again. Did you hear him?

Nehemia: So, that really wasn't the video from the 1st century. Was there anyone who thought it was from the 1st century? No, I believe that was from the 1970s, or something like that. But really, what this shows is that it's infiltrated into popular culture that in the 1st century, people no longer spoke the name of the Father. I mean, it's right there in a Hollywood movie, it must be true, right?

Audience: Right.

Nehemia: Well, what do the sources actually say? And this is what I wanted to get to the bottom of. Is it really blasphemy to speak the name of the Creator? Are they going to stone me to death? Is that what they would have done in the Temple in the 1st century?

Here's a key passage, and this is Exodus 3:15. This is where God first revealed His name to Moses. Moses says, “What name should I tell the Israelites?” And it says, “Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, ‘Yehovah, the God of your fathers, has sent me to you. This is My name forever. This is My mention, a memory for every generation.’” Yesterday, I talked about this word “zekher,” “mention, or memory.” “My mention, or memory, for every generation.” Every time we mention Him with our mouth or summon Him up in our mind, we are to call upon His name as “Yehovah.” I want to focus today on the other thing it says here, that “This is my name forever.” And the Hebrew word for forever is “le'olam.” Say, “le'olam.”

Audience: Le'olam.

Nehemia: And "le" just means "for" so we're not gonna really be concerned with that. But “olam” is ever, forever. Say, “olam.”

Audience: Olam.

Nehemia: And the word “olam,” “forever,” comes from the word “olam” meaning the “universe.” And when you say something is "le'olam" you mean, “for the continued existence of the universe.” As long as the world continues to exist, this will continue to be true.

Now, what the Rabbis did in the 4th century, when the ban on the name really did come into place... Remember, around the year 136, 137, the Rabbi was actually burned at the stake by the Romans. Khanina Ben Teradion was burned at the stake by the Romans for speaking the name. Sometime shortly after that, Abba Saul comes along and says, “Anyone who speaks the name the way it is written has no portion in the world to come.” By the 4th century, the name was completely banned and no one was allowed to speak it. And the Rabbis wanted to find support for this practice of not speaking the name, in Scripture. And where's the best place to look? In the very passage that says, “This name is for all time.” That's the place you want to find a proof to ban the name.

And they came to that verse, Exodus 3:15, where it said, “This is My name forever.” And they said, “We're gonna change that word. We're gonna change the word of scripture.” And here's how they decided to read it. Instead of, “This is My name forever,” a Rabbi named Rav Nakhman bar Isaac comes along and says in the 4th century, “Let's read the word ‘le'olam’ as ‘le'ha'alim.’” He changes the vowels, he adds two letters, and it becomes a statement that says, “This is My name to be concealed.” Say, “le'ha'alim.”

Audience: Le'ha'alim.

Nehemia: Now, here's the thing. Even though this Rabbi changed the way the verse is to be read, and said, “Therefore, God intended from the very beginning that His name would be concealed until the Messiah would come and restore it,” this is what Rabbi Nakhman Bar Isaac says. Even though he changes the way the word is written in every synagogue in the entire world, guess how they read this verse. Do they read it as "forever" or "to be concealed?” They read it as "forever,” and that's because the Rabbi, he could interpret the verse any way he wanted. He could change the vowels for the purpose of interpretation. But to actually read the verse in the synagogue, he didn't have the authority to change that. That was fixed long before the Rabbis ever came on the scene of history, and the Rabbi couldn't change that. So, every printed Bible in the world, every single synagogue in the world where they read the Scripture, they read it as "forever,” even though the official interpretation is to read it as "to be concealed.”

Now, the fact that he needs to change that word, change the vowels and add two letters, that tells you that he knew that the original reading really meant “the name was forever.” Now, my approach in trying to understand scripture is, I want to understand it based on the language and the context using reason, which confuses people. What do I mean by that? What I mean by that is, I want to understand the words as they were spoken 3,500 years ago, in the original language they were spoken, which happens to be ancient Hebrew, in the ancient cultural context in which these things were spoken. And if you can't understand the culture and the language of ancient Israel, then you're going to have a hard time understanding what scripture is saying.

Let me give you a quick example, this is one of my favorite examples. Three times in Scripture, it says, “Lo tevashel gedi bakhalev imo.” Now, you don't have to know Hebrew, I'll translate that for you. It says, “You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.” And kid, in Hebrew, “gedi,” is a young goat, and not boiling a young goat in the milk of its mother, what does that mean? Well, if you look at Jewish tradition, it says that this means that you must not eat meat and milk together. And because you can't eat meat and milk together, you have to have separate dishes for meat and milk, and you can't boil them together or consume them together.

When I look at that, “Do not boil a kid in its mother's milk,” it says it three times word for word. I say, “Okay, what does that mean, three times word for word, ‘Do not boil a kid in its mother's milk?’” First of all, I can't just throw out what the Rabbis say. If they say it means, "Don't boil a kid in its mother's milk" means “Don't eat meat and milk together,” I've got to ask them why do they say that? What evidence I there for that? What proof is there for that? That's the starting position, this interpretation that most Jews follow. Well, I look, and I see there really is no evidence for it. And on the contrary, I find in ancient Canaanite sources that the ancient Canaanites used to boil a kid in the milk of the mother as a fertility rite. This was a sacrifice brought to Easter, to Ashtoreth, the ancient goddess. And to this day in Lebanon, which is the one place where the Canaanites survived, in the mountains of Lebanon, they still prepare a dish which is boiling a kid in the milk of its mother. They don't know why, they don't remember it has to do with Ashtoreth, or Easter, but to this day they eat that as a delicacy.

Now, here we give the Rabbis the benefit of the doubt, but when we actually check the information and the sources, it doesn't fit. And as Keith likes to say, “If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.” I think he made that up, is that right? No. So, there's an example where if you look at the cultural context of ancient Israel, you find out in fact, the traditional interpretation does not fit the cultural context. The traditional interpretation misunderstands that the context has to do with an ancient pagan fertility rite.

Now, if you ask yourself, “How does this commandment apply today, do not boil a kid in its mother's milk, ‘cause nobody's doing that outside of Lebanon. What's the principle behind the commandment?” That's the question I always ask myself, what is God trying to teach me here? What is the principle behind the commandment, “Do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk?” And to me, it seems the principle is, don't participate in pagan fertility rites.

Audience: That’s right.

Nehemia: If somebody sets up a tree to the goddess Asherah and they worship that tree, and they bring that tree into their homes and decorate it with different fertility symbols... I’d better drop this topic. Now, I wore this shirt today to convey a certain theme. These are Hanukkah colors, that's what we call these in Israel. No, all right, I'm gonna move on this is… I'm like Keith, this is too controversial.

Genesis 9:16. One of the things that you need when you look at scripture is to ask yourself, “Is it consistent?” If they say that “le'olam” means “to conceal” or “to be concealed” there, does it work in other places? Let's look at it. Genesis 9:16 talks about the covenant of the rainbow. After God destroyed the world, He put the rainbow in the heavens. Every time we would see it, we'd be reminded that God promised never to destroy the world through a flood again. And it says, “The rainbow shall be in the cloud and I will look on it to remember the everlasting olam.” Say, “Olam.”

Audience: Olam.

Nehemia: “A covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that's on the earth.” Now, if I'm consistent and I accept the interpretation of Rabbi Nakhman Bar Isaac, that this is My name to be concealed, le'olam, really means to be concealed, then I have to say in this verse too it means “concealed.” And rather than be the everlasting covenant, the rainbow, it is the concealed covenant between God and every living creature. Does that make sense?

Audience: No.

Nehemia: Not to me. And by the way, Keith has an amazing whole section in his book, “His Hallowed Name Revealed Again,” in which he talks about this topic. I was very impressed with this when I read Keith's book. Has he ever told this story? He was trying to prepare the study on the book, and he wanted me to help him. He wanted me to write it with him, and I was very busy at the time, preoccupied with certain personal matters in my life, and he was cut off. He had no ability to interact with me, so it forced him to go back and interact with the sources himself.

And I'm so glad and feel so blessed I was able to read his book after he’d interacted with the sources all on his own. And he brought this source, I was very impressed. He looked at the source about “to be concealed” and “forever” and all on his own, without talking to me and looking at my Hebrew skills, he came to the same exact conclusion that I came to. And he said, “Look, it's not consistent. If you're consistent and you look at other places where “olam” appears, and it means “forever,” it means, “for the continued duration of the existence of the universe,” we can't say, “This is my name olam means This is my name concealed.”

That's a great book, “His Hallowed Name Revealed Again.” As I mentioned, the only drawback to that book is that I'm not the co-author. But in retrospect, that was a great blessing both to Keith and to me, even though I don't have any percentages. All right, let's move on. Exodus 19:9, “And Yehovah said to Moses, ‘Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe in you forever.” And if you look in most of your English translations, you won't find "believe in you,” it'll just say, "believe you" or "trust you.” But in the Hebrew, it actually says that God revealed Himself to all Israel, 600,000 men and hundreds of thousands of women and children, for what purpose? “So that the people will hear when I speak with you…” God speaks with Moses, “and believe in you, Moses, forever.”

Did you know that in the Hebrew scriptures you're supposed to believe in Moses? What does it mean, “to believe in Moses?” What does it really mean? Think about it for a second, what did God mean here? It meant to believe that God really was speaking through Moses, and to live your life according to that instruction that God gave through Moses. To say, “I believe in Moses, would you like some of my pork sandwich?” I don't believe in Moses. My actions show that I don't believe in Moses. My actions say that yeah, Moses is some interesting little guy, who maybe some people have a tradition that God spoke to him thousands of years ago. But if you really believe the Creator of the universe spoke to Moses, and you believe in Moses, you've got to live your life in accordance with what Moses said, with the words that came out of his mouth from the mouth of God.

But let's look at the issue here of "forever.” “When I speak with you, and they will believe in you forever, olam,” does that mean we're supposed to believe in the concealment of Moses? Was this message of God speaking to all of Israel to be concealed? And you know, one of the really interesting things about the revelation at Sinai, I love the story of the revelation at Sinai, because if you look at every other religion in the world, you find out that they start out with one man in a cave somewhere up on a hill, having a revelation. But the faith of the Hebrew scriptures begins with 3 million people, 600,000 men and who knows how many women and people, they say about 3 million people, hearing the actual voice of God speaking from the mountain. And why did He do that? So that we would believe in Moses.

And it's interesting, there's a verse in Deuteronomy, where a challenge is laid out, and I forget the exact chapter and verse, but you can look it up. That's kind of funny. You can look it up, but I don’t know the chapter and verse. I'll post it on Facebook. There's a verse in Deuteronomy that talks about how there's never been a nation in all of history which has claimed that God has taken them out of bondage and spoken to them. And when I was a much younger man, I was starting to question the whole issue of the Rabbis. I said, “Well, if I'm questioning the Rabbis, maybe I need to question the word of God as well, the scriptures. How do I know it's really the word of God?” And I looked at that verse, and I went and began to investigate every religion in the ancient world, to see, is this statement true? If this statement really came from God, from the Creator of the universe, then it must be true, and there must not be any other nation in all of history that has claimed that God has taken them and spoken to them directly. And I found out that in fact, it was true.

There was always the man up on the hill somewhere in the mountain, who had the revelation, sitting under the tree in India, or whatever. But there was never in all of history, a nation that claimed that God spoke to the entire nation. And why is that? Because a man sitting under a tree in India can make something up and say, “Yeah, I had some experience.” Maybe he's telling the truth, but maybe he made it up and how can I ever know? But if three million people hear the voice of God, you can't make that up. Somebody would come and they’d look at the history in the Bible, the Old Testament, every one of the iniquities of Israel is laid out there. David sins, and Solomon sins, and Moses himself, his sins are laid out in the Hebrew scriptures. If Moses had made this up, if God had not spoken to the people, somebody would have stood up and said, “That was a lie. God didn't speak to us at Sinai.” And that's never happened, not in the history of ancient Israel. So, this is one of the reasons I do trust in the Hebrew scriptures.

Now, going back to the “olam” issue, it was not “to be concealed.” On the contrary, the very purpose of why God spoke to all of Israel was for it to be revealed and that we would believe in Moses for the continued duration of the existence of the universe, le'olam, forever. Let's look at another example. Exodus 31:16, “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath…” the Shabbat, “to observe the Sabbath throughout the generations for a temporary covenant for only 1,500 years.” Wait, that's not what it says, let's look at it again. “Throughout the generations as a perpetual olam, covenant.”

So, how long is the Sabbath relevant? Forever, le'olam, as long as there's an olam. As long as the physical universe continues to exist, this covenant will stand, according to the Hebrew scriptures. Verse 17, it says, “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever. For in six days, Yehovah made the heaven and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” And so, if you deny that this is forever, the sign of the covenant of the Shabbat, you are essentially denying that God is the Creator of the universe, ‘cause that's what this is a sign of. This sign of the covenant is a sign that God, Yehovah, the Father of creation, the God of the Hebrew scriptures, the God of Israel, that He is the Creator of the universe. And if you deny the Sabbath, you're denying that He is the Creator.

Let's look at another example, Jeremiah 31:35-36, “Thus says Yehovah who gives the sun to light the day, and the statutes of the moon and stars to light the night. ‘If these statutes depart from before Me,’ says Yehovah, ‘so too shall the seed of Israel cease from being a nation in My presence all the days.’”

What He's saying here is, as long as the physical universe continues to exist, as long as there's a sun lighting the day, and there's moon and the stars in the night, these are signs in the heavens, their continued existence, that My covenant with Israel shall continue to stand. It was not intended to be a temporary covenant. It was intended to be forever. And if you believe the God of the Hebrew scriptures, then that covenant still stands today.

Every time I see the new moon up in the heavens beginning the Hebrew month, it reminds me that the God of creation is true, that the covenant with the God of creation with Israel is a true covenant. That's what these signs in the heavens remind us, and this is olam. He's not saying here the word “olam,” but He's saying it in very concrete terms. As long as there's a sun, as long as there's a moon and stars, as long as these statutes of nature continue to exist in the physical universe, the covenant with Israel will continue to stand.

Matthew 5:18. Now, I'm going out on a limb here, because this is y'all's book. There was a Rabbi 2,000 years ago who used this Hebraic expression. He said, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law, till all is fulfilled.” He's saying, “As long as the heavens and earth continue to exist, as long as olam, as long as the physical universe continues to exist, this thing shall not pass away.” This word that was revealed through Moses will continue, not even the smallest little dot or dash. You know, "jot and tittle" is a really interesting phrase, because what is a tittle? The Greek word there is “kuriah,” which means a “diacritical mark,” little dots and dashes that separated one word meaning from another word. And in the Hebrew version of Matthew... Maybe I shouldn't reveal this, ‘cause...

Audience: Go ahead.

Nehemia: Okay, in the Hebrew version of Matthew, it doesn't say "jot and tittle,” it says, “Ot venekudah” which means “consonant and vowel.” Whoo-hoo. We need to move on. Babylonian Talmud brings a story that is interpreted by many historians, and many people in the Jewish, Christian and Messianic worlds, to mean that in the 1st century, the Jews no longer spoke the name of the Creator. And let's look at this story, ‘cause this is one of the things I struggled with when I was trying to find the answers. It says as follows… this is a rabbi named Rabbi Tarfon. He's actually kind of a famous Rabbi, ‘cause he appears in something called “Dialogues of Trypho” with Justin Martyr, and he was a Kohen, a Priest. And he said, “I once ascended the dais…” This is in the Temple, there was a platform where they would recite the Priestly Blessing. He says, “I once ascended the dais after my mother's brother, and inclined my ear to the High Priest, and heard him swallowing the name during the chanting of his brother Priests.”

And many historians will bring this passage which describes Rabbi Tarfon coming up to the dais where all the Priests would stand up there and they'd recite the Priestly Blessing. “Yevarekhekha Adonay veyishmerekha. Ya'er Adonay panav elekha viykhuneka. Yisa Adonay panav elekha veyasem lekha shalom.” That's how it's recited in every synagogue in the world today, with “Adonay,” with the replacement. If you look in the original in Numbers chapter 6 it has the actual name, “Yud-hey-vav- hey,” Yehovah. Rabbi Tarfon seems to be saying that when he went up to the dais in the Temple in the 1st century, that he listened really closely to the High Priest and he heard him say the name, mumbling it. While everybody else said “Adonay,” he heard the High Priest say, “Yehovah.” And if that's true, that means that in the 1st century, they didn't speak the name. But is that really true?

And look, for me, it doesn't really matter. God said to Moses, “The name is forever.” I'm not all that concerned about what happened in the 1st century, but I do want answers. And what I mean by that… You know, Michael said I don't have an agenda. I'm gonna let you in on a secret, I do have an agenda. My agenda is, I want the truth.

Audience: All right.

Nehemia: But I don't think you can handle the truth. Can you?

Audience: Yeah.

Nehemia: Okay, I'm gonna bring you the truth. And for me, this is important, because if you come to me and say, “Something has been changed,” I wanna know when it was changed. Maybe you can't tell me the exact year, but you can tell me roughly, “Before this, it was this way, and after this, it was that way.”

And let me give you a quick example with the biblical calendar. We know from the ancient rabbinical sources that the Hebrew month used to begin with the sighting of the new moon on the western horizon, shortly after sunset. There are great details discussing this in the early writings of the Rabbis. They talk about how they would bring in the witnesses and they would interrogate them. And there was one incident that took place in Jerusalem in the 1st century, where a man named Tobias the Physician saw the new moon with his son and his emancipated slave. And he came before the council of the Priests. And the Priest said, “Okay, who saw the new moon?” And everybody raised their hand, and they said, “Well, we don't listen to emancipated slaves,” so they took the testimony of him and his son.

He then went before the council of Rabbis, a different council, by the way. The Priests and the Rabbis disagreed not about how to begin the month, just about which witnesses to listen to, and they each had their own courts. They said, “Who has seen the new moon?” And all three raised their hand, and they said, “Sorry, we don't listen to father and sons. We'll take the father and the emancipated slave.” And so, they didn't disagree about how to begin the month, they only disagreed about which witnesses were valid. And that tells you in the 1st century, all the Jews in Jerusalem, both the Rabbis and the Priests, although they couldn't agree on much, agreed that the month began with the sighting of the new moon. That's solid information. Now, what year did it change? That's what I want to know.

We find out reading in rabbinical sources that there was a Rabbi in the year 359 who came along and changed it under the pressure of the Romans. It had to do with the defeat of a Roman Emperor who the Christians called “Julian the Apostate,” I won't go into that, that's a whole history. After Julian, the Christians decided to crush the rabbinical council, wipe it out. And Hillel the Second came along and established the modern calendar that most Jews use today, saying that when the Messiah would come, we would go back to the original calendar. And you know, as a Karaite, I'm very controversial, I say I want to follow the biblical calendar today. Okay, we could agree or disagree on that. You know, when the Messiah comes, we'll all do the same thing anyway, so it shouldn't be a point of division, in my opinion. In any event, there I can point to, here's what they did before, here's what they did after, and here's the time in which it changed.

Now, what about the speaking of the name? I want to know what they did before, I saw that in Exodus 3:15. I want to know what they did after. Well, I grew up with that. And I want to have some idea of when it changed. And that's why I'm concerned about what they did in the 1st century, because there I have evidence that I can find out, did they really speak the name? Was the High Priest really mumbling? Everyone was saying “Adonay,” and he said, “Yehovah.” Is that really what happened? Let's find out.

I went to the sources, and I found out that that's a complete lie. And why is it a lie? Well, it's not really a lie, it's just not what we think it is. Let's look at the continued passage here, and this is the same passage in the Talmud. If you read the context... You know, Keith has this great expression that I love that I've adopted and stolen for myself, “Keep reading.” Repeat after me, “Keep reading.”

Audience: Keep reading.

Nehemia: So, if you keep reading, not just in the New Testament, and not just in the Old Testament, but if you're looking at any source, don't just take one word out of context that fits your theory. If you want the truth, you gotta keep reading and read the whole context. So, let's see what it says in the Talmud. It says that, “Our Rabbis taught it, first they used to transmit the 12-letter name to every man,” say, “12-letter name.”

Audience: 12-letter name.

Nehemia: “Ever since the robbers multiplied, they would only transmit it to the humble Priests, and the humble Priests swallow it during the chanting of their brother Priests.” Oh, so we're not talking about the name, “Yud-hey-vav-hey,” “Yehovah.” We're talking about the 12-letter name of the Father. What is the 12-letter name of the Father? It's so secret, I don't even know what it is, and frankly, I don't care. It's not in my Bible, so I'm not really concerned about what it is. Maybe it's a good thing that it became a secret, but we're not even talking about the four-letter name.

The first part is the most widely quoted passage of historians talking about when the name ceased to be used and it's not even talking about the name, “Yud-hey-vav-hey,” “Yehovah.” It's talking about some secret 12-letter name that we don't even know what it is today. And like I said, I could care less.

Another source they quote is Josephus, who was a Jewish historian in the 1st century. There's a lady there in the back, who I'm going to ask the stand up. I'm going to put her on the spot, Madeline. She's a 69-year-old lady who just went on a two-week tour of Israel with me and some friends. And she was hiking up and down the mountains, through the valleys, scaling the walls of mountains, literally. And one of the things I kept talking to the group about is Josephus, and she is a very honest woman, raised Jewish. And she said to me, “I'm Jewish, but I don't know who Josephus is.” And I explained, “Josephus is a Jewish historian who lived in the 1st century. He was actually a general of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, which began in the year 66. He was the leader of the Jews in the Galilee, and when the Jews were defeated in the Galilee, he was captured by the Romans. And he decided, “Okay, I'm just gonna help the Romans out instead of continuing the revolt. We have no chance of defeating the Romans, I'm going to survive.” He was a survivor. The importance of Josephus is once he got under Roman rule, one of the things he immediately saw is that the Romans, under the influence of the Greeks, despised the Jews. And one of the things the Romans were claiming is the Jews were this tribe of lepers that were so sick and miserable, they were kicked out of Egypt.

And so, he sat down after the war, after the rebellion, and he wrote a history of the Jews. And this is the first full-scale history that’s survived of the Jewish people, beginning with creation... I mean, besides the Bible, I'm talking about, and ending with the Jewish war against the Romans in the year 74 at Masada. And to this day, Josephus is a key source, because he's a Jew who lived through this period of the Temple standing, the Temple being destroyed and what things were like after the Temple. He actually had been in the Temple. He was from a family of Priests. He’d interacted with Jewish groups, so he's a very important source. And he tells us all kinds of important pieces of information about ancient Judaism. One of the things we need to do with Josephus, just like with any ancient source, is keep reading.

Audience: Keep reading.

Nehemia: And we have to look at the context. Josephus was writing primarily to two audiences. The main audience was the Greeks, who he was trying to convince that the Jews were not a tribe of lepers, we’re an ancient nation that goes back to the time of Abraham and Moses, and we have an ancient culture and an ancient tradition, and you've got to respect us. The Greeks respected ancient things.

The other group he was writing to were Jews in the diaspora, trying to convince them not to rebel against the Romans. That was a minor, secondary purpose he had. Here, in his book called “Antiquities of the Jews,” the second book, section 276, he says as follows. “God declared to Moses His holy name, which had never been discovered to men before, concerning which it is not lawful for me to say anymore.” Now, some historians have looked at this and said, “Well, in the time of Josephus, they no longer said the name of the Creator, the name of the Father, the name that was revealed to Moses, because that's what he means by, ‘It's no longer lawful for me to say anymore.’” Now, it's really interesting that the word for "lawful" Josephus used in that passage is a word that he doesn't normally use, and it's the Greek word “semitos.” Say, “Semitos.”

Audience: Semitos.

Nehemia: And it turns out that this is a technical term that has a very specific connotation, and it explains why he made this statement in the 1st century. Let's look at one of the commentaries on Josephus. The commentary on Josephus says, “The word ‘semitos,’ ‘lawful,’ used by Josephus here, is a technical term in the mystery cults.” Uh-oh. “Josephus thus takes the opportunity to impart to Judaism the flavor of a mystery cult.” Now, what is that about? What that's about is there were these religions, they call them “cults,” but they were really just temple-worshiping religions. They had a temple, and they had all kinds of mystery that you had to go through in order to become part of their religion. Those were called the “Greek mystery cults.” And Josephus wants to impress the Greeks. And so, to impress the Greeks, he kind of presents Judaism disingenuously as a mystery cult, because he knows that will impress his Greek readers.

And he wants two things to impress the Greeks more than anything. One is the name of the Jewish God, which he makes out that this is a mystery. “I'm not allowed to reveal it to you, simple people who haven't been inducted.” It's a mystery. It's a secret. There's a second thing. Remember, keep reading. What's the other thing he says is a mystery that only the initiated Jews are allowed to know? In Antiquities book 3 section 9, he says, “And they all heard a voice that came to all of them from above.” This is describing the revelation at Sinai, “which Moses wrote down two tablets.” That's the two tablets of stone with the 10 Commandments, “which it is not lawful, semitos, for us to set down directly, but their import we will declare.” In plain English, what is Josephus saying? The 10 Commandments are so secret and holy, I can't tell you Greeks what they are. I can tell you the basic gist of the 10 Commandments, but the actual words that God revealed to Israel on Mount Sinai are a secret. They’re a semitos, that it's forbidden to reveal to the Greeks. This is what Josephus tried to convince his Greek readers and they didn't know any better, how would they know the difference? So, he gives them a summary, a paraphrase of the 10 Commandments, but not the actual Commandments, which he says is semitos, unlawful to reveal. And that has to do with trying to present Judaism as this ancient mystery that would impress the Greeks. Are the 10 Commandments really a mystery?

Audience: No.

Nehemia: No. Is it true that in the 1st century, it was forbidden to reveal to people what the 10 Commandments really said?

Audience: No.

Nehemia: No. So, do you think it was really forbidden to reveal what the name was? If we're consistent, if we'll keep reading, the name and the 10 Commandments are both treated as these mysteries by Josephus. And they weren't mysteries, he was just trying to impress his Greek audience. And this is why it's important to look at the full context of the ancient sources. People will bring you one verse, or one passage, or one sentence out of context, and they'll say, “Look, I've proven my point.” And you really need to get into the depth of it and get to the sources and keep reading. Keep…

Audience: Keep reading.

Nehemia: …reading. Get to the sources and find out what it really says, if you want the truth. If you have the Nehemia agenda of uncovering the truth, you've gotta keep reading.

Here's a really interesting passage I came across in the Mishnah, the writings of these Rabbis, describing the service of Yom Kippur every year in the Temple, where the High Priest would come. And it says, “When the multitudes standing in the courtyard of the Temple heard the explicit name…” that's the name “Yehovah,” “…come forth from the mouth of the High Priest, they would kneel prostrate and fall on their faces, and then say, ‘Blessed is the glorious name of His kingdom forever.’” Now, why is this source important? If the multitudes heard the High Priest speaking the name in the Temple, and they bowed down on their hands and knees, and they said, “Barukh shem kevod malkhuto le'olam va'ed,” “Blessed is the glorious name of His kingdom forever,” could it have been a secret?

Audience: No.

Nehemia: I guess it wasn't a very well-kept secret. And what's really interesting about this, I didn't realize this until I was doing this research, I actually rehearsed this ceremony with my father growing up in the synagogue. In every Orthodox synagogue in the world to this day, during the Yom Kippur service, at certain points in the service, 10 times during the service, the entire congregation will bow down on their hands and knees, like the Muslims do. They'll bow down on their hands and knees, the way that they used to bow down in the Temple. And if you ask the Rabbis, “Why you do this?” they say, “This is a rehearsal of what we used to do in the Temple every time the High Priest spoke the name, the shem hameforash, the explicit name of the Creator, and what we will once again do when the Messiah comes.” So, I actually rehearsed this growing up and didn't even realize it until I was researching this.

Now, here's the point, here's the bottom line. The name was not a secret in the 1st century and it wasn't forbidden in the 1st century. Every Jew who came to the Temple heard the name spoken in the Temple by the High Priest at least 10 times. In addition, they heard it recited every day by the Priests who were reciting the blessing. It doesn't go, “Yevarekhekha Adonay veyishmerekha.” It really says, “Yevarekhekha Yehovah veyishmerekha,” “Yehovah bless you and keep you” “Ya'er Yehovah panav elekha viykhuneka.” “Yehovah shine His face towards you and be gracious towards you.” “Yisa Yehovah panav elekha veyasem lekha shalom.” “Yehovah lift His face towards you and give you peace.”

Every single time, three times a day, the Jews would hear the Priests saying that in the Temple. And maybe the High Priest was mumbling a 12-letter name under his breath, I don't know, maybe that's why the Temple was destroyed. But the rest of the Priests, they were reciting the actual name. And this is what the ancient rabbinical sources say, that it had to be the name. They weren't allowed to use a replacement in the Temple, because the passage ends, “And they shall place My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”

So, even the Rabbis who today forbid the name and say it's a secret we mustn't share with the Gentiles, and really even with our own people, it's only revealed once every seven years from Rabbi to disciple. Even those Rabbis admit that at the time of the Temple, everyone knew the name. It was proclaimed by the Priests, and everyone heard it. Okay. Oh, boy. I said to Keith I'm not going to need the entire hour. And he wanted to bet me money, and I said I probably shouldn't do that.

Okay, but I want to talk really quickly with you about one of the really cool sources that I came across when trying to find out when they spoke the name and when they didn't speak the name. We established in the 1st century the Priests were speaking the name in the Temple. There's no question about that. There's definitive proof for that. What about the multitudes? What about the simple people? That's what I wanted to know. Did they speak the name in earlier times? And I came across a really interesting source, which was a letter written in paleo-Hebrew. In fact, here is the letter, this is what it looks like.

This is a letter from Lakhish, which in ancient times it was the second largest town in the kingdom of Judah. And in the Lakhish letter, there's a series of letters, let's go back to the previous slide. Actually, let’s go away from the slides for a second. Let me tell you what the Lakhish letters are. There were a series of letters written by this field officer who was the officer in charge of an observation post out in the Judean hills, and his name is “Hoshayahu,” which is a really interesting name because Hoshayahu means “Yehovah saves.” It comes from the same root as “Yeshua.” Actually, Hoshayahu and Yehoshua are the same exact name, just backwards. “Hoshayahu” means, “Yehovah saves.” And he's writing these reports back to his commander whose name is “Ye'ush,” which interestingly it means, “Despair.” And he's writing to the commander all kinds of things that are happening. He's writing about how we see the signal fires, and all kinds of interesting things. And these letters were discovered in Lakhish. They were sent to his commander, Ye'ush, and Ye'ush kept them in his personal archive, and when Lakhish fell, these letters were preserved. And one of the letters is Hoshayahu's response to the accusation by his commander that he was illiterate.

And I could imagine, we don't know exactly how it came up that he was accused of being illiterate, but it probably went something like this; that an order was sent to Hoshayahu by his commander, and Hoshayahu didn't follow the order. And the commander must have written something to him to the effect of, “What's the matter, can't you read letters? I gave you an order and you didn't follow it. What's the matter, can't you read?” And here is Hoshayahu's response to that accusation. He says as follows. “Concerning that which my lord said, ‘You do not know how to read letters,’ as Yehovah lives, no man has ever tried to read a letter to me. And indeed, I read every letter that comes to me, and I furthermore pay attention to it.” He's insisting that he's literate, he could read, and he can write, which is very interesting because if you would have gone to an ancient Canaanite in this period, or an ancient Babylonian, or an ancient Assyrian, and gone to one of the field officers… In fact, you could go to the Egyptian army today to some of the field officers, and the Syrian army for sure, and they can't read and write. The commanders on top, they can read and write, but the simple, little lieutenants and lower officers, they can't read and write.

And this man is insisting, “No, I can read and write. No one's ever tried to read a letter to me. I'm literate, as Yehovah lives.” Now, what's interesting is that he said, “As Yehovah lives.” Now, how do I know that he actually said those words? Maybe he actually said, “As Adonay lives,” but he wrote it as “Yehovah.” How do I know? And remember, I'm the Litvak, I want definitive evidence and proof. And when we look at the actual letter, here's what we see. We see here, this is a khet, say, “Khet.”

Audience: Khet.

Nehemia: Yud.

Audience: Yud.

Nehemia: Hey.

Audience: Hey.

Nehemia: Vav.

Audience: Vav.

Nehemia: Hey.

Audience: Hey.

Nehemia: Yud-hey-vav-hey is the name of the Creator. The khet there is the khet of the word "lives.” And the phrase, “As Yehovah lives,” which appears 44 times in the Hebrew Bible, that's the standard vow formula, or oath of ancient Israel. It's the phrase, “Khay Yehovah.” Say, “Khay.”

Audience: Khay.

Nehemia: Yehovah.

Audience: Yehovah.

Nehemia: “As Yehovah lives,” but Hoshayahu didn't write it this way. He wrote it like this. “Khayhovah.” He dropped one of the yuds in this phrase, “Khay Yehovah.” And the only reason he would do that is because he spoke that way. If you're writing it, normally you wouldn't write that way, but he wrote it the way he spoke it. And what's really interesting about this is the way he wrote it, “Khayhovah” isn't proper Hebrew. What he did here is he used a contraction. And you know, in English we have many contractions like "can't" and "won't" and "shouldn't,” and those are proper English. Ancient Hebrew doesn't really have contractions.

When an ancient Hebrew used a contraction like this, it's more like when we say in English "ain't.” What's "ain't" a contraction for? “Am not. I am not, I ain't.” That's not proper English. When you hear somebody say that, you say, “Okay, they don't speak the standard way that we're taught to speak in English.” You know, maybe some of your parents slapped your hand or corrected you. And when somebody says "ain't,” that's not standard, proper English. And when you said “Khayhovah” for “As Yehovah lives,” that was not proper ancient Hebrew. But it shows that this is how the simple captain who is the commander of this field observation post, that's how he spoke. And he actually spoke the name. I mean, that blows me away, that the faith of an ancient Israelite, of this ancient Judean, is so strong that when he swears, he doesn't say, “As the king lives,” and he doesn't say, “As Ba'al lives,” as many of his brothers and sisters did, he says, “As Yehovah lives.”

And imagine if you were his commander and you read this, and it has the equivalent of "ain't,” and he says, “I ain't illiterate.” I mean, that would have been funny, but that was the simple faith that this man had. That's how he spoke, he wrote the way he spoke. That's beautiful to me. I'm not gonna judge him for not speaking properly. To me, it's a beautiful thing, that he's a simple man who speaks the way a normal person would speak, and he speaks the name of the Father.

Why does he swear, "As Yehovah lives?” Deuteronomy 6:13, “You shall fear the Lord your God...” And of course, it says “Yehovah” in the Hebrew, with “Lord” in caps. “And serve Him and shall take oaths in His name.” And we see 44 times they did it in His name, again, in Deuteronomy 10:20. There is a really interesting end-times prophecy related to this. This is Jeremiah 12:16, it's speaking about the Gentiles. And it says, “It shall be if they nevertheless learn the way of My people to swear in My name, as Yehovah lives,” “Khay Yehovah.” Say, “Khay Yehovah...”

Audience: Khay Yehovah.

Nehemia: “…in the way they taught my people to swear by Ba'al.” Say, “Khay Ba'al.” No, don't say that. “Then they shall be built in the midst of My people.” This is a promise to the nations, “If they learn to swear in the name Yehovah the way they taught Israel to swear by Ba'al, they'll be built in the midst of His people.” Whoo-hoo. Now, this is an argument I have with many of my Karaite brothers and sisters, and many of my rabbinical brothers and sisters who say, “Those Gentiles, they're not gonna be part of us. You know, they talk about being grafted in. We're going to have Israelites and Gentiles, and never the twain shall meet.” This is an argument I have with many of my Karaite brothers and sisters and rabbinical brothers and sisters.

But you know, there's a really interesting passage in Genesis 12, I believe it's verse 3, somewhere around there, where God says to Abraham, He gives him a blessing. And the blessing is, “In you shall be blessed all the nations of the earth.” And this blessing appears several times to the forefathers. And the interesting thing about that is the word "blessed" can also mean “grafted in.” And that's how actually the Rabbis in the Talmud, some of the Rabbis, interpreted this, “And you will be grafted in all the nations of the earth.”

Okay, on that note, I probably need to wrap this up. Here's another passage that shows that the simple people spoke the name of the Creator. This appears in 1 Chronicles chapter 16. “Then on that day, David first commissioned Assaf and his kinsmen to give praise to Yehovah. ‘Praise Yehovah, call on His name.’” Now, these are the Levites. Okay, the Levites say the name, that's fine. What about the common folk? In verse 36, after they bring this whole long Psalm, this whole long praise using the name, it says, “And all the people said ‘Amen,’ and ‘Praise Yehovah.’” So, even the simple folk in ancient Israel in the Temple proclaimed the name, “Yehovah.” This wasn't a secret, it wasn't banned. That came about many years later, for various reasons that we talked about. The simple Israelites, they said, “Amen,” and “Praise Yehovah.” So, can we do that? I'm going to ask this side to say, “Amen.” Sorry, guys, you're not gonna be able to do it. And you guys say, “Hallel Yehovah.” “Hallel” is “Praise.” “Hallel Yehovah.”

Crowd: Amen. Hallel Yehovah.

Nehemia: Woo, I'm excited by that. Now, some people ask me, “Why on earth, Nehemia, are you coming up here and talking about this name? You could talk about a million things.” And you know what? I could. I could come up here and talk to you until you go blue in the face about the biblical calendar, and the intricacies of the aviv barley, and the new moon. And I could come up and talk to you about all kinds of interesting topics. I could talk to you about nidda, which people don't wanna hear. I could come up to you and talk to you about the laws of kosher in the Bible. I could come up to here and talk about all kinds of pieces of information that I have. Why am I so excited about this, talking about this name?

And I want to share really quickly with you a story that happened. Keith and I were invited to come and speak at this reformed Jewish temple in Georgia. And I've been to many Christian congregations and many Messianic congregations in all kinds of places, talking about the name, but this was the first time I'd been invited to come and speak in a real Jewish synagogue. No offense, Messianics. We were in there and I was speaking about this topic. And when I got to actually saying the name, I thought, “Okay, I'm not coming here to offend people. I'm very zealous for what I believe in, but I have common decency and good manners. I'm not going to come into somebody else's synagogue and say something that's offensive to them.” Michael can do that, but that's not me, even though I'm wearing his shirt.

Before I actually spoke the name, after I gave this whole presentation, I said to the man who was leading the service that day, “Would it be okay if I actually spoke the name of our God? Would that be offensive? In my Orthodox upbringing I know it would be offensive, and so, I wouldn't go to an Orthodox synagogue and speak it. Would it be okay if I said it in your synagogue?” And he said, “Absolutely, go right ahead.” And I stood there, and I was about to say it. And I closed my eyes, and I could have sworn I heard from the back of the congregation the shout of the High Priest shouting, “Blasphemy, stone him.” But I opened my eyes and there was no High Priest there, and out of my mouth came the name, “Yehovah.” And I was so excited, that was one of the highlights of my life. I felt like I was living the words of the Prophet who spoke in the Psalms these words, which said, “I will declare Your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assemblies, I will praise you.” Hallel laYehovah. All right, thank you.

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Dedication Uncovered – Keith Johnson (Open Door Series – Part 14)

Keith Johnson speaks about Dedication Uncovered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkEmBAp1UeA?rel=0 Transcript

Dedication Uncovered - Keith Johnson (Open Door Series - Part 14)

You are listening to the Open Door Series with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Speaker: For over 2,000 years, Jewish scribes and Christian translators have worked together to conceal God’s name, so that you could not proclaim it. Now, God has united a Jew and a Gentile for the singular purpose to reveal His name to the nations. “Therefore, My people shall know My name. Therefore, on that day, I am the one who is speaking. Here I am.” That day has come, for God’s people to know His name.

Within a year apart, God revealed His name to both Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson, from the two most important Hebrew manuscripts in the world. Now, they are collaborating to bring all of their valuable information, inspiration and revelation together in what they call the “Hammer Pack.” These resources will break through layers of tradition to reveal the truth about the name of God that has been concealed for too long.

In the Hammer Pack, you’ll receive Keith Johnson’s book, “His Hallowed Name Revealed Again,” with a newly released complete “His Hallowed Name” audio-video study kit, which includes the 12-episode TV series, “His Hallowed Name,” and an instructional CD where you’ll learn to proclaim the unique name of our Heavenly Father, and 80 of his powerful Hebrew descriptions. Also included is an important research update, as well as an uplifting teaching regarding encountering the name of God.

Included in the Hammer Pack is Nehemia Gordon’s latest work, “Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence,” where his search for answers leads him to uncover an age-old conspiracy of silence surrounding the Priestly Blessing found in the Book of Numbers, that is based on God’s name being unleashed. Get the Hammer Pack right now, and you’ll also receive the bonus DVD set, “Stand against the Ban,” a live teaching series where Keith and Nehemia employ the linguistic, historical, and contextual hammer regarding God’s name, that you can use today.

Remember, when you get the Hammer Pack, you’ll be equipped to pray, praise, and proclaim God’s Holy and powerful name. “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know. This time I will make them know My power and My might. They shall know that My name is…”

Visit our website now.

Keith: This is the third time that I’ve been invited to come and speak as a part of what Michael Rood’s ministry has been doing over this last year. But I see a progression, and the progression was, first, what are these guys going to talk about? What is this thing going to be? That was at the time of Shavuot. And then, of course, at Yom Teruah, you know, how far are we going to go? Well, this time, we’re going just a little bit further.

But before I get started, I have to give you some important background, and the background is this. Ten years ago, when I was in Israel, I was confronted with three things: God’s time, God’s Torah, God’s name. The thing that arrested me more than anything was God’s name. Now, I come from a background, I was a United Methodist Pastor, I got a chance to be a chaplain for the Minnesota Vikings, athletes around the world. I had a really wonderful ministry, did everything that God called me to do. But then, this radical thing happened, I had this encounter. Well, when I was with Nehemia and we began to talk about God’s name, and he was the first Jewish person who I had ever met who was not afraid to talk to me about the name, he did a really controversial thing. And sometimes, I think, over the last 10 years he regretted it at some point. Here’s what he did.

He did the very thing that he did with you today, and he’s been doing for the last two years. He opened up the treasure chest of information to me. Now, here’s what I did. I thought to myself initially, “I’m going to take this information and just keep it to myself and my close circle of influence.” Because, you know, when you deal with something like the name of God, I didn’t realize really how controversial it was, but I knew how powerful the information was.

So as I was dealing with this information, I kept it very, very close. I actually did a study on it, shared it with a few people, but left it at that. 2009, something happens. After Nehemia and I wrote the book, A Prayer to Our Father, the Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer, I should also tell you this - and Nehemia, I just going to let you know right now, you can’t stop me. I’m going to say everything I want to say today. [laughter]

When we wrote this book, you’ve got to understand something - you’ve got a Karaite Jew and a Methodist coming together on the Hebrew origins of the Prayer of Jesus, Yeshua, depending on what you call him. We had some book organization, some publishers say, “Hey, this is an amazing book, if we could just get some more famous people to have written it.” [laughter]

One of them said, “Now, if it had been like Mandela and Netanyahu, maybe we would publish the book. But who is Keith Johnson?” And they barely knew Nehemia Gordon. We didn’t care, because what we had decided was, the information was so important, we had to get it out, and we didn’t care if they wanted to accept it or not. And I’m going to tell you something. I’m so glad that we did.

Now, there’s a section in the book that we don’t talk a lot about, but you should know something about this book. This book has crossed the boundaries, Jew, Gentile, black, white, everything you can imagine. There’s a section of the book that is quite radical, and we had an argument about it. Can I tell you about the argument?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: I mean, look at your neighbor and say, “Tell us the truth.”

Audience: Tell us the truth.

Keith: Here was the argument. There’s a section where it says that Jesus teaches the prayer, or Yeshua, that says, “Yitkadesh Shimkha,” “Your name be sanctified,” and of course, we could have read that whole book except for that section, and maybe even gotten around that section without putting the information in that section about what the name is that he told them to sanctify. Do you know, we could have written the book…? There are people that write whole books about the Lord’s Prayer and talk about “Hallowed be Thy name” and never tell you what the name is?

So here was the big argument. The argument was this, I’m like, “Nehemia, I say, we tell the people the way we understand it.” Nehemia being politically correct, the way that he is, “Well, Keith. We don’t really want to cause any division. We don’t want to cause any controversy. Let’s just tell them it could be this, it could be that.” So he won that argument.

And then, God said this to me. “All right, Keith. Tell it to them just the way you learned it.” Now, he stands up here and he says, “You know, it’s a great book. It’s a magnificent masterpiece. The only thing is, I’m not the co-author.” What he doesn’t tell you is the first person I went to about the book was him. And guess what he said? “Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no. This, Keith, is controversy that will cause us literally to be banned. If we go out and teach people, especially in the Messianic movement, about the name of God, they’re not going to invite us to speak.”

Well, guess what? I didn’t really care. [applause] Nehemia being the publisher and the public relations guy that he is, said, “Keith, don’t you know that there have been times where there have been organizations, movements, fellowships that will invite me to their fellowship, then even if I don’t believe in Jesus, I am a Karaite, they say, ‘But when they found out that I say the name as ‘Yehovah’ rather than ‘Yahweh’, they cancelled my gig.”

So Nehemia said, “I’m not doing it.” And I said, “I am,” because I’ve read something kind of interesting. You know, there are times that if you just keep doing what God wants you to do, He’ll have other people catch up to you and even pass you. Can I give you guys a secret? I have been secretly hoping that one day, my Hebrew Jewish friend, scholar, Dead Sea Scrolls reader, Hebrew Tanakh understander, all that he knows, that he would be the one that would stand up and tell you, “Guess what? This is what His name is. This is how you say it. This is how you read it. And even though it’s controversial, I’m going to tell you.” [applause]

So can you understand, can you understand for me why I get so excited about traveling around with this Hebrew scholar, who happens to come from a tradition where they tell him, “You must not, you shall not, you cannot proclaim this name.”

Now, let me get really controversial. What has bothered me more than anything else is this movement that sometimes calls itself Messianic that will say, “It is more important for us to look like, smell like, be like, act like Jews than deal in the truth.” Can I say that again?

Audience: Yes. Say it again.

Keith: Can I say that again?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: There are people in the movement that say, “If we just look like, act like, smell like, think like, feel like, do exactly like the rabbis do, we’ll feel closer to the one we call Yeshua and Jesus.” And they don’t even understand, Yeshua, Jesus, you can call him what you want, but you’d better never say he was a traditionalist. You’d better never say, “He followed the rule of the rabbi.” He was as radical as it gets.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: And let me tell you something, and I’ve said it before. I haven’t even started the message yet. [laughter] He proclaimed his Father’s name.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: He walked in his Father’s name.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: He believed in his Father’s name. He talked about his Father’s name. And do you know what’s really going on right now, that Nehemia won’t tell you? We have finally gotten the attention of those that are saying, “You’re now reaching my people.” Can I say that again?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: There are some leaders that are saying, “Okay, all right. You know what? This was funny, at first.” They laughed at us - a Methodist writing about the name of God. Are you kidding me? They laughed, they joked. Then they got a little bit offensive. They got angry. And after they got angry, they started to conspire. Now, I love the story in the book of Nehemiah. You all know about that book?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: In the book of Nehemiah, when he heard about the problem, what he decided to do was to go and rebuild the wall. The first thing that the enemy did was ridicule him. They laughed. Then they started making fun. Then they got angry. Then they conspired. And then they lost. Can I give you all some good news? The traditionalists are losing…

Audience: Amen.

Keith: …regarding the truth of God’s name. [applause] Why does this make me so excited? I have said it, and Nehemia has heard me say it. Nehemia, here you are, this man who’s got enough guts to stand against tradition, and you’ve got keys to information that nobody in the world is willing to talk about.

Audience: Right.

Keith: He just happened to hook up with a Methodist who’s crazy enough, “I don’t care if they kick me out. I’m waiting for it.” [laughter]

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: I would rather die in truth than live in tradition, can you hear me? [applause] So there are some people that are very, very frustrated with us. They are so frustrated with us, they’re saying, “Now, listen. You guys have gone too far. It was cute for a while, but now my people are starting to ask me questions, and I don’t have the answers.” Now, if they were just humble enough to call up 214… can I give his phone number? [laughter] Or go to his Facebook, or deal with him some way, they could have the same thing happen to them that happened to me. I was humble enough to say this, though I am cum laude from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Methodist pastor, educated, there was some information that he had that I didn’t have, and I was willing to say, “Nehemia, I will humble myself down and learn Aleph, Bet, Gimmel, Daled.” Hey, come on, somebody, “Hey, Vav. Teach me the consonants. Teach me the vowels. Teach me about the notes. Teach me everything I can, because this name has captivated me. I’m arrested by it. I can’t help it. It’s doing something deep in me. It’s like Jeremiah. It’s like a fire burning inside of me, I can’t hold it back anymore. Every time I try to suppress it, it causes me problems. I’ve got to let the world know that He has a name, and that it’s only because of tradition that you don’t know it.” Bow your heads.

Father, thank you for Your goodness and Your grace. Thank you that You have decided, even against that which is comfortable for many people, to reveal Your name to people who they think are not qualified. That just seems to be Your way. You pick a Karaite to be the one to say, “My son, here’s My name, tell the world.” You pick a Methodist to be willing to go out and say, “I’m going to go against tradition.” Here’s Your name. Father, I want to thank You so much for the very pattern of Yeshua who said, “Yitkadesh Shimkha,” “Your name be sanctified. Your name be a call to action.” Father, help us to be people that will not sit on our hands, sit on our seats, and sit back and say what we don’t think and what we do think. Help us to be a people that will begin to act in Your name. And in the end, we’re going to look for exploits in this earth, just the way You promised it. In Your Holy name, Yehovah, everyone said together, amen.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: So here’s what I’ve got to tell you all. Nehemia did something really, really radical. He mentioned it to you. He actually created a logo that caused a shock wave, a literal earthquake all the way across the seas. Here’s what he did. He took the sign of the no-smoking ban and he put it over the written name of God. We have it on the screen, I want you to look at it. Do you have any idea what happened? I want to say this. I was working with him, but it’s his fault. [laughter] He created this logo, and then acted like, “Well, you know, I don’t know where it came from.”

Do you know that there are people that just… I mean, it caused such a response and we thought, “Amen. You mean, somebody cares,” and I want you to keep it on the screen. What they don’t realize is this very thing that offends them is the way they’re living. And how does our Father feel when He sees His name, which has been witnessed in the oldest, most complete manuscripts, with a line through it that is purely tradition? You can now take it off, because I’m sure some folks got nervous about that.

We did it on purpose, because what we really wanted to show was another logo. We wanted to show a logo that I hope that A Rood Awakening and every other place will take. I want you to use it. I want you to reproduce it. There’s no trademark on it, but it is a message that I want you to hear. And before I show you this next logo, you should understand something. Up until the time where I had access to the information, I didn’t know anything about pronunciation. Once I got a chance to see the information for myself, I couldn’t help but share it with you. There’s one small little dot that sort of changes the game regarding the name of God. Nehemia mentioned it last time we were here, with Yom Teruah. This particular little dot, and before you show it, allows us to speak the name. It allows us to proclaim the name.

So what I did, about a month ago was, I called the most radical man that I knew that had guts, Michael Rood. I said, “Michael, I want to call you about something. I know this is pretty radical. I know you are already doing it anyway, but I think it’s time for us to stand against the ban of proclaiming God’s name.” And Michael said, “Absolutely. Let’s do it. Let’s combine it with Chanukkah. Let’s come together, let’s tell the world about it. Let’s let everybody know that this ban is unholy.”

Audience: Right.

Keith: “Let’s stand against the ban.” The second person I called was Nehemia Gordon. I said, “Nehemia, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to meet me on Christmas Sunday in Florida.” [laughter] I said, “Nehemia, I need you to meet me on Christmas Sunday in Florida,” and guess what he said? “What is it about?” “It’s about standing against the ban.”

Now, some of you are thinking, “Keith wait a minute. Don’t you understand? We’re celebrating Chanukkah. This ain’t got nothing to do with Christmas.” Well, you know, this is a year where both Christmas and Chanukkah are celebrated together. Now, can I give you all a hint, just before I get right down to it? There are some people who celebrate Chanukkah as if it were Christmas.

Audience: Yep, yeah.

Keith: Oh, you understand what I’m saying? They celebrate Chanukkah as if it were Christmas, but they’re self-righteous. “Well, it’s not Christmas for me. It’s Chanukkah, but I put a kippah on Santa Claus with some tzitzit.” [laughter]

Now, I’m going to tell you all right now, you know, I’m so glad my wife is listening. My wife, Andrea, is listening. You know, she’s praying right now, “Keith, don’t say it. Don’t do it. Don’t go that far.” But honey, I’ve got to say it.

Audience: Come on!

Keith: Two days ago, I walked in the lobby of a hotel. When I walked into the lobby of the hotel, there was a big, large, tall Christmas tree. It had all of the little things they put on Christmas trees, you know, and it had beautiful presents with blue ribbons, and boxes, and I mean, it was one that back in the day when I was a good, old-fashioned United Methodist pastor who was preaching every Sunday, you know, these kinds of weekends were big for me, because these kinds of weekends… you know, on a Sunday, can I get an amen, Arthur? When it’s a Sunday Christmas, I mean, you get a double blessing. Not only do you preach and get the regular tithes, sometimes, they bring you, you know, every once in a while, a little pastor present or something like that.

So it was a big deal for me 10 years ago to decide, once I learned the information, that I would have no more to do with that which is unholy to my Father.

Audience: Yeah. [applause]

Keith: So I walked into this lobby of a hotel in Fort Lauderdale, and when I walk in, I see this Christmas tree. Now, whatever you think about Christmas trees, say what you want about them, I have my opinions about them. But I looked across the lobby, and it looked like something that looked like a Charlie Brown tree. [laughter] Some of you all more unholy people watch Charlie Brown Christmas. Charlie Brown brought this raggedly little tree that had nothing on it, and I looked across and sure enough, there was this thing that looked like a Charlie Brown tree with presents under it. Got a little closer, and it was a menorah that had presents exactly wrapped just like the presents under the Christmas tree.

Now you all, can I tell you what bothered me about that? There are people that are saying, “You know what? Okay, we’re not going to do Christmas, because we know that that is something that is outside of the will and the way of the Father. What we’re going to do is take a little bit of Chanukkah - we’re going to do like Michael says, add a little bit of dreidels, and a little bit of this, and a little bit of that and say, ‘We’re self-righteous, look at us.’” Let me tell you something. If you want to get down to the nitty-gritty, which I’m going to do today, if you want to get down to the nitty-gritty, Chanukkah has nothing, it does not look like, it does not smell like, it does not act like that which we call Christmas.

Audience: Amen! [applause]

Keith: So what was I saying. Anyway, honey, just forgive me on that. So I’m talking to Nehemia, I said, “Okay. Nehemia, now listen. We need to do this. We’ve got to come up with something regarding the logo for the stand against the ban.” So we came up with something and we called our friend, Renee Curtis, and we said, “Renee, can you help us communicate what it is we’re doing regarding the proclamation of God’s name?” She took what Nehemia did and what we’re doing this weekend, and by the way, what we’re going to do, not only in the United States but around the world, going forward, until our Father comes back. What is the picture that we could send that would send the right message about standing against the ban on God’s name? This is what we came up with.

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: Now, for anybody that really has any insight, if you look at that, there are so many messages, I bet you all didn’t see one is black, and one is white. I bet you didn’t see that. [laughter] I bet you didn’t see that the very thing that caused it to be broken was the holam in the middle of the Hey, and the Vav. You can see how it’s over that holam and comes out. And it says, “Bam! This is how you say My name.” There are so many things about it you all, this picture is the picture by which we are going forward, and my friend, Nehemia, has finally agreed, “Okay, Keith. It’s controversial. I will go with you, and sometimes I’ll even take credit.” [laughter] That is what we’re doing.

Audience: Yeah. [applause]

Keith: And what I love, what I love about what Michael has done is, Michael has said, “You know what? You come in with everything you got.” I said, “Michael, can we put it on the table. Michael, can we lay it out? Can we put it out just the way we have?” And I’m going to tell you where we’re at. Here’s where we’re at, right now. We’ve done the Messianic thing regarding the name. We’ve got some that are saying, “Okay, it is,” and some that are saying, “It isn’t.” And some are saying, “We don’t care if it is, but it ain’t by our tradition, so we’re not going to let our people hear about it.” But here’s the good news about what we’re doing. The Father in Heaven has decided to make His name known again.

Audience: Amen. [applause] Oh, yeah.

Keith: So what we’ve decided to do is this. We’re going to gather people, people that are not afraid to stand against the ban. So we’ve created all sorts of things. You can go to the website, hishallowedname.com. We have a section right there where we call them ambassadors. The ambassadors of God’s name, at hishallowedname.com. You go there, you become an ambassador, it doesn’t cost or anything like that. It’s simply information, as Nehemia said earlier, information for the people, inspiration for the people, and revelation for the people, because let me tell you what’s happening. He’s opening up doors beyond the Messianic movement. He’s opening up doors beyond the United States. People in China are saying, “Tell us about His name.” People in India are saying, “Tell us about His name.” People, come on, somebody, in Africa are saying, “Tell us about His name.”

Audience: Tell us about His name.

Keith: People in Australia are saying, “Tell us about His name.”

Audience: Tell us about His name.

Keith: People in South America are saying, “Tell us about His name.”

Audience: Tell us about His name.

Keith: And I’m telling you something, this is prophetic.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: God is doing something prophetic. I believe a chapter has been changed. I don’t know when it happened. I have some things I’m going to share with you in a minute about the winds. I’m not going to make predictions. I’m not going to talk about what’s happening in the future, but I will tell you something about what’s happened in the past that makes me believe that God has done something different than He’s done in any other time in history. Do you know what we can do right now? We can push a button and information can travel around the globe.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Do you know, there are people right now that do not have the ability to get on an airplane, or a bus, or a train, but they’ve got internet access, and they’re pushing a button and they’re listening right now today, here, and they’re across the ocean. Somebody say, that in the last days, information…

Audience: Information.

Keith: …will increase.

Audience: Will increase.

Keith: God is doing things right now, you all, you ought to feel the chills that I feel. I had a dream last night. I saw last night that God is doing something right now where He’s trying to get the attention of people, and I am humbled that I’ve had an opportunity to be in a relationship with someone that people from my background would say, “Stay away from the Jew. That Jew is going to end up messing with you and you’re going to find yourself just like him.” Boy oh boy, could it ever be? [laughter]

Do you know what’s actually happened? He’s become more like me! Have you seen his haircut? [laughter] Have you seen him get up and preach and say, “Come on, this side.” When I met Nehemia, he wouldn’t move from the spot. “Well, the situation is…” Now, he’s jumping, and he’s shouting. Don’t you all know that God has gotten the attention of a Jewish man, [applause] and he’s proclaiming the name of God around the world!

So that is simply a little bit of undergirding for what it is that I’m going to talk to you about, because I’m going to do something radical. And Michael said we could put it all on the table. Michael, I’m going to tell you something. I’m going to tell you ahead of time what I’m going to do. I’m looking for some people who really want to understand what Chanukkah is. And not only understand what it is, but act on the information. Can we do that?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: Here’s what we’re going to do. I want to show you the word, the Hebrew word for Chanukkah. And you guys, I want you to bear with me right now. I have got a tough teacher, man. I’ve got a teacher that is tough. When I tell you this guy’s tough, we spent years dealing with just the Masoretic notes. We spent years dealing with the holam, the Vav, the shvah. We spent years, this guy used to make me read other languages, and I used to say to Nehemia, “Nehemia, why do I have to learn Ugaritic? And why have I got to learn this? And why have I got to learn that?” And he’d say to me in his sort of, you know, scholarly way, “Well, Keith. I can’t explain to you now why you have to learn all of this, but in the end, it will eventually make a difference.” Look at your neighbor and say, “In the end.”

Audience: In the end.

Keith: It will make.

Audience: It will make.

Keith: A difference.

Audience: A difference.

Keith: Can I tell you guys something? We’re in the end. The word “Chanukkah,” you can spell it however you want to spell it, but there are three Hebrew letters that make up this particular word. This is the root. Most, if not all, many Hebrew words have three Hebrew letters as a root. This is a Chet, a Nun, and a Kaf in the final form. That is chanakh, chanukh, however you want to say it. He says that I have some grace to be able to try to explain to you, to make it as simple as possible. But this word is important for us to understand for what I’m really going to share with you today. That is the word. The second word here, I’m going to give you an example. Enoch walked with God, you all say, “Enoch…”

Audience: Enoch.

Keith: “…and he was not, for God took him.” Now, come to find out that the name Enoch comes from where? If I show you right here, it’s this, “Chanoch,” which has the same root as “Chanukkah”. So Enoch was Chanukkah. Can I get an amen?

Audience: Amen.

Keith: What was he doing? He was walking with God, and God said, “I’m enjoying this so much. We’re having such a great time. You know what? I’m just going to do what?”

Audience: Take you.

Keith: Take you. Boy, would it mean something like that? What if we live our life like Enoch? That God was so pleased with us and enjoyed our fellowship with Him so much, He said, “Man, we’re having such a good time. We’re closer to where I live than you. [laughter] Why don’t you just come on to My house?”

Can I tell you all something radical? I can’t wait for the day when He says, “It’s time for Me to take you,” because I’m tired of what’s going on down here. Some of us are so comfortable down here. We look at what’s happening, and even though it makes our Father unhappy, we have learned to adjust to it. Do you know sometimes when I see what I see in the church that I come from, it makes me sick? My stomach begins to churn. If I was able to throw up, I would throw up sometimes, because of the prayer I prayed and He answered when I said, “Father, teach me to love what You love, and teach me to hate what You hate.” And there are things happening in my tradition, I won’t put it on you all, from where I come from, where my Father looks at it in the Methodist tradition and He hates it.

I think there might be some things in the Messianic movement that He hates. I think there might be some things in the Catholic Church that He hates. I think there might be some things right here in Fort Lauderdale that He hates. And I hope there’s nothing in your life that He hates. Chanoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

Now, let me give you another example. If we go to Genesis 14:14, “When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he let out his trained men.” Say, “trained men”.

Audience: Trained men.

Keith: “Born in his house, 318 went in pursuit.” But if I open up my Hebrew Bible, and I will tell you a radical thing that’s gotten me in quite a bit of trouble. This is my Bible. This particular Bible, every once in a while, I’ll let Nehemia borrow it but it’s my Bible. Say, “my Bible”.

Audience: My Bible.

Keith: Say, “Keith’s Bible.”

Audience: Keith’s Bible.

Keith: What I love about this Bible is when I open it up, I get to read it without the agenda of English translators, because I will tell you something. There are translations that when I read them sometimes, I get sick. Because there’s an agenda oftentimes with translators that say, “If we share that information with them, they might connect the dots. We don’t want them to connect the dots. We want to give them just enough to keep them under our control.” Can I say that?

Audience: Yeah. Amen.

Keith: What I love about this Bible, this Bible is a picture of me 10 years ago, when I was with Michael, and I met Nehemia in the Old City of Jerusalem. We’d walk around the Old City of Jerusalem. And when we’d sit down to talk, I would open up my trusty, Nearly Inspired Version, [laughter] that’s the NIV, and Nehemia would open up his Bible. Now, they were about the same size, they looked about the same. He would open his Bible, I’d open my Bible. I’d be on one side, he’d be on the other side. And I give you a hint about Nehemia. 10 years ago, he was a bit bigger of a man. And when we were out walking in the Old City of Jerusalem, every time I’d ask a question he’d say, “Okay.” He’d sit down, open up his backpack, pull out his Bible, open it up, I’d open mine, and we’d find this really weird thing. I would say to him a verse, he would read the verse in English. His translation - I didn’t know it was a translation at the time - what he would say was not the same as what I was reading. After about three or four times, I decided to look over his shoulder. Come to find out, this man is reading the Bible in Hebrew.

Now, you all, I went to seminary. I know about studying the languages. You study the languages as a reference tool to impress the parishioners. [laughter] “The Greek word means, the Hebrew word means…” And that’s as far as you go. This guy is sitting down in perfect English, translating from Hebrew. I looked at him and I’m going to tell you something, you all – an envy, a jealousy rose up inside the Methodist, and I thought to myself, “He don’t even know the truth. What’s he doing, reading that word like that? [laughter] I know the truth more than him.” I mean, you all, it really got me. I don’t want to talk about it on camera, I won’t say what I say what I really said. But I cussed in my mind, “Oh, no. This ain’t going like this.”

So guess what I said? I said, “Nehemia, you’re going to teach me to read that Bible like you did.” He said, “No, I won’t.” [laughter] I said, “Yes, you will,” and I won that argument. After 10 years, I open up the Bible and I read it just the way Yeshua, Jesus, read it, because can I give you a hint? Jesus, Yeshua, for those that are listening that are Methodists that ain’t got it yet, those that think they know everything that say they’ve got the name, but ain’t got it yet, he read it in Hebrew!

Audience: Yeah. [applause]

Keith: So I’m reading this and I’m thinkin… with Nehemia. So what I did is, I decided to learn, eat it, understand it, let it hit me in the head. Make this be my Bible. So now, when I’m with Michael, and Michael’s one of the only people that’s ever acknowledged this, I was on Shabbat Night Live with Michael. Michael, I’m going to tell you why I appreciate you, friend. I’m on Shabbat Night Live with Michael, and I’ve gotten my Hebrew Bible. I’m not saying anything. He said, “What’s the verse?” And I go to the verse, I read the verse, and he stops the interview and he says, “You know what? Can I tell you something? This man has been on this road for 10 years. He’s doing the same thing he was doing 10 years ago. And ladies and gentlemen, he’s reading from the Hebrew Bible, just the way it says it.” Do you know, I have some people that get mad about that? “What are you doing, hanging around with that Jew? Can’t you get to the New Testament? Won’t you start spending some time in the New Testament? Why are you spending so much time?” Because can I tell you something? When Yeshua walked the earth, there was no New Testament. [laughter]

Audience: That’s true.

Keith: Can I even get more radical? All Paul had were the oracles of God, the Scripture that is inspired. So the radical thing I did is, I opened up Genesis 14:14 and found something really interesting, if we can put it up on the screen. And Genesis 14:14, if I go and look at my Hebrew Bible, it is the word “chanichay,” say, “chanihay”.

Audience: Chanihay.

Keith: That means that these people that Abraham actually had that were trained men, they were chanihay. So trained men and chanihay are the same thing. Now, if I go further and I look at Numbers 7:11 it says this, “Then the Lord, L-O-R-D, said to Moses…” let me stop right now. I know you all know it, because you probably know more things than the other folks that I’ve invited to listen to this. L-O-R-D is simply a translation. It is an attempt to take the title that the Jews taught the English Christians, here’s what we use. We use “Adonai”, and so then one of the traditions that the Christians thought was, “You know what? I think we’ll go with that tradition,” though they didn’t go with others. So the Jews said, “We use Adonai,” and the Christians said, “Well, let’s come up with something that’s like Adonai. Let’s use L-O-R-D. And what we’ll do is, we’ll capitalize it, just in case for those that really want to know, will understand that that’s the name of God. But hopefully, most people will just say, ‘Lord’, and move on.”

The thing that continues to bother me is that when we tell people that His name is behind L-O-R-D, they say, “Well, that’s not something we want to understand. That seems a little too Jewish.”

Now, let me tell you what’s really under their statement – anti-Semitism. That is really what’s under their statement, because what we don’t realize is there has been a systematic actual attempt to get our minds to think that if I say, “Jew”, you say, “bad”. If I say “Jew”, you say, “cursed”. If I say, “Jew”, you say, “law, under, bad, terrible”. And unfortunately, we’ve been so conditioned that we don’t understand that this is not of our Father.

So when I go back to the verse it says this. “Then the L-O-R-D said to Moses…” If I were to go further it says, “Let them present their offering one leader each day, for the dedication of the altar.” Here’s what it says in Hebrew, “Then Yehovah said unto Moshe, ‘Let them present their offering, one leader each day for the chanukkat hamizbayakh’”, the dedication of the altar.

Let me go to the next one. This one is where it really gets interesting, and can I tell you a secret? Nehemia’s not in here. I even shocked Nehemia on this one. When I told him about this one, he said, “Oh, that can’t be.” And then I did something radical. We opened up the sources, and come to find out, Nehemia said, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” [laughter] “For My mouth shall speak truth, and wickedness is an abomination to My lips.” Do you know what happens if I open up my Hebrew Bible? Come to find out that is the word “chech”. Say, “chech”.

Audience: Chech.

Keith: This word is actually based on the root word for “Chanukkah”. Come on, somebody. “For My Chanukkah, for My mouth,” the instrument from which speech comes forth, “shall speak truth, and wickedness is an abomination to My lips.” Now, because you guys think that’s probably not true, those at home, I want you to check Brown-Driver-Briggs, Gesenius, any of them that you want, they’ll let you know this. There’s one more verse I’ve got to show you, and this was the one that really excites me. Bear with me, Hosea 8:1, it says this. “Put the trumpet to your lips!” Can I do that?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: Because you know what this says, right? When you see “trumpet”, it says, “Put the shofar to your chech.” Say, “chech”.

Audience: Chech.

Keith: Can I do this?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: I want to grab this real quick, you all. This is the shofar. This verse tells me that what I’m supposed to do is take the shofar and put it to my Chanukkah. Donald, did you get that?

Donald: Yes, I did.

Keith: It is the same root for the word mouth, palate. It is the same for the trained men. It is the same for the word “dedication”. I’m coming with this somewhere. There’s something that is to happen when we really understand the word for “Chanukkah”. We become people that want to take the shofar, put it to our mouth, and let the people hear the warning. Can I get an amen?

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Can I, right now for a moment, can I simply do what Hosea said?

Audience: Yeah.

Audience: Yes.

Keith: Can I allow the shofar to come to my chech? Say, “chech”.

Audience: Chech.

Keith: [blows shofar] Oh, my goodness. Why do I want to do that? I am actually looking for something really radical. I guess I should tell you one more thing. There’s another verse, Numbers 26:5. I’m actually looking for what I call “Hanochites”. Here’s the verse. It says this. “Ruben, Israel’s firstborn, the sons of Ruben, of Hanoch,” say, “Hanoch…”

Audience: Hanoch.

Keith: “…the family of the Hanochites.

Audience: Hanochites.

Keith: And if I go in my Hebrew Bible, guess what I find out? It is the same word for the word “training”, the word “mouth”, the word “dedication”. So here is the secret. Michael, I will tell you this. As we prepare to go to the world, we are looking for Hanochites.

Audience: Amen, bro.

Keith: People that are dedicated. People that are willing to be trained. And finally, I want to tell you something. You’ve got to be willing to stand up and fight. Now, touch your neighbor and say, “I’m not sure.”

Audience: I’m not sure.

Keith: Tell them, “I’m not sure.” Because come on, you guys, what I’m talking about ain’t easy here. Let me get real with you right now. I’ve come to Fort Lauderdale with a purpose and a mission.

Audience: Amen, brother.

Keith: I’m looking for Hanochites. I called Michael because I said, “You know what? He’s got guts.” And even if Michael doesn’t have the information, he’s got enough guts and enough humility to get it. So he invited us. I called Nehemia, “Nehemia, will you come?” He says, “Yeah, I’ve got the guts. I’ve got the humility.” “Arthur, will you come?” “Absolutely.” “Andrew, all the way from South Africa, will you come?” “Absolutely.” Can I tell you something, you all? This is a setup. If you’re listening online, my suggestion would be that right now, you shut off the computer, unless you’re willing to become a Hanochite. Now, I’m going to give a chance for you all to leave. I’m going to turn around, and let you leave. [laughter] All right, you’re still here? You ain’t going nowhere.

I’ve got to tell you something radical about Hanochites. Hanochites have taken the time to be trained. They’ve gotten the information. They understand the information. Hanochites are people that have actually done like what my friend Michael did a couple of days ago. Do you know what this man did? In preparation for this weekend, he went out into the Atlantic Ocean and mikva’ed himself. He said, “Let me get washed. Let me get cleansed. Let me just check my mind. Let me…” Come on, somebody. “Let me just check my heart. Let me see if there be anything in me before we do this radical and amazing thing.”

Audience: Hallelujah.

Keith: What if all of us were willing to be dedicated like that? But then, it comes to this. Are we willing to use the chech? You see, because I’m going to tell you something. It’s one thing for you to come here privately and talk about this. It’s another thing for you to tell the traditional mother and father that you’re from.

Audience: That’s right.

Keith: Come on, somebody, your employer. Can we get real? “Where are you going for Christmas?” “Well, I’ll be down in Florida.” “What are you doing down there?” “Oh, just hanging out on the beach, the water.” [laughter] “What are you doing for the holidays?” “Oh, I’m just traveling with my family.” You want me to tell you what you’ve really been set up to do? To learn to fight like a Hanochite.

Audience: All right. Hallelujah!

Keith: You are going to be equipped when you leave this place, after this message, after what you hear this weekend, to be able to use that which God has given you to be dedicated, to be trained, to use your mouth to stand up and speak, because I’m going to tell you what I really want to tell you today. I believe, based on certain things, that we are very close, if not almost in the times, of the days of Elijah.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: I’m sure that based on the biblical definition, we’re not there yet. But I have to tell you something. I believe we’re getting closer. And in getting closer to those days, there’s something we’re going to have to be willing to do. We’re going to have to be willing to be Hanochites, because when it goes down, oh, and it will go down…

Audience: That’s right.

Keith: There’s a lot of people that will not stand because they have not got the ability, the conviction, the dedication, the information, the inspiration, the revelation, to hold on till the end. And so what they’ll do is, they’ll be just like some of the people thousands of years ago, when they had the folks come in with Antiochus, Epiphanes IV, and he said, “We’re about to du-duh, change God’s time, duh-duh. Change God’s Torah, duh-duh. Change God’s name.” And they said, “Okay, as long as you don’t mess with me and mine, I’ll do whatever you say.” But I’m telling you right now, there is a spirit of the Hanochite that is ready to break forth, where they will stand up and say, “If it’s not God’s time, it ain’t time. If it’s not God’s Torah, I don’t want to read it. And if it’s not His name, I’m not afraid to proclaim it.” There has got to be a spirit of the Hanochites that rises up in this hour, because I’m going to tell you something. Change is coming.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Oh, some of you are getting nervous. You’re like, “Oh, no. Wait a minute. Now, we didn’t want to get… Give us some historical stuff. Give us a little Methodist’s message.” Let me tell you something. I ain’t got it in me no more. [laughter] I’m not going to play that game anymore. [applause] I don’t have time for that anymore. Let me tell you something. I’ve found a few people, there’s a family right here in Florida, a well-known family, big name. I mean to say, if I say the name of this family, you’ll be like, “Wow.” Let me tell you about this family. This family sat down with their children and said, “You know, we have learned that that which we have been given through tradition is not right. And so guess what? We’re not going to keep doing what they’ve taught us to do. We’re going to find out about God’s time.”

Come on, somebody. We’re going to find out about God’s Torah. We’re going to find out about God’s name. And when we find out about it, we’re actually going to do something radical. We’re not just going to sit there and listen, and say, “Oh, isn’t that nice. Let me get back to my regular life.” We’re going to change. One of the children said, “Does this mean that on Christmas morning there will be no presents?” [laughter] And let me tell you what the man of the house said. “Now, you can expect presents every day, because we’re not going to do what they tell us to do, duh-duh. It’s Christmas time, say the right words, get the tree, do this, do that, play the game. We’re not going to do that anymore. We’re going to open up the Book and find out what God says.” I’m wondering, before I get to what I’m really trying to talk about, if there are any Hanochites in this room.

Audience: Yeah! [applause]

Keith: Now, I want to, I want you to be careful, because I believe that if we’re Hanochites, we’re going to have to take the pattern of Elijah. And the pattern of Elijah is radical. So can I open my Bible? And I tell you what I’ll do to be safe. I’m going to open up my Nearly Inspired Version, just to be safe, and I’m going to share with you a little bit about what I believe the days of Elijah will look like. Open your Bibles to 1 Kings, if you would.

The first thing we have to do if we’re going to take the days of Elijah seriously is, we’ve got to find out what the problem is. 1 Kings chapter 18 is what we’re going to actually be dealing with, but what I want to do, before we do that, I’ve got to give you just a little bit of background in this particular story, of Elijah. 1 Kings 16:31, and we’ll go ahead and put this up on the screen. Here’s what it says. “It came about as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Sidonians,” we’re talking about Ahab right now, the king, “and he went to serve Baal and worshipped him.” Somebody say, “uh-oh”.

Audience: Uh-oh.

Keith: When I read this, I’m only going to give you guys what I call the “casual approach” to this verse. When I read it, there were three things that caught my attention, “Ethbaal, the Sidonians, and they went to serve Baal.” Now, the reason they caught my attention is, I remember something as a result of reading the Bible, something about Solomon that I have to share with you, because Solomon, you know, was just a few generations before. Here’s what we find if you go back to that particular thing, we see this. And you guys, don’t be overwhelmed by the Hebrew. It says, “Daughter of Ehtbaal, king of the Sidonians.” Now, in Greek it won’t say Ethbaal, it’ll say, Ehtheibaal. That’s another issue. In English, they’ll say, “Eth, E-T-H, baal,” they don’t want you to catch this, “king of the Sidonians, and they went to serve him, ha Baal.” Okay, what we’re going to do.

1 Kings 5:6, let’s look at this. “Therefore, command that cedars from the Lebanon be cut for me.” I’ll tell you what’s happening. Solomon is about to build the most holy place in the universe. He’s about to build the Temple, and he says, “My servants will join your servants, and I will give you whatever wages you set for your servants, for you know…” and this is where it gets interesting. Come on, somebody, “…that there is no one among us who knows how to cut Christmas…” I’m sorry, [laughter] “…who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”

Now, here’s what’s interesting. Now, here’s what’s interesting. Solomon looked around, and this is not unlike what happens in our world today. And you know what? If it happened in a vacuum, it would be okay, but here’s what Solomon did. He looked around and he said, “You know what? Those Sidonians can cut timber like nobody else. I want some of the Sidonians cutting my timber for the Temple.” Now, if that’s all that happened, we’d be okay. But somebody say what Keith always loves to tell you, two words. “Keep…”

Audience: Reading.

Keith: This side say, “keep”.

Audience: Keep.

Keith: This side say, “reading”.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: Somebody say, “keep”.

Audience: Keep.

Keith: This side say, “reading”.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: If I keep reading, there’s something I find in the 11th chapter of 1 Kings. “For Solomon followed Ashtoret, the goddess of the Sidonians.” It started out as a business deal. “Nobody cuts trees like y’all.” A few chapters later, he follows their God. Does this sound familiar to anybody else? I mean, what’s wrong with doing a little bit of what you all do? Nobody celebrates it like the Catholics. [laughter] Nobody knows how to party like the Protestants. [laughter] Let’s just take a little bit of what you do, and a few chapters later, pretty soon, that which you have entered in to dance with, pretty soon, you’re in the bed with. Solomon starts out with cutting some trees. A few chapters later, he’s doing something that displeases his Father. He grabs a hold of that which they believe, which is contrary to the relationship he has with God. And the next thing you know, he is dealing with the Sidonians and their God. You guys are sure quiet. Somebody say, “amen”.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Let’s go to Jezebel’s daddy instead of Jezebel. Everybody wants to pick on Jezebel, I want to pick on Jezebel’s daddy. Jezebel’s daddy’s name was “Ethbaal,” that is the Aleph and the Tav plus Baal. He’s called the first and the last L-O-R-D. Jezebel’s daddy was called Ethbaal, “with Baal,” or if you were to do like some of us like to do, when we see the et, the Aleph and the Tav, we say, “That’s Jesus. That’s Yeshua. He is the Aleph and the Tav. He is the beginning and the end. He is the alpha and the omega.” Does that apply in this situation? Is the Aleph and the Tav… come on, somebody. He is the first and the last, Lord, is that what we’re talking about? This is why, don’t mess around with stuff that you really don’t understand. Don’t fall into the trap. They give us all this sexy stuff. “You know, you can do this with the language, and you can do this with the language.” Well, is it consistent? Can we do this with this name? We can’t, can we?

Woman: No.

Keith: Jezebel had a problem. Her daddy was called Ethbaal. The very people that she came from - guess what they used to do? They would cut the trees - because they were the best at it - and they would make the trees to be this wonderful symbol of a goddess. And then, what they’d taught the people to do also is they would have an altar, and they would plant one of the Ashtoret trees right next to the altar. Somebody say, “uh-oh”.

Audience: Uh-oh.

Keith: Let’s go to 1 Kings chapter 18. Now, I’m not going to give you all of the background. I’m going to ask you to do it for yourself. The first thing that Elijah did is he found the problem. What we’ve got to learn to do is to find the problem. As it pertains to the name of God, Nehemia and I have decided to first, find the problem. And as a result of finding the problem, you start understanding how you have to address it. Now, we’re going to use Elijah, because I believe we’re getting to those days. Elijah found the problem. He found the problem that Ahab had made Jezebel, whose daddy was Ethbaal, and she had decided to live by the very background and the tradition and the culture of what her father taught her. That’s why it is so important about us, as fathers, to be the ones in our homes, when we’re in our homes, to be the ones to teach our children.

Can I make a confession? Up until the time I went to Israel… man, I tell you what, I’ve got three boys, Taylor, Kyle, and Andrew, my wife, Andrea. What I used to do, up until 10 years ago, I just gave my boys to the church and told the Sunday school teachers, “You teach them. I don’t got time.” Guess what happened when I opened up this book? Come to find out that God actually put us in position as fathers in our homes, to teach our children as we walk down the road. Now, if I ain’t got no time to walk down the road, I can’t teach them anything. So what I decided to do was to take my interest, take my ministry, all that I had, and transfer it to my family. They got the first, the ministry got what was left over.

Now, you know what? I wish I’d have done that from the time they were born. But I continue to pray that based on what I have done in these last 10 years, that that will bring fruit in their lives, that they know that their father is committed to doing it the way it says it in the word, even if they don’t believe what I believe, even if they don’t understand what I understand. But my sons will at least tell you this. What he says, he does. What he teaches, he lives. And even if they don’t choose it, it won’t be because they didn’t see it. Can I get an amen?

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Chapter 17 it says that Elijah, the Tishbite from Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab, “As the Lord, Yehovah the God of Israel lives…” verse 1, “…whom I say there will neither be dew nor rain in the next few years, except at my word.” If you read through 17, you find out that that’s exactly what happened. Then we get to chapter 18, which is actually the basis for our teaching today. “After a long time, in the third year, the word of Yehovah came to Elijah…” and I’m going to go ahead and just every once in a while, say His name the way we find it in the oldest, most complete Hebrew manuscripts in the world. Please bear with me. “The word of Yehovah came unto Elijah, ‘Go and present yourself to Ahab and I will send rain on the land.’ So Elijah went to present himself.” The story says that as he was preparing to do this, there were two people, Ahab and his servant. “And his servant was Obadiah, who happened to be one who feared Yehovah.” He actually hid two sets of Prophets, 150 in two different caves. “And they said as they went out walking,” eventually Obadiah saw Elijah in verse, let’s see here, okay it says here in verse 7. It says, “As Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed before him to the ground and said, ‘Is it really you, my Lord?’” little Adonai, not Yehovah, “‘Elijah?’ ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Go tell your master that I am here.’” And I’m going to tell you something - I’ve got to stop right there.

What Elijah is telling Obadiah is, “You go tell the one who thinks he’s your master that I am here.” You know what, you guys? We need to learn that. I believe something, you all. When he gets here, there ain’t going to be no time for us to be politically correct. It’s not going be a matter of what your boss thinks, what your husband thinks. Come on, somebody, what your wife thinks, what your kids think. When the days of Elijah come, we’re going to have to do just like Obadiah. He’s going to say to them, “Go tell them, ‘I am here.’” I love the silence in here, this is going to fit right in with the story. [laughter]

“’What have I done wrong’ asked Obadiah, ‘that you are willing to hand your servant over to Ahab?’” And they go on having an argument saying, “Hey, what if the spirit of God would raise you up and move you away? Then I’m going to get killed.” So he says, “No, as surely as Yehovah lives, I will present myself to Ahab.”

And then, here comes the interesting part. Verse 16, “So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him that Ahab went to meet Elijah.” When he saw Elijah, he said what they sometimes say to my friend, Nehemia, “Is that you, you troubler of the movement?” [laughter]

What they said to Elijah was, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” Now, why has he got to be a troubler of Israel for bringing truth over tradition? Why is he a troubler for Israel for saying, “Thus sayeth Yehovah,” rather than, “Thus sayeth the King?” Why is he a troubler for Israel because they’re saying, “Look, you’re messing up our party.”

Audience: That’s right.

Keith: We’ve got a good gig. Ethbaal is our Lord, we’ve got the Sidonians cutting trees for us, we’ve got ability to bow down before things that really aren’t real, and you keep talking about Yehovah, who wants to hold us accountable? You are a troubler of Israel! Well, we need some troublers…

Audience: Yeah. Agreed.

Keith: …of the Messianic movement. We need some troublers of the Methodist Church. We need some troublers of the Catholic Church. We need some troublers of good old-fashioned Bahai people, and Mormons. Come on, somebody, and Buddhists, and everybody else, because short of you being troubled, you’re going to stay in your mess, and staying in your mess you will not have life.

Audience: That’s right.

[applause]

Keith: So it says this. He tells him, “Go and gather all of the prophets of Baal, all 450, and 400 prophets of Ashtoreth who eat at Jezebel’s table.” That is 850 false prophets. “Have them meet me on…” he might as well have said this, “Your mountain.” You think it’s your mountain? It really is God’s mountain and there we’re going to make it be decided whose mountain it is. “Meet me on Mount Carmel.” Man, I’m telling you something. When I read this story, Donald, I’m so glad. You know, Donald, I feel you right now. When I read this story, Donald, I get excited, because we need a spirit of Elijah to fall upon us in this hour. I’ll tell you what. Meet me wherever you want to meet me. Let’s have a good old-fashioned fight.

Audience: Yeah, yeah.

Keith: Are there any Hanochites?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: You all, it’s going to take a fight. Now, I know this doesn’t… some of you are so… Michael, weren’t you a Marine? You were a Marine, weren’t you?

Michael: Of course.

Keith: And every once in a while, don’t you have to fight? Okay, you don’t have to say nothing, Michael. You hang on. [laughter] Michael, don’t you have to fight sometimes?

Michael: You’ve got to fight.

Keith: You’ve got to fight. It says this, and I love this. It says this. “So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people…” and this is why I like you guys being so quiet. “Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions?’”

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: “If Yehovah is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” And guess what the Bible says? “But the people were just like the group in Fort Lauderdale, they said…” [laughter] Can I open up this verse for a minute?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: Because I’m concerned that you guys are kind of like those people on the mountain. You ain’t saying nothing. And one of the reasons why I believe the people said nothing is because now you’re starting to get to that nerve. Let me show you the verse, what it says. When it sums it, it says, “And he said to them, ‘How long will you waver…” guess what word waver is? Somebody say, “pesach.

Audience: Pesach. I knew it.

Keith: “How long would you pesach between two opinions?” say se’ifim.

Audience: Se’ifim.

Keith: “’If Yehovah is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.’ But the people said nothing,” and I’m going to tell you why, because he convicted them for what they were doing. What they were doing was this. They were hopping, pesaching, leaping from one movement to the next. They were jumping from one limb to the other limb. Today, Yehovah’s God, but on Christmas… [laughter]

On Shabbat, Yehovah’s God. On Sunday…

Audience: That’s right.

Keith: Half the year, I’m with Yehovah, but when it’s time to get merry with the… How long will you pesach? How long will you leap back and forth? Come on, somebody, back and forth. And how long will you have this double mindedness? Now, what I love about this word, if I can share with you this word, go to Psalms 119:113 and it says this. “I hate those who are se’efim. But I love thy Torah.”

So it seems that there’s a connection that if we are in Torah, we ain’t hopping. We’re not leaping. We’ve found the word of God as they’ve said throughout history, “This is the word of God,” and when it’s convenient and when it’s not, we don’t pesach.

Audience: Right.

Keith: We don’t leap, because our family says, “leap”. We don’t leap, because my husband says, “leap”. Can I say it? We don’t leap, because my job says, “leap”.

Audience: That’s right.

Keith: When we grab a hold of the Creator of the universe, I wish I could preach this with you right now, but you all are so quiet, I’m going to have to move on. When we grab a hold of Him, as I have learned to grab a hold of Him, there is no more time for hopping. There’s no more time for dancing. There’s no more time for leaping. Once you get the real deal, there’s no reason for you to mess around with anybody or anything else.

[applause]

It says this, go back real quick. I’ve got to give you just a little bit. It says that after he asks this question, he says, “Then all of the people said…” after he said this, “go and get two bulls.” You can take that off the screen. “Go and get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood, but not set fire to it. Then…” here’s the part I love. “Then you call upon the name of your little g, g-o-d, and I will call upon the title, ‘Adonai’. [laughter] I will call upon Hashem.”

Audience: No.

Keith: “I will open my mouth and I will call, even against the traditions of those who think I shall not,” Elijah says, “I will call upon the name, Yehovah.”

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: Then he says this. “The God who answers by fire, He is God.” [applause] Oh, I wish you all could feel me when he says that. He says, “The God who answers…” Oh, I feel this. “The God who answers by fire, He is God.” I’m going to tell you all something. An answer is coming in our midst.

Audience: Yes, it is.

Keith: Fire is coming in our midst. And sure as Elijah had the contest and asked for the fire to fall, it’s coming again. And I’m going to show you this. I’m not going to take a whole lot of time, but I will take my time.

Audience: Yeah. [laughter]

Keith: Guess what the people said when he said this? “You mean to say, there’s going to be a contest? You mean to say there’s going to be a debate? You mean to say there’s going to be a good old-fashioned fight between the gods?” Then, all the people said, unlike what they said earlier, before they said, “but the people said nothing.” This time they said, “What you say is good.”

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Now, I’m going to ask a question. Do we really want that kind of demonstration…

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: …in our midst?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: Do we really want the one who answers by fire to be the one that we grab a hold of and hang onto?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: “Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, ‘Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.’ So they took the bull given them, and they prepared it.” I love this. Here’s what it says. “You call on the name of your god” give the screen on the bottom, “and I will call on the name, Yehovah. And the God who answers by fire, He is God. And all the people said,” what?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: Is it still a good idea?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: Now, I want to ask a question again - is it still a good idea?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: If Elijah were to show up today and I would move out of the way, and if Elijah stood before you and those that are listening all around the world, and Elijah said, “Okay, tell you what. Some of you that are listening, some of you that are sitting, some of you that will eventually listen, you have become of double mindedness. When it’s convenient, you say, ‘Yehovah is God.’ And when it’s not, you call upon another name. Are you willing to let Him demonstrate Himself in fire in 2011?”

Audience: Yes.

Keith: 2012?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: And then, here’s where it gets funny. “At noon, after they were calling upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, ‘Oh, Baal. Answer us.’” I’m sure they started singing songs, and it says that they shouted, “Oh, Baal. Oh, lord. Oh, lord.” I mean, maybe they had songs, and singing, and it even says this, and this is really interesting, it says this. “They shouted, but for some reason, there was no response.” [laughter] Nobody answered. But when they passed the plate.

Audience: Uh-oh.

Keith: Then it says something really funny. “And they pesached, they danced around the altar they had made.” Did you guys get that? Go to the slide, because I don’t think you understand what’s going on here. I’m going to take my shirt off, I’m sweating through it. It says, “Then they took the ox which was given them, and they prepared it and they called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon. And they said, ‘Oh, Baal, answer us,’ but there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar.” Why did they leap about the altar? Because it was a cultic dance. Oh, something about that seems familiar to me.

Audience: Oh, yeah.

Keith: “Maybe if we’ll just yell a little louder, maybe if we’ll sing a little better. Maybe if we’ll dance a little longer, Baal will answer us.” I’m going to let you all do the study on that, because I can sense this is probably getting a little too touchy. Let me go on and move on, this is probably getting a little bit too touchy, because it’s some more serious things that are coming here. Like Nehemia says, “I want you all to check that for yourself.” It’s the same word, pesach.

“At noon, Elijah began to taunt them…” and I’m going to tell you something right now. Nehemia, I know you and I do not agree about this. I’m moving to the level of taunting. [laughter] He says, “Elijah says, ‘Shout louder. Surely Baal is a god. Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy on the toilet, [laughter] or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping, and must be awakened,’ but they did this. They shouted louder, and slashed themselves with swords, and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.” And then, maybe they thought, “If we just do a little more blood, and a little more dancing, and a little more singing, and a little more shouting, if we could build bigger churches, and if we can have bigger productions,” come on, somebody, “If we can have a bigger situation, maybe then, Baal, lord, will answer us. But we will not call upon the name of that Jewish God, because that Jewish God is always messing up our party. Baal, you’ve got to come down. Baal, you’ve got to help us. We’ve set up our time. We’ve set up our Torah. We’ve set up a name. We’ve got a whole festival for you. Baal, help us, or the Jew is going to win!” [applause] [laughter]

Audience: Go for it.

Keith: But there was no response. Nobody answered. Nobody paid attention, and I’m going to tell you all a secret. Because Baal ain’t real. [laughter] His celebrations, they’re not real. You see, what we’ve done is, we’ve fallen into this terrible little trap, because they’ve got the biggest buildings, hello somebody, and the biggest choir, and they’ve got the nicest robes, and they drive the nicest cars, and some of them have airplanes, and some of them have… You understand, groups of people, and Pope mobiles, and everything else, because they’ve got all of that, we say it’s got to be God. I’m here to tell you right now, until they come to the place where they’re willing to say, “There is one God,” and call Him by His name, they’re playing with Baal.

Audience: Amen. [applause]

Keith: Boy, I tell you what, man. I mean, you know what they did, you guys? I’m going to tell you, you know what Michael Rood did this time? I’m going to get in so much trouble. I wish he hadn’t done this, because I got this word about two weeks ago. Then I got a message from Eric saying, “This year, for Chanukkah, here’s the rooming assignments.” And I’m looking, “Oh, boy. I hope they don’t do it.” Usually, what Michael does is give us our own rooms, so that if I say something really radical, I can lock the door. [laughter] This time, he made Nehemia my roommate. I know what’s going to happen when I get back to the room. “I can’t believe you said that. I can’t believe you called that.” Nehemia, you’re going to have to move out of the room, because I’ve decided, I’m going to stay in truth and not deal with tradition. Can I get an amen?

Audience: Amen. [applause]

Keith: “Then Elijah… ” After there was no response, nobody answered, nobody paid attention, “Then Elijah said to all the people…” and I’m saying it right now to the internet audience. I’m saying it right now to you. I’m saying it, if they should choose to make a third volume from this time, if it’s in the future, I’m saying to the people the words that Elijah said in the Bible. He said this. “Come here to me. Come here, right now. They came to him and he repaired… ” And you guys, if you don’t get anything else this weekend from me, get this. This is why I called Michael. “He repaired the altar of Yehovah which was in ruins.”

You all, I’ve got to tell you something. His altar has been in ruins. And if you understood the significance of the fact that Elijah, once he found the problem, decided to fix it. He found the problem, then he decided to fix it, so he went to Mount Carmel and he said, “Look. You all get to go first. I might give you 100 years. I might give you 1,000 years. I might give you up to 2012, but no matter how hard you try, no matter how loud you shout, no matter how you dance and how big your places are, if you are calling upon Baal, he will not answer.”

Audience: Right.

Keith: He repaired the altar. Why is this important, you all? He fixed it. I want to show you something. “He said to all the people, ‘Come near to me,’ so all the people came, and he repaired the altar of Yehovah which had been torn down.” I’ve got to take a moment to share this with you. I want to go to Abraham, Genesis 12:8, keep the slides up. Genesis 12:8, “And there, Abraham built an altar to Yehovah and called upon the name, Yehovah.” Stop. Abraham did something radical. He built an altar, and the next thing he did was call upon the name. There seems to be a connection with Abraham between building an altar and calling upon the name. Let’s go to the next slide. Isaac, “So he built an altar there,” say, “altar…”

Audience: Altar.

Keith: “…and he called upon the name, Yehovah.” There seems to be a connection. He built an altar, and he called upon the name. Next slide, Exodus 17:15, “And Moses built an altar and called the altar its name, Yehovah, my sign,” “Yehovah nissi, my banner, my sign.” There seems to be a connection you all, and I have to slow down here. There seems to be a connection between building an altar and calling upon the name. Do you think it was a coincidence that when Antiochus Epiphanes IV came into Israel to take over the people, he said, “Okay, listen. No more time,” because if they deal with time, they’re going to understand who made time, and I need to give them new time. “No more Torah,” because if they go by Torah, they’re going to end up dealing with this “God, I’ve got a different Torah.” But then he said, “No more speaking the name,” and so how he put that into effect is, he said, “I’m going to build an altar. I’m going to take the pig, sacrifice the pig on the altar, and you will end up calling upon my name. Or if you don’t call upon my name, maybe you’ll call upon the name of my Baal.” So there is this issue between the building of an altar and calling upon the name.

Now, why do I know this for sure? Let me show you this last verse, Nehemia talked about it. Go to Exodus 20:24, there are hats back there with this verse. I love this verse. This is definitely one of my favorite verses. “Make for me an altar,” say, “altar.”

Audience: Altar.

Keith: Come on, somebody. Say, “altar”.

Audience: Altar.

Keith: “Make for Me an altar of earth and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices of wellbeing, your sheep, and your oxen,” and usually, that is what we think about altars. But the next part of the verse is the key for back then and for now. It says, “And then, in every place where I cause My name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you.” Where? When you build an altar, the altar is so the name can be proclaimed. That is why Antiochus Epiphanes IV said, “Let’s have altars in every single place we can have altars, so that the people will not call upon the name of the Creator of the universe, but they’ll call upon the name of Baal,” the false god. This is why we’re standing against the ban.

And it says this, “After all of their singing, and all of their dancing, and all of their shouting, and everything they did…” the radical thing happens. Elijah tells the people this. “He repaired the altar,” it says, “with the stones he built an altar in the name, Yehovah, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, ‘Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.’” Then he says this. “Do it again.” Then he says this. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it a third time. Can I just be a Methodist for a minute? [laughter] Nehemia, shut your ears.

First time, Shavuot. Put a little water on it. Second time, Yom Teruah. Put some more water on it. Third time, Chanukkah. Now, we’re ready for the fire. Now, we’re ready for Him to answer. Why? Plenty of washing. Plenty of cleansing. Plenty of information, inspiration, and revelation. That is why I’m calling for the ambassadors, the Hanochites, to come with us as we go around the world to proclaim this, because I believe that we are in the time, if not in the exact time, close to the time, of Elijah where he says this. “You know what? Do it three times, if you have to.” Then it says this, “The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.” And then, if we can go to the next verse, it says this. I’m sorry, let me say it here. It says, “At the time…” say, “time”.

Audience: Time.

Keith: Let me say it again. “At the time,” say, “time”.

Audience: Time.

Keith: You know, this is why I struggle right now with where I come from. Do you know, in my tradition, they’ve got their own clock? They’ve got their own calendar. They’ve got their own time. They tell God, “Meet us on this time, and that time.” They don’t want to know God’s time. But you know what Elijah did? He waited until the time, say, “time…”

Audience: Time.

Keith: …which was God’s time, according to God’s calendar, to do what God was going to do. It says, “at the time,” say, “time…”

Audience: Time.

Keith: “…of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and he prayed this prayer. ‘Oh, Yehovah. God of Abraham, Isaac, and Yisrael. Let it be known today that you are God in…’” Can I raise my voice like that? Is that okay?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: Because I think Elijah yelled, I really do. I think Elijah was dealing with 850 false prophets of Baal, and Ashtoreth. It probably stunk in his nose. It probably made his stomach turn, and he said nice and loud, “Oh, Yehovah. God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today…” Say, “today”.

Audience: Today.

Keith: You all, we need Him now.

Audience: Yes.

Keith: I don’t need Him tomorrow.

Audience: Yes, that’s right.

Keith: I might not be here tomorrow. I can’t do nothing about yesterday. Somebody, listen to me. Somebody hear me, because let me tell you something about His name. His name is “Ehiyeh asher ehiyeh,” which means, “I was…” when you were messed up, “I am with you now, and I will continue to be with you.” When we call upon His name we’re saying, “You were, you are, and you will continue to be.”

Audience: Amen.

Keith: But you all have got to hear something. We need Him now.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Is there anybody here that says, “You know what, Keith? Let me tell you something. I barely made it here. I need Him now.”

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: Is there anybody that would say, “You know what? Yesterday ain’t got nothing to do with me, and I don’t know anything about tomorrow.” There might be people listening online that are saying, “You know what? I need You now.”

It says this. Oh, I’ve got to stop, I’m sorry. I’ve got to stop.

Audience: No, you don’t.

Keith: You know, I’ve got to stop for a minute, because you know what? I want to finish the story. Michael, I’m going to finish the story. I’ve got time to finish the story. I’m going to finish the story. I’ve got to stop, because I am convinced there are some people that are saying, “You know what? I need Him now.” I think there are people in this room, I am convinced there are people listening. I am convinced there are people that will listen, because Michael’s got enough guts to invite radical people that are going to open up the word of God, and I’m going to get to this tomorrow. And I’m going to tell you something, you’re not going to leave tomorrow till I really tell you what I think. I’m just warming up.

But I’m going to tell you something. There are people in this room that are listening to us via internet and everywhere else that are saying, “You know what? I need Him now.” Do you all know what’s happening in the economy? Do you know what’s happening in people’s lives? Do you know there are people that are unemployed? Do you know there are people that are messed up, jacked up, turned around, beat up, taken up, taken down. They’ve had enough, and they’re saying, “Okay, Father. You are God. I need You now.” Here’s the good news. You can call upon Him, and if you don’t watch out, He’ll answer you. Here’s the tough news. I said that to Him 10 years ago. He answered me, and He changed my life.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: I wish I could tell you that when you deal with our Father, that it’s always easy. I wish I could tell you the bank account was always filled, the car always had gas, you always had everything you needed. I wish I could tell you that it was smooth sailing, like they say in the Prosperity Gospel. “If You just give me this money, I’ll turn it into that for you.” And if people keep waiting for this… let me tell you why that don’t work. The reason it don’t work is it’s not Scriptural. You all, it isn’t always easy, walking with our Father. But I’d rather walk with no one else.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: We’ve got to find a group of people that are saying, “Father…” can we ask this question? I want you to bow your heads and I’m going to get back to this story. But just right now, silently ask this question. Do you need Him? Just ask the question, do you need Him? And if you do, I want you to simply say what Elijah says. He says, “Answer me, oh Yehovah.” Silently, in your heart, say to Him, “You know where I’ve been. You know where I am. You know where I’m going. Answer me, Yehovah. Hallelujah.”

And then it says in verse 37, He says, “Answer me, o Yehovah. Answer me, so that these people will know that You, Yehovah, are God and that You are turning their hearts back again.” The reason that I believe that we’re in that time is something’s happening, a phenomenon is taking place around the world. People are awakening to things that 5 years ago and 10 years ago, those that have been in this movement for a long time, they can’t even figure it out. What in the heck are the Chinese doing saying, “Hey, tell you what, can we learn about Yehovah?” What are those in India saying, “Hey, hey, hey. Can you teach us about this name?” And those around the world? Something’s happening, you all. He’s turning hearts back to Him.

Then it says this, you all. Let me show you something. It says, “Then the fire of Yehovah fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.”

[applause]

Keith: When He does a thing, He goes all the way. Now, I’ve got a picture, you guys. I have been able to get a picture of exactly what it looked like in the exact spot. Nehemia ain’t even got what I got to show you all, right now. Michael doesn’t even know what I’m going to show you. I actually have a picture, a legitimate picture. Do you know that I have found a picture of fire falling upon Mount Carmel? Here it is.

Now, listen to me, you all. You all have got to listen to me now, listen to me now. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in here. This is why I’m showing you this picture. One year ago, at the time of Chanukkah, fire fell upon Mount Carmel. And everybody saw it. I believe that in this hour, last year, when that fire fell upon Mount Carmel, it was a witness.

Now, let me get really radical. Do you know why I believe the fire fell upon Mount Carmel? God’s getting tired. Do you know, if you go to Mount Carmel what you’ll find right now? You’ll find the headquarters of the Bahai faith. They claim Mount Carmel as their religious spot. They don’t care about what happened in the past. They just came along and said, “Well, you know what? Our prophet, he had a situation around Mount Carmel,” so they’ve built something that some people want to call the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Now, this is from the Department of Tourism. They say that there are more Israelis now that visit the Gardens of Mount Carmel than visit any other place in Israel. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but for some reason, they’re looking at how the Bahai faith has made these beautiful gardens, and these beautiful buildings. And oh, I mean, my gosh, they’re just a wonderful people, because what the Bahais say is, “Look. You can be a Karaite, be a Karaite. You can be a Methodist, be a Methodist. You can be a Baptist, we don’t care. You can be a Mormon. You can be whatever you want to be, everybody just come to Mount Carmel to the headquarters…” You’re all looking at me, real strange, “…at the headquarters of the Bahai faith.” They’ve gone to Mount Carmel, which represented the prophet standing before the people saying, “You call upon Baal. You call upon Buddha. You call upon Confucius. You call upon…” you understand? “And I will call upon Yehovah, and the one who answers by fire, He is God.”

Last year, at the time of Chanukkah, fire fell on Mount Carmel. And you know what some people would say? “Let’s not get so radical. I mean, what’s the big deal? So what if they kind of covered over what it really meant at Mount Carmel?” You know what’s really funny? Christianity’s done the same thing. “Here’s what really happened in the cave in Bethlehem, but we’re going to cover it over, make it nice, put trees and drink the juice, and whatever. Who cares about what really happened? We’ve taken over that which was pagan, and now it’s ours.”

The Bahai says, “You all did it, what are you getting mad at us for?” And let me tell you something. You’ve always got to go to the root. You know what the root of Mount Carmel is? The contest between that which is not God, and the one who is.

So here we are today. Fire has fallen upon Mount Carmel one year ago, this week. And yet, as a people, we say nothing. It’s time to make a decision. It is decision time like never before. People have to decide if Yehovah is God or not. If He is, there’s a response that I’m going to teach you, but if He’s not, you keep on calling upon Baal. You just keep on singing. You keep on dancing. You keep on building bigger buildings, having greater pageants. Do everything you want to do, cut yourself and let the blood flow, but I’m going to tell you something. In the end, he will not answer, because there is only one God, and He has revealed Himself through His name.

So here’s the response, and I’m looking for this. You all, I’m looking for this, because when I got a chance to really understand who He is, I only had one response. Here’s what it says in English. “The Lord, He is God!” Now, here’s what’s dangerous about this, and I’m sure, Michael, here’s where it gets touchy.

When I read that as a Methodist, and I say, “The Lord, He is God,” and they cover and keep me away from the name, I can put anybody or anything in that verse. But if I understand it the way it was written, in its original language, history, and context, and can I go further? If I understand it the way that Paul and every other writer, and Yeshua himself understood it, there is only one response when the fire falls on Mount Carmel. And you all, you’d better learn it now, because in the end you’re going to have to say it anyway. Can I teach it to you?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: Can I teach you these words? Because if I teach you these words, you’re accountable for them. Let me tell you why Nehemia and I can walk together. Oh, there are some things eventually, he’s going to understand. [laughter] He’ll be all right. Leave Nehemia alone, he’ll be all right.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: But let me tell you what Nehemia understands that many of you don’t. There’s one God.

Audience: Amen, that’s right.

Keith: And He is serious. Now, everything else, we can work on that. But Nehemia and I, we’ve got common ground on this book. We’ve got common ground on this book, and some in the movement would say, “You know what? There’s no way. This is not good, this is bad.” In fact, let me tell you something. He didn’t say it, but I’m going to tell you, maybe tomorrow we’ll deal with it a little bit, if you guys are still here, if we don’t run you guys out of here. You know what the truth of the matter is? What people are really angry about is they have a theological agenda that’s not fitting into the Hebrew Scriptures.

Audience: That’s right. [applause]

Keith: And so they’re angry. They’re mad. They’re upset. Their agenda is not fitting. I’m saying if it does not fit, you must acquit. If it don’t fit, leave it alone. Find out what fits and go with what’s right. Live in the truth, and let the tradition be what it is. But they’re saying, “No, don’t take it away from us. We like to pesach between two opinions. That’s how we do our shtik, we take a little bit of Jewish, we take a little bit of Christianity, we take a little bit of Yeshua, we take a little bit of Adonai, call him ‘Hashem’, and it fits for us.” But I’m telling them right now, eventually, you’re going to have to make a decision - if Yehovah is God, follow Him. But if He’s not, keep on doing what you’re doing - singing, dancing, living, having all the things that you do.

But I want to teach you guys this. I can’t believe it, my wife is probably thinking, “Keith, you sweat your shirt out.” [laughter] Are you kidding me? Is that on television like that? Nobody told me. Arthur, come on, man. “Take your shirt off, Pastor Keith.” You could have given me your jacket, something like that. I can’t believe this. It’s like a fire burning in me. [applause] [laughter] I can’t contain it. His name is causing change in me. It’s causing me to be molded, shaped. I’ll look like a fool for Him. I’ll sweat my shirt out for Him. I would rather do that than live in the comfort of tradition. [applause]

Let me close with this. In the Hebrew language, this is what those people that were double minded at one point, but when the fire fell, they changed. Here is what they said. They said this. “Yehovah, hu haElohim.” Oh, they said, “Yehovah, hu haElohim.” You all don’t understand. Come on now, they said, “Yehovah, hu haElohim.

Audience: Yehovah, hu haElohim.

Keith: Now, somebody’s going to read the verse and understand what they really did. Somebody’s going to read the verse and understand what they really did. It says, and eventually everybody will see it, “When all the people saw it,” they didn’t sit in their seats of comfort and say, “Let’s figure this out, and see whether that pronunciation matches with my revelation.” They didn’t say, “Well, you know, I still need a little bit of this to mix with a little bit of that.” When they saw the fire, they only had one response. Flat on their faces, and they said, “Yehovah, hu haElohim.” “Then Elijah said to them, ‘See the prophets of Baal. Do not let one of them escape,’” and here’s where it gets controversial, “so they seized them and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there.” The first thing Elijah did was find the problem. The second thing he did was, he brought a solution. He fixed it. The third thing he did is, he had a good old-fashioned fight.

Now, let me tell you where I am today. The gloves are off. I’m ready to fight now. I’ve gone through a 10-year process, learning this information, and I have challenged, I have asked, I have begged, I have offered. And you know what? They cannot come and show me anything more than what I’ve seen, up to this point. But they want to fight me because they don’t want you to have the information. So guess what? Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. That’s why I called Michael. I said, “Michael, what would you think if we called people to stand against the ban, the ban of tradition over truth?” Yehovah, hu haElohim. You all, here it is, in closing. Question, where are the Hanochites?

Audience: Right here! [applause] Here.

Keith: Last picture I’m going to show you. That, my friends, is last year in Israel at the time of Chanukkah. You see, I don’t believe that Chanukkah really has anything to do with trying to synchronize it with Christmas. I don’t think Chanukkah needs to try to find out, “Nobody does Christmas like the Christians, and so let’s try to be more like the…” I don’t think that’s what at all is happening. I think that what we need is some witnesses of people, whether they used to be, are, or will be, that would come together, Jew and Gentile together and say, “You know what? We are Hanochites. We are dedicated. We are trained. We are willing to speak the truth. We’re willing to fight the fight, come together, and help some people get out of these particular situations they are in, which is actually killing them.” It’s killing them, and they don’t even know it. So are there Hanochites? Are there people that would say, “You know what? We look at the witness. The fire’s fallen, and it will fall again.”

Now, are you willing to be one that will say, “Father, start with me. Start with me.” Are there Hanochites here? I’m not going to ask you to leave your seat, or anything like that. But are there people that would say as a witness to the world? Because I’m going to tell you something, I’m serious about this. I want people to actually do this. I want you to go to hishallowedname.com, under the Ambassadors’ section and say, “You know what? I’m willing to get the information, inspiration, revelation. I will join with Michael. I will join with everybody. I’ll grab a hold with people around the world. I will become a Hanochite. I will be one that is willing to stand against the ban. I’m willing to get on my face before Him, and say, “no more dancing, no more leaping, no more jumping”. Today, I need the One who has proclaimed to us this fact. He is God. Hanochites, where are you?

Audience: Right here.

Keith: If you’re here, I want you to do something. I simply want you to respond the way the people responded when the fire fell. Find a spot to get on your face. Hallelujah, Amen. Amen. Amen. Hanochites all over this place, look, they’re saying, “Hey, I don’t care, don’t care about me. I’m going to get on my face.” Yehovah, hu haElohim. Yehovah, hu haElohim. Yehovah, hu haElohim.” If you’re listening right now, I don’t care if your kids are saying, “Hey, it’s about to be Christmas tomorrow.” Stop the party, stop the dancing, stop the singing. Tell them, “I’ve got to take a minute. I’ve got to get on my face and say, just like they said, ‘The fire has fallen. Yehovah, hu haElohim!’”

Call upon His name. Call upon His name. Call upon His name. Call upon His name. Call upon His name. Proclaim His name. Speak His name. Praise His name. Tell Him, “Yehovah, start with me.”

Keith: [blows shofar]

Keith: Yehovah, hu haElohim. We thank You, Father. We give You praise and glory. We found some that are willing to be ready for the days of Elijah. They’re tired of dancing, tired of hopping. They’ve grabbed a hold of You as the One that was, is, and shall be. Now, do what You do. Consume them with your fire. Lick everything up, take everything away, burn it up, Father, everything that is not of You. Take them over. Make them ambassadors for You. Make them to be emissaries for Your name. Let them be ones that as they see them, they will do nothing but humble themselves in their presence. For they will know that You, Yehovah, are Elohim.

We give You the praise. We give You the glory, and we give You the honor, and for the opportunity to be in this place, I pray You, bless those that have allowed it a thousand-fold, for we’ve been able to proclaim Your name in this place. And in Your name, Yehovah, everyone said together, amen.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: [blows shofar]

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Minding My Own Business – Nehemia Gordon (Open Door Series – Part 9)

In Part 9 of the Open Door Series "Minding My Own Business", Nehemia Gordon speaks about how he was minding his own business in academia when the Creator of the universe had other plans.

Transcript

Minding My Own Business – Nehemia Gordon (Open Door Series – Part 9)

You are listening to the Open Door Series with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Nehemia: A little over 10 years ago, I was sitting up in the ivory tower, quite literally the ivory tower, at the Hebrew University. And they talk about the ivory towers of the university. We actually have an ivory tower at Hebrew U, and they even have the symbol of the ivory tower on the ivory tower. That’s how pompous they are at Hebrew U.

I was sitting there, minding my own business, and I was on an academic track. My plan in life was to finish my master’s degree and then go on and do a Doctorate in Biblical Studies. And the last thing I expected is that I would be standing here in front of a group of Christians and Messianics, and having little children come up and recite a Hebrew version of the Lord’s Prayer. I never expected that, never planned on that. That was beneath me. That was for the masses. I was going to be a professor. I wasn’t going to deal with simple people. [laughter]

And something happened. The God of the universe, I believe, had different plans than what I had. One day, I’m minding my own business there, and I get a call asking me to come and meet some minister from America who was a chaplain for the Vikings, or something like that, something to do with football players. I didn’t really care about that. As I was studying for my master’s degree, I had a little side job where I was doing research. I actually worked on this book, among others, the Dead Sea Scrolls Reader, and one of my jobs there was to check the texts that they were translated correctly, and then translate other texts that had never been translated in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and I worked on a few other things.

One of the side things that I did is I gave tours to VIPs that would come over to Israel from the US, because I had studied Biblical Studies and Archaeology for my bachelor’s degree, and my master’s was in Biblical Studies. So it was second nature to me to take people around ancient biblical sites, and I loved it. I love the land of Israel, and the sites of Israel. And so I would take people around the sites, just to make a little bit of extra money. They asked me to take around this chaplain, this minister, and I’m like, “All right, sure.” And they want me to come and have dinner beforehand at the Mount Zion Hotel. So I go and I meet these guys at the Mount Zion Hotel, and everybody’s sitting around and they’re telling their stories.

And then, this pastor, this Methodist pastor starts to tell his story. And he starts off the story about how he had a dream. And my response, of course, was to try very hard not to roll my eyes. [laughter] “Here’s the Christian, come to Israel and he’s had this spiritual experience.” And I’ve seen this a million times, and I’m not impressed with it. It’s certainly not something that I, as an academic, would deal with. That’s for the simple people.

And he starts to tell me how he had a dream, and in the dream… the gist of the dream is that he’s supposed to come to Israel, to Jerusalem, for Shavuot. And that caught my attention when he said, “Jerusalem for Shavuot”. I didn’t let on at the time, but it did catch my attention. And the reason it caught my attention is that there’s something special about coming to Jerusalem, of all places, for Shavuot, because in the Torah there are three pilgrimage feasts, three chagim, say, “Chagim.”

Audience: Chagim.

Nehemia: Chagim, chag is a pilgrimage feast. It’s where you come up to the place of the Temple three times a year. It says, “All males shall appear before Me,” in the Torah, in a number of places. And so, he having a dream, telling him to come to Jerusalem for Shavuot, I said, “Well, that’s interesting. But then again, he’s a Christian pastor, a Methodist. God doesn’t speak to those people.” [laughter] This is certainly the paradigm that I was raised with - that there is a person who’s unkosher, and I’m not going to be dealing with somebody like that. And certainly, God isn’t going to.

And he tells me this story about how he had the dream telling him to come to Israel for Shavuot, to Jerusalem. Then the next part of the story made absolutely no sense to me, I thought it was completely ridiculous. He tells me how he was called by God to get a Torah scroll. Now, Torah scrolls cost tens of thousands of dollars. And so I hear him say that he got a Torah scroll, and he tells me this story, how he goes to a West Bank settlement, so-called West Bank settlement, a peaceful little Jewish town in what they call the West Bank. [laughter] You’re laughing, but if you go to what they call the West Bank settlements, they’re peaceful little Jewish towns, suburbia.

So he gets this Torah scroll and he tells me this story how they give him the Torah scroll and he doesn’t pay any money for it. They say, “You can pay for it later.” And I have this picture in my head of what happened. I know exactly what happened. He got one of these cute little toy Torah scrolls that they sell for like $10, maybe $30 if it’s very fancy, printed on the bottom of… what do you call those things, the sticks of the Torah scroll it says, “Made in China”. [laughter] No, I’m serious. And I think this thing is printed on white paper, and it’s very cheap, and that must be what they gave him. And that’s why they said, “You don’t have to pay for it now, you’ll pay for it later,” because they think he’s a frier. Frier is a very important Israeli concept, say, “Frier”.

Audience: Frier.

Nehemia:Frier” translates roughly as a sucker. [laughter] So I’m sure this guy is a frier, and he convinces me to go over and see his Torah scroll, his little toy, cute thing that he’s dancing around with, I think. And I go and I walk in, and this is what I see. And I look at this thing, and I can see already, because the cover is laying on top of it, so I can see at the sides, peeking out from behind the cover, that this is actual parchment. And I realize, “This is not a little toy made in China Torah scroll. This is the real deal.”

And what I see on the front cover really impresses me. It says here, it’s a verse from Isaiah chapter 2. And it’s a verse that talks about people from all the nations flowing to Jerusalem, the word is “naharu”, which means “they’ll flow like a river” to Jerusalem. And then it explains here why they flow to Jerusalem. It says, “Ki miTzion tetzeh Torah u’dvar Yehovah miYerushalayim”. “For the Torah shall go forth from Zion, and the word of Yehovah from Jerusalem.” And so he’s come to Jerusalem to get a Torah scroll, and it says the verse, that his actions are a fulfilment of. I mean, his actions are a fulfilment of this prophesy, and the prophesy is on the Torah scroll.

Well, then I open up the Torah scroll, I unroll it, and what do I read? And I’m not even thinking about what I’m reading, I’m just reading the Hebrew. And I start reading, and he asks me, “What are you reading?” And it turns out that this is the section in Leviticus 23 on Shavuot, on the Feast of Weeks. Now, you have to understand, this is 10 years ago, when I’m sitting in the ivory tower, minding my own business. So this guy over there, Keith Johnson, he is, “woo-hoo!” He’s like dancing around, and he’s bouncing off the walls. And I’m like, “That’s very interesting. Maybe it’s a coincidence”. [laughter] But at the same time, deep down, I started to wonder, “What is going on? What’s God doing here, what’s going on? This guy comes to Jerusalem, he gets the Torah scroll. What is happening here?”

And let’s look at this prophesy in Isaiah, and you’ll see why I was having these questions. Isaiah chapter 2 verse 2, it says, “It shall come to pass at the end of days, that the Temple Mount shall be established above the mountains, and shall be lifted above hills. And all the nations shall flow to it, they’ll come like a river.” Then in verse 3 it says, “And many nations shall go saying, ‘Let us go up to the mountain of Yehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob. And he will teach us.’” And that word, “teach us” is really two words, “yore-nu”, say, “Yore”.

Audience: Yore.

Nehemia: Nu.

Audience: Nu.

Nehemia: “Nu” means “us”. “Yore” is, “He will teach”. But it’s also the root of the word “Torah”, so “Yorenu” is, “He will teach us Torah”. So this is what the nations are saying, “He will teach us Torah from His ways, and we will walk in His paths, for the Torah shall go forth from Zion,” that’s the words that were on the Torah scroll, “and the word of Yehovah from Jerusalem.”

So I’m reading this and I’m saying, “Wait a minute. It’s talking about the nations coming and getting the Torah,” and that wasn’t the way I had understood things. I was raised up in the Rabbinical tradition, and we were taught that the Torah is for the Jews, for the remnant of the people of Israel, the Jewish people. And the Gentiles… it’s not really for them. And we didn’t talk about things like salvation, or not salvation. We just said, “This is for us, it’s this treasure we have. We’re not going to share it. This is our gold. Stay away.” [laughter]

And then I read this verse, and I’m looking at a fulfilment of this verse - a man who has fulfilled this verse through his actions, and I’m thinking, “Wait a minute. Maybe this word of God is for this man.” But back then, the reason I struggled with this is that I’m what’s called a Litvak Jew. Say, “Litvak”.

Audience: Litvak.

Nehemia: Litvaks are Jews who came from Eastern Europe, from Lithuania. Litvak is the Yiddish pronunciation of someone who comes from Lithuania. And the Litvak Jews, the Jews of Lithuania, they were the intellectual elite of the Jewish world, up until the Holocaust. And if you have any question about it, just ask the Litvak rabbi and he’ll tell you that it’s true, [laughter] that in fact, they, to this day, are considered the intellectual elite. And as the intellectual elite, one of the things that I was taught is that we don’t deal with anything that’s too spiritual, or dreams, or miracles or things like that. That’s for the simple people. You could see why I fit in so well at the university. It was the same attitude, that we have this knowledge, we have this information, so we don’t need any of that inspiration. And that’s why I think I had so much trouble accepting that somebody like Keith Johnson was having this miracle happen to him, and why I came up with every explanation except for that this was a miracle of God, because I was thinking, “No, that doesn’t happen to Methodist pastors. That’s not how God works. And in today’s age, we don’t really have miracles anyway. When the Messiah comes, He’ll re-establish all of that. That was for the ancient times and for the future, but here in the middle, we just have the information to keep us company.”

And here, there’s actually a verse in Scripture that talks about this, that quotes the Litvak Jews. Did you know that? That the Litvak Jews appear in the Bible? Now, the prophesy in Isaiah chapter 2 verses 2 to 4 appears almost word for word in Micah 4, 2 through 4. But then Micah adds the response of the people of his day. And the people of his day, they were Litvaks. And here’s what they said. They said, “Surely, all the nations shall walk, each in the name of his god. But we will walk in the name of Yehovah, our God, for ever and ever.” And what they were saying, what they were responding to this prophesy of all the nations flowing to Jerusalem to be taught the word of God is, “No, those Gentiles, they have no part in this. They can’t be part of this. We don’t want to share this with them. This is our golden treasure. We don’t want them to have any part of it. They can have their gods. I don’t even know what the Methodist god is, they can have it. But that’s got nothing to do with our God of Israel.” And that was, to some extent, the way I looked at it.

And what happened is, I met more and more people that shook the foundations of this conception that I had, of this concept that I had. Here is one of the places that shook the foundations of that misconception that I had. This is a place called the Shrine of the Book. I like to call this place, the Jot and Tittle Museum. And the reason I call it the Jot and Tittle Museum is that in this place - this is part of the Israel Museum - they have two things on display. One is the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the other is what’s called the Aleppo Codex, which is called the Crown Jewel of Hebrew Manuscripts. They call it the “Keter haram tzovah”, the Aleppo Crown, because it’s considered the ultimate Hebrew manuscript that preserves the minute points of Scripture. And, you know, 2,000 years ago there was a man who talked about “not one jot or one tittle passing away from the Torah”. Do you know who said that?

Audience: Yes.

Nehemia: And the place where these jots and tittles are preserved is in this museum, the Jot and Tittle Museum. And one of my dreams in life was to get into the museum and be able to see this. This is the Aleppo Codex, as I said, the crown jewel. Now, anybody can walk in and see what you see in this photograph here. But what they don’t know, and I what I learned at the university, is that in fact, only the top two pages are real. The rest of the pages, the ones on the side, those are preserved in a secret vault that I’m not allowed to tell you where it is. But they’re preserved in a secret vault, and the reason for that is that they’re afraid, this being the Middle East – not here, but where the Jot and Tittle Museum is located – being the Middle East, they’re afraid someone will walk in and blow it up. And it’s too important, it’s irreplaceable. So what they’ve done is taken the top two pages, and everything here on the side, that is what I call a fake. Keith doesn’t like me calling it a fake. He prefers me referring to it as a replica.

So everything here on the side is a replica, only these top two pages are real, and the rest of it is in the vault. And so one of my dreams in life, one of my aspirations, studying at the university, was to get into the vault and see the original. And that’s because, as I mentioned, although I was born and raised in Illinois, deep down in my heart I’m from Missouri, and I need to see it for myself. And if you go and you take any Bible in the world, any translation of the Old Testament, of the Tanakh, into English, it’s based on this manuscript, on the Aleppo Codex. And when I have any Hebrew printing, you know, I have a dozen different Hebrew printings of the Old Testament, of the Tanakh, in my house, every one of them goes back to the Aleppo Codex.

So me, being from Missouri in my heart, I needed to get into that vault and see the original for myself. And this was a dream that I thought would never happen. I thought, “How am I ever going to get in there?” They don’t let people in there, it’s not on display. They’re too afraid that someone will blow it up or damage it.

Well, one day, this Methodist pastor, Keith Johnson calls me up, after I had met him about a year earlier, and he tells me over the phone, he says, “I have this important guest who wants to come to Israel. He wants to have a similar experience to what I had, and his name is Reggie White.” And I say, “Who’s that?” He’s some football player who won the Superbowl, or something like that. And so I look him up online. Okay, it sounds very impressive, but I’ve never watched a Superbowl in my life. I’m not into sports.

And I say, “Okay, I’ll take him on a tour.” And I take him around the country, and he actually stays with Michael, and we had some interactions there. But I end up taking him to see two things. That was the main part of his visit, he wanted to see two things. One is, he wanted to go and see the Hebrew manuscripts of Matthew. That was one of the things that we did that day, and that was no problem whatsoever. Anybody can go in and see those if you know what to look for.

The second thing was a little bit more of a challenge. The second thing he wanted to see - he had been studying Scripture, and he also had been looking for the sources. He had been preaching for years in his off-season. They used to call him the Minister of Defense. And as the Minister of Defense, he was preaching this standard, out-of-the-box messages that he was told to preach.

When he retired from football, he told me that he wanted to become as great a minister, a preacher, as he had been a football player. And he didn’t become such a great football player by accident. A lot of it had to do with just born talent, but it also had to do with determination and working hard. And he said, “I’m going to work as hard at becoming a minister, as a preacher, as I was a football player.” And he started to read the Bible. And what he was looking for is the source of all those sermons he had been preaching over the years, and he couldn’t find them. And then he thought, “Well, maybe if I go back to the original language, I’ll find them.” And so he started to actually study Hebrew. One of the things he had heard about from Keith, who let it out of the bag, was about this Aleppo Codex, and specifically, that the one on display isn’t the real one.

So Reggie, I speak with him on the phone, and he says in this deep voice he has - and Keith can do his voice so much better - but he says in this deep voice that he wants us to see the original Aleppo Codex, not the replica on display, but the one in the vault. And so, all right, what do I do? I call up the people at the Jot and Tittle Museum, and I say to them, “Can we get into the vault?” And I do what they call the PR thing. I say, “There’s this famous football player…” who I’ve never heard of, “coming from America, and he wants to see the original Aleppo Codex.” And they say to me, “No problem, it’s on display at the Shrine of the Book. Anybody can come in and see it.” And I say to them, “No, not the replica. He wants to see the one in the vault.” Then there’s silence on the other end of the phone. And the guy’s thinking, “How does he know about this? It’s a secret.”

Well, the guy says, “No way. No go.” He said, “Ariel Sharon,” who was the prime minister at the time, “couldn’t get in here to see it. It’s not for tourists. This isn’t a joke. This isn’t a game. We don’t let people in to see it. It’s a national treasure that’s not available for people, for the general public.” And I said, “Okay, I did the best I could,” and I hung up the phone. I tried. All you could do is the best you can.

About an hour later, I get a call from that guy’s boss. And it turns out that one of his big donors is a huge football fan. And he says, “Not only can you come in to see the vault, but I’ll take you there personally to show it to you.” And this is how I ended up in the vault, seeing the original Aleppo Codex. This is me, about 80 pounds ago, and this is Reggie, of blessed memory, and here’s the original Aleppo Codex. The guy’s got the white gloves, he can’t touch it directly because the acid on his hand will damage the paper, the parchment. It needs to last another 1,000, or 2,000 years.

And this was one of the high points of my life - getting in to see this Aleppo Codex in the vault. You probably can’t see the excitement on my Litvak face, but it’s there. [laughter] But you know, Reggie and Keith and others like them coming to Israel and interacting with them made me start to think, “What is going on here?” My conception was what it said in Micah, “We’ve got our God, they’ve got their god. Never the twain shall meet. You’ve got no part with us.” And as I’m interacting with more and more people and I’m seeing their love for the word of God, and they have the same love for the word of God that I have, I’m thinking, “Something’s happening here.” Let me share a little bit about my past that opened me up to this.

Does anybody know what this is, if you show the slide? What is that? What does that represent? Can somebody tell me?

Woman: It’s a Star of David.

Nehemia: Yeah, we know it’s the Star of David on a chain, you’re not blind, okay. But what’s the significance of that? And if you don’t know, then you’re not a Jew who grew up in the 1980s. When I was growing up, this was the symbol of the day. Every synagogue had this emblazoned on the front of the synagogue. And this was the symbol, it was part of something called Operation Exodus, which was a program to free the Jews of the Soviet Union. There were millions of Jews behind the Iron Curtain who were being suppressed, who could not express their Judaism, who were being arrested if they went to the synagogue, who were being taught that there’s no God, that the world exists through random happenstance, and if they believed differently, they’ll end up in a gulag in Siberia.

So this was the big thing of my childhood. I used to go to protests to free the Soviet Jews. What happened in 1990 is the Soviet Union fell, and there began this huge flood of Jews, this influx of Jews, 1.1 million Jews came out of the Soviet Union between 1990 and 2000.

And okay, wow, that’s so amazing. But you have to understand, when I was growing up in the ‘80s, this was something that we dreamed of when the Messiah comes, the Jews will be free. And it’s something that’s been fulfilled in my lifetime. I mean, even a Litvak can’t look at that and say that God doesn’t do miracles in this time, in this era. That was a miracle of Biblical proportion. [applause]

And then, about a year later, this happened, or about the same time, actually… can we see this slide here? This was the Jews of Ethiopia who had been there in exile for 2,000 years, living in mud huts and villages without electricity. And I remember, back then it was May of 1991, and I was in my year just after high school, and I went to Israel, not to move, I mean, I didn’t immigrate there, but I went there just for one year to volunteer on a kibbutz. And part of my lifelong dream before I went to university was to be a dirt farmer. The reason I wanted to be a dirt farmer is, I read in the Bible about my ancestors, the Israelites, who were farmers, and I said, “Okay, I want to be a farmer.” And of course, my thinking, growing up as a city slicker in Chicago is, “You don’t need to go to university to be a farmer. Even though everybody in my family went to college, I’m going to be the first one not to go to college, because what do I need to go to college for to be a farmer?”

Little did I know that Israel has some of the highest tech agriculture in the world. But anyway, that year, I was a dirt farmer, and I worked the fields. I literally got up at 4:30 in the morning, drove out in a tractor into the fields, and most of what I did had to do with irrigation technologies. And one day, I’m standing there alone in this field and I see a mobile home driving by, on the highway. And I’m like, “That’s a strange thing.” You might see that in Texas, and New Mexico, [laughter] but that’s a very uncommon, a double-wide trailer coming by in the back of a truck in northern Israel, you don’t see that. And then, a few minutes later, there was another one, and another one, and then there was a whole line of these trailers coming by. And I heard on the news that night that… there was a communist regime in Ethiopia that would not let the Jews leave, and the regime fell, and the people of Israel didn’t know if that vacuum that was created by the fall of the government would last three days or three minutes. And they sent over hundreds of planes to get the Jews out of Ethiopia, and they brought out tens of thousands of Jews. And what I was seeing, the line of the double-wide trailers was where they were going to settle them that day. And that is a miracle of Biblical proportions. [applause]

And this is actually a miracle foretold in the Book of Jeremiah, literally. It says, “’The days are coming,’ says Yehovah, ‘that it shall no longer be said: As Yehovah lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt.’” That’s how they used to make vows. They would say, “I swear as Yehovah, who brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, lives.” That was their vows. He said, “No longer will they say that. But rather, as Yehovah lives, who brought up the children from the land of the north…” Someone say, “Soviet Union”.

Audience: Soviet Union.

Nehemia: “…and from all the lands where He had driven them, for I will bring them back into their land which I gave them to their fathers.” We’ve literally seen the fulfilment of this prophesy from thousands of years ago. You know, when Jeremiah said this 2,600 years ago, people must have thought he was insane. The Babylonians are battering down the gates of Jerusalem, and he’s talking about the return of the exiles? And then, later on they were in shackles, being taken away as captives to Babylon. And he’s talking about how those captives will return. That must have seemed like a fantasy. They must have thought he was crazy.

But in our lifetimes - well, not for you young people – but in our lifetimes, this has been fulfilled, literally. And as I was seeing these things, I began to think, “Here’s another prophesy, Isaiah 14:1.” It says, “When Yehovah has mercy upon Jacob and once again chooses Israel, placing them in their land, the strangers shall join themselves to them and shall be added to the house of Jacob”. Woo! [applause]

Now, here’s the really exciting thing. The phrase, “Shall join themselves,” those three words, “Shall join themselves,” in Hebrew, “shall join” actually is one word, “venilvah”. Now, “venilvah” is from the same root as the word Levite. And if you look at the story of how Levi, the son of Leah, got his name, she talks about joining herself to her husband. So what it’s saying here is that the strangers shall “Levite themselves”, be added to the house of Jacob. Now, this is a Biblical prophesy that I think I’m increasingly seeing around the world being fulfilled. I’m seeing people like the Methodist pastor and the football player and people who I would never think have any portion with the house of Jacob, with my people, they’re coming and they’re telling me, they love the Torah. [applause]

I once asked Keith how he got drawn to the Torah. And he usually doesn’t share this story, because maybe it’s not very sexy. But the story he tells, the story he told me, is that he saw a Torah scroll, and when he went to touch it he broke into tears. And what brought him to the Torah is he couldn’t understand why he broke into tears. What was it? There was something there. And I believe it was the God of Israel drawing him in. You know, we read in Isaiah 56 about how God gathers the dispersed of Israel, and it says in verse 8, “I will gather others unto those who I have gathered”. And I believe people like Keith and Reggie and many others around the world on every continent – and I mean, literally on every continent, including Antarctica, because I met a guy from Antarctica, and I saw it’s true – are being drawn to the God of Israel. And they can’t explain why. You know, they shake the family tree, waiting for a Jew to fall out, [laughter] and nothing falls out. There’s no one in their heritage that they can find that’s Jewish. And you know what? I don’t think you have to invent a Jewish ancestor, because God is drawing people. He’s gathering people. And if you feel that feeling in your heart - unless you had bad pizza last night, and that’s heartburn - then that is the God of Israel drawing you into His covenant, gathering you, just as He gathered those people out of Russia, and gathered those people out of Ethiopia. And there are stories of this ingathering that are unbelievable.

You know, when they went to get the Jews of Yemen, they sent these airplanes, and the people had never seen airplanes. I mean, literally, they’d never seen airplanes. These were people who were living in the 12th century. I think the people left behind in Yemen are still living in the 12th century. But these were people who technologically were living literally in the 12th century. That was the level of technology they had. They’d never seen airplanes, so they told the people, “We’re going to take you to the Land of Israel on magic carpets.” That’s what they said, and they actually called it, Operation Magic Carpet, because the people didn’t understand, “You’re going to take us, and you’re going to fly us thousands of miles to the land that we read about in the Bible, to the land of our ancestors? That’s not possible. We have to go on camels, and stop every day to get water.” And they told them, “No, we’re going to take you on magic carpets. Come and you’ll see.” And that was back in the ‘50s, and this is an ongoing process of the people being drawn back to the land. This is a fulfilment of prophesy, not in some metaphorical, symbolic sense, but literally, these things are being fulfilled.

In Zechariah 8:23, Keith brought this over Shavuot in Dallas. “Thus says Yehovah of hosts, ‘In those days, 10 men of all the languages of the nations shall grab hold of the corner of a garment of a Jewish man saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” Now, Keith brought this verse over Shavuot, and talked about how there was an opportunity to grab hold of my suit jacket here. Now, a couple of the people watching online, somebody say, “morons”. [laughter]

A couple of people, most people got it, but there were a few people watching online who saw this and said, “Oh, Keith is proclaiming Nehemia to be the Messiah.” Morons. [laughter] No, seriously. Let me share with you a little technical detail, put the inspiration aside and talk information. There’s something in Hebrew called the collective singular, say, “collective singular”.

Audience: Collective singular.

Nehemia: Collective singular is this concept, it’s actually in all Semitic languages, but in Hebrew, as well. And the idea of the collective singular is, if you want to refer to an entire category, you refer to the one. And so for example, when God created the birds, it says, literally in Hebrew, “And God created bird”. Now, in English, it translates it as “birds”, because English doesn’t have a collective singular, but Hebrew does. So when you see that singular, it’s the category of bird.

And I love this example, it’s an example in Exodus where it talks about how God, through Moses, brings the plague of the frogs. And it said, “And a frog ascended over Egypt”. And actually, the rabbis, I think half-jokingly, say that there was a giant frog [laughter] and then it split up into millions of tiny frogs. No, but really, that’s an example of the collective singular, and it means the category of frogs came over Egypt, not a singular frog. And when it says, “The Jewish man” there, it doesn’t mean a specific Jewish man named Nehemia Gordon, or Bill Rabinowitz. It means the category of the Jew, and not literally, 10 Gentiles, but that 10 different languages, meaning many different languages, the category of Gentiles. That’s what it’s talking about. And what it’s talking about is the joining of the Gentile and the Jew saying, “Let’s go together to the God of Israel, and understand this God of Israel, and look in the oracles of God and see what He has for us to say, what He has for us to do, what He’s telling us to live by.” That’s what I think it’s about.

Zephaniah 3:9 is one of my favorite verses. It says, “For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language.” Say, “pure language”.

Audience: Pure language.

Nehemia: “…that they may all call upon the name of Yehovah to serve Him with one accord.” What is that pure language?

Audience: Hebrew.

Nehemia: How do you know it’s Hebrew? Look, I’m the Litvak. You can’t just tell me, “Oh, well. I feel in my heart, spiritually it’s Hebrew.” You could say that if you want, but I don’t buy it. I need solid evidence, proof. That’s what being a Litvak is about. Show me. The people from Missouri, they’re Litvaks.

So how do I know that the original language, the pure language, is the original language, Hebrew? Well, Genesis 11:1 says, “And the whole earth was one language.” And I know that’s Hebrew, not because I just feel it deep in my heart - I can prove to you from Scripture. My book, The Hebrew Yeshua vs the Greek Jesus talks about this a little bit. Actually, I don’t think it does, but it’s a good book, anyway. [laughter]

Oh, I know why I brought that; because I have examples there of Hebrew word puns that show you that the name Adam and the name Eve, that those only make sense in Hebrew when you hear the explanation for the name. Remember, “Yeshua” and “Yoshia” from before? That that only made sense in Hebrew? Same thing with Adam and Eve, and so I’ve brought other examples here. Their son, Cain, in Hebrew is “Kayin”, say, “Kayin”.

Audience: Kayin.

Nehemia: And why is he called “Kayin?” Because Eve said, “I created a man with Yehovah,” that’s what it literally says in Hebrew. And the word for “I created”, those two words is “kaniti”. Say, “kaniti”.

Audience: Kaniti.

Nehemia: So he’s called “Kayin” because she said, “kaniti”, “I created”. Okay, that’s the name “Kayin”. It may coincidentally work in some language like, I don’t know, Tagalog, but if you look at all of the examples, they only work collectively in Hebrew.

Let’s look at another example. And why am I bringing this? This is before God mixed up the languages, when there was one single language. So what language was that? It had to be Hebrew. Seth, the second son third, or the third son, is in Hebrew, “Shet”. Say, “Shet”.

Audience: Shet.

Nehemia: And why is he called “Shet?” Because his mother says, “For God appointed for me another descendant.” And the word “appointed” is “sha’at”, “He appointed”. Say, “sha’at”.

Audience: Sha’at.

Nehemia: So why is he called “Shet?” Because sha’at, “God appointed for me”. All of these examples only work in Hebrew. Here’s another one, “Hevel”. The name, Hevel, it doesn’t say he’s called Hevel for this reason, but it’s obvious when you read the story. The name Hevel means “vanity, emptiness”. And why is he called that? Because he had no continuation.

Nimrod is my favorite example. His name means “let us rebel”. Why do you think Nimrod was called that? Maybe because we pronounce the… well anyway, his name is actually “Nimrohd”, and if you pronounce it “Nimrod”, that’s kind of a nimrod thing to do. [laughter] But “Nimrohd” was called that because… why? Because apparently, at the Tower of Babel he said, “Hey, let’s rebel against God, the Creator of the universe. Let’s build a tower and go up to heaven.” And at that point, God said, “Okay, enough of Hebrew being for everybody. I’m going to mix up the languages now.”

And the prophesy of Zephaniah 3:9 is that the curse of Babel will be undone, and in the end times, all mankind will revert to having one language. And not only that, but they’ll have that language so they can call upon Him… Oh, I’ve got to bring this. They can call upon Him with one accord. The noble donkey, isn’t he cute? Now, why do I bring this picture? You know, this prophesy of all mankind having one language… in order for that to be fulfilled, we’ve got to start off with, I think, the people of Israel speaking that language, and that’s something that we take for granted today.

There are millions of people around the world today that Hebrew is their native tongue, but that was not always the case. Go back to before 1880, and there wasn’t a single human being that spoke Hebrew as their native language, not a single person on earth. And there was a man with a dream named Eliezer Ben Yehuda, and he said, “I’m going to bring this language back to life.” And he went on a boat in 1880 to Israel with his wife, who didn’t speak a word of Hebrew, and as they were pulling into the port of Jaffa, he said to her, “These are the last words I will speak to you in German.” That was the language they spoke in his house. “Henceforth, we shall only speak Hebrew.” She learned very quickly. [laughter] When their son was born, his name was Ben Zion, “Son of Zion”, and he was the first person in modern times to speak Hebrew as a native language, as the first language. And in fact, his father, Eliezer, made his mother take a vow that she would never speak to him in any language but Hebrew. He grew up speaking Hebrew as his only language. Later, he learned other languages, but he grew up speaking Hebrew. And today, there are generation after generation of people who speak Hebrew as their native tongue.

Now, I didn’t grow up speaking Hebrew. I grew up speaking this weird Germanic language which is a mix of something from the Anglos, and the French, and it’s called English. Have you heard of it? [laughter] But I grew up reading Hebrew; I was taught to read the Hebrew alphabet alongside the English alphabet, in kindergarten, if I’m not mistaken, but I couldn’t really understand everything. Over the years, I learned more and more, but at one point in my education, my father decided to take me out of the school that was what’s called a Zionist school…

Do you all know what Zionists are? Zionists are Jews who believe that the land of Israel belongs to God’s people, and that we are to live in it if we have the opportunity. And so I was going to a Zionist school, and my father said, “I’m going to take him out and put him in the Ultra-Orthodox school.” My grandmother, who came from Lithuania, she was a Hebrew teacher, and she was livid about this. She was so upset. She said, “If you take him and send him to that school, which is more religious, he’ll have less knowledge of Hebrew.”

Well, after about a year or two in that school, my grandmother was trying to convince my mother to pull me out of the school, send me back to the Zionist school, and to prove that I needed to go back to the Zionist school, she was saying, “Look, your son isn’t learning Hebrew, and this is the language of our people. He’s learning all kinds of rules and regulations and traditions, but he’s not really learning the Hebrew language like he should be.” And my father wanted to prove her wrong, and so he cracked open the Book of Genesis, pointed to a random verse and asked me to translate it. And it just so happens that it came up to be this verse, and I translated it. Genesis 34:4. It said, “And Sh’chem said to his father, ‘Chamor.’” Now, in the English you’ll see a “Shekem” and “Hamor”, but it’s pronounced “Sh’chem”, say, “Sh’chem”.

Audience: Sh’chem.

Nehemia: And chamor. Say, “chamor.”

Audience: Chamor.

Nehemia: Well, I read this verse, and my knowledge of Hebrew was so limited that I didn’t read it correctly. I translated each word by itself, and then put the words together. I basically translated it literally, and because of that, I read it as, “And shoulder said to his father, ‘Donkey.’” [laughter] True story. You know, I knew how to translate the words, but I didn’t know how to translate the sentence. And it took quite a few years of study before I got to that point, but actually, it’s very interesting because the word “sh’chem” means “shoulder”. But it’s also the name of a city in northern Israel, and what’s the English name of that city? Can somebody tell me?

Audience: Shekem.

Nehemia: Well, Shekhem, yeah, but that’s the English pronunciation. No, Nablus. Nablus is the Arabic name for it, but they usually refer to it in English as Nablus. So that’s “Sh’chem,” or “Shekem”. And “Chamor” was this guy’s father, and his father’s name meant “donkey”. And why was his name “donkey?” He was probably really a stubborn guy.

And the way that I learned to speak Hebrew, when I went to Israel and volunteered on that kibbutz, I couldn’t put together a single sentence of Hebrew. By that point, I was much older and I could read the Torah fluently without any problem. But the way I learned to actually be able to speak Hebrew is I was out there in the fields…

Now, one of the things you’ll find in Israel is, most Israelis want to speak to you in English. They love the English language, and if they can improve their English, they can advance in their careers. So while you’re trying to learn Hebrew, they’re trying to learn English. That’s what happens. And so you try to speak to them and they won’t go for it. Well, I was really, really blessed when I went to Israel and was on that kibbutz, because the man who was my boss out there in the field, the supervisor, he was from New York. And so the entire year, he only said to me two things in English, one of them was a dirty joke that I won’t tell you. Maybe I should tell it? [laughter] No. But the rest of the year, he only spoke to me in Hebrew, and this was very difficult for me, at first. He would just start yelling at me in Hebrew.

And let’s see this slide over here. This is what I was facing, a pile of irrigation pipes, and he started yelling at me, “Kakh et hatzinorot vetasim otam sham.” And I’m like, “Whaaat? I’m just an American. I only speak one language.” “Kakh et hatzinorot vetasim otam sham.” And he would just keep doing it, saying that until I did it. And what is he asking me to do? As he’s saying this, “Kakh et hatzinorot vetasim otam sham,” I remember from reading the Bible this… Does anybody know what this is? This is called Warren’s Shaft, and it’s actually mentioned in the Book of Samuel and in Chronicles, where it talks about David capturing the City of Jerusalem. And he says, “The first person to ascend the tzinor…” say, “tzinor”.

Audience: Tzinor.

Nehemia: “He will be given this reward,” and the person who did that as Joab, or Yoav. And by going up the tzinor they were able to capture the city. Well, archaeologists have realized that what he’s talking about is this thing over here. This is Warren’s Shaft, and it was essentially a way for the Canaanites to get water during a siege. And they thought, “Well, this is perfectly safe, because nobody could possibly climb up this,” but Joab figured a way to get up it. And the Hebrew word for this is “tsinor”. Say, “tsinor”.

Audience: Tzinor.

Nehemia: And he was yelling at me, “Take the tzinorot, these things, and move them over there.” Now, there were no shafts out there in the fields, but I realized after he said it about 40 times, that “Oh, in ancient Hebrew, it was a shaft for drawing up water. In modern Hebrew, it’s an aluminum pipe.” That’s what happens. They take a word… like nobody builds water shafts anymore like that. Now, they have pipes. And so that was the modern meaning of the word. And about six months after I was working in those fields getting yelled at, day in and day out… he’s a New Yorker, what do you expect? [laughter] And eventually, I was able to not only understand, I was able to speak, and about six months there of working in the fields, I had something that made me realize, “Wow, God has blessed me greatly.”

What happened to me is, I had a dream, and in the dream, I was speaking Hebrew. And the reason that was significant is that whenever I spoke Hebrew before that, I would have to translate in my head what I wanted to say, and then say it in Hebrew. And then somebody would say something to me in Hebrew, and I would translate it back into English. And in the dream, there was no translation. It was just in Hebrew.

So this prophesy of Zephaniah 3:9, God’s people, the people of Israel are now learning to speak His language. Generation after generation are going back to the pure tongue. The other part of the prophesy talks about, it says that they all may call on the name of Yehovah to serve Him with one accord. And that phrase, “one accord”, is really interesting, because one accord, it literally says, “one sh’chem”. Say, “sh’chem”.

Audience: Sh’chem.

Nehemia: And you remember what sh’chem means, in addition…?

Audience: Shoulder.

Nehemia: It means shoulder, exactly. And what does it mean, “To serve Yehovah with one shoulder?” What it means is that back in the Tower of Babel, they came together. They were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, saying, “Let us build this. Nimrod - let us rebel against the God of creation. Let us build this together standing shoulder-to-shoulder.” And God is saying in this prophesy, in the end time, when He restores that language, we won’t come together to build something for our name, to build our name. We’ll come together for His name, to call upon His name.

And here’s really, for me, a picture of fulfilment of this prophesy - Me and Keith standing together, shoulder-to-shoulder, calling upon the name of Yehovah. [applause] Now, I know there’s a moron out there watching on cyberspace who’s going to say, “Nehemia has proclaimed Keith to be the Messiah.” [laughter] Lest you think that, what I’m saying is, this is a picture for people to emulate, not that I’m something special, or Keith is something special - although Georgia thinks I’m quite special, my dog - but that this is simply a picture of the fulfilment of prophesy, and it’s one that can be repeated. It’s one that can then spread throughout the entire world, where all mankind is standing together, shoulder-to-shoulder, not to build up our own names, but to build up His name. May it be soon.

I’m going to close with this, which is a verse from Genesis chapter 12 verse 3. And it says, “Venivrechu vecha kol mishpakhot ha’adamah,” which means, “And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.” And the Hebrew phrase, “will be blessed”, those Hebrew words is the one Hebrew word, “venivrechu”. Can you say, “venivrechu?

Audience: Venivrechu.

Nehemia: You know, I don’t feel like you’re really… Let’s do it again, “venivrechu”.

Audience: Venivrechu.

Nehemia: All right, you’re working with me. Excellent. So “venivrechu”, now who is this said to? It was said to Abraham, who back then was known as Abram. Somebody say, “first witness”.

Audience: First witness.

Nehemia: This verse appears almost word for word a second time, in Genesis 18:18. It says, “Venivrechu vo kol goyei ha’aretz”. “And in him all the nations,” instead of families, “all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” And again, it’s “venivrechu”. Say, “venivrechu”.

Audience: Venivrechu.

Nehemia: Somebody say, “second witness”.

Audience: Second witness.

Nehemia: It appears with a slightly different wording. Instead of “venivrechu”, it’s “vehitbarachu”. I won’t confuse you by making you say that, but it’s another form of the same word. Genesis 22:18 again, third time, now to Abraham. “And in your descendants, all of the nations of the earth will be blessed.” And again, it’s the same root, which is three Hebrew letters, the letters Bet, say, “Bet”.

Audience: Bet.

Nehemia: Reish.

Audience: Reish.

Nehemia: Khaf.

Audience: Khaf.

Nehemia: Now, those three Hebrew letters come from the word “berekh“. Remember, I mentioned how Hebrew starts off with concrete concepts which then become abstract? The concrete concept here, or term, is “berekh”. This is a berekh, a knee. Say, “knee”.

Audience: Knee.

Nehemia: So if you want to translate it literally, “And your descendants, in all the nations of the earth will be kneed,” or something to do with knees. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, if you translate it literally. But the concept of blessed comes from the knee. Now, originally when somebody would kneel down before God, or a king, and bless them, that’s how we got the term for blessing, because they were on their knees. And when a father would bless his son, he would put his little son on his knee and bless him, and that’s how it’s connected to knee. But that’s not quite what’s going on here, because how is it that all the families of the earth are blessed through Abraham and his descendants?

Let’s look at a few more verses. Genesis 26:14, this blessing is passed on to Isaac. Somebody say, “not Ishmael”.

Audience: Not Ishmael.

Nehemia: Is passed on to Isaac, and it says, “Vahitbarchu b’zarkha kol goyei ha’aretz”. “And in your descendants, all the nations of the earth will be blessed”. Somebody say, “fourth witness”.

Audience: Fourth witness.

Nehemia: Fifth witness, “venivrechu…” again, “venivrekhu bekha kol mishpakhot ha’adamah u’vezareicha.” “And in you and your descendants, all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Five times, we have this prophesy. Is this something important, or some trivial thing? I think it’s important if it’s mentioned five times.

Well, here’s what it means. Before I get to that, should I bring that? All right, I want to bring that. This was something that a Messianic rabbi told me down in Florida, a rabbi named Ira Michaelson. Hi, Ira. He told me this explanation, and I thought, “Oh, that’s some stupid Christian thing. He’s bringing his baggage from all those years of being influenced by that stuff.” But then I thought, “Okay, I’m going to go and investigate and see if this is actually the case.” And what I found - and I’ll tell you in a minute what I’m talking about – what I found is that the rabbis talk about their understanding of what it means for all the families of the earth to be blessed. And here’s what they said, it’s in the Talmud.

They quote this verse. It says, “Rabbi Eliezer said, ‘What is meant by the verse, And all the families of the earth will be blessed, venivrechu, in you?’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Abraham…” Now, this isn’t in the Bible, it doesn’t literally say that, but it’s a paraphrase of what they understand. “I have two good branches to graft into you, Ruth the Moabite, and Naama the Amonite”. Now, what’s going on there? What’s happening is, the rabbis interpreted “venivrechu”, say, “venivrechu…

Audience: Venivrechu.

Nehemia: They interpreted that as an agricultural term. And it turns out, there’s an agricultural term, “lehavrich”, from the same exact word meaning knee, and it means, to graft. Now, why does it mean to graft? Because in agriculture, in ancient agriculture, there were two ways of grafting on a branch. You could lop off the old branches at the root, at the trunk, and then you tie or attach somehow the branch onto that root, and it will grow into it, and that’s a way of grafting.

Another way of grafting is the branch is growing out, and you only cut off part of it, and you take the new branch and you stick it onto that part. And then, you usually do that at a right angle, and that forms a knee. And hence, “to knee”, “lehavrich”, is to graft.

Now, when I saw this in the writings of the rabbis in the Talmud, I got to admit to you, I wasn’t very impressed, because after all, the Talmud says all kinds of whacky things, it really does. What I did want to see though is what do the Hebrew linguists say, you know, the great experts of the Hebrew language? Many of them lived many years after the Talmud. One of the greatest ones is a rabbi named Rashbam. Rashbam was the grandson of Rashi, and he’s actually considered to be one of the greatest Bible commentators who ever lived. Let me just show you this, by the way. We have here, what they’ve done is they’ve taken “venivrechu”, say, “venivrechu“.

Audience: Venivrechu.

Nehemia: And the word “breichot”, say, “breichot”.

Audience: Breichot.

Nehemia: “Breichot” means “branches”, an agricultural term, and “lehavrich”, which means, “to graft”. Say, “lehavrivh”.

Audience: Lehavrivch.

Nehemia: And they say, “Wait a minute. All three are of the same root. “Venivrechu”, instead of, “And they will be blessed”, can mean, “And they will be grafted”. And this is what the Rashbam says. He says, “Will be blessed, this is a term of grafting. That is to say, the families of the earth will be mixed in with your family”. “And in you and your descendants, all the families of the earth will be blessed”, can be legitimately translated, based on sound Hebrew linguistics as “In your and your descendants, all the families of the earth will be grafted.” Woo! [applause]

I’m excited. Now, that’s really interesting. So what’s going on here? I don’t have to tell you guys that in the New Testament, Paul has this whole image of the grafting in. Paul, though, tells us he was a Pharisee. He was probably aware of this interpretation of the rabbis, that in Genesis, when it talks about all the nations of the earth being blessed, that the way they were going to be blessed was to be grafted into Israel. Isn’t that amazing?

Audience: Yes!

Nehemia: Can I get an Amen?

Audience: Amen! [applause]

Nehemia: Wow. You know, going around the world and seeing people from every language, and literally every continent being drawn to the God of Israel, I am seeing this grafting take place. And one of the really exciting things to me is that in October, this is going to come out. This is the Chinese translation of A Prayer to Our Father. [applause] Woo!

Lest you think I’m excited about this because I’m going to be making a whole bunch of money, the Chinese translator wrote to Keith and me and he said, what he wants to do is be able to give away thousands of copies to pastors in mainland China, because the truth is, they don’t have the availability to buy books about this topic in China. It’s not readily available, but they’re doing a conference, and he wants to be able to give away 5,000 copies. And he said, “In order to be able to do that, I need you, Nehemia, and you, Keith, to give up your loyalty”. I said, “Give up my loyalty? [laughter] No way am I going to swear loyalty to the government of China. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I will not do that. I’m a very loyal person, and I’m very loyal to Keith”.

And Keith explained to me. He says, “Nehemia, he means give up your royalty”. [laughter] So we’ve given up our royalty - our loyalty - in order to get this book into the hands of 5,000 Christian pastors from mainland China. [applause]

This book is actually going out through the China Alliance Press. What that means is, it’s actually passed the pen of the censor, of the mainland Chinese censor. So it’s actually legal to have these books in China. They’ve picked through every character and every word, and said, “Okay, you’re allowed to have this book.” And to me… I don’t care about myself and this book, and that I’m not making any money on it, anyway. The significance of this, to me, is there are people who are interested in this in mainland China. There was someone who gave of his time and his own money in China to translate this book, on his own initiative. He wrote to us and said, “I wish I could get this book in Chinese.” And I wrote back and I said, “Translate it, and you can.” And he did, and now it’s being distributed to thousands of people. To me, this is a sign [applause] of great things that are happening, that people around the world are being stirred. Something in their heart is drawing them into the covenant, and to the God of Israel.

To me, this is like the magic carpet arriving, and swooping off the Jews of Yemen, and bringing the Jews over in a couple of days, from Ethiopia, and the 1.1 million Jews who came from the former Soviet Union. This is biblical proportions, these fulfilments of prophesies. And may it be soon that we all are together in the land, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, [applause] speaking Hebrew, calling upon the name of our God.

One final thing I didn’t bring. I have another slide, and that was like the crescendo. No, but I’ve got to bring this, I forgot all about this. I mean, I’ve got to bring this here, Ovadia chapter 1 verse 20. “And the captivity of this host of the Children of Israel that are amongst the Canaanites…” Say, “Canaanites”.

Audience: Canaanites.

Nehemia: “…as far as France”. It says here, “Tsarfat”, which they translate as “France”, “…and the captivity of Jerusalem, that is in Sfarad”, “in Spain”. Somebody say, “New Spain”.

Audience: New Spain.

Nehemia: “…shall inherit the cities of the Negev.” [applause] This is a prophesy that millions… It doesn’t say how many. It’s a prophesy that the captivity of Jerusalem, scattered among the lands of Spain, who will come back and inherit the lands of the south of Israel. Woo! [applause]

And I am so excited to be talking to you about this here, in New Mexico, which is the focal point of millions of anusim, who are returning to their faith. [applause] Now, when I first talked about this with Keith, about coming here - actually he was talking and I was typing, because I had lost my voice, and for three days I couldn’t speak. Literally, I couldn’t put out a peep. And I’m thinking that maybe I couldn’t put out a peep so that God would be preparing me for Yom Teruah. Say, “Yom Teruah”.

Audience: Yom Teruah.

Nehemia: Yom Teruah, many people translate it as “the Day of Trumpets”, but it literally means “the day of shouting and the day of trumpeting”. Teruah is a noise that you make with the horn, with a shofar, or a trumpet, or with your voice. And it may be in order for me to appreciate that teruah, God took away my voice for three days. Woo! [applause]

Now, we’re almost done. Let’s look at this verse here, Matthew 24:31. “And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heaven to the other.” [applause] Hold on, let’s back up. I’m a Karaite Jew. I’m not supposed to be bringing this verse, and I know some of my Jewish brothers and sisters are going to throw me under the bus for bringing this. But before they do that, I want to show you where this comes from.

You know, Paul in Rome, he’s talking about grafted - he didn’t make that up. That was from Genesis. So where does this come from? And I think it starts out in Numbers chapter 10 verses 5 to 7.

It describes there two different types of blasts of the shofar. The first one is called “t’kiah”, say, “t’kiah”.

Audience: T’kiah.

Nehemia: The other is called “t’ruah”, say, “t’ruah”.

Audience: T’ruah.

Nehemia: And t’kiah was to gather the camp. T’ruah was to move the camp. And these were the instructions in the desert, when they were moving as a camp, all of Israel. T’kiah, he would gather the camp, and t’ruah, he would move the camp. Now, what is the difference between t’kiah and t’ruah? And the truth is, there are different traditions in the Jewish sources about what exactly these are. But basically, we know that t’kiah is a long, unbroken sound, and t’ruah is a staccato, you know, like duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh sound.

So I’m going to, because I’m asthmatic, I’m not going to blow the shofar, but I’m going to ask my shofar expert, the Methodist, Keith Johnson, to illustrate for you the t’kiah and the t’ruah. So, can we get a t’kiah, Keith?

Keith: [blows t’kiah on shofar]

Nehemia: Gather the camp. And now a t’ruah, Keith.

Keith: [blows Teruah on shofar]

Nehemia: Excellent. Now, that is to move the camp. And maybe those instructions for the camp in the desert will be applied again in the end times, when God wants to gather the people and then tell the people to move. And that actually ties it in to Yom T’ruah, the day of moving the camp, of blowing the shofar, of the staccato sound, duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh. Let’s get into the t’ruah.

Keith: [blows Teruah on shofar]

Nehemia: Woo! [applause] Now, how do we know this still applies today, because that was just some weird thing for the desert that he did when they were in the camp. Numbers chapter 10 verse 8, it says, “And the sons of Aaron shall blow the trumpets…” it’s talking about the silver trumpets, “…and they shall be for an eternal statute,” say, “eternal statute”.

Audience: Eternal statute.

Nehemia: “…throughout your generations.” Now, what application could this possibly have today? Numbers chapter 10 verse 10, “When you go out to war in your land against the troubler who troubles you,” that’s what it literally says - “ha tza’ar tzorer otkhah”, “the troubles you, you shall blow a t’ruah on the trumpets, and you shall be remembered before Yehovah, your God. [applause] And you shall be saved…” Somebody say, “saved”.

Audience: Saved.

Nehemia: “…from your enemies.” So when you go out against your troubler and you blow the t’ruah, duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh, Yehovah will hear that in heaven and He will save you from your enemies. Woo! [applause]

I was just minding my business in the ivory tower. I wasn’t looking for this! [laughter] He had other plans.

Last verse, and then I’ll close, Isaiah 27:13, “And it shall come to pass on that day a great shofar…” woo! “will be blown. And those who are…”

Keith: [blows shofar]

Nehemia: There it is, “on that day, a great shofar will be blown, and those who are perishing in the land of Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Egypt will come and bow down to Yehovah on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.”

And may that be soon, that His messengers go forth and blow that great shofar. And when you hear the blow of that great shofar, don’t shut the door.

[applause]

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Keep Reading – Keith Johnson (Open Door Series – Part 7)

Keith Johnson speaks in Albuquerque, New Mexico on the topic of "Keep Reading." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2ePabZ10Gk?rel=0 Transcript

Keep Reading – Keith Johnson (Open Door Series - Part 7)

You are listening to the Open Door Series with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Keith: If we go to… let’s see here, Psalms 80:18, I’m going to put it up on the screen. And as we were at Shavuot, my Jewish friend, Nehemia Gordon and I had had an encounter that literally changed our lives first. Then that encounter spilled out of our lives and began to touch other people.

When we were at Shavuot, we had some technical difficulties. I think it was actually the Creator of the universe, because He already knew that we were going to do what we were going to do there, but that we were going to continue when we got here. So I never got to really talk about this verse. This verse has gotten me into a lot of trouble, say, “trouble…”

Audience: Trouble!

Keith: … because it comes from what they call the “Old Testament”. And you see, in the Old Testament, when I first became a Christian at age 15, they handed me two books. One was a big book, I mean, it was thick. And I was not one who grew up in the church. I didn’t have much background in the church, and they said, “Here’s your choices. You can either read from the big book, or we’ve got this little thin book, and this would be all you need.” Now, be a 15-year-old from inner city of Minneapolis, having never been in the church and someone says, “You can either read this or you can read that,” come on, somebody.

Woman: That.

Keith: Which one are you going to pick? I picked the Book of John. They gave me the Book of John, I read it quickly and I said, “Now what?” They said, “You’ve graduated. We’re now going to let you read one of the other Gospels, the Book of Matthew.” And so they said again, “Now, here are your choices. There’s this book or this book. Which one are you going to choose?” I said, “I’ll take this one.”

And I opened up the Book of Matthew, and it said, “This is the genealogy of Jesus.” And then it went on, and it said, “from, or son of…” and then they started giving these weird names that I did not learn in the Book of John - David, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. And I said, “Who are these people?”

“Don’t worry about it, just keep reading.”

And I’d go through the genealogy and it’d talk about Ruth, and Bathsheba. “Who are these people?” “Don’t worry about it, just keep reading.” And I got to the end of Matthew, and come to find out when I read through Matthew that there’s no way I could understand Matthew unless I were to go back to the big book.

Man: Halleluyah!

Keith: And when I would go back to the big book, my life began to change. And they told me in the church, “Don’t take the big book so seriously. It’s good for stories. You can preach it every once in a while. But spend most of your time in the skinny book.”

About three years ago, I was sitting in front of the television and I was watching 60 Minutes. And 60 Minutes came on talking about the history of Christianity, and they said these words. They said, “You know, we’ve done a survey amongst all the pastors and all the people, and we’ve come up with an amazing discovery. They say, ‘You can have present-day Christianity without Jesus.’”

Audience: Wooh!

Keith: And they caught my attention. They said, “But you cannot have present-day Christianity without Paul.” 60 Minutes said this, you can check it for yourself. We probably have the DVD right here at A Rood Awakening. “60 Minutes!” [laughter]

And when I watched that, and when I saw that, it concerned me, because I thought to myself, “Where did they get this information?” I come to find out that they’ve gone and done surveys amongst people in churches, and pastors. And what they figured out is that most pastors, when they stand up on Sunday mornings, have decided to leave the big book behind. And you know those words in the Gospels and the Red Letters, those are just a little bit too radical. Let’s get to Paul.

So when I was at Shavuot, I was going to share this particular verse, and come to find out that as a result of this verse, as excited as I was about people learning that we could revive, we could be revived to call upon His name, there was a huge backlash. There were people that said this to me: “You cannot go into the Old Testament and talk about revival, a part of New Testament theology.” Now, if you believe that, you probably are not going to like the message. Look at your neighbor and say, “It don’t matter.”

Audience: It don’t matter.

Keith: Because what I must do this morning is go to Paul. Amen?

Audience: Amen.

Keith: You know, people are getting nervous with me hanging around with a Karaite Jew. “Keith, you’re always talking about the Hebrew. You’re always talking about the Old Testament. Heck, you don’t even talk enough about the New Testament. Whatever happened to Paul?” Hey, look at your neighbor and say, “Today…”

Audience: Today.

Keith: “… the Methodist…”

Audience: The Methodist.

Keith: “… is going to talk about Paul.”

Audience: Is going to talk about Paul.

Keith: But before I do that, revive us and we will call upon Your name. Now, let me tell you something, I want to give you another slide here, if I can. Wait a second. Okay, if I can. Excellent. Great slide. Now, you’re going to look at this. People use this all the time, in fact, it’s in the back of my book. It says, “Therefore, My people shall know My name; therefore, in that day, I am the One who was speaking. ‘Here I am.’” And when I read that verse, when I see that verse, it just causes me to think that the Creator of the universe is deciding in this time, to make us, say, “make us…”

Audience: Make us.

Keith: …know His name.

Audience: Know His name.

Keith: He’s causing people around the world to know His name. But I did a radical thing this weekend. I decided to do what we’re going to do today. I decided to keep reading. And what I decided to do, as a result of one of my friends, who came up and said to me what she had read, I decided to look at the verse before my favorite verse.

Now, if you would put it up here, what it says is this. “Again, the Lord declares, ‘Those who rule over them howl…” Say, “howl”.

Audience: Howl.

Keith: “And My name is continually blasphemed.” Say, “blasphemed”.

Audience: Blasphemed.

Keith: “All day long.” I’m going to tell you something. There is some howling going on right now. I thought I should - I should say, I assumed - that people would be excited if we could bring the most recent information, and the recent revelation, and the recent scholarship on God’s name. I thought that especially amongst those that call themselves Messianics, they would be excited that there’s new information that they did not have before, that would help them call on God’s name, and come to find out that they had more interest in staying in the spirit of tradition than encountering new truth.

And this caused me a great concern, because I did not understand. If we can show you something that you can see, and the most complete and available Hebrew manuscripts, wherein you can learn His name, don’t you want it? And they would say, “Not if it ain’t what I already know.”

But I’m so happy that there are some of you here that are not so interested in staying around the tulips of tradition.

[applause]

I’m so happy that there are people that are listening that are saying, “Just give it to me the way it is.” Oh, but I’ve met so many in the movement that say, “Do not confuse me with fact, when I’ve already got my tradition.” So as I was going through this information with my friend, Nehemia, go back to the slide. It says, “Again, the Lord declares…” and of course, you already know because you are the experts. But because of my concern for my brother and sister pastors that are in churches, and because of my concern for my sisters and brothers that are still behind the walls of churches in their process, many of them do not know. So please bear with me while I explain something to them. If we see the word “Lord”, say, “Lord”.

Audience: Lord.

Keith: That is simply a tradition followed as far back as we know, at least 1,900 years, where Christian theologians and scribes have decided that you don’t need to know His name. So what they have done is, they’ve found a wonderful little title, and in order to show you that it’s a special title, they capitalize it, “L-O-R-D” Lord. Now, here’s where the controversy comes in. People start saying, “Well, how do I pronounce it?” And I’ve written a book, His Hallowed Name Revealed Again, with only one chapter on pronunciation, but 11 chapters on information. And do you know that I have people that will say, “Because you pronounce the name differently, I don’t want the most updated information.” Can you believe that?

Hey, put aside the pronunciation for a minute, and just learn the information. Because what I’m finding, there are so many people who do not have the information and yet, they’re out beating people over the head with pronunciation. And can I just say it right now? So many of them that are beating people on the head with pronunciation are wrong about the information.

Can I say that again?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: Or should I leave that alone?

Audience: No!

Keith: If we have information that will change your approach, why wouldn’t you want it? Only if there’s an agenda behind your decision. Can I do something? Hold on. Can you put the slide up? Now, don’t say this too loud. Those that are listening, don’t get concerned. But according to the most complete Hebrew manuscripts that we have, if we were to read it in Hebrew, what we would find when we come across L-O-R-D, and I’m not going to let it stay up too long, because it’s very controversial, we would find this. Let’s go, if you want more information, get the book. Now, open your Bibles, let’s go to the message.

After Shavuot, Nehemia was so inspired, he opened the door to the spirit of the living God. And as he opened the door to the spirit of the living God, two things happened. One, God said, “Okay.” Two, he got into a lot of trouble. People called us, leaders of the top religious institutions, put us on conference call and said, “What have you two done?”

And do you know what Nehemia said? “Now, we have their attention.” [laughter and applause] Nehemia said, “Now we have their attention, let’s turn up the heat.”

So Nehemia gets on Messiah’s Branch Radio, without telling me in advance, invites me on and says, “Keith, we have a radio interview, and it’s got a few things I want to share.” And I’m thinking, “It’s just another interview.” We get on the interview, and Nehemia gets on the interview and he says this. “This fall, Keith and I will be traveling all over the United States.” And then he says something really radical. He says, “This fall, we’re coming in the spirit of revival.” [applause]

Now, at this point, I’m a little nervous, because I’m thinking, “Now Nehemia, look. It was a good shtick. We had the DVD, it’s there. Let’s just move on.” He’s like, “No, the door is still open. The spirit of God is still working.” And he’s on the radio station, proclaiming and saying, “There’s going to be revival in His name.”

And the more he would talk, the more I’d get excited. You guys think you saw someone preach? You think the Methodists can shout? You should hear the Karaite when the Holy Ghost touches him. [applause] He’s on Messiah’s, say, “Messiah’s…”

Audience: Messiah’s.

Keith: …Branch Radio. And he’s saying, “We’re going to come in the spirit of revival,” and then he gets behind his little computer. And he starts typing, and pretty soon, Nehemia gets on his little newsletter. And he sends it out all over the world, and it’s up online, on aprayertoourfather.com. where he starts talking about all these things.

And then he says, “Listen. There was a certain thing that happened on July 15th,” and he gives the date. And he says, “You know what? There was a time where the folks came in France and released the prisoners from the Bastille Prison. And it happened on the very day,” it happened 200 years later, he says, “this is the celebration of that day.”

And then, he puts this wonderful little picture, because Nehemia, he can’t just write. He’s got to come up with these little pictures, so he comes up with this picture, I want to show it to you, real quick. This is Bastille Day. And from what I understand, that is Nehemia’s uncle, great-great-great-great-great-great Nehemia Gordon. [laughter] And he gives this picture and he says, “This is the spirit by which we’re coming. There are people in prison on the…” come on, somebody. Hello, somebody, “…on the other side of the wall.” And he says, “We’re coming, and if it takes sword, if it takes fire, if it takes conflict, if it takes problems, we are coming to set somebody free!”

[applause]

Now, I didn’t tell you something. This morning, as Michael was walking the streets, so was I. And I have to tell you, if he was walking the streets talking about what he was going to do, I was walking the streets saying, “Father, do I have to do it?” [laughter] Because I have to tell you something. This is as real as it gets for me. I don’t know about you who grew up in the church. I don’t know about your experiences. I don’t know about your denominations. Can I just tell you about what happened to me? God touched me at 14. I didn’t understand church. God called me to go to the place that you call “cemetery”.

But let me tell you what God did for me. God used seminary to give me information that I would not have had, had I not gone. And then, God took me through a process where He began to learn, and teach, and do these things in me. But He never set aside that thing inside of me, that thing that makes me want to shout, the thing that makes me want to move in His spirit. What He did is say, “Keith, you just stay where you are, but I’m going to add some information.”

I love the fact that the Bishop of the Methodist Church has still not kicked me out yet. I love the fact that they still allow me to be in that movement, and I’m going to tell you why. As much as I love meetings like this, there is a group of people that I want to get to, that are behind the walls of the Bastille prison. I want to do whatever I can do to help them get free.

Now, I didn’t know I’d be hooking up with a Jewish man. I thought he would just stay in that place, being a nice little Hebrew scholar, where he teaches me and we learn Hebrew together. But for some reason, and I’m not sure why, somebody say, “God”.

Audience: God.

Keith: For whatever reason, God has decided to touch Nehemia Gordon deep down in his gut, so that he stands with the Methodists and says, “we…” Say, “we”.

Audience: We.

Keith: Come on, somebody. Say, “we”.

Audience: We.

Keith: Are coming. Somebody say, “are coming”.

Audience: Are coming.

Keith: In the spirit.

Audience: In the spirit.

Keith: Of revival.

Audience: Of revival.

Keith: So that.

Audience: So that.

Keith: We can.

Audience: We can.

Keith: Call.

Audience: Call.

Keith: Upon.

Audience: Upon.

Keith: His.

Audience: His.

Keith: Name.

Audience: Name.

Keith: Give Him praise. [applause] Halleluyah!

Now that I’ve had my morning preaching fix, can I tell you what happened?

Man: Yes, please.

Keith: After he got on the radio and we talked to the lead people of the different religious institutions, Jewish and Christian alike, I received this letter. And the letter said, “Greetings, Mr. Johnson.” And it started this way. “I have followed Nehemia Gordon for several years. He’s very intelligent.” Whenever they start out like this, they go and drop the bomb on you. “He is very intelligent. He is nice, he is well schooled. His Hebrew Matthew Book is very interesting. I’ve read a little bit about you, and it seems that you have a very impressive resume.” Somebody say, “amen”.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: You know, Michael’s up here, supposed to introduce me. “Who do you want to talk about?” “Nehemia Gordon, Nehemia Gordon. And by the way, Keith.” “Okay, no problem. [laughter] And you also have an impressive resume.” Do you all know my resume? I graduated cum laude from the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. And my professors are saying, “Lordy, how come we let him graduate cum laude?” [laughter]

“I see that you too are doing a Storming the Bastille tour with Nehemia Gordon.” And then, he goes on to quote my friend’s words. “Nehemia said, ‘This fall, Keith and I will be coming…’ I haven’t told Keith, ‘in the spirit of revival, storming the spiritual Bastille, setting people free in the name, Yehovah, the Father of creation. Join us in opening the door and proclaiming the verse: Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.’”

And the man says this to me. I will not tell you his name, but as you could tell, I’m still holding the paper, and all you need to know is the paper is heavy. “Spirit of revival! Setting people free! While it seems that you are both well accomplished in your own realms,” and he goes on to say this, “unless Nehemia has converted, you are both unequally yoked. From my knowledge…” Somebody say, “my knowledge”.

Audience: My knowledge.

Keith: I wish more people would just say that, “From my knowledge…”

Audience: From my knowledge.

Keith: “… this may or may not be an issue for Nehemia, but it most definitely is for you.” And so what I’ve decided to do as a warm-up for this afternoon, which is a warm-up for Sunday afternoon, I decided to go to the verse that he decided to use. Let’s do that real quickly.

He said to me, “Spirit of revival! Setting people free! You are unequally yoked.” Turn to 2 Corinthians, if you would. And people have had issues with me again, because I spent so much time in the Tanakh, 10 years with my friend, Nehemia Gordon, learning the very Bible that Yeshua himself read. I was able to receive a scroll, I’m not going to tell you that story. I have Nehemia and others talk about it, it’s on the DVD. But what I love about having this backup, this has got my back. I so much love the fact that the Torah has my back, because that’s the very book that Yeshua read. It’s his Bible.

So when he came into the Synagogue and they said, “Let us read the Torah scroll,” and they said, “Who wants to read?” Yeshua would be in the back and he’d raise his hand and say, “Can I read?” And the rabbi would let him come down the aisle, and they would open up the scroll, and Yeshua would read it, just the way it was. And I want to give you a secret. He did not read it in the King James Version. He read it in the language that his Father gave it - Hebrew.

So people have attacked and they’ve said, “Keith, you’ve spent too much time with Gordon. All you’re doing is talking about the Bible that Yeshua read. Can’t you do something in the very part of the Bible that makes Christianity?” I said, “Okay, I’m going to be going to A Rood Awakening.” I would like to answer this man according to what he said, from my knowledge.

2 Corinthians 6:14 says this, “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” I want you to see something, real quick. If I open up the very Bible that people say Paul actually wrote, the Greek, bear with me real quick. It says this. “Be ye not heterozugountes,” that is Greek. Say, “Greek”.

Audience: Greek.

Keith: “…together with unbelievers.” Now, when I read that, the first thing I want to ask is this. Is this a word that’s used anywhere else in the New Testament? I come to find out that heterozugountes is not used anywhere else in the New Testament. Then, what I want to do is, I want to go to the Old Testament, the big part of the Bible to see, because I’ll tell you another secret. Paul didn’t pull stuff out of his head. Paul didn’t just make up stuff. Paul understood this very same book that Yeshua read, Paul understood it to be the very oracle of God.

Now, I have some opinions, we can talk about it later, about why there have been so many changes with Paul. But I’m going to just stick right here with what we have. I’m going to give you a quick thing here. If I find this word, “Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind,” if I look and come to find out it is a time where the very word that’s used in the New Testament is used in the Old Testament, these two words, one time in the New Testament, one time in the Old Testament, and come to find out, if I spend time understanding this word, the best way I could say it is, it says, “Be ye not mis-mated.” Say, “mis-mated”.

Audience: Mis-mated.

Keith: The idea in Leviticus is, you don’t want two different kinds of animals. And of course, this is a wonderful verse that Nehemia was trying to teach before the Holy Ghost got a hold of him at Shavuot, on the spiritual mixing of seed. But if you read it for yourself, you’ll find that that is exactly what we’re talking of. So it says, “Be ye not mis-mated.” Now, what we’re going to do is, we’re going to go on. It says, if you continue reading, “Be not eterozugountes together with apistois.” Say, “apistois”.

Keith: Now, what we want to do is keep it up there, and we’re going to look at something. If I go to another part where Paul actually is using the same word, 1 Corinthians 6:6 says, “But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers,” or apiston. Why am bringing this? The reason I’m bringing this, is this: What we want to find out when we’re reading the Bible is where the writer uses words, and how those words are used.

If we go to the story, the aspect of brother not going against brother, Paul was writing that to Jews. Somebody say, “uh-oh”.

Audience: Uh-oh.

Keith: “Do not go before the unbelievers,” Paul was saying, not, “Do not go before those who have a theological issue. Do not take your act, your issue, before the Greek judges, who do not believe the way you believe. They are unbelievers.”

Now, if we continue, continue with me, I want to show you the next slide. What it says is this. “For what fellowship…” and I love this part. Bear with me on this part. “For what fellowship…” and this is the man telling me, “hath righteousness with unrighteousness?” If I look at the word that Paul’s using, it’s “dikaiosune”. Now, if we see righteousness, there’s a word that we expect for Paul to use in the next part. Keep the slide up there, one second. What we’re going to need to do is, we’re going to show you an example.

In 1 Corinthians 13:6 it says, “Love does not rejoice with unrighteousness.” So there’s a word that Paul uses here that is this, “adikia”. Say, “adikia”. That is the opposite of “dikaiosune”, but guess - and keep the slide up there for a minute, because I’m going to try my best to stay calm. [laughter] If you keep the slide up there just one minute, I’m going to try to stay calm. Paul could have used “unrighteousness”, “adikia”. Guess what Paul uses? “Anomia”.

Audience: Anomia.

Keith: Come on, hit your neighbor, say, “Here it comes.” Hit your neighbor and say, “Here it comes.” Tell your neighbor, “Here it comes now.” We’re not in the Torah. We’re not in the Tanakh. We’re not in the Writings. We’re not even in the Gospels. We’re with Paul, the very basis of why Christianity is supposed to be together. We’re with Paul, the very verse that the man is using saying, “You’d better not hang out with Gordon, because he is an unbeliever. You are mis-mated with him.” What fellowship has righteousness with what we would think is adikia, rather we see anomia, so here’s what we need to do. Let’s go to the slides again. A- plus nomia, A equals without. Say, “without”.

Audience: Without.

Keith: Then we see nomia equals Torah. Say, “Torah”. Then we see anomia, somebody say, “Without Torah.” [applause] I’ve got to stop right here, for a second. Paul is saying – and excuse me for saying, “Paul is saying,” maybe I should say, “Shaul is saying…” Shaul is saying, “Listen. Now, do not hook up with those that are righteous and those who are without Torah.” The word “nomos” is used throughout the Greek Old Testament, which is a translation of the word “Torah”. So what is Paul saying in this verse? He could have just said, “adikia”. Instead, he says, “Look it, what connection is there with righteousness, and those without Torah?”

Now, in case you guys are getting nervous, I suppose I should bring another verse, because I can sense a little bit of… It’s not in the room now. It’s probably some people that are watching online that are saying, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What are you saying, Methodist?” So what I’m going to do is, I’m going to get radical. Rather than me telling you your opinion, I thought, “Let me see if I can find a verse where the one named Jesus or Yeshua actually did it.”

Now, I say, “Jesus” sometimes, because the people I’m trying to reach, many of them do not know, he came in a name. And so what they don’t understand is, they only have what they’ve been given, so they call him “Jesus”, and some of you all beat them over the head, because they say, “Jesus”. It’s all right. They’re coming!

[applause]

If we go to a verse from Jesus, or Yeshua, we will find this verse in Matthew 7:23 and give it to me up on the line. It says, “And then…” and this is him speaking, “I will declare to them, I never knew you Depart from me, you who practice…”

[applause]

The Methodists didn’t say it. Michael didn’t say it. Before Paul ever knew it, Yeshua said it. Yeshua said, “Look, there’s going to be a time where if you ain’t got that, you don’t know Me.”

[applause]

That’s probably a little controversial, so let’s do a really radical thing. This side of the room, your word is “keep”. Say, “keep”.

Audience: Keep.

Keith: Almost. This side of the room, your word is “reading”. Say, “reading”.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: Now, every time I go to this side of the room, you’re going to say…

Audience: Keep.

Keith: And this side will say…

Audience: Reading.

Keith: And that’s what some of my Methodist brothers and sisters are saying now. “Will you get off that verse and…”

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: Very well, let’s continue. “And what communion hath light with darkness.” Let’s get radical and take a look. If we go into the Greek, then many of my professors would say, “Keith, the most important thing is the Greek.” And guess what? I studied the Greek. I love using the Greek. However, I also love to find out where the Greek came from. And what communion hath photi,” say, “photi.”

Audience: Photi.

Keith: “…with darkness?” If we open up the Hebrew Bible that Yeshua read and that Paul studied from under Galileo, Galileo, he would go back and find that the actual word of photi is “ohr”. Say, “ohr”.

Audience: Ohr.

Keith: Now, say it from the screen, real quick. If we go to this verse, which I love, it says this. “Ki ner mitzvah ve’Torah ohr.” We find a play on words, that the word “ohr” plays on the word “T-ohr-ah” though it is not the same root word, the sound is the same.

So when I come across a verse like this, “For the commandment is a lamp and the Torah is an ohr”, or a light. [sings] Why Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and an ohr unto… They ought to let me sing. And an ohr unto my path. Oh, some of us need to learn to grab the flashlight, in the darkness of this world. Oh, I wish I could pick it up, but Michael said, “Don’t touch it.” [laughter] No, it says it right there. “Do not touch.” But oh, if I could just roll it and walk around New Mexico, with the Torah, oh, I’m convinced that in the midst of the darkness of this world, it would be an ohr, light.

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: Now, comes the controversy. I had to keep reading if I could get to the moneyball verse, and here it is, up on the screen. “And what concord has Christ with Belial?” Oh, some of your Bibles are going to tell you that there’s going to be a little asterisk, and if you go down to the asterisk, it will say to you that Belial represents Satan, in some translations.

But if I go to the Pope’s Bible - you know he’s got a Bible, too - now, his Bible don’t match with this, in many cases. He’s got an encyclopaedia that doesn’t match with this right here. But let the Pope do what the Pope does. He eventually is going to meet the real Holy Father, and I don’t want to be there when it happens.

Now, you all, if I check the Pope’s encyclopaedia… now I am having a fight. Can I just confess something? I’m having a fight with the Pope personally. And here’s what my fight is. Please take no offense, I know that there are many Catholic people… I’m not saying that you would think the way the Pope thinks. But the Pope thinks you’re supposed to think the way he thinks. In fact, he’s made several decrees regarding some things.

One of the things that the Pope has made me very mad about is this: In 2008, the Pope wrote a letter to all of his archbishops and big hats and said to them, “I have made a new ruling,” and his new ruling was this, in 2008. Now, I’m not going to give it all to you, but it’s in the book. Say, “book”.

Audience: Book.

Keith: He wrote a letter that says, as Pope, “I want you to know that there has been something that has crept inside of the church. People are beginning to speak and sing and pray the name of God.” And in 2008, the Pope wrote the letter, and I have it, somebody say, “in the book”.

Audience: In the book.

Keith: He says this. “This shall not be.” And I thought to myself, “Pope, what qualifies you to tell me that I can’t sing or pray to the One who is my Heavenly Father, who has a name?” [applause] The Pope doesn’t care about me, because he’s got millions of people that have bowed down to, whatever the Pope says, we do. So when I come out and say, as a result of information and inspiration we now have access to the name of God, he sends a letter saying, “There’s something that’s creeping into the church,” and he’s putting up a sign that says, “This shall not be.” But I’m here to tell the Pope something, and I hope he’s watching.

[laughter]

I’d rather follow the command of my Heavenly Father than even listen to your commands. And I know that we’re in an area right now where you all don’t get excited about that, so I’m just going to…

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Woman: Yeah.

Keith: The Catholic encyclopaedia says this. “Belial is commonly used as a synonym of Satan.” Now, what the man is saying in this verse is that I’m hanging out with someone who is opposite of Mashiakh, who is Satan. Now, you all, I’m going to do something and this is going to cause such a stir, people are going to write. Michael’s going to get letters about this, but I did something radical. I went over to Jerusalem. And when I went over to Jerusalem, I found out something: Nehemia Gordon changes his appearance when he’s in the United States.

[laughter]

He messed up and let me come over to Jerusalem in the Old City. Come to find out when he’s over there, his head don’t look the same. He only shaves when he comes on tour with the Methodist, but I was able to snap a picture when he wasn’t looking. And here it is, right here. [laughter] Take it off, quick.

Now, let me tell you why I brought that picture. It was Nehemia’s idea. And what Nehemia said to me that really caught my attention, he said, “Keith, do you know there are some people, to this day, that think that Jews have horns?”

There are people… he says that his own father, Rabbi Gordon, actually had a person… Rabbi Gordon was wearing a hat. And as Rabbi Gordon was in Chicago, and may he live to be 120, as he was in Chicago, a man came up to him and said, “Rabbi, can I see your horns?” [laughter] And Rabbi Gordon says, “We’re not allowed to show them in public.” I think I know where Nehemia got that dry humor. Somebody say, “Rabbi.”

Audience: Rabbi.

Keith: Gordon.

Audience: Gordon.

Keith: Why did I show you the picture? Because this man thinks that as I’m out walking, and traveling, and speaking, and teaching, and praying, and living, and working with Nehemia Gordon, he’s calling my friend, Nehemia Gordon, “Satan”. And if the Catholic encyclopaedia is right, I’ve got to write him back and say, “You’re right.” But somebody say, “keep”.

Audience: Keep.

Keith: Reading.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: I did a radical thing, you all. I decided to check it for myself. And when I checked it for myself, I found something. I want to show you something, really quick. Belial becomes “Beliar” in the Greek Septuagint, that is the Greek Septuagint which is the translation of the Hebrew Torah and the Tanakh. So what do I want to do? I want to go and see if I can find this word “Beliar” in the Greek Septuagint. And by God’s grace, an amazing thing, I find it one time in the Greek Septuagint. Why do I want to do that? I want to find out, since it’s only used one time in the New Testament, is it used somewhere else? And sure enough, if I open up the Greek Septuagint, I find it here. “Now, therefore deliver us the men, the children of Beliar…” Say, “Beliar”.

Audience: Beliar.

Keith: “… which are in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel.”

Why am I showing you this? Because now I want to do a really radical thing. If I know that Beliar is what they use in Greek, that means they originally looked at the Bible that Yeshua reads, and Paul is referring to the Hebrew. Say, “Hebrew”.

Audience: Hebrew.

Keith: And why do I want to look at the Hebrew? I want to look at the Hebrew and say, “How did they translate the Hebrew word into Beliar, which is only one-time used as Belial in the New Testament?” And then I found something that I’m going to try my best to stay calm on. [laughter]

If I go to the Hebrew Bible, I find these two words, “benei Bilya’al.” “benei Bilya’al,” 27 times, the word “Bilya’al” is used in the Tanakh, the Old Testament. Eight times, we find “benei Bilya’al” and every time we find the words “benei Bilya’al” we find an action with those people. This is the action we find in the eight times - and I guess I’m preaching to myself - that we find the eight times, “benei Bilya’al” we find it every single time, we find “benei Bilya’al”, these men are breaking Torah.

Audience: Oh!

Keith: Every time that I look at the eight times of “benei Bilya’al” they are breaking Torah. Now, Paul is doing a radical thing. Here’s what Paul’s doing. He’s building a case for why we don’t hang out with those that are not treating Torah the way Torah is to be treated.

Let me show you another verse, because you’re not convinced. Deuteronomy 13:13 says this, in the Hebrew, “Certain men, the benei Bilya’al,” say, “benei”.

Audience: Benei.

Keith: Bilya’al.

Audience: Bilya’al.

Keith: “Are gone out from among you and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their cities, saying these words. ‘Let us go and serve other gods which we have not known.’” Now, you all, if I hadn’t checked all eight times, and I’m not going to have time to go through all eight times because Nehemia eventually wants to speak, and I want him to speak. But Nehemia, when you come up to speak, leave your horns back there. [laughter]

I’m going to give you just one example, and now I’m going to do something that I’m going to even get in more trouble about. I decided to look at what I call an “expert Jewish commentator” on this verse. Now, the Methodists get real nervous now. “You’re going to look at a Jewish commentator?” Yeah, because you know what, Bishop? The Jewish commentator knows more about the Torah than you do. I go to the Jewish commentator, a very famous Jewish commentator, his name is Rashi. Say, “Rashi”.

Audience: Rashi.

Keith: I have it up on the line, it says here. “The sons of Bilial, it means ‘Bili Ol,’ ‘Without yoke,’ because they broke the yoke of the Omnipresent.” What does it mean, “Bilial?” “Those who break the yoke of Torah.” Look at your neighbor and say, “We’re getting there.” Oh, boy. Let’s …

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: “Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” The guy is telling me not only is Nehemia Satan, he’s also an infidel. If I keep it up there, we find two words, “pisto” and “apistou”. If you take those words, P-I-S-T-O, P-I-S-T-O, the apistou is just the same without, one is pisto and one is the apistou. Here’s what we find. “If you have not been faithful…” in Luke 16:12, “with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own.” In other words, now we’re not just talking about some sort of theological thing up here. “Pisto”, “faith,” means action. How are you living? And that is exactly what we’re finding in here. But because my time is getting short, we need to…

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: If we keep reading, we find this, what I call the translation by the King James Version, or by the man who said to me, “Look, Keith. You are unequally yoked. You are mis-mated,” and here’s the translation of 6:14 and 15. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Satan, or Bilial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” If I just read the King James Version, I should not be hanging out with Nehemia Gordon, because I would be making an assumption that if I just simply read the King James Version, and the man hits me over the head with it, I’d feel guilty until I learned to…

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: Now, I want to give you a radical translation I found of these two verses. You guys, promise me, you won’t tell anybody about this translation. [laughter] Can I show you a translation if I take the Hebrew, and I take the Greek, and I take the King James, and the NASV, and the nearly-inspired version? If I take all the versions together, here is a translation I’ve found. I’m telling you, man, I’m not going to tell you where it came from, initially. Let me give you a translation of those two verses. Here it is, on the screen. “Do not get hooked up with one who does not believe in Torah. For what can be gained between righteousness and Torah-lessness? Or what fellowship has the light of Torah with the darkness of this world? Or what partnership is there between Mashiakh, Messiah, and those not yoked to Torah? Or what connection is there between one who is faithful, and one who is unfaithful to Torah?”

[applause]

I’m not going to tell you where it came from. Put it back up on the screen, now. Put it back up on the screen. You guys, now listen, listen to me. Promise me you won’t say anything when I show you this. Everybody, promise me you’re going to be quiet. Here’s where this translation came from. [laughter] Somebody say, somebody say…

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: Okay. I might as well keep reading, let’s keep reading. It says, “And what agreement hath the Temple of God… ” Now, you guys, Paul is doing something radical. He’s trying to teach us, he’s trying to help us. “And what agreement hath the Temple of God with idols?” You guys, there’s something happening here. “For ye are the Temple of the living God,” Paul says. And then he does a radical thing. He says this, and let’s just keep it up. You don’t need to picture me. “As God hath said.” Now, every time in the New Testament where I hear one of the writers say, “And God hath said,” I notice something interesting - and just bear with me while I’m moving. I’ve got to keep moving, because when I see, “And God has said,” that means that Paul is saying, “Open up your Tanakh.

Open up the oracles of God, because what I’m about to tell you, I didn’t say it. It wasn’t my opinion. I got it from the very book that Yeshua read, and that I call “all Scripture”. Now, for the radical thing. When Paul wrote this, there was no New Testament! I’m so glad for this side. These guys need help. Somebody say…

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: If I keep reading, and I go to the place where he says, “And God hath said,” come on, now. It says this. “I shall dwell in them and walk in them and I shall be their God and they shall be My people.” Where did God say this? Oh, boy. That radical book, that Torah, that part that Yeshua loved, Leviticus chapter 26 where people said, “We ain’t got to do it no more.” You know, they said that every single thing under the Torah has been nailed to the cross. The blood has covered it. But in my denomination, there’s one command that the blood does not have power for. It is tithing. Why did you all get so quiet? Every other commandment in the Tanakh has been nailed to the cross. You ain’t under the Torah no more, but you better bring your tithes. Somebody say…

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: I’m going to get kicked out for sure, this time. Then the amazing word that I love, but now, I’m almost done, Nehemia, is the word, somebody say it together…

Audience: Therefore.

Keith: Why do I love “therefore”? Because Paul is saying, “Everything I’ve said before, therefore means this.” And what do we have to do? We have to…

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: “‘Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ sayeth Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey. ‘And do not touch what is unclean and I will welcome you.’” Many people read the New Testament and say, “I’ll stay right there,” but Paul himself said, “I ain’t even got it for this. I’ve got to go to the Tanakh to get it.” And where did Paul get it? Ezekiel chapter 20 verses 34 and 41. But what have we got to do, because it’s almost the end of time?

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: “‘And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,’ says Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey, Almighty.” Where did that come from? 2 Samuel 7:14, 1 Chronicles 17:13. Now, for the last “therefore”. “Therefore…”

Audience: Therefore.

Keith: If you’re reading in your New Testament, something happened. You end up in chapter 7, rather than it being the end of chapter 6. And why did that happen? There was a man who was riding on his horse in around the 1600s and he decided, “I’ve got a good idea. I’m going to put verses in the New Testament.” And it says that as he was riding along on the horse, he would say, “12, oops, 1.” And what happens is, now that was supposed to be funny. [laughter] I must be almost into my time. The point is this. Man… Say, “man”.

Audience: Man.

Keith: Decided.

Audience: Decided.

Keith: To divide.

Audience: To divide.

Keith: The Bible.

Audience: The Bible.

Keith: And sometimes those decisions were made based on agenda. That is why on this day called Shabbat, which is to be the culmination, the major, most wonderful and radical climax of creation, where do we read about the seventh day? Chapter… chapter? You all ain’t with me. Look at your Bibles. We’ll talk about it later. But there’s an agenda. Instead of it being the seventh day, they put it at the beginning of the first, to try to make it the first day, so that when Sunday came, they said it’s not Shabbat. But that’s another topic.

Today is Shabbat. God has separated it and made it holy. It’s something that He has done, and man, every once in a while, gets their fingers in, and in this particular situation, what man had done is, he said, “Hey, look. I think 7 should be 7, because I don’t want people to realize therefore.” So what he did is, let’s start a new chapter. Instead of finishing chapter 6, he said, “Chapter 7.” And what do we find with chapter 7? This “Therefore, having these promises…” and I’m almost done, beloved, “let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” that is 2 Corinthians 7:1.

And now, for my testimony and ending. About 21 days ago, I found myself at A Rood Awakening. And I want to confess something you, and I’m getting personal now, but the world’s going to find out. I was struggling in my body. Stress was on me. There were issues taking over me. I was feeling a certain level of just sluggishness, and I show up at Michael Rood’s ministry, A Rood Awakening, and I meet two people, Dr. Tunsky and April Renee. And when I met them, they were talking and proclaiming about this issue, that it’s not good enough to have the spiritual without the physical, that you must address both. And I did the most radical thing. I asked them if I could meet with them, and they said to me this. “Well, Keith. Here’s what we could do. We could actually take you to a detox.” Say, “detox”.

Audience: Detox.

Keith: “Now, this detox is going to be about 21 days.” And I’m thinking, “21 days? I want to be on the road 21 days? Are you kidding me?” But for the first 10 days, all I did for 10 days is only drink live food, and all of a sudden, at about day 8 and day 9, my eyes started opening. My ears began to perk. My heart began to soften. And for the next 11 days, I would eat and I would think and I would pray. And guess what? Yesterday happened to be Yom Teruah - and my birthday - and it was the 21st day of the detox.

So today when I’m telling you, “Therefore”, come on with the screen, “having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves both physically and spiritually.” [applause] Now, you all have gotten real quiet in the house. Some of you want to say, “I am the Temple of the living God. Give me some more pig.”

Audience: No!

Keith: “I am the Temple of the living God. Where is the sugar? I’m the Temple of the living God, I eat what I want, when I want, at any time I want. But God, I praise you.” Let me tell you something. We’d better get ready for what’s coming, and what’s coming is going to mean you’re going to have to be physically, emotionally - come on, somebody - spiritually ready for what is coming. And I’m so glad that there’s a ministry that would say, “We’re not afraid to not only address spirit and mind, but we also will address body.” Now, you all that was the quietest you’ve been all the time, so let’s…

Audience: Keep.

Audience: Reading.

Keith: Here’s my end. I was at this place, two weeks after Mubarak was kicked out. Nehemia Gordon, the unbelieving Jew that they said I should not hang out with, said, “Keith, I’m not going to let you go to Egypt by yourself. I will go with you.” I have been around many teachers, Christian, Messianic, Jewish and everywhere else, but for some reason, they believe God until it gets dangerous. Then, they don’t want to believe God. But my unbelieving Jewish friend says, “I don’t care if it’s that, because if you say God wants you there, we’re in the safest place we can be.”

Man: Amen! [applause]

Keith: We went into Egypt, and as we went into Egypt a radical thing happened. Nehemia said, “Listen, I’ve been here before. I’ve had an amazing thing.” I talked about it before, you can get it on the video. I’m not going to give you all the testimony, but I’ve brought this for this reason. As we got to Egypt, we got to the base of the mountain, which is not the real mountain. Say, “real mountain”.

Audience: Real mountain.

Keith: But it looks good. It’s the middle of the night. As we get to the middle of the night, to the base of the mountain, they say, “You’ve got two choices. You can walk up the mountain, or you could hire a camel.” Now, Nehemia says, “I think we should walk.” However, what he didn’t say, and of course, it had already been determined, that his neck was hurting and he could not carry the bag that both of our stuff was in. So he said, “Keith, you carry the bag.” Look at your neighbor and say, “Keith, he might be a Methodist, but he ain’t a dummy.” [laughter] Somebody say, “Hire a camel.”

Audience: Hire a camel.

Keith: So we hired a camel. We hired two camels. And this man, which I want to show you a picture of, real quick, did a radical thing. He yoked one camel to the other camel. And in the middle of the night, as we were yoked together to the top of the mountain, there were some times when Nehemia’s camel was leading me. And Nehemia would be like, “Oh, oh, it’s dark!” [laughter] And there were other times when my camel would be walking side-by-side with Nehemia’s. And sometimes - and I’m so glad about sometimes - Nehemia had to follow me. [laughter] But here’s why I brought it. I’m yoked together with a man who loves Torah.

Audience: Amen! [applause]

Keith: Now, in closing, I want to show you a picture, and to do something very special. This picture is the picture from the top of Mount Sinai. And the reason I showed you that picture is because it’s not just a photo op. God has called me as a Gentile to hook up with a Jew, and I have reason to believe it’s prophetic. What is the application? “Blessed is the man. Blessed is the man who grabs a hold, keeps a hold, and walks Torah.” Andrew, come and sing this song.

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When the Going Gets Tough – Keith Johnson (Open Door Series – Part 10)

Keith Johnson speaks about "When the Going Gets Tough" in the Open Door Series Part 10

Transcript

When the Going Gets Tough - Keith Johnson (Open Door Series - Part 10)

You are listening to the Open Door Series with Nehemia Gordon. Thank you for supporting Nehemia Gordon's Makor Hebrew Foundation. Learn more at NehemiasWall.com.

Keith: I’m going to ask you to roll up your sleeves. If you’re real, real comfortable, I’m going to ask you to get a little uncomfortable, because I’m about to share something with you that will be just a little bit tough. And if that’s all right, say amen.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: And if that’s not, you can leave. [laughter] But the reason I need to share this with you is because it is something that has certainly changed my life, and is changing people’s lives around the world. I’m so glad Nehemia talked about our book, A Prayer to Our Father: The Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer, because it is changing not only our lives, but the lives of people around the world. But one of the reasons it’s so radical is that we’re actually saying that we have an opportunity to taste, to smell, to feel that which was originally spoken by the one named “Yeshua”, or “Yehoshua”. Why is that so important? Because I think most of the people here would say they would love to be able to understand His words in the original language, history, and context. However, let me tell you something. His words in the original language, history, and context are tough. Say, “tough”.

Audience: Tough.

Keith: Now, if you’re still willing to hear His language, even though it’s tough, just raise your hand. Put it down. The second more important question is, if we were able to confirm that His language is tough, would you ever be willing to do it? You see, what I’m concerned about is, I come from a tradition where we don’t spend as much time in that which is original, we spend more time in that which has been presented to us. And I have to say something. That which has been presented to us doesn’t always call us to what is tough. Say, “tough”.

Audience: Tough.

Keith: When I read this particular passage that I’m going to share with you from the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, it will cause you to understand a little bit better what I call the perspective of just who our Father is, and who the one whom we call Yeshua, what it is that He actually came to do.

The copy of the book I have up on the screen, and one of the things I love about this is that we never intended to write a book. All Nehemia Gordon and I did was study the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew together. When I introduced myself to him and he accepted my friendship, he finally came back to me and he said, “Listen, Keith. I only have two rules. The first rule is, you don’t try to convert me, and I don’t try to convert you.” And I said, “No problem.” The second rule was, “We’re only going to study the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. None of that New Testament stuff. None of that Jesus stuff.” [laughter]

Six or seven years later, I get a phone call and it’s Nehemia Gordon, who still had had the door shut, so he was speaking in the Litvak Jew sort of voice. “Keith, this is Nehemia.” “Yeah, Nehemia. What’s goin’ on?” “I’d like to suspend one of the rules.” [laughter] “Are you kidding me? Which one of the rules do you want to suspend? Conversion or New Testament? Either way, I win.” [laughter and applause] And he said in his Litvak Jew sort of voice, he said, “I’d like to study the New Testament with you.” And I put the phone down and said, “Yes, Nehemia. I’d be glad to do that.”

After I got off the phone I shouted, and I said, “Father, You are about to do something powerful amongst Your people. You are going to connect the Methodist with a Karaite Jew who’s studied the Tanakh, the very Bible that Yeshua read. Now we’re going to take the system of study that we’ve put in place over years and years and years and we’re going to incorporate that study in the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew.” [applause]

Now, I have to tell you something that I mentioned to Michael this morning. We have not even begun to share the treasures that have been found in the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew. There are so many things that jump off the page, out of the book, that would knock a Karaite Jew down and put a Methodist slain in the spirit. [laughter] And one of the things that I’ve decided to do at Yom Teruah, the weekend, is to bring forward for you further revelation from the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew. [applause] I will tell you something. This morning was important for me because we were teaching in terms of responding to not only the man that sent the letter to me on 2 Corinthians chapter 6, but many of my Methodist brothers and sisters, and many of my other brothers and sisters that are saying, “What are you doing hanging out with this guy?”

Now, what I’m going to do is give you just a little application from the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, but you need to pray for me for tomorrow. You need to truly pray for me for tomorrow, because tomorrow, if the Father will allow it, I will share something with you that can bless you at the very core of your being.

However, I am convinced that if I make it through tomorrow, and we get to that session, it will probably not go over so well with the religious police. [laughter] But I’ve learned something about the religious police. Their secondary Hebrew term name is the Hounds of Hell, and they yell and they scream and they shout and they lift up their badges that do not have authority, because I will tell you something. I would rather be in the midst of the One who gives true authority than to fall prey to those who have false authority. [applause]

Now, back to what’s going to happen tonight. Have you rolled up your sleeves? I want to share with you something that’s out of the prayer that Nehemia and I taught, based on the Hebrew origins of the Lord’s Prayer. There’s a line in the prayer, and what Nehemia and I actually did is, we went to Israel, he came to the United States, we went back and forth with each other. We spent days, hours, weeks, months studying the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew, in Greek, in English, in Aramaic, in any other thing you can imagine. When we came to this particular section, we realized something very important. It was not good enough for he and I to keep this to ourselves. We had to share it with others, so we took all of our study and just went to one prayer. And I will tell you something, we have only scratched the surface of this prayer. The first phrase of the prayer is Avinu. Say, “Avinu”.

Audience: Avinu.

Keith: Our Father. And my friend, the Litvak Jew, when we sat down to study, you know, we sat down to study together, we were in Charlotte. We had about four computers with us, all sorts of books, all sorts of Greek, he had German and English, and everything. We had all sorts, I mean, things you just could not imagine. Nehemia says to me in the beginning, he says, “Listen, this first phrase, Avinu, Our Father, you just do that. That doesn’t apply to me, as the Jewish person. You know, I mean, our Father, you guys call Him Father, you’ve got the Son. Hey, we don’t call him ‘Father’ until…” Say, “until”.

Audience: Until.

Keith: …we opened up the book that Yeshua read. And guess what we found, over, and over, and over, He is called “Father” even for the Jew. [applause]

The second phrase, “Yitkadesh shimkha”, say, “Yitkadesh”.

Audience: Yitkadesh.

Keith: Shimkha.

Audience: Shimkha.

Keith: Your name be sanctified, a call to action. This put me into a situation where I was literally arrested for over a year, after we came out with this book. We went out to try to just simply teach the prayer, and every single time, I would get stuck on Yitkadesh Shimkha, because I knew that that phrase, unlike the poetic term, “Hallowed be Thy name,” “Yitkadesh Shimkha” is a call to action.

How could I be teaching people this particular prayer if I did not want to move into action regarding His name? So what I did was for about a month-and-a-half, I was fasting, and praying, and I literally was arrested in my place, in my home, studying again all of the time that I had spent with my friend, Nehemia Gordon, learning about the name that my Jewish brothers and sisters said were too holy to pronounce, too powerful to handle, too profound to understand. Therefore, I was prohibited from speaking it, but my Jewish friend, Nehemia Gordon, who reads the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Hebrew manuscripts, the Aleppo, the Leningrad, like I read the USA Today, he chose to give me the key to the treasure.

And when he gave me the key to the treasure, it was not good enough for me to keep this little flame for me and my friend. What I was called to was to make that information available to the world. And over the next year, 500 people from around the world, including our friend Andrew Hodkinson, received the study, went over the study. I even have study partners here in New Mexico, who had the study and they would make comments. And they would say, “What about this, and what about that, and what about this, and what about that?” They then sent it back to me, I went and changed everything based on the Scriptures. Then after that, I handed it to my Hebrew scholar, Nehemia Gordon from the Hebrew University, and he messed up and said this. I don’t know if he had wine. I don’t know if he was tired. [laughter] I don’t know why he said it, but he said to me, “Keith, this is a magnificent masterpiece.”

Audience: [laughter]

Keith: And because it already came out of his mouth, he tried to get it and put it back in, but somebody say, “He already said it!”

Audience: He already said it.

Keith: Then he messed around, and travelled with me to South Africa. Boy, I’m going to tell you something. I’ve got to tell this story. We went to South Africa, and as we were in South Africa, Nehemia got sick. Say, “sick”.

Audience: Sick.

Keith: When Nehemia got sick, I took advantage of the opportunity to go out by myself. And my friend, Andrew Hodkinson, took me to a place where there were Zulu warriors. You may have heard about it before, but the end result was simply this. As I was amongst these Zulu warriors, and they were singing and they were dancing, they shouted out three Hebrew words. And those three Hebrew words, I’ve got to believe somebody in the distant past must have learned these three Hebrew words and shared it with the next person, and shared it with the next generation, and the next generation.

So when I’m there with Andrew Hodkinson, and after the end of the singing and the dancing, they give these three Hebrew words in this order. “Amen! Hallelu! Yah.” Now, let me tell you why this is a big deal, and I ain’t got a slide for it, so just bear with me.

When they said, “Amen! Hallelu! Yah!” in that order, it only shows up one time in the Bible that Yeshua read. These Zulu brothers and sisters had the shortened, poetic form of God’s name in their generation, in the exact order of the Psalms. Somebody say, “There must be people all over the world that have been scattered. And yet, they still are yearning to call upon the name of our Creator!” Amen?

Audience: Woo-hoo. [applause]

Keith: Oh, my goodness. So Yitkadesh Shimkha, that one phrase caused me to write 226 pages, 80 different descriptions in Hebrew in the back of the book, 616 verses that make up the book. And I will tell you something that most people don’t know - in the back of the book, there’s a bonus section on what about the name Jesus? Oh, you’d better get it. [laughter]

Now, for the presentation. As we’re going over this prayer, we made a radical decision. What if we actually went to the places where the prayer was actually created? So I went over to Israel, and the first thing we did is we went down in the basement and looked at the Hebrew manuscripts that were based on manuscripts. You all, I’m going to talk a little bit more about it tomorrow, but it is amazing what my friend Nehemia was able to share with me so that we can share it with you.

This is information that the Greek scholars cannot read, and the Hebrew scholars do not care about. But God called a Litvak to hook up with a Methodist so that you could be blessed today. [applause]

Now, there’s a line in the prayer that I’m going to simply share with you tonight in the spirit of what I believe is happening around the world. I have a picture up here that I would like you to take a look at. This picture is called The Wilderness. Say, “wilderness”.

Audience: Wilderness.

Keith: Nehemia and I did a radical thing. We actually went out into the wilderness to see if we could experience what it would be like for Yeshua, or in my tradition whom they would call Jesus, what it would be like for Him during the time of what I learned to be the Temptation. So Nehemia and I went out there, and Nehemia warned me, he said, “Keith, now listen. Out here, it’s very, very dry. It’s the kind of thing where you’re going to need to bring plenty of water.” And I said, “Hey, listen. I used to be with the Vikings. I’m in shape. I’m still in shape today, I’m fine. Let me just have my one bottle of water.” Until about two-and-a-half hours in the desert, and I’m so glad that Nehemia was willing to share with me his water. Here is a picture of us. That’s Nehemia before he went on the 40-day fast in the wilderness. [laughter] That’s me after I actually have some water. And the reason that we’re there, we’re there trying to experience the situation that Yeshua was in.

And as we were there, there were things, you all, that happened that were just radical. Now, I’m going to share with you right now some of this. There’s a word, if you open up your Bibles into Matthew chapter 6, the normal statement is this. “Lead us not into temptation.” Say, “temptation”.

Audience: Temptation.

Keith: The idea being that Yeshua is teaching the people that there is this idea of temptation, and that He’s going to his Father and saying, “Father, please don’t lead us into temptation.” Now, that’s fine if we want to stay right there, but we learned this morning this really radical idea to…

Audience: Keep reading.

Keith: …keep reading. So what do I want to read? I want to go to the Greek, and I want to understand what the Greek says. So if I put up here, “Lead us not into temptation,” I find that that is the word “parasmon”. Say, “parasmon”.

Audience: Parasmon.

Keith: Now, if I see the Greek “parasmon” and I see the English “temptation”, I’m still trying to find out what was the actual word that Yeshua used? Here’s what I’ve done. Here’s the prayer, right here. I’m going to share it with you, but one of the things I love about this, this particular prayer is in the font of the 1st century. In other words, that if Yeshua was walking in the 1st century and, I don’t know, there might be a story like this, where maybe someone has him kneel down and write in the sand, if he was writing in Hebrew, you’re actually looking at the actual Hebrew letters in the way he would write them in the 1st century. And how do we know this? Because of the Dead Sea Scrolls, where we actually have scrolls where we’re writing actually in this font. This is important, because in this particular prayer, there’s a line that kind of rocks my world regarding the issue of temptation. It says, “Do not bring us into the hands of a test.” Can you say, “test”?

Audience: Test.

Keith: Now, if I find out what that word means in the Bible that Yeshua reads, I find this word. It is the word “nisa”, say, “nisa”.

Audience: Nisa.

Keith: Okay, why is this important, you all? Because again, what we want to do is, we want to go back in time. We want to try to get an idea of the language, history, and context of this particular prayer. There’s a word that he uses in the prayer that is connected to the word “nisa”, and I’m going to actually share with you this phrase. I cannot take the time to share the entire prayer with you, but I want to share this with you. I want you to say, “ve’al”.

Audience: Ve’al.

Keith: Ve’al.

Audience: Ve’al.

Keith: Tevieynu.

Audience: Tevieynu.

Keith: Lidei.

Audience: Lidei.

Keith: Nisayon.

Audience: Nisayon.

Keith: Which means, not simply, “Lead us not into temptation.” Yeshua is looking up at his heavenly Father and he’s saying, “Do not bring us…” say, “us”.

Audience: Us.

Keith: “…into the hands of a test.” You all, I’m going to tell you, this is exciting to me. Why is it exciting to me? Because if I open up my Torah scroll that I received in the Land of Israel, and I get to the section that is read around the world during the time of Yom Teruah in Jewish synagogues around the world, they will open up their Torah scroll, and if I was there, I would raise my hand and I would say, “Can I read this section? I’m about to speak to a whole bunch of folks in New Mexico during the time of Yom Teruah,” and they would say, “Yes, come,” hopefully. And if I were to open and to read all around the world in the second day of their reading - because they do two days, the first day they read one section, the second day they read a second section. And I have to stop and say, thank you to our friend, Ira in Florida, Rabbi Ira, who actually shared this with me. He actually did the dance in his room. He also is the one who has decided to incorporate the name Yehovah into the singing and the chanting of the Priestly Benediction. [applause]

He finds this and he says, “Keith, you’ve got to tell the people this, that all over the world, people are unrolling the scroll, and this is what they’re seeing.” I’m going to show you a picture. This is the scroll, that’s my scroll right there that I have in my house. I love to be able to open it and read it for myself, so I can see what it says.

But this is what they would read in the synagogue. “Now, it came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham…’” and he said three words that I wish my Church denomination would learn to say, “Here I am.” Now, leave the screen up there for just a second.

If I open my scroll, I find out that now it came about after these things that God nisa Abraham and said to him, “Abraham,” and He said still, “Here I am.” So what’s the connection? “Then Jesus was led up into the Spirit, into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” That is what it says in the King James Version. If I open up the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, if you’ll keep the screen, here is what it says. “Then Yeshua was led up of the Ruakh Hakodesh into the desert to be nisa by haSatan.” Do you see the difference? Lead us not into temptation. Do not bring us into the hands of a test.

Now’s where it gets exciting. When the going gets tough, what do the tough do?

Audience: Get going.

Keith: When the going gets tough, what do the tough do? I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do. First thing they do is they roll up their sleeves. And I think one of the things that we can do tonight is this; let’s see what the tough one named Yeshua did when the going got tough. Let’s use Yeshua to see what he does when the going gets tough.

There are three universal tests, I like to say this. There are three universal tests, and the first test that we’re going to talk about is exactly the test that haSatan, the devil, used against the one named Yeshua. Now, what I like about right now is you all are getting real quiet. I sense that some of you in this house have gone, or are going presently through a test. If I were to have you raise your hands, and I won’t, I would guarantee you that there are some of you that are presently in a test, and I will guarantee you that most of you will take the route of that test back to one of these universal tests. The first one, somebody say, “provision”.

Audience: Provision.

Keith: You know what I’m talking about. Can I get an amen?

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Let me make it easier for you. For me, this is a real test. Father, where are you at when the provision is scarce? And I know, probably here in New Mexico, you guys don’t have financial issues. [laughter] I’m sure some of you are thinking, “What are you talking about? I’ve got all the money I need. I’ve got all the finance. I’ve got all the situation.” But are there one or two people that would understand the issue of the test regarding provision? Here’s what happened. “When he had fasted 40 days, say, ‘40 days…’”

Audience: 40 days.

Keith: “…and 40 nights, He was afterward,” and I’m using the King James Version, “He was hungry.” Makes sense. And then it says, “And when the tempter came to Him, He said…” now, I think this is interesting, if I could stop for a moment. Yeshua was hungry. And it’s interesting - the tester didn’t come to him in day one. The tester didn’t come to him in week one. The tester waited until the end of the 40 days… it seems like the tester almost knows where the potential weakness would be.

You know, that’s why we get quiet sometimes, because with you, some of you that are here, he waits until you are weak and then he comes to you and says, “Take care of it yourself.” And when the tempter came to him he said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered…” [laughing] this is Yeshua, it says, “but He answered the tester with three simple words. ‘It is written.’”

Audience: It is written.

Keith: When the going gets tough, the tough get to the word. Is anyone tougher than Yeshua? I’ve met some tough people. The rabbi last week, Ira - tough. Nehemia Gordon on the camel - not so tough. [laughter] But when I read about the one whom they call Yeshua, is there anyone that you’ve read about that is more tough?

And yet, in the midst of the tempter, tester, the actual introduction of the test, he says these three words that I wish my Methodist brothers and sisters, and my Messianic brothers and sisters, and my Baptist - come on somebody - brothers and sisters, and my Catholic brothers and sisters, and all the denominations, and all the Jewish synagogues around the world, would learn to say what Yeshua said. “When the going gets tough,” the tough get to the word, “It is written.”

Audience: It is written.

Keith: And then he does something. Now, you all, I can’t help it. I’m sorry, I just have to do this. Can I open up the Bible that he read? “For He said, ‘It is written.’” Now, if he said, “It is written,” something interesting happens. I’m going to open up this Bible and I’m going to go to the section that Yeshua pulled out the “it is written” from. What I’m holding here is the Hebrew Bible. Of course, his was not leather-bound. He would read scrolls. What this represents is the oldest, most complete Hebrew Bible in the world, called the Aleppo Codex, which also has the Leningrad Codex, which is the oldest, most complete vocalized Hebrew Bible in the world, which is based on your English Old Testament. So we’ve got two witnesses, say, “two”.

Audience: Two.

Keith: If I open up this Bible, here’s what I would see. It says here, in I think Deuteronomy chapter 8, you mean Yeshua quoted from the Torah? That seems radical. “All the commandments which I command you this day, you should be careful to do, in order that you might live and you might increase, and you might enter, and you might possess the land which…” oh, my goodness, “Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey,” oh, my goodness. I have to say it, if it’s all right with you. Or maybe I should just say, “Lord”. But since I’m reading from the Hebrew Bible, I’d better say it the way we find it in the Aleppo Codex. It says, “which Yehovah has sworn to your fathers, you shall remember all of the ways in which Yehovah has led you this 40 years.”

Yeshua is about to do something radical. He’s reading in Deuteronomy chapter 8 this context. And from this context he pulls out his response to the tester. 40 years, 40 days. And it says, “40 days in the desert, in order to afflict you,” oh, my goodness, “and to test you,” and I love this part, “to know what is in your heart.” Oh, somebody’s going through a test. Somebody’s dealing with a test of provision, and Daddy knows all about it. But sometimes, say, “sometimes”.

Audience: Sometimes.

Keith: He’ll use the test to find out what is in your heart, “to see whether or not you will keep His commandments or not. You were afflicted. You were hungry, and He fed you with manna.” Say, “manna…”

Audience: Manna.

Keith: “…which you did not know, and your fathers did not know, in order that you might know.” And then it says this, if I could just change this here. I need to bring it to you just the way he said it to the tempter, or the tester. Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 3, you all know what it says there in English. What he does, he does not speak English. So I’m imagining something. He’s there and he’s remembering in Deuteronomy chapter 8 from his Bible, and not to be overly dramatic, but I want you to imagine that it’s 40 days, and 40 nights, and he’s tired. The Bible said, “He was hungry,” and I can hear him in my mind, in the wilderness, because I’ve been there. I can imagine him standing before the one who is the tester. And I hear him with sort of a raspy voice maybe saying, “Ki lo al halekhem levado ikhiyeh ha’adam ki al…” and I can hear his voice getting louder for this section, “ki al kol motza pi…” and does he stop and say, “Should I say ‘Hashem?” Does he stop and say, “Well, the rabbis say, maybe I should say Adonai?” Or does he say what he read in the Bible that he understood?

I think his voice started out, “Ki lo al halekhem levado ikhiyeh ha’adam…” and then, I could hear him say, “ki al kol motza pi Yehovah ikhiyeh ha’adam.” “A man does not live by bread alone, but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of My Daddy who has a name.”

Test number one - provision. Why does he bring this out? Because he understands something. Even Satan, haSatan, knew something about the book. Can I get an amen?

Audience: Amen.

Keith: In fact, I’ll go so far to say that haSatan knows more about the Hebrew Bible than my bishop. And I don’t mind saying that, because I love everybody that I’m connected to, but I also will continue to challenge everybody I’m connected to, to get back to this.

Test number two - this is one that’s probably a little more difficult. I call this test, the test of pride. Say, “pride”.

Audience: Pride.

Keith: The first one, provision, dealing with our need, our physical need. And of course, haSatan coming to Yeshua saying, “Hey, do something about it yourself.” And some of you have heard that. God has forgotten you. Do something about provision yourself. Turn that which you are not to turn into something that you need. And this is the problem presently in the Church, and may I even go so far, even in the synagogue. Maybe we get impatient with the fact that what we need we don’t have now, so we rely on ourselves for our own provision. But because you all are so quiet, let’s move to pride.

“Then the devil took Him…” oh, I love this. Now, wait a minute. He just whooped you with the word. “Then the devil took Him?” Wait a minute. You mean to say the devil has patience? You mean to say, the devil has perseverance? You mean to say, even after he heard a “no”, he kept knocking at the door? “Then the devil took Him into the Holy City and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the Temple and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for Satan himself said, For it is written.’”

You mean to tell me he knows what is written? “He will command his angels concerning You, and on their hands they will bear You up so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.” Problem - the devil takes Scripture out of context. You all can relax now. “For it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You and on their hands they will bear you up so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

If I open up the Bible Yeshua read, I would say, “For He will give His angels charge concerning You, to guard You in all Your ways. They will bear You up in their hands that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.”

Now, let’s do this wonderful thing that I wish more people do, and that is to keep reading. You cannot build a denomination off a verse, though there are many that have.

Can I say it again? Come on Arthur Bailey. Bishop, can you tell me something, apostle? So are there not denominations, I think they say there are like 30,000 denominations, and many of those denominations will pick one verse and say, “We stand on the word of God without context, but we stand on it. And if we want to bring the entire context, we’re not interested in that, because we’re just like haSatan, when it’s time to prove what we want to prove, we’ll do with Scripture anything we want to do with Scripture.”

When will we learn that when He gave His word, He gave it in context? Oh, I wish I had somebody in here. “No evil will befall you.” Now, because I think Yeshua understood context, “nor will any plague come near your tent. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra. The young lion…” I wonder if he realized this, “The young lion and the serpent, You will trample down.” And then, here comes old Satan, pulling out of this particular passage his verse, to try to prove what it is that he’s telling Yeshua to do. “Yeshua, if you’re the Son of God, God must really need You. I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’re going to go to the highest point of the Temple,” which just happens to be the place where under it would have been the Holy of Holies. He’s standing up on the Temple, and he’s saying to him, “You are some bad dude. You are tough, Yeshua. You are amazing. God must really need You right now. I think You could act the fool. Throw Yourself down, and because You’re so important in the religious movement that’s taking place, God will charge His angels to help fix your mess.”

Sounds… somebody say, “familiar”.

Audience: Familiar.

Keith: Oh, there are so many religious leaders that the Father will allow to grow so far, and then they’ll get on top of the Temple. You know, the TV ratings are good. Come on, somebody. You know, they got plenty of tithes and plenty of offerings, and they’re flying in planes, and riding on trains. And they have two or three automobiles, and they’re thinking, “You know what? I have got the shizzle. I am somebody. I can act the fool. I can throw myself down.” And they’re listening to Satan, and they’re thinking that they’re so important to God that they can make a Scripture that does not even mean what it means. And so they throw themselves down, act the fool and say, “God, bless this mess.” And you know what? It is exactly what is taking place today.

Woman: Yes.

Keith: He takes it out of context. They apply it into their lives, but if we continue reading, it says this. “Because He has loved Me, therefore I will deliver Him. I will set Him securely on high.” Not on high of your religious movement. I’ll set him securely on high where I want him to be, “because He has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer Him. I will be with Him in trouble…” Say, “trouble”.

Audience: Trouble.

Keith: “I will rescue him and honor him with a long life. I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation.” That is the context of the proof text. I’m not so sure that Satan should’ve used that proof text, because Yeshua did something. In my King James Bible it says, “Jesus said to him, ‘On the other hand, it is written…’”

Audience: It is written.

Keith: Now, you all, I have to do something again. Can I open up the Bible? And if I’m thinking right, “He would be again…” in sync with Deuteronomy. And I think this time, he would be in Deuteronomy, oh, I think it would be around verse 13. In English it says, “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” Now, I love this. In verse 16, yes, it’s 16 - I’m not as good on the memorization of the Hebrew Bible as Yeshua. You didn’t get that. In Hebrew, he would say to haSatan, and at this point, he’s probably now on top of the Temple, as it says, and maybe he can kind of feel something - maybe the leftovers of what it was like when the Ark of the Covenant used to be in the Temple, because you know that by the time that Satan took him to the top of the Temple, there was no Ark of the Covenant, which is called by the name, in the Holy of Holies, but it was still considered the Holy of Holies by many people.

And so Satan has got him up there, and I can imagine him maybe feeling, “This is a very holy place that I’m at.” And then he says, in Hebrew, maybe feeling a little better, “Lo tenasu et Yehovah Eloheikhem.” What does that mean? He stopped in the middle of the verse. According to my English Bible, he stopped in the middle of the verse. But in the Hebrew Bible, he had to have known the second phrase of the verse. It says, “Lo tenasu et Yehovah Eloheikhem ka’asher nisitem bamasa.” Can I show you what it says?

Deuteronomy 6:16, you see three words, “tenasu”, say that.

Audience: Tenasu.

Keith: Say, “nisitem”.

Audience: Nisitem.

Keith: Say, “bamasa”.

Audience: Bamasa.

Keith: Why did Yeshua pick this response to the tester? Because three times in this verse is the word “nisa”, “test”. “You shall not test Yehovah, your God, as when you tested Him at tests.” What are you talking about, at tests? It doesn’t say, “at tests”. Well, if you read the Bible in its original language, history, and context, you find out that the place “masa” which was actually named by Moshe, was called “nisa bamasa,” is test. Say, “test”.

Audience: Test.

Keith: Yeshua is picking a verse to remind himself three times, three different tests. This is test, this is test, this is test, this is test, this is test. And you all, I wish you’d learn to be able to say this, “This is test.” This is test. Somebody say it - “this is test”.

Audience: This is test.

Keith: This is test.

Audience: This is test.

Keith: And we want to pass the test. Third verse, third test. First of all, provision. Second of all, pride. But I have to tell you, the third one is probably the most controversial. I’m sure some of you that are here will probably guess what the third one is. Provision, we kind of understand. Pride, we can put that off on the religious leaders. But this one, we call “power”. And there are people here that are struggling in this area of this test. Here’s what Satan does. Again, say, “again...”

Audience: Again.

Keith: “The devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” Now, remember something. Before we go any further, when the going gets tough, the tough get to the word. I said, when the going gets tough, the tough…

Audience: Get to the word.

Keith: Why? Because the real power is in the word. HaSatan comes and he shows him all of this stuff. And all of these things he says, “I shall give You.” Now, I’ve got to stop here for a second, because there’s something I want to tell people that have fallen into the failure of this test. He will promise you the world, but I’ve got to tell you a secret. Every time he speaks, he lies. I said, every time he speaks, he lies. And he’s been whispering to some men in this place, telling some men in this place, “I’ll give it to you, if you do it my way.” But I’ve got to tell you something, men. He lies. Oh, there’s women in this place where he’s whispered in your ear, “If you just do it this way, I will…” and you need to know something, women - every time he speaks, he lies.

Oh, the real tough people are going to want to understand what it says in the word of God. He said, “All of these things, I will give you if you fall down and worship me.” Can I open Hebrew Matthew for a second? Is it all right with you?

Now, understand something. Hebrew Matthew is not popular with the Aramaic folks. I don’t know if you know it or not, but there’s an official Aramaic Bible of the Messianic movement. And they have decided the witness of the Hebrew doesn’t match the Aramaic, and so they don’t so much want you to learn the Hebrew, because then you might decide that you want to do what Nehemia and I have done. We want to compare the Hebrew, the Greek, the Aramaic, the English, the versions. We want all of the witnesses, but the Aramaic people are saying, “No, there’s only one witness.” That, to me, is a problem, especially since the reason you don’t want anyone to look at the Hebrew is because the Aramaic is $59.95. It’s about power. It’s about money. It’s about the wrong things. They have been whispered in their ear from haSatan, that has said, “It is more important for you to have the power than to give the people the option to know the truth.”

I don’t mind saying it. You know why I don’t mind saying it? Because they already came at me, and they asked me, “If you bow down to the Aramaic, we’ll keep you on television.”

Audience: Oh!

Keith: It is written. [applause] Hello, somebody. Here’s what it says in Hebrew Matthew, and if I can make it to tomorrow, Father, would you let me live till tomorrow, so I can give these people this information? [laughter]

I’m not laughing. I’m dead serious. Would you let me live till tomorrow, to give these people this information? But before that, can I share what it says in Hebrew Matthew?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: It says this. “If you bare Your head to me.” Satan says, “Look, all I need to see is Your bald head.” And how will You bare Your head to me? By going like this. That’s all he wants. That’s all he wants. Don’t keep erect. Don’t keep your head up, even though provision is funny. Keep your head up when pride ain’t around. Keep your head up when they’re trying to offer you power that ain’t real power. Keep your head up. I will not bare my bald head to you. [laughter]

Oh, I wish there were more people. Tyler, do me a favor, Tyler. You know, earlier today, for the television cameras, for the television cameras, I saw Tyler do something I’ve never seen him do. My friend, Andrew, was up here singing, and he was singing, and Tyler thought, “What a great shot. This is a great TV shot.” Tyler leapt behind his computer and ran down to the front saying, “Rise, get up. Come on, you’re on TV.” You all, don’t you know I’m talking about something that’s better than TV right now? Do you know what we’re talking about is having an opportunity to respond, to have an encounter with the very words of Yeshua? Yeshua himself said, “Father, ve’al tevieynu lidei nisayon.” “Do not bring us into the hands of a test.” But if You do, when the going gets tough, the tough…

Audience: Get to the word.

Keith: You all don’t even get excited. Boy, I wish I was in a Methodist church right now. Oh, I miss the Methodist church right now, because you know, I could just open my mouth and say one or two little words, they’d say, “Hey, pastor!” The Messianic movement, boy you’re tough. [laughter] You guys are hard. I don’t know if it’s because you’ve been so wrecked and messed up in the church that you think, “I’m not listening to that pastor. He comes from the church.” Guess what? Truth is truth, wherever it comes from. [applause]

Let me move on, because I’m going to try my best to get to the end of this. I love what Yeshua said to Satan. If you don’t learn nothing else from what I’m talking about, could you learn these words? Can you put it up again? Four simple words, the letters Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey, okay? Those are four letters, you all got that? Say, “Yud”.

Audience: Yud.

Keith: Hey.

Audience: Hey.

Keith: Vav

Audience: Vav.

Keith: Hey.

Audience: Hey.

Keith: Oh, you all know how to do that. Oh, I mean, the Messianic movement, Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey, you all know the letters, but I wish you all would also learn, “Away from me, Satan.” Do you know that you can actually tell him to hit the road? The tough one teaches us that when he’s had enough of this particular conversation and dialogue, he finally says, “Away from me, Satan.” For then, he does this, “It is written.” I love this. Can I one more time open up the book?

Audience: Yes.

Keith: I think it is in 6 and round about 13. I can imagine the first time he’s saying, “Man does not live by bread alone.” And the second time, as he’s on the Temple, I can hear him getting a little more energy. But by the third time, I think he’s saying this. “Yehovah Eloheikha tirah ve’eto ta’avod.” “Yehovah, your God, you shall fear and Him, you shall serve.”

I can hear him doing a Holy Ghost dance in the presence of Satan. “Oh, you want me to bare my head? Oh, let me bare my head to Him. And you would be wise, Satan, to learn to do the same thing,” because there’s only one God that you should serve. Though they will tell you, “You can go to this mosque, and you can go to this temple, and you can go to this special place of a saint, and you can go to this special appearance of Mary, and you can go to the special…” Come one, somebody. “And you can go here, and you can go there, and you can go there. And as long as it feels good to you, you are serving, and you are worshipping. You’re being spiritual.” But let me tell you something. Satan loves spiritual people. He loves people that like to get spiritual, because he’ll slip in sometimes, and act like he’s Mary.

And he’ll slip in sometimes and act like he’s Buddha. Come on, somebody. He’ll slip in sometimes, and act… Oh, I’d better stop. You all ain’t feeling it. Just as long as you will bare your head to anyone other than him, Satan is happy. But I love the fact that there are two more words in the verse in the Bible that Yeshua read. Oh, I love this so much. It says, “Yehovah, your God, you shall fear, and Him you shall serve.” And the English translators of the New Testament could not put the next two words in your English Bible. Here are the next two words. I guess I should… can I show them to you?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: Are you all still with me here?

Audience: Yeah.

Keith: Because you all are quiet. The next two words in Deuteronomy 13 are “u’vishmoh tishaveah”. Let me just slow down, because now I’ve really got to slow down. He’s talking to the tester. The tester’s come against him in provision, and when the going gets tough, the tough…

Audience: Get to the word.

Keith: And then he brings pride. But when the going gets tough, the tough…

Audience: Get to the word.

Keith: But then the third one, power. He brings this verse, “Yehovah Eloheikha, tira ve’oto ta’avod, u’vishmoh tishaveah.” “And in His name, you shall swear.” Nehemia, my Jewish brother, would you get excited for me over the fact that Yeshua is quoting from a verse that in the original verse that he would be quoting, he would understand the significance of swearing in the name?

Nehemia: Woo-hoo!

[applause]

Keith: You see, the reason that you all don’t understand the significance of this is, you have been conditioned that you’re never supposed to swear, neither yes or no is all you’re supposed to do. However, if you look in the Hebrew version of the Gospel of Matthew which Nehemia and I have read, you will find out that he said, “You should not swear falsely.” Please learn to swear in His name, because when you swear in His name, you shall be built up.

Audience: Woo! [applause]

Keith: I talk about this in the book, and it’s something that I learned that radically changed my life. Do you know that the Father in Heaven actually wants His children to learn to swear in His name? And let me tell you why - because if you learn to swear in His name, He knows you won’t mess with lying. Because if you swear in His name and you lie, there ain’t no help for you. So if my wife pushes me to the end and says, “Keith, but did that really happen?” “Yes, baby. It happened.” “Keith, did it really happen like that?” “Yes, baby, it happened.” She’ll say this to me. “Will you swear in His name?” And I’ll raise my right hand to heaven, and I will say, “Andrea, I swear in the name Yehovah that that is what happened.” And she knows that if Keith raises his hand to swear in His name, it’s life or death.

When Satan saw Yeshua bring this verse, he didn’t have any choice but to get up of there. He had to leave at that point, because Yeshua’s saying, “You can come to me with provision,” and Satan’s thinking, “Well, maybe I can get you to do what Moses did. Maybe I can get you to do something outside of what God has commanded you to do.” You know, with Moses, it says in Exodus 17 they called it “masa”, but in Numbers 20 Moses decided to take it into his own hands, God said, “Take the staff. Go again, speak to the rock.” Moses got caught up and struck the rock two times. And Satan probably thought, “If I could just get Yeshua to strike the rock, if I could just get him to make the provision himself, maybe he will be kept from the promised land.” But Yeshua had read the story of Moshe. He had read the story of Genesis and Exodus. Come on, somebody, Leviticus, and Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And he ain’t like some of us. After he reads it, he understands it. “I’m not going to be tricked. I will not take my own power from my provision. I will not fall down and do something stupid and ask God to fix it. I’m not throwing myself from the Temple. I’m not a fool.”

But when it came to power, Yeshua understood where the real power is. And if it’s possible, just possible, that Yeshua had what I call “the power of perspective.” Let me end this thing like this. I want you to open your Bibles to this verse. I’m rolling up my sleeves, because it’s going to get real interesting now. “Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey,” but in English, “the LORD”, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’”

Now, some of us think that Satan has his own will that is outside the will of when the Father wants him to do something. When God asks Satan a question, Satan couldn’t say, “I’m Satan. I don’t want to answer Your question.” I mean, Satan could have done that, right? Except he’s in the presence of the Almighty. When the Almighty says, “Question,” Satan knows, “I’d better answer.” Now you all have gone real quiet, and that’s okay. “From where do you come from?” Then Satan answers the Lord and said, “From roaming about the earth, walking around on it,” and then a radical line that most people do not like to read. But before I get to the line, I should give you the picture. He roams around the earth. He’s not omniscient. He’s not omnipresent. If he’s not in this room, look at your neighbor and say, “He ain’t here.”

Audience: He ain’t here.

Keith: If he’s in this room, he’s not in your hotel room. If he’s in your hotel room, he can’t also be at your house. He can only be in one place at a time, because I’ve got to give you all a secret. Satan is not God.

Audience: Yeah. [applause]

Keith: From roaming about on the earth and walking around in it, checking, looking, seeing, if I could find somebody to fall to the test. “Have you considered my servant, Job?” Can I stop here for a minute? The Creator of the universe is talking to haSatan, the adversary, and He’s saying, “Have you considered my servant, Job?” Wait a minute. You mean to say that God brought the idea of test to the adversary about his servant, Job? Come to find out that that’s exactly what happened. Satan said this. “Oh yeah, sure. Job. He’s got it going on. He’s got a good house, a good wife, got a good bank account, got a good family. He’s got flocks, and herds, and all that stuff. But if You let me do what I can do, he’ll curse You to Your face.” And the Father says this, “Very well. But only this far.”

And normally, Tyler should be running around the room in revival when I told you what I just told you, because what you need to know is this - Satan has a leash.

Audience: Woo! [applause]

Keith: And let me tell you who’s on the other end of Satan’s leash. Oh, he doesn’t like this, I can guarantee he ain’t in the room right now. I think Yeshua knows the story of Job, and I think Yeshua knew that his Father is the one that will decide who will be tested and for how much they will be tested. I love the fact, when I think about the picture of Satan saying, “Well, how far can I go?” And He says, “You can only go this far.” “But I want to go further.” “You can only go this far.” So guess what Satan does? You think Satan says, “Well, hey. I’m Satan. I’m going to do what I want. I’m going to go beyond the line.” Guess what? “Here’s as far as you can go.”

And so after that, Job doesn’t fall into the situation, so Satan comes back, the Sons of God, present themselves before God, and Satan also comes in. And I can hear God’s with kind of a smirk on His face. “Satan, you who know all things, have you considered my servant, Job?” He says, “Yeah, but listen. Let me touch his body.” I know this is very uncomfortable for you all, but “Let me touch his body.” And God says this, “Very well. You can touch my servant Job’s body.” Satan went out and he could only go this far. And yet, in the end, Job did not curse God, and Satan lost. [applause]

I’m telling you, somebody’s got to hear me. Somebody’s got to hear me. Somebody’s got to hear me. Now, you guys, listen to me, just listen to me, bear with me. I’m going to get through this. There is one God who sits high and looks low. He’s not cowering in heaven, saying, “What am I going to do about Satan? I have no authority. I have no power. But if enough people would just pray, maybe My will shall be done.” I’m not trying to be funny, but I’m telling you something. There are too many Methodists that think like this. Bear with me, just for a second. “Maybe if we pray enough, maybe God will do something… maybe Satan will…”

Listen, let me tell you something. Satan does not have the authority of God. [applause] Thank you, sister. Here again, you keep standing. You keep standing, and maybe they’re going to catch up with you. Some of you are cowering. Some of you are backing down. Some of you are saying, “He’s got too much power.” But somebody has got to hear me today. There is one God, and it is not Satan! [applause] Oh, listen to me now. Listen to me, listen to what I’m saying. There’s only one. There’s only one. There’s one that you bare your head to. There’s one that gives you provision. There’s one that has all the power, and it is not Satan!

I’m going to do something. Stay standing. Stay standing, if you will, because maybe the internet crowd is understanding what I’m saying. Maybe some of them are running around the room saying, “You mean to say there’s really only one I should fear? You mean to say, there’s really only one I should serve? And you mean to tell me that even Yeshua at the third point of his test did not even say, ‘In My name,’ but rather he said, ‘I’ve learned to swear in His name.’” Why is that important? Because he understood there was only one thing you do when the going gets tough, the tough get the word.

Audience: Get the word.

Keith: Hold on, now. I’m going to say something radical, and I’m so glad this is the last time I’m speaking, because I’m sure now I’m in trouble. They might not let me back tomorrow. I’ve got to tell you something. When Yeshua is standing before Satan, based on what our understanding is in Western Christianity, you would have thought he’d have done something else.

I told Michael this morning this. We were outside of the hotel and I said, “You know what, Michael? I’m convinced of something. If Yeshua walked on the streets of Albuquerque, New Mexico on a Sunday morning, and he walked into most Methodist churches, he would walk into the Methodist church and he would say, ‘What are you doing?’ He would say, ‘What are you all only singing to me?’”

Oh, Lord, have mercy. Could somebody pray for me, right now? Just pray for me, right now. I am convinced that Yeshua would walk into most Methodist churches on Sunday morning and say, “Are you all ever going to focus on the One that we’re to fear, and the One that we’re to worship?” And I am convinced that most Methodist pastors would tell Yeshua, “You sound a little too Jewish. Get out.”

Audience: Oh!

Keith: Now, why do I say this? I love the ministry and work and life of Yeshua. I love what he did. I love what he said. I love the miracles. I love the marvellous power. I love that he was clothed, that the Holy Spirit was indwelling in him. I love all of that. But more than anything that I love about Yeshua is this - he continued to point people to his Father.

[applause]

I have to got to end this now, and I’m going to end it this way. I don’t know if my sister Karen is even here. But if she is, I want her to come forward. I’m going to close with this Scripture. Here it is, you guys, Isaiah 55:9. “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares Yehovah. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth,’” so are My ways higher than the religious institutions, the Messianic movement, the denominations, the Jewish synagogues. My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts are higher than the Litvak Jew. My thoughts are higher than my seminary professors. My thoughts are higher than the Hebrew University folks. My thoughts are higher even than those.

[applause]

Give it to me, again. “My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. For as the rain, and the snow come down from heaven and do not return without their watering the earth, and making it there, and sprout and furnishing seeds for the sower and bread to the eater.” If you can let me say amen, if I can continue, just say amen.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: I’m going to the book now. Just say, “Keith, if you can just let me give you the next slides,” say amen.

Audience: Amen.

Keith: Here is the next slide. “So will My word which goes forth from My mouth it will not return to Me empty without accomplishing what I desire, without proceeding in the manner in which I said,” when the going gets tough, the tough go to the word. [applause] Oh. Oh. Oh. Hey, somebody. Oh, my goodness.

Why is it, in closing, why is it, in closing. Oh, my God. There’s something in my gut, I’m trying to get it out. I’m trying to preach it out.

Man: Go on.

Keith: I’m trying to say it, so I won’t have to… You got to bear with me, you all. I just want to get it out so that I can… But you’ve got to understand something. Our Father, He loves us so much. He decided to speak that which is on His mind, to come out of His mouth and put it on paper. And we have people who’ve decided, “You know what? I don’t want to know that. I want to be religious. I want to be spiritual. I want to be in charge, but I do not want an encounter with the word of God.”

Why is it that when the going gets tough, that the tough get the word? I’m going to show you why. Yehovah’s word represents what is in Yehovah’s mind, spoken through Yehovah’s mouth, and now is available in written form in Yehovah’s Torah.

[applause]

Would you bear with me? Would you bear with me, I’ll just tell you one last story? I want you to sit down for a second. And sister Karen, I want you to stay here. There’s something that’s calling people like me from all over the world. We’re being called back to the original language, history, and context of our Bibles. There are some people that will say, “Keith cannot come because he’s a Methodist,” not realizing that God is using the Methodist denomination to get a hold of me.

Sometimes, the Father will use things that we don’t even imagine that He will use, to awaken us. When I was 14 years old, I became a Christian. When I was 15, I was in the church, and they used to sing this song that I never understood why the song moved me so much, and the song was called Amazing Grace. And when they would sing Amazing Grace, I would be moved sometimes to tears.

About a month ago, my sister-in-law was making a joke with me about a man named Whitley Phipps. When I was 15, 16, and 17 years old, Whitley Phipps would come in our church. He had the craziest hairdo you’ve ever seen, and he would sing old Negro spirituals. And I would laugh at Whitley Phipps. So we were laughing about what his name was, and she finds him online, and came to find out that Whitley Phipps now looks like Nehemia - bald - but he tells this story that I have to tell you, in closing. He says that when the slaves came over from Africa, most, if not all Negro spirituals are played only on the black notes. If we had a piano here and it was on, I would go over and play Negro spirituals that only used five black notes. [sings] “Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.” No white notes, all black notes. Now, some of you are getting nervous - this sounds racial. Why the black notes? I don’t know, maybe it’s because of the five Books of Moses, I don’t know. [laughter]

But there’s a story that he tells about a man who wrote Amazing Grace. And this man that wrote Amazing Grace is given credit for the words. But it says that the music is unknown. Musicologists have now done studies and gone over to West Africa and found out there’s a tomb that is the basis for Amazing Grace. It is a mourning chant by West Africans; so this slave, a ship captive, wrote Amazing Grace. But the music came from down below in the ship. [hums Amazing Grace]. Can you hear it? Can you feel it? Down in the ship, on boats like the ship named “Jesus”, that stopped at the shores of West Africa, put them in boats after baptizing them in the water, chaining them like sardines, and all they could do was chant the mourn. And the ship’s captain took words and put them over the chant. And this black man, who’s a Methodist, hears the song. And all I think about is those brothers and sisters in the ship singing something like [sings Amazing Grace].

And so we can take present-day Christianity and take words and layer them over sounds that really don’t even match. And so when I come and try to give you access to His name, and when my brother Andrew comes and he sings and combines the name with the music, some of you say, “No, no, no, no, no, it doesn’t match.”

But I’m here to tell you something. It matches in heaven. And there are some of you here today that in your gut, you feel in your gut, that He is calling you back to His name.

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To Hell and Back with Nehemia Gordon (Open Door Series – Part 8)

Gehenna - the Hinnom Valley - in Jerusalem, To Hell and Back, Nehemia Gordon, Open Door Series, Hell, Jerusalem, Bible, Gehenna, Hinnom Valley, Hounds of Hell, Bible Hill, idolatrous, cult, grace, Creator, UniverseIn episode 8 of the Open Door Series, Nehemia speaks about his adventures to Hell and back, literally. Hell is a geographic location in Jerusalem known in the Bible as Gehenna, or the Hinnom Valley (shown in the photo on the left). Nehemia's adventures in Gehenna and encounter with the "Hounds of Hell" was a life changing experience. Come along with him on the journey from the depths of Hell to the peak of Bible Hill, from the merciless cruelty of an idolatrous cult to the abundant grace of the Creator of the Universe!

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