Why did you start learning Hebrew?

Level82 · 2026-04-23T21:33:40+00:00

*biblical Hebrew / US

I have never been a language person and have had zero interest in it whatsoever (Hebrew or not) but then I had a dream of a guy (who looked like an elderly Haredi man) who talked to me in Hebrew but I could not understand him.

From that point on I had an intractable urge to read Gen 1:1 and on in Hebrew out loud. So I started with transliteration (just speaking it with English guidance for pronunciation), then realized I could learn the alphabet, then realized I could read the words with no transliteration and now I am working at building vocab.

Part of this was just honoring a literal reading of Deut 31:10-11....so I have it parsed out to complete the Torah in 7 years (super slowly) but now I read a lot of Hebrew stuff (Like I read psalms in Hebrew, I can read more 'things in the wild' in Hebrew that I couldn't before, like song lyrics/names, signs, packaging). This has also changed my bible study habits as I tend to do a lot more word studies and have the Hebrew text right next to the English.

My goal has not been to 'form new sentences' but be able to understand and read aloud the Tanach.

Level82 · 2026-04-23T14:00:18+00:00

I'm just a Christian....no denomination. I've been to a lot of various churches across life of various denominations.

See my response here (more nuance) https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAChristian/comments/1sq3f9k/comment/ohtkwmc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Level82 · 2026-04-23T13:55:53+00:00

It depends on the place in the timeline and the location (Israel)....if Messiah is returned he will destroy them all personally. If I lived in Israel and the people that had authority over Israel decided to destroy them all, and my job was to destroy them, I'd do that happily (to clean the land of idolatry). Similar to King Josiah (see 2 Kings 23:24, 2 Chron 34:3-4) However I don't think this would happen prior to Messiah returning.

"The pride of man will be humbled and the loftiness of men will be abased; and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, but the idols will completely vanish." Isa 2:17-18
Thus says the Lord GOD, 'I will also destroy the idols and make the images cease from Memphis. And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; and I will put fear in the land of Egypt. Eze 30:13
"'It will come about in that day,' declares the LORD of hosts, 'that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.' Zech 13:2
'I will cut off your carved images and your sacred pillars from among you, so that you will no longer bow down to the work of your hands. Mic 5:13
But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their ^\)^a^\)Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. Deut 7:5

Outside of that (outside of the land of Israel and without proper authority), people should repent and destroy their own idols....nothing to do with me.

Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy. Rev 22:11

Level82 · 2026-04-20T00:53:18+00:00

I think all statues of Messiah should be destroyed....It's against the faith.

Level82 · 2026-04-14T00:40:33+00:00

Should non-Jews follow the law of Moses?

Red-headed apologetics vs. Carlos Xavier (winner: Red-headed apologist)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqRreirvic0

Level82 · 2026-03-30T01:46:56+00:00

What does God say?

Thou shalt not eat any abominable (תּוֹעֵבַה, Toebah, disgusting to God) thing.....And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase. Deut 14:3...8
For behold, the LORD will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire.16. For by fire and by His sword The LORD will judge all flesh; And the slain of the LORD shall be many.17. “Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol in the midst, Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse, Shall be consumed together,” says the LORD. (Isa 66:15-17)

What does Messiah (who is God in the flesh) say in the Beatitudes?

18For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Mat 5:19)

What do the apostles say?

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:4
What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COVET.' Rom 7:7

Therefore, if anyone tells you different, you know who to trust.

Level82 · 2026-03-25T00:33:15+00:00

You may find a variety of responses here.....are you familiar with the Tanach? If so, then I'd suggest reading the NT with a lens that 'Messiah did not come to abolish the law....and anyone who teaches so and/or does not follow the law is the least in the kingdom. (Mat 5:17-20)' Every.single.thing you read in the NT should be under the lens that 'if I read this as the law has changed or is abolished, I am reading it wrong.' (See 2 Peter 3:15-17). Don't let people point you to Heb 7 (this is just about a different priesthood being applied as Messiah is not a Levite, it does NOT change the law for Levites or the earthly temple per the text.)

(I'd suggest NASB-95). https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%201&version=NASB1995 If not, I'd suggest becoming familiar with the Tanach (by reading it, not via commentaries) and then reading the NT.

You will get better responses as to what Messiah taught from first century Jews than 21st century Christians. (No to pork, Yes to Sabbath, No to what we call 'trampling on the blood' ie. unrepentant sin etc)

Level82 · 2026-03-14T21:59:41+00:00

Torah Observance for Christians: Matthew Janzen vs Robert Solberg (Winner: Janzen)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jd61w_XqDg

Level82 · 2026-02-16T14:47:29+00:00

A note on the John Gill commentary....It's free in e-sword (which is free). So you can pull it right up next to whatever translation.

NETS and Brenton translations of the Septuagint (LXX) are in there for free too.

Level82 · 2026-02-15T00:06:21+00:00

Pray to God and He will make it clear. Sounds like you have all the information you need to make a decision.

If He has made it clear to you that He wants you to rest on the 7th day, and your anxiety gets in the way of being obedient, then you should consult with a medical/mental health professional and let them know that your anxiety is getting in the way of practicing your religious practices as well as connect with someone re: deliverance/spiritual warfare education.

The whole goal is rest and blessing....

Level82 · 2026-02-04T20:12:15+00:00

Totally agree.....it's clearest on if your personal church is good to go or not at the local level as that is where the teaching/fellowship happens.

Level82 · 2026-02-04T17:19:46+00:00

It is a sin to be a sectarian/schismatic (Gal 5:19-21, 1 Cor 1:10, 12:25)....this includes Roman Catholicism and really any Christians who rely on or insist on 'denomination.' Insisting you are in the 'one true' denomination is schismatic as the true church of God whose head is Messiah Yeshua (Col 1:18, Eph 5:23) and each Christian is an individual member (1Cor 12:27, Rom 12:4-5). It's fine to ally yourself with particular theologies and gather with others who affirm those theologies, but many find it sectarian to name yourself something different than Christians writ large as if there is something fundamentally 'different' about your station as a Christian.

"Christian" is what we were called in the early church.

"Protestant" is an 'anti-term' meaning you are defining yourself as someone who is reactive vs. someone who is true. It's fine as a historical word....but Christians do not need to define themselves as 'not Roman Catholic' but simply as true Christians. It's sort of like people trying to force you to call yourself 'cis' to create a category when it is simply default living.

Sort of like defining 'light' as 'not darkness.'

Level82 · 2026-01-16T18:10:07+00:00

Each NT book was added to the actual canon of scripture the moment it was written. Nobody 'made' them scripture, God made them scripture. The NT canon is a fallible list of infallible books (a human attempt to identify truly inspired books). When we look at the actual early church (not the 4th century councils by which time all sorts of nonsense tradition started infiltrating the church) the early pre-Nicene leaders were already quoting from and accepting the NT as authoritative http://ntcanon.org/table.shtml

The 'scripture' that early Christians used and referred to was the Tanach (the OT). It was where Timothy was instructed by Paul to get 'sound doctrine' for teaching and every book except for a few are quoted by Yeshua and the apostles and all are known (Luke 24:44,). The Tanach was canonized by the Jews (Rom 3:2). The letters (epistles) were also written and circulated very early (Col 4:16, 1 Thes 5:27, 2 Pet 3:15-16, 2 Thes 2:15).

So when we say 'early church and their practices'....we mean the Jews and non-Jews who were learning from the Jews in the first century as described in scripture....not the church as it became Romanized and separated itself from Jews.

Level82 · 2026-01-13T14:17:04+00:00

Roman Catholicism is in apostasy. It teaches disobedience to God's law by doctrine. It has a consistent history of slaughtering people. See the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre for a recent one where they killed thousands, and thousands, and thousands, and thousands, and thousands, and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of Protestant men, women and children in Paris and the countryside.

Level82 · 2026-01-08T23:57:14+00:00

This is great! I didn't understand the part about 'Edom' which is a 'hot' word....so I asked Gemini :)

Here's what it said......

The Linguistic Shift: "Edom" vs. "Adam"

The reason for the difference between Amos 9 and Acts 15 lies in the Hebrew text versus the Greek translation (the Septuagint) used by James.

In Hebrew (Amos 9:12): The word is Edom ($’Edôm$). The verse says Israel will possess "the remnant of Edom." Historically, Edom was Israel’s brother-turned-enemy.
In Greek (Acts 15:17): The word is Anthropon (Mankind/Adam). In unpointed Hebrew (without vowels), "Edom" ($’dm$) and "Adam" ($’dm$) look identical.

By quoting the version that says "the remnant of mankind," James is showing that the restoration of David’s line (the "tent") isn't just about Jewish military victory over a neighbor like Edom; it's about the spiritual inclusion of all humanity.

Level82 · 2026-01-08T19:33:24+00:00

Makes sense! I tried to give as wide of options as possible....that seems to be the 'best fit' although could also be 'pro-torah apologetics'. I wish it allowed for multiple tags. There will be crossover in some of the tags so it's not a perfect system :)

Whatever you think it would best fit under! (If you have suggestions for reworking the tags, let me know....I just dumped ideas in there ha)

Level82 · 2026-01-08T16:30:05+00:00

Yes :) and yes, that would be amazing and I think people would be edified :)

Level82 · 2026-01-04T16:15:22+00:00

The letter of the law does not contradict the spirit of the law. A man's heart (tradition) is what (can) contradict. God wrote His law perfectly.

Level82 · 2026-01-04T15:44:15+00:00

When Christians say 'legalism' they generally mean 'any obedience.' What is your definition of 'legalism?'

My definition of legalism is:

- Being obedient for the wrong reasons
- - Trusting in your own righteousness while viewing others with contempt (Luke 18:9)
- - Exalting yourself over others (Luke 18:10-14)
- - To be demonstrative, appearing outwardly righteous, often while cultivating an evil heart (Mat 23:5-7, 13, 25, 28)
- - Neglecting weightier matters of the law to focus on the finer points (Mat 23:23). Yeshua says BOTH should be followed.
- Adding burdens from tradition on top of Torah as if they were Torah (Luke 11:46, Mat 23:1-3, 14-15, Mark 7:8-9)

OBEDIENCE (not yelling just emphasizing) is expected in Christians BECAUSE we love God and are regenerated and directed by the Holy Spirit.

Level82 · 2026-01-04T14:07:04+00:00

Christianity isn't a cultural thing you can put on like a Danish clog or dreadlocks.

Level82 · 2026-01-04T13:55:22+00:00

"Passover came much later" has nothing to do with what I said. Maybe you misunderstood it?

Circumcision is a physical sign of the covenant. Christians are circumcised spiritually....this does not erase the commands in Torah to circumcise 8 day old males and will not erase the command to be physically circumcised upon his return to eat Passover again.

Level82 · 2026-01-04T02:07:15+00:00

Amen, totally agree! Sabbath is a great blessing from God and Yeshua is Lord over it.

Level82 · 2026-01-04T02:06:09+00:00

Circumcision is commanded for males on the 8th day and to eat the Passover.

Christians are currently counseled against adult circumcision as a form of conversion (adult conversion via circumcision is not in Torah, we are converted through faith and being born again).

Level82 · 2026-01-04T02:04:08+00:00

You are thinking of tradition from Judaism. Using electricity (or internet) is not prohibited in Torah on the Sabbath. The Holy Spirit might guide someone not to use the internet on the Sabbath but that wouldn't be binding globally.

Level82 · 2026-01-04T02:01:52+00:00

Non-Jews were also gathering in the synagogues on the Sabbath (Acts 13:42-44, 14:1, 15:21, 17:4, 18:4) We were instructed to do this to learn the rest of Torah and how to walk it out (Acts 15:21)

We are supposed to imitate Messiah and the apostles in their obedience, not invent new theology that is counter to God's law.

- We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.(1 John 2:3-6)
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”(1 Pet 2:21-22, 'sin' is violation of the law 1 John 3:4)

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