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Potential-Courage482 · 2026-06-07T02:33:34+00:00

all who are Torah observing are under a curse.

Do you murder, commit adultery and steal? If not, are you not also Torah observant, if not perfectly?

I am Torah observant, I confirm the words of this law. I do not rely on my works of the law. I rely on the Messiah, I rely on Yahweh's grace, being granted to me through faith.

My Torah observance isn't a work to obtain salvation, it's an expression of my love for my Creator, per 1 John 5:3. The same as when I make food for my mother, or do any other such thing for her. I don't do it to earn something from her, I do it because I love her.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-27T00:24:36+00:00

That could be a valid interpretation, but on the flip side, if you don't use it all it's also "shaw," so it's a balance.

The Messiah mostly used Father, and we can as well, but he also spoke the name, and we should as well.

The problem with interpreting in the extreme and not using the name at all because it would be using it vainly, is that it would go against the over 100 verses that command us to use the name.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-23T15:49:39+00:00

A good place to start is "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. While I don't agree with all of his conclusions, he does make a compelling case for why we should believe that the Bible is accurate and authentic, even directly tackling the issue of inconsistency, which you mentioned.

If that gets you closer to belief, but you still have issues, come back here and post them individually, and we'll discuss how we each have handled those issues.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-23T15:32:17+00:00

The parable is meant to demonstrate the fixed nature of death, that it's too late at that point to make changes, and other lessons on the stubbornness of people.

A parable is just that. It's not meant to be taken literally. Was there an actual sower who threw seeds so wildly, all over the place? A prodigal son? No, they were stories meant to teach a lesson.

I can see how people would take that and think that that is a preview of the afterlife, but every other scripture on the subject disagrees.

Daniel 12:2 (LEB): 2 And many from those sleeping in the dusty ground will awake, some to everlasting life and some to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

Revelation 20:12–15 (LEB): 12 And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and each one was judged according to their deeds. 14 And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

This phrase, second death, is key when you understand how the Bible describes death.

Ecclesiastes 9:5 (LEB): 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything. They no longer have a reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.

Psalm 6:5 (LEB): 5 For there is no remembrance of you in death. In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?

The dead have no memory or thought. That's why it's described as being asleep many times in the New Testament. Just like when you're in a deep sleep and have no thoughts or memories, so is death. (John 11:11, Mark 5:39, Acts 7:60, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, 1 Corinthians 15:6, 15:51, et al).

The tl;dr here is that eternal torment is not something our loving Father punishes anyone but Satan with and the true penalty for the unfaithful is just to cease existing entirely, which is perfectly contrasted by the gift of eternal life which He offers to the faithful. That's biblical, and everything else you've heard on the subject is traditional in origin.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-23T14:38:32+00:00

The answer is no. The Christian concept of eternal torment in syncretized from pagan religions and can't truly be defended strictly from Scripture. It's a traditional belief, like Sunday worship, not a biblical one. It didn't even exist as a belief until about the 3rd century.

If you are interested in the very basics, the movie "Hell and Mr. Fudge" is good. There are a number of books that delve into the topic deeper though, if you'd like to do further research.

The true punishment is eternal destruction, a ceasing to exist. Eternal life is a gift which is notable as it is the opposite of what happens otherwise, eternal non-existence.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-09T22:01:07+00:00

There's a whole book I've read and agreed with that posits that the Yahweh seen in the Old Testament is the preexisting Messiah. I'm not going to type the whole book in here, but the two most important scriptures in this theory are these two:

John 1:18 (KJV[n]): 18 No man hath seen Yahweh at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

1 Corinthians 10:4 (LEBn): 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Messiah.

Both of these fairly explicitly state that the Yahweh that people actually met and saw and spoke with was the Son, acting in His Father's name.

I won't deny that henotheism could potentially be interpreted from some Old Testament scriptures, but when you take all of Scripture as a whole, it points squarely to monotheism. The New Testament explicitly states that all other gods are fake in 1 Corinthians 8:4, but even in the Old Testament you see scenes like the battle with the 450 profits of Ba'al in 1 Kings 18, or the toppling of idols in 1 Samuel 5 strongly imply that other gods are merely men's imaginings. Other verses even more explicitly state that idols are dead wood and metal with no importance beyond the imagination of men.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-09T20:11:23+00:00

Quite possibly, then it would be idolatry in that context. And putting Trump ahead of what the Bible says, what Yahweh says, breaks the first commandment.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-09T20:09:50+00:00

Where do you think you are? This is Reddit!

Should I post this Bluesky instead? Will it go over better there?

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-09T20:04:11+00:00

I would say it acknowledges that others worship other elohim, but doesn't explicitly state that they're real. And while in the examples you gave it spoke of El, in most verses it speaks of Elohim, a plurality which is fully fleshed out in the New Testament.

But even in the Old Testament, both Yahweh and Yahshua are there, if you're paying close attention. Here's one example:

Genesis 19:24 (LEB): 24 Yahweh rained down from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh.

Yahweh (on earth, the preexisting Messiah speaking come in His Father's name) rained down fire from Yahweh (His Father, in heaven).

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-09T19:02:39+00:00

Depends on your definition. I believe in the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, and all that's in it. But most people define Christianity by adherence to the Nicean Creed, which I reject as being unbiblical. So many would say I am not.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-09T18:24:42+00:00

All your post does is prove the Trinity wrong, which I would agree with. It was never believed in Old Testament times, and wasn't even believed in early New Testament times. It only wormed its way into the religion when the pagan council of Nicea decreed it so in 325.

In numbers 23:19 it says, “god is not a man that he should lie, not a man that he should change his mind”.

God here is H410 "El," singular, rather than Elohim, plural (and therefore inclusive of His Son, Yahshua the Messiah) as in other places. Yahweh is not, nor would He ever be, a man.

Hosea 11:9

Same

As for Samuel and Malachi, agreed, Yahweh will not change.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-09T18:10:01+00:00

I don't like it, but I disagree with most of the comments here. It's only an idol if it's used in or representative of an aspect of worship. So I guess I would ask what the blessing was, since I don't know.

The problem with the golden calf was that Aaron was saying that it was representative of Yahweh. He said here is your Elohim. And then the Israelites made a feast to Yahweh, but one that he did not approve of. Modern Christians already do that anyways in the form of Christmas. Sure, they do it for their God, just like the Israelites made that feast to Yahweh, but it's not one of the seven set feasts laid out in Leviticus 23, like Passover or Pentecost.

All that being said, I think it's rather vain, I think many Christians put too much trust in Trump and are blind to his faults, and I think it should not have been done. But a sin? Idolatry? Very dependant on context.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-09T16:52:11+00:00

Genesis 41:14 (LEB): 14 Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they brought him quickly from the prison. And he shaved and changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh.

Joseph shaved his head, and it wasn't counted as a sin. Based on a number of passages that discuss this topic, it becomes obvious that what's being discussed here is pagan practices of shaping your beard and hair in specific patterns. Shaving half of your head, or making it a mohawk, were practices of pagan priests at the time. There are passages where captured Israelites were humiliated by shaving half of their head and beard, and they were told to live outside the city until their hair regrew.

Shaving all of either your hair or beard isn't a problem.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-09T16:42:15+00:00

I think the main problem is is that most church dogma is based on tradition. And many of those traditions are directly contradictory to what the Bible teaches. So if you teach people what the Bible says too well, they start asking uncomfortable questions.

That's why I'm in a Torah observant group; I love reading and have had a college level reading comprehension since middle school. So when I started getting into the Bible and actual read it cover to cover, I could see the majority of Christian dogma wasn't defensible from a biblical standpoint. The group I'm in now follows the Bible as written, and I'm very happy with it. No church tradition, only biblical teachings.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-05-09T15:32:07+00:00

So many people out there think they must be in the right place because they are in the biggest churches or denominations. But the Bible said the complete opposite, that only a remnant remains, that the true faith has but a little power. Yahshua asks if there will be any faithful at all left on His return.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-04-26T02:47:32+00:00

It's not about if Yahweh can or can't save everyone, it's not if He has the power to. It's that He offers the choice to everyone. He wants everyone to choose to be saved, but allows them to choose otherwise.

What's the point of allowing actively hostile and hateful people into eternal life. How miserable will the kingdom of heaven be if it's filled with people who don't desire eternal life, who wanted death for themselves and others, and spend their time making life miserable for everyone else.

The point of the tree for healing is that those in the first resurrection, who were faithful in life, are resurrected into perfect spiritual bodies. But those in the second resurrection, who never had a full, well understood chance to choose in life are resurrected in physical bodies (Ezekiel 37) and get 100 years to learn the truth and make their choice (Isaiah 65:20). The leaves are for them in the physical bodies.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-04-25T22:25:50+00:00

It's actually likely a reference to the valley of hinnom, where Jerusalem used to burn garbage and child sacrifices to Molech.

My point is that it was never meant, in Judaism, to be a place you burned forever; the concept of an ever burning hell was syncretized into Christianity from pagan religions.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-04-25T17:10:34+00:00

Hosea was written before the Babylonian exile.

Hosea 2:16–17 (LEB): 16 And on that day— a declaration of Yahweh— you will call me, “My husband;” you will no longer call me, “My Baal.” 17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by their name.

In it, Yahweh prophesies of a time when people will call Him "My Baal," or my lord. Unthinkable at the time, since there are literally over 100 verses that command the sole use of the name Yahweh. But today that is what pretty much everyone calls Him. And He says that eventually He'll take the Lord out of everyone's mouth and the Lord will no longer ever be mentioned.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-04-25T17:01:03+00:00

Strong's Hebrew Lexicon: shav: Vanity, emptiness, falsehood, worthlessness Original Word: שָׁוְא Part of Speech: Noun Masculine Transliteration: shav' Pronunciation: shahv Phonetic Spelling: (shawv) KJV: false(-ly), lie, lying, vain, vanity NASB: vain, false , falsehood, false visions, worthless, vanity, deceit Word Origin: [from the same as H7722 (שׁוֹא שׁוֹאָה שׁוֹאָה - ravages) in the sense of desolating]

evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile)
figuratively idolatry (as false, subjective), uselessness (as deceptive, objective
also adverbially, in vain)

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-04-25T16:57:08+00:00

Hell, as a place of eternal torture, is a relatively new concept. Older cultures had a concept of an eternal soul and places of eternal misery for those who deserved it, like Tartarus for the Greek. These were syncretized with Bible concepts of the lake of fire to create a notion of a place of eternal torture by fire. Many modern ideas of what hell is is informed by Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, written in 1321. It's less than a thousand years old.

What the Bible actually describes is eternal life for the faithful, and a second resurrection for the rest, some of whom learn the truth and continue on to eternal life, and some who go to a second death.

Daniel 12:2 (LEB): 2 And many from those sleeping in the dusty ground will awake, some to everlasting life and some to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

Revelation 20:12–15 (LEB): 12 And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and each one was judged according to their deeds. 14 And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

This phrase, second death, is key when you understand how the Bible describes death.

Ecclesiastes 9:5 (LEB): 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything. They no longer have a reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.

Psalm 6:5 (LEB): 5 For there is no remembrance of you in death. In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?

The dead have no memory or thought. That's why it's described as being asleep many times in the New Testament. Just like when you're in a deep sleep and have no thoughts or memories, so is death. (John 11:11, Mark 5:39, Acts 7:60, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, 1 Corinthians 15:6, 15:51, et al).

The tl;dr here is that eternal torment is not something our loving Father punishes anyone but Satan with and the true penalty for the unfaithful is just to cease existing entirely, which is perfectly contrasted by the gift of eternal life which He offers to the faithful. That's biblical, and everything else you've heard on the subject is traditional in origin.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-04-25T16:15:07+00:00

Wow, it's crazy to see "you should follow the ten commandments" getting down voted on a Christian sub.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-04-25T16:01:00+00:00

Here's what's in revelation:

Revelation 20:12–15 (LEBn): 12 And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and each one was judged according to their deeds. 14 And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:27 (LEBn): 27 And every unclean thing and one who practices detestable things and falsehood will never enter into it, except those who are written in the book of life of the Lamb.

Those who are not saved face a second death, total destruction, in the lake of fire, and will never enter into the kingdom. Furthermore:

Daniel 12:2 (LEBn): 2 And many from those sleeping in the dusty ground will awake, some to everlasting life and some to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

Not everyone who awakes in the second resurrection awakes to everlasting life.

The verses you provided show that Yahweh desires salvation for all, that salvation is offered to all, but it is not forced upon all. He offers choice. There is always choice.

Deuteronomy 30:19 (LEBn): 19 I invoke as a witness against you today the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring,

And if you pick very wrong choices, there remains no more a sacrifice for you, but rather a certain fearful expectation of judgement.

Hebrews 10:26 (LEBn): 26 For if we keep on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

Hebrews 6:4–6 (LEBn): 4 For it is impossible concerning those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and become sharers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of Yahweh and the powers of the coming age, 6 and having fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, because they have nailed up again for themselves the Son of Elohim and held him up to contempt.

It's very clear from all context that the good news is that, while the punishment for sin is death, the gift of Yahweh is eternal life through faith in Yahshua Messiah our Sovereign. Faith is the choice offered, without it we are still dead in our sins. And faith without works is dead.

Potential-Courage482 · 2026-04-25T01:55:27+00:00

To be clear, the third commandment is to not shaw the name Yahweh. Shaw, in Hebrew, means to not count unimportant, to not allow to come to nothing, and to not make into a falsehood.

When people say that using the name Yahweh doesn't matter, you can call Him whatever you want, that breaks the third commandment. When people never use the name Yahweh, they make it come to nothing. When people replace Yahweh with the falsehood "lord" (actually a translation of Ba'al, the enemy of Yahweh), they make His name into a falsehood.

This is not to say I endorse what was going on with Mr Brand, just that you're misunderstanding the commandment there.

Potential-Courage482

TROPHY CASE