The Messianic Torah Observer

Beloved, accusations that Torah-honoring believers have embraced a false gospel, fallen from grace, or placed themselves back under the Law are serious and deserve a careful, Word-based response. In this installment of The Messianic Torah Observer, Rod Thomas addresses three common criticisms against the Hebrew Roots and Messianic Torah communities and shows why grace-motivated obedience is not legalism, why Acts 15 does not abolish Torah for Gentile believers, and why Yeshua remains the center and proper interpretive key of the Torah-observant walk.

Beloved, in this second installment of our brief Tisha B'Av series, we turn our attention to what should and should not matter to the modern-day Messianic, Hebrew, Netsari disciple of Yehoshua HaMashiyach. Tisha B'Av is not one of the mandated Feasts of Yehovah. We are not commanded to keep it. But that does not mean the day is spiritually irrelevant. If our Master wept over Yerushalayim and the coming destruction of the Temple, then we who belong to Him should at least understand the grief, history, prophetic weight, and covenant lessons attached to this solemn memorial day.

Greetings Saints. This is the week that pivots. There is one week in the Jewish calendar that moves from mourning to comfort in the space of just 48 hours. It begins with Tisha B'Av, the fast and memorial connected to the destruction of both Temples and other tragedies in Jewish history. But beloved, mourning is not the final word. The very next Sabbath brings Shabbat Nachamu, the Sabbath of Comfort, where Yah declares through Isaiah: "Comfort ye, comfort ye My people."
In this teaching, we look at the Biblical calendar signal for the week of July 20–26, the Vaetchanan Torah portion, Isaiah 40:1–26, the Seven Weeks of Consolation, and the comfort we receive through Yeshua Messiah. Yah has not given up on Yasharal. And dear saint, He has not given up on you.
Scripture references: Isaiah 40:1–26; Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11; Deuteronomy 6:4–9; Romans 11; Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23; Matthew 10:22; Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:13.

Welcome, beloved, to this Shabbat Chazon teaching from The Messianic Torah Observer. Today, on the Sabbath of Vision, we slow our rhythm down and consider what Yah may be showing His set-apart people as we approach Tisha B'Av and sit inside Parashat Devarim — Moshe's final words to the generation preparing to enter the Land.
In this discussion, we look at Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22, Isaiah 1:1–27, and John 2:19–21, asking what it means for Yah to show His people the Temple they lost — not as punishment, but as an awakening unto longing, repentance, and restoration. And for those of us who are Yeshua-focused Torah keepers, we see that Temple ultimately embodied in our Master Yehoshua Messiah, the One who was broken, buried, and raised in three days. Halleluyah.
If this teaching blesses you, please take the time this Shabbat to read and meditate upon Parashat Devarim, the Haftarah of Isaiah 1, and John's witness concerning the Temple of Yeshua's body. May Yah use this Sabbath of Vision to show us what must be mourned, what must be repented of, and what He alone is able to restore.

In this solemn and timely teaching, we explore Tisha B'Av — the ninth of Av — and its connection to Yeshua's tears over Yerushalayim. Drawing from Luke 19, Matthew 23, Lamentations, Jewish tradition, and the historic destruction of the Temples, this episode calls believers to recover lament as a necessary and righteous discipline of covenant faith. This is Part 1 of a two-part teaching leading into Tisha B'Av.