-: This program is made possible by the giving
of the God called partners of Renner Ministries.
-: Welcome to today's program, my friend.
I'm so excited
because today I have Rabbi Schneider with us
and we're going to be discussing Decoding the Torah.
It's 5-parts: comes with a great study guide,
and we're gonna be offering you Rabbi Schneider's book,
which is called, Decoding the Torah:
Applying Ancient Wisdom in a Modern World.
And the reason I'm excited is
because I have devoured this book
and it has really helped me,
and I believe it's going to be a blessing to you.
Rabbi Schneider is a very good friend of mine
and I'm very honored that today he has taken the time to be
with me on the program.
He has his own program,
which is called, Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
If you don't know it, you ought to look it up
because it's worth watching.
But today we're gonna have Rabbi Schneider here.
And not just today, but every day this week, it's going
to be wonderful.
So let's get started.
-: Get ready for a teaching that feeds your spirit
and your mind, where the word is
the anchor in uncertain times
and doctrine doesn't bend to culture.
We keep it simple,
but dive deep revealing a truth that strengthens us,
a love that emboldens,
and a mission that touches the world.
Let's join Rick Renner.
-: Welcome to today's program.
My name is Rick Renner and friend,
I am so excited about today's program
because I have a guest.
I have Rabbi Kirk Schneider with us.
And I want to tell you how I found Rabbi Schneider.
I've watched him for years.
He has a wonderful TV program called Discovering
the Jewish Jesus.
It's both radio and TV program.
It goes around the world, touches millions of people.
And I've watched him for years with great fascination.
But then our ministry obtained a Russian speaking channel,
which broadcast into 83 nations of the world.
And Rabbi's program came with the channel.
So I began to really tune into him
because I wanted to know what was he really teaching.
And wow, it was such a blessing to me.
I felt like I found a true friend in the scripture.
And over the past couple years, Rabbi Schneider
and I have really become very dear friends.
Denise and I have been in their home.
We love Rabbi, we love Cynthia,
and I am so excited that today Rabbi Schneider is with us.
So I want you to welcome him.
And Rabbi, I welcome you to the program,
-: Brother - True Peace between you
and I, a fellow worker and the Lord.
What a great, what a great evolution of our relationship
and to be able to broadcast today through...
all your outlets.
And I just thank you for the honor, Rick.
-: Well, it's so good to be with you.
You know, Rabbi, my specialty is New Testament Greek.
And by the way, you are really a whiz when it comes
to New Testament doctrine.
When I sit and watch your program
and I regularly watch your program, I'm amazed at
how you handle New Testament scriptures,
but you also have a skill that I don't have,
and that is your handling of the Old Testament scriptures.
And you refer a lot to the Hebrew.
And the reason that I wanted you
to be on my program this week is
because of this amazing book that you have written,
which is called - Decoding of the Torah.
And when I was at your home, you gave it to me.
And when you placed it in my hands,
it was like fireworks going off on the inside of me.
I was so excited to get this book
and I immediately began to dive into it.
And in the conclusion of this book, you say
that this book is like God giving us divine keys
to understand his wisdom, his nature, his mercy,
his justice,
but I want to ask you, why is it called, Decoding The Torah?
And what is the Torah?
-: Great question, Rick. Well, many people don't understand
that the word Torah actually means instruction.
A lot of times people hear the word Torah
and they just think law.
But the Torah is more than just the law.
The Torah is actually the first 5-books of our Bible:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
And when we go to the book of Genesis, for example,
we find stories, biblical accounts of things that happened
before the law was given.
So example, part of the Torah is Abraham's calling.
Abraham was before the law.
But when we speak of the Torah,
we're most particularly referring to the first 5-books
of our Bible, the Old Testament,
which is also referred to as the Pentateuch.
-: Now, why is it important that we decode it?
-: Well, this is something
I wish I could convey in words the depth of what I feel
because I think the church has so missed the gift
that God has given his people through the Torah
for many reasons, including an antisemitic theology
that developed early, very early in the church. The Torah,
many Christians, many Christians, Rick think like this:
we are not under the law anymore
because Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law.
That's a 100% correct.
But the problem comes when we think that
because Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law, that
therefore they think the law is no longer relevant.
That's where the mistake comes in.
Because Jesus taught in Matthew 5, he said -
Do not think I've come to abolish the law
and the prophets for I've not come to abolish but fulfill.
And he went on to say, everybody that forsakes the law
and the prophets and teaches others to do
so will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Now notice he's speaking about the Kingdom of Heaven.
This is about the the age that we're in and the age to come.
So he is speaking about people that forsake the law
and the prophets not as those that are legally under it,
but as those that are rejecting the self revelation
of Jesus' God and Father, which is in the law.
Jesus taught those that forsake it
and teach others to do
so will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
On the other end, he said, those that keep it
and teach others how to do
so would be called great once again in
the Kingdom of Heaven.
So we are presently in the age of the Kingdom of Heaven.
It's the age now, it's the age to come.
Jesus' revelation, the heart
of the Father's revelation, is in the Torah.
Again, God's people we're not under the law,
but let's not forsake the wisdom of the law
because Paul taught that all scripture is inspired by God
and profitable for teaching and for training
and righteousness.
-: Hmm. You know, it's interesting that scripture
because in 2 Timothy 3, he says to Timothy,
from a child, you've known the holy scriptures.
And you know, Rabbi, when you read that in the Greek text,
that that word scripture,
it's really not the word for a scripture.
It's the word for every little jot,
every little tittle in the text.
And it's the equivalent of the saying, Timothy,
you were taught from the, from childhood, not just
to love the scriptures,
but to love every letter, every little jot,
to have a great reverence for the scriptures
and the scriptures that Paul is referring to
there is the Old Testament - that is the Old Testament.
-: You hit the nail on the head.
In fact, Paul also also wrote
that the Hebrew scriptures were not only written
for the Israelites and the Jewish people,
but Paul said they were written for us upon whom the end
of the ages has come.
So I just wanna encourage everybody today you're gonna gain
deep revelation in how to walk with God
as you study the Torah.
I feel like there's a lot of teaching from those
that only know the New Testament
and its beautiful, powerful, rich grace teaching.
But when it comes to actually knowing how to love God, how
to love people, how to live a holy life,
the Old Testament helps us
to walk out these great general principles that we feel that
that are revealed in the New Testament.
So when we study the Torah, it teaches us how to walk
with God in the little details of our life: how to love God,
how to dress in a holy way, how to eat in a holy way, how
to reconcile conflicts in a holy way.
There's so much instruction here
and many of God's people unfortunately, have not
yet been exposed to it.
-: Now there were 613 laws in the Torah,
but in this book you cover 100.
Why did you choose these particular 100 laws?
-: Because I felt it was most easy
as the first step forward
to introduce these 1st hundred that I've selected.
It was most easy to bring to the disciples
of Jesus.
-: I'm looking at the table of contents
and Rabbi, what is here is just amazing.
It is amazing. I wish everybody had a copy of this book.
And when I begin to read through this book,
I found not only is it law from the Old Testament,
it has great application to my life
as a New Testament Christian.
And one law that really fascinated me was on page 81,
which is - The law to build a sanctuary for God.
That is amazing. And I would like to read it
from your book, and it says this:
to build a sanctuary for God.
And here is the scripture, it's Exodus 25:8.
Let them construct a sanctuary for me that I may dwell
among them. That is one of the laws of the Torah.
But that is great application for the New Testament.
And I just wonder if you could comment on
that particular law
-: While this is so beautiful.
What I really love that jumps off the page
of the Hebrew scriptures is the word - dwell.
The Lord said, build me a tabernacle.
The Hebrew word there for tabernacle was called - mishkan.
It's a dwelling place of God.
And the Lord said to Moses I want you to build this mishkan,
this tabernacle for me.
And then he went on to say that I might dwell, Rick,
with my people.
So in the Hebrew scriptures, this is
where God met his people.
And it's fascinating
'cause every single part of the tabernacle was architected
by God himself.
In other words, the Israelites didn't just get together
and say, Hey listen, let's build a house for God.
And then they dreamed up
what they thought would be really cool.
Now, instead God said, I want the fence to be this long.
I want the fence to be this high.
I want these pieces of furniture to be in it.
I want it to be covered up in blue fabric.
I want this to be overlaid with gold.
God architected every piece of the tabernacle
and every single piece of it means something.
In fact, that's my next book
that I'm working on right now is The Tabernacle
of Moses: A Pathway Into the Divine Presence.
So we don't..any longer, right,
build physical tabernacles.
But there's prophetic application for us today.
-: You know, I've been doing a study on 1 Peter;
I just did the RIV, which is the Renner Interpretive
Version of 1 Peter.
And when you come to 1 Peter 2:
and verse 5, it says - He also
as lively stones are built up a spiritual house,
a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ.
And when I read this law in your book, Decoding the Torah,
I thought about this verse: by the time
that Peter wrote his epistle,
most scholars believe the temple in Jerusalem
had already been destroyed.
It was gone. And so now Peter was basically saying
-: Hey friends, the old temple is gone,
but God still wants to dwell among his people.
And so now God has built him a new house
and the new house is made up of living stones.
And of course that's me, that's you, that's everybody
that calls on the name of the Lord.
We are part of the building materials that God is using
to construct a new temple.
Something else that amazed me Rabbi is in the New Testament;
there are 3-metaphors for the church:
One is the body of Christ. Everybody talks about that one.
The second one is a vineyard,
but the No.1 metaphor
of the church in the entire New Testament: I went
through it, I counted, I even wrote a book about
it - is a temple.
God is building a temple.
And the church is to be, according to Ephesians 2,
a habitation for God and for his spirit.
So God is still wanting to build a habitation
among his people.
-: Amen. And I really love the focus on this: the temple,
the temple, the sacrifices
and the priesthood - such specific guidelines
and instructions the Lord gave us in the Torah.
So when we study the instructions in the law
regarding the tabernacle, which later became the temple,
many of our viewers know that in the wilderness,
God gave Israel the instructions
to build the tabernacle called the mishkan.
And once they entered the promised land, once they entered
Israel, then what they did is they converted
the temporary tabernacle into the permanent
structure called the temple.
But the temple was built
after a pattern of the tabernacle.
The point is that these guidelines of temple worship,
of the priesthood, of the tabernacle, very, very specific
and knowing as you just said, Rick, that now we
as God's people are the temple, we are his priest on earth.
We need to take seriously the laws in the Torah
that govern the priesthood
and that governed the worship
that took place in the tabernacle
because there was great separation that was involved here.
In other words, the priest that functioned in the tabernacle
and then the temple, they were guided by very,
very specific instructions: the way they lived,
the way they dressed.
And we today,
as God's people, can learn a great deal from this
because unfortunately we live in kind of a culture,
what I like to call - greasy grace and sloppy agape.
We don't really know how to live holy, how
to live separate lives.
And so just very, very basically here, just as a big,
just a prophetic leap here,
but knowing that the Lord told Israel to build this mishkan,
this tabernacle, for the purpose of dwelling among them,
that's exactly what the Lord said,
that I might dwell among you.
We ask ourself, well is there something that we
as God's priest today need to build as his temple
as you said, that he can dwell with us.
And there is. Jesus said, Yeshua
of Nazareth said in the Gospel of John 14:23,
he said this - If anyone loves me, he will keep my word
and my father will love him - and get this now -
and we will come to him
and make our abode with him
-: Abode.
-: dwelling, abode.
And so we kind of have this concept that we don't have
to do anything to experience God's presence.
It's all just a free gift of grace,
which it 100% is a free gift of grace.
But remember James said in James 4:8 - Draw near
to God
and he will draw near to the Lord wants his presence
to be able to rest upon our soul,
but he can only rest upon our soul.
He can only dwell
with us when we're walking in alignment with him.
And the laws of the Torah help us have insight how to do
that. Again, not as those that are legally under the law,
but as those that see the prophetic application for, in it
for our lives today.
-: Well, I have to tell you that when I read this,
it just stunned me the way that you were able
to take Old Testament laws
and give it application for my life.
And when you say that they are divine keys,
I could see they really are divine keys.
And I was kind of ashamed
that I hadn't spent more time studying it.
But another law that you discuss, which I'd like to refer
to, is the command for the priests
to take care of their appearance.
Now, you were talking about rules for conduct
inside the house of God.
Well here you have the command for the priest
to take care of their appearance.
And the scripture is Leviticus 10:6,
which says - Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons:
Eleazar
and Ithamar - Do not uncover your heads
nor tear your clothes.
Would you please comment on that?
-: Well, the original historical context
of this is very interesting
because the original context was - immediately
after God judged Nadab
and Abihu for offering up strange incense
and fire to him,
the Lord told his priest not to uncover their heads
or tear their clothes.
And the reason was God did not want his priest
to mourn their deaths
because the priest needed to stand in solidarity
with God's judgment.
So if God would've struck Nadab & Abihu
and then the priest would've been tearing out their hair
and tearing their clothes: Oh my gosh what's happened here?
What has God done? Why'd you do that?
It would've separated God's people from trusting in his
righteous judgment.
And so Nadab & Abihu had to maintain a dignified
and holy appearance
before his people. The rabbis, this is really interesting
Rick: the Rabbis derive from this law.
You know, Judaism is a religion of great study.
I mean, Jewish, religious Jewish people have gone over these
laws for thousands of years trying
to extract the minute detail of application.
And so the Rabbis concluded from this law, one
of the principles is to take care of our appearance.
That is that the priest need
to take care of their appearance.
And the concept here again, is that if the priest walk
around with their hair all disheveled,
they don't take care of - you know -
they don't wash themselves,
they don't present themselves in a way that appears
as if they're healthy,
it's gonna cause God's people to doubt.
And so for us today, we need to recognize
that we are God's visible representatives in the earth.
Just like the priest in Nadab & Abihu day were visible
representatives and had to represent themselves
before the people in a way that inspired faith in God
and allegiance to God,
we as God's people need to think about how are we dressing
and as the way that we're taking care of ourselves
with our grooming and everything else.
Is it inspiring faith in God's people?
Or are we walking around looking like a slump defeated?
And it's actually making people think - Well, if
that person knows God,
why do they not take care of themselves?
Why do they not wash their hair?
Why do they not tuck in their clothes?
Why do they not dress in a more -
well balanced way with grooming?
-: You know, I feel like this point is so very important.
I'd like to pick up on it on the next program
because I think we have a lot to say about this.
But I'm personally very disturbed by
how today preachers dress. You know,
I see them in the pulpit.
They're wearing shorts, they're wearing tennis shoes,
they have jeans that are torn
and that may be fashionable right now.
But you know the word, preach, the Greek word, kerux,
is the word which described the official
spokesman of a king.
And to be the official spokesman
of a king required several things.
You had to be cultured, you had to know
how to speak to people.
You had to know how you were not to speak to people.
You had to be careful to really represent
what the king had told you to say.
And it required that you dressed in a fashion
to represent the splendor of the king.
And sometimes I think we've so dressed down the gospel
and so dressed down the pulpit that it's not respectable -
it's just not respectable.
And sometimes when I see guys dressed in their tennis shoes
and their jeans that are all torn,
I always wonder if they went to the bank to get a loan,
would they go dressed like that
or would they put on their finest suit?
And we need to understand we are
representatives of the Lord.
And I love this command
because God is really very concerned about
how we look when we represent him.
And I wanna say thank you
for writing about this particular
law, but we're out of time.
But I'll be back in just a moment.
And tomorrow we're gonna be back here
with Rabbi Schneider again.
Does it matter what church you give your tithe to?
Well, the Bible's pretty clear in Malachi 3 -
that you're to bring all the tithe into the storehouse.
The storehouse is generally understood to be that place
where you regularly feed
and where you are spiritually nurtured.
So that should be your home church.
Now that doesn't mean that you can't give to other places
as well: you can, but those should be offerings.
But the tithe belongs to your church
or to the place where you are most regularly fed the word
of God, the storehouse that you live your life out
of spiritually.
I give to our church
because our church is where our spiritual life is.
And I believe that that's where the tithes should be given.
So wherever the storehouse is, whoever's feeding you, that's
where you need to be giving your tithe.
And the scripture is very clear that if we give our tithe,
God will open the windows of heaven
and he'll pour a blessing out into our lives.
-: Are you missing the deeper meaning of the Torah?
Rick series, Decoding the Torah, Rick Renner
with guest Rabbi Schneider, reveals how the law still speaks
to believers today: not as a burden,
but as a guide to holiness and intimacy with God.
In this 5-part series, you will discover -
How the Torah still applies to mankind today:
How Jesus fulfills the lawrather than replaces it:
The danger of violating God's design: Why it's important
to not just follow the crowd - available in digital
or physical format, starting at just $11.
This teaching will give you a new perspective on the Old
Testament and why it matters today.
In addition to this teaching series,
you can order Rabbi Schneider's book, Decoding The Torah,
which will teach you that Jesus didn't come
to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.
Order your copy today.
Don't miss this special offer: the bundle
of the series - Decoding The Torah: Rick Renner
with guest Rabbi Schneider, starting at $11
and the book of the same name by Rabbi Schneider for $25.
Call the number on your screen or scan the QR code to order.
Call or go online today.
-: This is Rick Renner, and today I'm in the Tulsa office
and this is another part of our new TV studio.
This is where Denise is filming TV programs
and how wonderful that now we have two little studios: one
for her and one for me where we can interview guests
who can't come all the way to Russia
to be interviewed in our studio there.
So when we're in the United States,
we can interview them here.
And that's what we've been doing all week in this wonderful
facility which God gave us in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
We're so grateful for this building,
it was really a gift from the Lord
and it's almost paid for.
We've already retired 86% of the debt.
We just need to go a little ways to finish this.
We call it the Ministry Expansion Project
because when this is finished, it's going
to allow the ministry to really expand financially,
to wrap our arms around the whole world
where people need the trusted teaching of the Bible.
And we know that's our calling.
And if you're a part of the Giving Team, I want
to say "thank you" for helping us
to retire the dept on this facility
and to release those finances.
And if you're not a part of the Giving Team yet,
I'm inviting you today to join us
to help us finish this project.
Wow, what a shout of victory we're gonna give to God on
that day when it's done.
And just think of the people that are going to be reached.
So thank you for being a part
of the Ministry Expansion Project.
Well, I don't know about you, but I have really enjoyed this
time today with Rabbi Schneider, and my friends,
I want you to be sure to join me tomorrow
because we're gonna pick up here and continue.
And he's going to be with me every day this week.
And please remember that if you have any kind
of a prayer need, we are here to pray for you.
Just call the number that is on the screen
or send us an email
and the moment we hear from you, we're really going
to pray for you.
But please order the whole series of
what we're teaching this week, me and Rabbi.
it's called, Decoding the Torah: comes with a study guide
and we're also offering you his wonderful book.
When I got this book, it was like fireworks
went off on the inside of me.
I was so excited.
And I know this book is going to be a blessing to you;
but it's called, Decoding The Torah:
Applying Ancient Wisdom in a Modern Way.
And in this book, he takes 100 of the laws from the Torah
and provides for them a Christian context.
It is just tremendous.
But you can order all these things by going online
or you can just give us a call.
But thank you again for being with me and Rabbi today.
Remember, he's gonna be here again tomorrow,
but I wanna pray for you right now.
Father, I pray that you would give us wisdom to know how
to apply what we have learned in today's program.
I thank you for Rabbi Schneider.
I thank you for his ministry
and I thank you that he is with me
and with all of my friends today and every day this week.
I thank you for this in the powerful name of Jesus
-: Amen. Well, I'm gonna be back tomorrow with Rabbi,
but until then, I want you to never forget
what Ecclesiastes 8:4 says.
It declares - "Where the word of a king is, there's power."
God's word has power in your life.
So lay hold of it, believe it and declare it,
and I'll see you in the next program.
If you've never received Jesus as your Savior
and Lord, now is the time for you to experience a new life
Jesus has to give you.
Pray this prayer with me right now - Lord,
I repent of my sin and receive you as my Savior
and Lord. Wash away my sin
and make me completely new.
I thank you that my sin is removed
and Satan no longer has any right to lay claim on me.
I faithfully promise that I will serve you as my Lord
for the rest of my life.
Amen.
-: If you just prayed the prayer of salvation with us,
would you please let us know by going
to renner.org/salvation?
We would love to connect with you.
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