Roots of Faith

I am excited to announce a new series, beginning January 6th, 2018, called Prophets and Prophecy. The classes will be live-streamed every Saturday morning at 10:30 AM CST from the United Israel Facebook Page. We will discuss not only the origin of, and reason for prophecy, but I will also note distinctive features, styles employed […]

In this episode of the Ross Nichols Show, I interview my good friend Rod Bryant. Rod is the Director of Education and Counseling at Netiv, in Humble Texas. Rod is also the host of a popular show on Israel News Talk Radio called Beyond the Matrix. In this show we discuss the recovery efforts of […]

Welcome to the Official release of the Ross Nichols Show Podcast. In the debut show, I talk a bit about Hurricane Harvey. This storm made landfall in the coastal bend of Texas as a Category 4 storm, bringing winds in excess of 130 MPH and LOTS of rain. The storm is far from finished and […]

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that […]

In this, the second of his “These are the Words” Series, Ross focuses what are commonly called the Ten Commandments, but biblically are referred to as the “ten words.” These “ten” were written on stone tablets with the finger of God. They were called the testimony, and were placed in a special box, stored behind a veil, within the tabernacle where they were kept. In this teaching, Ross suggests that these words were intended to be stored elsewhere all along. What if the beautiful box in which these words were stored were to become lost, or unimportant? What if there was no tent to house them? This and more is covered in this teaching.

In this class, Ross begins to teach his series on the Book commonly known as Deuteronomy. In this first class of the series, he provides an introduction to Moses’ final words to the children of Israel. Ross shows that the purpose of the Torah’s fifth book is to present the Teaching in a plain way. He also shows that Devarim employs a different style than other books of the Torah, and that it uses keys words and phrases found only here in Devarim. These are the words! This is the way the book begins. This is also the original name for the book. It truly is about words; it’s about words that still have the power to change the world in which we live.

““For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” (Deuteronomy 30:11–14 ESV)

A simple reading of this text is not difficult to understand. Moses is telling the people of Israel that the commandments are not too difficult. Further making it clear that one need not wait for someone to ascend into heaven, or travel beyond the sea in order to bring them to the people. Very plainly, the word is very near, in their mouth and in their heart so that they can do it.

Judaism and Christianity obviously know this passage. In fact, in this episode, Ross suggests that both took the plain meaning of this passage and arrived at far reaching interpretations. Working through a story known as the oven of Akhnai contained in the Babylonian Talmud (Baba Metzia 59b), and Paul’s interpretation of these words contained in Romans 10:5-10, he shows how the word declared near can easily be missed.

Should possession of the written Torah allow one to ignore the voice of God? Would God rejoice if His children ignored His voice? Should the majority rule in a decision so long as no harm was intended? Is it acceptable to take a passage out of context and add to the words, providing an interpretation that at best stretches the intended meaning?

Perhaps the Bible means what it says.

This is a song written by my friend John Carlson. It was inspired by, and based upon the Shema. It is a great song and I think that many will enjoy it. Please feel free to share it far and wide.

 John Carlson wrote the following about the song.

“Shema means “hear” or “listen” in Hebrew and it is traditionally the scripture read at the beginning of every Torah service. It consists of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Deuteronomy 11:-21 and Numbers 15:37-41. The melody came to me one afternoon when I was messing around with my guitar and when I couldn’t make it work with any of the psalms I decided to try it with the Shema; it fit perfectly. It is obviously not a literal rendition of the full Shema but I believe it has captured it’s heart and substance and so I say it is based on these scriptures.”

Here are the lyrics:

Chorus

Shema Y’srael Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai Echad

Y’srael Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai Echad

Love the Lord your God with all your heart

Love the Lord your God with all your strength

These commands that I have given you

Shall be written on your hearts, Y’srael

(chorus)

Teach your children of my ways

Speak of them throughout your days

As you rest and when you rise

Seal them in your hearts, Y’srael

(chorus)

Bind them on your wrists and brow

On the frames of entry to your house

On the gates that lead into your lands

Deep into your hearts, Y’srael

(chorus)

For several years I have made audio files of my teachings. This is nothing new for me. We have uploaded literally hundreds of teachings in MP3 format, both on my website as well as iTunes. So, while I am not new to posting audio files, I am very new to the world of podcasting. My goal is to produce and publish high quality audio files of short lessons related to the Bible, and thereby share ancient truth with a modern world. Content is not a problem for me. I have many ideas for great lessons. The challenge before me at the present is to master the technology. I need to find my voice. What style do I want to use? I have been listening to numerous professional podcasters, from many different genres as I research the field of podcasting. Each one has his or her own style. This morning I began to play around with Apple’s GarageBand application and I love it! It is fairly easy to use and comes with many features to enhance the listening experience. Here is a very short example that I put together this morning. In this practice session, I tried a couple of different microphone settings and even added a few sound clips. I made this on my MacBook laptop with the built in mic and no mixer board. With a bit more practice, I may have something. Please stay tuned and send me your ideas! Click the play button to listen.

In this podcast, Ross takes an opportunity to shed light on a traditionally dark time by responding to a comment that was posted on his Facebook page. When he posted his podcast titled, Where has Ross Been, a listener remarked that the proposed restart of his Torah lessons was “interesting,” pointing out that “8/13 is also 9 Av.” What did the listener mean by this? Why would “9 Av” be different than any other day? After all, Ross makes it clear in his podcast that this is the day that according to the annual cycle of Torah readings, the book of Deuteronomy begins, making this date a good stepping on point. Ross replied to the comment by saying that the listener’s observation had not gone unnoticed. So what was it about this brief Facebook exchange that provided material suitable for a new podcast? Well, just listen. In this episode, you will learn about the 9th of Av according to Jewish tradition. You will discover what Judaism teaches in regards to the cause of the destruction of the first and the second Temples. You will also hear of an interesting reading contained within a Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, and finally Ross shares a simple and yet profound solution to many of our problems.