The Holy Scriptures are one of the most important tools that God's people have in order to understand who He is and what His purpose is for our lives. This is especially true for those of us who are Messianic Believers, and are of the firm conviction that in this hour our Heavenly Father is restoring forgotten truths to His people, and is guiding us toward the ultimate completion of "all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26) and consummation of the Messianic Age. Knowing not only the importance of the Bible, but the unique tapestry of the Word, is something that we need not overlook if we intend to be empowered for His mission.

Today's Messianic community has a considerable need to understand the whole Bible. This includes more than just reading the weekly Torah portion, but seeing how God's plan of salvation history begins in the Torah and moves forward through the Prophets, Writings, Gospels, and Epistles. It may take a lifetime for the Messianic movement to have a series well thought out, verse-by-verse commentaries on all books of the Bible, engaged with contemporary scholarship (as with TNN Press' Practical Messianic series). But this does not mean that presently unanalyzed books have to go completely unaddressed or avoided in the meantime.

This new section of the TNN Online website, Bible Messages, is a place where "Message of..." articles will be posted on books of the Bible. Each text of Scripture is examined for its place in the overall Biblical narrative, and considered for what it might teach or admonish us as the emerging Messianic movement.

TNN Online editor J.K. McKee is steadily working on summary articles for each book of the Bible, to be compiled in the future into a Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic volume. This section will include PDF excerpts from this publication, as they are made ready.

Each article is accessible as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. It is noted where articles have been excerpted from various TNN Press publications.

Introduction
posted 05 November, 2014

TORAH (PENTATEUCH)

The Message of Genesis

The Message of Exodus
originally posted 15 April 2008
reproduced from the Messianic Spring Holiday Helper

The Message of Leviticus

The Message of Numbers

The Message of Deuteronomy
originally posted 18 October 2008
reproduced from the Messianic Fall Holiday Helper

NEVI'IM (PROPHETS)

The Message of Joshua

The Message of Judges

The Message of Samuel-Kings

The Message of Isaiah

The Message of Jeremiah

The Message of Ezekiel

The Message of Hosea
originally posted 12 May, 2011
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Joel
originally posted 04 October, 2008
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Amos
originally posted 15 July, 2011
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Obadiah
originally posted 11 August, 2011
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Jonah
originally posted 09 October, 2008
reproduced from the Messianic Fall Holiday Helper

The Message of Micah
originally posted 12 September, 2011
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Nahum
originally posted 18 October, 2011
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Habakkuk
originally posted 01 June, 2008
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Zephaniah
originally posted 08 November, 2011
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Haggai
written 11 December, 2012
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Zechariah

The Message of Malachi

KETUVIM (WRITINGS)

The Message of Psalms

The Message of Proverbs

The Message of Job
originally posted 30 September, 2008
reproduced from the Messianic Fall Holiday Helper

The Message of the Song of Songs

The Message of Ruth
originally posted 15 June, 2008
reproduced from the Messianic Spring Holiday Helper

The Message of Lamentations

The Message of Ecclesiastes
originally posted 19 October, 2008
reproduced from the Messianic Fall Holiday Helper

The Message of Esther
originally posted 20 March, 2008
reproduced from the Messianic Spring Holiday Helper

The Message of Daniel
originally posted 11 June, 2009
reproduced from the Messianic Winter Holiday Helper

The Message of Ezra-Nehemiah

The Message of Chronicles

THE GOSPELS AND ACTS

The Message of Mark

The Message of Matthew

The Message of Luke-Acts

The Message of John

GENERAL EPISTLES

The Message of James
originally posted 21 September, 2010
reproduced from James for the Practical Messianic

The Message of 1&2 Peter and Jude
originally posted 11 November, 2010
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of 1-3 John
originally posted 16 December, 2010
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

PAULINE EPISTLES

The Message of Romans
originally posted 21 April, 2009
reproduced from Romans for the Practical Messianic

The Message of 1 Corinthians
originally posted 13 February, 2011
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of 2 Corinthians
originally posted 08 March, 2011
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Galatians
originally posted 05 March, 2009
reproduced from Galatians for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Ephesians
originally posted 01 June, 2009
reproduced from Ephesians for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Philippians
originally posted 01 June, 2010
reproduced from Philippians for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Colossians and Philemon
originally posted 01 June, 2010
reproduced from Colossians and Philemon for the Practical Messianic

The Message of 1&2 Thessalonians
originally posted 07 February, 2008
reproduced from 1&2 Thessalonians for the Practical Messianic

The Message of the Pastoral Epistles
originally posted 12 October, 2010
reproduced from The Pastoral Epistles for the Practical Messianic

LATER NEW TESTAMENT

The Message of Hebrews
originally posted 12 January, 2011
reproduced from Hebrews for the Practical Messianic

The Message of Revelation
originally posted 05 November, 2007
reproduced from the working file of Bible Messages for the Practical Messianic

A SURVEY OF THE TANACH
FOR THE PRACTICAL MESSIANIC

One of the major reasons that today’s Messianic movement has grown in the past decade is a significant interest by Believers in the Torah and the Tanach. In too many cases, the Tanach Scriptures were not probed in that great a detail in a Jewish Believer’s traditional Synagogue upbringing—and perhaps more serious, a non-Jewish Believer’s Christian experience often witnessed the Old Testament taking a back seat to the New Testament in the Church. With many of the ethical and moral controversies the greater Judeo-Christian religious community is experiencing in our age, a need for God’s people to return to a foundational grounding in the Tanach Scriptures is absolutely imperative. The Old Testament cannot simply be disregarded any more.

Many have stayed away from consulting the Tanach not because of a lack of interest, but because few want to have to deal with the controversies it addresses. Unlike the Apostolic Scriptures, constrained to the First Century C.E., the period of the Tanach stretches back all the way to the beginning of the universe itself. Questions like: Who was the Pharaoh of the Exodus? Did God actually condone the genocide of the Canaanites? and Am I the only one who thinks the Prophets are mentally disturbed? are debates that many people do not want to enter into. Even more significant is the effect of critical scholarship which has attempted to divide the Torah into non-Mosaic sources, question the inspiration and historical reliability of the text, and even regard much of the Tanach as Ancient Israel’s mythology. For a Messianic movement that claims to place a high value on the Tanach, it is time that we join in to these conversations.

A Survey of the Tanach for the Practical Messianic takes you through the Old Testament from a distinct Messianic point of view. It presents a theologically conservative perspective of the books of the Tanach, but one that does not avoid some of the controversies that have existed in Biblical scholarship for over one hundred and fifty years. The student, in company with his or her study Bible, is asked to read through each text of the Tanach, jotting down characters, place names, key ideas, and reflective questions. Each book of the Old Testament is then summarized for its compositional data and asks you questions to get a good Messianic feel for the text. This workbook can be used for both personal and group study, and will be a valuable aid for any Messianic Believer wanting to study the whole Bible on a consistent basis.

Click here to read the Table of Contents and excerpts from A Survey of the Tanach for the Practical Messianic (PDF)

290 pages
paperback

A SURVEY OF THE APOSTOLIC SCRIPTURES
FOR THE PRACTICAL MESSIANIC

As a Messianic Believer, do you have a problem reading the New Testament? When you read the Apostolic Scriptures, are you confused when you encounter the Gospels, Acts, or Epistles? Have you possibly been taught that the "New Testament" replaces the "Old Testament," and that there are contradictions between the two, only to be reconciled by the coming of Yeshua? Do you have difficulty reconciling the words of the Torah to Yeshua, Peter, Paul, John, and the other Apostles?

If you have ever asked any of these questions, it is time that you receive a re-introduction to the Apostolic Scriptures. These texts record the ministry and teachings of Yeshua the Messiah, the history of the First Century Messianic community, and the challenges that the early Believers in Yeshua faced. These texts are not contrary to the Torah, but do continue God's progressive story that begins in Genesis. They have valuable lessons that every Messianic Believer and Messianic congregation must learn in this hour, as the Messianic community grows and matures.

A Survey of the Apostolic Scriptures for the Practical Messianic takes you on a journey through the New Testament from a distinct Messianic point of view. The student, in company with his or her study Bible, is asked to read through each text of the Apostolic Scriptures, jotting down characters, place names, key ideas, and reflective questions. Each book of the New Testament is then summarized for its compositional data and asks you questions to get a good Messianic feel for the text. This workbook can be used for both personal and group study, and will be a valuable aid for any Messianic Believer wanting to study the whole Bible on a consistent basis.

Click here to read the Table of Contents and excerpts from A Survey of the Apostolic Scriptures for the Practical Messianic (PDF)

220 pages
paperback

THE APOSTOLIC SCRIPTURES
PRACTICAL MESSIANIC EDITION -- READER'S VERSION

Today’s broad Messianic community has some significant struggles with the Apostolic Scriptures or New Testament. This has been one of the major causes for TNN Press starting the for the Practical Messianic commentary series, and why we continue to add new volumes to it.

An important part of our complete book commentary series has been to provide an Author’s Rendering appendix, based on the public domain 1901 American Standard Version, incorporating various renderings and translations proposed. The Apostolic Scriptures Practical Messianic Edition takes this a step further, and incorporates various other renderings and translations proposed, from an entire selection of TNN Press materials, from both completed Practical Messianic commentaries and the remainder of the New Testament for which we have planned future volumes.

There have been a number of useful and beneficial Messianic editions of the Apostolic Scriptures produced, notably including the Jewish New Testament and Tree of Life—Messianic Family Bible, both intended for congregational reading and private study. The Apostolic Scriptures Practical Messianic Edition is a little different in that it is rooted within the research and conclusions defended in the TNN Press Practical Messianic commentary series, and other titles, such as The New Testament Validates Torah and various volumes of the Messianic Helper series. There are renderings present in the PME which you are not likely to see in any other Messianic version, although they are taken from various proposals made in contemporary Biblical Studies.

This Reader’s Version of the PME includes just the straight text of the Apostolic Scriptures for Bible readers’ personal reflection and contemplation. (The Annotated publication is what specifically will include various textual explanations, and references to further reading across the spectrum of books, articles, and FAQ entries produced by Outreach Israel Ministries and TNN Online.)

Click here to read the Introduction and Gospel of Mark from The Apostolic Scriptures Practical Messianic Edition -- Reader's Version (PDF)

432 pages
paperback