Defining Ephraim

Scripture of the Day: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Song of the Day: "Home Free" By Wayne Watson

I pose these two questions to myself:
If we are expected to seek his righteousness then why study torah?
What does it mean (to me) to be righteous (tzaddick)?

I can’t exactly say how, when, or why I felt or knew things that I should not have known being so little. When I remember some of these things, I hope to document them. One of these things was the feeling that God would reveal to me his purpose for my life when I turned twenty one years old. I was convinced of this, and was very impatient getting there.

I moved to Virginia on August 24, 1994, and I had just turned twenty one. I had been backslidden for quite a while before my twenty first birthday, and it wasn’t until I moved to Virginia that I decided to start attending church. As far as I was concerned, though I looked diligently for the Lord’s direction, I found none. It wasn’t until many years in the future (13 years to be exact) when I realized that the Lord had indeed shared his purpose for my life.

The poem you are about to read was written in 1995, probably before I turned twenty two. This poem was God’s very specific instruction and ultimate destination. The scripture calls it “the mark:” as in “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14

The Call to “The Place”

The words spoken from this pen, uttered by my mind, none of these are sufficient for the ponderings of my soul. It only seems unexplainable to understand that intangible spirit of the Lord; real by faith, it is made manifest in me. I am a witness of the Lord G-d Almighty whose name is Jesus. Through faith I have found, and it has been made existent to me this place, this frame of mind, in which it is by faith in the Lord that my mind is ruled. Where the intangibility of the spiritual realm is made tangible and seen through understanding.
The power of the Lord is reached in liberty, by working in holiness, and by sharing his word to others in Love. For this mindset I seek: To be focused on him, and having a made up mind. So that there will be no hindrances for him, as he can use me for his own will, and purpose.

By Ephraim D’Angelo 1995


It wasn’t until a couple of days ago when I realized that I HAD received the direction I had been looking for, but like the scripture said about the disciples when they didn’t understand the Lord’s instruction about leaven. He said, “Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?” Mark 8:18. I too didn’t understand though it was clearly written with my own hand.

I am now 34 years old, and this year I will be entering into the fifth seven year cycle of my life on the earth. I have received my Hebrew name, and am striving to die to myself, and live in Christ (Mashiach, Messiah). Though I write “seven year cycle,” I really don’t have any solid biblical reverence for this phrase, nor have I any reason. I only say it here for the time I discover the reason, and can see that I was right in my feeling.

1st Question: If we are expected to seek his righteousness then why study Torah?

This is a very tough and straightforward question. Having been blessed with a good compass that helps me on the spiral staircase of biblical truth. I have found myself beginning to realize my Hebrew roots. Not through any natural or genealogical methods, but by the spirit that leads to all truth as stated in John 16:13

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.“

This truth is what I am referring when I say truth. He also said in the same book; John 14:6

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

These two scriptures are enough to define “his righteousness” that we should be seeking. He was also the living word of God (the living Torah) made clear in John 1:14:

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

This instigates more questions to discover the answers to question #1. What did Jesus say and do? What did he say about the law (Torah)? Mat 5:17:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

And John 10:10:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.

What is life? How can we obtain life? How is life defined by God’s word?

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

1 John 1:1-10 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;…

This passage of scripture brings up two more questions:

What is light and what is sin?


1.) What is sin?

1 John 3:4
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

1Corinthian 15:56
The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.

Romans 3:20
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin.

Romans 6:14,15
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.


2.) What is light?

Proverbs 6:23
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Isaiah 8:20
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

1John 1:5
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ (Yahshua Ha’Mashiach) his Son cleanseth us from all sin.