Weekly Parashah (Messianic)
By Torah Teacher Ariel ben-Lyman HaNaviy
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Podcast Description
We invite and encourage you to join the reading schedule that has so inspired the Jewish Community since before the birth of "the Church." At the same time, we challenge you to read the portions on your own, mining God's rich, spiritual garden, gleaning the precious nuggets that lay in store for you there. A Messianic commentary for each portion has been provided to assist you in your journey to become a more mature child of HaShem. May his Spirit richly bless you as you "Study to show thyself approved!" (2 Timothy 2:15)
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34 Parashat B'midbar | The Worth of a Man Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) notes at the beginning of the Book that God counted the nation at every significant turn because he loves it. So too, the fact that the people were counted as individuals proves the infinite worth of every Jew, and sets the precedent for God’s undying love to see every one of his created subjects return to a loving relationship with him through his Unique and Only Son. Certainly it would have been easier and quicker to count the people en masse, and that would have been the proper course if all that mattered were sheer numbers. But that would have caused the individual to be an insignificant member of the total community and it would have obscured his personal responsibility to grow and contribute. Each tribe had its own uniqueness to contribute to the national well-being and each individual was precious in his own right. So it remains true today, as has been demonstrated by Yeshua’s obedience even unto death! “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life instead of being utterly destroyed.” (John 3:16, emphasis mine) Also, “For the passage quoted says that everyone who rests his trust on him will not be humiliated. That means that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—ADONAI is the same for everyone, rich toward everyone who calls on him, since everyone who calls on the name of ADONAI will be delivered.” (Rom. 10:11-13, emphasis his) And again in another place, “…for it is not his purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins.” (2 Pet. 3:9c) So we see that God is interested in each individual—not just whole tribes! True, this book tells how the nation slid and an entire generation had to remain in the Wilderness and expire. But their children emerged strong and courageous, still gathered around the Mishkan and ready to claim its destiny as the heirs to the blessings of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya’akov. | 5/23/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 Parashat B'chukkotai (Part D) | Torah Observance is a matter of the heart. It always has been and always will be. The Torah Proper (first Five Books of Moshe) instructed the people of Isra’el to “love ADONAI your God with all their heart, all your being and all your resources” (Deuteronomy 6:5). This is where “Shomer Mitzvot” begins—by loving HaShem, and accepting Him on His terms. By this, I mean accepting His means of covenant obedience. For today, this means acceptance of Yeshua, His only Son, for Jew and non-Jew alike. Covenants require a response on the part of the follower. HaShem, for His part, has provided the “promise of inheritance” for all those who participate in the Avrahamic Covenant. The response to this covenant is “faith.” The nature of the Moshaic Covenant is “blessing, maintenance, and enjoyment of promise.” For all who wish to participate, the response to this covenant is “obedience.” It’s that “easy.” But not so easy for the original hearers of the blessings and curses of Leviticus chapter 26! For as the history of the Torah will graphically demonstrate, an entire generation failed to understand God’s important message and is forced to die in the wilderness before even reaching the Promised Land of Inheritance (coming up in Numbers chapter 14)! The lesson for us today is important indeed! This idea of commandment keeping is a state of mind, as well as a daily function! We should never fall for the age-old, compulsory reasons for keeping the commands of HaShem! Legalism, that is, keeping the Torah for the sake of salvation or merit with HaShem (making yourself better than your fellow man in the eyes of HaShem), is simply NOT Scriptural! To be sure, it is a misuse of the Torah itself! Torah observance is a matter of the heart! It is a natural action of ours, urged on and empowered by the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) within us! It is the result from having the Torah placed on our inward parts, as new creations in Messiah Yeshua! It is not something we do to BECOME saved; it is something we do BECAUSE we are saved! It is customary after the completion of a book of the Torah to say, “Chazak, chazak, v’nit’chazek!” (Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!) | 5/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 Parashat B'chukkotai (Part C) | It is my understanding that the errors surrounding one’s relationship to Torah can be corrected once a person resolves the issues surrounding identity and legalism, begins to understand the intended nature and function of the Torah in the first place, and then faithfully applies it to their own lives. Because the Messiah has already come, the Torah is now a document meant to be lived out in the life of a faithful follower of Yeshua, through the power of the Ruach HaKodesh, to the glory of HaShem the Father. It should not be presumed that it could be obeyed mechanically, automatically, legalistically, without having faith, without having trust in HaShem, without having love for HaShem or man, and without being empowered by the Ruach HaKodesh. To state it succinctly, Torah observance is a matter of the heart, always has been , and always will be. It is my desire that this continuing series of teachings will assist the average non-Jewish believer, or new Messianic Jewish believer in his desire to become a more mature child of God. "And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your forefathers and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer" (Deuteronomy 10:12-16, NIV). Because the Torah is written on the hearts of all who truly name the name of Yeshua as LORD and Savior, it is meant to be followed to the best of our ability. We have no reason for fear of condemnation, or the trappings of legalism! | 5/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 Parashat B'chukkotai (Part B) | These are very important questions, which need answering, if we are to understand one of the primary purposes for the giving and doing of the Torah. Before I give my opinions as a Torah Teacher I want to share the opinions of one of the greatest sages of Isra'el’s past, Rabbi Moshe ben-Maimon (Maimonides, a.k.a., RaMBaM). The Mishneh Torah, a code of Jewish law, was compiled between 1170 and 1180, while the RaMBaM was living in Egypt, and is regarded as Maimonides' magnum opus. The work consists of fourteen books, which subdivide into sections, chapters and paragraphs. To this day it is the only post-Talmudic work that details all of Jewish observance, including those laws which are only applicable when the Holy Temple is in place. Dealing with the “laws of repentance, viz, teshuvah” in book one of his Mishneh Torah he comments on this perplexing issue of the Torah: Once it is known that a reward is given for fulfilling commandments and that the goodness which we will receive if we follow the way of God as mentioned in the Torah is life in the World to Come, as it is written, "...that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your life", and that the revenge which shall be unleashed upon the wicked people who disregarded the righteous mannerisms as mentioned in the Torah is excision, as it is written, "...that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him" - then what is it that is written in throughout the Torah, that if one listens, one will receive such-and-such, and that if one doesn't listen such- and-such will happen to one, as well as all earthly matters such as plenty, famine, war, peace, monarchy, humility, living in Israel, exile, success, misfortune and other covenantal matters? All these matters were true and always will be. Whenever we fulfill the commandments of the Torah we will receive all good earthly matters, and whenever we transgress them, all the mentioned evils will befall us. Nevertheless, the goodness is not all that the reward for fulfilling commandments consists of, and the evils are not the entire punishment received by transgressors. Obviously as a Messianic Jew I disagree with his implied conclusions for keeping Torah. Don’t get me wrong. Maimonides was a great man and a far more scholarly Torah teacher than I. But the Spirit of the Holy One reveals to all who earnestly seek the Truth (and find it in Yeshua) that keeping the Commandments for the sake of forensic righteousness amounts to legalism. I do NOT espouse to legalism. On the contrary, I firmly believe that forensic righteousness is only obtainable by placing one’s unreserved trusting faithfulness in the sinless atonement provided by Yeshua HaMashiach! I stand by my own conclusions, based on an understanding of the writing of the Apostolic Writings (New Testament): The Torah is not teaching its adherents to follow it in pursuit of spiritual well-being, that is, eternal life. The Torah is simply NOT a salvific document (pertaining to salvation). HaShem clearly outlines step-by-step what will happen when and if the House of Isra'el follows his laws. He also clearly outlines the consequences of disobedience. History has proven that ‘Am Yisra’el failed to heed HaShem’s dire warning of punishment, and indeed sunk to the absolute depravity of even consuming their own offspring from fear and want of food (read Lev. 26:27-29)! | 5/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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33 Parashat B'chukkotai (Part A) | We have finally come to the last portion of Vayikra, known as Parashat B’chukkotai (say “b-choo-koh-tie”; the “ch” is as the “ch” in Bach). The root word from which our Torah portion’s title is taken is “choke” qx, and it means “statute, ordinance, limit, something prescribed. ” This should not be confused with its counterpart “Torah” which is also sometimes translated along these same lines. I understand the word choke to convey something a bit more “wooden” (edict) when compared to Torah (teaching). Because this commentary’s teachings are so pertinent to world Jewry, both past and present, I shall be making many more rabbinic quotes than I normally do. I will ask my non-Jewish audience to bear with me as I reach out to my fellow “Y’hudim” (Jews) through the instructions of the Chazal (Sages of Blessed Memory). This week’s Torah teaching introduces one of the central aspects of the covenant made through Moshe Rabbenu (Moses our teacher): obedience. The Torah clearly teaches here in this parashah that blessing is predicated upon obedience to its chukkim (edicts). What sort of blessing? Physical, social, and financial, to name a few. But not spiritual. First the “Bad News…” The LORD’s reproof to ‘Am Yisra’el, found in chapter 26:14-45, is known in Judaism as the “Tochacha”, a “minor” listing of “curses” brought against the People for their disobedience. A similar yet “major” listing, also referred to as “Tochacha”, can be read in Parashat Ki Tavo at D’varim (Deuteronomy) chapter 28. According to one online Hebrew-English dictionary, the origin word ‘tocheycha’ conveys a “reprimand. ” Browns, Driver, Briggs defines this word as “rebuke, correction, reproof, punishment, chastisement.” By its context, since the source is the Holy One Himself, it conveys the purpose of “divine retribution.” Interesting by comparison, the Hebrew of this current perek (chapter) is written in the plural, addressing collective Isra'el. Its counterpart in D’varim 28, however, is written in the singular. The Gaon of Vilna explains that the difference conveyed by the listing in D’varim is that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is addressing collective Isra'el, that is, each and every Jew that was present then and each and every Jew that will be born in the future. Indeed a quote from the JPS version of Parashat Nitzavim (D’varim 29:13, 14 [14, 15 in English Bibles]) gives the Gaon this impression: 29:13 But it is not with you alone that I am making this covenant and this dread oath. (V’lo itchem l’vadechem anochi koret et-hab’rit hazot ve'et-ha'alah hazot.) 29:14 I am making it both with those who are standing here with us today before God our Lord, and with those who are not [yet] here with us today. (Ki et-asher yeshno poh imanu omed hayom lifney Adonai Eloheynu ve'et asher eynenu poh imanu hayom.) Rashi explains that the phrase "v’lo itchem l’vadchem" ~,k.D;b.l ~,k.Tia a{l.w includes even "dorot ho’asidim l’hiyot" - generations that are destined to yet come into existence. Indeed, the Gemara (the commentary on the Mishnah) explains that the principal of communal responsibility - kol Yisroel areivim zeh bozeh - is rooted in Parashat Nitzavim . Thus, the collective nature of the Tochacha in particular, and K’nesset Yisra’el (Assembly of Isra'el) in general, includes any future member of B’nei Yisra’el (Sons of Isra'el) as well. Accordingly, the Gemara derives the concept of arvus (say “ar-voos”), “joint responsibility [of one Jew for another's performance of mitzvot]”, from the tochacha, which emphasizes the collective unit of B’nei Yisra’el. In this sense, Rav Yeruchum Perlow explains the view of the Bahag who counts the Tochacha and its blessings and curses among the 613 mitzvot. He suggests that the Bahag was not referring to the ceremony and ritual of the Tochacha, but rather to the mitzvah of arv | 5/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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32 Parashat B'har (Part B) | Working and Resting All of this can seem fairly insignificant to us living with the Western mentality. But this was extremely important to those living in the Land, during the time of the TaNaKH when the Torah acted as the living Constitution as well as a daily guide for godly living. Here couched within this tiny parashah we see an awesome display of the mercy and compassion that HaShem has for all of his created subjects, whether they be Jew or non-Jew, slave or free! The Torah paints a picture of work and rest, slavery and freedom, which spiritually amounts to life and death. How so? In the Renewed Covenant book of Galatians, Rabbi Sha’ul tell us: “Don’t delude yourselves: no one makes a fool of God! A person reaps what he sows. Those who keep sowing in the field of their old nature, in order to meet its demands, will eventually reap ruin; but those who keep sowing in the field of the Spirit will reap from the Spirit everlasting life. So let us not grow weary of doing what is good; for if we don’t give up, we will in due time reap the harvest. Therefore, as the opportunity arises, let us do what is good to everyone, and especially to the family of those who are trustingly faithful.” (6:7-10) The better first half of Leviticus chapter 25 uses harvest language, sowing and reaping, working and resting according to faith. To leave the ground unplowed for an entire year requires faith indeed—especially living in an agricultural land such as Isra'el! Today, our faith lies in the fact that we have rested from our labors of self-righteousness. Before our faith in Messiah, we worked year after year to meet our own needs. Our harvest was the product of our own hands. Consequently, it was a harvest of death. But to place one’s trusting faithfulness in the atoning work of the Messiah Yeshua is to rest from one’s own labors! To be sure, without the faith of Messiah at work in our lives, we truly do not have a proper concept of Shabbat! To rest (the Sabbath) is to cease working in our own fields, and to begin “resting” in the fields of the Master! When we were in the world, we were “slaves” to sin! But now in Messiah Yeshua, we have experienced our spiritual Yovel! We are no longer slaves to sin! We have been set free by the power of his Sabbath rest! What does the Torah say? “What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1) And again in another place, “So there remains a Shabbat-keeping for God’s people. For the one who has entered God’s rest has also rested from his own works, as God did from his. Therefore, let us do our best to enter that rest; so that no one will fall short because of the same kind of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:9-11) And finally, "Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am ADONAI." (Leviticus 26:2) | 5/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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32 Parashat B'har (Part A) | “Speak to the children of Yisra'el, and tell them, When you come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a Shabbat to ADONAI. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in the yield of it; but in the seventh year shall be a Shabbat of solemn rest for the land, a Shabbat to ADONAI: you shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard.” Nowhere else in the entire 5 books of the Torah do we find a festival named specifically as a “Shabbat to ADONAI”. Only the seventh day Shabbat and the Yovel enjoy this title. To be sure, we find both rest days occurring juxtaposed to each other in this passage: "For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove. Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the alien may be refreshed.” (Exodus 23:10-12) But the connections don’t stop there! Let us keep looking. Turning back to the Creation Account in Genesis chapter one we find that the phrase “[it] was good” appears exactly seven times in relation to how God described the stages of each day’s work (cf. 1:3, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, and 31). The pattern becomes apparent when we notice that this term is selectively applied twice to days Three and Six. What was created on day three? Dry land and seas, grass, plants and trees. And what was created on day six? Man. Now what two subjects occupy the attention of both the Shabbat rest and the Yovel? Man (inhabitants) and the Land (that which grows on it). Observe this feature from these p’sukim (verses) of our current parashah. First the Land: “But in the seventh year shall be a Shabbat of solemn rest for the land, a Shabbat to ADONAI: you shall neither sow your field, nor prune your vineyard. That which grows of itself of your harvest you shall not reap, and the grapes of your undressed vine you shall not gather: it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.” (Lev. 25:4, 5) And now its inhabitants: “You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants of it: it shall be a jubilee to you; and you shall return every man to his possession, and you shall return every man to his family.” (Lev. 10) Isn’t God’s Torah a wonderful teaching instrument? | 5/17/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 Parashat Emor (Part D) | Succoth (Feast of Tabernacles/Ingathering) – worship, praise, redemption, eschatology, thanksgiving, celebrating the harvest of righteousness in our lives An Eye for an Eye Before I close out the parashah, I want to briefly share some Talmudic quotes that revolve around an issue found in chapter 24 verses 17-22: Version: NAS Lev 24:17-22 17. 'And if a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death. 18. 'And the one who takes the life of an animal shall make it good, life for life. 19. 'And if a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be done to him: 20. fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him. 21. 'Thus the one who kills an animal shall make it good, but the one who kills a man shall be put to death. 22. 'There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.'" That the sages of antiquity had differing opinions as to the meanings behind these verses is made evident from our Talmudic extract, taken from Tractate Bava Kama: MISHNA I.: One who wounds his neighbor is liable to pay the following five things, viz.: damage, pain, healing, loss of time, and disgrace. "Damage."--If he blinds one's eye, cuts off his hand, or breaks his leg, the injured person is considered as if he were a slave sold in the market, and he is appraised at his former and his present value. "Pain."--If he burns him with a spit or with a nail, if even only on the nail (of his hand or foot), where it produces no wound, it is appraised how much a man his equal would take to suffer such pain. "Healing."--If he caused him bodily injury, he must heal him; if pus collected by reason of the wound, he must cause him to be healed; if, however, not by reason of the wound, he is free. If the wound heals up and breaks out again, even several times, he must cause it to be healed; if, however, it once heals up thoroughly, he is no more obliged to heal it. "Loss of time."--The injured person is considered as if be were a watchman of a pumpkin field, as he was already paid the value of his hand or foot. The disgrace is appraised with consideration of the station and rank of the one who causes as well as of the one who suffers it. | 5/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 Parashat Emor (Part C) | Shavu’ot (Pentecost) – the giving of the Torah, the giving of the Ruach HaKodesh, firstfruits, ecclesiology Rosh HaShanah/Yom T’ruah (New Year/Feast of Trumpets) – eschatology | 5/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 Parashat Emor (Part B) | Mo’eydim (Festivals) The most easily recognized feature of our parashah this week is the listing of the Mikra’ey Kodesh, that is, the Holy Convocations. Since we carry studies on each individual Festival at my web sites, I will provide highlights from each one for us here in Parashat Emor. The Feasts of ADONAI are just that: Feasts of ADONAI! They are not man’s feasts; they are not Isra'el’s feasts. Is Isra'el the caretaker? Yes. The owner? No. The student should carefully read Leviticus 23: 1-3. As we shall see, the feasts were meant to serve as daily, monthly, and yearly reminders, of our identity and purpose, in the historical plans that HaShem has for all of mankind. The Torah teaches us that they are the “rehearsals of messianic redemption”. Properly understood, they tell the story of the birth and life, atoning work, death, resurrection, promise of power, assurance of dedication, promise of return, and promise of eternal abiding, of the Messiah Yeshua, in relation to all genuine followers. Surely it is in the mind of the Holy One, for his children to have an intimate knowledge of these aspects of his Son’s ministry! Yet, for nearly two thousand years, our appreciation of these feasts, within historic Christian circles, has remained marginal at best and non-existent at worst. Below are brief themes and biblical and spiritual concepts of the seven mikra’ey kodesh, plus Shabbat, which the Torah has for us: Shabbat (Sabbath) – resting in Messiah; resting from work Pesach (Passover) – redemption, salvation, deliverance, freedom Chag HaMatzah (Unleavened Bread) – sanctification Omer Reisheet (First Sheaf) – sanctification, deliverance | 5/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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31 Parashat Emor (Part A) | The thrust of the priestly instructions of chapters 21 and 22 is summed up in the final verses of chapter 22: “You are to keep my mitzvot and obey them; I am ADONAI. You are not to profane my holy name; on the contrary, I am to be regarded as holy among the people of Isra'el; I am ADONAI, who makes you holy, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am ADONAI.” These words are extremely powerful! This is the calling of the priests of the LORD. This is the challenge of the leaders of the community. In one sweeping statement, HaShem defines their divine purpose and calling, while simultaneously giving us an unmistakable definition of his identity and authoritative election process: the Children of Isra'el can proudly proclaim “WE are HOLY because HE makes US HOLY!” This statement extends to us today because we have become righteous heirs through the adoption process of our Great High Priest, Yeshua HaMashiach! | 5/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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30 Parashat K'doshim | Walking in K’dushah Apart from being an attribute of God—one that we inherit intrinsically with our trusting faithfulness in the Messiah, holiness is also meant to be a lifestyle. This is why I keep using the phrase ‘trusting faithfulness’ rather than simple ‘faith’. The latter implies a one-time action on our part, which forever sets into motion a spiritual truth that will be fully actualized at the return of our LORD. Notice the candor of the phrase, “I place my trust in Yeshua”. However, the former carries the aspect of a daily motion, which permeates every movement of our new-creation lives! “I place my trusting faithfulness in Yeshua”. Do you notice the subtle difference? To live by ‘trusting faithfulness’ rather than just by ‘faith’ alone characterizes our moment-by-moment thought process as well as our actions. The former carries our faith into action! In other words, this new life in Messiah is an ever constant, ever-growing relationship with the Holy One of Isra’el; a demonstration of the miraculous on a level that can and should be measured in even the smallest areas of our lives. Trusting faithfulness is ongoing! It is not some unmoving, monumental event which took place sometime in our lives—it is the ongoing monumental process that overtakes our lives—for the rest of our lives—which was enacted when we first had a genuine encounter with the divine holiness! Holiness is not something that we should just "put on and off" when it is convenient to us. It is a state that we should constantly exist in! How do we do what HaShem expects us to do? By faithfully trusting in his Power and in his Word to work in and through our lives to produce a temple that is useable and dedicated. We do what the Torah tells us to do, and allow HaShem to make good on his promises that as we are doing what the Torah tells us to do, he is reshaping our thoughts and desires to conform to the image of his Holy Son. Holiness is not just something that we sit around and "dream" about; it is more than a "revelation" or a feeling! It is a call to action! What I have been discussing here is not some new and modern twist on religion. It is the standard that HaShem has expected since the creation of man. We in the twenty-first century are geared towards wanting the latest and the greatest, but sometimes the "old wine is better". This year as Chanukkah takes place, take a moment to reflect on the reality of "who you are in Messiah". You don’t need to be some hyper-spiritual person to accomplish the task of holiness! You are a dedicated, holy temple, set apart from the ordinary (the world and its system), and set apart unto a life of praise and obedience to God Almighty! This is an identity of preeminence! This is a position of honor! And the greatest reality is that this was accomplished, not because you or I deserved to be called "holy". Rather, it was because the Father chose to demonstrate his intense love for us by sending his Son to become the means of attaining holiness in the first place! Our holiness finds its purpose and meaning in the sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of our LORD Yeshua! His Ruach (Spirit) empowers us to live a life that is pleasing to HaShem, and at the same time, gives us the boldness and opportunity to share our testimony with those who do not yet know Yeshua personally. | 5/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 Parashat Acharei Mot (Part D) | The thrust of this week's commentary has been presented in an effort to educate the two camps: Jews and Gentile Christians. Many Messianic as well as non-Messianic Jews still struggle with the intended meaning of "what it means to be a new creation in Messiah, walking out his Torah in our lives"; moreover, many non-Jewish Christians struggle with this issue as well. By default, the world does not struggle with these issues since it has not accepted HaShem on his grounds in the first place. While my heart reaches out to non-Jewish believers with these important instructions concerning the Torah of HaShem, it is my desire to make a heartfelt plea to the Jewish Community to consider accepting HaShem on his terms alone! This is our second lesson in "Torah-logic": if HaShem has renewed the terms of his original covenant, we as partners must agree with his improved establishment, especially since it was faithlessness on our part that necessitated the renewal! Apart from being superior to the sacrificial system because of it’s lasting impact, Yeshua’s atonement also brought about the power to maintain a change of heart. To be sure, the famous passage quoted from Jeremiah contains in it, a promise from HaShem to put the Torah in the inward parts of the people–i.e. on the heart. This means a change in the spiritual makeup of the individual. A change that transforms the sinner into the status of righteous heir! Now because of Yeshua’s death, HaShem no longer considers death as our wage (Romans 8:1)! Even if not corporately, each individual Jewish person can now proclaim: Our Yom Kippur has come! Our final Day of Atonement has already arrived! Our effectual sacrifice has been offered once and for all! | 5/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 Parashat Acharei Mot (Part C) | Yeshua’s Bloody Atonement Sacrifice Obvious by now with the arrival of Yom Kippur, comes this central aspect of our relationship with our Holy God: atonement. Why is atonement so important to HaShem? Apparently, ever since the incident in the Garden of Eden, mankind has carried within himself the sinful propensity of that first act of disobedience, and consequently, the sinful results as well. Our sin nature is in direct conflict with the holy nature of HaShem. As a result, we cannot fathom approaching him without first making some sort of restitution, which would satisfy HaShem’s righteous requirement. His nature demands that there be atonement for sin, for indeed, sin cannot exist in his sight. In an attempt to continue explain the matter, we need to understand the plans and purposes of HaShem as expressed in the whole of the Torah. From our vantage point and using twenty-first century hindsight, it makes perfect sense to send the Messiah to atone for our sinful nature. After all, if God left things in the hands of mankind, each individual man would have to atone for his own personal sins and consequently every man would eventually have to die for such a payment. But what does the Torah say? "Here is how it works: it was through one individual that sin entered into the world, and through sin, death; and in this way death passed through to the whole human race, inasmuch as everyone sinned." (Romans 5:12) With the entrance of sin came the punishment for sin–death. So we see that HaShem is perfectly righteous when he says that the wages for our sin is death; every man does deserve to die. But here is where the mercy of HaShem comes in! He has lovingly provided a means by which mankind can redeem himself. In the period of the TaNaKH, the sacrificial system was that means! Even though it only served to cleanse the flesh, it was authentically God’s solution. No Jew living in that time period was able to circumvent this system, and remain officially within the community. To answer the question posed above, if we take HaShem seriously, them we will accept his provision–no matter what means, or how inadequate that provision may seem! This is our first lesson in "Torah logic." This brings us to the current situation facing every man and woman and child, Jew or non-Jew, living today: "Since the sacrificial system used in the TaNaKH did not bring the participant to the goal of attaining positional righteousness, what was his means of attaining positional righteousness then and what is his means of gaining such atonement today?" As we have already observed from the anti-missionary’s position above, the modern rabbis would have us to believe that the three ways by which we appease HaShem today are "T’shuvah" (repentance), "T’fillah" (prayer), and "Tzedekah" (righteous acts). To be sure, all of these principles are found in the teachings of the Torah! And each and every one of them has valid merit. For our God is highly interested in our repentance from sin, and he is very supportive of a prayer time, and he is enthusiastic of our righteous acts done in his name! But what does our Torah portion say? "For the life of the creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for yourselves; for it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life." (Leviticus 17:11) | 5/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 Parashat Acharei Mot (Part B) | Q: How do Jews obtain forgiveness without sacrifices? A: Forgiveness is obtained through repentance, prayer and good deeds. In Jewish practice, prayer has taken the place of sacrifices. In accordance with the words of Hosea, we render instead of bullocks the offering of our lips (Hosea 14:3) (please note: the KJV translates this somewhat differently). While dedicating the Temple, King Solomon also indicated that prayer can be used to obtain forgiveness (I Kings 8:46-50). Our prayer services are in many ways designed to parallel the sacrificial practices. For example, we have an extra service on Shabbat, to parallel the extra Shabbat offering. For more information about this, see Jewish Liturgy. It is important to note that in Judaism, sacrifice was never the exclusive means of obtaining forgiveness, was not in and of itself sufficient to obtain forgiveness, and in certain circumstances was not even effective to obtain forgiveness. This will be discussed further below. Q: But isn't a blood sacrifice required in order to obtain forgiveness? A: No. Although animal sacrifice is one means of obtaining forgiveness, there are non-animal offerings as well, and there are other means for obtaining forgiveness that do not involve sacrifices at all. The passage that people ordinarily cite for the notion that blood is required is Leviticus 17:11: "For the soul of the flesh is in the blood and I have assigned it for you upon the altar to provide atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that atones for the soul." But the passage that this verse comes from is not about atonement; it is about dietary laws, and the passage says only that blood is used to obtain atonement; not that blood is the only means for obtaining atonement. Leviticus 17:10-12 could be paraphrased as "Don't eat blood, because blood is used in atonement rituals; therefore, don't eat blood." Firstly it must be recognized that HaShem’s forgiveness, as enacted in the korbanot, are reserved for those whose hearts are pure, that is, for those with the intention of turning from their sin and making restitution for sinning against God. The anti-missionaries correctly quoted 2 Chronicles in an effort to demonstrate this, but again I will disagree that the focus of such “t’shuvah” (repentance) is the prayers, charity, and repentance alone (more on these three later in this commentary). I maintain that our focus can only be upon the Spotless Lamb offered for atonement, Yeshua our Yom Kippur! The Renewed Covenant will bear this out later as well. The ancient Rabbis agreed that sacrifice without true repentance invalidates the sacrifice itself! The Talmud in Tractate Yoma clearly teaches this: MISHNA: Sin-offerings and trespass-offerings atone. Death and the Day of Atonement, if one is penitent, atone. Penitence atones for slight breaches of positive or negative commandments; for grave sins, it effects a suspension, till the Day of Atonement completes the atonement. To him who says: "I will sin, repent, sin again, and repent again," is not given the opportunity to repent. For him who thinks, "I will sin; the Day of Atonement will atone for my sins," the Day of Atonement does not atone. A sin towards God, the Day of Atonement atones for; but a sin towards his fellowman is not atoned for by the Day of Atonement so long as the wronged fellowman is not righted. R. Eliezer b. Azariah lectured: It is written [Lev. xvi. 30]: "From all your sins before the Lord shall ye be clean." (This is our tradition.) The sin towards God, the Day of Atonement atones for; but sins toward man, the Day of Atonement cannot atone for till the neighbor has been appeased. | 5/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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29 Parashat Acharei Mot (Part A) | As I stated in a previous parashah, God's system of animal sacrifices, with their ability to cleanse or “wash” the flesh, was never intended to be a permanent one. Conversely, the animal sacrifices were not intended to be a “temporary fix” either. In fact the etymological background of the word Torah (the root word being an archery term meaning to “direct towards the goal”) also suggests that the fullest measure of HaShem’s atonement (Hebrew=kafar is usually translated “to atone,” “to cover over,” “make reconciliation,” “pacify,” “propitiate,” “purge.” ) was not found in the earthly copies, but rather, in the heavenly originals. Yet, during the time period of the TaNaKH, the animal sacrifices were authentically God's system. In other words, if you were a citizen of this community of former slaves, and you wanted to operate within a covenant relationship with its Savior, then you had no choice but to participate in the sacrificial system when approaching the Holy Tabernacle/Temple where God concentrated his Glory. There was no room for circumvention. Why would HaShem require exclusivity? Because, in his established order of things, only the blood could make atonement for their lives (read Leviticus 17:11). | 5/4/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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28 Parashat M'tzora | Allow me to make a midrash on the current parashah. When a person afflicted with tzara’at was recognized as such, he was banished to a place “outside of the camp” (see Vayikra 13:45; 14:3) until he could be examined by the cohen and thus receive the announcement of “tahor”. Today, we don’t really encounter too many within our midst of believers (remember, the unclean individual came from among their own!) with the deadly disease of leprosy…. Or do we? The rabbis taught that leprosy was actually an outward manifestation of a greater personal and inward spiritual disease! In particular, they believed that tzara’at was brought on by slander, gossip, and a haughty (proud) spirit. How did they arrive at this postulation? The methods of cleansing mentioned in our current portion included various plants and tree wood, to include the noble cedars (usually from Lebanon; read 14:4 and 6). The Talmud states in Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7, “…this is what Solomon said, ‘Why are the most majestic and most humble of plants, cedar wood and hyssop, combined in these rites of purification? Because man is stricken with leprosy as a punishment for being haughty and arrogant as a cedar, and when he humbles himself like the lowly hyssop he will ultimately be cured’.” The genuine healing brings with it a healing of the mind and spirit as well as the body! If the person remains outside of the camp (of genuine believers), then his healing was probably a show, and in the end it won't be just his body that perishes… His soul will also perish. A genuine and complete healing of body by the genuine Healer of hearers should be followed by a genuine healing of the sprit. The healings described in our parashah allowed the individual to come back into the community—and this was mainly on the physical level. An individual who surrenders to the Master Physician, and becomes supernaturally cured of his physical and spiritual tzara’at likewise becomes a member of the community of called-out ones. Let's do our part in helping these precious new members feel welcomed. | 4/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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27 Parashat Tazria | Chapters thirteen and fourteen discuss the topic of what is commonly called leprosy. The exact Hebrew word “tzara’at” is used over twenty times in these two passages alone. The word is used to describe an infectious skin disease. In most cases, the skin disease renders the inflicted person “tamei,” that is ritually impure. The instructions given to the priests is to examine the individual, and if found unclean, they were to leave the commonwealth of the camp (vs. 45, 46). An interesting side note to this pronouncement is that anyone coming in contact with the “unclean” was himself rendered “unclean.” Similarly, this type of disease, if chronic, was seldom if ever completely healed. There are isolated individuals, such as Na’aman in our haftarah portion (2 Kings 4:42-5:19), that were completely and miraculously healed. Yet, one of the signs (among many signs) that was said to follow the genuine promised messiah, was the healing of tzara’at (read Matthew 11:2-6; 12:22-23; John 9:1-41). Why wouldn’t the uncleanness of the afflicted render the messiah unclean? The proof that the coming messiah was a genuine and not a phony was demonstrated not only that he would heal the afflicted individual, but that he himself would not become defiled! In Yeshua’s example given in Mattityahu 8:1-4, our LORD instructed the former leper to go to the priest as a “testimony unto them” (KJV). This was done for at least two reasons: (1) in obedience to the very mitzvah found in our current parashah, vindicating Yeshua’s adherence to the Torah of Moshe, and (2) to authenticate the miracle—thus proving his claims to messiahship! In every single instance where he healed the inflicted, or raised the dead, his holiness did not decrease! His state of clean never diminished! On the contrary—disease and death always fled from his presence (reference the quote above by Marvin Wilson)! Surely he was The Messiah for those days! Surely he is The Messiah for us today! Thus we learn in at least these two instances (the one involving Yeshua’s parents, and the instance with the leper) that HaShem’s masterful instructions, as outlined in the Torah, demonstrate their usefulness on a grander scale than just for those participants of the pre-Common Era community. His specific instructions—every minute detail would serve as historical and prophetic fulfillment of the life and ministry of the greatest Cohen Gadol (High Priest) that the Nation of Isra’el would ever know! | 4/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 Parashat Sh'mini (Part D) | Romans 14:14-17 Again, as with the passage in Acts, a knowledge of the social setting as well as the original Greek words will unlock the secrets to a proper understanding of this passage. Firstly the Greek word “akathartos ajkavqarton” is not found in this passage at all. Remember, akathartos ajkavqarton conveys that which is intrinsically unclean. Sha'ul is not discussing the issue of pork vs. lamb. The word Sha'ul opts for when confessing that “nothing is unclean in itself” (Greek=oujde;n koino;n dij eJautou') is—you guessed it!—koinos koino;n! Sha'ul is discussing matters of biblically defined food being declared by one man as “okay to consume” versus another man declaring it “not okay to consume.” His conclusion to this passage is found near the final verses: 17 for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, shalom and joy in the Ruach HaKodesh. 18 Anyone who serves the Messiah in this fashion both pleases God and wins the approval of other people. 19 So then, let us pursue the things that make for shalom and mutual upbuilding. 20 Don't tear down God's work for the sake of food. True enough, all things are clean; but it is wrong for anybody by his eating to cause someone to fall away. 21 What is good is not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The belief you hold about such things, keep between yourself and God. Happy the person who is free of self-condemnation when he approves of something! 23 But the doubter comes under condemnation if he eats, because his action is not based on trust. And anything not based on trust is a sin (Emphasis, mine). The word I underlined above in verse 20 (“clean”) is the Greek word katharos kaqara, defined as “clean, pure, blameless, innocent.” Again, Sha'ul is not teaching us that the dietary list of Leviticus 11 has been discarded. In fact, Sha'ul is really reiterating what his Teacher, the Master, taught him: all is clean!... that is, until a man comes along and declares it otherwise. In the end, it is our petty differences and pride that eventually divides us. Food simply becomes the “innocent” medium that we fight about. Sha'ul states that food should not be the point of contention. This sounds amazingly like Sha'ul’s instructions to Timothy in his first letter: 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing received with thanksgiving needs to be rejected, 5 because the word of God and prayer make it holy (1 Timothy 4:5). Again, foolish men within the Torah communities are found to be pushing their foolish agendas on everyone around them, judging those who don’t hold the same opinions as them. Are we to imagine that Sha'ul’s solution is to simply yield to these apostates and accept anything and everything under the guise of ecumenism and love? Are we to now accept that homosexuality is okay? How about adultery and fornication? If you have answered “NO!” to these questions, because the Word of God will not allow you to answer otherwise, then you must follow through with your hermeneutic principle and apply the same answer to the question of whether or not everything is now to be considered food and ostensibly received with prayer and thanksgiving! This passage is not suggesting a situation where Jewish Christians are telling Gentile Christians that pork and shellfish are forbidden, with the Gentile Christians arguing that pork and shellfish are now okay in Jesus! Sha'ul’s definition of food is the very same definition that his Master held to! | 4/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 Parashat Sh'mini (Part C) | The Torah of Moshe never prohibits Jews from “keeping company” or “coming unto one of another nation.” This statement of Kefa’s reflects the “ethnocentric Jewish exclusivism” baggage that the Torah communities of his day had engineered, baggage not uncommon among people groups who are marginalized. In other words, Kefa was just regurgitating the standard mantra of his day. This did not excuse his error, which is why HaShem went through all the trouble to send him the vision in the first place. In the end, the message of the Acts 10 vision is crystal clear: Gentiles in Yeshua are not intrinsically unclean (akathartos ajkavqarton), as the 1st century Judaisms were professing. They, like all men, have been created in God’s image, and as such, can be viewed as defiled (koinos koino;n) by the stain of sin, in need of cleansing (katharizo kaqarivzw). Man, created clean, fell to a state of unclean (koinos koino;n), later to be declared cleansed (katharizo kaqarivzw) by the blood of the Sacrificial Lamb of God. To use the language of the vision: Jews are not lambs while Gentiles are pigs. Rather, Jews and Gentiles are both lambs! Both have become unclean (koinos koino;n), by sin; both have been cleansed (katharizo kaqarivzw) by Yeshua! No one is intrinsically unclean (akathartos ajkavqarton)! No one was created sinful! Born into sin, yes; created sinners, no! Kefa’s assessment (the standard Jewish song and dance) that “the Gentiles were to be avoided” was wrong from the word “go.” Gentiles are to be accepted as bonafide Isra’elites without having to succumb to any man-made conversion rites. Again, in the language of the vision: pigs (an unclean animal, viz, tamei aem'j/akathartos ajkavqarton) do not need to become lambs (a clean animal, viz, tahor r{h'J/kathairo kaqaivrw“) in order to be accepted into Isra'el. What is more, Gentiles in Yeshua are to be treated as cleansed (“katharizo kaqarivzw“) in every sense of the word! No longer should the Jewish believers view them with suspect. The sociological borders of Isra'el have been expanded to make room for those whom God is calling out from the nations into his chosen family of the faithful remnant! We have now properly demonstrated a better historical, sociological, theological, and grammatical treatment of Acts chapter 10. | 4/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 Parashat Sh'mini (Part B) | In Mark chapter 7 we don’t find Yeshua abrogating the Torah, or superceding previously stated commands with his own doctrine. Let us look at a few more verses from this passage. 18 And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) (NASB) Wait a minute! Isn't Yeshua declaring what we previously read in Leviticus as null and void? Isn't he saying that ALL food is clean? Surprisingly, he IS saying that ALL food is clean, something previously established in the Torah. Yet we commonly make our mistake when we assume that just because "all is clean,” that "all is (also) food.” This would be in direct violation of the text of Leviticus. Yeshua was discrediting the departure of direct biblical injunction in favor of man-made rules. He was not discrediting the Torah itself. On the contrary, in his own words of Matthew 5:17-20, he did not come to abolish the Torah, but to fulfill it. "All is clean,” yet, "all is not food.” My cryptic statement above means that all that the Torah defines as food is ritually clean without having to submit one’s hands to a man-made ceremonial washing before consuming it. Conversely, everything (all) that we in the 21st century church ostensibly call food is not recognized by the Torah as such. Mark’s editorial statement “thus he declared all foods clean” must be understood within the context of Yeshua’s immediate didactic teaching, as well as within the Torah and the Judaisms of the 1st century: neither Yeshua, nor his talmidim, nor the Pharisees, and certainly the Torah, would ever consider everything that we moderns call food as food! We have failed to grasp the central elements of the passage if we walk away believing that “thus he declared all foods clean” means “there is now no longer a distinction between pork and lamb: both are food and meant to be eaten with thanksgiving.” | 4/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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26 Parashat Sh'mini (Part A) | Here in the pages of our text, we find in no uncertain terms, the definition of what is "food" and what is "not food.” We also find the counterpart to our peculiar word "tamei.” It is the Hebrew word "tahor" r{h'J, translated as "clean.” Going back to our hermeneutic principle of context, these concepts of "tamei" and "tahor," as outlined in Leviticus chapter 11, fall right in the middle of a series of chapters dealing with such subjects as the consecration of Aharon and his sons as high priests (chapter 8), the details concerning sin offerings and sacrifices (chapter 9), the consequences of failing to establish a difference between the holy and the unholy (chapter 10), and the beginnings of the rulings concerning "unclean flesh," known as leprosy (chapter 12). It is within this context that HaShem explains "what is kosher" and what is "not kosher,” and consequently, what is "food" and what is "not food.” Is God the God of the Gentiles? Surely he is. It stand to reason, therefore, that the paradigm was being set in the TaNaKH that there be one Law for both the native born as well as the stranger in matters pertaining to covenant privileges. One standard was to be established and agreed upon for all Isra'el, a standard she would be held accountable for to eventually share with the surrounding nation groups as well (read Deut. 4: 1-14). Since all men share the same Creator, we can, therefore, conclude that these distinctions of holy and unholy are applicable for the surrounding nations, as well as for Isra'el. Our God is exclusive. Our God is consistent. | 4/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Omer Reisheet "First Sheaf" (Part C) | Suppose the Sadducean/Boethusian view is correct? Suppose that Omer Reisheet really starts on the morrow following the weekly Shabbat? This would put the festival on a Sunday every year. What is the impact on us now? Allow me to midrash in a different direction this time. There are seven festivals mentioned on the biblical calendar of Leviticus 23. Each festival carries a similar aspect that ties it into the complete cycle of yearly gatherings. In every single feast except one, we can observe that the instructions to “have a holy convocation” are given (technically, Pesach does not bear this description but I safely assume that the historical example of the inaugural Pesach in Egypt covers the technicality). The one that is singled out as not being identified as a convocation (gathering) is Omer Reisheet. What could the Holy One possibly be conveying to us here? The following explanation will serve as a personal drash (homiletic application) on the calendar and this day that follows the Shabbat. It is not to be understood as the objective interpretation of the text rather, it is identifiably subjective. I base my understanding, however, on the objective findings of the text itself. Isra'el was destined to be great among the surrounding nations. Theirs was a call to holiness, vividly demonstrated by their unique, God-given calendar. Surely, the many cultures and peoples that they interacted with had calendars of their own, identifying their various holy days and such. Yet Isra'el was to showcase the heavenly reality, through earthly means, that there was only One, True God under heaven worthy to be identified and worshipped as Creator. Isra'el was to teach the surrounding nations—by their own lifestyle—that “God is One” (Deut. 6:4). The pagans brought their worship of the Sun into Christianity, and its traces can be observed even today. Easter is rightly recognized as the “holiest” gathering within Christianity. Billions of followers flock to sunrise services all over the world to pay homage to the True Son who was resurrected on this day—and rightfully so! Were it not for the awesome resurrection of our LORD Yeshua from the power of death, we believers—Jew and Gentile, would have no hope in this world! Moreover, he did defeat death on that day, and we do have reason to celebrate! But do we have a biblical injunction to gather on this particular day? It is my premise that we do not. Our theology seems to be correct, yet our methodology lacks authenticity. Today, tradition still blinds us to the unchanging Truth of God’s Word—a Truth that should not be compromised! The world is watching us believers. They are observing whether or not we will make a difference between the clean and unclean, the holy and the profane, life and death! HaShem did not tell ‘Am Isra'el to “gather” on Omer Reisheet—the day after the Shabbat—which, according to the Sadducees, is Sunday itself!—in order to separate his truth from the error of paganism (remember sun worship has existed since the days of Bavel). I believe that the people of the TaNaKH set the biblical example NOT to gather on that special Sunday during the Passover Week for a true heavenly reason. Why have we failed to grasp this truth? Surely Yeshua was raised from death to life on that morning following the Sabbath! Surely he is the “firstfruits from the dead”! He is the first person to be raised unto a resurrection of incorruptible flesh! Although our flesh still houses sin, his flesh was sinless before his death on the execution stake; his resurrection demonstrates for us genuine believers what a resurrected body will be made like—raised to life everlasting! Why then do we continue to confuse this wonderful truth with our man-made traditions? Isn't it time we start demonstrating his holiness by the very days that we gather together on? | 4/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Omer Reisheet "First Sheaf" (Part B) | The foregoing considerations have shown, first, that the sign of Jonah given by Yeshua to prove His Messiahship consisted not in an exact 72-hour entombment, but in His Resurrection on the third day after His death. Second, the phrase "three days and three nights" (Matt 12:40) is an idiomatic expression which in Bible times meant not necessarily three complete 24-hour days (72 hours), but rather three calendric days, of which the first and the third could have consisted of only a few hours. The latter conclusion is supported by the prevailing inclusive method of day-reckoning, by the parallel usage of the phrases "after three days" and "on the third day," and by the uninterrupted chronological sequence of days which does not allow for three complete 24-hour days. A recognition of these facts adequately explains how Yeshua fulfilled His prediction of a "three days and three nights" entombment by being buried on Friday afternoon and rising early on Sunday morning. | 4/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Omer Reisheet "First Sheaf" (Part A) | Issues Surrounding the “Timing” of Omer Reisheet Some readers will readily note that history has been generally “unkind” to this particular festival. What do I mean by “unkind”? I mean to draw your attention to the fact that no less than three prominent Jewish sects have come to interpret the timing associated with the start of this count in at least three respective, but differing ways. Author Tim Hegg has brilliantly noted such differences in his short paper ‘Counting the Omer’, viewable from his web site http://www.torahresource.com/ At least three different sects understood the chronology of the omer counting differently: a) the majority of the Jewish community, and perhaps particularly those in Judea, near Jerusalem, considered the phrase “the morrow after the Sabbath" to be the day following the opening sabbath of Chag HaMatzot, that is, the 16th of Nisan; b) a sub-group of the Sadducees, the Boethusians, took the Leviticus text to mean “the morrow after the (weekly) Sabbath," and thus commenced their counting on the day following the first weekly Sabbath within the festival week. c) the Qumran sect apparently understood the Sabbath in question to be the final day of Chag HaMatzot, and thus began their counting on the first day of the week following the completed festival. So, which view is correct and how does it impact you the reader? Depending on which view you go with, the impact will determine the date you celebrate Shavu’ot fifty days later! | 4/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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HaMatzah "Unleavened Bread" | The wonderful reality that is ours is that the [1 Cor. 5:7, 8] directly associates us with “unleavened bread”. This is our new identity in Yeshua HaMashiach! This is our true identity! His sacrifice redeemed us from the slavery of the sin of “spiritual Egypt”, and changed our very constitution! We are actually a completely new batch of dough! Rav Sha’ul is therefore instructing us to start living as if this reality has been internalized already—for indeed it should be by now! His further instructions in this passage act as an explicit teaching for the Messianic Community of the first century not to neglect the divine invitation to observe the Passover, complete with HaMatzah. After all, is not the verse saying, “So let us celebrate the Seder….”? These instructions can be applied to the Body of believers today, without falling into the trappings of legalism and the like. I hope that each believer reading this article will at some time in his or her spiritual walk desire to attend a Passover Seder. I encourage each one of you to expand your understanding of these biblical feast days. Finally, with the feast of HaMatzah comes the understanding that only the Messiah Yeshua is the sinless Lamb of God. In my opening statement to the commentary on Pesach I stated that Yeshua literally fulfilled each of the first four feasts of Leviticus chapter 23. How did he fulfill HaMatzah? Aside from celebrating this feast with his Torah-observant family year after year, his body—the True Bread from heaven, was without leaven in any sense of the word. His sinless life represents the heavenly matzah offered on HaShem’s Passover plate. During our earthly Seders, we partake of the middle piece of matzah, also known by its Greek name “afikomen”. It is this middle piece that is hidden and redeemed during the ceremony. Messianics understand this symbolism to represent Yeshua’s “unleavened body” being placed in the grave (hidden) for three days and nights, only to be redeemed (rise again) by his resurrection power from on high. We believers so aptly capture this reality in our various “communion” services. Let us celebrate the festival of HaMatzah with joy! Personal examination. Take time to conduct a spiritual inspection of your walk with HaShem. Allow this Spirit-led introspection to reveal where the leaven is hidden. You just may be surprised to find out where the leaven in your life is hanging out! I know that I always am. In order to make this time period more effective, we need to use the most effective tool for this particular job! The Torah. | 4/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Pesach "Passover" (Part A) | G-d declared Passover (Pesach) to be a permanent celebration for all eternity (Exodus [Shemot] 12:2,6,13-14). Historically, Passover (Pesach) celebrates G-d's deliverance of the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt (Mitzrayim), where they were slaves to the Egyptians (Exodus [Shemot] 2:23-24; 6:5-8; 13:3,14). The spiritual application that G-d wants us to understand is this: Egypt (Mitzrayim) is a type of the world and the world's system. Its ruler, Pharaoh, was a type of satan (Ha satan). The bondage people are in when they live according to the ways of the world's system is sin (John [Yochanan] 8:34). Historically, the children of Israel were delivered from the bondage in Egypt (Mitzrayim) by putting the blood of a lamb upon the doorposts of their houses (Exodus [Shemot] 12:2,6,13). Spiritually, this is a picture of the Messiah Yeshua and how those who believe in Him are delivered from the bondages of sin and the rule of satan (Ha satan) in their lives. Yeshua is the Lamb of G-d (John [Yochanan] 1:29). Yeshua is also our Passover (Pesach) (1 Corinthians 5:7). Those who follow Yeshua are the house of G-d (Hebrews 3:6; 1 Peter [Kefa] 2:5). The doorposts are our hearts. It is only through trusting by faith (emunah) in the shed blood of Yeshua (Jesus), our Passover (Pesach), that we are free from the bondage of sin (Galatians 4:3-5,9; 5:1; 2 Peter [Kefa] 2:19). This is because the blood of Yeshua redeems us from sin (Leviticus [Vayikra] 17:11; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; 1 Peter [Kefa] 1:18-19; 1 John [Yochanan] 1:7; Revelation 1:5). During Passover (Pesach), the head of each household was to take a lamb of the first year on the tenth day of the first month known as Nisan and set it aside until the fourteenth day (Exodus [Shemot] 12:3-6). In the evening of the fourteenth day, at exactly 3:00 p.m., the lamb was to be killed (Exodus [Shemot] 12:6). The blood of the lamb was to be sprinkled on the lintel and two side posts of the household door. The lamb was to be roasted with fire, with bitter herbs, and with unleavened bread, and the entire household was to feast upon the body of the lamb (Exodus [Shemot] 12:7-8). The people were instructed by G-d to eat the lamb with haste and to be dressed and ready to leave Egypt (Mitzrayim) at the midnight hour. This would be the fifteenth day of Nisan (Exodus [Shemot] 12:10-11). At midnight on that fateful evening in Egypt, death passed through the land. Every house that did not have the token of the blood on the doorposts and lintel suffered the judgment of G-d (Exodus [Shemot] 12:12-15). The Hebrew word for Passover is Pesach, which means "to pass or hover over." This word speaks to us about two things. First, it shows the passing over in judgment from death and sin to life in Yeshua. Second, it tells us about allowing, by faith (emunah), the blood of Yeshua to hover over our lives and give us divine protection from the evil one (Ha satan). | 4/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Pesach "Passover" (Part D) | Q: 5) Didn't Ywhw command the priests NOT to drink alcoholic beverages before entering into Temple Service? Isn't that (in part--also the illegal incense) why Aaron's sons died? Wouldn't that make alcohol for Passover strictly forbidden? And if it is so for the Priests--born again believers ALL being Priests after the order of Melchizadec, what does that imply? It seems Ywhw takes a DIM view of alcohol, considering it a DEFILING agent, if you ask me... A: "A specific injunction or prohibition should not be liberally applied to every other situation which bears resemblance to the original one. In other words, if HaShem told the priests not to drink alcohol before entering into Temple Service, does that make it applicable to today's Seder service? I should like to think that this is Scriptural interpolation rather that extrapolation. We don't have license to read into the past, what we know or suppose today (Example: Genesis 18:1-8 *the rabbis try to make a case for Avraham not having served his three guests milk and meat together, by supposing that there was the standard rabbinical waiting period of three hours between the two courses. Of course their speculation is absurd since the Torah makes no mention of any such gap!). The Torah has nothing inherently bad to say about alcohol, only drunkenness. To be sure, every day, while the Tabernacle/Temple stood, Isra'el was commanded to bring the ‘Olah Tamid the “regular burnt offering (Num. 28:1-8).” In these verses “strong drink” (Heb: nesekh sheykhar = distilled alcohol) is clearly commanded. In verses 16-25 the regulations concerning the Pesach offering are outlined. Clearly the Torah commands the ‘Olah Tamid to accompany the Korban Pesach (verse 24). The implication is that alcohol is fine during Pesach. Only beers containing ingredients made from one of the 5 grains are to excluded. Once again, for today, grace teaches that alcohol be mostly a matter of the individual conscience. Do I drink it? Only on special occasions (such as Passover, Communion, special social gatherings, etc). I do not prefer the taste of malt beverages at all. If my brother sees Rabbi Ariel with wine in his glass, and this sight causes him to stumble, then I must be careful of the social image that I am sending." | 4/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Pesach "Passover" (Part C) | We know that Yeshua is the Passover lamb, as foreshadowed in the TaNaKH. But did Yeshua “keep” the Passover? How could he have “eaten the Passover meal (i.e. the lamb)” while at the same time “represent the lamb being slain as the sacrifice?” The question often asked that must first be answered is: Did Yeshua and his disciples keep the Passover at the appointed time? First, it appears clear that Yeshua and his disciples did eat the Passover supper. Two things make this apparent. The LORD promised the disciples that he would “keep the Passover” (Mt. 26:18), which is the equivalent of “eat the Passover” (Mk. 14:14). He appointed the place for that event and gave instructions for the preparation (Mk. 14:12ff). The Synoptic texts (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) then harmoniously flow toward the evening of that very day, and depict Yeshua as “eating” with the disciples (Mt. 26:21; Mk. 14:18). The Torah of Moses is binding for all time, and the LORD was very careful to do all that the law commanded (Mt. 5:17-18; Jn. 8:29). Since the Passover was a part of the law’s requirement, the LORD obviously partook of this feast. The testimony of the Synoptics is clear and decisive that Yeshua and his disciples observed the Passover. | 4/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Pesach "Passover" (Part B) | Traditional Judaism has the right to reject or accept the Good News of Yeshua the Messiah. All men have this religious right of free choice. But this feature is what makes the Gospel so wonderful! It is by free choice that we as mankind choose to embrace Yeshua as Messiah! And it is this important choice that opens the invitation to the very presence of HaShem into our lives as personal LORD. To be sure HaShem’s intent is to draw us close to him in genuine, loving fellowship. To this end, he has designed the entire flow of the Torah to lead us to the goal of developing the kind of trusting faithfulness that produces obedience and surrender to his Son, Yeshua HaMashiach! This is what Rav Sha'ul meant when he said in Romans 10:4 that "Christ is the end of the Law". Here, as quoted from the KJV, the word "end" MUST mean "goal" in order for the verse to make any sense! If Christ is the "cessation" to the Law then Christ himself is a liar since he specifically stated in Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:17-20 that he did NOT come to abolish (KJV: "destroy") the Law! A Bible commentary which explains the verses in Romans as "ending the Law" is a commentary which seriously misunderstands the continuity of the Law (Torah) as well as the mission and purposes of the Messiah, and ultimately the eternal Plans of God himself. Once again let me state in no uncertain terms: "The entire flow of the Torah leads us to the goal of developing the kind of trusting faithfulness that produces obedience and surrender to Yeshua". Here now is a general list and explanation of why Jews don't believe that Jesus is the Messiah. The material contained here in this outline will contradict what I personally believe to be Truth. But for the sake of my argument, for the next section I must speak as a non-Christian, as a non-Messianic Jew. I am only sharing this with you here for reference sake. I do NOT espouse to the arguments here. I am proud to be a Messianic Jewish man, having faith in Messiah as both Son of God and Son of Man. ------------ Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus For 2,000 years, Jews have rejected Christianity. Why? Jews do not accept Jesus as the messiah because: 1) Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies. 2) Christianity contradicts Jewish theology. 3) Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications of the Messiah. 4) Biblical verses "referring" to Jesus are mistranslations. 5) Jewish belief is based on national revelation. 6) Jews and Gentiles 7) Bringing the Messiah | 4/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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25 Parashat Tzav (Part B) | And who were Moshe and Aharon? Why, they were the very ones standing before the people now being demonstrated as HaShem’s anointed chosen ones! I’m sure that the golden calf incident wasn’t completely erased from the memories of these two great leaders, or from the people as well. Imagine what they must’ve been thinking that day! Were they perfect? Far from it! Would they yet make serious mistakes in the future to come? Would HaShem still punish them for these shortcomings? Well, I think you get the idea. By reading ahead into the narrative we find that even though they were chosen for an awesome task which placed them in the very presence of God—sometimes on an everyday basis, their lives were lived out the same way that HaShem expects us to live as his children today…. By faith. Anointed? Surely! Right down to their decorated belts (read 8:6-13, 30)! It is easy sometime to place the “Old Testament saints” into some sort of different reality of life than that of our own today. We imagine that with all of that glory radiating from the Holiest Place that they were more than human and that it was easy to serve God. We complain that we live in a day and age when the voice of God is difficult to hear. Did Moshe and Aharon really have it easier? What about our LORD Yeshua? He was 100% human just like Moshe and Aharon—just like you and me! 100% human and yet 100% God! Moreover, the Torah tells us that, in facing temptation—he did not sin! What an awesome reality for me to rest my faith in! Moshe and Aharon sinned, and HaShem forgave them. They turned around and sinned again, and still HaShem forgave them! And these were the two men that handled all of that “holy stuff” that we are reading about in our current Torah portion! Where does that place you and me? Yeshua became like us—frail and human, so that he might intimately identify with our weaknesses—including Moshe and Aharon—and thus become our ultimate High Priest! Because of his anointing we are also counted as anointed! | 3/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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25 Parashat Tzav (Part A) | The Torah promises that when we surrender to the Ruach HaKodesh and become living vessels to be used for his glory, that he places the Torah on our inward parts—our hearts! Yeshua described us as the “Light for the world” (read Matt. 5:14-16)! What a blessed description of our spiritual function, given at the mouth of the Source of all Light—the Messiah himself! When we allow his Light to be kindled within us, the entire world is made to see the wonderful goodness of his perfect grace and mercy! The entire world gains a chance to become involved in the perfect plans and purposes that our Loving, Heavenly Abba has prepared for those who genuinely love him! We must keep our eternal lamp lit for those around us to see! How do we accomplish this? The Torah tells us that we must daily maintain these temples. As living lamps, the day-to-day activities of this world can fill us with ashes, as we attempt to maintain a constant flame upon the altar of our souls. It is up to us to change these ashes—remove them from our lives on a day-to-day basis! As with the actual eternal flame, HaShem understood that in order to perform this mitzvah, the priests had to monitor the flame on an everyday basis. So it is with our lives today. We must not let the Flame of the Good News of the Messiah’s atoning death extinguish from our temples for even a single day! The world needs to see this Light continually! Yet, for us, it will also entail a daily maintenance of removing the ashes, and checking to see if the Flame is burning brightly. How do we accomplish this awesome task? In the Mishkan, HaShem saw to it that the priests never had to want for supplies, with which to perform their daily functions. Do you think that our God is any different today? In Romans chapter 12 we read, “I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you.” (Verse 1) We see here in this passage that our lives are likened to the service of the priests of which we are reading about in Leviticus! Yes, as believers in Messiah we are all priests unto our LORD! Just as the light, holiness, and sanctity of the Mishkan was maintained by daily service, so too our lives are to be maintained and marked by a constant “performance of the mitzvot,” that is, a consistent surrendering to his Light and holiness! | 3/26/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 Parashat Vayikra (Part C) | HaShem’s intent is to draw us close to him in genuine, loving fellowship. To this end, he has designed the entire flow of the Torah to lead us to the goal of developing the kind of trusting faithfulness that produces obedience and surrender to his Son, Yeshua HaMashiach! In the Torah, we see that a broken and contrite heart is the seedbed that will produce such a trust in HaShem. The sacrifices make up for the fact that we are less than perfect (sinless or blameless) in our attempt to secure a right relationship with our Heavenly Abba. Does the Torah expect perfection? No. Rather, it anticipates our failures and shortcomings, and consequently, makes the necessary provisions for them to be taken care of. Consider the example of the parents of Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptiser) in Luke 1:6. The Torah states, in no uncertain terms that, "Both of them were righteous before God, observing all the mitzvot and ordinances of ADONAI blamelessly." Today HaShem is still speaking…bidding…indeed "calling" unto his children. The B’rit Chadashah (Apostolic Scriptures) informs us, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Hebrews 1:1-3, KJV) Yes, HaShem is calling to us through the person of his only, unique Son! He desires for us to draw close to him in with a true heart! The paradox lies in the fact that unless he draws us, we will not seek his face, yet he bids us to seek him so that in seeking, he may indeed be found! | 3/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 Parashat Vayikra (Part B) | With the tamid explained we are better poised to examine the remaining five offerings of Leviticus chapters 1-5. These five are the types of offerings introduced in the opening pages of Leviticus: 'Olah (Burnt Offering) – Lev. 1:1-17 Minchah (Grain Offering) – Lev. 2:1-16 Sh’lamim (Peace Offering) – Lev. 3:1-17 Chata’at (Sin Offering) – Lev. 4:1-35; 5:1-13 ‘Asham (Guilt Offering) – Lev. 5:14-26 The first three could easily be considered “freewill offerings”, brought before HaShem by anyone at various times in the life of anyone in the community. The last two were required to make restitution for various sins. Such korbanot (chata’at and ’asham) are referred to as “expiatory”. The expiatory korbanot shall occupy the bulk of the latter part of this commentary. | 3/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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24 Parashat Vayikra (Part A) | As I stated in a previous parashah, God's system of animal sacrifices, with their ability to cleanse or “wash” the flesh, was never intended to be a permanent one. Conversely, the animal sacrifices were not intended to be a “temporary fix” either. In fact the etymological background of the word Torah (the root word being an archery term meaning to “direct towards the goal”) also suggests that the fullest measure of HaShem’s atonement (Hebrew=kafar is usually translated “to atone,” “to cover over,” “make reconciliation,” “pacify,” “propitiate,” “purge.” ) was not found in the earthly copies, but rather, in the heavenly originals. Yet, during the time period of the TaNaKH, the animal sacrifices were authentically God's system. In other words, if you were a citizen of this community of former slaves, and you wanted to operate within a covenant relationship with its Savior, then you had no choice but to participate in the sacrificial system when approaching the Holy Tabernacle/Temple where God concentrated his Glory. There was no room for circumvention. Why would HaShem require exclusivity? Because, in his established order of things, only the blood could make atonement for their lives (read Leviticus 17:11). Tim Hegg makes a case for the meaning of the word kafar rpk as “wipe off, smear on” in this quote from a short paper available from his site at torahresource.com as of 3-20-07... | 3/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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23 Parashat P'kudei | With Parashat P’kudei (say “P-koo-day”) we have reached our final parashah of the book of Sh’mot (Exodus). Remember that I’ve explained to you that the word “sh’mot” is the plural form of the Hebrew word “shem” which means, “name”. We’ve discussed some pretty significant names in the book of Sh’mot. The parashah is relatively short, like it’s previous portion, and is read with Parashat Vayak’hel in regular years. Our current and final portion of Sh’mot ends with the assurance that the Spirit of the Holy One led them every day and night during their time in the wilderness: “For the cloud of ADONAI was above the tabernacle during the day, and fire was in [the cloud] at night, so that all the house of Isra’el could see it throughout all their travels.” (40:38) Every single incident and detail mentioned above has been under the divine care and leading of our Unmatchable Heavenly Abba! Even our gross (surely upsetting) sin doesn’t escape the plans of God. If we place our genuine, trusting faithfulness in his Loving Hand, then our journeys, like that of ‘Am Yisra’el, will not be arbitrary. On the contrary, the B’rit Chadashah promises us that our relationship with HaShem through Messiah Yeshua is indeed on a well-planned out course (read Romans 8:28-30)! This road of “faith in Messiah” is non other than a course of righteousness and glorification! “Halleluyah!” That is something to get excited about! It is customary after the completion of a book of the Torah to say, “Chazak, chazak, v’nit’chazek!” (Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!) | 3/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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22 Parashat Vayak'hel (Part B) | The "Old Testament" saints were not "saved" by a different system than the one in which we rely on. If they were, then this would suggest that there were really two separate ways unto righteousness—a theory, which we know, cannot be true. To be sure, Yeshua himself stated emphatically that he was THE way, and that NO man can come unto the Father except through HIM. The sacrifices, performed with a genuine heart of repentance, afforded real-life forgiveness, but only to the purification of the flesh! However, the temporal blood of the animals in and of themselves—and by themselves—could not even take away sin; only the eternal blood of the Perfect Sacrifice—to which the animals pointed—could purify both flesh and soul. Thus you could say that the blood of the animals “moved” as it were, the sin from the body of the person to the Mercy Seat (the earthly altar) where God would in fact grant genuine atonement (washing of sins in the flesh) because of the reality of the Heavenly Altar. The objective faith of the individual still remained dependant upon God’s Promised Word to Come, namely Yeshua himself, yet his obedience was demonstrated by adherence to explicit Torah commands where sacrifices were concerned. What is more, the salvation of the eternal soul of an individual was always dependant upon a circumcised heart, exactly as it is today. In summary then, the sacrificial system was not designed to bring the participant to the goal, namely a purged conscience and salvation of the individual. Sacrifices were for dealing with sin in the flesh. Only genuine faith in the Promised One could move God’s heart to reckon to one’s account “righteousness” as was done for Avraham. The Torah was weak in that it could not bring to the goal of salvation the heart of an individual. Only the Spirit’s supernatural work could—and always will be able to—do that. | 3/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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22 Parashat Vayak'hel (Part A) | As I stated in a previous parashah, God's system of animal sacrifices was never intended to be a permanent one. In fact the etymological background of the word Torah (the root word being an archery term meaning to “direct towards the goal”) also suggests that the fullest measure of HaShem’s forgiveness was not found in the earthly copies, but rather, in the heavenly originals. Yet, during the time period of the TaNaKH, the animal sacrifices were authentically God's system. In other words, if you were a citizen of this community of former slaves, and you wanted to operate within a covenant relationship with its Savior, then you had no choice but to participate in the sacrificial system. There was no room for circumvention. Why would HaShem require exclusivity? Because, in his established order of things, only the blood could make atonement for their lives (read Leviticus 17:11). Moreover, he was teaching each and every participant an important aspect of his established spiritual laws. The entire Levitical Priesthood and its order of things served to point the way to the ultimate sacrifice that would take place in Messiah Yeshua. We know this using our hindsight, which is 20/20. In fact, as the budding young nation learned to walk in their new calendar—HaShem’s calendar, they would have the opportunity to learn about a great many aspects of the unfathomable grace and mercy of their Husband. In singling out just the Feast Days as an example, we have noted that the word for “appointed time” is “mo-eyd.” Interestingly, this meaning conveys the sense of the “dress rehearsals” that occur before an actual play. In this way, HaShem masterfully designed the Mikra’ey Kodesh (Holy Convocations) to act as dress rehearsals for his children. “Of what?” you might ask. The Feasts of ADONAI are dress rehearsals of Messianic Redemption. | 3/12/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 Parashat Ki Tissa (Part C) | Chapter 34 5-7 This is the famous "Thirteen Attributes of Mercy", of HaShem, as identified by the sages. The ministry of which I was a former writer, First Fruits of Zion, has this to say about these attributes: "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty…" This passage—or ‘The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy’ as the rabbis call these verses—has become one of the central doctrinal expressions in Judaism. The verses have found their way into the Siddur and are recited on fast days and Yom Kippur. According to Hertz, "All schools of Jewish thought agree that these momentous and sublime attributes enshrine some of the most distinctive doctrines of Judaism." What does God’s forgiveness and compassion actually look like in flesh and blood? The answer, of course, is that we should look immediately to Yeshua the Messiah. For, "in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form." (Colossians 2:9). By looking for these Thirteen Attributes in the person of the Messiah, we are implying that there is an intimate connection between the Messiah and God. This is not just an imitative connection, but a substantive one—as the Lord is, so is the Messiah. Moreover, Messiah is the walking embodiment of all of these Thirteen Attributes.' (Taken from a commentary to Ki Tissa, March 6, 1999, available at http://www.ffoz.org) | 3/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 Parashat Ki Tissa (Part B) | Along with the fact that it is a memorial of Creation, the Sabbath day is also an identification of HaShem's authority. Only he could set a day apart as holy (read B'resheet 2:1-3). Only he could sanctify a day as an eternal memorial of his uniqueness. No other created being has this authority. This includes man. This includes religious institutions. When we attempt to override this authority, we undermine the very character, identification, and nature of our All-mighty God. Once we find ourselves playing God, it is then that we are in serious trouble. While it is true that we have been given the authority to make lasting decisions governing everyday communal matters (read Mattityahu 18:15-20 to understand an often-misunderstood application of heavenly authority), we have not been given the authority to switch God's Sabbath Day, nor to abrogate it. | 3/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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21 Parashat Ki Tissa (Part A) | Chapter 31 1-11 I have singled out B'tzal'el the son of Uri the son of Hur, of the tribe of Y'hudah and his assistant Oholi'av the son of Achisamakh, of the tribe Dan. These men were supernaturally gifted to oversee the construction of the fore-mentioned Mishkan (Tabernacle) and its furniture. The lesson is obvious: when HaShem sends his people to perform a task, he will also equip them with the necessary skill and gifting to accomplish the task for his glory. Conversely, if someone is occupying an office within the Body of Messiah, and there seems to be a lack of supernatural gifting and ability to function correctly within the said office, then the individual might want to "re-check" his or her calling to make sure they're in the right spot. | 3/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Purim "Lots" (Part B) | What can be done to undo some of the damage, and help repair the split between Avram’s offspring and the Church? Since most of my readership is likely composed of Christians and Messianic Jews, I will focus my energies in those camps. More information than I can post in this limited format is available to anyone who is serious in answering this timely and important question. I’m sure you will agree the following suggestions are a start in the right direction (from Christian to non-Messianic Jew): • Begin to pray about getting actively involved in the current move of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), to bring about a genuine, heartfelt love for Avram’s offspring, oriented from the Church and flowing outwards. • Ask HaShem to reveal to you your heart, and to forgive you if you have unknowingly harbored these types of thoughts towards Avram’s offspring. God is still in the business of forgiveness! What my brothers according to the flesh (traditional Judaism, unsaved Jews, non-Messianic Jews, secular Jews, etc) need is to experience the mercy of HaShem, displayed through our honest concern and support! • Ask HaShem to begin to reveal to you your spiritual heritage traced through faithful Avram and continuing through to his offspring, the Jewish People. You will find that according to Romans chapter 11 (just to name a good starting point), you also have some obligations to the “root that supports you.” Even after this genuine call for restoration, some people will yet refuse to change their conventional ways of thinking. To be sure, I don’t expect Gentiles to begin flooding my e-mail with letters asking me to forgive them for “lightly esteeming the Jews”. No, this type of heartfelt change is not accomplished overnight, and it can only make a difference if the Ruach HaKodesh is genuinely involved. As a Torah Teacher, I expect that it will take some time for human nature to readjust its mindset, and line up with what HaShem wants us to be. To be sure, the change must start with this author. After all, which one of us is perfect? Only the man Yeshua from Natzeret was. Please feel free to drop me a line, in care of this web site, if you still have questions or comments in this area. You may also e-mail me personally. My address is provided at the end of this teaching. | 3/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Purim "Lots" (Part A) | The events surrounding the Purim story have long since been attributed to divine intervention—and rightfully so. For even though the name of God is not mentioned anywhere within the book, surely it is his mighty hand which delivers the Jews from the evil plot of Haman. Consider these four “coincidences:” 1. If Amalak hadn’t aligned themselves against God’s chosen people, the bitter ongoing war with them would not have produced a people who would forever be identified as the “enemies of the Jews” (read Exodus 17:8-15). 2. If king Sha’ul had destroyed all of the Amalakites (whom the sages teach was completely assembled together that day) as HaShem had ordered him to (read 1 Samuel chapter 15), then there would not have even been born a Haman, descendant of that wicked King Agag (see Ester 3:1,where we learn that Haman is a descendant of Agag). 3. If Ester had not have been in the right place at the right time, the demise of the Jews might have been certain (read Mordekhai’s statement in Ester 4:12-14). 4. If Mordekhai had not been in the right place at the right time, the Jews’ demise might have been certain (read Ester 2:21-23; 6:1-13). So we see that even though God is not specifically mentioned—surely he was with his people! For, the God we serve does not leave circumstances to chance! He is always leading, guiding, instructing and protecting those who are his own—even in the midst of disobedience (remember that Y’hudah was exiled for her gross idolatry; reference the entire book of Jeremiah)! But Haman the Jew-hater could have learned a thing or two from reading the Torah of Moshe! If he had read, he would have learned that to align himself against God’s chosen people is to align himself against God! Indeed every single wicked nation that has plotted to destroy the Jews has met with the wrath of HaShem, and has consequently all but been wiped from the face of the earth. Bible prophecy tells us of 8 famous, wicked kingdoms. Here is a summary of those kingdoms; it’s ruler or main leader, and the Bible reference: 1. Egypt: the Pharaoh (Exodus 1:8-16; 5:2) 2. Assyria: Shalman’eser (2 Kings 17:1-6) 3. Babylon: N’vukhadretzar (Jeremiah 25:9; 39:1) 4. Medo-Persia: Haman (Ester 1:1-3; 3:10-13) 5. Greece: Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 8:11; 23-25) 6. Rome: Herod (Matthew 2:1-16) Now these above-mentioned six are recorded for us in the Bible so that we might know that the word mentioned to Avraham (read Genesis 12:1-3) is true. The Bible also alluded to the seventh—and even soon to come eighth evil empire, which both sought and will seek to destroy the Jews. In Revelation 17:10 and 11 we are given a glimpse of the past, present, and future of the evil anti-Christ and his wicked kingdoms. Verse 10 states, concerning his wicked kingdoms, that five have fallen, which correspond to 1-5 above; one is (that is, yet exists in John’s day), which corresponds to #6 above; and that one is yet to come. I believe that, by using the criteria mentioned in Rev. 17:10b, that the seventh wicked kingdom very well might have been Nazi Germany and it’s wicked ruler Adolph Hitler. Certainly this kingdom (like the previous six) persecuted the Jews! Certainly this ruler (like the previous six) hated the Jews, and aligned himself against them! Even though Hitler himself boasted that his Third Reich would last for 1000 years, this kingdom only lasted a “short space (KJV)”—a scant 12 years. Thanks be unto God that the holocaust only lasted that long! | 3/7/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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20 Tetzaveh (Part B) | In chapter 29 of our current portion, we catch a glimpse of the importance of blood sacrifice. Our God is a God of covenants. His covenants are ratified with the shedding of blood. The old Christian hymnal says it all: "There's power in the blood!" Actually, the reason that there is "power" in the blood is because the Torah explicitly teaches that there is "life" in the blood. The Torah paints a picture in 29:10-45 that an acceptable sacrifice sanctifies both the altar and the person who touches the altar (29:37). The sacrifice served an important function in the life of the average Isra'elite. Allow me to conduct a word study to explain. In our text of Ephesians chapter two we read, "But now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah's blood. (2:13) There is a play on words found in the Hebrew thought conveyed in this passage, but not found in the English or the Greek. The Hebrew word for "sacrifice" is "karban". The sacrifice in question here is undoubtedly Yeshua's own. His was the spotless offering that was placed on God's altar, for the remission of the sins of the world. In our parashah we are told that the offerings of the morning and evening lambs, offered at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, would create a pleasing aroma before ADONAI. These offerings would be at the place where HaShem would meet with and speak to the people (29:38-43). Moreover, verses 45-46 go on to promise that HaShem would live among his people (read last week's parashah), and that they would indeed know that he was the very one who delivered them from the slavery of Egypt. The sacrifice brought the people near to their God and it brought God near to his people. The Hebrew word translated as "near" in our above passage in Ephesians, is "karav". Here is the play on words: because of the sacrifice (karban) of Yeshua, we have been brought near (karav) to our Holy God! In fact, the two Hebrew words share the exact same root word. These words are not to be confused with the Hebrew word "keruv" which is translated as "cherub". Even though it was between the wings of the "k'ruvim" (cherubim) that the Glory of God was manifested, and it was the Mercy Seat (cover to the Ark) where the blood was splashed. The point is clear: our God instructed his people to offer the blood sacrifices in order that the covenant requirements might be met. Covenants are our key to relationship with an otherwise unapproachable, Holy God. It started with a sacrifice in B'resheet 3:21, and since then, there has existed a "scarlet thread" that has run through the entire Bible! | 2/28/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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20 Tetzaveh (Part A) | The detailed account of the Tabernacle and its functions begins with a recount of the maintenance of the Menorah (Lamp Stand) that was found in the Holy Place. This lamp, if you will remember from last week's reading, was formed from a solid piece of pure gold. It is believed that this lamp weighed as much as sixty-six pounds! This was no light structure (pardon the pun). The menorah easily symbolizes the Messiah. Yeshua stated that he is the Light of the World. The menorah provided a glorious, eternal light to the priests who ministered within the Holy Place. Our previous parashah described the menorah as having seven lamps. The number seven in the Torah represents perfection. If the menorah is a symbol of our perfect Messiah, then where in the Torah can we find a correlation to the number seven? Let's take a look at a familiar passage in Yesha'yahu (Isaiah). In Yesha'yahu 11:1-5, we are given a vivid description of the coming Messiah. All rabbinical sources, as well as Christian scholars agree that this passage is a prophecy concerning the long-awaited Savior. The "Branch of Yishai" is a reference to his bloodline. Yishai (Jesse) was the father of Dah-vid the King. It was a well-known fact that the Messiah was to be born from Dah-vid's loins. The Torah describes him this way: "The Spirit of ADONAI will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and fearing ADONAI—he will be inspired by fearing ADONAI. (11:2) As can be observed, the Spirit is referred to SEVEN times, and in an orderly fashion: (1) - the Spirit of ADONAI; (2) and (3) – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding; (4) and (5) – the Spirit of counsel and power; (6) and (7) – the Spirit of knowledge and fearing ADONAI. This is not an arbitrary use of words coined by the naviy (prophet). Yesha'yahu was writing under the direct inspiration of the very Spirit that he was speaking about! | 2/28/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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19 Parashat T'rumah | I want to develop the “temporary dwelling place” theme for our study. From this commentary, the reader will soon see that there is a lot of “Messianic redemptive history” tied up in the concept of “dwelling”. HaShem has had a grand plan of becoming the one and only God of his people, from the beginning of history. Having said that, I will work from a basic outline this time. Let’s examine my main points: 1. Dwelling with men: Past History A. Exodus 25:1, 2, 8, 9 B. Leviticus 23:34-43; 26:11, 12 C. Ezekiel 37:27, 28 (Prophetic) 2. Dwelling with men: Present Reality A. John 1:14; 14:23b; 17:23 B. Hebrews 8:1, 2, 10 C. Jeremiah 31:33 (Prophetic) 3. Dwelling with men: Future Redemption A. Romans 11:25, 26 B. Revelation 21:3 C. Zechariah 14:16 (Prophetic) | 2/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 Parashat Mishpatim (Part C) | In our current portion, everything was sprinkled with blood. The book of Hebrews informs us that, in accordance to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood. This ceremony was performed on the earthly copies; Yeshua's is that effectual, atoning blood sprinkled on the heavenly originals! To be sure, Hebrews goes on to say that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin! How could Moshe and the elders be in the presence of the Sinless One without a covering? The blood was their covering! If you want a "revelation", and need to be cleansed, come into the presence of the Living God of Isra'el! But be warned: You cannot experience his Glorious Presence without a "covering" of some sort! What covering am I referring to? The sinless blood of his Son, of course! Today, if you will receive the gift of the Son, the Spirit of HaShem will write the Torah of HaShem upon the doorposts of your heart! If you place your trusting faithfulness in the fullest, complete, visibly manifested presence of HaShem, that is his Son, then you will also receive a "revelation" of him who is the Living Torah! And you WILL be cleansed! | 2/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 Parashat Mishpatim (Part B) | Chapter 21 – Verses 22-27 speak about restitution in the event of accidental injury. We are familiar with the saying, "An eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth." We remember that our LORD Yeshua made a comment about this in the B'rit Chadashah book of Mattityahu 5:38-42. Chapter 22 – Verses 21-27 show us the compassionate heart that God has towards those less fortunate in our community. The widow, orphan, stranger, and the poor have always held a special place in our Heavenly Abba's eyes. We are challenged with establishing a communal system that will meet their needs. Indeed, Yeshua also challenged us when he stated that the poor would always be with us. Chapter 23 – Verses 10-33 form one complete unit of instructions that center on provision and blessing during the "resting years" that the Land is to experience. HaShem tells the people to grant unto the land a time period of rest (shabbat) so that the soil can replenish itself and provide a healthy crop on the eighth year after its rest. Consequently, during this time of supernatural provision, HaShem knew that some people would be inclined to doubt the providence of his Mighty Hand, and would be tempted to imitate the pagan society around them. The entire section is given over to HaShem assuring them of his provision and blessing despite the fact that no crops will be sown for and entire year! Chapter 24 – our portion concludes with Moshe, Aharon, and the elders having a meal with the God of Isra'el! In this magnificent revelation they actually see a form! Present during this meal is the presence of the atoning blood, splashed upon all the articles of the covenant—including the people themselves! What are we to make of all of this imagery? As we have read in other places of the Torah, the God of the universe is an invisible God! He cannot be seen! So what are the people seeing? | 2/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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18 Parashat Mishpatim (Part A) | HaShem masterfully designed his Torah to permeate every single facet of human existence, from birth, to the grave. His people were to saturate themselves with his rich mercy, grace, loving-kindness, forgiveness, and judgment, as they carefully followed each and every mitzvah (command) of the Torah. Being raised in such a "Torah-Community" had its definite advantages. This type of community produced a positive atmosphere, whereby the children grew up immersed in the truths of God's ways, as they observed the rest of the community. They participated in the feasts and holy convocations year after year as a family. This instilled in them godly principles, which formed the seedbed for the life of faith and witness that HaShem called them to perform. This lifestyle did not save them. This lifestyle served to prepare them to meet the true "Teacher", the Messiah, as they reached the age of accountability. In this way, the New Covenant teaches that the Torah acted as a custodian, or a "schoolmaster" (read Galatians 3:24-25). Once we reached the age where a conscious decision could be made, the Torah should have presented us with the proper framework to make the right decision: trusting faithfulness in HaShem, as demonstrated through our dependency in his means of provision—namely his Son Yeshua! This faithful lifestyle is magnificently portrayed in the covenants that the people had experienced thus far. | 2/20/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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17 Parashat Yitro (Part B) | “Historically, the rabbis figure the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai to have occurred on [Shavu'ot], that is, in the third month after Am Yisra’el came out of Egypt. Actually, the exact date of this familiar encounter, recorded for us in the book of Exodus, is not explicitly stated; the chronological evidence is convincing, however. At any rate, the author of the book of Acts does testify of the precise timing of the festival of Shavu'ot, and he specifically relates this festival to the pouring out of the Ruach HaKodesh, that is, the Holy Spirit, unto the believers gathered there in Jerusalem. Now the display of the tongues of fire and the presence of great sounds is reminiscent of the Sinai encounter. The rabbis also teach that when HaShem presented the Torah to the people, that it went forth in a multiple of fiery substance, inviting each individual Jew to accept the command to follow the whole of the Torah. The account in Acts describes the tongues of fire alighting themselves upon each person. In the Sinai delivery of the Torah, the account says “thunders and lightnings…” (KJV). The actual Hebrew word rendered lightnings is “voices”! This strengthens the connection to the Acts account, with voices being heard." | 2/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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17 Parashat Yitro (Part A) | In traditional Jewish thought, a marriage is also certified by a wedding contract, known as a “ketubah” (say "keh-too-bah"). This legally binding document is agreed upon by both parties, and serves as a visible reminder to all that this bride belongs to this groom and vice-versa. The Hebrew word “ketubah” posses the root word “katav”, which means, “to write”. The Torah tells us in 19:3-8 that HaShem delivered them out of the bondage of the Egyptians so that he might enter into a special kind of relationship with them. This relationship would involve them adhering to the covenant that HaShem already made with their forefathers some 430 years prior to this. In this manner, they would become HaShem’s most peculiar treasure among all of the peoples of the earth! What was the people’s response in 19:8? “All the people answered as one, “Everything ADONAI has said, we will do.”” This is amazing when it becomes apparent that HaShem hadn’t even spelled out the conditions of this contract yet! But what was the contract? Where was the ketubah? The answer is obvious. The Torah is the ketubah, acting as a marriage contract between the groom (HaShem) and his bride (Isra'el)! | 2/6/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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16 Parashat B'shallach | Another lesson preserved within the stories of the Jewish People is the tradition that as the people observed the horses and riders drowning in the Sea of Reeds, as they began to rejoice, that HaShem became saddened, and scolded them. "How can you rejoice at the death of my children? For even Pharaoh and his armies are my children also." This causes us to recognize the fact that our Great Heavenly Abba is compassionate beyond our comprehension. Even though the King of Egypt willfully hardened his heart against the Holy One, it was not our Maker’s original intent to destroy him. Indeed as I have stated elsewhere, as taught in the Torah, our God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance! Our LORD is not a "killing machine", ready to strike down all that oppose him. To be sure, he has demonstrated his patience and abundant mercy time and time again throughout the pages of the Torah. The option to turn from his wickedness, unto repentance, was offered to Pharaoh time and time again, yet he chose to refuse. Ours is a lesson in humility and fear: if he did not spare those evil men who persistently refused to surrender under the almighty hand of the Almighty personified, how much more will he not spare us, who have been given the revelation of the Son of God and the free gift of the Ruach HaKodesh who testifies of him (a short drash of Romans 11:21)? | 1/30/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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15 Parashat Bo | We have here at least two very important characteristics of our Loving, Heavenly Abba: he can be trusted at his Word, despite the chaotic circumstances surrounding us; he is faithful to deliver us completely, even before we have received his written revelation and put it into practice in our everyday lives! To be sure, the Children of Isra'el did not keep the Torah the way that they would eventually be instructed to keep it, after Sinai. Yet, HaShem honored their faith in him (demonstrated by the Pesach incident), and brought about the greatest collective deliverance that the world has ever known! This monumental deliverance should have caused that people, both Isra'el and Egyptian, to understand that faith in HaShem alone is what brings about the freedom so desperately desired in the midst of slavery! I must state it plainly one more time for my brothers according to the flesh, the majority of which are seeking to be justified by their Jewish heritage and by obediently keeping the "Torah" of Moshe, while remaining (seemingly) ignorant of the "Torah" of Avraham: our ancestors were delivered (a symbol of genuine faith in the Holy One) BEFORE they received the Torah on Mount Sinai! The sequence of the covenants is crucial for a proper understanding of the righteousness of HaShem! | 1/24/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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14 Parashat Va'era | HaShem was revealing an aspect of his character that would later play a very important role in the identity of the Jewish People as a Nation. This title would also serve as a reminder to the surrounding nations that "with a great out-stretched arm, ADONAI almighty delivered his beloved people!" To be sure, the reference of HaShem as the "God who delivered [them] from the bondage of Egypt" would become a "household" name of sorts. Fast-forward in the book of Sh’mot to the "Ten Commandments" (Sh'mot 20:1, 2) and see if you can find this phrase used to identify HaShem. Thumb through the rest of your TaNaKH (Old Testament) and you will find that this phrase is used numerous times. As believers in Messiah Yeshua, we know that this is one of the primary character traits of HaShem, which unifies the Messiah and the Godhead as an "echad", that is as "one". The name of the Messiah is related to the Hebrew name "Y'hoshua", which itself stems from the Hebrew name "Hoshea". Both of these names are composites of the two Hebrew words for "God" and "will save", respectively. When we combine this knowledge with the fact that it is "YHVH" who offers us salvation from sin THROUGH Yeshua the Messiah, then we can begin to understand the significance of the type and shadow that the Exodus from Egypt plays in our lives as new creations. | 1/18/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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13 Parashat Sh'mot (Part B) | I believe that HaShem wants us to come to the awesome realization, through the Ruach HaKodesh, that the “name” of the LORD is Yeshua! If you don’t believe me, read the rest of Philippians where the Torah teaches that one day, everyone will acknowledge that Yeshua is ADONAI, to the glory of God the Father! This word “adonai” is the Greek word “kurios”, which can be translated “sir” or “lord” depending on the context. Since Sha’ul is quoting from the TaNaKH book of Isaiah, then the context demands the rendering “LORD” (i.e. YHVH). In fact, to further the seeming controversy, Isaiah 45:23 is specifically referring to ADONAI the Father! This means that the verse in Philippians is hinting that Yeshua will be acknowledged as ADONAI without explicitly stating that Yeshua IS the Father. We must be careful not to put something into the text that is not there. | 1/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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13 Parashat Sh'mot (Part A) | Moshe said to God, "Look, when I appear before the people of Isra'el and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you'; and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what am I to tell them?" God said to Moshe, "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I am/will be what I am/will be]," and added, "Here is what to say to the people of Isra'el: 'Ehyeh [I Am or I Will Be] has sent me to you.'" God said further to Moshe, "Say this to the people of Isra'el: 'Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [ADONAI], the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya'akov, has sent me to you. 'This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered generation after generation. | 1/10/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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12 Parashat Vayechi (Part B) | Only the Spirit of the Holy One, writing the Torah on the heart and mind, can bring the participant to the intended goal of surrendering to the Mashiach. With our natural mind, we read, "do this…" and "don’t do that…” and we have a tendency to misunderstand the grace behind the words. Yeshua came to explain the gracious intent of every command, by explaining the primary thrust of the Torah in the first place: leading its reader to a genuine trusting faith in the Messiah found therein—namely himself! Moreover, grace is needed when sin blinds our eyes to believe that covenant status is granted on the basis of ethnicity, whether natural or achieved. Historic Isra'el of the 1st century genuinely believed that by virtue of being born Jewish they were automatically guaranteed covenant status. What is more, from their point of view, if someone from non-Jewish stock wished to join the covenant people all he or she needed to do was convert to Judaism, hence my use of the terms “natural” and “achieved” respectively. Natural Isra'elites—those native-born—held to the prevailing theology that Torah was given to maintain the covenant status already acquired at birth. The “ger” (Hebrew for stranger, alien, etc.) was deemed as someone in the process of becoming a Jew via the vehicle of proselyte conversion. Rav Sha'ul went to great lengths to refute such teaching in his letters both to the Romans and to the Galatians. To be sure, if we apply this hermeneutic to those letters, instead of adopting a “grace versus law” hermeneutic, the Apostle begins to make more sense theologically and historically. I am convinced more now than ever that a foundational understanding of Paul’s writings must take into account the historical fact that 1st century Isra'el reckoned herself as right-standing before HaShem on the basis of ethnicity (read as “being Jewish”) alone! She did not feel that keeping the Torah equaled positional (forensic) righteousness; she concluded—albeit incorrectly—that keeping Torah was the vehicle that one used to maintain covenant status already achieved either at birth or by conversion. | 1/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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12 Parashat Vayechi (Part A) | Isra’el’s sons (here in chapter 49) are the recipients of blessings that directly involve their individual actions, but also incorporates their future inheritance and characteristics as tribes. In essence, HaShem, through Isra’el, blesses them according to what they have done, but simultaneously, grants them grace for what they could not achieve on their own. Comparing the above-mentioned blessing of Y‘hudah with, per se, Shim’ on and Levi, we can see this. In the case of the latter, their blessings (or lack thereof) directly point to their prior actions taken during the incident with Dinah their sister, taught in B’resheet chapter 34. In this story, they took matters into their own hands, much to the shame of their father Isra’el (34:30, 31). Yet in the case of the former, nothing is mentioned of his shameful actions in B’resheet chapter 38. Still, HaShem sees fit to bless him abundantly, by promising to send forth the promised ruler from his loins. Amazingly enough, this promise of “Shiloh”, a title/name which has no corresponding Hebrew roots or stems relating to it, has been almost universally accepted by rabbis and Christian scholars alike, as referring to the coming Messiah! Observe the opinions of early Judaism as preserved for us in their writings (a few quotes for our study): "Kings and rulers shall not cease from the house of Judah…until King Messiah comes." UNTIL SHILOH COMETH; this alludes to the royal Messiah. AND UNTO HIM SHALL THE OBEDIENCE (YIKHATH) OF THE PEOPLE BE: he [the Messiah] will come and set on edge (makheth) the teeth of the nations of the world. In the Babylonian Talmud Rabbi Johanan said: "The world was created for the sake of the Messiah, what is this Messiah's name? The school of Rabbi Shila said 'his name is Shiloh, for it is written; until Shiloh come.'" | 1/2/12 | Free | View In iTunes |
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11 Parashat Vayigash (Part B | In our Torah portion, Yosef instructs everyone except he and his brothers to leave the room. In this suspenseful moment between immediate family members, he discloses his true identity to them, “I am Yosef!” But, astounded and speechless at the impossible, his brothers could not answer him. The moment is surely heart rendering and moving, and Yosef doesn’t want them to risk misunderstanding him anymore. He bids them to gather closer to him, closer to his heart, as he whispers ever so gently, “I am Yosef, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.” I believe that you could have heard a pin drop in the room that day, as his brothers’ eyes were opened to the truth. Their brother—the one whom they wronged, whom they forsook because of his silly predictions of leadership, the one considered by them as least significant, the one beloved of their father—was now standing before them alive, and proclaiming to forgive them! It is significant for us to realize the power and magnitude of love and clarity of soul that true forgiveness and restitution carries with them. As it was for Yosef and his brothers that moment, so it will be for Yeshua and his brothers that day as he draws them close and speaks to them tenderly, “I am Yeshua!” At first, it may also seem incredible to them as well, but, as his brothers learn of his true identity, that he was not merely some insignificant carpenter from Natzeret or just another good rabbi, that he was not speaking under his own influence when he told them of the power in becoming a servant, that it was the Will of the Father that allowed them to do him injustice—that he had been placed in a position of suffering and leadership to preserve their very lives—then they will also finally and corporately become reconciled to their long-lost brother! | 12/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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11 Parashat Vayigash (Part A) | Up to this point, Yosef (Joseph) had remained unknown to his brothers. The Spirit of the Holy One was guiding him as he put his brothers through various tests of integrity and humility. Although at times it seemed rather cruel to treat them with such harshness, in fact, this was the crucible that would serve to break them down. They needed to learn a very valuable lesson, one that would transform them into the God-ordained family that they needed to be. To be sure, if Yosef’s brothers failed to learn how to put off hate, jealousy, bitter-ness, and resentment, countless more unnecessary suffering might have taken place, and their father Isra’el would have gone to his grave with a grieving soul. Yosef has orchestrated a scenario by which the brothers have reached a position of “checkmate” so to say: if they allow the “guilty” Binyamin to remain with Yosef, their father will surely die; if they attempt to defy Yosef by taking Binyamin back to their father, they all might die. Whether or not Yosef, the brothers or Binyamin realized it, HaShem had cornered them and now a reckoning must take place! The guilty brothers must come to grips with the sibling they abandoned long ago. | 12/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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10 Parashat Mikketz | Yes, the Torah is a document filled with the lives of imperfect men, trusting in the providence and grace of a perfect God. Yosef once again allows his brothers to make for Kena’an with provisions for their family, but this time, unknown to his brothers, he manipulates a plan to further develop their character. Acting, I believe, under the guidance of HaShem, he singles out Binyamin and places his personal goblet in his pack. Upon learning of the turn of events, the brothers are speechless. This was the moment that Yosef was waiting for, the moment when his brothers finally had come to the place of total desperation, a place of utter helplessness. HaShem had cornered them, Yosef realized, and there was nowhere else to hide. This is the place where an individual needs to find himself, in order to accept the provision and blessing that HaShem has in store for him. By reaching the end of their rope, so to say, they are faced with the opportunity to fall on the mercy and grace of the One that they figured would be of no significant place in their lives. Someday, according to the book of Zechariah chapter 12, this is the place that the Nation of Isra’el will ultimately have to come to as well, as they face the brother that they forsook almost 2000 years ago. | 12/23/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Chanukkah "Dedication" (Part B) | • Through the efficacious ministry of the Messiah Yeshua, Gentile believers are covenant-bound to ‘Father Abraham’s Olive Tree’—Isra'el—thereby making them fellow citizens and full-participants with the Commonwealth of Isra'el (Eph. 2), thus granting them the divine privilege of following the whole of the Torah. • We believe that YHVH has written this very same Torah upon the hearts of those, Jews and Gentiles, who have placed their trusting faithfulness in Yeshua (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:7-12). • We believe that this same Torah is a foundational revelation of the righteousness of HaShem and serves as a description (along with the rest of the Scriptures) of the lifestyle of the Redeemed Community (James 1:16-27). • Furthermore, ‘grafted in’ bespeaks of our affirmation to our true identity as a people—Jew and Gentile—that is securely rooted in the Finished Work of Yeshua HaMashiach. | 12/19/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Chanukkah "Dedication" (Part A) | Chanukkah is about holiness. It has been stated that holiness is not metaphysical; our concept of holiness does not define what is holy. Only the Holy One himself can fully define—as well as embody holiness. To be sure, the phrase ‘I am ADONAI,’ or its equivalent ‘I am ADONAI your God’ appears sixteen times in Leviticus chapter nineteen alone! Chapter twenty sees another four uses of these phrases. The lesson is obvious: ADONAI alone defines holiness among men; only he has the power and authority to set the standard of holiness—for he alone is the fullness of holiness—for he alone is ADONAI! So what happens when humanity meets holiness? HaShem is intimately interested in our redemption. Likewise, he is our deliverer from the unholy. That is why he masterfully planned for one man to become the perfect embodiment and display of his holiness. Only this man would be able to showcase the fullness of the holiness of God to such a degree that to look at this man was to look at God! Only this man would be able to perfectly imitate God—for only this man was and is perfectly God. Yeshua is his name! And he sets the standard! | 12/19/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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09 Parashat Vayeshev | The lessons today should be obvious: HaShem masterfully orchestrated every single event of Yosef’s life, bringing him into a position where he would be the key player in the provision and leadership of the young tribe of Isra’el. It was necessary to allow Yosef to experience the pain and suffering at the hands of his brothers, in order that the ultimate plan of HaShem, a plan that promised blessing and inheritance, might come to pass! So it was this way also for our own Savior Yeshua. He had to suffer shame and humiliation at the hands of his own flesh and blood, in order that the Will of the Almighty would be fulfilled. The life of Yeshua was “sacrificed” so that the lives of his brothers might be saved! We shall see also that the life of Yosef was “sacrificed” so that the lives of his brothers might be saved! "To be sure, in the case of both Yosef and Yeshua, their immediate families weren’t the only ones who would benefit from the sacrifice. The entire land of Egypt, and surrounding communities, were about to witness the provision of Almighty God, as he worked through the obedience of Yosef, a humble, anointed son of Isra’el…. "Likewise, the entire world this time has witnessed (and shall witness again soon) the provision of Almighty God, as he worked through the obedience of Yeshua, his humble, anointed, ONLY-BEGOTTEN Son...." | 12/12/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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08 Parashat Vayishlach | The Torah says that when the unknown assailant failed to defeat Ya’akov, then he struck the socket of Ya’akov’s hip, causing it to go into disjoint. “The man said, “Let me go, because it’s daybreak” (vs.27a) But by now, Ya’akov had come to the realization that this was no ordinary man. It was not some desert robber, or bounty hunter, or even a demon—it was none other than a representative of the One who could see into his own hollow soul and cause the supernatural change that Ya’akov knew he so desperately needed! For this very reason, rather than let go of this man, Ya’akov clung to him for dear life! He had finally come to the place where he knew he could not—would not—run any further! He knew now inside of himself, that this was the only One who could rescue him from his own fearful self! So, despite the all-night struggle, he mustered up enough strength to say within himself, “I will not! I refuse to let you go! I have spent all of my life running in fear from the things that I could not control! I have nowhere else to turn for help! So I will NOT let you go! I will not let you go UNTIL YOU BLESS ME!” This was the breaking of the man Ya’akov. This was the moment when HaShem recognized that he was genuinely a humbled man, in desperate need of a Savior. | 12/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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07 Parashat Vayetze | What Ya’akov needed in his life was a mirror, someone or something to show him the greed and selfishness of his own heart. He needed to be able to see the inner-workings of his own selfish heart, in order to move on past this time of trials in his life. This was provided for him in the person of Lavan.... How can we apply this Torah lesson to our lives today? We already know that the Torah itself works in our lives as a mirror, highlighting the “way in which we should walk”—a way that should be pleasing to our heavenly father. In fact the book of James (whose Hebrew title is Ya’akov), informs us that the man who “looks into the mirror of the Torah” and fails to heed its instruction (do what it says), is like a man who beholds his face in a real mirror, walks away, and immediately forgets what he just saw (James 1:21-25). But sometimes HaShem uses everyday experiences to act as his mirror of truth, showing us exactly where we need to concentrate our energies of correction. | 11/28/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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06 Parashat Tol'dot (Part B) | It is the desire of HaShem that we should indeed inherit the blessings intended for us! He told Avraham of the future inheritance and blessings of his offspring (Genesis 17:1-8), Yitz’chak of the future inheritance and blessings of his offspring (26:3-5), and later (in the next parashah), we will once again read about HaShem reminding the young man Ya’akov, about the future inheritance and blessings of his offspring. Why does HaShem remind us about the inheritance and blessings that are ours? I might imagine that it is because he doesn’t want us to forget about them. More than that, it is a reminder to us of his limitless, unbridled love and concern for us, even though we don’t deserve such things. But along with these promises, he wants us to also be reminded that it is his authority and grace alone that makes our glorious history a reality! To be sure, Ya’akov and his mother Rivkah got themselves into a real mess trying to secure what they both knew belonged to them. | 11/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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06 Parashat Tol'dot (Part A) | The Torah has quite a bit to teach us about history and offspring. To be sure, it has been aptly noted that “a person that knows not from whence he came, will be ill-equipped to properly deal with where he is going to.” Our current portion gives us the beginning of the fast-paced story of two brothers, ‘Esav (Esau, also called Edom), and Ya’akov (Jacob), and their ongoing struggle to become the men that they feel they deserve to be. It is an interesting tale, complete with deception and disappointment. Rivkah, Yitz’chak’s wife, gives birth to twins, who grow to become individuals with quite opposite character traits. The elder, ‘Esav, is a skilled hunter, a rough, hairy man, with a flair for cooking tasty game. He winds up being favored by his father. On the other hand, the younger, Ya’akov, is a tenderhearted, dweller of tents, smooth-skinned and quiet; he becomes the favorite of his mother. | 11/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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05 Parashat Hayyei-Sarah | The portion contains some rather somber notes, as it records the deaths of Sarah, Avraham, and Yishma’el. Sarah lived to be 127 years old, the Torah tells us. In all of this time, we hear of only one semi-direct revelation to her from HaShem, and that is when she overheard the conversation between her husband and God, about Yitz’chak, and laughed. Other than that, we don’t have any recorded Scriptures indicating her direct contact with the Almighty, in the same manner as her husband. Why is this significant? Because it shows that even though she did not have the exact same revelations from HaShem that Avraham did, surely she had a genuine, living relationship with her God! This is proven by the quality of faith and support that she displayed towards her husband, amidst his unbelievable callings. Packing up and leaving the only home she had known for 65 years (she being 10 years his junior when they left; see 12:4; 17:17b), following him to lands unknown, and allowing him to take their son of promise to a distant mountain to slay him. All of these real-life circumstances required a considerable amount of patience and faith from someone such as Sarah. | 11/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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04 Parashat Vayera (Part B) | In essence, “works of the law” refer to those “group requirements” as outlined and delegated by each individual group functioning under the prevailing Judaisms of Paul’s day. Rav Sha’ul (Apostle Paul), missionary to the Gentiles, had to defend the correct Torah viewpoint in his letters addressed to the Churches at Galatia (specifically chapter 5), as well as to the one in Ephesus. Circumcision, a shorthand way for Paul to say "conversion to Judaism/becoming a Jew", was historically misused, but there is no reason for us to continue in such a misunderstanding. Nor is there any reason for the emerging Torah communities to shrink back from that which God has clearly given, provided we maintain our primary identity as that of one firmly grounded in Mashiach. | 11/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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04 Parashat Vayera (Part A) | To neglect circumcision (b’rit milah) is to neglect the chosen sign of the covenant, and consequently, it is rejection of the covenant itself. It was to become a unique marker, outwardly identifying those males of the offspring of Avraham, as inheritors of the magnificent promises that HaShem was making with this man. It does not serve to secure those promises through personal effort. What is more, the sign of circumcision was to be an indicator that the participant was adopting the same faith that Avraham possessed! The promises were of faith (read Romans chapter 4 carefully). To be 100% sure, the Torah says that the promises were given to him before he was circumcised (Ibid. 10, 11)! This is why, after HaShem promised that his seed would be as numerous as the stars (15:5, 6), Avraham was credited with being righteous—because he believed the unbelievable! | 11/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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03 Parashat Lekh L'kha (Part B) | May I suggest (under the guidance of the Apostolic Scriptures) that the Memra of YHVH appeared to Avram in such a way as to allow Avram to address him as a servant would address his earthly master in respect? Did Avram see a man? Did he see the LORD? I can't be dogmatic either way. But one thing is sure: Avram believed the unbelievable, but it was to the Word of the LORD, the Memra, that he addressed his objective faith! Surely HaShem saw into the heart of the patriarch and recognized the appropriation of the choices that lay before him. What is more, only the LORD himself can supernaturally open the eyes of a man to allow him to make a choice between choosing his Messiah or rejecting him. Avraham chose to lay hold of the Promise given in Genesis 12:1-3 by seeing at the heart of such a promise a glimpse of the Messiah who would bring it to pass! | 10/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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03 Parashat Lekh L'kha (Part A) | In the fourth century, when the organized Church decided to divorce herself from her spiritual mother, Judaism, she unwittingly planted the seeds of anti-Judaism. Anti-Judaism is not to be confused with Anti-Semitism. The former is the dislike or disinterest of Jewishness and Judaism specifically; the latter is the dislike or disinterest in the Semitic race altogether. By the way, both fall into the category of violating the verse in examination and both are disrespectful to Father Avram and displeasing to HaShem! Over the centuries, this seedbed has blossomed into a full-grown weed called Replacement Theology. This heretical belief fosters the mistaken idea that “God gave up on the Jews when they corporately rejected his Son Yeshua, and instead, adopted the newborn Gentile Church as his chosen people. The unfortunate Jews were left to face the curses of the Torah, and the Wrath of an angry Father, while the Church inherited (spiritually of course) most of the blessings and promises to the Jews, as pronounced in the Torah.” Fortunately, this theological framework is neither blatantly taught to Christians, openly favored by the same, nor endorsed by HaShem! | 10/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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02 Parashat Noach "Noah" | Noach walked the invisible road of faith, just like everyone else, who names the name of ADONAI, is expected to walk! He wasn’t some super-human faith hero, endowed with abnormal amounts of trust! He was, in fact, singled out to receive a prophetic word about the impending judgment that was to befall all of mankind. Yet, once he received the instructions to begin building the ark, the word was out! He obediently acted in faith, with regards to HaShem’s instruction (Genesis 7:22) and the impending calamity, which was, as of yet, unseen (Hebrews 11:1a, 7b)! The remaining mass of humanity wasn’t asked to build the ark, they were only instructed (via Noach’s preaching, 2 Peter 2:5) to get into the ark. HaShem promised that any who would “run to the tree” of safety, that is, to the ark that Noach was building, would find life. Moreover, the very same floodwaters that destroyed that wicked and perverse generation, were the very same waters that floated the ark to safety! But the same Adversary, who was at work in the Garden, was the same one at work in the world of Noach’s day also. In the Garden, he tricked mankind into “running to the tree” when God said “stay away”; in Noach’s situation, the Adversary tricked mankind into “running from the tree” that God said to “run to”! | 10/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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01 Parashat B'resheet (Part B) | Spiritual Power The word translated as “hovered”, in verse two of chapter one, is “m’rachefet." The root word is “rachaf," and conveys the sense of “shaking,” “moving,” or “fluttering,”[1] as when a bird softly relaxes its flight to alight upon its young. It adequately describes the actions of the Ruach (Spirit) as he lovingly and closely watches over the created substance. How so? Well, this verb, although found three times in Scripture, is defined as “hovering” only one other time in the entire TaNaKH: “He found his people in desert country, in a howling, wasted wilderness. He protected him and cared for him, guarded him like the pupil of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up her nest, hovers over her young, spreads out her wings, takes them and carries them as she flies.” (Deuteronomy 32:10-11) This beautiful illustration of the protective power of the Spirit, in relation to his children, Am Yisra’el (People of Isra’el), as they traveled through the wilderness reminds me of the same Spirit that hovered over the waters at the beginning of creation. The word translated “hovers”, in our above verse, is the same root as the one used in Genesis 1:2, “rachaf”. In fact, to strengthen the connection between the two applications, the Haftarah to B’resheet is Isaiah 42:5-43:10. A “haftarah” is a prescribed reading portion from the prophets and writings, chosen to compliment the Torah portion. In this passage, we read in the opening seventeen Hebrew words, a summary of the first chapter in Genesis: “Thus says God, ADONAI, who created the heavens and spread them out, who stretched out the earth and all that grows from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it….” Omniscience at Work Unlike the evolutionist models, we find in the Torah, a Creator that is intimately interested in his creation. He doesn’t just whip something together, via cosmic dust and proton-charged molecules, and then abandon it to “evolve” on its own. His beginnings, as stated above, carry with them, meaning and divine purpose. Reading further into our parashah, HaShem goes on to create: 1. Light and Darkness on the first day 2. Firmament and sky on the second day 3. Dry land and seas, grass, plants and trees on the third day 4. Stars, planets, sun and moon on the fourth day 5. Marine life and birds, livestock and crawling animals on the fifth day 6. Male and female on the sixth day 7. A time of rest and refreshing on the seventh day The sequence of events is not randomly initiated like the evolutionary models suppose. Everything is done with a super-intellect at the helm. Our galaxy is not just spinning along, drifting through the universe with no one to chart its course. Our LORD, ADONAI Tzva’ot (the LORD of Hosts) was there at its birth, and he will be there when it comes to an end, orchestrating every minute detail. When all of his creation has run it’s chosen course, he will be there to facilitate another new beginning. I have spent quite a bit of time discussing the details of creation versus evolution, and the consequences of choosing the wrong system. However, believe it or not, that was not the primary thrust of my commentary. I want to briefly talk about the decision to sin, from a different angle. This brings me to the second part of my commentary: man’s choices. | 10/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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01 Parashat B'resheet (Part A) | The Signature of God “In the beginning God….” I can remember growing up, listening to rabbis’ and preachers’ sermons using the first four words of our parashah for this Shabbat, B’resheet. There is quite a bit to contemplate within that first verse, they always told me. In fact, some say, the opening phrase pretty much sums up the foundation and purpose for our existence. In this first of two sections, I want to examine some of the details for the creation perspective. “In the beginning God….” Were it not for this foundational starting point we would be left with very little direction in our lives. Unlike that of HaShem, our existence is finite. We have beginnings, and we need to be able to trace our simple beginnings to something substantial. Even the non-believing scientists espouse to this fact, by the presence of various evolutionary models that all purport a beginning “Somewhere…. Out there….” By beginning with HaShem, however, the authoritative groundwork is laid, whereby we can build a solid purpose for our existence, even as meager tenants of his creation. To be sure, as we shall soon find out, one of the primary reasons for man’s creation was to rule over the fish, birds, animals, and over all the earth (1:26). Modern scientists would like for us to believe that we are all some fantastic jumbled mass of preconceived amino acids that supposedly grew intelligence in the course of a few million years. They claim that we have simply evolved and crawled from the “primordial soup”, into the awareness of being able to scientifically study, in depth, our own simple beginnings. But the opening verses here in Genesis not only diametrically oppose that hypothesis, they don’t even afford us the luxury of scientific research. The narrative takes for granted the fact that all things came to be by the power of God, without going into any scientific studies to prove it! Beginning with HaShem changes our viewpoint from that of scientific observation, to one of absolute faith, grounded in the Word of God. A scientist, who refuses to objectively deal with a supernatural creation, is a scientist who refuses to deal with a supernatural God! By removing God from the equation, mankind effectively dulls his own conscience towards the responsibility of his own actions, good or bad—if there is “no God”, then ultimately, there is no need to answer to anyone but “myself”. In this way, the Torah teaches that mankind ultimately destroys himself, and becomes a fool. The mercy of the Holy One offers us an authoritative beginning, complete with purpose and structure for our lives. When God begins something, its destined purpose is made sure. | 10/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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54 Parashat V’Zot HaBrachah | Moshe: Types and Shadows Now I want to briefly examine the final eulogy about this man Moshe. The text (34:10) says that Isra’el has not enjoyed a prophet on the same level as Moshe, since his death. From a natural point of view this is true; Moshe stands in a class all by himself. But earlier in the Torah, in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (Parashah Shoftim), Moshe himself told the people that the LORD would raise up another prophet, like himself, for the people to follow. First Century literary sources show that the people living in and around the time of the Second Temple period applied this prophetic passage to the coming messiah figure. Yeshua ben-Yosef was such a figure. To be sure, even the New Covenant echoes these same sentiments. • Moshe had his humble beginnings in a relatively unknown family in Egypt, having his life spared by the protection of his immediate family; Yeshua also had his humble beginning in a lowly, unknown family, his parents having saved their lives and his by fleeing to Egypt • Moshe began his public ministry after a period of “forty”; Yeshua began his public ministry after a period of “forty” • Moshe was the “giver” of the Torah; Yeshua explained the fullness and correct interpretation of “Moshe’s Torah” • In more than one instance Moshe acted in the role of intercessor between the people and HaShem; Yeshua became our Great High Priest, interceding for us on behalf of the Father, and forever lives to make intercession on our behalf • Moshe “instituted” the Old[er] Covenant; Yeshua “instituted” the New[er] Covenant Thus we see that Yeshua was greater than Moshe in many respects, yet the context of the verse is not compromised. These facts about Moshe and Yeshua are important for us to internalize, because many members of the Jewish Community have taken the words of this prophecy to a literal extreme, discounting any possibility of Yeshua being the Messiah. In fact, a rather famous teacher by the name of Rabbi Moshe ben-Maimon, affectionately known as “RaMBaM” (1135-1204) produced a serious of Thirteen Principles (still recited in synagogues today), one of which states that this verse means ‘no prophet has arisen in Isra’el like Moshe, and none ever will’. Consequently, according to RaMBaM, Yeshua could not have been “The Prophet”. (For more information on Deuteronomy 18:15-19, and the subject of “The Prophet”, read my commentary to Parashah Shof'tim). Returning to Our Roots Our parashah has come to an end, but our study of the Torah should never end. Just to be sure, we invite you to “turn the Torah over again” (a quote by Rabbi ben-BagBag, Talmud: Pirke Avot) by starting in Genesis right after the conclusion of the Fall Feasts. In fact, in keeping with Jewish custom, I want to recite for you the last few verses of the book of Deuteronomy and immediately follow them with the first few verses of Genesis: (Since that time there has not arisen in Isra’el a prophet like Moshe, whom ADONAI knew face to face. What signs and wonders ADONAI sent him to perform in the land of Egypt upon Pharaoh, all his servants and all his land! What might was in his hand! What great terror he evoked before the eyes of all Isra’el!) (In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. Then God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light.) I challenge you to continue studying God’s Word on your own, or with the aid of a good commentary. You are invited to continue studying with us here at this web site. A weekly commentary is provided for every Shabbat reading of the Torah schedule. You may also wish to consult other various rabbinical commentaries on the Parashot HaShavuah, the Weekly Portions. It is customary after the completion of a book of the Torah to say, “Chazak, chazak, v’nit’chaz | 10/21/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sh'mini Atzeret "The Eighth Day of Assembly" (Part D) | Is Conversion Required for non-Jews? Many non-Jews (i.e. Christians) have historically argued that since Christianity has been defined as a separate entity apart and distinct from Isra'el then the issues of [Old Testament] Torah are not relevant for their everyday lives. What is more, the question of Torah obedience among said Christians likewise becomes an archaic discussion. After all, the argument goes, since I am not “Isra'el” then all of those passages in the Old Testament do not even speaking to me as a New Testament Christian anyway. In fact, the argument continues, if I really wanted to get into Isra'el… If I really wanted to become “Jewish” wouldn’t I have to convert anyway? God is the God of both Jews and Gentiles! One need not change his station in life before God can accept him. What is more, the real change that takes place in a person’s life is effected by the Ruach HaKodesh when, because of Yeshua’s bloody, sacrificial death, the sinner takes on the status of righteous! A conversion to Judaism (a.k.a. circumcision), in Sha'ul’s mind, added nothing to those wishing to be counted as true Isra'elites in the Torah Community. To Sha'ul, their genuine faith in the Promised Word of HaShem, as evidenced by the genuine working of the Spirit among them, was all the "identity" they would ever need! Once counted as righteous by the Righteous One Himself, all the new [Gentile] believer needed to do was begin to walk in that righteousness, a walk already described in the pages of the Written Torah, a walk formerly impossible due to the deadness of flesh and imprisonment to sin. Torah: Negative, Neutral, or Positive? Our opinions of Paul and his letters should first and foremost be influenced by the raw data found within the Scriptures themselves, since it only stands to reason that historically when his letters were penned, the TaNaKH was the only inspired corpus of literature available to him. Thus, it is reasonable to presume that Paul would also expect his readers, particularly his Jewish ones, to hold similar views of the TaNaKH. “And just what view would that be?” Should it be: 1) Negative, as in the prevailing Christian view, that Torah was given merely to contain and limit transgressions so that man did not become excessively sinful? 2) Neutral, as in the Messianic Jewish view, that Torah was given to expose sin for what it really was, namely the transgression of God’s perfect standard of holiness? 3) Positive, as in recent Pauline authorship, that Torah was given to provide the means by which an existing covenant member might have his sins covered, with an ultimate view towards the coming eternal Sacrifice, Yeshua the prophesied Messiah? Conclusion: Our Response Torah Observance is a matter of the heart. It always has been and always will be. The Torah Proper (first Five Books of Moshe) instructed the people of Isra’el to “love ADONAI your God with all their heart, all your being and all your resources” (Deuteronomy 6:5). This is where “shomer mitzvot” begins—by loving HaShem, and accepting Him on His terms. By this, I mean accepting His means of covenant obedience. For today, this means acceptance of Yeshua, His only Son, for Jew and non-Jew alike. Covenants require a response on the part of the follower. HaShem, for His part, has provided the “promise of inheritance” for all those who participate in the Avrahamic Covenant. The response to this covenant is “faith”. The nature of the Moshaic Covenant is “blessing, maintenance, and enjoyment of promise”. For them that wish to participate, the response to this covenant is “obedience”. It’s that “easy”. | 10/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sh'mini Atzeret "The Eighth Day of Assembly" (Part C) | A SUMMARY OF THE PURPOSES OF THESE TWO COVENANTS (The following explanation was taken from Torah Rediscovered, Ariel and D’vorah Berkowitz, FFOZ Publications): ‘A person cannot appropriate the full blessings of the covenant with Moshe (the Torah) unless he first enters into the covenant with Avraham. The latter is done by faith and faith alone. The covenant of promise (through Avraham) gave Israel the physical promises. Not only are these physical promises a reality; they are also pictures of the spiritual relationship we have with HaShem. Moreover they are illustrative of the spiritual promises of inheritance obtained by all believers through faith in Yeshua. ‘For those who trust HaShem for the promises, the proper order for faith and obedience is set by the sequence in which the covenants were given. In other words, faith must precede obedience. But the kind of faith accepted by HaShem is one that naturally flows into obedience. True obedience never comes before faith, nor is it an addition to faith. It is always the result of true biblical faith. To rephrase this in terms of the covenants: the covenant of promise (Avraham) must come before the covenant of obedience (Moshe). If we were to put Moshe first, attempting to secure those promises by obedience, we would be going against HaShem’s order. (This, by the way, is the key to unlocking the difficult midrash used by Sha’ul in Galatians 4:21-31.) All we could hope for would be a measure of physical protection and a knowledge of spiritual things. But we could not receive justification or a personal relationship with the Holy One through obedience to the Torah; it all had to start with faith. Avraham came before Moshe, but Moshe did not cancel out Avraham! The two complemented each other—as long as they came in the proper order.’ What does this mean for the Jew as well as the Gentile? Apart from a being well reasoned theological argument for combating legalism, the concept taught here defines our identity, as, not only being grounded in the Torah—but it is who we are in Messiah! If the blood of the Sinless One has redeemed us from sin and unrighteousness, then we now have been clothed in his holiness! We now have a new identity—the righteousness of HaShem! The old man has died with the death of our Messiah; the new man has been raised unto life everlasting just like him (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)! And all of these promises are secured for us within the pages of God’s Torah! Shomer Mitzvot In Judaism, safeguarding and keeping the Torah is central to performing the will of HaShem. Indeed, as properly understood from HaShem’s point of view, the whole of Torah was given to bring its followers to the "goal" of acquiring the kind of faith in HaShem that leads to placing one’s trusting faithfulness in the One and only Son of HaShem, Yeshua HaMashiach. To this end, the Torah has prophesied about him since as early as the book of Genesis (3:15), and continues to speak of him until its conclusion in Revelation (22:20). In this capacity, the Torah hrwt acts like its etymological counterpart hry "yarah" (an archery term) in that it "teaches" its adherents how to properly identify with HaShem by helping them to "reach the mark.” To be sure, one of the most common Hebrew verbs used to identify "sin" atx “chatah” literally means, "to miss the mark.” | 10/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sh'mini Atzeret "The Eighth Day of Assembly" (Part B) | Written Torah: “Torah she-b’ktav” The purpose and meaning of the Written Law or Torah, now codified in the Pentateuch, emanates from the Ten Commandments, which specify the covenant relationship between God and ‘Am Isra’el. The "covenant code" or the "book of the covenant" (Ex. 24:7) immediately follows the giving of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). The Covenant Code (Ex. 21:23) generally deals with civil and criminal laws, and consequently the literary form of the code takes a familiar legalistic structure. Casuistic and Apodictic There are two forms in the legal code: casuistic and apodictic. The casuistic form is found in the first section of the Covenant Code (Ex. 21:1-22:17), and the apodictic form is found in the second section (Ex. 22:18-23). The casuistic form first states a condition (the technical term for this is "protasis") and normally begins with words like "if" or "when." The protasis describes the circumstances or conditions that prompt the consequential injunctions. The second part, that is, the injunction, is called "apodosis." It contains a statement of legal consequences that may or may not begin with the word "then." Here are two examples: "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do" (Ex. 21:7) and "If someone’s ox hurts the ox of another, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the price of it" (Ex. 21:35). Oral Torah: “Torah sh’be’al peh” The traditional interpretations of the Torah by the experts on the Torah as well as those of the Chazal (Our Rabbis of Blessed Memory), particularly after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, became the “Torah sh’be’al peh” (Torah from the mouth), also known as unwritten or Oral Torah. The Oral Torah gained equal footing and took on the same kind of binding authority as the Written Torah. The function of the Oral Torah is to "make a fence for the Law" (Avot 1.1). The Written Torah is to be protected by keeping and observing the tradition (Oral Torah). Consequently, Judaism has been able “keep” the Written Torah merely by observing the Oral Torah. By obeying the tradition in concrete terms (no business on the Sabbath, for instance), they could observe the commandment about the Sabbath. | 10/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sh'mini Atzeret "The Eighth Day of Assembly" (Part A) | In HaShem’s order, acceptance is based on identity: Who are you? Are you a genuine and lasting covenant member? This question is of great significance to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile (Romans 1:16b). If you are Jewish must you leave Judaism and embrace Christianity and the Church to be accepted by HaShem? If you are non-Jewish, must you convert to Judaism before God will extend covenant membership to you? A study of the Torah will reveal the identity of both Jew and non-Jew. To be sure, misunderstanding who you are according to the Torah can have detrimental results. I want to start by briefly examining the meaning of the word “Torah”, and it’s definitions. Definition: Torah hrwt = Law, direction, instruction ; from the root Hebrew word “yarah” hry meaning “to shoot an arrow” or “to hit the mark” . Properly used, the word “torah” means, “[the] teaching”. I have stated this concept elsewhere in my commentaries but it is helpful to repeat it here: It is crucial for us to understand theologically, that the primary purpose in HaShem's giving of the Torah, as a way of making someone righteous, only achieves its goal when the person, by faith, accepts that Yeshua is the promised Messiah spoken about therein. Until the individual reaches this conclusion, his familiarity of the Torah is only so much intellectual nutrition. Only by believing in Yeshua will the person be able to properly understand HaShem, and consequently, his Word. In a broad sense, Torah is the revelation of HaShem to His people. Within this framework, and depending on the context, the term “Torah” can mean: (1) The five books of Moshe; (2) that, plus the Prophets and the Writings; (3) that, plus the Oral Torah, which includes the Talmud and later legal writings; (4) that, plus all religious teaching from the rabbis, including ethical and “aggadic” materials; or (5) all of the above as understood and interpreted in light of what Yeshua the Messiah and the rest of the New Covenant Scriptures have said about it. * For the most part we will be using definitions 1, 2, and 5 According to God’s Torah, there are at least two very important covenants that both Jews and Gentiles need to understand. • Avrahamic: (Genesis 12:2, 3; 13:14-18; chapter 15; 17:9-14; Matthew 1:1-16; Romans chapter 4; Galatians 3:6-18) • Moshaic: (Exodus 34:27; Deuteronomy 29:1; Psalm chapter 119; Matthew 5:17-20; 23:1-3; Acts 21:19-26) | 10/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sukkot "The Feast of Tabernacles" (Part B) | Sukkot: Future Redemption Having just gone through Yom Kippur, and a study on the same, we as believers should now be intimately familiar with the effectual, atoning death of Yeshua, which brought about the very real and “present reality”, that today, anyone can become a child of God. To be sure, the Torah promises that the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) will “dwell within” the believer, bearing witness with their ruach (spirit) that they truly are offspring of the Holy One, Blessed be He (Romans 8:16). At this time you may say, “But Ariel, I thought that Yeshua’s indwelling Spirit was an eternal one. What’s all this talk about a “temporary dwelling place?” Well, the study’s focus is on the “dwelling place of HaShem”. In a very real way, each and every one of us believers is Yeshua’s sukkah! We have become his “permanent dwelling place”, within a “temporary” vessel. Once this corruption is exchanged for incorruption, we will shed the “temporary” aspect (1 Corinthians 15:51-54). However, I’m still inquiring about the “dwelling place” of HaShem. Where is his sukkah today? Romans 11:25, 26 begins to hint of a future time when all Isra’el shall know the salvation of their God, once and for all (“Baruch HaShem! May that day come soon!”). Tied up within that future redemption, is the concept that HaShem started with way back in the days of the TaNaKH: “I [will] dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8, KJV, emphasis mine). From the prophetic book of Revelation, we learn that there will be a day, when the final plan of HaShem will be fully realized among men. Chapter twenty-one, verse 3, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them” (NIV, emphasis mine). Don’t you see where this is all leading? The concept of HaShem making his final dwelling place with his people is so important that even the prophet Zechariah foretold of a time when everyone living in the Millennium will have a divinely-appointed opportunity to participate in the Feast of Tabernacles (see 14:16)! Even with the past history of the Tabernacle, and the present reality of Yeshua’s Spirit within us as believers, we still have a final, corporate sukkot to experience! Moreover, when Yeshua returns to rule from Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) in bodily form, even our current relationship with him, will take on an entirely different aspect! In our age, many Jewish people (and I imagine a few non-Jews as well) will participate in the Feast of Sukkot this year. Let us believers be ever mindful of the purposes that HaShem has for mankind, that are tied up in his Mikra’ey Kodesh, his Holy Convocations. Sukkot brings the Feasts in Leviticus Chapter twenty-three to a conclusion. HaShem has ended on the grand theme of “temporary dwelling places” involving mankind. Only, with the final “dwelling place” of HaShem, there will be nothing temporary about it! The Feast of Tabernacles is the end of the Mikra’ey Kodesh. The revelation of John’s vision is the end of the book! And so it is the end of our study. | 10/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Sukkot "The Feast of Tabernacles" (Part A) | Sukkot: Past History Having already quoted our theme verse for the Mikra’ey Kodesh series (Leviticus 23:1, 2), I want to go backwards into the Torah to a time period before the giving of the instructions for the Feasts, back to when HaShem instructed the people to build him a Tabernacle. Exodus chapter twenty-five (Parashah T’rumah in the weekly Torah readings) talks about gathering the materials together to construct a “dwelling place” for HaShem to live among the people, as their one and only God (Deuteronomy 6:4). This tabernacle was to be put together using materials that were freely and wholeheartedly contributed by Am Yisra’el (the people of Isra’el). They were not to be forced to give. The first point I want to emphasize is: the building of the “dwelling place” was an act of free will; the people wanted it built, and thereby contributed to its building. Only after this important detail of HaShem’s Tabernacle was addressed could he state in 25:8, “I [will] dwell among them” (KJV, emphasis mine). In Leviticus chapter twenty-three, HaShem instructed the people to build sukkot in memory of the temporary dwelling places that they had while wandering in the desert. But the most important temporary dwelling place during that period was still the Tabernacle. To be sure, according to past history, once the people built a Tabernacle for HaShem, he indeed did come to “dwell among his people” as he said he would, and they did behold his Sh’khinah (manifest Glory of God)! In the prophecy of Ezekiel 37:27, 28, HaShem is seen as saying once again that his “home will be with them”, however, this reference is in the future tense. What could he be saying to us? Let’s read on. Sukkot: Present Reality John’s opening account of Yeshua’s ministry here on earth is a most revealing one. In chapter one of his Gospel, we find a seemingly ordinary statement, until we examine the underlying Hebrew thought behind it. Here’s the statement: “The Word became a human being and lived with us, and we saw his Sh’khinah….” (Verse 14) This immediately brings to memory the indwelling, manifested Glory, present in the earthly Tabernacle. But the Tabernacle had long since been replaced by a more permanent Temple structure. Moreover, the Sh’khinah of HaShem is reported to have been displayed fully in the person of Yeshua (Colossians 2:9)! In John 14:23, and 17:23, Yeshua says that anyone who loves him will keep his words. The response is that the Father will demonstrate his own love for the individual, and that the both of them (Father and Son) would come to make their abode with him (KJV, paraphrase mine)! This type of “dwelling” is really a perfect one. One might even suppose that this type of “dwelling among men” was indeed the complete revelation of HaShem’s dwelling with men. Or was it? The book of Hebrews, chapter eight, tells us that our Great High Priest Yeshua was “a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” (Verse 2, KJV) It is true, our Messiah’s atoning death brought about the present reality that “any individual who calls upon his name, will receive HaShem’s salvation (Joel 2:32; Romans 10:13). Moreover, according to the Torah, this personal acceptance of Yeshua is the only sign of a genuine relationship between a Holy God and his people (John 14:6-21, Hebrews 8:10). But the Feast of Sukkot is a holy convocation that speaks of corporate involvement. Is there still some future “dwelling with men” that HaShem is waiting for? What does our prophetic Scripture (from Jeremiah) for this point say? “I will be their God, and they will be my people” (31:33). So God is consistent in his intentions. | 10/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Yom Kippur "Day of Atonement" (Part G) | 13. Conclusions The thrust of this week's commentary, in the form of an apologetic, has been presented in an effort to educate the two camps, both Jews and Gentile Christians. Many Messianic as well as non-Messianic Jews still struggle with the intended meaning of "what it means to be a new creation in Messiah, walking out his Torah in our lives"; moreover, many Gentile Christians struggle with this issue as well. By default, the world does not struggle with these issues since it has not accepted HaShem on his grounds in the first place. 13.1 Messianic Symbolism in Yom Kippur The high priest had to enter every year with a new sacrifice. The sacrifice of Yeshua "a high priest forever" (Hebrews 5:6) is good forever. The old high priest entered a symbolic Holy of Holies, made with human hands. Yeshua entered the real Holy of Holies -- the very throne of God in Heaven. (Hebrews 9:11) The scapegoat carried away the sins of the people. In Yeshua all our sins are carried away "as far as east is from west" (Psalm 103:12). Once all the expiatory (sin-forgiving) sacrifices are done, the priest puts on his priestly robes again. When Yeshua had accomplished his sacrificial mission, he put back on the glory of his divinity. When the priest returned from the tabernacle (as Yeshua will return from Heaven), he offered the festival sacrifice. When Yeshua returns, it will be for the full and final redemption of his people Israel. (Ezekiel 16:63) 13.2 Introspection In addition to identifying with our people, we need another, more intimate reason for what we do. Yom Kippur is a good occasion to look inside and take a spiritual inventory. With its central themes of sin, atonement and forgiveness, the holiday naturally lends itself to this kind of spiritual introspection. Though we are made righteous in Messiah, we still sin. We are told to flee from sin and pursue righteousness, yet at the same time John bluntly reminds us, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) Yom Kippur focuses on the need to confess sin and receive God's forgiveness. It's not only tailor-made to promote our witness to others (as it gives occasion to discuss these spiritual issues), but it is also a holiday for us to take stock of our own lives before God. The litany of sins we confess in the Al Chet acts as a mirror so we can see ourselves honestly and come clean. Nevertheless, if you attend traditional Yom Kippur services, stay alert as you progress through the liturgy. The system that traditional Judaism has built to address the reality of sin and the need for forgiveness is not altogether theologically consistent with our faith. We do not believe that three books are opened at Rosh Hashanah and that we have ten days to make everything right before the books are closed and our fate sealed. We do not believe that repentance, prayer and charity (or good deeds) can secure God's forgiveness for sin 13.3 Intercession In Nehemiah fasting is used to deeply express the people's repentance (9:1). Later, God speaks through the prophet Joel and declares, "Even now, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning" (Joel 2:12). In other instances fasting is a means of intensifying prayer in the face of dire need. This was often true when the enemies of Israel came against us (cf. Esther 4:3; II Chronicles 20:3) and our survival was on the line. So it is on Yom Kippur, when it is believed that our individual fate hangs in the balance. As believers we can certainly fast as an expression of repentance and as an intensification of prayer. But there is another reason to fast on Yom Kippur. That reason is intercession. When Ezra wanted to pray for the people leaving Babylon he called a fast (Ezra 8:21). When Esther was about to take a big risk she asked the community to pray for her, accompanied by fasting (Esther 4:16). Daniel fasted as he prayed on behalf of the exiled Jewish nation (Daniel 9:3). | 10/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Yom Kippur "Day of Atonement" (Part F) | 12. Leviticus 18:5 - Torah Observance Equals Eternal Life? "You are to observe my laws and rulings; if a person does them, he will have life through them; I am ADONAI." (Leviticus 18:5) " Moshe spoke of the righteousness that is grounded in trust, in Vayikra 18:5, "That the person who does these things will attain life through them." Rashi (quoting the Sifra) comments: "It refers to the world to come; for if you say it refers to this world, doesn't everyone die sooner or later?" I understand the Torah then to be talking about eternal life. "That many Christians don't believe that the Torah teaches eternal life through the Teachings of the Mitzvot is irrelevant! If they have made a serious error in their theology, they must answer to HaShem for misunderstanding His Torah. Why do we become so "caught up in the middle" over false teaching? Is it because of the fence that we have built around Torah, that we defend it so fervently? In any case, they are wrong about Torah.... it is to be kept, not disregarded. It is the goal of the Torah to lead its followers to the righteousness grounded in trust. But have you ever stopped to think that they (the minim) may have understood a central part that our people, the Jewish community, miss? "The lesson in logic goes like this: the person who practices "the righteousness grounded in the Torah will necessarily have the trust in Yeshua the Messiah that the B'rit Chadashah proclaims. Why? Because legalism is the exact opposite of trust! The heresy of legalism, when applied to the Torah, says that anyone who does these things, that is, anyone who mechanically follows the rules for Shabbat, kashrut, etc., will attain life through them, will be saved, will enter the Kingdom of HaShem, will obtain eternal life. No need to trust HaShem, just obey the rules! The problem with this simplistic ladder to Heaven is that legalism conveniently ignores the "rule" that trust must underlie all rules following which HaShem finds acceptable. But trust necessarily converts mere rule-following into something altogether different, in fact, into its opposite, genuine faithfulness to HaShem. Therefore, "legalistic obedience to Torah commands" as well as "ethnic-driven corporate identity" (that is, "works of the Law" as expressed by a rabbinical conversion policy for Gentiles wishing to enter into Isra'el) is actually disobedience to the Torah! Sha'ul clearly taught in Galatians that "circumcision" (often used by the Apostle as shorthand for "proselyte conversion") as a prerequisite for covenant inclusion runs contrary to the genuine Good News of Yeshua, and consequently sets itself at odds with God's True Torah. "Now here's the sad truth! The evidence that non-Messianic Jews "have not submitted themselves to HaShem's way of making people righteous", which itself shows that their "zeal for HaShem" is "not based on correct understanding", is that they have not grasped the central point of the Torah and acted on it. Had they seen that trust in HaShem - as opposed to "being born Jewish", self-effort, legalism, and mechanical obedience to the rules - is the route to the righteousness which the Torah itself not only requires but offers, then they would see that, "the goal at which the Torah aims is [acknowledging and trusting in] the Messiah, who offers [on the ground of this trusting the very] righteousness (they are seeking). They would see that the righteousness, which the Torah offers, is offered through him and only through him. They would also see that he offers it to everyone who trusts - to them and to the Goyim as well, without having to convert to Judaism first!" | 10/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Yom Kippur "Day of Atonement" (Part E) | 11. Yeshua’s Bloody Atonement Sacrifice and Leviticus 17:11 In an attempt to continue explain the matter, we need to understand the plans and purposes of HaShem as expressed in the whole of the Torah. From our vantage point and using twentieth century hindsight, it makes perfect sense to send the Messiah to atone for our sinful nature. After all, if God left things in the hands of mankind, each individual man would have to atone for his own personal sins and consequently every man would eventually have to die for such a payment. But what does the Torah say? "Here is how it works: it was through one individual that sin entered into the world, and through sin, death; and in this way death passed through to the whole human race, inasmuch as everyone sinned." (Romans 5:12) With the entrance of sin came the punishment for sin–death. So we see that HaShem is perfectly righteous when he says that the wages for our sin is death; every man does deserve to die. But here is where the mercy of HaShem comes in! He has lovingly provided a means by which mankind can redeem himself. In the period of the TaNaKH, the sacrificial system was that means! Even though it pointed towards something greater, it was authentically God’s solution. No Jew living in that time period was able to circumvent this system, and remain officially within the community. If we take HaShem seriously, them we will accept his provision–no matter what means, or how temporal that provision is! This is our first lesson in "Torah logic". In summary then, the sacrificial system was not designed to bring the participant to the goal, namely a purged conscience and salvation of the individual. Sacrifices were for dealing with sin in the flesh. Only genuine faith in the Promised One could move God’s heart to reckon to one’s account “righteousness” as was done for Avraham. The Torah was weak in that it could not bring to the goal of salvation the heart of an individual. Only the Spirit’s supernatural work could—and always will be able to—do that. There is only ONE path to positional righteousness. There is only ONE way to attain lasting salvation. Thus we see that the covenant spoken about by the prophet Jeremiah is surely a superior system. When HaShem says that he will remember our sins no more, that’s something to rejoice about! Why would anyone want to attempt to revert back to the former system, if it were possible? Unfortunately, today, many of my brothers according to the flesh are doing something similar to this. When a person rejects Yeshua HaMashiach as the final atonement for their sin, they are really rejecting the One who sent the Messiah in the first place! In other words, to reject Yeshua is to reject HaShem! This is where the corporate blindness of my people lies. | 10/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Yom Kippur "Day of Atonement" (Part D) | 9. Talmudic Quotes The ancient Rabbis agreed that sacrifice without true repentance invalidates the sacrifice itself! The Talmud in Tractate Yoma clearly teaches this: The Master has said: Because it is written [Ex. xxxiv. 7]: "He will clear of sins," how is it to be understood? That is as we have learned in the following Boraitha: R. Elazar said: We cannot say it means, He clears of sins, because it is written further, "by no means" does He clear. We cannot say, He does not, because it is written "clear of sins." We must therefore explain the verse: He clears of sins those who do penance; and does not, those who are not penitent. 10. Scriptural Quotes This concept of intentional and unintentional sin and of penitence and rebellion is touched upon in the Torah at Sefer B’midbar (the Book of Numbers): Version: KJV Num 15:26 - Num 15:36 26. And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people [were] in ignorance. 27. And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. 28. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. 29. Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, [both for] him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. 30. But the soul that doeth [ought] presumptuously, [whether he be] born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 31. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity [shall be] upon him. In chapter 16 of our portion, we find the divine instructions for the sacred day of assembly known as Yom Kippur. HaShem has very explicit and important details that he expects Aharon the cohen gadol (high priest) to carry out. To be sure, as we shall find out, they had a very significant and far-reaching impact not just on the physical offspring of Avraham, but as the fullness of God's timetable would demonstrate, on the rest of humanity as well. | 10/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Yom Kippur "Day of Atonement" (Part C) | 7. Apologetics – Part One Let us turn now to a discussion of the expiatory offerings and their bearing on Jews and Christians today. To be sure, this will be the central topic of my commentary. For the sake of this next apologetic section I would like to create two imaginary groups: the Missionary and the Anti-missionary. In reality both of these groups really exist but my commentary will of necessity be structuring their respective arguments for my readers. I would like to start by citing some somewhat “standard answers” to a few “Christian” objections, here presented as the “missionaries”, concerning the sacrifices and atonement. A sample missionary question will appear first with a “standard Jewish” answer, here read as the “anti-missionaries”, following. Later in the commentary I will take my own shot at refuting the “standard” anti-missionary answers. Q: How do Jews obtain forgiveness without sacrifices? A: Forgiveness is obtained through repentance, prayer and good deeds. In Jewish practice, prayer has taken the place of sacrifices. In accordance with the words of Hosea, we render instead of bullocks the offering of our lips (Hosea 14:3) (please note: the KJV translates this somewhat differently). While dedicating the Temple, King Solomon also indicated that prayer can be used to obtain forgiveness (I Kings 8:46-50). Our prayer services are in many ways designed to parallel the sacrificial practices. For example, we have an extra service on Shabbat, to parallel the extra Shabbat offering. Q: But isn't a blood sacrifice required in order to obtain forgiveness? A: No. Although animal sacrifice is one means of obtaining forgiveness, there are non-animal offerings as well, and there are other means for obtaining forgiveness that do not involve sacrifices at all. The passage that people ordinarily cite for the notion that blood is required is Leviticus 17:11: "For the soul of the flesh is in the blood and I have assigned it for you upon the altar to provide atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that atones for the soul." But the passage that this verse comes from is not about atonement; it is about dietary laws, and the passage says only that blood is used to obtain atonement; not that blood is the only means for obtaining atonement. Leviticus 17:10-12 could be paraphrased as "Don't eat blood, because blood is used in atonement rituals; therefore, don't eat blood." 8. Apologetics – Part Two Now I would like to supply some Messianic answers to these issues posed by my imaginary missionary and his imaginary anti-missionary opponent. This time the question could feasibly be posed by either a missionary or an anti-missionary, but the answers are definitely my [missionary] answer. Q: Is there atonement without the sacrifices? And if there is atonement, is such atonement offered for both intentional and unintentional sins? Let us now turn to a discussion about the efficacy of the animal sacrifices themselves, comparing popular Christian theology against the Torah. For this section I will provide the readers with an extended quote from a work by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. His book ‘Toward Rediscovering The Old Testament’ has proven to be invaluable in helping to uncover the truth behind this crucial topic of discussion. 8.1 Were the Old Testament sacrifices personally and objectively effective? Some anti-missionaries would readily disagree with my above statement about Yom Kippur, teaching that there is no atonement for intentional sins. A well-known anti-missionary organization by the name of Jews for Judaism agrees with the notion of atonement for intentional and unintentional sins, but the means of such atonement is radically different than the accepted missionary approach. | 10/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Yom Kippur "Day of Atonement" (Part B) | These five are the types of offerings introduced in the opening pages of Leviticus: 'Olah (Burnt Offering) – Lev. 1:1-17 Minchah (Grain Offering) – Lev. 2:1-16 Sh’lamim (Peace Offering) – Lev. 3:1-17 Chata’at (Sin Offering) – Lev. 4:1-35; 5:1-13 ‘Asham (Guilt Offering) – Lev. 5:14-26 The first three could easily be considered “freewill offerings”, brought before HaShem by anyone at various times in the life of anyone in the community. The last two were required to make restitution for various sins. Such korbanot (chata’at and ’asham) are referred to as “expiatory”. The expiatory korbanot shall occupy the bulk of the latter part of this commentary. | 10/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Yom Kippur "Day of Atonement" (Part A) | “ADONAI said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘The designated times of ADONAI which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my designated times.” (Leviticus 23:1, 2) YOM KIPPUR “Day of Atonement” “ADONAI said to Moshe, “The tenth day of this seventh month is Yom-Kippur; you are to have a holy convocation, you are to deny yourselves, and you are to bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI. You are not to do any kind of work on that day, because it is Yom-Kippur, to make atonement for you before ADONAI your God.” (Leviticus 23:26-28) Contents: 1. Introduction 2. ‘Olah 3. Minchah 4. Sh'lamim 5. Chata'at 6. 'Asham 7. Apologetics - Part One 8. Apologetics - Part Two 9. Talmudic Quotes 10. Scriptural Quotes 11. Yeshua's Bloody Atonement Sacrifice and Leviticus 17:11 12. Leviticus 18:5 - Torah Observance Equals Eternal Life? 13. Conclusions 1. Introduction With the arrival of Yom Kippur, comes another one of the central aspects of our relationship with our Holy God: atonement. Why is atonement so important to HaShem? Apparently, ever since the incident in the Garden of Eden, mankind has carried within himself the sinful propensity of that first act of disobedience, and consequently, the sinful results as well. Our sin nature is in direct conflict with the holy nature of HaShem. As a result, we cannot fathom approaching him without first making some sort of restitution that would satisfy HaShem’s righteous requirement. His nature demands that there be atonement for sin, for indeed, sin cannot exist in his sight. The word kippur connotes “atonement” or “expiation”. Related to this word is the Hebrew word kapporet, which is what we call the cover to the Ark of the Covenant. It is a fitting connection, since the lid of the Ark (Mercy Seat) is where HaShem spoke to Moshe face to face. This was also where the blood of the atoning animal was offered once a year during Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:14-16). Most students of the Bible have been taught that it was in this way the blood of the sacrifice "covered" the sin of the person bringing it. Popular Christian theology regularly teaches that this type of atonement only covers the sin; it doesn’t allow it to be completely erased. In a very true way, this practice was temporary, awaiting its fullness when Messiah arrived. We shall examine these details at length later on. You might ask, "If HaShem knew the temporal aspect of this sacrificial system, why did he institute it in the first place? Why not just send the Messiah from the beginning, and skip all of those elaborate "middle steps"? This is a good and valid question, not entirely unlike those that I hear from most non-Jewish believers and a few Jewish folks as well. In order to gain a fuller appreciation for the Yom Kippur rituals, we should do a short study on the other types of sacrifices that took place in and around the Mishkan of that time. I shall go backward in the book of Leviticus and briefly study these korbanot (offerings). | 10/6/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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53 Parashat Ha'azinu (Part B) | The Torah Standard - God’s Equity Among Jews and Gentiles As children of an all-loving God, we must realize that sin is unacceptable to HaShem. His righteous standard demands that a price must be paid in order to, as a child might say, “make the sin go away”. Sometimes we don’t think of it in those terms, but that is essentially what happens when atonement is made for sin. HaShem sees the sacrifice instead of the sin, and the punishment is meted out on the substitute. Am Yisra’el’s whoring attitude towards alien gods demanded a righteous verdict on the part of their covenant partner—HaShem! It has been stated that God blesses Isra’el directly, but uses the nations of the world to punish her indirectly; similarly, he punishes the nations of the world directly, but when it comes time to bless them, he indirectly uses Isra’el. To an extent, that is precisely what is happening in this chapter, as HaShem seeks to win back the affection of his children from idolatry, through the use of a “non-people” (vs. 21b). “But Ariel”, you may object today, “I don’t practice idolatry; I am not at all like the Jewish nation that I read about in the Torah. I follow God and his ways. I love him and would never consider falling into gross disobedience like some other people have done. How does any of what you’re telling me apply “practically”? The answer is this: I believe that the Torah teaches us that as believers, Jew and non-Jew, we all constitute the community of the “Called out Ones” (Ephesians chapter two). To use modern vernacular, “We’re all in this together”. The time for viewing the body as a disconnected unit with two families, ‘one as the church and the other as the synagogue’ is coming to an end. Indeed, it should have never been conceived! Historically, we Christians have had no problem identifying with Isra’el when it comes to the blessings. But when we see the hand of HaShem in their punishment, we turn a deaf ear to their cries. Yeshua our great sacrifice taught us to have genuine, heart-felt love for one another and that in this way, all of the world would know that we are his. The book of Romans, chapter 11 speaks about the time when HaShem shall finally look upon Isra’el as a sin-free nation (vs.25-27). The context of the chapter deals with the Gentile participation of that final atonement. Although it is true that Yeshua has already made provision for their sins to be atoned for, corporately they haven’t realized it yet! “How can I help?” If you are a Christian reading this today, you can play an active part in helping the Jews recognize their need for the Messiah Yeshua. Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) carefully in prayer. Find out how your genuine love for the Jews can be effectively communicated to them personally. Get actively involved in studies that explain the current move of God for the Church to rediscover her Hebraic roots. Have an honest chat with a rabbi and ask him to explain to you his concerns for the Jewish Community. Remember, at this time of the year, many Jews worldwide are genuinely seeking the forgiveness of HaShem. He has already provided the forgiveness they seek, in the person and work of the Greatest Jew who ever lived—Yeshua HaMashiach! We the Church need to recognize the importance of our active involvement in their corporate salvation process. Lest we become too blind to our own sins, we also need to search within ourselves and determine to completely drive out the root of error that has sprung up over the last two thousand years or so. Yes, even the Church needs the mercy of HaShem as never before! If we fail to recognize our need for his “cleansing judgment” (1 Peter 4:17-19), we may find ourselves wondering, like so many Jewish people do today, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The answer might just be found in verse fifty-one of our parashah: “You failed to de | 9/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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53 Parashat Ha'azinu (Part A) | “The Good News… and the Bad News” “Why”, we might ask, “does HaShem seem to constantly emphasize our shortcomings? Is he so enamored with how we will fail him that he fails to see the good in us? In the case of the Jewish People, was he so positive that they would forsake him and follow after false gods, that he needed to stand poised like an executioner, ready to bring down his blade in swift punishment?” Much as this may seem to be the case, fortunately, for our sake, it not true. HaShem is a God of undeserved-mercy and loving-compassion. Most accurately, Moshe predicted and expected how easily Am Yisra’el (the people of Isra’el) would fall into gross idolatry. It is simply amazing that he didn’t give up on them! The unexpected response from HaShem culminates in verse forty-three. Let’s see what the Torah has to teach us about the goodness of HaShem’s nature. If I were to conduct a paraphrased, verse-by verse overview, it would read something like this: Moshe proclaims, up front, the greatness of their God (vv. 3, 4) But within the people themselves lies defect (vs. 5, 6) HaShem takes unto himself this undeserving people (vs. 7-11) He alone provides for all of their needs (vs. 12-14) But their greed and lust overtake them (vs. 15-18) HaShem administers fatherly correction, to “woo” them back (vs. 19-25) Again, recognizing their defect, he compares them to their enemies (vs. 28-33) When HaShem’s judgment consequently comes upon those who hate him, his own people begin to consider him once again as the only source of all sustenance (vs. 34-42) This righteous judgment from HaShem elicits a proclamation from Moshe to the nations, “Sing out, you nations, about his people! For he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will render vengeance to his adversaries and make atonement for the land of his people” (vs. 43). As we can see, far from being cruel and unmerciful, HaShem desires to maintain a loving, lasting relationship with his children! The Torah clearly states that the problem is not found within HaShem or his righteous ways. Rather, the problem lies within us! This is repeated in the Apostolic Scriptures, in the book of Hebrews. It tells us in 8:7-8 that the New Covenant was necessary because of the fault that was within them—indeed the same one that is within us! We have an inherited defect, which causes us to lack wisdom. This lack of wisdom (of HaShem’s ways) brings us into conflict with his holiness, thereby leaving us hopeless to reach the goal that the Torah outlines for us. In our utter desperation we have no choice but to concede that he alone can make the necessary corrections in our sinful makeup. This correction is sometimes defined in the “judgment” of God. | 9/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Yom T'ruah/Rosh HaShanah "Day of the Awakening Trumpet Blast" (Part C) | Sa'adiah Gaon gives ten reasons for sounding the shofar on Rosh HaShanah. 1. Acknowledges God as Our King 2. Stirs Our Conscience 3. Reminds us of God's revelation at Sinai 4. Reminds us of the Prophets' warnings 5. Reminds us of the destruction of the Temple 6. Reminds us the ram offered by Abraham in place of his son Isaac 7. Reminds us to feel humble before God 8. Reminds us of the Day of Final Judgment 9. Foreshadows proclamation of freedom when exiled will return to Isra'el 10. Foreshadows inauguration of Gods reign of righteousness throughout the world SUMMARY The 'shofar,' the ram's horn trumpet, represents the spokesmen of HaShem the Almighty God of Isra’el; through whom His Spirit declares the Truth. It is a musical instrument of antiquity - of God's own making! 1 A 'divine shofar’ sounded at Sinai when the Creator of the mighty universe gave Isra’el His holy law - for all mankind! Blowing its earthly counterpart (the ram's horn) today, is declaring one's acceptance of God's eternal commandments and authority over us. 2 The shofar was, and still is, sounded on HaShem's High and Holy Days: i.e. the weekly Sabbath, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and in the day of the New Moon. Blowing it today is a reminder of the Everlasting Covenant between the Almighty God and His chosen people Isra’el. 3 The shofar was instrumental in triggering the Almighty's power when He demolished the walls of Jericho in the days of Joshua. Blowing it today is an act of living faith in the Almighty's ability to demolish the systems of this world, however high and mighty their ramparts may be. 4 The shofar will always herald victory in warfare, provided the people of the LORD are obedient to His law. Blowing it today is a call for divine assistance. 5 The shofar was sounded when king David brought the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem. Blowing it today is a sign of our re-commitment to the Holy One of Isra’el. 6 The shofar was sounded when Solomon was anointed king of Isra’el. Blowing it today is a declaration of our loyalty to the King of Kings, Yeshua the Messiah, One who is wiser and greater than Solomon. 7 The shofar was sounded when the Temple was dedicated. Blowing it today is a call to worship. 8 The shofar was sounded when Isra’el’s exiles returned from captivity to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the second Temple. Blowing it today is a symbol of the restoration of God's Truth. 9 The shofar was blown by the watchmen on Zion’s walls to warn the inhabitants of the sword of the enemy. Blowing it today is a signal to awake to the danger of Satanic attack. 10 The shofar was sounded by the watchmen and prophets of Isra’el to warn of sin. In like manner we must warn God's people else we will have blood on our hands! Blowing it today is a call to faith, repentance and obedience. 11 Before the end of this age, all humanity will hear the LORD Himself sound the Great shofar, the heavenly trumpet which will raise the dead. Blowing the ram's horn shofar today is a reminder that we are fast approaching that time. 12 Alas! Most people will not heed these warnings, even when they are backed by the Word of God. To them the shofar is an embarrassment and divine warnings only stir up contempt and anger. Do not let this happen to you, because that would be a disaster! For the fact is, the 'call of the shofar' signifies all that is dear to the God of Isra’el: truth, repentance, obedience, dedication, restoration, sanctification, warning, expectation, victory and resurrection from the dead! So in the future when you hear the 'call of the shofar' remember these things, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and bless His holy Name. It may be that He will spare you in the fast-approaching Day of Judgment! | 9/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Yom T'ruah/Rosh HaShanah "Day of the Awakening Trumpet Blast" (Part B) | Names, Themes, and Hebrew Idioms associated with Rosh HaShanah: 1. Season of T’shuvah – this title, borrowed from the proximity of this particular feast to the Day of Atonement, suggest the attitude that is assumed during this most important time of the year. The Jewish nation as a whole wanted to spiritually prepare their hearts to meet their Creator on the Day of Atonement, hence the title given to the entire time period. As believers in Messiah, we already recognize the significance of his effectual blood sacrifice, thus we too can appreciate the state of mind that the Nation of Isra’el was trying to reach. Because many Jewish people as of yet do not have a personal relationship with Yeshua, I feel that their attitude during this time is appropriate, as, according to rabbinical belief, the Messiah could come to vindicate his chosen people during this season. 2. Rosh HaShanah – as previously stated, this day is recognized and celebrated as the head of the Jewish Calendar year. 3. Yom T’ruah – because the Torah explicitly commanded Am Yisra’el to sound the shofar on this day, it is called by this name. In Hebrew thought, a shofar is used to sound an “awakening blast” to the listener. Sometimes the call was to assemble, while at other times, the call was to war. In the case of the latter, usually a trumpet was used, instead of the traditional ram’s horn. At any rate, the Chazal (Sages of Antiquity) taught that the sound that the shofar made during this time period was to awaken the sleeping sinner from his spiritual slumber, and challenge him to make t’shuvah, repentance, unto the LORD his God. Because of this, Yom T’ruah is better translated as “Day of the Awakening Blast”. A spiritual call to assembly was what the writer of the New Covenant had in mind, when he penned the famous words in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17. That quite a few believing Gentiles and Messianic Jews (myself included) teach that our Messiah could return on or around this season, is no small secret. We would do well to study this feast more in our non-Jewish Church settings. 4. Yom haDin – translates as “The Day of Judgment”. On this day, the rabbis believed that three great books in heaven were opened, and HaShem the Almighty Judge would weigh each man’s worth (Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 6b). During this time period, all of the dead was raised to face the Ancient of Days, linking this day also to the great time period of resurrection. This is quite possibly the time period that Dani’el was referring to in Chapter 7, verse 10, of his book. Also the apocalyptic author John made references to books in Revelation 20:12-15. 5. Chevlai shel Mashiach – translated as “the Birthpangs of the Messiah”. This final theme associated with Yom T’ruah is a much-repeated one throughout the Torah, especially in the prophets. The idea that one day there would be a great time of trouble on the earth, focusing primarily on the Nation of Isra’el as a people, is a major theme even in some New Covenant passages. Perhaps the most well known passage comes from the book of Jeremiah. In 30:4-7, the prophet speaks of the coming time of dread and terror as likened to a woman in the pains of childbirth. In other words, the Torah suggests that one day, most likely before the Messiah returns, the peoples of the world, and the Nation of Isra’el in particular will have to suffer a horrendous time of “birthing”. This “birthing” is necessary for the Messiah to be “born”. The language here can be confusing if you fail to remember that this is very figurative writing here. The authors employ heavy uses of real life images to convey what they are seeing in the Spirit. We know that Messiah was already born once. Yet, in a spiritual sense, the Torah teaches that all of creation is still waiting for him to be “born”. For in this second “birth”, the new heavens and the new earth will finally come forth | 9/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Yom T'ruah/Rosh HaShanah "Day of the Awakening Trumpet Blast" (Part A) | “Day of the Awakening Trumpet Blast” “ADONAI said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar. Do not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to ADONAI.’” (Leviticus 23:23-25) Contents: Part One – A Ram’s Horn vs. a Metal Trumpet Part Two – Yom T’ruah Part Three – The Sounds of the Shofar on Rosh HaShanah Part Four – The Shofar and Spiritual Warfare In the seventh month, on the first day of the month…a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts. Note the same system of dating in verse 5 above and subsequently in verses 27, 33, and 39. Hebrew zikhron teru’ah means literally “commemoration by blasting” the shofar. The same designation of this occasion occurs in Numbers 29:1. The sounding of horns had various functions in ancient Isra'el, as well as elsewhere in the ancient Near East. Usually, it was a method of assembling the people before moving on to a new location or of mustering troops for battle. There were cultic uses as well. Horns were blasted when sacrifices were offered, and they were used by Temple musicians. In our text, the horn was blasted to announce the forthcoming pilgrimage festival, which occurred two weeks after the first day of the month. Thus we read in Psalms [sic] 81:4 literally, “Blow the horn on the New Moon,/on the full moon for the day of our pilgrimage festival.” Chapter 23 presents this occasion as a day of rest and of sacred assembly. It is not conceived of as a New Year at this stage, but, rather, as an occasion preliminary to the Sukkot festival.” Notice carefully, the pasuk from the book of Psalms, “Blow the horn…” The careful student will go back and check the Hebrew of this verse and notice that the word rendered “horn” is in fact “shofar:” “Tik-u va-chodesh shofar ba-keseh, l’yom chageynu.” ...although the text in Leviticus merely recognizes that an awakening sound is to be made, without clear reference as to whether we use a ram’s horn or a man-made trumpet (chatsots’rah?), we may safely state that the psalmist must have envisioned a shofar being used to announce both the new month (for so the text directly states “va-chodesh”), as well as the festival of Yom T’ruah (for so the text directly states “l’yom chageynu”), even though the text in Leviticus 23 does not explicitly mention the shofar, and even though the psalmist may have been speaking with poetic license. To state it plainly, the Hebrew of Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1 omit the word “shofar,” however, Psalm 81:4 adds it. (FYI: the LXX inserts the Greek word salpinx at Lev. 23:24, and keras at Ps. 81:3) Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. In fact, Judaism has four "new years" which mark various legal "years", much like 1 January marks the "New Year" of the Gregorian calendar. Rosh Hashanah is the new year for people, animals and legal contracts. The Mishnah also sets this day aside as the new year for calculating calendar years and sabbatical (shemitta) and jubilee (yovel) years. Adding extra months keeps the calendar in line with the solar seasons, but the true length of a lunation is 29.53 days, not 29.5, and the true length of an astronomical lunar year is 354.367 days, not 354. This means that every few years an extra day has also to be added at the end of the year to keep in line with the true astronomical lunar year. It also means that before the Exodus, the lunar calendar had fallen behind the true astronomical lunar year by about 1 day every 3 years and the new year did not always start at a new moon. However, after the Exodus the new lunar calendar had to come into line with the astronomical lunar year so that the extra months would then bring the lunar year into line with the solar year. That meant the calendar had to advance 10 day | 9/26/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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52 Parashat Vayelekh (Part B) | True, the Torah does posses a sort of “conscious-raising” role with regard to sin, as correctly stated by Guzik and as correctly noted by Stern in Romans chapter 7, but, given the immediate context of the following complimentary verses , it seems more likely that this is not the Apostle’s intended meaning here. Instead, Tim Hegg seems to uncover Sha'ul’s true, “positive” intentions with his well-written comment to his Galatians study, quoted at length here: The language of our present verse would indicate that we should read it positively, not negatively. "Why the Torah? It was given (added to the revelation already given in the Abrahamic covenant) to reveal the divine method of dealing with transgressions,” i.e., “for the sake of transgressions.” Already prejudiced against the Torah, the typical Christian exegesis misses the fact that a great deal of the Torah centers upon the Tabernacle/Temple, priesthood, and sacrifices. How were the covenant members to deal with the inevitable presence of sin in their personal and corporate lives? The Torah gives the answer: by repentance and acceptance of God’s gracious gift of forgiveness through the payment of a just penalty exemplified in the sacrifice. It was the Torah that revealed in clear detail the method which God had provided for transgression, and it was this method—the sacrificial system and priesthood that pointed to Messiah, the ultimate sacrifice and means of eternal forgiveness. Thus Paul adds: "until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.” In the Greek, this clause follows second, immediately after "it was added because of transgressions.” The ESV has the order correct: "Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.” The Torah was given in order to reveal God’s gracious manner of dealing with transgressions, i.e., through the death of an innocent substitute. Paul therefore immediately makes this point by adding, "until the seed would come…." Here, as often, the word “until” (a[cri, achri; Hebrew d;a, ’ad) has the primary meaning of "marker of continuous extent of time up to a point, until.” The point is that the revelation of the Torah regarding how God provides redemption in the face of transgressions has its focal point in Yeshua. Once Yeshua had come and offered Himself as God's eternal sacrifice, the ultimate revelation to which the sacrifices pointed had been given. This is Paul's consistent perspective: the Torah leads to Yeshua (cf. Ro 10:4 and the continuing context of Gal 3). The Torah will always serve to remind us that we all fall short of the goal when we try to accomplish things our own way. By reminding us of our shortcomings, the purpose of HaShem is accomplished—we fall desperately into his means of provision for our sin! When we then accept HaShem on his terms and his terms only, we have no choice but to accept his Messiah! This is not legalism, too harsh thinking, or even “narrow-mindedness”. This is pure LOVE! Had it not been for Yeshua providing the only way back to the Father, we would all be without hope! Think about it: a man only accepts the hand of his rescuer, once he realizes he is drowning, and cannot save himself! Yeshua is the one who is reaching out his hand to rescue the drowning man! Unless the man realizes he is in need of Yeshua, he won’t reach out to accept him. The Torah helps man to see his need for a Savior! | 9/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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52 Parashat Vayelekh (Part A) | In order to understand why HaShem uses Moshe to point out the downfalls of the people, we must read what it says in verses 24-29 again carefully. I won’t quote it all here; I want you to read it for yourself. Allow me to use material from a previous commentary that I’ve written to explain it to you: Prior to coming to faith, the Torah served as a reminder of sin (Romans 7:7-12). This is not the only function of Torah, but it is a primary one. After coming into a relationship with HaShem, through His Son Yeshua (Jesus), the [person] underwent a change in relationship to the Torah. The Avrahamic Covenant became for him or her, a “promise of inheritance”. An “inheritance” of what? Of “eternal life”, through trusting faithfulness. It became their “proof of ownership” so-to-say. It still reminded him or her of their sin. However, because we now constitute the Righteousness of HaShem (2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Ephesians 2:1-10), we are now free to pursue following HaShem without the threat of death for disobedience! “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.” What does he mean that he “died to the Law?” Is he dead to any responsibility to uphold and follow the injunctions of the Torah? Is he free to chart his own course apart from God’s objective instructions as outlined in the pages of the Five Books of Moshe? Allow me to pull a few comments from my Exegeting Galatians commentary: Comments: At first blush this verse seems to spell the end of any Torah relevance for the apostle. But a careful reading will reveal its true meaning. The verse starts out with the word “for” (Greek=gar) a conjunction indicating that it is linked to a previous argument. In this case, Paul’s “for” represents an answer to the “if” clause introduced in [Galatians 2] verse 17 ("If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners..."). The key to understanding verse 19 is in answering exactly how we as individuals in verse 17 come to be made aware that “we ourselves are sinners”). Prior to his salvation experience Sha'ul was blinded to his true condition: dead in trespasses and sin. However, now that the Spirit has taken up residence within him, via the sacrificial death of Yeshua, he can look back to how the Torah played a part in bringing him to this newfound revelation about himself. The Torah, working in concert with the Spirit of God, revealed sin for what it was: violation of God’s righteous standard. Thus, through the Torah—that is, through its proper function of revealing and condemning sin, the individual is brought to the goal of the Torah, namely the revelation of the Messiah himself. Once faced with the choice to remain in sin or be set free by the power of the Blood, Paul confesses that he “died” to his old self and was consequently made alive in the newness that is accredited to those who choose life! But Paul says that he died to Torah. What does he mean by such a statement? Are we to assume that in Yeshua Paul is now somehow dead to obedience to the Torah? May it never be! Simply put, he now realizes that his new life in the Spirit is a life to be lived without the fear of being condemned as a sinner by the very Torah he previously thought he was upholding! The Torah has a properly installed built-in function of sentencing sinners to become the object of HaShem’s punishment and ultimate rejection, a rejection that will result in death if the person never choose the Messiah of life. Paul is teaching the Galatians that his choice of Yeshua is to be understood as a death of self and the former life that Torah condemned in favor of a new life of serving God through the Spirit, a choice brought on by the revelation of Messiah found within the very pages of the Torah itself! Such freedom in Messiah does not liberate one from Torah, rather, such freedom liberates one to be able to walk into Tora | 9/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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51 Parashat Nitzavim | The “Scarlet Thread” of the Torah Here’s the meat of my commentary—pay attention: The Nation of Isra’el, as a whole failed to grasp the central concept of the teaching of Moshe, and consequently, the teaching of Rav Sha’ul. Moshe describes, in no uncertain terms, the availability of the grace of HaShem, when it comes to attaining “life”. Most assuredly, he presents before them, the option to choose “life” and “good”, or “death” and “evil” (30:15-20). In the verses quoted at the onset of my commentary, Moshe describes “IT” as not being too hard for them to grasp; he describes the “IT” as not being beyond their reach either! This important “IT” wasn’t in the sky, which was obviously out of their reach, providing them with a legitimate excuse for disobedience, had “IT” remained there. Likewise, the “IT” wasn’t beyond the [Mediterranean] sea, providing them once again with the same excuse for disobedience. “On the contrary,” says Moshe, “IT” was very close to them, in their mouths [!], even in their hearts (New Covenant feature again)—therefore, they could do “IT”! Whoever said that a person could not keep the Torah? Where does this idea come from that “IT” is too difficult? Or that “HaShem is asking too much of me”? But wait! What is the “IT”? Obviously (or maybe not so obviously), the “IT” that Moshe is referring to can only be the Torah! Or could it also be a hint (remez) of something even greater? Rav Sha’ul, I believe, supplies us with the answer. I need you, the reader, to recall the strange but true example that John used in Chapter 1, verses 1-14 of his Gospel. Here, John gives us a lesson in “Torah algebra”. In verse one, the Torah was with HaShem, yet, the Torah is HaShem (Torah=HaShem)! But in verse fourteen, John goes on to tell us that the Torah became a human being and lived with us (Torah=human being)! The rest of John’s account in that first chapter, explicitly states that Yeshua the Messiah is that human being! So, according to “Torah algebra”: If Torah=HaShem, and Torah=human being, then HaShem=human being! This is controversial indeed! No Jew, using normal modes of logic would accept this interpretation. But Rav Sha’ul was not using normal logic when he quoted the passage in Deuteronomy 30:11-14, and applied his rabbinical teaching tool called midrash on it! He was using heavenly logic. Yeshua the Messiah is undoubtedly the subject of Romans 10:5-8. Yet the rabbi identifies the “IT” of Deuteronomy with the Messiah! Why? Because of the truth that you and I already know about Yeshua, as explained earlier by John. Yeshua came from heaven! —He did not remain up there, out of our reach, providing us with some valid excuse for lack of faith, which leads to disobedience; nor is he “beyond the sea”, or to put it the way Sha’ul did, still “in Sh’ol”. The fact that Sha'ul doesn’t use the exact same wording as Moshe here, but opts for the example of Sh’ol (the place of the dead, i.e. hell), does not seriously alter the meaning of what Moshe meant. In fact, Sha’ul’s example takes the application a step further. For the Hebrew mind, if something was “beyond the sea”, it might as well have been “in Sh’ol”—for it was beyond the reach of normal human efforts to obtain! And in the case of Sh’ol, it was impossible! At any rate, Yeshua was not, and still is not beyond the reach of normal human efforts—for he has been raised (from Sh’ol) by the power of HaShem, and is now available for everyone who will trust! His life from the dead now produces life in all that obey and put their trust in him! These are the very same choices that Moshe was describing! | 9/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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50 Parashat Ki Tavo (Part D) | One Law for One Corporate People At this point in my commentary, it becomes painfully clear that I need to define whom the recipients of the blessing and the curses are, based on responsibility to the Torah. For it is indeed true that historic Gentile responsibility differs slightly from Jewish responsibility. The operative word is “historic”. Volumes could be said, but I will be brief. Historically, those identified as Corporate Isra'el were first given the task of showcasing God’s holiness and righteous standard in the earth (“…to the Jew first…”). To this end HaShem supplied them with his Written Word of holiness. The very same God expected them to accept and uphold this Torah in faith. So the Jews have been given Torah, and their responsibility and response to it should be a heart that is circumcised towards God. The corporate Gentiles are in a position to receive the very same Torah and grace demonstrated by believing Isra'el, by becoming partakers and fellow covenant-keepers, through their demonstration of the exact same biblical faith! Yeshua the Messiah came to inaugurate the covenant originally made with the offspring of Avraham (read Jeremiah 31:31-34). This covenant now includes Gentiles en masse, provided they continue in the very same trust that Isra'el was expected to demonstrate. Don’t get me wrong. God has always ‘included” the ger (a technical term referring to a non-Jew”). But Yeshua demonstrated the Father’s plan by reaching out to the disenfranchised Y’hudi (Jew) first, while sending his sh’li’chim (apostles) to the Gentiles afterwards. Are you following me? Failure to continue in genuine trusting faithfulness for either Jew or Gentile participants invited God to place them in a position that Sha’ul called “broken off”. In other words, natural branches (Jews) could be broken off because of lack of trust, and grafted-in branches (Gentiles) could also be broken off due to lack of trust (read Romans chapter 11)! Far from purporting that some “ethnic-driven” halakhah secured one’s place in the ‘olam haba (Age to Come), the native born Jew, the convert Jew, and the good old fashioned Gentiles all faced the same penalty for remorseless lack of faith: spiritual death. So we see that the Torah is the universal document for both peoples and it outlines God’s plan for all mankind, both Jews and Gentiles. To walk in disobedience and lack of trust is to invite God’s punishment and withholding of blessing. To belong to the family is to mentally, spiritually, and physically accept the family rules. To this end, both Jews and Gentiles are expected to practice Torah submissiveness within their hearts and within their communities. To submit to God is to desire and allow his Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) to continually mold a person’s life into the example of the Son of God, who vividly displayed a Torah-obedient and submissive life! This is the responsibility of a believer. To sum up my commentary this week: Blessings and curses are dependent upon the orientation of the individual’s heart, and his responsibility to the Torah of HaShem. To the Jew, the Torah spells out the consequences of failing to heed the instructions of HaShem, while attempting to be included in the covenant family. An uncircumcised heart is simply not acceptable in terms of Torah-based righteousness. For the Gentile, to be grafted into the family of HaShem one needs to place his unreserved trust in the Son of HaShem—just like any Jew—and then let God work in him the good work which was designed for him since creation (Ephesians 2:8-10). Everyone else who falls into the category of simply not being found in covenant relationship with HaShem, through his Son Yeshua, fails to receive covenant blessings, and is ultimately a candidate for destruction. God only deals within covenants. His Son freely offers a covenant with salvific benefits and all men are freely enjoi | 9/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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50 Parashat Ki Tavo (Part C) | “Trust and Obey for There’s No Other Way…” (Recalling the old, familiar Baptist tune…) Part One: Trust… Paul and James on Justification Some see a contradiction between Paul and James on the teaching of justification. Paul emphatically taught that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law while James argued that a man is justified by faith and works (James 2:14-26). Luther is such an individual who saw the two prophets' teachings to be in opposition. Insisting that Paul's view was correct, Luther belittled James's epistle, calling it an 'epistle of straw.' Such an approach to the two authors is not necessary. When the literary context of each other is examined it can be demonstrated that there is no contradiction. The key to understanding these two seemingly contradictory authors is to understand how each uses the terms justified, faith, and works. These words must be defined by their respective contexts. Paul emphasized that we are saved by faith in Yeshua, and not by our natural or achieved ethnic status. James emphasized that the kind of faith that results in salvation will necessarily produce works that show evidence of that faith. Paul was concerned about people adding anything to faith that they believe is meritorious for their salvation. James was concerned about people professing to have faith that is not really faith at all, but rather a lifeless mental-assent to Messiah. It seems that James was attacking the 1st century Jewish distortion of the Torah’s teaching on justification, wherein faith is some dead orthodoxy with no corresponding behavioral changes. Even Paul found it necessary to fight against this distortion of his teaching on justification (Romans 3:8; 6:1, 15). James pointed out that if a person has genuine salvific faith, works will follow after him showing evidence of that faith. Part Two: … and Obey Let us now examine what Ya’akov has to say about faith and works. Sanctification and holiness are near equivalents theologically. Both words in their various forms are translated from the same Hebrew root meaning to "cut" or "separate," and the Greek word hagiasmos aJgiasmovß, meaning "consecration." The core concept of holiness, then, is separation and consecration to God (Leviticus 11:44). In our culture sanctification has come to mean the pursuit of moral perfection. Although the latter is included in the Biblical concept of sanctification, it is a corollary to the idea of separation. Sanctification results in morality, but sanctification is not tantamount to morality. God is said to be holy because He is separate from creation and is morally pure in contradistinction to sin. A reading from James chapter 2 verses 14-26 appears as an overemphasis of actions as opposed to faith. In reality, a common understanding of these verses might give the reader the impression that works are more important than faith itself. Yet, Ya’akov’s audience, unlike Sha’ul’s, seemingly did not have a problem with an enforced conversion policy. Instead they had a problem with a dead faith that led them nowhere! So Ya’akov masterfully constructed a correct biblical theology that showed that genuine biblical trust ALWAYS leads an individual into genuine biblical actions! This is in complete harmony with what Sha’ul was teaching! Faith must not be substituted for good works, and good works should not be substituted for faith! Moreover, good works do not replace faith, nor does faith cancel out the performance of good works. To be straightforward: “Faith and good works go hand in hand! One without the other is incomplete and lacking of true biblical righteousness!” We therefore come to understand that for Paul, there was no bifurcation between “faith” and “faithfulness.” They are two sides of the same coin. One may therefore speak of either with the full assurance that the other exists. | 9/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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50 Parashat Ki Tavo (Part B) | Tochacha Chapter 28 contains what is known in Judaism as the ‘Tochacha’. We have encountered this before in Leviticus 26:14-46. Allow me to recall my notes from there for you: According to one online Hebrew-English dictionary, the origin word ‘tocheycha’ conveys a “reprimand.” Browns, Driver, Briggs defines this word as “rebuke, correction, reproof, punishment, chastisement.” By its context, since the source is the Holy One Himself, it conveys the purpose of “divine retribution.” Interesting by comparison, the Hebrew of this current perek (chapter) is written in the plural, addressing collective Isra'el. Its counterpart in D’varim 28, however, is written in the singular. The Gaon of Vilna explains that the difference conveyed by the listing in D’varim is that the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is addressing collective Isra'el, that is, each and every Jew that was present then and each and every Jew that will be born in the future. Indeed a quote from the JPS version of Parashat Nitzavim (D’varim 29:13, 14 [14, 15 in English Bibles]) gives the Gaon this impression: 29:13 But it is not with you alone that I am making this covenant and this dread oath. (V’lo itchem l’vadechem anochi koret et-hab’rit hazot ve'et-ha'alah hazot.) 29:14 I am making it both with those who are standing here with us today before God our Lord, and with those who are not [yet] here with us today. (Ki et-asher yesh’no poh imanu omed hayom lifney Adonai Eloheynu ve'et asher eynenu poh imanu hayom.) Rashi explains that the phrase "v’lo itchem l’vadchem" includes even "dorot ho’asidim l’hiyot" - generations that are destined to yet come into existence. Indeed, the Gemara (the commentary on the Mishnah) explains that the principal of communal responsibility - kol Yisroel areivim zeh bozeh - is rooted in Parashat Nitzavim. Thus, the collective nature of the Tochacha in particular, and K’nesset Yisra’el (Assembly of Isra'el) in general, includes any future member of B’nei Yisra’el (Sons of Isra'el) as well. Accordingly, the Gemara derives the concept of arvus (say “ar-voos”), “joint responsibility [of one Jew for another's performance of mitzvot]”, from the tochacha, which emphasizes the collective unit of B’nei Yisra’el. In this sense, Rav Yeruchum Perlow explains the view of the Bahag who counts the Tochacha and its blessings and curses among the 613 mitzvot. He suggests that the Bahag was not referring to the ceremony and ritual of the Tochacha, but rather to the mitzvah of arvus, which is rooted in the Tochacha itself. In the Hebraic mind, to accept the yoke of heaven (also spoken of as the yoke of the Kingdom) means to place one’s trust in HaShem. Additionally, to accept the yoke of the Torah means to be submissive to God’s Written Word. We know from spiritual hindsight that trust in HaShem and submissiveness to his Torah should result in trust in his Son Yeshua. Such trust is meant to be a safeguard against idolatry. Sadly, far too few believers actually avail themselves of the full measure of protection that the Ruach HaKodesh offers. If the historic Church would have kept the Written Word guarded (Heb: shamar) we might not have the penchant lust for Sun worship that is rife in Christianity. Conversely, if the historic Synagogue had not aligned herself against the newly formed Church, we might not have the lack of faith in Yeshua (Jesus) that we find in Rabbinic Judaism today. So what should a proper balance of trust and obedience look like? | 9/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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50 Parashat Ki Tavo (Part A) | Ki Tavo means, “When you come”. The opening p’sukim (verses) speak to Isra'el about taking of the first fruit of the ground and offering it to the LORD upon entering into the Land of Promise. To offer the first of the produce of the ground was to affirm and signify that the person was dedicating everything he has to the service of HaShem. What is more, this offering was a declaration of HaShem’s faithfulness that as he swore to our ancestors he has indeed performed: “We have come to the Land of Promise!” (see verse 4) The offering, like any other offering, was facilitated through the priest. This has always been HaShem’s pattern of worship, and it remains down to this day. All who carefully name the name of the LORD must approach him in the sacrificial intercession of his Only and Unique Son Yeshua. To approach him otherwise is to risk rejection and ultimately spiritual death. Thus, the pattern remains. Chapter 26 The crux of the parashah is found in chapter 26 verses 16-19 where we see that truly God and Isra'el are an inseparable covenant pair. Moshe informs his listeners that it is HaShem’s desire to have his covenant people intimately identify with him by becoming his “’Am S’gulah” (Treasured People), and by carefully upholding (establishing) his commandments. To be sure, Moshe describes in no uncertain terms, the condition in which the mitzvot are to be carried out: with all your heart and with all your soul (verse 17). So what is the problem with these instructions? Absolutely nothing! The man Moshe continues by stating that they, ‘Am Yisra’el (the People of Isra'el), have distinguished HaShem to be their only God, and to walk in his ways, while HaShem for his part has distinguished ‘Am Yisra’el to be his Treasured People, and to make them supreme over all the other nations on the earth. Don’t confuse this unique position. This special election is a display of God’s divine Will, and not a matter of “playing favorites”. In other words, Isra'el is singled out for a purpose: to showcase the holiness of HaShem to all the peoples of the earth, and to bring glory to the One and Only Creator of all mankind. We who live with the tension of believing in Yeshua’s faithful sacrifice while becoming submissive to the Torah of HaShem must understand that we have joined ourselves to this divine calling as well. I say “tension” because for the last 2000 years or so there has existed a great confusion over whether or not a believer should even attempt to become Torah submissive. The idea is really rather ludicrous when common sense is exercised. Of course a genuine child of God should be Torah submissive. It is rather cruel to imagine a God who would put a whole nation of people through the unnecessary judgment of wandering for 40 years in a barren wilderness for failing to perform his commandments, only to send his Son into the world to set all men free from these very same commandments! We need to understand the Torah from God’s eternal perspective. This Torah portion vividly details the curses associated with failure to obey the commandment of HaShem. However, in order to grasp the concepts contained within these next few chapters, the reader MUST understand true Torah obedience first! I cannot stress this issue too much here! If we are to live our lives in a manner that is pleasing to our Heavenly Abba, then we must understand and come to grips with the mitzvot and our heart’s attitude toward them. | 9/14/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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49 Parashat Ki Tetze (Part C) | Conclusions: In its most normative sense of application, the Torah addresses the individual on a complete level (overview), yet leaves room for each individual and unique situation. Surely each unique situation needed addressing. That is why HaShem set into place certain mechanisms which would help deal with the fluidity of ever-changing community life among the followers of HaShem. Halakhah is meant to fit the times in which it is being applied. It is rightly called “the humanization of Scripture”. This gives it the feel of stability, based on the Scriptures from which it is derived, yet at the same time, room is allowed for individual and unique application on every level. Thus, our Torah portion forms the basis for our modern halakhic rulings today, as Yeshua proved to his first century listeners. I have heard some today attack halakhah on the basis that tradition has no merit in the lives of a believer in Yeshua. I have also heard the very Scriptures attacked on the basis of antiquity and out of date rulings. Yet there can exist harmony in the seemingly simplistic commands of the Torah of Moshe, when combined with the halakhic decisions that are derived from the Torah. To be sure, don’t we all as believers cite the very same Torah as evidence for our rulings? And yet, there exists great diversity among our ranks. Should this diversity give rise to disagreements and disunity? In my opinion, I think it should not. Rather than separate we believers from one another, the Scriptures and the halakhic decisions we derive from them, should be uniting us, especially in the eyesight of the disbelieving world in which we are surely being examined for our faith. Difficult issues to come to halakhic rulings on, such as marriage and divorce, should not discourage us from setting the example among all men, even as the Torah commands us to do. Far from becoming another statistic, as many believers have become (God help us!), we should be leading the way in our examples of what a loving couple, joined by God, should look like. Justice should not only exist as some noteworthy concept that can be pointed out in the lives of those who follow HaShem. Like HaShem, our justice should be an extension of who we are as believers in Messiah Yeshua. It should be a part of our make-up, internal and not merely outward in its appropriation and application. As is stated in Parashat Shof’tim “justice should be pursued!” | 9/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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49 Parashat Ki Tetze (Part B) | QUESTION: “What is the Messianic Jewish position about remaining single. I've always heard that the rabbinical teaching is that a person is not truly a man until he has procreated. I am single and it looks like I may be remaining so. Does this mean that I'm less a man? Does God want everyone to marry? What about a homosexual person who foregoes all sexual activity in order to be faithful to the Lord? I'd be interested in your thoughts on these issues.” ANSWER: “I want you to read 1 Corinthians Chapter 7. In it you’ll find some very good instructions given to the married and unmarried alike. It is true that the rabbis had, and still have, a high view of marriage. The Talmud stresses this view. The unmarried person lives without joy, without blessing, and without good’ (Jeb. 62b); An unmarried man is not a man in the full sense; as it is said, Male and female created He them, and blessed them and called their name man (Gen. 5:2) (Ibid. 63a). A wife meant a home; hence the saying, A mans home is his wife (Joma I.I), and R. Jose said, Never have I called my wife by that word, but always my home (Shab. 118b). But don’t let all this scare you. Remember this is commentary on the Torah, not the authoritative Torah itself! These are men’s opinions. High remarks are made in the Torah, to the single individual who fully devotes himself to HaShem in his singleness! Pray about your potential mating. It is a very important decision to make! To be sure, the Torah designed it to be a lasting one. Now as far as the issue concerning homosexuality goes, the Torah is explicitly clear: this lifestyle is not pleasing to HaShem, and is thereby forbidden. In the TaNaKH the instances are told of pagan temple prostitution, by those women (and sometimes men) who had separated themselves unto the temple cult. This sanctification is where we get the Hebrew word kadosh from, meaning, set apart for a specific work. This separation was certainly not prescribed by the Torah of Moshe, and was not condoned by the Holy One! If you mean a homosexual turning from that lifestyle, and forgoing all further sexual activity in order to pursue faithfulness to HaShem, then let his t’shuvah (repentance) be true renounce his sin of homosexuality and turn to HaShem with a renewed heart! True biblical separation always agrees with the Will of HaShem, and accomplishes the purposes of HaShem. Because homosexuality is outside the pale of a biblically correct lifestyle, it is not sanctified or blessed, but rather condemned by the Torah. This Torah Teacher does not recommend such a lifestyle for anyone, but forgiveness through the shed blood of Messiah Yeshua has been made abundant for all, regardless of your past sins!” Thus we see that our passages here in the Torah portion are not in contradiction to Yeshua’s rulings on the matter. Moreover, Moshe’s rulings do not undermine HaShem’s original intentions for the married couple. Rather, quoting Dr. Stern again, “Yeshua in adducing Scripture harks back to the beginning, in Gan-Eden [Garden of Eden] to support his view that a marriage must not be dissolved for anything less than the most direct insult to its one-flesh integrity, adultery. He goes on to point out, as I [Stern] have above, that “Judaism has always considered marriage both normal and desirable… [Quoting the Talmud] “The unmarried person lives without joy, without blessing and without good….An unmarried man is not fully a man” (Yevamot 62b-63a). | 9/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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49 Parashat Ki Tetze (Part A) | For some, this notion of practical application of Scripture is unsettling. Perhaps it stems from the overwhelming traditional application and misuse of Scripture prevalent in much of Rabbinic Judaism today (in essence, tradition is given more weight than Scripture). Because of such notions, I will briefly address this issue again before going into our teaching this week. Borrowing notes from last week’s portion, I shall summarize halakhah and the concept of “oral tradition”: “Chapter 17 of Deuteronomy talks about the details surrounding official and legal matters. Of particular interest is the subject dealt with in verses 8-13. To be sure, the sages of old understood this to be talking about the matter of halakhah and the authority of what is known in rabbinical circles as Oral Torah. From a cursory reading, it appears to be a valid teaching about establishing a governing body of legal authority based on the spoken opinion of the judge of the day. This is where the halakhah gains its strength and application. This term is roughly translated the way in which to walk. The rabbis see in this passage an opportunity to establish the tradition of the Oral Torah. As they see it, this passage instructs its readers “In accordance with the Torah they teach you, you are to carry out the judgment they render, not turning aside to the right or the left from the verdict they declare to you (v.11).” Taking the verse in its most natural and literal sense, it does seem to validate the right for the rabbis to impose their judgments on all succeeding generations. And to strengthen the suggested interpretation, a first century Rabbi by the name of Yeshua had this to say to his crowd, “The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim,” he said, “sit in the seat of Moshe. So whatever they tell you, take care to do it. But don’t do what they do, because they talk but don’t act!” What Yeshua is addressing here is the issue of hypocrisy when it comes to correctly interpreting the Torah, yet failing to implement it into our lives. But our LORD does not condone the Oral Tradition as binding.” Back to our Torah portion. Marriage and Divorce Of great concern to the community living during this time period (as well as for any time period for that matter) was the area of sexual relations. To be sure, a great deal of time is spent addressing possible situations that might arise during the course of everyday dealings with each other. Moreover, in all of the five books that Moshe authored, only here in D’varim chapter 24 is marriage and divorce specifically addressed head on, and then only in a scant four verses. The matter became a major source of disagreement by the time Yeshua entered the communal scene. During his time period, two major schools of thought existed and vied for the majority opinion. The conservative School of Rabbi Shammai (Beit Shammai) and the liberal School of Rabbi Hillel (Beit Hillel) both supplied their interpretation of Moshe’s words here in our Torah portion. The Talmud gives us our most complete look into the minds of the early Judaisms of Yeshua’s day, thus the Talmud states concerning this passage in D’varim: “The School of Shammai say a man may not divorce his wife unless he has found unchastity in her, as it is said, ‘…because he has found in her indecency in a matter.’ But the School of Hillel say he may divorce her even if she burns his food, as it is said, ‘…because he has found in her indecency in a matter.’” Rabbi El’azar, a member of Beit Hillel has been noted in the Gemara as saying, “When a man divorces his first wife, even the altar sheds tears” (Gittin 90b), his source for such logic stemming from D’varim 24:13-14. Modern translator and commentator David H. Stern has noted in his Jewish New Testament Commentary that there is a Jewish tradition that in Messianic times the stricter rulings of Beit Shammai will become the standard (JNTC, p. 59). | 9/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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48 Parashat Shof'tim (Part C) | The Prophet Moshe first describes the coming of a naviy (prophet) whom HaShem himself will raise up, a naviy similar to Moshe himself. This gives us our first qualification of such an office: chosen by HaShem. The promise is given that in his mouth will be the words of HaShem. Accordingly, all the people are to listen to him. Whoever doesn’t listen to the words, which are spoken in the name of HaShem, will answer directly to the Holy One. This gives us the second qualification of a naviy: speaks in the name of HaShem. Finally, Moshe tells the people that if the naviy speaks presumptuously, or if the prophecy of the naviy doesn’t come to pass, then you are to know that he is a false naviy, and that he must die. According to the B’rit Chadashah, Yeshua did indeed fulfill this prophecy (see Matt. 11:3; possibly 21:11; Luke 7:16; possibly 24:19; John 1:21; 6:14; Acts 3:22; and 7:37). Presumably, because messianic expectation ran very high in the first century, many people were open to the fact that Yeshua was indeed “the prophet”. But non-Messianic Judaism, in what was most likely defensive theology against Yeshua, took another stance. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, a.k.a. RaSHI (1040-1105) says it means that HaShem will raise up a prophet in Moshe’s place, “and so on, from prophet to prophet.” That is, the passage does not speak of only a single individual prophet to come, but of the TaNaKH’s many prophets, of whom Malachi was the last. A well-known example of defensive theology is found in the 12th Century creed of Rabbi Moshe ben-Maimon, Maimonides, a.k.a. RaMBaM (1135-1204). Reading from the Yigdal, “I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moshe Rabbinu [Moses our teacher], peace be unto him, was true, and that he was chief of the prophets [literally, “father to the prophets”], both of those who preceded him and those who came after him.” Again quoting Stern at length, “Was Yeshua “a prophet like Moshe”? Yes, and more. A prophet speaks for God, which Yeshua did; but he also spoke as God. He spoke what the Father gave him to say, as did all the prophets; but he and the Father are one (John 10:31). Moshe explained the sacrificial system for atonement; Yeshua was the final sacrifice for sin, the eternally effective atonement. Moshe established the system of cohanim, with his brother Aharon as the first cohen gadol of the Tabernacle; the resurrected Yeshua is the eternal cohen gadol in the heavenly Tabernacle that served as model for the earthly one (Hebrews 7-10). At no point did Yeshua contradict what Moshe said; rather, he clarified and strengthened the Torah (Matt. 5:17-20), made its application plainer (Matt. 5:21-7:29), and sometimes himself was the application.” The nation as a whole failed to listen to everything that the “naviy” Yeshua had to say, as our parashah in chapter 18 verse 19 predicted some might. But today, we don’t have to harden our hearts as they once did and still do to this very day. To be sure, the Torah teaches that one day they will have to give an answer to Yeshua himself concerning their corporate rejection of him. But the Torah also teaches that all day long HaShem has his arms outstretched to those who would listen to him and his Messiah. Patiently he waits for us to listen to the words of the Prophet…. If you are Jewish, and without Messiah Yeshua today, I urge you to listen to the words of the Naviy today, “Yes, indeed! I tell you it wasn’t Moshe who gave you the bread from heaven. But my Father is giving you the genuine bread from heaven; for God’s bread is the one who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread from now on.” Yeshua answered, “I am the bread which is life! Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:32-35). | 8/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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48 Parashat Shof'tim (Part B) | As can be shown, a careful distinction needs to be made by the Jewish believer in Messiah, regarding matters of rabbinical authority (Oral Torah) and Torah issues as a whole. If our Messiah correctly determines correct Torah interpretation, then a misrepresentation of the true nature and intent of the Torah, whether by the sages of the Jewish People, or by the non-Jewish scholars of today, needs to be avoided at all costs. This is especially true if—since most rabbis disagree with the authority of the B’rit Chadashah—the believer is faced with a tough choice to make and he finds himself seeking the advice of leaders. As I see it, it all comes down to “Who has the authority to determine halakhah in the life of a Messianic Jew?” Space here does not permit me to deal with the matter in great detail, but suffice to say I understand the New Covenant to be non-supportive of the supposed inspirational authority of the Oral Torah, that is, authority vested from heaven concerning legal matters, as expounded in the Talmud. The verses cited by the rabbis in our parashah just don’t seem to conform to the Torah as a whole. In my opinion, evidence is lacking to support an authoritative Oral Torah. What is more, in instances of Oral Torah, where clear and unambiguous support is given over to the separation of Jew and Gentiles as ostensible equal covenant believers, the talmid of Yeshua must side with the authoritative Written Word of God on this matter: Jews and Gentiles are fellow heirs in the covenants of Promise made possible through genuine trusting faithfulness in Yeshua the Messiah. To sum up my concluding thoughts on both Torah traditions: It is crucial for us to understand theologically, that the primary purpose in HaShem's giving of the Torah (written and/or oral), as a way of making someone righteous, only achieves its goal when the person, by faith, accepts that Yeshua is the promised Messiah spoken about therein. Until the individual reaches this conclusion, his familiarity of the Torah is only so much intellectual nutrition. Only by believing in Yeshua will the person be able to properly understand HaShem, and consequently, his Word. The "righteousness" of the Torah is two-fold: 1) "Forensic" - appropriated the moment one places his unreserved trusting faithfulness in the Messiah prophesied about in the Scriptures; and 2) "Behavioral” - the resulting lifestyle of the former-mentioned righteousness, i.e., Torah submissiveness. The primary difference are the fact that the first one is an act of faith, whereas, the latter is an act of obedience (read Ephesians 2:8-10 carefully, and you will see this progression of circumstances). Solid hermeneutics will clearly demonstrate that the Messiah did NOT abolish the Torah of Moshe (this would consequently include the oral tradition that is based on the Torah of Moshe!). Moreover, historical, corporate Isra'el is not keeping (or ever kept) all of the Torah correctly—to include the traditions handed down since Avraham Avinu (Abraham our Father). The operative word is "correctly". What is more, the "freedom" of Messiah does NOT give the Church or Isra'el license to practice "iniquity" (the Greek word anomia ajnomiva equates to "Torahlessness") . To be sure, the freedom Sha’ul speaks of is actually freedom to walk in Torah! Prior to this Christ-given freedom we were slaves to sin, and thus, unable to submit to God’s Law even if we wanted to (cf. Rom. 8:7, 8). This may be hard to grasp, but if a person has accepted the faith of God, in the (historical) person and work of his Son (past or present), then they are keeping the central part of the Torah! The rest is his journey towards the "works of God" as described in Eph. 2:8-10. I shall have to conclude then that if such an oral tradition leads one towards the above-mentioned righteousness then such a tradition is good and applicable for today's follower of HaShem. | 8/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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48 Parashat Shof'tim (Part A) | Establishing Halakhah Chapter 17 of this parashah talks about the details surrounding official, legal matters. Of particular interest is the subject dealt with in verses 8-13. To be sure, the sages of old understood this to be talking about the matter of halakhah and the authority of what is known in rabbinical circles as “Oral Torah”. And just what is Oral Torah and why do we Christians need to know? I shall explain why below, but first, a treatment of what has come to be known as Oral Torah in Judaic circles must come first. Oral Torah: “Torah sh’be’al peh” Although the Written Torah seems to be precise in its description of legal codes and commandments, it would be impossible to write down every conceivable human behavior and ascertain whether or not the Torah allowed each one. Concerning the prohibition of work on the Sabbath, for example, we notice that nowhere in the Torah is there a definition of what constitutes labor (Heb: melachah) on the Sabbath and what does not. Amos (8:5) and Jeremiah (17:21-24) mention keeping the Sabbath in concrete terms—forbidding trading and bearing a burden—but it is impossible to enumerate all the probable behaviors and circumstances and give judgment as to whether or not they violate the Sabbath. This became more of a problem as time went on and the historical and cultural circumstances changed in later periods. The violation of the Sabbath is a very serious offense for Jewish people everywhere (a capital offence in ancient times), but the absence of a precise definition of working on the Sabbath in the Pentateuch has been a persistent problem. Unless people have a clear definition of what constitutes labor on the Sabbath, they cannot objectively observe it. Even for contemporary pious Christians, this is a serious problem. Like Amos and Jeremiah, the believing community had their own understanding about the Sabbath, and that became the tradition of the community. Since the time of Ezra in the post-exilic period, many experts on the Law (scribes, Sofrim) were interpreting the Torah in and for their covenant community, and the community regarded their words as having the same binding authority as the Written Torah. The traditional interpretations of the Torah by the experts on the Torah as well as those of the Chazal (Our Rabbis of Blessed Memory), particularly after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, became the “Torah sh’be’al peh” (Torah from the mouth), also known as unwritten or Oral Torah. The Oral Torah gained equal footing and took on the same kind of binding authority as the Written Torah. The function of the Oral Torah is to "make a fence for the Law" (Avot 1.1). The Written Torah is to be protected by keeping and observing the tradition (Oral Torah). Consequently, Judaism has been able “keep” the Written Torah merely by observing the Oral Torah. By obeying the tradition in concrete terms (no business on the Sabbath, for instance), they could observe the commandment about the Sabbath. | 8/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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47 Parashat Re'eh (Part B) | What does the New Covenant teach us about God's commands? The book of 1 John (5:3) gives us a definitive answer: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (KJV).” Why does this passage surprise us as "New Testament" believers in Yeshua? I believe it has much primarily to do with the fact that we have been trained over the last 2000 or so years to believe that grace is diametrically opposed to obedience. Nothing could be further from the truth! Grace (given through his generous Spirit) is what enables us to properly obey in the first place! Were it not for God's grace, many of the saints of the TaNaKH period (Old Testament) would have surely perished under the "letter of the Law", based on their moral failure to uphold the many details that the Law spells out. Moreover, many of us today would also perish. This important “Spirit-led” feature is the secret to properly understanding the passage quoted by Moshe in Deuteronomy chapter 30 above! Moshe could boldly state “thou mayest do it” because he knew that when the Spirit of the God who gives the Torah comes to live within an individual (viz, the “circumcised heart” of Deut. 30:6), then the very same Spirit also writes the Torah on their heart, enabling them to DO it! Again, without the person of the Spirit living within us, we will fail to uphold the Law. So we step out and try to keep God’s laws. What happens when we fail God? Well for one thing, grace steps in and allows us to try time and again to accomplish the good pleasure of our Father in Heaven. Grace says, "I know you’ve tried and you’ve failed. In fact, you will never reach perfection until my Son returns. But that is okay. I am not expecting perfection. You just do your best by giving me your whole heart, soul, and strength, and I will fill in the rest!" That is grace! Moshe is giving 'Am Yisra'el a chance to experience the grace of God on an everyday level. They had already witnessed the supernatural hand of the Almighty as he delivered them from the bondage of Egypt, which by the way forms a picture of deliverance from sin for us today. That was surely a monumental event! Yet, now HaShem is teaching his people that since they were free, they no longer need follow their old passions and ways of life. To be sure, Moshe has told them on an earlier occasion to "circumcise their hearts" in order that they might genuinely be obedient to God! Does this feature sound familiar? It should! For this is a "New Testament" feature as well! So we see that a circumcised heart is God's desire for his children. This heart is a heart which will say to the LORD, "All that you ask of me, I will do!" The passages that illustrate this throughout the unified Word of God are too numerous to point out in this study! The message of the ages remains strikingly clear: "Love God with your whole heart, soul, and might, and he will cause you to walk in his ways!" His ways include salvation, healing, financial blessing, relationship building, promise of healthy and plentiful offspring, as well as numerous things that I can’t name here! His blessings are reserved for those who would soften their heart to hear his voice! His blessings are reserved for those who will surrender their will into his hands and allow him to shape their lives into the pattern of that of his Only and Unique Son, Yeshua the Savior of the world! Therefore, "see"! The choice is yours! Do you want blessing? Or do you want the curse? I choose the former… | 8/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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47 Parashat Re'eh (Part A) | Torah – Its Roles and Functions Firstly the Torah teaches that we must recognize our need of repair. The Biblical examples give us ample opportunity to find ourselves within the matrix of a God-centric universe, a universe where we are either for God or (by default) opposed to God. This is the recognition of sin in our lives before we come to know who God is and what his plans are all about. The Word(s) of God, whether personally read, or heard (at the mouth of those who are his) cause our heart to begin to yield to the leading of the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit). To be sure, the Torah teaches that all are sinners and that no one properly seeks after God. Only the call of the Ruach can lead a man to finding God; no man has found God of his own accord. Allow me to illustrate this by first explaining the role of the Torah in a sinner's life. The fine folks over at First Fruits of Zion have written a wonderful set of books on the functions of the Torah in the lives of believers. 'Torah Rediscovered' and 'Take Hold' are some of the finest examples of explaining our relationship to the Word of God that I have ever researched. As such, I highly recommend both books (see FFOZ link above for details). Quoting a few paragraphs from those works, I want to share with you the practicality of the Word of God, as it applies to both believers and non-believers, in helping to bring them into the plans and purposes of HaShem. Authors Ariel and D'vorah Berkowitz write: "Torah helps man recognize his own sinfulness (Romans 7:7-12). This function of the Torah primarily concerns those who are not yet redeemed. Torah helps to bring about HaShem’s wrath (Romans 4:15). The teaching here in Romans stresses that if anyone tries to use Torah to achieve justification before HaShem, the attempt will backfire! He will only discover that he cannot obey it perfectly, thus achieving only condemnation! "The Torah acts as a protector. How? "For the unredeemed: The Torah was intended to preserve the mental, moral and social safety of the environment into which an individual was born and raised. The person was protected “until the date set by the Father” (Galatians 4:2) when the Spirit of HaShem would lead them to the Teacher, the Messiah. The Torah does this by providing a safe environment in which they may live. The judgments, commandments, ordinances and other teachings of the Torah all help to create a safe community surrounded by the protective border of the Torah. Anyone who lives within the confines of that border will live in relative safety. This does not mean that the person living within the borders of the Torah is automatically safe spiritually, or “saved”; rather, living within the Torah community, his life is being preserved and protected as he awaits the time set by the Father, his moment of salvation." Now this helps us to understand the role of the Torah in the life of an unbeliever. But what of the believer? They continue to explain: " For the redeemed: Because the Torah tells us the truth—the difference between holy and unholy, clean and unclean, life and death—it is both a protection for us and a written revelation of the grace of HaShem. Every man, woman or child who chooses not to live within the teachings of HaShem, which produce life, is consigned to a place outside of the blessing and protection established by these teachings (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). We can also tie in the description of the Torah as the national covenant and constitution, in which the Great King promises to protect His subjects through the covenant. To protect them from what? From the kingdom outside of His kingdom: the kingdom of darkness. Remember that the chief characteristic of the kingdom of darkness is death, with all of its legal rights (Romans 6:23). The legal aspects of the Torah declare the truth that the kingdom of darkness has no jurisdiction inside the boundaries of HaShem’s kingdom—the Torah Commun | 8/22/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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46 Parashat 'Ekev (Part B) | Allow me to elaborate on this concept further using a quote from author Tim Hegg, one of the teachers at Congregation Beit Hallel in Tacoma, WA, as well as a significant contributor of materials for FFOZ. In his excellent work about the Apostle Paul ‘The Letter Writer’, Hegg, in the Prologue, makes this important note regarding the original languages of the Bible: One of the major difficulties we encounter in our discussion of “trust,” “believe,” and “faith/faithful,” is that there is no corresponding verbal form of “faith” in the English language. We have no way of saying that one “faithed” or that someone is “faithing” in God. Yet in both the Hebrew and the Greek the word group expressing the concept of faith also contains a verb built on the same root. To put it simply, noun and verb are cognate. For example, the Hebrew verb [‘aman], “to be supported” from which we derive the verb “to believe,” has the corresponding noun [‘emunah], which means “faith” or “faithful.” Likewise, the Greek verb [pisteuo], “to believe,” has the corresponding noun [pistis], which means “faith” or “faithful.” Unfortunately, many English readers do not realize that “believing,” “having faith,” and “being faithful” all derive from the same word group whether in the Hebrew or the Greek… This has all but been lost on our modern-day religious communities. “Faith” is considered almost exclusively to mean that one is “convinced” of this or that without regard to any outward action. Yet the very words used by the authors of Scripture indicate this was not their meaning. What both the Hebrew and the Greek word groups tell us plainly is that the internal, mental activity of genuine faith always shows itself in outward obedience: “faith” and “faithfulness” are bound together as two sides of the same coin. This division in the Western worldview of the “internal” (which is called “faith”) from the “external” (which is called “faithfulness”) is foreign to the biblical way of looking at things because it is foreign to a Hebrew understanding of “faith/faithfulness.” Since the Bible was written by Hebrews and those who had come to adopt the Hebrew way of looking at the world, it only makes sense that the biblical teaching on “faith” would flow from a Hebraic perspective. That this concept is firmly rooted in the Torah proper is paramount to understanding such writings themselves. Can we expect to find these concepts of “faith” and “trusting faithfulness” working in tandem played out in the writings of the Renewed Covenant as well? You bet! Observe (notice particularly the author’s conclusion in verse 31): 21 - "But now a righteousness from God, apart from [Torah], has been made known, to which the [Torah] and the Prophets testify. 22 - This righteousness from God comes through faith in [Yeshua the Messiah] to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 - and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by [Yeshua the Messiah]. 25 - God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- 26 - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in [Yeshua]. 27 - Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of [legalistically] observing the [Torah]? No, but on that of faith. 28 - For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from [legalistically] observing the [Torah]. 29 - Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 - since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 - Do we, the | 8/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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46 Parashat 'Ekev (Part A) | 8:1 - "You must safeguard and keep the entire mandate that I am prescribing to you today. You will then survive, flourish, and come to occupy the land that God swore to your fathers. 8:2 - Remember the entire path along which God your Lord led you these forty years in the desert. He sent hardships to test you, to determine what is in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 8:3 - He made life difficult for you, letting you go hungry, and then He fed you the Manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever experienced. This was to teach you that it is not by bread alone that man lives, but by all that comes out of God's mouth. 8:4 - The clothing you wore did not become tattered, and your feet did not become bruised these forty years. 8:5 - You must thus meditate on the fact that just as a man might chastise his child, so God your Lord is chastising you. 8:6 - Safeguard the commandments of God your Lord, so that you will walk in His ways and remain in awe of Him. 8:7 - God your Lord is bringing you to a good land - a land with flowing streams, and underground springs gushing out in valley and mountain. 8:8 - It is a land of wheat, barley, grapes, figs and pomegranates - a land of oil-olives and honey-[dates]. 8:9 - It is a land where you will not eat rationed bread, and you will not lack anything - a land whose stones are iron, and from whose mountains you will quarry copper. 8:10 - When you eat and are satisfied, you must therefore bless God your Lord for the good land that He has given you." (D'varim 8:1-10, Pentateuch) Now I am quite at a loss of understanding as to how anyone could misconstrue the intent of the promises here. Clearly these are words of blessing, based on obedience. Moreover, they do not spell out the terms of salvation for an individual, based on such obedience. No, they speak to the well being of a member of God's family once he has already become a member (recall that the Torah was given to a group of freed people!). What brings about confusion is the oft forgotten idea that the Torah speaks about forensic righteousness, the kind we inherit from God's gracious provision, i.e., Messiah Yeshua, and behavioral righteousness, the kind we gain by becoming submissive to the Torah of HaShem. Because of our new life in Messiah, we have inherited the holiness that HaShem intended for us to posses all along. When we place our trusting faithfulness in the perfect Man of God, our holiness (or lack thereof) becomes the holiness of the Father! Our constitution changes and we are no longer deemed ‘unholy’, for his riches in glory—which includes his holy standard of being—are transferred to our account! We must grasp this central truth and begin to live according to it! We are holy because Yeshua has made us holy! Just as unrighteous Avraham became righteous when he placed his complete faith in HaShem, so we too inherit the righteousness and holiness of the Holy One when we place our unreserved trust in his Son. But holiness is also a duty. | 8/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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45 Parashat Va'etchanan (Part D) | Conclusions: Is Yeshua God? The Torah is the final Word on this important subject matter. In my personal opinion as a mere human in scrutiny of God, I must believe and accept what it teaches about God as a composite UNITY from Genesis to Revelation, or I must throw ALL of it out in desperation and conclusion that no such being called God can exist within the scope of human existence, a God who is defined in such Scriptures as a "Unity of Three". Does our understanding of HaShem and Yeshua as echad have salvific implications for us as believers? I believe that it does. Again let us turn to a few Scriptural examples. Observe the fascinating interaction between HaShem, the Son, and the Name: YHVH: Joel 2:32: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the YHVH shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the YHVH hath said, and in the remnant whom the YHVH shall call. YESHUA: Act 4:12: There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved. Rom 10:9-13: that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Yeshua, and believe in your heart that GOD raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed." For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich to all who call on Him. For, "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." 1Co 1:2: to the assembly of GOD which is at Corinth; those who are sanctified in Messiah Yeshua, called to be holy ones, with all who call on the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah in every place, both theirs and ours. We cannot have it both ways. Either the TaNaKH agrees with the B’rit Chadashah that YHVH is LORD (as is Yeshua) or the B’rit Chadashah is wrong in its portrayal of Yeshua as LORD (a title formerly reserved exclusively in the TaNaKH for YHVH). I shall close with a "trinity" of quotes: a quote from the book written specifically to the Ivrim (Hebrews), one from Philippians, and finally a significant one from the TaNaKH itself: Hebrews 1:1-3…In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (NIV) Philippians 2:8-11…And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (NIV) Isaiah 45:21-23: ... there is no GOD else beside Me; a just GOD and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am GOD, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. (JPS) The Name that is above every name is the name YHVH. HaShem granted Yeshua of Nazareth the right to use The Name for himself so that he may speak for HaShem, he may speak as HaShem, and he may receive worship as HaShem just as mystics describe the "fictional character" Metatron doing in ancient times. Refusal to worship and serve Yeshua as Almighty God insults the True God, and shows a gross lack of respect for The Name. | 8/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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45 Parashat Va'etchanan (Part C) | "Blurring the Lines" According to some scholars every instance when a mortal encountered the divine God they were in some way beholding Yeshua! In this understanding Yeshua is the common factor in every single revelation of God in the Scriptures. To be sure, they declare that "No one has ever seen God; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with God and is at the Father's side," (read John 1:18). Yet Yeshua is also uniquely the Son of Man. Yeshua is NOT the Father, nor is God Yeshua. Rather, and I'm stretching human language to its limits to explain this, Yeshua is the Word made flesh, the Word which was WITH God, and the Word which WAS God! It is not as if Yeshua became God somehow. It is rather that God the Word became a human being and we beheld such glory in the person and work of the Messiah named Yeshua. Such profundity! So, by understanding what the B’rit Chadashah (New Covenant) teaches believers about the unity of Yeshua and the Father (John 10:30), we are given the ability to interpret the Shema in a more theologically correct light. ADONAI is echad…. Yet, according to Yeshua’s own testimony, He and the Father also constitute an echad. Is HaShem more than one?! No! Is Yeshua "meshugga" (Yiddish for "crazy")? Of course not! This relationship of the Father to the Son has long since been a problem for my people to grasp. It also continues to baffle anyone attempting to put God in a neat, theological box. Do we believe in three gods? No. That is the heresy called "Tritheism". Do we believe in one God who simply wears three different "masks" to interact with mankind? No. That is the heresy called "Modalism". What we believe in is ONE God who expresses his existence in a "unity of three". The mystery is that each expression is uniquely God and yet uniquely single. Ontology is defined as: "a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being; a particular theory about the nature of being or the kinds of existents". The ontological implications of the very words, names, and "titles" used in the Scriptures help us to relate to God himself. Observe: All of what the word "God" implies is not exhausted in the use of the words "his Son"; all of what the name "Yeshua" implies is not exhausted in the term "the Father"; all of what the term "Ruach HaKodesh" implies is not exhausted in "the Man Yeshua" and so on and so forth. We cannot logically collapse each name, phrase, and title into the others without doing damage to the import of the Scriptural references. Indeed to attempt to do so is to approach the Scriptures from an incorrect mindset. Historically, the Hebraists thought of God in concepts of "this" and "that"; conversely, the historic Greek mindset approached God in concepts of "this’ or "that". Some scholars refer to this as "Hebrew tension". Yeshua is God veiled in flesh and the Spirit of God is God himself. The matter of authority comes into play when I examine some of the roles of each deity. The role of God is as head over Yeshua and the role of the Ruach is as witness to Yeshua. Yet the role of Yeshua is as witness of the Father and the role of the Spirit is as active agent of the Father as well. Obviously this list is not exhaustive. The part that brings it all together is when we remember that true worship belongs to God and God alone! As such, whenever Yeshua or the Ruach is also worshipped we catch a glimpse of the "oneness" of the "three-ness" of God. | 8/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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45 Parashat Va'etchanan (Part B) | The most notable feature of this week's portion is the Shema. The word "shema" means "hear", "listen intently". It is a Hebrew imperative that carries the notion of an action-oriented command. In other words, "Now that you have heard, go and do something about it!" My commentary on the Shema will introduce the difficult concept of the "tri-unity" of our unexplainable God. The ancients called HaShem "Eyn-Sof", a term which quite literally means "without borders". Our God is infinitely unknowable. Yet because of our finite minds, he has chosen to express himself in ways that we can perceive. However we shall have to wait to gain a fuller perception of him, once we put off this corruptible flesh and our eyes are able to see through this mirror clearly instead of darkly. I want to share with you what I believe the “Shema” (basically a quote from Deuteronomy 6:4) can be hinting at, using the typical Jewish answer first, and then going on to explain how a non-Jewish believer can better “defend” himself against such an answer. This is simply an exercise designed to explain to some why many Jewish People are unwilling to give up their monotheism. This commentary set is not to be used as a standard witnessing technique among my people, but if the material proves helpful in explaining the difficult topic to unbelievers and anti-missionaries, then the commentary will have served its purposes. “God is ONE. There is no other god (or God) worthy of worship aside from YHVH.” This is a typical, monotheistic answer, based on a traditional Jewish view of Deut. 6:4, a.k.a., the Shema. This subject will continue to baffle many Jews and Christians alike: how can God be "One" and yet somehow "three". The matter is really made clear when Christians explain that correct Christianity does not believe in three gods! We believe in ONE God who expresses himself in a "unity of three". God is indeed one! The Shema affirms this. The characters of the Scriptures, both “Old and New Testaments” confirm this. The Shema is the "watchword of Jewish monotheism". The Shema is foundation! The "trinity" is a doctrine that has long been characterized by misunderstanding, both among my people, as well as a few Christians. I believe that most of the confusion actually stems from the language that we choose to use when describing the unified nature of our somewhat incomprehensible God. However, the Torah does not expect us to label God and stuff him in box. Nor are we so smart that our systematic theological viewpoints of him will ever fully describe his wonderful glory. Yet the revelation that has been graciously granted to us is a complete one, in that, all that we need to know to maintain a right-standing relationship with HaShem is found within the pages of his Word, and most specifically, in the person of his only and unique Son Yeshua our Messiah. Let us first read the actual pasuk (verse) itself: "Sh’ma Yisra’el, ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad [Hear, Isra’el! ADONAI our God, ADONAI is one]." Anyone with some knowledge of the Hebrew text will realize that the word translated ADONAI is the four-letter name for HaShem, YHVH, also known as the "Tetragrammaton." The Jewish people use this name only in a very sacred and personal way. To be sure, today Torah-observant Jews, in reverential fear of misuse never speak it. Because of the understanding that the Shema "defines" the oneness of YHVH (which is what the Hebrew word echad implies), many Jews are fiercely monotheistic. After all, is this not what the plain sense (p’shat) of the verse in Deuteronomy is teaching? The word "echad" teaches us that God is the ONLY God that we are to serve. To be sure, some translations render this verse as, "Hear Isra'el, the LORD is our God, the LORD alone." This is the primary meaning conveyed by the use of this word "echad". That God is our only God is paramount to correctly understanding any revelation of him in his Word. | 8/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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45 Parashat Va'etchanan (Part A) | This week's portion contains two of the most fundamental concepts in Judaism: the Asarat HaD'varim (the Ten Words, also known as the Ten Commandments), and the "Shema". This is Parashat Va'etchanan. Moshe is still outlining some familiar reminders of Isra'el's disobedience and the awesome fact that HaShem nevertheless has brought them this far! In fact, they are right at the eastern side of the Yarden (Jordan) River! Call to Greatness Chapter four contains what I like to call the "Jewish Great Commission". Here in verses 1-14 Moshe carefully instructs the community to live out the Torah in such a way that the surrounding nations will see and learn about the unique and awesome mercy of the One and Only True God. Because of its significance, I want to quote some of this passage at length: "See! I have taught you rules and laws as God my Lord has commanded me, so [that you] will be able to keep them in the land to which you are coming and which you will be occupying. Safeguard and keep [these rules], since this is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations. They will hear all these rules and say, "This great nation is certainly a wise and understanding people." What nation is so great that they have God close to it, as God our Lord is, whenever we call Him? What nation is so great that they have such righteous rules and laws, like this entire Torah that I am presenting before you today? Only take heed and watch yourself very carefully, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes saw. Do not let [this memory] leave your hearts, all the days of your lives. Teach your children and children's children about the day you stood before God your Lord at Horeb. It was then that God said to me, "Congregate the people for Me, and I will let them hear My words. This will teach them to be in awe of Me as long as they live on earth, and they will also teach their children." You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was burning with a fire reaching the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud and mist. Then God spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no image; there was only a voice. He announced to you His covenant, instructing you to keep the Ten Commandments, and He wrote them on two stone tablets. At that time, God commanded me to teach you rules and laws, so that you will keep them in the land which you are crossing [the Jordan] to occupy." (D'varim 4:5-14, Pentateuch) What makes this passage stand out is Isra'el's position and influence among the surrounding people groups! Such a legacy—to be the vessels to share the precious Word of HaShem with those who have not heard! Doesn’t this remind you of the intents and purposes of the Great Commission? In the TaNaKH the Torah “emanated” from Isra'el for the entire world to see; in the Apostolic Scriptures Yeshua’s talmidim actually took the Torah to the world! Indeed, it is the very same good news that is contained within the Torah, the message of the mercy and grace of an all-loving, all-forgiving God, who is intimately interested in the well-being of his created subjects, both Jew and non-Jew! | 8/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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44 Parashat D'varim | Welcome to a most wonderful book in Moshe's set of five: Deuteronomy, or D'varim ("D-var-eem") as we say in Hebrew! The literal word "d'varim" is the plural form of the word "d'var", which means, "word". I won't go into each detail of this parashah, which actually serves as a recap of the major events of B'midbar, much like the last parashah of B'midbar (please recall Parashat Masa’ei). The title of the first portion takes its name from the title of the book, just like every other opening parashah of the Torah. This first parashah will function primarily as an introduction to this fifth book Moshe. First, some historical background behind this book, as quoted by modern rabbis. This initial portion will be very light, so take a break from the scholarly approach and enjoy the fascinating insights! Rabbi Aaron Tendler and Project Genesis (http://www.torah.org) explain, "In the first four books G-d spoke directly to Moshe and Moshe repeated G-d's words to the Jews while he was still within the context of receiving G-d's prophecy. "It was as if G-d was speaking to the Jewish nation through the throat of Moshe." In the last book, G-d also spoke to Moshe; however, Moshe repeated G-d's words to the nation some time after receiving the directive from G-d. At the time of Moshe's delivery G-d's presence had already withdrawn from Moshe and he was no longer within the context of receiving the prophecy. "In this regard, Divarim was heard by the nation in the same manner that all other subsequent prophecies were heard. The prophet would receive a vision. After awakening from the trance, the Prophet would decipher G-d's message and then sometime later deliver the "message" to the people." Now whether or not I agree with the entirety of his comments concerning the reception of revelation of Moshe, we scholars must certainly agree to the pinpointed change of voices (first, second, third) in the previous writings, and Moshe's recall here in D'varim. Consider Rabbi Menachem Leibtag's comments (website http://www.tanach.org): "In contrast to these four books where the story (and/or mitzvot) are presented in THIRD person, the style of Sefer Devarim is very different for it is written almost entirely in FIRST person. The reason for this is quite simple: Sefer Devarim consists of a collection of speeches delivered by Moshe Rabeinu before his death. Therefore, to understand Sefer Devarim, we must first determine the purpose of these speeches and how they relate to one another. To do so should be quite simple, as we need only to identify each speech and then read what it's about. "To do so is a bit complicated, for to identify each speech we must read through the entire Sefer and note the changes from third person (i.e. the regular 'narrator mode' of Chumash) to first person (i.e. the direct quote of Moshe Rabeinu). "If you have ample time (and a Tanach Koren handy), I highly recommend that you try this on your own. If you are short on time, you can 'cheat' by reading at least 1:1-7, 4:40-5:2, 26:16-27:2, 28:69-29:2, & 30:19-32:1, noting the transition from third person to first person, and hence where and how each speech begins." How does all of this information help you and me the average readers? By understanding the historical, linguistic, and stylistic approach to any given book or text, we can begin to understand its message in a more theologically correct way. In some cases, a misunderstanding of any of these important areas will cause us to misunderstand the author's true intent behind any given text. | 8/1/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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43 Parashat Masa'ei | Parashat Masa’ei (say “mah-sah-ey”) marks the end of the book of B’midbar (Numbers). As the book closes, we find the people anxiously poised in the east side of the Yarden (Jordan) wanting to finally leave this Wilderness (Heb: midbar) and enter into the promise that HaShem made so long ago with their forefathers. The Land and the Tribes are in full view here. I want to open our commentary by recalling some of the things that I stated in my haftarah commentary to Parashat Mattot. As some of you may know, the haftarah commentary is not made available to regular readers of the website, but only to those who have subscribed to the weekly portions, as received personally from me. In this opening to Parashat Masa’ei, I will use some of my material from my previous haftarah commentary. After that, I will go back over each of the previous nine commentary portions to B’midbar and construct a summary of the whole book. “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10, NIV) As we notice from a reading of Parashat Masa’ei, the Land is in view here. HaShem is preparing to have the people go in and take possession of their promise. But in our western mindset it is easy to overlook just what that glorious promise made to Avraham (referred to in the above-quoted verse from Hebrews) entailed exactly. Was the promise just some far-off distant Heavenly Land that he would only be able to experience in his life to come as a spiritual child of HaShem? If we attempt to interpret this Land as only referring to heaven, then we make the physical promise of no effect! We do damage to the literal aspect that back in Genesis chapter 12 God was indeed making a covenant with a literal man, to become a literal people, who would inherit a literal piece of real estate! Sure, there are heavenly qualities that the Land is supposed to eventually possess, ones which it lacks at this juncture in history, but that doesn’t negate the fact that HaShem can and will bring his promises to Avraham’s offspring to pass! The sages refer to this glorious future time as the “’Olam Haba” (the Age to Come). In our theology, we would equate this to the Millennium time period. The TaNaKH is replete with passages describing a glorious dwelling place, within the Land of Promise, for ‘Am Yisra’el—and others! This Land is the very same location today where war and conquest are still rampant. But HaShem will change all of that one day. The desert will blossom and the mountains will drip with sweet wine! When that day arrives, Avraham will truly rejoice to see his children nestled in the glorious promises of a faithful, covenant-keeping God! I want to close out with a comment by The Stone Edition TaNaKH, which has this to say about the book of B’midbar: ‘The Book of Numbers begins and ends with Isra'el on the verge of entering its Land—but the thirty-eight intervening years of wandering in the Wilderness were a low point in Jewish history. This Book contains the episodes of the spies, who poisoned the minds of the people, the rebellion of Korah and his assembly, and the error of Moshe and Aharon that cost them the privilege of entering the land. But it also ends with the first step in the conquest of the Land of Isra'el.’ It is customary after the completion of a book of the Torah to say, “Chazak, chazak, v’nit’chazek!” (Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!) | 7/25/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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42 Parashat Mattot | This is Parashat Mattot. From here until the ending of B'midbar (Numbers), the subject of Tribes is in full view. HaShem is preparing the desert-weary people for entering into their long-awaited inheritance. After 40 years of wandering under the divine judging hand of the Almighty, coupled with over 400 years in physical, mental, and (in every way) spiritual bondage in a foreign land, the descendants of Avraham are finally ready to have a land of their own! Before the passage delves into the physical Land the Torah portion addresses the vow (Heb: neder), and the oath (Heb: sh'vuah), so that is where I will make some observations. I will comment on the Land in the final parashah (called Masa'ei [Stages]) The spoken word can be powerful. In the case of the Creation account, the Holy One spoke the very universe into existence! The familiar phrase, "And God said…" can be found numerous times in B'resheet chapter one, emphasizing the importance of spoken words. In this particular case, nothing is more powerful than the spoken (or written, for that matter) Word of ADONAI Tzva'ot (LORD of Hosts). The rabbis teach that man, as the created image (Heb: tzelem) of HaShem, we have incredible power in our speech! The Torah also teaches on this power that resides within the tongue of a man. In truth, the Scriptures are replete with verses about the tongue of man. I shall single out two of my favorite passages: "Come, children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of ADONAI. Which of you takes pleasure in living? Who wants a long life to see good things? [If you do,] keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceiving talk; turn from evil, and do good; seek peace, go after it!" (Tehillim [Psalms] 34:12[11]-15[14]) And from the B'rit Chadashah (Renewed Covenant, Apostolic Scriptures i.e., New Testament): "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. If we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh." (Ya'akov [James] 3:1-12, NASV) | 7/18/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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41 Parashat Pinchas (Part B) | The name “Mel-chiz-ed-ek” (KJV) or “Malki-Tzedek” as it is written in the Hebrew, means, “my king is righteousness”, or “king of righteousness”. He is first mentioned in the Torah in the book of Genesis, in a meeting with the patriarch Avram. Chapter 14 verses 18-20 reads, “Malki-Tzedek king of Shalem brought out bread and wine. He was cohen [priest] of El ‘Elyon [God Most High], so he blessed him with these words: “Blessed be Avram by El ‘Elyon, maker of heaven of earth; and blessed be El ‘Elyon, who handed your enemies over to you.” He is again mentioned in the highly messianic Psalm 110 at verse 4. Finally he figures in the New Covenant book of Hebrews at Chapter 5:6,10,20; and is the subject of Chapter 7. Although the Torah mentions him receiving the tithe from Our Father Avraham, in contradistinction to Pinchas, no record of his official lineage (i.e. to king and to priest) is given in the immediate text. This absence has caused no small speculation on the part of the rabbis of antiquity. Especially since in Judaism the roles of king and priest are separate roles! Normally (excluding the first king, Saul of Kish), the kingly line runs through Dah-vid (David). Accordingly, the priestly lineage is traced through Aharon the brother of Moshe. To be sure Pinchas is of this lineage. But Malki-Tzedek was both king (of Shalem) and priest (of HaShem the Most High). How is this possible? I believe, initially HaShem alluded to the answer in the prophecy stated about the Messiah in Psalm 110. This should have tipped the rabbis off about HaShem’s provision of a future ruler who would belong to both the priestly and kingly lines. If the rabbis could have only read Hebrews, they could have seen that only one person in history ever fulfilled both of these roles and his name is Yeshua! If the rabbis of today would do the same, I believe the same conclusion would be reached! But the book of Hebrews says something else about this “man” Malki-Tzedek that is very peculiar indeed. In Chapter 7:3-8, it is stated, “There is no record of his father, mother, ancestry, birth or death”. It does not state that he never had any of these, nor that he is alive forever more. It says he is “testified to be still alive”, which means “midrashically” (for teaching purposes only), not literally. Even the Babylonian Talmud has him identified as the son of Shem, Noach’s son (Talmud Bavli, N’darim 32b). The Torah only leads us to that seeming conclusion without explicitly stating it. We need to be careful when interpreting the text here. Do not make it say something it does not. But by seeing in Malki-Tzedek our Messiah Yeshua, the connection is strengthened as to his (Yeshua’s) role as both king and priest! To be sure, I believe that’s exactly what the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) had in mind when he inspired King Dah-vid to make the messianic prophecy about his future ancestor. | 7/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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41 Parashat Pinchas (Part A) | QUESTION: In the Torah the name Pinchas is written with a "yud", and according to the Zohar (237b) Pinchas with a "yud" has the numerical value of two hundred and eight, as does the name of the patriarch Yitzchak. What is the connection between Pinchas and Yitzchak? ANSWER: The prophet Eliyahu encountered the false prophets of the idol Ba'al and challenged them to prove whose God was the true one. It was agreed that he and they would each prepare an offering, and the one whose offering would be consumed by a fire descending from heaven would be the representative of the authentic God. All their attempts to bring down fire were to no avail. When Eliyahu prayed, "Aneini HaShem aneini" - "Please God answer me" - a fire descended from heaven (see I Kings 18:19-40). These answers, while attempting to teach us a didactic lesson, nevertheless are somewhat fanciful. I personally like the answer given by a modern scholar by the name of Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed of Beit-El Yeshiva (Yeshiva.org.il) in Isra'el: One's intellect is the source of his moral character and personality. Only after one appreciates that that which is good is truly good, does he begin to yearn for it - and as a result act towards achieving that end. Human intellect is beyond emotion; in fact, it actually guides and even directs emotion. An act of "jealousy" on behalf of God, however, does not stem from the intellect. Man possesses a quality even higher than the intellect; it exists on the subconscious level, in the depths of one's spirit; it constantly strives to reveal itself and to appear via the intellect and emotion. The role of intellect and emotion is to neutralize those factors that block the manifestation of zealotry. [This model is used by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook (of blessed memory) to explain the phenomenon of Emunah, or faith. He stresses that emunah exists on a plane above and beyond intellect and emotion]. It is from these depths that jealousy must spring; this jealousy - or zealotry - reveals itself once one puts aside all factors that inhibit the manifestation of his inner cleaving to the Creator of the Universe. This zealotry responds to any even slight manifestation of Hillul HaShem, or desecration of God's name. Zealotry that has its roots in an understanding of the Divine - inspires the "zealot" to reach a state of completion - or Sheleimut: "Behold, I am giving him My covenant of Peace (Shalom). In Tractate Sanhedrin, our sages enumerate the deeds, which, if done by a Jew, warrant "Zealots smiting him." For example, "One who steals a vessel for use in the Temple... one who has relations with a Gentile woman..." and - even a Cohen who serves in the Temple while in a state of ritual impurity - are legitimately attacked and killed by zealots. The reason for Torah-sanctioned vigilance in these kinds of cases? The direct offense committed by the transgressor, who himself has stricken at the heart of the bond between the Children of Israel and the Holy One, Blessed be He. Our sages explain that true zealotry may be defined as a situation in which the zealot does not inquire of a scholar how to act in the case at hand; in fact, should he make such an inquiry, a scholar would be bound not to instruct him to take action. Why? The very question as to how to respond indicates that the person has not internalized the level of zealotry required to permit his unilateral action. True zealotry flows naturally, from an inability of the person to tolerate the desecration of God’s name. A well-known Torah dictum states that in situations of desecration to God’s name, one does not allot honor even to a Rabbi. Zealous for the sake of God’s Holy Name. This was the supremacy of Pinchas’ fury. Even though what he did was not considered “peaceful” in our eyes, nevertheless the Almighty awarded him the peace prize as a cohen (priest). | 7/11/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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40 Parashat Balak (Part B) | Our Stark Warning Couched in the tiny book of Y’hudah (Jude), we hear the Torah’s final warning against men like Bil’am: “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. “Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. “In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals--these are the very things that destroy them. “Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion. These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted--twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.” (Y’hudah 3-13, NIV) Bil’am provides for us an example of godless men who seek their own personal gain. The book of Revelation puts the cap on Bil’am in 2:14, and even tells us the incident with the women at Ba’al-P’or also involved idolatrous acts of eating meats offered to idols! How did the people fall? I have seen this lesson played out in my own life all too well. I brace myself for the attack from the Adversary (or my own flesh), and just when I think I am successful, I get hit from the “blind side”! Isra'el fell prey to their lustful passions, which was their blind side. The blessing of the LORD was their strong side, and Blessed be the Holy One for that! But it just goes to show that we all have weakness in areas that we least suspect at times, and that we are all in need of the supernatural protection of Almighty HaShem! May we learn and understand from this valuable Torah lesson that is laid out so clearly for us in the ever-practical pages of God’s gracious Word! | 7/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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40 Parashat Balak (Part A) | The power of rumor… Balak had not only heard of what terrible acts Isra'el had committed in destroying the ‘Emori, according to the first verse of our Torah portion, he also saw it! Did he witness it firsthand? Perhaps. Perhaps he saw the aftermath of the campaign and did the mental math. Whatever the case, the fame and reputation of HaShem was becoming more and more known among the tribes of Kena’an (Canaan). The offspring of Avraham was gaining a name for themselves: “the dreadful people who have come out of Egypt”. Indeed, the LORD was working mightily among them! But our opening sequence has Balak, king of Mo’av (Moab) seeking a way to destroy these seemingly unstoppable and numerous people. Based on his observation of their might (because of their sheer numbers), he decides that a military campaign is futile. Therefore, he decides to fight fire with fire: he hires the top pagan prophet of his day, Bil’am (Balaam). Now Bil’am was a peculiar man. Here is a prophet who hears, converses and knows the ineffable name of HaShem! Yet, he does not follow the ways of HaShem’s Torah. How can this be? Occasionally in the Torah, to our seeming dismay, God actually converses with unbelieving pagans. In these dialogues we catch a glimpse of the incredible nature of our God in his dealing not only with the Jewish Nation, but with other people groups as well. I believe that even the greedy Bil’am could have found a place in the community of God’s Called-out ones, but as we shall see, he chose a different course for himself. The power of blessing… Balak sends messengers to Bil’am, with a request for Bil’am to pronounce a curse upon the blessed. Bil’am, at first, entertains the notion, and takes the matter before HaShem. The Holy One reminds him of the foolishness of such a request, and forbids him from pronouncing any such curse. But the messengers of Balak are soon found returning to Bil’am with a second similar request, backed by a more hefty reward upon Bil’am’s success. At this point Bil’am begins to make his mistakes. He, knowing that HaShem has forbidden him to curse the people, conveys this information again to the messengers, but then proceeds to find another way around HaShem’s apparent final answer. Why is Bil’am double-minded? Here is the revelation of his greedy nature. I believe that the increased reward was actually beginning to appeal to him, and an abuse of his relationship with HaShem might indeed secure for him the praise of Balak. HaShem does something rather peculiar to Bil’am. He grants him permission to go with the men this time, provided he only does what HaShem specifically tells him to do. But HaShem, who sees the heart of all men, instead sees greedy gain in Bil’am’s heart as he quickly saddles his own donkey and heads out the next morning. This is upsetting to HaShem. Left to his own devices, Bil’am will not follow the instructions of the LORD, but will rather follow his own baser nature and seek the wealth offered by Balak. So the God of all circumstances decided to alter Bil’am’s plans. He sends an angelic messenger to sway Bil’am from following through with his greedy plan. The angel finally succeeding in gaining the attention of Bil’am, through his miraculous talking donkey, informs Bil’am that his plans are not good ones, but are in fact opposite those of HaShem! Amidst this whole transaction, I am amazed that Bil’am does not even think it an incredible thing to have a conversation with a donkey! Such is the blindness of material lust. Even the incredible seems dull in comparison to our own heart of greed. It took the supernatural hand of ADONAI to open the eyes of Bil’am. | 7/5/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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39 Parashat Hukkat (Part B) | From Kadesh to Moab – Disobedience, Death, and Desert Dilemmas The parashah goes on to narrate the tragic story of Moshe’s disobedience. Chapter 20 records for us the sobering reason as to why this otherwise stalwart leader succumbs to human weakness. It is true that he was incredibly faithful to perform all that HaShem asked him to do. Yet, even Moshe was not perfect. The pressure mounted and in a moment of anger and indecision, he struck—twice, when he was commanded to speak. Thus, he dishonored HaShem in the sight of all Isra'el. For this, HaShem would not allow him to enter into the Land that he was leading the people to. He would only be allowed to gaze at it from afar. What lessons can be learned from this? HaShem is a merciful God! In spite of Moshe’s disobedience, water did indeed flow from the rock to meet the community’s physical need. Yet, along with God’s mercy, we see a reminder of his requirements of responsibility especially where chosen leaders are involved. Moshe was in what is known as a “high visibility” position. The greater the calling the greater the responsibility. Moshe was not in a position to be blatantly disobeying HaShem. His call was a higher one, and therefore, God expected more from him. Remember that this was the man of whom the Torah says he spoke to God “face to face” and “mouth to mouth”. In our Torah portion we read of the deaths of two of the community’s great leaders, two from the same family no less. Miryam the sister and Aharon the Cohen HaGadol both die in chapter 20. In the case of Miryam, we saw the people’s concern for her demonstrated a few parash’ot ago, when, as she contracted tzara’at (leprosy) they all waited while she remained outside the camp before moving on with their travels. Here in the later part of chapter 20, Isra‘el mourns Aharon for thirty days, as his son El’azar takes on the awesome responsibility of his father’s place in the community. “Are we there yet?” Having warned the people about their coming days of lawlessness (verses 16-18 of D’varim chapter 31), HaShem then commands Moshe to teach them a song of remembrance (verse19-22), which will serve as a witness for their God, against the people of Isra’el. The actual song itself is recorded for us in Chapter 32. So why does HaShem keep reminding them of their upcoming failure to obey him? From a cursory glance, it appears rather pessimistic and disheartening. In fact, it may strike the average reader as being too harsh and challenging, similar to the seemingly insurmountable challenge that awaits the people as they endeavor to enter the Land of Promise. But we need to understand the heart of the Father here. His (loving) chastening does appear, at first, to be too much for us to bear, but as we begin to see the “big picture” we will understand it more. The Torah is HaShem’s measuring rod for disobedience. To be sure, this is what he said in D’varim 31:26. Even the New Covenant Scriptures echo this same teaching consistently throughout the above-mentioned book of Romans. This happens, the Torah teaches us in both the TaNaKH and the B’rit Chadashah, “in order that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world be shown to deserve God’s adverse judgment. For in his sight no one alive will be considered righteous…(Psalm 143:2; Romans 3:19).” Now this specifically applied to those within the framework of the Torah, of which the Jewish Nation surely was! The budding young nation that we read about in our current parashah had already begun to live within that framework, which was initiated at the “Mount Sinai experience”. HaShem was training them to become dependant upon his grace alone to get them out of “hot water”. The enemies that they would encounter on their way “Home” would indeed be “hot”! | 6/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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39 Parashat Hukkat (Part A) | Parah Adumah - A Unique Commandment The mitzvah of the Red Heifer (referred to in Judaism as Parah Adumah, literally “Red Cow”) is a peculiar command indeed. A couple of details make this mitzvah unique. To begin with, the participants are commanded to slaughter and burn completely this female cow without blemish. If you will recall from reading Vayikra, touching a dead animal’s carcass renders one tamei (ritually unclean). As we discover from our current portion at 19:7-22, the preparation of the ashes also rendered the individuals involved tamei. Yet the end result of their efforts produced a substance that possessed the supernatural ability to cleanse, as HaShem endowed it. True, the real healing always comes from HaShem, but in this case, the focal point of the healing (the ash mixture) began by defiling those who made the mixture. Peculiar indeed. Herein lies the secret of faith. To follow HaShem’s instructions to the letter was to act and live in an arena of trusting faithfulness. To do what the Torah asked sometimes required its participants to perform various rituals and functions that defy logic and common sense. Life from death? Only the Will of HaShem could produce such an effect. Particularly, we see this demonstrated graphically in Yeshua! The events surrounding his death defiled everyone involved. Remember that the handling of the sacrificial victim defiles the handler. Thus, everyone, from the prosecutors, to those who mocked him, to the executioner who drove the nails—everyone was made unclean. This includes you and me. We placed him there as much as any Roman or Jew involved directly in that century. Our transgressions caused him to become the sacrifice for sin. Therefore, we are also defiled. But the end result is what makes the significant difference! In the case of the Red Heifer, the resulting ash played the central part in the cleansing of those who were tamei. In the case of Yeshua, his shed blood plays a central part in our cleansing. Were it not for the blood, which was freely spilled, we would forever be in a state of spiritual tamei! Thanks be unto God, the blood was poured out! This brings out the importance of understanding the Torah and matters related to faith. If we reduce the Torah to legalistic misunderstandings, we cut short the miraculous workings of our Heavenly Abba, especially where matters of tamei and tahor (unclean and clean respectively) are concerned. While it is true that Yeshua brought about a transformation in the Levitical priesthood, and ritual uncleanness is no longer an everyday issue, the matter of spiritual cleansing is still a stark reality. We must avail ourselves of the spiritual cleansing made possible by Yeshua in order that we can be included in the community of the “called-out ones”. Only the ashes of an unblemished female cow would suffice for this special ceremony; only the blood of a sinless human—the blood of Yeshua, could effectively cleanse fallen humanity from spiritual defilement! He is our Red Heifer! | 6/27/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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38 Parashat Korach | This is Parashat Korach. This is the telling of the story of the disloyalty of Korach, son of a Levite, and that rebellious bunch that followed him. I call it disloyalty owing to the fact that this complaint of Korach's was an audience designed to address the current leadership of Moshe and Aharon. However, knowing Korach’s heart, a better-suited term might be open mutiny! A summary of the story goes like this: Korach and followers from the leaders of 'Am Yisra'el challenge the authority of Moshe and Aharon, accusing the two brothers of "lording" over the people. Moshe's response is divine. He instructs them—nay challenges them to an authoritative proof-test. Since the human factor of choosing leadership is (in the eyes of Korach) obviously faulty, let God choose the appropriate man for the job! They accept Moshe’s challenge, and the next day HaShem does indeed intervene. At Moshe’s spoken word (16:28-30), the supernatural judgment of HaShem vindicates the chosen leadership of Moshe and Aharon, and the earth opens her mouth and swallows the rebels alive! Also, a flame comes from the LORD and consumes the wicked men who would have offered an incense of fire before HaShem. As an object lesson to all who would otherwise follow after these sinners, the righteous son of Aharon, El’azar, is instructed by HaShem to fashion the fire pans used by this rebellious bunch, into plates to cover the altar for all to see and remember. This initial tirade sparks a further challenge from the people, once they see that the enemies of God’s chosen leaders have been killed. They cry murder! The Spirit of HaShem, who is observing this from the Ohel Moeyd (Tent of Meeting), sends out a plague to teach the unrighteous hoard a lesson they won't soon forget. In an act of mercy and intercession, and the request of Moshe, Aharon offers an atoning libation upon the altar to stay the wrath of the Almighty. Aharon’s obedience effectively gains the favor of HaShem who then stays his hand of judgment, but not before 14, 700 of the community have been slain in his fury. HaShem, feeling that he has effectively gained the attention of anyone entertaining thoughts of mutiny at this point, instructs Moshe to take staffs from each of the leaders of the Twelve Tribes, writing each leader’s name on his respective staff. The staffs are then taken and placed before the Aron Kodesh (Ark of the Testimony) in the Ohel Moeyd. HaShem has promised that one of the dead sticks will miraculously sprout life, and that the man who owns that particular staff is the verified leader of the community. The next day, Aharon’s staff not only sprouts buds, but flowers and ripe almonds as well! God has made his choice. Each man has his staff returned to him, but Aharon’s is placed near the Ark for a visual reminder to all who observe, that the LORD alone designates who will lead! The remainder of the parashah describes the various priestly functions within the community, while outlining some of the privileges and inheritances afforded to the L'vi'im (Levites). Conclusions: When Korach challenged Moshe, he made the presumptuous statement that, “After all, the entire community is holy, every one of them, and ADONAI is among them.” (16:3) The problem with such a statement is that only the designated leader of the people was qualified to lead the people! HaShem makes the distinction! True, there was a measure of truth to Korach’s statement of the corporate holiness of the entire community, but that was not the real issue here. Korach had a problem with authority. | 6/20/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 Parashat Shlach L'kha (Part E) | Conclusions If you are still not sure you understand the true intent behind Torah observance (which includes the command to wear fringes), I suggest reading my introductory teachings in this series. They are available at this web site, or you may write to me personally. As you seek to become more obedient to HaShem's Torah, by adding the mitzvah of the tzitzit, here is the traditional blessing by which Jews adorn themselves with the tallit: “Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher kid-shanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu l'hit-ateyf ba-tzitzit" (Blessed are you, O’ LORD, our God, King of the Universe, for you have sanctified us through thy commandments, and have commanded us to sew [wear] the fringes) It is also customary to recite Psalms 36:5-9. The reason for this choice of passages is that verse seven contains the Hebrew word "kanaf", usually translated "wing", or "extremity". A tallit contains four "wings" or "extremities", upon which the tzitzit are attached. To strengthen the connection between this use of the word kanaf, the prophet Malachi 4:2 predicted that when the Sun of Righteousness (another name for the expected Messiah) would arise, he would have "healing in his wings"! When the woman with the issue of blood reached out to touch Yeshua (Matt. 9:20-21), she was placing her trust in the miraculous healing contained within the extremity of his garment! She reached for the tassels of the long-awaited Savior! I encourage you to continue to study the Torah to discover the rich traditions that HaShem has lovingly placed there. To be sure, HaShem had us in mind when he created them. The portion ends with the promising phrase, “I am ADONAI your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt in order to be your God. I am ADONAI your God.” We’ve seen this phrase/title before. The Torah seems to want us not to forget it! Why was this title important? HaShem has revealed an aspect of his character that would later play a very important role in the identity of the Jewish People as a Nation. This title would also serve as a reminder to the surrounding nations that "with a great out-stretched arm, ADONAI Almighty delivered his beloved people!" (see Moshe’s argument to HaShem in 14:13-16) To be sure, the reference of HaShem as the "God who delivered [them] from the bondage of Egypt" would become a "household" name of sorts. Looking back in the book of Sh’mot to the "Ten Commandments" (Sh'mot 20:1, 2) you can also find this phrase used to identify HaShem. Thumb through the rest of your TaNaKH (Old Testament) and you will find that this phrase is also used numerous times. As believers in Messiah Yeshua, we know that this is one of the primary character traits of HaShem, which unifies the Messiah and the Godhead as an "echad", that is as "one". The name of the Messiah comes from the Hebrew name "Y'hoshua", which itself stems from the Hebrew name "Hoshea". Both of these names are composites of the two Hebrew words for "God" and "will save", respectively. When we combine this knowledge with the fact that it is "YHVH" who offers us salvation from sin THROUGH Yeshua the Messiah, then we can begin to understand the significance of the type and shadow that the Torah teaches using the Exodus from Egypt and how it personally impacts our lives as new creations. The closing blessing is as follows: “Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.” (Blessed are you O’ LORD, our God, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, LORD, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.) “Shabbat Shalom!” | 6/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 Parashat Shlach L'kha (Part D) | Menachot 42b And for what purpose do the Rabbis use the expression ‘That ye may look upon it’? — They require it for the following teaching: ‘That ye may look upon it, and remember’, that is, look upon this precept and remember another precept that is dependent upon it, namely, the reading of the Shema’. As we have learnt: From what time in the morning may the Shema’ be read? From the time that one can distinguish between blue and white. Another [Baraitha] taught: ‘That ye may look upon it, and remember’, that is, look upon this precept, and remember another precept that is next to it, namely, ‘the law concerning mingled stuffs, for it is written, Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together’. Thou shalt make thee twisted cords. And another [Baraitha] taught: That ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord: as soon as a person is bound to observe this precept he must observe all the precepts. This is in accordance with R. Simeon's view that [the tzitzith] is a precept dependent on time. And another [Baraitha] taught: ‘That ye may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord’: this precept is equal to all the precepts together. And another [Baraitha] taught: ‘That ye may look upon it and remember . . . and do them’: looking [upon it] leads to remembering [the commandments], and remembering leads to doing them. R. Simeon b. Yohai says, Whosoever is scrupulous in the observance of this precept is worthy to receive the Divine presence, for it is written here, ‘That ye may look upon it’, and there it is written, Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and Him shalt thou serve. So we seem to have plenty of justification, both from Torah and Talmud for wearing the tallit and the fringes, but can a woman wear one? A recent invention called a Gitah Zahav Tallit was created to allow the women to fulfill the mitzvah of wrapping herself in tzitzit. Again, it is recognized that traditionally women were not obligated to fulfill this mitzvah. This was due to the fact that tzitzit are worn during daylight hours (with the exception of the High Holidays) when women were occupied with many other duties. Throughout time women have taken on this mitzvah and it is interesting to note that Rabbi Judah the Prince, who was the editor of the Mishna tied tzitzit onto his wife’s apron! Can a woman wear a tallit? As long as it doesn't send the wrong signal to the other male members, I don't see why not. As previously mentioned, my first choice would be a feminine (versus the traditional male-oriented) styled one. If you cannot purchase a feminine shawl (and there's really no reason why a standard, lady’s shawl cannot be found somewhere for purchase), then why not make your own. Purchase a traditional small tallit, and sew laces onto it, tailoring it to look like a female version of the male one. All of these suggestions need to take into account the various sensitivities that many congregations (or churches for that matter) currently have. You married women, consult the opinion of your husband; you single women, ask your rabbi or pastor. Approach the concept with a sensible amount of caution, and by all means, bathe it in prayer! If HaShem doesn't want you to cause unnecessary strife in the public gatherings, then I suggest that you practice your tzitzit-mitzvah keeping in the privacy of your own home. We should not seek to intentionally offend the conscience of another believer, for the sake of our own personal interpretation of the Torah, especially if the other believer might be weaker. This does not please the Holy One! Much more can be said concerning the blue threads, the mixtures of the threads, and whether or not one should wear them outwardly or tucked into one’s “pants” but those discussions are reserved for the men. My commentary called “Kippah and Tallit Pt. 2” will take up that midrash so read it there. | 6/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 Parashat Shlach L'kha (Part C) | Traditions play an important part of our daily walk as new creations in Messiah Yeshua. In my opinion, some traditions enhance that walk, while other traditions hinder it. Logic dictates that if a tradition comes directly from the Torah, then HaShem designed it to enhance our walk. According to Jewish tradition, men wear a tallit to signify obedience to the above-mentioned mitzvah, to signify the desire to engage in public prayer and Torah exposition, or in special cases, depending on the length of the tallit, it can signify a position of leadership (rabbi, deacon, prayer-chanter, etc). We know from the Torah itself, the New Covenant part, that Rabbi Yeshua ben-Yosef, as a Torah observant Jewish man, wore the fringes on his garment (see Matthew 9:20). Now to address the question head on: "Can a woman wear a tallit?" According to the Biblical injunction to perform the mitzvah of the tzitzit, a woman these days should wear some sort of prayer shawl, adorned with fringes. The above-mentioned passage is addressed to the "Children of Isra'el", which translates the Hebrew phrase "B'ney Yisra'el". This familiar phrase, used throughout the TaNaKH quite frequently, normally includes all of Isra'el, and not just the men or (literally) "sons". What this means is that historically, we should have seen the women joining in on this mitzvah. After all, doesn't it stand to reason, therefore, that HaShem wants the females to be Torah-observant also? In the Talmudic tractate Menachot 43a we read that everyone is obligated to perform the mitzvah of tzitzit, however the comment that follows exempts women: “Rabbi Simon exempted women because this was a positive mitzvah limited by time and from all positive, time bound mitzvot women are exempt”. Being exempt from something does not mean one is not allowed to; just because you don’t have to fulfill an obligation, doesn’t exclude you from participating. Commentators, such as Moses Isserles argued that women shouldn’t try and fulfill this mitzvah, as it would constitute an excessive demonstration of pride in their own piety. However nearly all other commentators, with the exception of Maimonides and Epstein, permit women to wear a tallit, and to recite the blessings over it. We Jews do just love to debate! A garment that has four or more square corners on opposite sides (10:1-3,5-9,12) requires fringes (TZITZIS), provided it is big enough to cover most of the body (see 16:1), is primarily used for that purpose (10:10-11;19:1-2), and is owned by Jews (see 14:3,5). TZITZIS are required when the garment is worn during the day, or when it is worn at night if it is normally worn during the day; see 18:1-2. The requirement of TZITZIS applies only to garments made of cloth (see 10:4), and is only rabbinical unless they are made of linen or sheep's wool (9:1); according to some opinions, the garment or the TZITZIS should not be of linen (9:2,6). The TZITZIS may be made either of wool or of the same material as the garment (9:2-4); they may be white or of the same color as the garment (9:5). The TZITZIS are passed through holes near the four corners of the garment (see 11:9-11,15) that are farthest apart (10:1). Four TZITZIS are passed through each hole (11:12-13), and the two groups of four ends are double-knotted to each other at the edge of the garment near the hole (11:14,15). One of the TZITZIS is made longer than the others (11:4); the long end of that one is wound around the other seven ends and double- knotted; this is done repeatedly so as to make a total of five double knots separated by four sections of winding, with a total length of at least four inches, leaving free-hanging ends that are twice that long (11:14). | 6/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 Parashat Shlach L'kha (Part B) | Garment of Praise The portion this week contains Judaism’s first mitzvah (commandment) concerning the tzitzit, that is, the tassel that adorns a modern observant Jewish person’s clothing. Chapter 15:37-41 clearly teaches the offspring of Avraham to attach a “ribbon of blue” to the extremity or “wing” (Heb: kanaf) of their garments. It is easy to assume that these p’sukim (verses) are meant to be actualized by the males of the community, but a difference of opinion has arisen concerning whether or not women can also wear the tassel of blue (Heb: techelet). While the literal text reads “sons” in verse 38, I believe the following paragraph may shed some light on the subject. I must state up front that traditionally women have not worn the fringes. And reasons as to why are varied. But in my line of work many readers frequently ask me about this unique and exciting mitzvah. Here is some of what I have had to say: (Borrowing material from my short series called “Shomer Mitzvot”) "Rabbi Ariel [sic], can a woman wear a tallit?" Let us first define what a tallit is, and its function. A tallit (say "tall-eat"), also known as a "prayer shawl", is a four-cornered, rectangular-shaped garment, containing ritual fringes on each of its four corners, worn for the express purpose of fulfilling the following mitzvah (command). These tassels are called tzitzit (say "seat-seat"). The prayer shawl is usually adorned with colorful stripes and a special Hebrew-lettered neckband to identify the top edge. Before I provide a possibly controversial answer, I want to draw your attention to the specific Torah passage that addresses the topic of the fringes. Version: NAS Numbers 15:37-40 37. The LORD also spoke to Moses, saying, 38. "Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. 39. "And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, 40. in order that you may remember to do all My commandments, and be holy to your God. (Vayomer ADONAI el-Moshe leymor. Daber el-b’ney Yisra’el ve'amarta aleihem v'asu lahem tzitzit al-kan’fey vig’deyhem l’dorotam v’nat’nu al-tzitzit ha-kanaf p’til t’cheilet. V’hayah lachem l’tzitzit ur'item oto uz’chartem et-kol-mitzvot ADONAI va'asitem otam v’lo-taturu acharei l’vav’chem v'acharei eyneychem asher-atem zonim achareihem. L’ma'an tiz’k’ru va'asitem et-kol-mitzvotai vi-hyitem k’doshim le-Eloheichem. Ani ADONAI Eloheichem asher hotzeiti etchem mey'erets Mitzrayim li’hyot lachem le-Elohim ani ADONAI Eloheichem.) Here in Numbers 15:37-41, we find a series of verses specifically aimed at teaching ‘Am Yisra'el (the people of Isra'el) how to revere HaShem and his Torah. According to the Talmudic rabbis, one of the possible incidents that "sparked" the giving of the tallit mitzvah in the first place was the violation of the Shabbat (see 15:32-36); another might be the upcoming rebellion involving Korach and his bunch of rebels (see next parashah). These are inferred by the immediate context of the chapters. However, the mitzvah of wearing the fringes spans the entire context of Torah observance, in that, placing ritual fringes on the corners of the garment (see 15:39-39) was to serve as a visual reminder that HaShem was serious when he told them to "keep the commandments", not just the Shabbat. | 6/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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37 Parashat Shlach L'kha (Part A) | Shabbat Violation The Torah helps to paint a picture of work and rest, slavery and freedom, which spiritually amounts to life and death. How so? In the Renewed Covenant book of Galatians, Rabbi Sha’ul tell us: "Don’t delude yourselves: no one makes a fool of God! A person reaps what he sows. Those who keep sowing in the field of their old nature, in order to meet its demands, will eventually reap ruin; but those who keep sowing in the field of the Spirit will reap from the Spirit everlasting life. So let us not grow weary of doing what is good; for if we don’t give up, we will in due time reap the harvest. Therefore, as the opportunity arises, let us do what is good to everyone, and especially to the family of those who are trustingly faithful." (6:7-10) The better first half of Leviticus chapter 25 uses harvest language, sowing and reaping, working and resting according to faith. To leave the ground unplowed for an entire year requires faith indeed—especially living in an agricultural land such as Isra'el! The guilty man was found gathering wood on the “day meant for resting”. Today, our faith lies in the fact that we have rested from our labors of self-righteousness. Before our faith in Messiah, we worked year after year to meet our own needs. Our harvest was the product of our own hands. Consequently, it was a harvest of death. Our “working” to be accepted by God, outside of genuine, Biblical trust in Messiah, could only result in death. But to place one’s trusting faithfulness in the atoning work of the Messiah Yeshua is to rest from one’s own labors! To be sure, without the faith of Messiah at work in our lives, we truly do not have a proper concept of Shabbat! To rest (the Sabbath) is to cease working in our own fields, and to begin "resting" in the fields of the Master! When we were in the world, we were "slaves" to sin! But now in Messiah Yeshua, we have experienced our spiritual Jubilee—our year of release from debt! We are no longer slaves to sin, and our wages are no longer death! We have been set free by the power of his Sabbath rest! What does the Torah say? "What the Messiah has freed us for is freedom! Therefore, stand firm, and don’t let yourselves be tied up again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1) And again in another place, "So there remains a Shabbat-keeping for God’s people. For the one who has entered God’s rest has also rested from his own works, as God did from his. Therefore, let us do our best to enter that rest; so that no one will fall short because of the same kind of disobedience." (Hebrews 4:9-11) And finally, "Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am ADONAI." (Leviticus 26:20) | 6/15/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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36 Parashat B'ha'alotkha (Part C) | In Genesis chapter one, verses 1-5, the Hebrew word “Torah” can be found if we count every 50th letter. Now, we must remember that Hebrew reads right-to-left, so our Hebrew word “Torah”, consisting of the four letters “Tav”, “Vav”, “Resh”, and “Heh” (T-V-R-H) would look like this in our text (beginning with the first “Tav” that we find: H-(49 spaces)-R-(49 spaces)-V-(49 spaces)-T In Exodus chapter one, verses 1-7, the exact same phenomenon occurs! Beginning with the first “Tav” that we find, the pattern is this: H-(49 spaces)-R-(49 spaces)-V-(49 spaces)-T In our “shammash” book of Leviticus, we find something very special! Instead of the Hebrew word “Torah” at every 50th letter, we instead find in the very first verse the Tetragrammaton Name (“Yod”, Heh”, Vav”, “Heh”, e.g., YHVH) of HaShem at every 8th letter! Beginning with the first “Yod” that we find, this is the pattern: H-(7 spaces)-V-(7 spaces)-H-(7 spaces)-Y The name of God is indeed the proper “central shaft” of our hidden Menorah! But let's move onto Numbers. In Numbers chapter one, verses 1-3, we find the familiar Hebrew word “Torah” again—as should be expected, at 50 letter intervals. But this time, since the pattern is symmetrical—as should be expected, the letters are backwards: T-(49 spaces)-V-(49 spaces)-R-(49 spaces)-H Finally, we come to Deuteronomy and the last branch in our Menorah. In this 5th book of Moshe we shall find something very special. The Hebrew word “Torah” is surely to be found in the first chapter, but this time, a few minor changes take place. Instead of starting with the first chapter and verse one, we start this time with chapter one, verses 5-8. Starting with the first “Heh” of verse 8, we count not every 50th letter, but instead every 49th letter—to reveal the word “Torah”! Our pattern will look like this: T-(48 spaces)-V-(48 spaces)-R-(48 spaces)-H | 6/10/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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36 Parashat B'ha'alotkha (Part B) | In the opening few verses of our current parashah, we learn that the actual, removable lamps, which rest upon each branch, “face” inward towards the central shaft, and consequently towards the center lamp as well (picture an “Aladdin’s type” lamp with a handle on one end and a spout at the opposite end where the wick protrudes). Rashi confirms this in his commentary to these p’sukim: Our Sages further expounded from here that there was a step in front of the menorah, on which the kohen stood to prepare [the lamps]. — [Sifrei Beha’alothecha 3] toward the face of the menorah. Toward the middle lamp, which is not on [one of] the branches, but on the menorah itself. — [Men. 98b] shall cast their light. The six on the six branches; the three eastern ones-that is their wicks-facing towards the center one, and likewise, the three western ones, the tops of their wicks facing toward the center one. Why [were the wicks facing inwards, thus giving off so little light]? So that [people] should not say that He [God] needs the light. — [Tanchuma Beha’alothecha 5] Rashi’s opinion, however, is not universally shared. The JPS commentary to Numbers 8:2, 3 suggests other possible ways in which to understand how the lamps themselves were positioned: at the front Hebrew ‘el-mul penei. If the intent is that the light should be thrown toward the central lampstand (2 Sam. 11:15), then the pinched lips or nozzles of the lamps atop the six branches would face the lampstand. However, one would expect the text to read “six” not “seven” lamps. Perhaps, then, the light is thrown forward (i.e., northward) toward the table, an interpretation supported by Exodus 25:37, where the synonymous expression ‘al ‘ever penei clearly means “forward.” 3. at the front The fact that the idiom ‘el-mul penei is repeated indicates that the purpose of this passage is to stress the positioning of the lamps. I personally believe that Rashi’s description is correct here. However, no matter which opinion we take, surely there were “six plus one” lamps for us to see. The focal point of the menorah is easily assumed to be the central, supporting shaft. This central shaft and light are known in Judaism as the “Shamash”, coming from the Hebrew word which means “servant”. | 6/10/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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36 Parashat B'ha'alotkha (Part A) | In Yesha'yahu 11:1-5, we are given a vivid description of the coming Messiah. All rabbinical sources, as well as Christian scholars agree that this passage is a prophecy concerning the long-awaited Savior. The "Branch of Yishai" is a reference to his bloodline. Yishai (Jesse) was the father of Dah-vid the King. It was a well-known fact that the Messiah was to be born from Dah-vid's loins. The Torah describes him this way: "The Spirit of ADONAI will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and fearing ADONAI—he will be inspired by fearing ADONAI" (11:2). As can be observed by my emphasis, the Spirit is referred to SEVEN times, and in an orderly fashion: (1) - the Spirit of ADONAI; (2) and (3) – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding; (4) and (5) – the Spirit of counsel and power; (6) and (7) – the Spirit of knowledge and fearing ADONAI. This is not an arbitrary use of words coined by the naviy (prophet). Yesha'yahu was writing under the direct inspiration of the very Spirit that he was speaking about! The Torah frequently employs the use of "word pictures". These are phrases and words coined for the explicit purpose of calling the reader's attention to a certain Truth of the understanding of HaShem and his purposes among mankind. When the Torah uses the word "anoint" for example, the "picture" that is painted is one of a horn of oil (presumably olive) being poured out and down upon an individual. In the case of the High Priest Aharon, the Torah describes the oil as being poured upon his head as an anointing (Sh'mot 29:7). In our haftarah to B’ha’alotkha (see Z’kharyah 2:14-4:7) we will again read of this anointing property of oil and the Spirit. I can almost imagine seeing the oil as it runs down Aharon’s head, down his face, into his beard, and down his shoulders, as Moshe makes sure of the God-given instructions. The oil is a representation of the Spirit of ADONAI! The Torah is explicitly teaching us that the office of Cohen HaGadol (High Priest) cannot function properly without the supernatural anointing from the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit)! | 6/10/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Shavu'ot/Pentecost "Feast of Weeks" (Part E) | The Spirit and the Word The believer's relationship with the Ruach HaKodesh is both critical and progressive: critical, in that one learns that the Torah life is a life of faith rather than a life of works and has little reference to emotions ("The just shall live by faith."); progressive, in that, as one walks consistently in the power and control of the Ruach HaKodesh, the fruit of the Spirit will be produced in his life. A word of caution is in order. Do not seek an emotional or mystical experience. Do not depend on mystical impressions. That is not to say that when the Spirit comes upon an individual that emotions will not be involved. To be sure, most people express experiencing quite an emotional outburst connected to an encounter with the Divine. Yet, the objective Torah of God and the Fruit of the Spirit must be the basis of measuring and tracking our spiritual growth. There is an interesting parallel between Ephesians 5:18, which admonishes us to be constantly and continually directed and empowered by the Ruach HaKodesh, and Colossians 3:16, which admonishes us to "let the Word of Messiah richly dwell within you..." We know that it was the Torah, the very same teachings that we have today, that was inscribed upon the stone tablets that day. We also know that this same Torah is to be inscribed upon our hearts as we serve Yeshua (Jesus), to the glory of HaShem the Father. How do we get the Torah into our hearts? The Spirit of the Holy One makes real the fact that Yeshua the Messiah, in obedience to the Father, emptied himself on our behalf, and became as sin, that we might, consequently, become the righteousness of the Father! In other words, because the Ruach HaKodesh makes the effectual, sacrificial death of Messiah, a living reality in our hearts, we are now free to walk in newness of life! This act of faith on our part brings about the inscription of the Torah upon our hearts! To be sure, the Torah says that HaShem himself does this (Ezekiel 36:26, 27; Jeremiah 31:33)! We are free to pursue the Torah of Truth without condemnation (Romans 8:1)! This new identity in Messiah is the righteous relationship that our Heavenly Abba (Father) intended for us all along. The details surrounding that eventful Shavu'ot in Jerusalem now serve to remind us of this present reality. If you have not yet experienced this wonderful truth, that HaShem desires to have a personal relationship with you, then I urge you to accept his Messiah today! The Spirit of the Holy One will fill your life to overflowing, giving you a new and fresh purpose for living! His Spirit will write the Torah upon your heart! To be sure, he has promised to place within you a new voice and a new tongue! Such a tongue sings praises to the Father of Mercies! This very same Father is the one who sent his only and unique Son into the world to die for the sins of all men! “Chag Sah-meach Shavu’ot!” (Happy Festival of Weeks!) For further study, read: Ex. Chapter 19; Deut. 10:12-16; 30:6; Josh. 1:8; Ps. 19:7-11; 32:1, 2; Prov. 2:5, 6; Isaiah 53:5; Jer. 31:33, 34; Ezek. 36:25-27; John 1:14; Rom. 8:16; Eph. 2:4-10; Phil. 2:10, 11; Heb. 11:6. | 6/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Shavu'ot/Pentecost "Feast of Weeks" (Part D) | What then is the “work of the Spirit” taught throughout the Apostolic Scriptures? Simply the subsequent empowering of an already saved individual to do things that he normally could not do under his own power. The crucial key to unlocking the debate over “IN” vs. “ON” is knowing that the Ruach HaKodesh firstly works “IN” us to bring about regeneration and then works “ON” us to bring about empowerment to do the Will of God. I personally think we should change our language from “IN” vs. “ON” to a more accurate depiction of “IN” as well as “ON.” The Spirit saves and the Spirit empowers! Why can’t we grasp these two important biblical truths simultaneously? The “Old Testament saints” were saved exactly the same way as we in the 21st century are saved: by grace, through faith in the gift of God, namely, the Son of God and the Spirit of God within us. Controlled by Messiah To be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is to be filled with Messiah (Christ). The Ruach HaKodesh came to glorify Messiah. Therefore, if I am filled with the Spirit, I am abiding in Messiah. I am walking in the light as he is the light, and the blood of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) will cleanse and keep on cleansing me from all unrighteousness. I am controlled by Messiah because the word "filling" means to be controlled. And if I am controlled - not as a robot but as one who is led and empowered by the Spirit - the LORD Yeshua will walk around in my body, as it were, and live his resurrection life in and through me. | 6/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Shavu'ot/Pentecost "Feast of Weeks" (Part C) | Shavu’ot in the New Testament: Round Two According to the Scriptural account in the Apostolic Scriptures/B’rit Chadashah (New Covenant, a.k.a., New Testament), HaShem allowed his Spirit to be experienced by all of the believers, as well as by the other men gathered there. The result was the disciples’ ability to speak in languages not yet personally learned. To be sure, the text says that Jews from every nation under heaven heard in their respective language, the Good News! This was amazing indeed! In fact, Kefa (Peter) had to defend their state of sobriety, as they were accused of being drunk so early in the morning! Were they indeed drunk? Yes, drunk in the Spirit! Tongues of fire and the sound of a violent wind also accompanied this magnificent display of the Spirit’s power. Actually, the Hebrew word for “spirit”, “breath”, and “wind” are all the same—ruach! Some believers today refer to this record as the birth of the Church although I do not hold to such a view personally. The Ruach HaKodesh – The Power to Live a Changed Life! BAPTISM IN THE RUACH HAKODESH (HOLY SPIRIT) - We believe by perfect faith that the Holy One, Blessed be He, desires that all of his children appropriate and internalize the power and fullness of his gracious Spirit. The Baptism in the Ruach HaKodesh and fire is a gift from HaShem as promised by Yeshua the Messiah to all believers and is received subsequent to the New Birth (Matt. 3:11; John 14:16, 17; Acts 1:8; 2:38, 39). The gift of tongues is but one of the many manifestations of the Ruach HaKodesh (Acts 2:4; 19:1-7; 1 Cor. 12:1-13; ch. 14). We believe in the operation of all of the gifts of the Ruach HaKodesh as enumerated in HaShem's Word. We embrace the complete ministry of the Ruach HaKodesh (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12:1-13). | 6/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Shavu'ot/Pentecost "Feast of Weeks" (Part B) | Two Significant Scriptural Shavu’ots? Historically, the rabbis figure the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai to have occurred on this day, that is, in the third month after Am Yisra’el came out of Egypt. Actually, the exact date of this familiar encounter, recorded for us in the book of Exodus, is not explicitly stated; the chronological evidence is convincing, however. At any rate, the author of the book of Acts does testify of the precise timing of the festival of Shavu'ot, and he specifically relates this festival to the pouring out of the Ruach HaKodesh, that is, the Holy Spirit, unto the believers gathered there in Jerusalem. Matan Torah (Giving of the Torah) | 6/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Shavu'ot/Pentecost "Feast of Weeks" (Part A) | “Observe the festival of Shavu’ot with the first-gathered produce of the wheat harvest….” (Exodus 34:22) “From the day after the day of rest—that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving—you are to count seven full weeks, until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to ADONAI.” (Leviticus 23:15-16) “The festival of Shavu’ot arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one place. Suddenly there came….” (Acts 2:1, 2a) “Not Skipping a Beat…” To create a seamless transition from Pesach to Pentecost—just as the Torah intended—I have decided to pick up the discussion about the timing of the Counting of the Omer from my Omer Reisheet commentary. Witness of the Septuagint | 6/8/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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35 Parashat Naso (Part B) | I personally believe that our sages had some wise things to say about the Torah, considering the fact that they lived in an era when the knowledge of the Messiah was either suppressed or rejected. However, we who know the Blessed Name of the Messiah Yeshua, and the power of his fellowship, can add further insight to this ancient benediction. 'Y’varekh’kha ADONAI v’yishmerekha. [May ADONAI bless you and keep you.]’ Before you found the Messiah, God sought for you! He sought to bless you, by bringing you into the fellowship of his beloved Son! When the time was right, and your heart was tender, he lovingly reached out to you and saved you from the death-grip that sin had you in! Once your tender heart accepted his covenant relationship, based on trusting faithfulness to his Only, Unique Son, his covenant love for you secured a place for you in his Kingdom to come! You were his for the keeping! ‘Ya’er ADONAI panav eleikha vichunekka. [May ADONAI make his face shine on you and show you his favor.]’ The Torah teaches us the wonderful, yet mysterious truth that the “saving” Name of ADONAI is Yeshua! The Mighty Name of Yeshua is the power of Salvation from the Father himself! When Yah’s Salvation walked the earth in bodily form, we beheld his k’vod (glory), and it was full of Grace and Truth! To attempt to look at the Eternal YHVH was to invite instantaneous death! To be sure, the Torah teaches us that no man has seen God and lived! Yet, Yeshua informed us that to look upon his face is to behold the face of the Father! The gracious expression of the Father’s favor was demonstrated most fully in his Son’s bloody sacrificial death, burial and miraculous resurrection! Through the sacrifice of the Son, the Father’s face shines down upon us! ‘Yissa ADONAI panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom. [May ADONAI lift up his face toward you and give you peace.]’ The Torah says, ‘yissa ADONAI’. What is the meaning of ‘yissa’? The root word is ‘naw-sah’, which means to ‘lift, raise up, furnish, magnify, pardon.’ We gain the Hebrew word ‘nasi”, which means ‘prince, exalted one, chief’ from this same root word. But we also get a little-known, more specialized meaning from the word ‘nasi’; this Hebrew word also means ‘rising wind, vapor’. Who is the magnificent Rising Wind which uplifts the Face of ADONAI? Who is that Exalted Vapor who testifies of all that Yeshua was and is and is to come, whose filling ushers in everlasting Shalom? Who is the Power of God to stand us on our feet and put a new song in our mouths? The Ruach HaKodesh is this person! He is the lifter of our souls! His miracle-working indwelling is the Power of God to lift up our countenance and usher in the genuine shalom that only comes from knowing the Messiah Yeshua in the pardon of our sins! | 5/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
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35 Parashat Naso (Part A) | The Sotah (the wife of suspect) Chapter 5 spells out certain regulations concerning relationships between men and women, specifically between husband and wife. Interesting to note is the phenomenon of the “spirit of jealousy” that may come over the man (v. 14) in the event that his wife is unfaithful without his direct knowledge. What is this mysterious “jealousy” that the Torah mentions? I believe that it testifies of the unique and mysterious “echad” (one-ness, unity) that even Rabbi Sha’ul spoke of in the Renewed Covenant. When HaShem joins husband and wife, they share the same “basar”, that is “flesh”. I believe that the Holy One, Blessed be He, preserves the holy union of two individuals made one, by giving them divine insight in matters of fidelity. That the union of husband and wife is of great sanction is evidenced from a general examination of the Talmud. What the Torah had to say about marriage and faithfulness left an indelible mark in the minds of the sages. The idea of matrimony, which is inculcated by the Talmud, is of the highest. The ordinary term for marriage is “kiddushin” (a whole tractate of the Talmud), and denotes ‘sanctification’. It is so called because ‘the husband prohibits his wife to the whole world like an object which is dedicated to the Sanctuary’ (Kid. 2b). It implies the strictest chastity in both parties, hence the instructions in our current parashah. ‘Immorality in the house is like a worm on vegetables’ (Sot. 3b), and it holds good of the husband as well as the wife. ‘He among the full-grown pumpkins and she among the young ones’ (Ibid. 10a) ran a proverb, which indicates that infidelity on the husband’s part conduces to unfaithfulness in the wife. What is the “jealousy” that comes over the partner of the unfaithful one? The Talmud goes on further to quote a clever saying: “’When husband and wife are worthy (faithful to each other), the Sh’khinah (manifest Glory of God) is with them; when they are not worthy (unfaithful) fire (i.e., jealousy) consumes them’ (Sot. 17a). We humans stand to learn a great deal about marital fidelity from the one who wrote the book on the topic: God himself. What sort of lessons do you suppose we could ascertain from the Torah’s dealings on idolatry and the jealousy that it drives our Husband to? Our Jealous Husband As I've stated in another parashah, idolatry is one of the most insulting sins against our God! Why? When we replace God with a lesser interest, we are not only turning our attention towards something other than our LORD, we are actually focusing our love and affection—things which were created to belong to HaShem alone—towards something which has no authority to even be identified as God! In essence, we transfer the glory due to HaShem, to another, less qualified object! It doesn’t have to have the name "Ba'al" to be a false god. Anything other than HaShem himself is an idol! No wonder our God is a "jealous" God! | 5/30/11 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 141 Episodes |
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Re. Weekly Parashah released on 11/02/2009
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