Shabbat Bible Study for 25 March 2023
©2023 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries
Year 2 – Shabbat 2
Ex. 11:1-12:28 – Jer. 46:13-28, Mic. 7:15 – Psalm 48 – John 3:13-25
Links:
The Threshold Covenant – Rico Cortes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_fB4CV3E1Y
Ex.11.1-10 – The Heart hardening score is Yah 6, Paroh 3, haSatan 2. On the 14th day of the 1st month Yah told Moshe to tell b’nei Israel to go out and ask for all the silver and gold the Egyptians were willing to give them, and then he moved the Egyptians to release all they had that the Israelites could carry. “Borrow” is really not the right word. They were told to ask for gold and silver. The Hebrew word is שאל sha’al and it means to inquire, or make a request with an implication of consequences for non-compliance. After what Egypt had been put through, the implication would be self-imposed; they didn’t want any more judgments from Yah. I don’t think Yah would have his people ‘borrow’ with no thought of repayment and that the implication of it by the use of ‘borrow’ is just more evidence of the anti-Semitic prejudice of the KJV translators. I’m pretty sure that by now, the Egyptians were so full of the plagues Yah brought on them due to Paroh’s hard heart (and head) that they would grant anything the Israelites asked and maybe even offered more than they asked; like, “Are you sure you can’t carry these gold candelabra? How about this lovely silver tea set? I have some zircon-encrusted tweezers! … ” They were to the point that they would give ANYTHING to be rid of Israel and her Yah. The Egyptians and even Paroh’s servants thought Moshe was an Elohim even greater than Paroh (and Aharon was his prophet ch.7 v.1), so when Israel went out asking for precious metals, those people may have thought they were making an atoning offering to Moshe.
Moshe told Paroh that Yah was going to go through Egypt killing the b’chorim, firstborn, of Egypt, man and beast, but that Israel would not be harmed in any way. And then he turned and left Paroh’s presence, again without asking leave or being granted it. The Spirit of Yah had to be in Moshe in a BIG way for him to have the cogliones to do that. Of course, he’d just pronounced 10 plagues over Egypt in about as many days and seen them all come to pass, so he had plenty of evidence that it was indeed Yah who was directing him – as did Paroh. You’d think that Paroh would have gotten it, by now, but power has a way of blinding the powerful from seeing reality. Paroh was holding tenaciously to his belief that HE was the measure of all things on earth, and up until 2-2½ weeks ago, he pretty much was. But he surely miscalculated with Yah and Moshe. He thought that his position would inspire awe in Moshe and Aharon, but Moshe knew in whom the REAL power lay, and no mere man was going to intimidate him. That was the last word between Moshe and Paroh, and the last time either saw the other with physical eyes, though I presume that over the next week Paroh saw a lot of Moshe – in his nightmares. Q&C
12.1-2 – Until now, the year began at creation’s beginning, what has now become the 7th month. But Yah decided to set apart his people in yet another way – by when they started their year. The Schottenstein Chumash has some interesting things to say about Rosh Chodesh in the prefatory comments to the chapter on pp.68-69. This is lengthy, so bear with me.
In the 1st 28 verses of the chapter … Torah presents the commandments in whose merit the nation became worthy of their liberation from Egypt. These include the sanctification of the New Moon, the pesach offering, the Seder as it was observed in Egypt and the general laws of the Pesach festival.
Rosh Chodesh/New Moon is the 1st commandment given to the nation as a whole, an indication that Rosh Chodesh/New Moon is very meaningful … during the period of Syrian/Greek persecution, that culminated in the miracle of Chanukah, Rosh Chodesh was 1 of only 3 commandments whose observance the persecutors prohibited [the others being Shabbat and circumcision]. That Rosh Chodesh was on a plane with THOSE central observances is sufficient indication if it’s great significance…
Only the Court can proclaim Rosh Chodesh, based on the testimony of witnesses who observed the re-appearance of the Moon, and upon this proclamation, the Jewish calendar is based. Unless the new month can be proclaimed, there is no calendar, and without a calendar there can be no festivals. If the Syrians/Greeks had succeeded in eradicating the observance of Rosh Chodesh, they would have succeeded in eliminating large numbers of other Mitzvot as well.
On a deeper level, Rosh Chodesh symbolizes renewal, the ability for Yisrael to rise up from oblivion and restore itself to its past greatness. Just as the moon disappears at the end of each month, but returns and grows to fullness, so Israel can suffer exile and decline, but it always renews itself – until the coming of Mashiyach, when the promises of the Exodus and the Revelation at Sinai will be fulfilled, never to be dimmed again …
(even so, come quickly Master Yeshua)!
The Jewish Calendar
The Jewish calendar is based on the moon, but regulated by the sun. The timespan between one new moon and the next is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 3⅓ seconds. Since a calendar must be composed of complete days, the months of the Jewish calendar alternate between 29 and 30 days, so that a 12 month year contains 354 days. Since this is 11 days less than a Solar year, the Solar date of Rosh Chodesh Nissan would be 11 days earlier each year, so that, for example, if it were on March 25th one year, it would be on March 14th the next. If this calendrical pattern were to continue for many years, Nissan would fall in the winter – but Torah requires that Nissan be חדש האויו, the month of springtime (generally between late March and late April [Dt.16.1]). To resolve this difficulty, the Jewish calendar includes the institution that is familiarly known as the “Jewish leap year”; adding a 13th month in 7 years of every 19 years, with the result that Nissan always remains in its proper season.
Torah provides that Rosh Chodesh can be proclaimed only by the Rabbinic Court on the basis of 2 witnesses who testify that they observed the re-appearance of the moon. The members of such a court must have a semichah, or ordination that was conferred by teachers on the students, generation after generation, from the time of Moshe.
After the destruction of the 2nd Temple, the level of scholarship needed to qualify for this ordination to gradually ceased to exist, due to persecutions and dispersions … In the year 4119 (358-9 CE) the court of Hillel II promulgated a calendar for all succeeding centuries, based on the calculations that had historically been used to corroborate the testimony of witnesses to the New Moon…
By numbering all the months from Nissan – the 2nd month, the 3rd, and so on – we are always recalling the month of the Exodus… The word חדש chodesh should be understood, not by month, but by renewal.
Q&C
Vv.3-20 – This instruction HAD to have been given at least 4 days, possibly a week, earlier in order for Israel to be able to comply with it all, because it is HERE that they are told to bring a perfect lamb into their homes for 4 days. Let me quote my study from 2 weeks ago to make the point of the passage as far as v.20:
Just using what information we have in scripture, I think we need to accept that the time was when the barley was ready to harvest and the wheat was still green grass, because the plague of hail and fire destroyed the flax and barley grain and straw and not the wheat or rye grasses (9.31-32). Therefore, I think that the new moon that falls when the barley is ready for at least parching (in the ear) is what Yah was talking about. This new moon could be before the equinox or after. What SEEMS to happen every year (with very few exceptions) is that the first day of unleavened bread falls out on the full moon following the vernal equinox. What MUST happen are 2 things; 1) The 1st day of unleavened bread falls out on the full moon of the 1st month – the 15th day of the lunar month is ALWAYS a full moon, and 2) The barley MUST be harvestable for the day following the next weekly shabbat so that there can be a sheaf of ripe barley waved before Yah as a firstfruits thanksgiving offering. So the sun must have been warm enough to ripen the barley and flax in the southeastern Mediterranean area and the moon must be full for the Feast of unleavened bread to begin. And the evening offering before that full moon is the Passover offering. Without BOTH of those conditions the new biblical year cannot begin. So the sun and moon together witness to the beginning of the biblical year and the cycle of the Feasts of Yah; exactly what their purpose was in the Creation
And Elohim said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: (Gen.1.14).
Israel went out to look over their flocks to see which of the family’s yearling lambs was the best to offer to Yah. They were to separate this lamb from the flock and not allow it to go into the fields with the other sheep. They were to watch it and care for it for 4 days. Then they were to kill it and drain its blood into a basin, which MAY have been a depression in the threshold of the entry door. They were to use a branch of hyssop (v.22) to apply the blood of their lamb to the lintel and doorposts of their homes. Then they were to roast the lamb whole. It was not to be eaten raw, boiled or fried, but roasted. After the blood was applied to the doorposts and lintel, they were not to leave the house until Elohim was finished killing all the firstborn of the Egyptians. ****Yah, the aspect of ‘goodness/mercy’ of the Almighty, stood in the doorway that had blood on it to prevent Elohim, the aspect of the ‘severity/judgment’ of the Almighty, from entering to kill the firstborn of Yisrael.**** After all the plagues Yah had sent on Egypt, LOTS (perhaps all?) of Egyptians knew who the only true Elohim was, and MANY of them followed Moshe’s instructions as well. When they painted their doors with lamb’s blood, they marked themselves out as Yisraelites and renounced their membership in the Egyptian club. And Yah honored their decision to identify with him. What remained of the lamb was to be burnt by the time of the morning offering.
Vv.11-28 – Next Yah gave instruction on HOW they were supposed to eat the lamb, bitter herbs and unleavened bread. They were to eat the lamb ready for fight or flight; loins girt, shoes on, staff in hand. They would, therefore, necessarily have had to eat one handed. There is no provision to sit or recline to eat, so I assume they ate on their feet and probably with go-bags packed, strapped firmly on their backs and ready to move out. They were supposed to make sure they didn’t cook too much lamb and to eat it quickly, so they wouldn’t need to take the time to burn it. Is this how WE are supposed to remember the Passover? It is not required for us, for in Yeshua’s day, they were keeping a much more traditional Passover:
16 And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. 17 And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. 18 And as they sat and did eat, Yeshua said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. (Mk.14)
14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of Elohim. (Lk.22)
We should probably do as Yeshua did, for even the Passover Yeshua kept with his talmidim was a commemoration of what had happened about 1500 years before. Q&C
Who would go through the land of Egypt? Yah, not a man. Who would smite the Egyptians? Yah, not a messenger. Who would kill the firstborn of every critter in Egypt? Yah, not an angel. Yah was going to go through the land and kill the firstborn in every house on which the blood was NOT found on the lintel and doorposts. The father of the house took a sprig of hyssop in his hand (the meaning of the letter yud) and after dipping it in the blood from the basin he would paint the lintel and doorposts (which painting would leave the letter chet on the door frame) with the blood. The significance is the word spelled with those 2 letters, chet yud חי = chai, or life. So Yah would not bring death to the house marked twice by life, 1) The Word that means life painted in 2) the substance that is the life of the body, the dom or blood.
We are commanded to keep this feast in remembrance throughout our generations – all our descendants are to celebrate chag haMatzah for 7 days, following the Passover. The 1st day and the 7th are each a Kodesh Miqra, a set-apart gathering of believers. There are 3 such gatherings every year, Passover/Unleavened Bread, Shavuoth/Pentecost and Feast of Tabernacles/Sukkoth. It is these days, along with the weekly sabbaths on which we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb.10.25, Lev.23.3, 7, 8, 21, 24, 27, 35, 36), at least 52 weekly sabbaths + 7 special yearly sabbaths which can fall on any day of the week. Beginning not later than sundown ending the 14th day of the 1st month we are to eat matzot until sundown ending the 21st day of the 1st month – 7 full days. Why? For the same reason that there is a Red Heifer for the water of purification – because Yah commands it. It is not ours to question why. It is our part to obey. For those same 7 days we are to not have leaven in our homes. Why? Same reason, ultimately. Yah wills it. It is this kind of obedience that leads us to garner wisdom from Torah. When we choose to obey Yah, he rewards us in the best manner possible, the way that is designed to bring us closest to him in the shortest possible time.
The evening of 20 March 2020 was a ‘micro’-new moon, the moon at it’s orbit’s apogee, when it is furthest from the earth. This would be the ‘dark’ of the moon, which means the sliver of a new moon should be the next evening, the 25th which, I think, signifies the beginning of 1st day of Nissan/Aviv. Therefore, Erev Pesach would fall out at sunset 8 April. The Pesach offering would be around the 9th hour of the day on the 9th of April, and then; standing up, loins girt and packs on our backs just after sunset, we would begin partaking of the lamb, Matzoh and bitter herbs. If this were the year of the Exodus, we would not be doing this Paltalk Bible Study, but would be heading to Sukkoth to get Yoseph’s bones and to begin our trek across the Sinai to our 1 camp at Eitam, which would be late in the day the next Monday, the 13th of April. There will be 2 nights in April with ‘full moons’, the 7th and 8th. This doesn’t happen VERY often, but is not uncommon – once or maybe twice a year that the moon is 100% illuminated/dark 2 days in a row.
Vv.21-28 – This is where the narrative resumes. Up to now, the chapter has been instructions on what and how to observe the Pesach in Egypt that were likely given on rosh chodesh. Now Moshe goes and tells the elders to make it happen: 1). Slaughter the lambs, 2) gather the blood in basins [probably in the thresholds of the home’s entry door], 3) Use bunches of hyssop to brush the blood on the lintels and doorposts, 4) gather your families in your homes and stay there, either until morning or until you are told to GO! They were not to leave their homes because Yah was going to come though the nation of Egypt and kill the bachor of every family, man and beast, on whose entry door was not painted a chet in lambs blood. If an Israelite was outside the house, he was, in effect, forfeiting the protection of the blood on the doorposts and Yah’s protection from Elohim. This is an obvious type of being under the protection of Mashiyach’s blood by being ‘in Mashiyach’. V.24 is the command to observe the Passover forever in all our generations. And there are commandments for some of the things we do in our traditional seder, like the children’s question that we are to answer, “What do these things that we do mean”? The main reason is that Yah had already determined to judge Egypt in their firstborn and it was only by his mercy and grace that they could offer the Passover and apply the blood for their protection, for they were every bit as worthy of the condemnation as was Egypt. V.27 shows us that they understood this, for they bowed their heads in gratitude and worshipped him. And then, they did exactly as they were told. We will play some of Rico’s teaching on the Threshold Covenant today. VERY enlightening. Q&C www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_fB4CV3E1Y 52min
YirmeYahu 46:13-28 – Yah starts this revelation to YirmeYahu by telling him the general application – Egypt is about to be invaded by Babylon and overrun. Why would YirmeYahu care if Egypt were about to be overrun by the Babylonian hordes? Because the wicked political leaders of the Jewish religion had taken him away so he wouldn’t tell Nevuchadnetzar where they’d gone. Here’s some historical background.
The priests thought Jerry was a traitor. They thought he was in contact with Babylonian spies and gave them inside information about the placement of Yehudi forces so Neb could rout them with ease, because the accuracy of his prophecies was such that he HAD to know what was going to happen. HELLO-O! PROPHET!? They obviously didn’t believe that Yah would work with a man who so obviously (from their perspective) loved Babylon. And since he had inside knowledge of the Babylonian plans they of course acted to save their own skins and ran to Egypt, which had ALWAYS been Yehudah’s friend, right? I guess they forgot Yerovoam, 1st king of 10-Israel, and had never met Charles DeGaulle. The myth that YirmeYahu was a traitor is perpetuated to this day. I found this online at a Messianic website, The Biblical Research Institute, from an article, “Did the prophet Jeremiah go to Ireland?” http://www.biblicalresearchinstitute.com/lectures/lec16.htm:
For more than thirty years Jeremiah, a Babylonian-sympathizer(?), had admonished the people of Jerusalem, “Do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood” (Jer 22.3). Daily Jeremiah strode the streets of the nation’s capitol warning its population: “I cannot hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried!” (Jer 4.19-20). For the entirety of his life the prophet remained true to his Babylonian orientation.(?) A hundred years before, Isaiah had consoled Jerusalem with promises of Elohim’s intervention when the powerful Sennacherib had threatened the city but to the disbelief of Zedekiah, the seer Jeremiah cried treason in the streets, “Woe unto us! For the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out!” (Jer 6.4).
So, because YirmeYahu gave warning from Yah about the impending judgment of Yehudah, he was a Babylonian sympathizer?! HELLO-O!? Ever read Lamentations? Jerry was taken into Egypt (ch.43) after having warned Yehudah (ch.42) to stay put and live. If he were a Babylonian sympathizer, he’d have stayed to get his reward! Jer.43:
4 So Yochanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of Yah, to dwell in the land of Judah. 5 But Yochanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah; 6 Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of Yah: thus came they even to Tahpanhes. [YirmeYahu 43.4-7]
Yah told YirmeYahu (in Egypt) that Nevuchadnetzar would take Tyre and Sidon, but the cost of the campaign would be so high as to be unprofitable, and in those days, kings were in the business of conquest – it was how they made their livings – by looting the defeated.
Eze.26.7 For thus saith Adon Yah; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
Eze.29.18 Son of man, Nevuchadretzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it: 19 Therefore thus saith Adon Yah; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith Adon Yah. 21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am Yah. [Yechezkel 29.18-21]
Yah gave Egypt to Nevuchadnetzar as a consolation prize for being his instrument of Tyre’s destruction and he told YirmeYahu in advance, which had to drive Jerry’s captors absolutely crazy, because they had been watching him like hawks, and KNEW he hadn’t had contact with Babylonian spies – unless there was one in their midst. HELLO-O! Ruach haKodesh?! PROPHET!? And some of these were priests, the ones Ezekiel had seen with their backs to the Holy Place worshipping the sun as it rose on the 1st day of the week following the first full moon of spring – Easter Sunday. They must have waited to finish this Tophet ceremony before going out to the Mount of Olives to cut the barley sheaves for the Bikkurim wave offering. So WHO were the traitors? [end background] Q&C
In v.14, Yah told the Yehudim to stand fast and they would be protected, as he had when they were in Yehudah. But they thought that YirmeYahu was a traitor, so they didn’t believe his admonitions. And this is where the legends of YirmeYahu ending up in Ireland come from – why would these wicked men STOP disobeying Yah at this point? It makes intuitive sense that they fled Babylonian conquest again. That doesn’t make the Ireland/Jeremiah connection true. It just makes sense that they ran somewhere, given these people’s history. So why NOT Ireland? The daughter in v.19 is likely runaway Yehudah, but is possibly the daughter of Zedekiah, who was also taken by the same men. In v.20, Egypt is likened to a heifer. A red RED heifer?, or just a prize of known value to be exploited? By the time Nevuchadnetzar is done with Egypt, there won’t be a thing of value left – economic destruction. Destruction is not the only thing that comes out of the north.
For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. (Psalms 75:6)
What other direction is there for promotion to come from? The north. I think Mashiyach will come from the north, whether celestial, terrestrial or both – and he will bring both promotion and destruction with him. Kinda like he did with the destruction of the firstborn of Egypt, but the promotion of Yisrael to be his bride. These Yehudi traitors to Yah were at the same kind of crossroad. They could obey and stand still under Yah’s protection, or they could keep going their own way and be destroyed – calamity or deliverance (which is what it means ‘to visit’). Her hired men in v.21 are the wicked priests, and it is their voice in v.22 that goes forth like a serpent’s. Shades of Gen.3. The ‘they’ of v.22 is the Babylonian hordes that destroy Egypt as they pass through, as grasshoppers, devouring as they go. Egypt is once again done for.
Notice that v.25 says that Yah is going to bring judgment against Paroh, the pagan priests and prostitutes of No, the capital of Upper Egypt, and seat of Egyptian fertility cults dedicated to the false elohim Amen, and all who trust them. That presumably refers to the priests of Yehudah in this group. Egypt has been judged with the Moslem Bro’hood hordes. Their destruction is at the hands of Iran’s Shi’a Moslem financed Bro’hood. And it’s Yah’s pieces being placed for the end game that will ensue shortly. After Yah allows Egypt’s destruction, he will bring her back, as we discussed in last week’s haftarah. YirmeYahu then gives Yehudah its own consolation prize, if they’ll accept it. Vv.27-28 speak of Yehudah’s future redemption out of the lands into which Yah exiled them, to be brought back into their inheritance, and 10-Yisrael with them. Their comfort is limited until their chastisement and repentance is complete.
Micah 7:14-15 – The forest fires that the Amalekites set a few years ago in Israel’s Carmel region may have been a Satanic attempt to stop this particular prophecy from seeing fruition any time soon. But Yah can do amazing things, when he wants to. The use of the word ‘days’ here is interesting. Yisrael came out of Egypt in 1 day, not several, and will do so again. So ‘days’ must tie together the day of battle in Egypt 2500 years ago and the day of battle that is in the near future, when Mashiyach comes to overthrow the nations of the world and to reign from his throne in Urishlim. Q&C
T’hellim 48 – Mount Zion is ‘beautiful for situation. ‘Situation’ is translated from H5131, נוף, noph. Its root is H5130 נוף nuph. Nuph means shake, wave or bend. Noph means ‘high’ or ‘height’, but the idea is the heights of a tree, waving in the wind, as if it is raising its hands in praise. So David is saying that Mt. Zion/Yerushalayim is praising Yah. ‘On the sides of the north’ is used in another place, as well – Is.14.13:
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of Elohim: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Sounds like the same place as Ps.48, doesn’t it? Where the spiritual worship of Yah occurs. HaSatan covets Yah’s worship. In this psalm, we see haSatan’s forces coming against Yah in his place, the ‘sides of the north’ and they tremble in fear. Elohim is the refuge of all who call on him. All the kings of the earth will come up against him in the last battle of this age (sounds almost Tolkienian, doesn’t it? There IS a reason for that.). I think the reason they will marvel is that their familiar spirits will see the spiritual defenses and tremble at them, affecting their human hosts who will want to turn tail and run. Remember the orcs in The Return of the King movie? The fear was very evident when they saw Gandalf’s light driving away their covering darkness, and they’d have run had it not been for the Nazgul king flying overhead, driving them forward. I think it will be similar at Armageddon. The further I get into this psalm, the more I’m reminded of that movie – not the actual events of it, but the underlying likenesses to the prophetic scriptures. In v.7 Yah breaks the ships of Tarshish, like Aragorn, his companions and the dishonored dead do the Southron ships. As it was prophesied, so it will be in the city of the Great King (v.2), the city of Yah Tzavaoth, the city of Elohenu, who will establish it l’olam va’ed. The Great King = Elohenu = Yah Tzavaoth. There is no separating them, and the rabbis have told us that the Great King is Mashiyach Tzidkenu. Elohim’s grace and mercy are seen in the midst of his Temple and according to his Name his strength is righteousness. We are going to have to give account of the graciousness of Yah’s righteousness to the new generation (creation) that follows this generation because there will be no sin or need for his grace in the generation to come – the olam haba, for Yah will have subdued sin from human nature
He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19) Q&C
Yochanan 3.13-25 – V.13 is the largest prophecy of Mashiyach in Torah. It says that Yah Elohenu’s Spirit is personally present both in him and in heaven at the same time. This is a hard concept for a man to grasp. Nic had a hard time getting his mind around it. The verse also gives us knowledge that we have an advocate who has come from the heavens to show us how to live in Torah and to write it on our hearts so that we don’t need to send someone to get it for us. It’s right here within us, indwelling us as it did Yeshua. Deut.30;
11 For this commandment, which I command thee, this day, not hidden from thee, neither far off. 12 Not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 13 Neither beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 14 But the word very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
Yeshua follows up immediately with the smallest prophecy of Mashiyach in Torah. Moshe made a brazen serpent and set it on a stick for people to look at with trust in Yah’s promise (not that the serpent could do anything about healing them). They had to trust Yah as much as Moshe did in Ex.4 when he was told to pick up a cobra by its tail and thereby turning it into a rod. It was the trust that Yah was looking for, not the physical act. When we trust him, Yah gives us HIS life, which is eternal right here in our time, space & matter existence. From His perspective it is eternal – from ours everlasting.
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. [Yochanan 17.24]
Yeshua wishes us to be with Him WHERE HE IS. The flesh of Yeshua had a beginning in time/space, but He was conscious of His existence in eternity. We see the beginning of our spiritual life: but He has chosen and called us to it from before b’reishith
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (Eph.1.4).
In Greek, the words xlated ‘eternal’ and ‘everlasting’ are the same – aionion. Mensa-mensa, same-same. Yeshua was not sent to bring condemnation to us, but deliverance if we trust in him and not our own merit. Those who don’t trust Yah are spiritually dead already, but those who trust him and Yeshua in whom he manifested himself, will not see any condemnation.
Condemnation manifests itself in the unbeliever in his life and lifestyle. If he walks in darkness, he cannot see the light of the world. He prefers darkness, because then he thinks his sin won’t be discerned, but be covered by the darkness in which he walks. But anyone who walks in the Light of the World, Yah Yeshua, will immediately see the unbeliever’s state, because his darkness will be manifest to him in that the unbeliever eschews the Word of Yah. The reason that we, who come TO the Light, are ostracized by our family and friends is that the Light that is in us shines on their darkness and we make them uncomfortable. They know the truth, but refuse to acknowledge it. And when they see us walk in truth and realize that it IS possible to do what Yah instructs, it condemns them in their own hearts and minds – and noone likes to be condemned, especially in his own heart. They think it’s US condemning them, when it is actually their own hearts. All we have to do is obey Yah, and when they see us walking in Truth, their own hearts will condemn them. And THAT we are walking in Torah will be evident in the obvious difference between our own walk and theirs. We, in the meantime, revel in the light because it brings much esteem to Yah when the world sees the difference in our walks. Our good works, our Torah observance, are wrought in Yah, for we are actually incapable of walking in His instructions without the Ruach haKodesh living it out through us.
Vv.22-24 tell us that Yeshua and his talmidim went to immerse themselves, perhaps to Ain Yon (Spring of Doves in Aramaic – interesting in light of the next verses and 1.32, Mat.3.16, Mk.1.10 and Lk.3.22, all of which show the dove descending on Yeshua as he comes out of the water of immersion) where Yochanan was immersing with his talmidim. Perhaps when the Ruach descended on Yeshua, which likely noone saw in the physical, it resembled a dove landing.
“Blessed are You, Yah Elohenu, King of the Universe,
Rock of Ages, righteous throughout all generations.
You are the faithful Elohim, promising and then performing, speaking and then fulfilling,
for all Your words are true and righteous.
Faithful are You, Yah Elohenu, and faithful are Your words,
for no word of Yours shall remain unfulfilled;
You are a faithful and merciful Elohim and King.
Blessed are You, Yah Elohenu, Who are faithful in fulfilling all Your words.” Q&C
End of Shabbat Bible Study
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