SHABBAT BIBLE STUDY FOR 3 April, 2025 · by fulfillingtorahministries · in Uncategorized · Leave a comment

Shabbat Bible Study for April 3, 2025

©2025 Mark Pitrone & Fulfilling Torah Ministries

Year 1 Sabbath 23

Genesis 25:1-26:11 – Isaiah 65:23-66:8 – (No Psalm) – Hebrews 12:14-29

Links:

The sacred tree of the sephiroth – nemfrog.tumbler.org.png

http://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/

Gen.25.1-6 – Avraham married Keturah in his latter years and had more sons, including Midian, the progenitor of Yithro, Zipporah’s father. It is obvious that Sarah was the one who couldn’t naturally have children and on whom the miracle was performed, because Avi sure didn’t have any trouble producing kids by Keturah in his old age. Avraham sent all his children away eastward from the land and gave all his inheritance to Yitzhak. IOW, all the land the Arabs live on west or south of the Euphrates they are squatting on (Iran is NOT squatting, but Iraq IS). They are descendants of Avraham through Hagar, Keturah and others, but they are not his seed. By the way, the rabbi’s commentary in Chumash says that Keturah was actually Hagar. His seed is counted physically only through Yitzhak, Ya’acov and the 12 tribes and spiritually only through Mashiyach 

16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Mashiyach … 29 And if ye be Mashiyach’s, then are ye Avraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. [Gal.3.16, 29]. 

Now. Avraham gave gifts to all his children, but the inheritance he gave to only one. Avinu does the same. He gives gifts to all his physical children, the sons of Adam; but he gives inheritance only through his spiritual seed, Mashiyach.

Vv.7-11 – Avraham lived to the ripe old age of 175 years. Here’s an interesting thing – Avi married again after the death of Sarah, but he was buried with Sarah, not Keturah [Hagar?] or any of his concubines, thus showing whom HE considered to be his wife – the wife of his youth, Sarah. Remember that. That is our template, our example of godliness and righteousness in marriage. We ought not marry just to satisfy the lust of our eyes. We ought to wait on Yah to provide us with the wife of our youth and be sure of what we’re doing before we marry. When I see the expression ‘wife of one’s youth’ I think ‘soul mate’. I am blessed that Yah protected me until he gave me the wife of my youth. Had he left me to the lust of my eyes, my life would have been entirely different.  

Looks like Yitzhak and Ishmael agreed to bury Avi with Sarah, and I expect it was a command of Avi to them long before the day came. I don’t think Ish and Yitz saw much eye to eye, so I assume that Avi gave them this instruction. Sarah was his ‘soul mate’, and he would not be buried anywhere else. Of course, as soon as the Moslemist horde got control of Hevron, they went to Machpelah and desecrated their father Abraham’s grave because the wife of his youth was buried there with him. Had he chosen to be buried with Hagar/Keturah, those barbarians would have left “Ibrahim’s” grave untouched. 

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O Elohim: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. 20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. 21 Do not I hate them, Yah, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. 23 Search me, O Elohim, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Ps.139.19-24)

That word xlated ‘perfect’ is Str.

8503 תכלת takliyth tak-leeth’ from 3615; completion; by implication, an extremity:–end, perfect (-ion). see HEBREW for 03615

3615 כלא kalah kaw-law’ a primitive root; to strive to attain, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitive (to complete, prepare, consume)

So the hatred David had for those who hate Yah is a complete, consuming hatred. And the word xlated ‘hatred’ is Str.

8130 שנא sane’ saw-nay’ a primitive root; to hate (personally):–enemy, foe, (be) hate (-ful, -r), odious, X utterly.

How many of us have this much passion for the truth of Yah, that we hate his enemies with a consuming, gut-burning odium?  It’s what ought to burn in us over the odious Moslemists who would have such a hatred for Yah’s called out people that they will desecrate their own father’s grave to destroy his wife’s grave. Q&C

Vv.12-18 – The sons of Ishmael lived in the land south of and east of Yisrael’s land grant. Notice that he is Avraham’s son by Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid, but Yitzhak’s mother, Sarah, is not mentioned. The miraculous circumstances surrounding Yitzhak’s birth are so well known as to obviate who his mother is. Why else would the Moslemists need to desecrate her grave so badly as to desecrate Ibrahim’s grave to get to her? Human hatred is so defiling as to tear one apart from within to the point where he’ll say, “I’ll desecrate my most revered father’s grave in order to get that woman’s bones and scatter them to the winds.” Blind hatred becomes blind rage.  

I haven’t done it, but I think a study in the names of Ishmael’s children would be interesting and informative as to their character and prophetic significance to Yisrael.

Vv.19-34 – Chumash has an interesting sentence in the prefatory comments to this sidrah on pg.135,

Yitzhak and Rivkah produced 2 sons; one the personification of righteousness and the other the personification of wickedness, and it was the lot of the parents to make the distinction so that the nation of Israel would be pure.

I think that’s true, and it would be well for us to remember this when we look at Ya’acov’s purchase of the birthright later, and his garnering of the blessing in a couple of weeks. I think I’ll give a short preview of what I think about that today, just to get y’all thinking.

When scripture says ‘generations’ it doesn’t necessarily speak of a period of time. When we try to define a generation, we usually think of it as a number of years, like 20 or 40 or even 70 or 120. But scripture doesn’t usually mean that. The ‘generations of Yitzhak’ are all the things he did and the children he had, like the generations of Noach (6.9). In Gen.6 we see the definition of generations. Not only does it say, “These are the generations of Noach”, but it goes on in v.7 to tell you that he was “perfect in his generations”, which I take to mean that his DNA was unscathed by the sinful condition of the world we see in vv.1-7. Basically, it’s the actions and events that Yitzhak [and Noach] generated that are his generations.

Notice that the first thing reported about Yitzhak’s life is that he took Rivkah to wife, and that he prayed for her barren condition to be remedied. How long did Yitzhak entreat Yah for his wife? I’d say from the minute he had an idea that she was unable to conceive children. It could have been from the first, or it may have been some months or years after their marriage. It could well have been 19.25 years. He would not need to entreat for her barren condition once she conceived, but He probably changed his entreaty to one of protection for Rivkah and her children. She must have felt the movement of the twins within her womb and wondered what was going on, for she asked Yah about it.

Chumash has an interesting note on vv.22-23, pg.136, right column. Yah told her [not any unnamed prophet] about the twins within her, the general character of each kid and how their lives would go. When they were born, the first one out was red and hairy, so they called him Esav, which means ‘rough, sensibly felt’; you knew when this kid was around. His name is derivative of the root asah עשה, to make or create. Esav was a doer because he could. Those who can do; those who can’t teach. 

Ya’acov was more a teacher. Ya’acov was a thinker more than a doer, and that may be why their parents treated them differently. IMO, Yitzhak saw Esav as ‘a man’s man’, and Ya’acov as a ‘girly-man’. Rivkah saw Ya’acov’s intelligence and ability to see through a problem and the path to its solution, while she saw Esav as more a brute or a bull in a china shop, just forcing his way through trouble and prevailing by brute strength. Both methods work, but the latter is a lot messier than the former. Where the KJV says Ya’acov was a ‘plain’ man, the word translated as ‘plain’ is the H8535 tam, from the root tamam תמם, ‘to cease or require nothing more’. Here is what Strong’s has as a definition of tam,

8535 tam tawm from 8552; complete; usually (morally) pious; specifically, gentle, dear:–coupled together, perfect, plain, undefiled, upright. see HEBREW for 08552

Why would the only definition NOT speaking of his character be applied to Ya’acov in KJV? This is the only use in the books of Moshe where the word ‘plain’ is used as an adjective to describe anything. Every other definition of the word tam has to do with completeness. And every other use of the word ‘plain’ [74 uses in 71 verses] in KJV describes an open, level area, and it is from entirely different Hebrew words and roots. I’m afraid the Chumash has a better translation; more consistent, anyway, when it says ‘wholesome’, though that is as much opinion as anything, though it still conveys the idea of completeness or ‘piousity’. 

One day, Esav came in from a hunt in the fields and saw Ya’acov cooking a pot of stew [presumably from red lentils], dropped into a Lazy Boy recliner [or whatever they had for ‘easy chairs’ in Canaan at the time], said [in a Mark paraphrase], “Man, I am BUSHED! I feel like I could just die”, and asked for a bowl of ‘that red red’ (adom adom). Jake said Esav could have a bowl of soup if he’d give Jake his birthright. Ol’ Red (Edom) thought about that and said, “What good is a birthright to a dead man? SOLD! American!” After he ate the bowl of soup, he walked away and thought nothing of it, which is EXACTLY what ‘despise’ means. Despise is translated from the Hebroot 959, bazah בזה, ‘to scorn’. It does not mean ‘hate’ as most think it does today, but ‘to consider useless, worthless or contemptible.’ So Esav considered his bachor rights as useless or worthless to him and Ya’acov received the birthright, as I think Rivkah and Yitzhak intended. Esav was neither defrauded nor taken advantage of and entered into a contract, eyes wide open. He won’t WANT to see it that way later, but that is how it is. Q&C

Gen.26.1-11 – Chumash’s prefatory comment on pg.139 is instructive. 

Ramban comments that in line with the famous principle that the experience of the patriarchs foreshadowed the future of their descendants, Yitzhak’s sojourn in Philistine foreshadowed the Babylonian exile, just as Avraham’s descent into Egypt portended the Egyptian exile. In Babylonia, the Jews were treated  relatively well and even rose to prominence, just as Yitzhak, though imperiled, was not was not mistreated and was even honored by AviMelech. At the same time, in another episode that seems familiar in Jewish history, when Yitzhak became successful, he aroused the jealousy of the masses and was forced to leave the country.

So is the comment on v.2, pg.139-140. 

Do not descend to Egypt, for you are an עילם טמימה [olam tamimah], unblemished offering, and it does not befit you to dwell outside the Land [Rashi]. Mizrachi exolains that when Yitzhak was placed on the altar of the Akeida, he became tantamount to an offering that is completely consumed upon the altar. Just as such an offering may not be removed from the Temple Courtyard, so was Yitzhak forbidden from leaving the sacred soil of the Land.

Yitzhak pulled an Avraham on Avimelech. Could this be the SAME Avimelech that Avraham had done this to? In next week’s Torah portion we’ll see the name Phichol as Avimelech’s chief of military staff. Either he’s the same guy, or that name is a title. If it was the same Avimelech, what do you think he thought of this Avrahamson [Abramson/Abramovitch] family? If it were me, I would never trust another one. Notice also that even the Cana’ani knew about adultery and that such sins had their consequences. If this were the same Avimelech, he would remember what had happened when Avraham and Sarah had done it. If it was his son, he would have heard the story, may have been among the first born AFTER the incident. Either way, I’d have been ticked. The king showed remarkable restraint under the circumstances. 

The question is why didn’t Yitzhak trust in Yah enough to know that he’d protect him and his family. Was he not there when Avraham had picked up the knife to slay him? Perhaps he was not walking close to Yah at the time of this incident. But how could that be, when Yah had just talked with him face to face? Perhaps it was a momentary lapse into sight-walking. But Yah did protect him by having Avimelech look out the window at the opportune moment to see Yitzhak ‘sporting’ with Rivkah in a way in which no man ‘sports’ with his sister. The Hebroot is tzakhak צחק, ‘to laugh at or disparage’, ‘to play’. They were not tossing a football in the back yard. I think Avimelech remembered either the Avraham/Sarah incident, or was aware of it and moved to save his people the same fate they’d had to deal with 60 years previous. They all had been plagued with a stopping of every excretion, including sweat and other stuff – the discomfort of that particular plague would cause a genetic or racial memory that would not easily be forgotten. And the guy who might bring it about would not be considered friendly to them. But that same memory would cause Avimelech to protect Yitzhak and Rivkah from harm, in hope of getting as great a deliverance and blessing as had occurred a generation before. Q&C

Is.65.23-25 – Read from v.17 to catch the context. And remember to remove this from the post on WP, stupid. The first couple of verses here better fit last week’s Torah portion than this week’s. Eliezer praying and not even able to complete the formulation of the words he wanted to say before they were answered. As for Yitzhak, I think that over the 19¼ years that he entreated Yah for Rivkah he prayed at least 2 or 3 full prayers, but Yah didn’t answer him until His time. And when he dug wells (Gen.26.12ff, we’ll see it next week), the Plishtim stole them from him until he finally found one where they didn’t want to live. Here’s what was so cool about Yitzhak – he never let the Plishtim get him down. He kept on digging until he found a well they didn’t want. But v.23’s prophecy wasn’t fulfilled in Yitzhak’s experience until he was in Rehoboth (a broad place – noone else around). Perhaps it wasn’t a well they didn’t want so much as a well where Yah wanted him to be. Was he finally living far enough from the world’s system? 

V.25 [the whole passage, really] speaks of the Olam Haba, the world to come. Many confuse this with the Millennial Kingdom, but it isn’t, for there will still be death in the Kingdom. It may be a LOT less pervasive, but it will still exist, for there will still be sin. Sin will just be suppressed, not nonexistent. It will only be in the RE-Created world that sin and the memory of its effects will be expunged from the Sons of Adam.

66.1-4 – The chapter opens with some questions from Yah. Vv.1&2 are written in parallel form. The first ½ of each verse speaks to what Yah created, while the questions in second ½ of v.1 are answered in the second ½ of v.2. Where is the house that we built for him? Where is his rest? Only those who are poor in spirit and of a contrite heart will gain his favor and be his resting place. “Heaven his throne and the earth his footstool” reminds me once again of the Tree of Sefiroth, where the Son stands on the earth and his crown is in the heavens.

The priest described in v.3 is just going through the motions. He doesn’t understand the weight of his calling. He sees the substitutionary death of the animal in his place as his due, and that sacrifice has become an abomination to Yah instead of a sweet savor. Are you repelled by the animal sacrifice because it makes you mindful of your sin that it covers, or because you feel it’s cruel to the animal? Do you think and see as Yah thinks and sees, or as a man? Is.1.11-20;

11 To what purpose [or ‘end’ – FT] is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith Yah: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them . 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith Yah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of Yah hath spoken it .

v.18 of that passage has Yah asking us to think HIS thoughts after him. When we do that, when we see the substitutionary sacrifice as HE sees it, THEN we are made pure in his eyes and receive his blessing. When all we see is the death of the animal, we are listening to some OTHER Ruach than El Shaddai’s and we need to evoke Yah’s Name and rebuke that spirit in us.

In v.4 we see that Yah uses what we fear to judge us. If we fear him he judges us according to his righteousness. If we fear men or any nation, he will use it to judge us with the intent to bring us back to him in repentance. When we hear his voice call us our affliction will be light. When we refuse and go our own way, he deals with us in the spirit of 28.14-15;

14 Wherefore hear the word of Yah, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

This describes the men in charge in both J’lem and DC. Q&C

Vv.5-8 – This speaks of our Xian and rabbinic brethren who will not associate with us because we won’t keep their feasts or traditions, but will instead obey Yah. They are doing this to ‘Gaw-awd’s GLO-ray’ in their minds, saying, “Let GAW-awd be GLO-rified”, but they will miss his coming. Expecting to be removed from Ya’acov’s trouble, Xians will be tempted to dismiss all the truth they’ve accepted when they see the lie (2Thes.2) they’ve been taught through their church’s Xian Talmudic traditions. Our rabbinic brethren have also been taught their special version of the lie (2Thes.2) that Yeshua was NOT Mashiyach through their synagogue’s Talmudic traditions. 

V.6 – Those who reject the truth of Tanakh for traditions of men will hear the voice of noise from the city, the voice from the temple, the voice of Yah who brings recompense to those who refuse his Word. I think this is the Wrath of Yah (Rev.16). 

V.7-8 – speak of the birth of Zion in a day. This is NOT May 14, 1948, though that was a partial fulfillment of this prophecy. It is yet future, and its ultimate (I think) fulfillment is seen in Rev.12. 

1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

The description is that of the constellation Bethulah, the virgin, who actually has the sun traversing through her during the fall feasts and the new moon of the 7th month is sometimes actually under her feet. She is the beginning of the Hebrew dendera and above her head are all the other ‘signs’ of the zodiac, representing the tribes of Israel. Zion is that virgin who births a nation in a day – probably right before the Wrath of Yah at the Last Trump, the day of Yom T’Ruah.  

THIS year, that day is nearly upon us, as sundown beginning the next shabbat will begin the 15th of the lunar month, the full moon. For this to happen in the calendar year 2022, the pace of stuff will have to quicken JU-U-ust a bit. But it is a remote possibility. I actually think it may be up to 7 years before this is completely fulfilled. As of end Shabbat, 23Jul2022, the Rubicon of Iranian nuclear weaponry has not been crossed. If, as I read this, Israel or the US have NOT destroyed Iran’s nuke program, it won’t be done for fear of a general middle-east war over the nuclear fallout of any future destruction of the Russian built plant. Gog uMagog’s forces are pretty much set up. All they need is a catalyst to invade Israel. Q&C

No Psalm

Heb.12.14-29 – How can we follow what we don’t know? If we are to follow peace and holiness with all men we need to be AT peace with Yah by being set-apart unto him. Otherwise there is no real peace, only a cessation of armed conflict – a cease-fire. They cry out “PEACE! PEACE! But there is no peace.” Keep your eyes open and stay alert to subtle destructive forces that will rob you of your power (grace) to live according to Yah’s Word. If we refuse his Word (Tanakh’s teaching), we become those we saw in YeshaYahu 66.6 above. Live circumspectly, watching for that which will trip you up and destroy your walk with Yah Yeshua. If you let the Word slip away, you will stumble over that which makes you bitter. Don’t follow men. They will disappoint you every time. 

Follow Yah and his Word, for he will NOT disappoint you. He keeps his promises to us. It’s when men disappoint us that the root of bitterness shoots out and seems to actively grab us to make us fall. Esav sold his birthright for a bowl of soup because he wasn’t thinking about the implications of his actions. He was thinking of his belly and was only looking at the here and now. But when it was time for the blessing, his bitterness came to the front and he held the birthright and the blessing against Ya’acov. The root of Esav’s bitterness was his contempt for what? Outwardly, his contempt was for his birthright, but ultimately it was contempt for his parents, thereby showing his contempt for Yah. So, it was all Esav’s fault. Ya’acov merely took advantage of his brother’s unthinking, bull-in-a-china-closet way of life. Esav’s contempt for his birthright cost him the blessing of the bachor as well. Because he had no repentance for his contempt toward his birthright, and though he ‘sought the blessing bitterly with tears’, he was rejected. Actions have consequences, even if we think we’ll work around them. In Dt.29.14-20 (esp. vv.18-20):

14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; 15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before Yah Elohenu, and also with him that is not here with us this day: 16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by; 17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:) 18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from Yah Elohenu, to go serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood [bitterness]; 19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: 20 Yah will not spare him, but then the anger of Yah and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and Yah shall blot out his name from under heaven.

That will be Esav’s fate, for he is the template to which Yah refers in Dt.29, and anyone else’s who despises his birthright. Esav sought his blessing from Yitzhak with tears, not repentance. This includes you or me, if we eschew Mashiyach for the ease of this life. Rav Sha’ul speaks to this in Rom.11.16-22:

16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 For if Elohim spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of Elohim: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

He is alluding to Dt.30.14-19:

11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. 12 It is 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 is it 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 is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. 15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; 16 In that I command thee this day to love Yah Elohecha, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and Yah Elohecha shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. 17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; 18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Yarden to go to possess it. 19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

When we choose to obey him, we are choosing life. When we choose to walk in our own way, we are choosing to perish. In Ezek.3.17-20 we see this:

17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

Our justification is through the blood of Mashiyach, not our works. But we can leave our justification in the weeds by walking in our own way after having knowledge of the truth (Heb.10.26). When we refuse to obey when we KNOW that obedience is the standard, THAT is willful sin. THAT needs confession and repentance. In our favor, the blood of Mashiyach is also that which makes it possible to repent and confess our sins. ALL sins are forgiven as we walk in Mashiyach. But when we go our own way, we are on our own until we repent, confess our sin and walk humbly with Elohenu (Mic.6.18). We are COMMANDED to obey Yah’s Word and he gives us the Ruach as the source of power (grace) to do it. When we don’t use the power he’s provided, it isn’t HIS fault, but ours, and He has provided an advocate for our defense – Yeshua Moshi’enu. We simply need to decide to confess our sin, turn back to him and obey him. Unrepented and unconfessed sin is what keeps us in exile from Yah. He’s waiting for us to turn to him for deliverance from exile, like the prodigal’s father waited for his ‘lost’ son to turn.  Q&C

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Vv.22-24 – I think Hebrews was written to Aharonic priests, which ties to our haftarah today. These were believing Kohanim [Acts 6.7] in Mashiyach who were thinking of going back to the Temple sacrifices, which is why Paul [or his talmid who wrote Hebrews] told them there is ‘no more sacrifice for sin’ in 10.26. We don’t go to Mt. Sinai in Arabia or Mt. Zion on earth, but to the New Jerusalem, Zion – a city not made with hands, described in v.22-24. The general assembly of the kahal of the b’khorim is the gathering of all the saints of all time and is referring IMO to Yom T’Ruah [25Sep2022], Resurrection Day and the Wedding Ceremony, as we see in Rev.21.1-7.

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 

Vv.25 – The blood of Avel pled vengeance; the blood of Yeshua pleads forgiveness. Heed Yeshua’s call, for if they heard a voice from Sinai and refused to shema it, how much worse will it be for those who refuse to hear his voice from heaven. 

Vv.26-29 – Speak of the dissolution of the heavens and earth, as we saw in Is.66 today. The Word of Yah is a fire, as we know from Ex.3, and a consuming fire, as we know from v.29, Dt.4 and 9 and 2Pet.3. Q&C

Shabbat Bible Study for December 2, 2023

©2023 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries

Year 2 Shabbat 38 

Leviticus 17:1-16 – [No Prophet] – Psalm 82 – John 5:1-21

Links: edited 29 Oct.2024

www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/jewish/Koshering-Meat.htm

Vayikra 17.1-9 – The prohibition against offerings anywhere except in the Tabernacle or in the Place in the Land where Yah shall put his Name, i.e.; the Temple in Jerusalem, is absolute. This is NOT a prohibition against slaughtering an animal for an honored guest or a celebration. The prefatory remarks on this passage in the Schottenstein’s Interlinear Chumash are salient (pg.118). As usual, I lean towards a “Yes” to the two interpretations – Ba’al haTurim’s interpretation, that the quick addition of this passage after the Yom Kippur service is to disabuse people of the notion that, in light of the killing outside the camp of Azazel’s goat, they can offer anywhere or to any Elohim they so chose, and Rashi’s interpretation that it refers specifically to animals that are consecrated as offerings. If there were a command to NOT eat animal flesh at all, except that which was offered in a peace offering, I would not go with Rashi at all, but there is no prohibition from eating clean flesh. So, it must be permitted to slaughter an animal away from the Tabernacle or Temple. I would guess that an animal that has a blemished appearance would be acceptable for food, but could not be consecrated as an offering to Yah. 

If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before Yah. (Leviticus 1:3)

To kill an animal that is suitable for offering, i.e.; ‘without blemish’, without bringing it to the Tabernacle or Temple was like [but not identical to] spilling innocent blood – it was like murder. If an Israelite did such a thing (i.e.; kill an innocent animal without offering it properly. To murder a man was not an excommunicable offense – murder carried a death sentence), they were to be excommunicated and put OUT of the camp so that Yah would walk with Israel. If there is any uncleanness in the camp (like a man guilty of innocent blood), Yah will not walk among us; 

12 Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: 13 And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: 14 For Yah Elohenu walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee. (Devarim 23.12-14)

If you remember the debacle at Ai [Josh.7], Achan had hidden an idol from Yericho in his tent and Yah did not go out to battle with Israel. There was uncleanness in the camp and he would not walk with them, much less fight for them. All peace offerings were to be brought to the priests so the blood could be sprinkled and the fat offered in the proper manner. 

No offerings were to be made to any other elohim – only to Yah. Remember when this Torah is being given – some time between the 40^th-50^th day after the transgression of the golden calf and the first Passover in the Wilderness (Moshe was in the mount during those 40-50 days and I think he was getting the Toroth of Leviticus at that time). V.7 seems clear that any offering made anywhere other than at the Tabernacle was an offering to devils. This was the practice from the days of Noach, for the firstborn to offer unto Yah in their neighborhood, back yard or wherever it was convenient. They were to stop that practice forever. If any man, Israelite or mixed multitude, offered anywhere other than at the door of the Tabernacle, he was to be removed from the camp. He was tamei – defiled. His only way back into the camp, I think, was on Yom Kippur. He could not just mikvah and await the sunset to return to his place in the camp. I don’t think the unclean were sent completely away in the middle of the wilderness, but had to dwell outside the camp of the saints – like the lepers in 2Ki.7.3&4

3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate (outside the camp): and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

The man being cut off speaks to the physical being of the man. Excommunication’s purpose is always repentance and reconciliation. Ramban thinks that this cutting off means that the man will die an early death, not that he is eternally cut off from Yisrael. Yochanan tells us about a ‘sin unto death’ (there are probably more than one). This may be an instance of what he was talking about. The passage specifies that the MAN is cut off, not his soul. I infer that to mean his physical body, not his spirit, as well. Q&C

Vv.10-14 is the Torah of NOT eating blood. This is a codification of the prohibition against eating blood that was given to Noach in Gen.9. The life is in the blood and it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul of the transgressor. (Take that PETA!) This does not mean that blood of an animal NOT for atonement is OK to eat. It isn’t. The use of the term כל־דמ – chal-dam, ALL or ANY blood, in v.10 makes this plain. We are to ensure that ALL the blood is removed from the animal. If we kill our own animals, they are to be bled completely and their blood poured on the ground and COVERED – same as excrement – or Yah will not walk among us. Yah says that he will put everything else aside to deal with the man who eats blood. This is why I think the people in Num.11 sinned by eating quail without bleeding, cleaning and cooking it first;

31 And there went forth a wind from Yah, and brought quails from the sea, and let fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits upon the face of the earth. 32 And the people stood up all that day, and all night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread all abroad for themselves round about the camp. 33 And while the flesh yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of Yah was kindled against the people, and Yah smote the people with a very great plague. 34 And he called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted. (Num.11.31-34)

Looks to me like Yah set everything else aside to bring condemnation against those who ate in their lust for flesh. Num.11.4 says that the ones who lusted were the mixt multitude. And in the instance of eating blood, Yah is the one who cuts off the soul of that man from the people of Israel. Eating blood is SERIOUS business. It looks like there is no atonement for the sin of eating blood. And, I COULD be WRONG …. But I DOUBT it.

Vv.15-16 deal with a man who eats that which just dies or is torn by animals, which has already been forbidden in the Sinai covenant.

31 And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat flesh torn of beasts in the field; ye shall cast it to the dogs. (Ex.22.31)

Yah forbad them to eat flesh that had been torn because he desired them to be set-apart unto him and to show it by being different from the surrounding people. But provision is made for the one who DOES eat this kind of flesh. He can do a mikvah, wash his clothes and then at evening offering time, he can return to the camp. Therefore, I don’t think clean animals killed by predators are made unclean thereby; this was something Yah wanted them to do to be set-apart, not because there was anything actually wrong with eating that flesh. Of course, the flesh would still have to be bled. Do you suppose this is what we do when we buy already slaughtered meat at a market? I think it COULD BE. Be safe with store-bought flesh – kosher it. Here is a link to a kosher koshering process; www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/jewish/Koshering-Meat.htm  Q&C

No Prophet

Psalm 82.1- – This is a psalm of Asaph. Remember that Asaph wrote in the time just after the return of Yehudah from Persia. V.1 speaks, I think, about rulers among men rather than gods, quite probably the priests of Yah and possibly the rulers of the Land as Yehudah returned. We know there is really only one Elohim and that is Yah, so the literal translation of elohim to gods may not be, probably isn’t, correct. If I am correct, and v.6 seems to show that Yah agrees with me, he could actually be talking about all of us, for 2Pe.2.9 says that we are a royal Priesthood in Mashiyach Yeshua. I will proceed with the understanding that the word ‘gods’ means the political and religious leaders of the people – ‘lords’, as it were. And I will relate it to our present situation in HIS-story. 

Vv.2-5 – Have you ever wondered why there is no true justice in the world system? Asaph seems to be lamenting the lack of consideration for the poor and needy on the part of the people of Yah (and the ‘lords’ or ‘gods’ in particular). The leaders of the people are described in v.2 as ‘respecters of persons’, rather than keepers of Yah’s Torah. That is because they think of themselves, of holding and guarding their power by doing what is best for their political ‘benefactors’ (in today’s world, that means the ‘military-industrial complex’ and its lobbyists who provide the politicians with the millions of dollars it takes to run a political election campaign) rather than doing what is ultimately right for their people. It is not human government’s place to provide for the needy in society. That responsibility falls, rather, to the family of the needy first, and to the church/synagogue second. Only after those two resources prove to be inadequate to the task, does it fall to any other source (but it should never have to). 

3 Honour widows that are widows indeed. 4 But if any widow have children or nephews, let them [Mark edit – that is; children and nephews] learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite [repay or reward] their parents: for that is good and acceptable before Elohim. 5 Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusts in Elohim, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. 6 But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. 7 And these things give in charge, that they may be blameless. 8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (1Tim.5.3-8)

Strong words from Rav Sha’ul, and absolutely in context, as he is addressing exactly what Asaph is in Ps.82, i.e.; justice for the poor and needy – widows indeed. A ‘widow indeed’ is one who has no children or other family members in the faith, and also who is trusting Elohim for her (or his) sustenance. The ‘widows indeed’ and orphans are our first order of business in the faith community. A believing widow or orphaned child of a believer should never have to depend on anyone outside the local congregation for his/her sustenance. When a believing widow or orphan is unable to care for him or herself, the local congregation should make provision. If the local congregation is unable to provide for them, the larger body of believers should have an agency of some sort to which the needy can resort. The LAST place the needy should have to go for sustenance is the government. And, if worldly government is the FIRST place a ‘believer’ goes, they show that they do not truly believe that Elohim can sustain them. Elohim will sustain you in your exigent circumstances, if you trust him to do so. I’ve ‘selah’d that enough, now.

We are to sustain the truly needy among us; THAT is HOW we deliver them from the wicked. ‘The wicked’ in our day means the government, for it is wicked in the extreme. It has no knowledge (da’ath) in the biblical sense of the word. It has neither a wish to understand, nor does it have the wisdom (chochmah) to apply to understanding (binah) that would constitute biblical knowledge. Human government in today’s world is anti-Yah, anti-Torah, and anti-Mashiyach; a perfect description of wickedness. In Asaph’s day, it was applied, as well, to the religious leadership who should have known Torah. 

In v.6, Elohim says, “I have said, ye gods” referring to the religious leadership in the land in Asaph’s day. It is not said in a flattering sense. Yeshua used this scriptural quote in context in Jn.10

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. 29 Avi, which gave me, is greater than all; and none is able to pluck out of Avi’s hand. 30 I and Avinu are one. 31 Then the Ioudaioi took up stones again to stone him. 32 Yeshua answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from Avi; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Ioudaioi answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself Elohim. 34 Yeshua answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are Elohims? 35 If he called them Elohims, unto whom the word of Elohim came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say ye of him, whom Avinu hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of Elohim? 37 If I do not the works of Avi, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that Avinu is in me, and I in him. 39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand (Jn.10.27-39)

Even though they are children of the Almighty, they will die like men because they have no knowledge of truth. Because they are ‘lords’, and covet that position more than right standing with Yah Elohenu, they are willing to ‘kill the messenger’ to protect their positions. The ‘lords’ of Yeshua’s day knew exactly what he meant by, “I and Avi are one.” He was the tzadik rebbe like Moshe that Yah had promised to send, the perfect melding of the Almighty’s aspects of Elohim’s understanding (binah) and Yah’s wisdom (chochma), and that meant their positions of power were in jeopardy. Their visceral response belied their spoken intent. Unless they would repent of that attitude, they would ‘die like men, and fall like one of the princes. [v.7]’

Whenever you see government or its media lackeys attempting to demonize or marginalize a political person, keep your eyes on that person to see if he truly believes what he says. He will show if he is honest in his positions by how he deals with the personal attacks. If he changes his position, he is just another wicked man. If he maintains his position as right, he is quite likely your best friend and their worst nightmare because he will NOT be controlled by them. By the same token, watch the government’s media lackeys for whom they least dislike and treat him/her like you would a ‘karet’/‘leper’. BTW, the same goes for today’s lamestream media. If the MSM defend and build up a government politician, suspect that politician of working iniquity, even if it is covert. If, by the same token, the lamestream media despises anyone, he’s likely honest. Think Biden/Trump.

Asaph ends by calling on Elohim’s judgment on the earth. Achim, we are on the verge of exactly that in America, and indeed in the world. WE need to apply 2Chron.7.14, for WE are to blame for the state of the world. We got too much like the world, too comfortable with the things OF the world. WE need to repent of our own callousness toward our achim, our own friendship with the world system. Remember the description of ‘wicked’ above; anti-Yah, anti-Torah and anti-Mashiyach.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (II Chronicles 7:14)

That’s you and me, folks. And it’s NOT a one-time deal. It’s an attitude we need to adopt daily, hourly, even minutely in our personal lives. If we, the people who are called by Yah’s Name will turn from our own wickedness, Yah will THEN listen to us and fix what ails us, both personally and nationally. It is up to US, not the politicians in Washington, London, Moscow, Peking, Jerusalem or Tehran. It is up to us. It is up to YOU! Q&C

Yochanan 5.1-21 – What Feast of the Ioudaioi was this that Yeshua went up for? I don’t think this was a Feast of Yah. It could have been Purim or Hanukkah. Yeshua was in the habit of going up to J’lem for all the Feasts, so that he could ‘fulfill all righteousness’ (Mat.3.15). Because he went up to Beth-Khisda (or Beth Chesed – house of kindness), I infer that the Feast is Purim (I COULD be wrong … really!) for Yah was very kind to Israel in that day, because they turned to him en masse, as one body. Beth Khisda has 5 pools, showing its reflexion of Yah’s chesed; his grace, or loving-kindness. 

Yeshua comes upon a man who’s been at the pool for it’s miraculous healing for 38 years. He’s in bad enough shape after all this time that he needs someone to help him into the pool when the angel stirs up its healing properties. Yeshua can see the man is in earnest about being healed and his knowledge that he can do nothing to heal himself – he literally needs a miracle, and he goes to put himself in the way of the recurring miracle, if he can. He is already exercising all the faith he knows to exercise. But he needs help, which is not readily forthcoming. So Yeshua asks him if he would be made whole, and he says “YES!” (I think he implies, “if I could get the help I need to get to the pool when the angel stirs the water, I would already BE whole! Are you going to help me? Let’s get over there now, so we can be ready!”) But Yeshua did him one better. He said, “Stand up! Take your bed and walk!” and he did so immediately. He didn’t think about it being Shabbat. He just followed orders from the man who made him every whit whole by a Word from his mouth. I’d call that a rational response to being made whole of a 38-year infirmity. 

But the ‘Ioudaioi’ were not always rational. As I always do, I want to qualify Yochanan’s use of the term Jew. It doesn’t mean the average, rank-and-file member of the Temple/Synagogue, but ALWAYS refers to the political leadership of the religion. They obviously had not been to the Beth-Khisda pool any time in the last 38 years, or they’d have recognized him. They accosted him for breaking a man-made rule dealing with stuff folks are forbidden to do on Shabbat, like carry any burden whatsoever. I can only imagine them seeing me carry a Bible that would choke a horse into the fellowship. I’d smack them upside the head with it, except that it’s heavy enough to break a neck. He answered them in as respectful a manner as he could, “The guy who made me whole from my 38-year infirmity with a Word from his mouth also told me to take up my bed and walk. I figured it was the least I could do to obey him.” (OK, I embellished that just a tad.) When the Ioudaioi asked him who had dared to heal him on the Shabbat (Oh! FORFEND!), he didn’t know, and there was such a crowd at this Feast time, that he couldn’t see Yeshua. Later, when Yeshua found him to warn him against sinning unless something worse come upon him, the guy went to the Ioudaioi and told them it was Yeshua. 

THAT really ticked them off, and they started trying figure out how to kill him within the legal parameters of the day. So, they confronted him about healing on Shabbat, saying that he’d broken it. Look at AENT, note 53 on pg.246. Kinda long, bear with me all you listeners.

When Yeshua refers to his Abba, I think he refers to the Almighty Ain Sof, he who is unknowable. He said, “Avi has never ceased working from the day of creation to now, and I work in the same way.” Yah has never ceased his creative work, even when it says he rested. If he were NOT creating constantly, everything would cease to exist. The same Word that created ‘ex nihilo’ in Gen.1, sustains the creation until the day of dissolution 1000 years + from now. The day Yah ceases to speak is the day everything dissolves into absolute nothingness, from which he can recreate brand new and perfect – a tamim or perfect world in which tzedakah, or righteousness dwells. Perhaps these Ioudaioi had never heard of ‘sod’. 

When Yeshua said that both he and Abba work to now, he was making claim to equality with Ain Sof, and they knew it. This made them all the crazier, since what he said was blasphemy for any other than Yah Elohim, and they were ready to kill him on the spot. When he asked what good work they were killing him for, they said, “because you make yourself equal to Elohim.”  He does not deny their accusation. He even did them one better by saying that, as Avinu will raise the dead in the resurrection (some of these Ioudaioi were no doubt Sadducees), so Yeshua, the Son, will quicken whom he wills, and it makes no difference the day of the week or the traditional fences the Ioudaioi had constructed around Torah. The healing of the man at Beth-Khisda was just one instance of how he would present his bona fides and prove whom he is. Q&C

Follows my study of John 5 from various portions of my study in The Life of Yeshua haMashiyach – an Hebraic Perspective, as I shared on TTRT. [Have AENT handy]

Yochanan 5:1-47 – 72). Second Passover – 

1 After this there was a feast of the Ioudaioi; and Yeshua went up to Jerusalem.

Yochanan tells of a feast of the Ioudaioi, but doesn’t name it. I don’t know where the chronology comes from here. The Thompson Reference System says [erroneously] that this is Yah Yeshua’s second passover in Jerusalem after his ministry began. This will mark the end of his year of popularity, I think.  I also think it more likely Purim or Hanukkah. Thompson’s seems to follow Mark’s gospel for chronology.

73). Man at the pool healed –

Yochanan 5.2-9

2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Yeshua saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8 Yeshua saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath.

The pool of Bethesda had 5 porches, speaking to the grace of Elohim healing the sick. Thompson’s Archeological Supplement has: 

“The only record indicating its location places it near the Sheep Gate, in the northeast part of the city. The Medeba map (fifth century) located the pool in this section, which is known as Bezetha. In 1888 repairs were being made on St. Ann’s Church in this northeast section of Jerusalem when what seemed to be a large reservoir was located. Conrad Schick organized an expedition and uncovered the entire area down to the Roman level, revealing two large pools with five porches and numerous fragments of columns and capitals, all in Roman style, but evidently somewhat later than the time of Mashiyach. There were steep, winding steps leading down to the pools and, on a prominent wall of one of the porches, a faded fresco showed an angel in the act of troubling the waters. So according to the tradition of the early assembly, this was Bethesda.” 

Mat. Henry’s commentary says, 

“Shall we, who perhaps for many years have scarcely known what it has been to be a day sick, complain of one wearisome night, when many others, better than we, have scarcely known what it has been to be a day well?” 

Good question. 

Put yourself in this guy’s shoes for a minute. You’ve been infirm for 38 years. And you spend most of your days at this miraculous spa hoping to get in the water when it is troubled. Do you think this happened every few minutes? Once a day? Or just once in a while? There is no indication that the troubling of the water was a regular occurrence. So you have to be ready to jump in, but you can’t jump. You have a hard enough time dragging yourself toward the pool, much less lowering yourself down the steps, which were steep and winding, to get in the pool. And no one will help you because they are all there for the same purpose, to get a healing. If someone helps you into the water, how will he get healed? Only one healing per troubling, and if he can get there first you are going to have to wait ‘til next time. Sorry, luck of the draw, bud. 

That’s what this guy dealt with for 38 years. When Yeshua asks if he’d like to be made well, he says in effect, ‘If you’ll hang around and help me into the water next time it’s troubled, I’d be much obliged.’ Yeshua does him one better. He says the same thing he said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up thy bed and walk.” And the guy obeys immediately, not caring what day it is. 

Here is a major no-no as far as the Ioudaioi, the political leaders of the Hebrew religion, are concerned. Yeshua has just healed on the Sabbath and told the healed man to carry away his bed. You could get in a lot of trouble with the religious authorities if you broke the Sabbath traditions. Remember that the Sabbath was set aside to rest from our professional labors and acknowledge Yah’s gift and authority one day a week. Do you suppose the man who’d been healed was worshipping Yah as he walked home? Shake your heads in the vertical. Do you think the Pharisees cared? Shake your heads in the horizontal. Q&C

75). Discourse on the Sabbath – Mat.12.1-8, Mk.2.23-28, Lk.6.1-5, Yochanan5.10-16

10 The Ioudaioi therefore said unto him that was cured, it is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. 11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? 13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Yeshua had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Yeshua findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. 15 The man departed, and told the Ioudaioi that it was Yeshua, which had made him whole. 16 And therefore did the Ioudaioi persecute Yeshua, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.

Do you remember the flock of swine that rushed headlong into the sea? Same problem comes up here, but for a different reason. The swineherds were losing money, the Pharisees were jealous for the common folk to keep the law according to the scribes and Pharisees. They accused Yeshua of breaking Sabbath. But in this case, who was really breaking Sabbath? Yeshua is about to tell them. 

74). Discourse on Yeshua’s divinity – 

Jn.5.17-47 

17 But Yeshua answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. 18 Therefore the Ioudaioi sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that Elohim was his Father, making himself equal with Elohim. 19 Then answered Yeshua and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth Avinu do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20 For Avinu loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as Avinu raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 22 For Avinu judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all should honour the Son, even as they honour Avinu. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not Avinu which hath sent him. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of Elohim: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as Avinu hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of Avinu which hath sent me. 31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

32 There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. 33 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. 34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. 35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

36 But I have greater witness than of John: for the works which Avinu hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that Avinu hath sent me. 37 And Avinu himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. 38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. 41 I receive not honour from men. 42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of Elohim in you. 43 I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. 44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that from Elohim only? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to Avinu: there is that accuseth you, Moshe [Torah], in whom ye trust. 46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

In vv.17-18 we see the Ioudaioi really getting worked up over Yeshua’s claim to be Elohim. They knew what he was saying, and they would have been righteously angry if they were dealing with MY claim to be Elohim. But this was Yeshua and he was performing miracles that should have told them exactly who he was, if only they knew the scriptures like they said, or thought, they did. Messianic passages abound in the OT (Is.61.1-2a.) Even Yochanan the Immerser needed some proof as to Yeshua true identity (Lk.7.19-20), but he knew the scriptures and was comforted in them (Lk.7.21-23). Yeshua knew that Yochanan would understand that every miracle he performed was not to cause an end of suffering or hardship or infirmity, but for the purpose of confirming to the Ioudaioi, the political leadership of the religion, that he was who he claimed to be; Yeshua haMashiyach, the Son of Elohim. The very miracles he was doing, causing the paralytic to walk in this case, all taken together (i.e., comparing scripture with scripture and verifying experience with objective truth) should have caused them no end of rejoicing that their Mashiyach had come and that the Kingdom of heaven was at hand. Instead they wanted strict adherence to the oral law that gave no life, but only knowledge of sin and death. 

“My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” Avinu rested from his creative work on the 7th day, not all his work. After all, Elohim still had to maintain the creation. The strict adherence to the letter of the law that the Pharisees wanted would have made them Elohim’s judges. By that I mean, if Elohim were being judged by their standard, absolutely no work on the Sabbath, they would have stoned Him, as well. In fact, that is what they were attempting to do right then, for the whole creation was physically manufactured by the word of the person they wanted to stone for blasphemy and Sabbath-breaking (Ex.31.14ff).

V.19 ‘What the Son sees Avinu doing the Son does also (Mark paraphrase).’ The whole universe was all Yah Yeshua’s effort. Without him was not anything made that was made. How should we do things? Should we do everything on our own; cowboy our way through as lone wolves, or should we get help or counsel as we can. That is how the Body of Mashiyach is supposed to work, each helping the other to bring glory to Elohim.

1Cor.12 says that each part of the body is as important as every other part of the body. If the ear gets jealous because it’s not the eye, the body will not work as it’s designed to. If the foot gets offended because the hand is getting all the good stuff to do and goes on strike, how will the hand get to the appointed place to do its good stuff? It’s the same thing with each of us. If I get jealous of Doc [a dentist friend] because he can make teeth and I can’t, and I therefore leave the fellowship of us saints, the whole body will suffer because it is left without my gifts and abilities. Our gifts were not given to us for our personal enjoyment, but for the common good of the Body of Mashiyach. All that and much more can be seen with just a cursory glance at 1Cor.12. The body of Mashiyach is designed to work as a unit to fulfill its purpose in doing the will of Avinu. Q&C

Avinu shows the Son all that he (Avinu) plans to do and the Son executes that plan (v.20), much like Moshe did with Betzale’el and he to Aholiav. ‘Himself’ speaks of Avinu in this case. Had Yeshua meant the Son here he’d have used the word ‘he’ not ‘himself’ in this construction. You may remember the use of this ‘himself’ in the movie, “The Quiet Man” (a great movie, by the way). As late as 1950 this was still an accepted usage when referring to a third person in your speech. Webster’s has 

HIMSELF’, pron. In the nominative or objective case. [him and self.] 1.  He; but himself is more emphatical, or more expressive of distinct personality than he. With shame remembers, while himself was one. Of the same herd, himself the same had done. 

The NIVhas ‘he’ here. If ‘he’ is substituted for ‘himself’ it refers back to the last word that is male third person singular, or Son. That could be confusing, so the AV translators who understood English usage decided to use ‘himself’, to specify that the speaker meant a third person other than his own self and the hearer. This is just another proof that Yeshua and Avinu are one Spirit, but different, as relating to Yeshua’s human flesh.

The Abba of our Yah Yeshua haMashiyach had shown his Son all that himself had wanted him to reveal to this point and Yeshua had done so. It seems by this passage that Elohim was authorizing the steps to be taken by Yeshua as the time became right, that Yeshua knew the plan, but was awaiting his Father’s OK to implement it. 

Yeshua had yet to raise the dead, but that would come shortly. Avinu had yet to authorize that part of the plan. When he did Yeshua would raise a few from the dead to illustrate his ministry of making us who trust him spiritually alive. He would give the breath of life back to some who had died to show how he would quicken the spirits of men and empower them by the breath of his Ruach haKodesh (Acts 2.2), and will quicken the bodies of those same men in the life to come. 

All judgment is committed to the Son for the purpose of giving honor to the Son (Gen.32.29, Ex.6.3, 9.16, 20.7, 23.20-23, Lev.19.12, 22.32, De.28.58, 2Sam.7.26, 1Ki.8.18-19, 29, 9.3, 7, 11.36, 2Ki.23.21-27, Ps.8.1, 89.24, Is.42.8, 48.11, 52.5-6, 57.15, 65.1, Jer.7.10-14, 30, 14.14-15, 23.25-27, Ez.20.9, 36.23, 39.7, Dan.2.20, Mat.24.5, Mal.1.11, 4.2, Mat.18.5, 20, Mk.9.39-41, Jn.16.23-27, Rom.9.17, Is.9.6, Mat.12.16-21, [Mat.1.21, 25, Lk.1.31, 2.21; Yeshua’s name all in caps, denotes the covenant name of Elohim], Acts.3.16, 4.12, Heb.1.4, Phil.2.9-11, Eph.1.21, Rev.19.16, 12, Neh.9.5). Reread the verses in bold type.

12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4.12)

3 Who being the brightness of 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; 4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (Heb.1.3-4)

9 Wherefore Elohim also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, of in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth; 11 And every tongue should confess that Yeshua haMashiyach is Yah, to the glory of Elohim Avinu. (Phil.2.9-11)

20 Which he wrought in Mashiyach, when he raised him from the dead, and set at his own right hand in the heavenlies, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all under his feet, and gave him the head over all to the assembly, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Eph.1.20-23)

But the Son is also called the Word of Elohim in Yochanan 1.1-14, that Word whose name is exalted above every name. When he says above ‘every name’, he means it. In Rev.19.12 his name is so wonderful that it can’t be known by any but he himself. Is there anything that can be greater or more holy than the name of Yah Yeshua? In Ps.138.2 David says, 

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” 

Is there any name of Elohim that is left out in that verse? Even the one that no man can know but he himself? Elohim exalts his Word above his very own name because without his Word we would have nothing by which to know his name. Just to give you an idea of what man does to the Word of Elohim, here’s that same verse in the NIV: 

Psalm 138:2

I will bow down toward your holy temple

          and will praise your name  

          for your love and your faithfulness,

                     for you have exalted above all things

          your name and your word. 

If you did to Elohim’s Word what they did to Elohim’s Word, you would ‘fix’ that verse as well. To translate it literally would be to condemn yourself. NIV-ers have placed Elohim’s Word on a par with his name, but not above it, as Elohim has. They have exalted themselves above Elohim, thereby, knowing better than He exactly what he meant. They have an extremely low view of scripture, or they would not correct it so often. Cf. Ps.19, esp.v.7-11. Without his Word we would have no barometer for our conduct or yardstick to measure our growth into the image of Mashiyach. Isn’t it amazing that Elohim holds the book you hold in your hand in greater esteem than He holds His very name? It is too wonderful for me. Q&C

Vv.24, 25 show another reason that Elohim exalts his word above his name. It is by his word that we are saved. We obtain everlasting life by hearing the Word of Elohim and believing that Elohim Avinu has sent Elohim haBen in human flesh. This can only be revealed today by the Word of Elohim, as illuminated by his Ruach ha Kodesh. There are no eyewitnesses alive on earth to talk to as in Paul’s day (1Cor.15.5-8). Elohim wants to fellowship with us, to spend eternity with us as his children. We could NEVER know this without his Word. We could know of him, desire to know him personally, fear him, but we could never know him and love him without his Word. 

When he says ‘the dead shall hear’ he refers not just to the physically dead, as when Yeshua went into the grave to take captivity captive, but the spiritually dead as well. Many who heard him for the first time were spiritually dead. When they believed that Elohim had sent him, that he was very Elohim, they obtained eternal life. We who have believed on Avinu who sent the Son in the power of his Ruach ha Kodesh have obtained eternal life and will never be condemned. Yeshua has finished the work Avinu sent him to do. No one can undo what he has done. We have been justified by the faith of the Son of Elohim (Gal.2.16), not by our own faith, and have passed from death unto life. Now it’s time we acted like it, as if we actually believed it to be true. Joshua 1:9 

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for Yah Elohecha is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

Remember that this all began with Yeshua healing on the Sabbath and then calling Elohim his Father, making himself equal to Elohim. He has been making that point throughout this discourse. In vv.26-27 he must have really frosted their cookies. He tells them that Avinu has given him authority over judgment and also to have life in himself. These are strong statements of his deity. To have life in yourself is something none of us has ever experienced, nor will we. Yah IS life. His Word IS life. It actually means that HE IS life (Jn.14.6), not just that he has life. We all have life in us, but it does not proceed from us – we are not the originators of life. Yah Yeshua is. 

And Elohim has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. If he were not human, he could not feel our infirmity and sympathize with our weakness and inability to live after Elohim. He is the righteous judge because he is righteousness and knows what we feel, has endured the same trials and temptations that we all have, yet without sin (Heb.4.15).

So Yeshua in this sentence tells them that he is both Elohim and man. I wonder how many understood that. And, did it separate their heads from their shoulders? The thought of an Elohim/man would have been totally foreign to them. It was generally thought then, and still is today among most of the lost, that all of the physical or material creation was evil and all that was spiritual was good. For the two to be blended into one was and is inconceivable to most people. This was the root of gnosticism, which is making a strong resurgence today and teaches that Elohim could not become flesh and remain Elohim, for the flesh is sinful. Elohim would not sanctify the flesh, the flesh would corrupt Elohim. Therefore Yeshua was human and the Mashiyach was divine, and Yeshua haMashiyach could not be both. But that is exactly what Yeshua taught in this passage, his Spirit is 100% Elohim and his flesh is 100% man, what has been termed the hypostatic union. The hypostatic union is sort of like binary addition of 1+1, which equals 0, carry the 1. It is totally understandable if you slip outside the decimal box that’s been constructed around your mind. So would the concept of 100%+100% = 100% be if we could slip out of the box of time/space/matter. Unfortunately, we can’t without really slipping outside of this body and returning to it, as Paul did in vision or in spirit (2Cor.12.1-4), and which Peter and Yochanan also experienced (Acts 10, Rev.1). 

The problem with gnosticism is a faulty concept of Elohim and matter. To the Gnostic the flesh was mightier than the Elohim who created it for it could corrupt him. Therefore the Gnostic elohim was subject to the material world, thus making the material the one, true Elohim. This is the ultimate origin of evolution in the human mind, matter is eternal, and man is the culmination of the material evolution. As such, man created Elohim, therefore man is Elohim. Eminently reasonable if you leave out the scripture or have a low view of it. Elohim gives us the faith to trust him or not when we believe (Rom 10.14-17).

The gnostics would not believe that anything spiritual was evil, hence the belief today, even among Xians, that anything that is spiritual is divine. These Xians are obviously not exercising the spiritual gift of discerning of spirits (1Cor.12.10, 1Jn.4.1). To them, any angel would be a divine being, even Lucifer (2Cor.11.14) or Michael or Moroni (the LDS revelatory angel – my spell checker gave ‘Moronic’ as the first ‘change’ suggestion, which I expect from Latter-Day Saints). In fact, the spiritual part of man would be divine as well, and therefore all men are Elohims, a la Shirley McLaine and other equally deceived and ridiculous persons. Now, you may ask, ‘How can man have both a spiritual and a material aspect, but Elohim can not take on a physical body?’ You got me there, because I don’t know. There is something to be said for consistency, but the gnostics of our day sure miss it! I think that their thought is that our spirits, which predated the creation of the physical universe (more inconsistency, if matter is eternal), were defiled by contact with the flesh (Gen.6.2?) and now by reincarnation and the ‘circle of life’ it needs to purge itself of its sin and once again ‘become one with the divine all.’ They term this at-one-ment, which is why I hate to hear that term used by Xians as an alternative pronunciation of atonement. Yeshua atoned for my sins for me, he substituted for me on the cross. For me to achieve at-one-ment, I have to achieve it. What a waste of time and the life-blood of Yeshua. So, if you don’t want to incur my wrath, and I believe it would be righteous anger, NEVER use the term at-one-ment in place of atonement. I’ll unapologetically snap your head off. Q&C

In vv.28-29 Yeshua tells of the resurrection and that he’ll be the one calling the dead from their graves. Once more he is telling the Pharisees and scribes that he is Elohim, and also telling the Sadducees that their doctrine is wrong. He was really making points with the Ioudaioi that day, wasn’t he? He speaks of the resurrection without distinguishing between the first and second resurrections. Those who believed in it knew that the righteous would be resurrected first and the wicked at another time (Dan.12.2), but they did not know that there would be a separation of 1000 years. The specific length of time between the two was not revealed until the Revelation of Yeshua haMashiyach to Yochanan on the isle of Patmos (Rev.20.4-6, 11-15). Yeshua brilliantly illustrated v.28 when he raised Lazarus from the dead (Jn.11). If he hadn’t spoken specifically to Lazarus in v. 43, it is quite possible that a general resurrection would have happened on the spot. That is why the distinction. Prophecy said there would be two separate resurrections for the righteous and for the wicked, so Yeshua could not simply say, ‘Come forth!” To do so would nullify partially revealed truth and the plan of Avinu. One day soon he will say, “Ye righteous of my Father, come forth!”, and the resurrection of the righteous dead and the translation of all living believers will instantly occur to the great consternation of the wicked. They will have been ‘left behind’. Don’t you be.

When Yeshua says in v.29, “I can of mine own self do nothing,” what do you think he means? This is not a rhetorical question. Does anyone want to tackle that?

I think he meant that he’d emptied himself of his independent exercise of his divine attributes, authority and power (Phil.2.5-7). Yeshua was Elohim the Son from eternity past, not having a beginning, of One Spirit with Yah Avinu and Elohim Ruach haKodesh. But he voluntarily gave that up so that he could become one of us and fulfill the law so that he could be our propitiator. He, who should have been waited upon hand and foot as the King of kings, came as a servant, in part to show us how to live a victorious life. He submitted himself to the will of Avinu, surrendered his own will and life to Avinu. That was the source of his power on earth, he exercised no authority of his own, only that of his Father through his Ruach. And that same surrender is to be the source of our power and authority. If we were to submit to his will, we too could exercise his authority. What kind of power is displayed in your life? What does that say of your surrender?

As a result of Yeshua’s total surrender to the will of Avinu, not seeking his own, he was and is able to judge justly and righteously. He is able to sympathize with us because he is one of us, and he is able to pass righteous judgment because he is Elohim. I would not want anyone else to judge me. Avinu’s judgment is righteous and just in its severity, because his holiness is the standard with which He must judge. By the standard of Elohim’s holiness, I am forever lost, too vile and unholy to even stand in his presence.  Man’s standard is very different, based in what he thinks is just at the moment. By that standard, I would get a free pass because I would not send anyone to hell, because I don’t want to go there myself. If I did condemn someone to hell, then when using the same criterion, I would have to go there too (Mat.7.2). But Yah Yeshua haMashiyach, Elohim in human flesh, felt all the same temptations and weaknesses that we do (Heb.4.15), and therefore can temper his severe righteousness with mercy in those of us who have believed and trusted him for salvation. This is not to say that Avinu has no mercy, for if that were true he would not have sent Yah Yeshua to propitiate for us. This all just helps me to understand how a holy Elohim can have mercy on a wretch like Mark Pitrone, to graciously give him the faith to believe on Yah. If this is incorrect, please correct me. Q&C

In v.31-32, Yeshua tells of his own witness of himself and the witness of another, who for now remains nameless – we’ll see who He is shortly. I find it interesting that even Yeshua’s own witness of himself would not be true without corroboration. I don’t think he meant that his word is untrustworthy (Jn.8.14), but that it would not be sufficient to prove the truth of his assertion, for in the mouths of 2 or 3 witness shall a thing be established (Deut.17.6, 19.15, Mat.18:16, 2Cor.13:1, 1Tim.5:19, Heb.10:28). 

Yeshua goes on to say in vv.33-35 that there is another who bears witness of him, whose witness he knows is true. He elaborates in vv.36ff that the other is Avinu in heaven. But before he says that, he refers to Yochanan the Immerser, whose followers must have been in the crowd, perhaps even among the Pharisees and scribes. But Yeshua rejects Yochanan’s witness to himself, because Yochanan is just a guy. His witness may be false, but Avinu’s can never be (Rom.3.4a, Tit.1.2, Heb.6.18). Yeshua tells these things that they might believe his Father’s witness and be saved. Yochanan’s words cannot save them, being the words of man, but Yeshua’s Word can. They had gone to Yochanan for his witness to the truth, and that was good as far as it went, but Yeshua had a greater witness to the truth, his very works (v.36) that had lately gotten him into so much trouble with the Ioudaioi. He was saying, in effect, (Mark paraphrase) ‘You went out to hear Yochanan because he spoke of the truth and that’s good, but I show you the truth by the very works I do. These works are my Father’s witness of me; that I am from him. You loved to bask in the witness of Yochanan because he told you of the truth (v.35), but when you are confronted with the truth itself you will not believe it (v.38), for Elohim’s word does not live in you. If it did, if you really loved the truth, you would believe his report (v.37). But you refuse his witness of me, because you’ve never seen or heard from him in the scriptures you claim to love. (Mark paraphrase)’ What about you? Have you seen Elohim Avinu in the scriptures? Have you heard his voice? Have you surrendered to him? Have you trusted Yeshua to reconcile you to our Father in heaven? Does his Word abide in you? Elohim wants nothing more than your friendship and fellowship. If you haven’t come to him before, stop the study and do it now. He gave everything to have you. You are all he wants. Something alive cannot long be sustained in a rotting, putrefying corpse; it needs to be nourished with living material. Spiritual life cannot be maintained with physical food. It needs spiritual food; I.e., the Word of Elohim (Job 23.12, Ps.19.7-11, Jer.15.16, Ez.2.8-3.3, 1Tim.4.6, De.8.3).

He goes on in vv.39-40 about the scripture’s witness to him. The scriptures were in their brains, they had memorized large chunks of it, but the words did not live in them, didn’t change them in any appreciable manner unless it was to make them more prideful, more hateful. The fact is that the scribes and Pharisees were more worried about compliance with the letter of the ‘oral law’ than with the spirit of Torah, and then only in other people, not so much themselves. Are we not guilty of the same thing, demanding compliance with a law that does not abide in the hearts of men? How can we demand compliance to the truth from Bill, George, Barack, Donald and Sleepy Joe when the truth is not in them? Do we not see our own sins in the people we condemn? They have an excuse, since they are not born from above, but do we? We have been tempted to and done all the same sins that our pet perpetrators have; if not in fact, then in spirit. Should we not, then, attempt to be like our high priest, sympathizing with the infirmities of our fellows and coming alongside them to try to reconcile them to Elohim? That is our ministry here (2Cor.5.18-21), is it not?

In v.41 he says that he doesn’t receive honour from men. The word receive is from the grk. word lambano which means literally to take. He’s not saying that men are not offering him honour, but that he doesn’t want men’s honour and won’t accept it. He wants honour from Elohim. He’s not looking to please men, but his Father in heaven.

Vv.42-43 need to be seen together. If they had Elohim’s love in them they would receive his testimony as the truth it is. This is more proof that they did not love the Law and the Prophets, but used it as a wedge to uphold their power. Yeshua is in process of kicking the wedge free, and, I think, the religious leaders are scared that their positions of honour before the people are about to be lost. For that reason they will not receive what they know in their hearts is the truth, Yeshua is not after their praise or the honour from men. He tells them that one will come (antiMashiyach) who will, speaking in his own name, accept their honour and praise. 

He says in v.44 that the reason they won’t believe him is that he is not after their praise, which thing they want above all else. They want the praises of men like themselves, and when anti-Mashiyach comes and accepts their honors, they’ll accept him as their mashiyach. Since they are self-seeking and totally (self) righteous, and he will be exactly the same, he’s what they expect mashiyach to be. So he’s whom they’ll accept. All because they have no love for the truth of Elohim’s word. Before we get too critical, let’s examine ourselves. Are we guilty of the same stuff? Do we need to repent?

In v.45 he informs them that he will not accuse them before his Father, that Moshe will be their accuser. Not that Moshe himself will accuse them, but Torah that Moshe wrote under the revelation of Yah Yeshua will. He says that the Torah in which they put all their trust (Jn.9.28, Rom.2.17-25) will be used as the witness against them. They were trusting the works of the law to qualify them for eternal life (Gal.2.11-3.10). Yeshua was telling them they were trusting in a thing that they did not believe. How stupid is that? Had they truly known and believed the scriptures they would have recognized Yeshua for who he is — Mashiyach, the son of Yosef/David, the Son of Elohim.  Why would they believe the author of the Word if they didn’t believe the Word they claimed to trust? How else do you know an authorbut by his writing? Had they known it they would have known him and believed. (If you haven’t yet, read Gal.2.11-3.10 now)

11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 13 And the other Ioudaioi dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. 14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before all, If thou, being Yehudi, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Ioudaioi, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Ioudaioi? 15 We Ioudaioi by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Yeshua haMashiyach, even we have believed in Mashiyach Yeshua, that we might be justified by the faith of Mashiyach, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. 17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Mashiyach, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Mashiyach the minister of sin? Elohim forbid. 18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto Elohim. 20 I am crucified with Mashiyach: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Mashiyach liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of Elohim, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of Elohim: for if righteousness by the law, then Mashiyach is dead in vain… 

3.1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Yeshua haMashiyach hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if yet in vain. 5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you; by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 6 Even as Avraham believed Elohim, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Avraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that Elohim would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Avraham, “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Avraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. [Gal.2.11-3.10]

End Jn.5               End of Shabbat Bible Study