June 22, 2010/13 Shabbat Bible Study
©2013 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries
June 22, 2013 – Year 1 Sabbath 15
Genesis 18:1-33 – Isaiah 33:17 – 34:12 – Psalm 14 – Luke 8:40-56
Links:
Genesis 18.1-8 – Torah clearly says that Y’hovah appeared to Avraham in the plains of Mamre [Mamre was one of the Amorites with whom Avram had confederated against the kings of the east and to whom Avram gave their portion of the booty in Gen.14]. But in the next verse it says that 3 men were there. If one of the 3 men is Y’hovah, the other 2 were likely angels. The Chumash[1] commentary on v.2 says that the 3 are the angels Micha’el, Gavriel and Raphael. The sages think that Raphael was there because they also believe that Avraham had only just been circumcised 3 days before, and this was the worst day of the healing process, so Raphael was there specifically to heal Avraham’s wound so that he could actually DO all the stuff he was about to do. I think[2] Chumash is correct on the 1st 2 because I think the 3 are Y’hovah Tzavaoth [the risen Yeshua haMoshiach] and the captains of his 2 hosts, Micha’el and Gavriel [the 3rd host I think fell with their captain, the Adversary/haSatan/Lucifer). Avraham addresses him as Adonai in v.3, but then in v.13, after he’d given the prophecy in Sarah’s hearing, Y’hovah asked why Sarah had laughed. So one of the men, the one Avraham had addressed as Adonai, was Y’hovah and that tells me it was Yeshua haMoshiach. I think that every time Y’hovah appears face to face with men in Tanakh, it is the risen Yeshua. In our passage Avraham brings Y’hovah a meal that consists of milk and meat of a calf. I don’t see anything in the passage that says we can’t eat flesh food and milk together, and it certainly appears that Y’hovah himself ate milk and flesh food together. So why is it NOT kosher to eat milk and flesh food together in, say, a cheeseburger?
Let’s look at what Avraham did after he RAN to meet them, BOWED to Adonai Y’hovah [presumably before Raphael had healed the pain of his CC ;-)] and asked the men to tarry while he prepared a ‘morsel’ for them to eat. 1) Avraham HASTENED into the tent and told Sarah to make 3 measures of ‘fine flower’ into cakes, NOT LOAVES. Fine flour is what was offered to Y’hovah in the ‘meal offerings’ in the tabernacle and the temple. I think this bread was matzoh, unleavened. 2) Then he RAN to the herd, picked out the finest calf he had and brought it to the young man to butcher (the rabbis say this was Ishmael – I doubt it, but maybe). 3) Then he GATHERED butter, milk and the prepared calf to present to them for a meal. The Hebrew word translated butter in the KJV is Strong’s H2529 חמאה chem’ah – khem-aw’ or (shortened) chemah {khay-maw’}; …literally, curdled milk or cheese:–butter. HMMM! Bread, cheese, veal of beef? Sounds like a cheeseburger to me!
Now that’s stretching the scripture a bit to make this point – using a portion of a verse of scripture upon which to base a doctrinal position can be dangerous – especially if it doesn’t agree with another part of scripture. The rabbis have built a fence around Torah with the ostensible purpose of protecting the people from sin, but what it turned into was a control on those people. The rabbis base their kosher kitchen, separating dairy and flesh food and their respective dinnerware and storage [separate refrigerators, freezers, cupboards, drawers, and etc.] doctrine on
The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of Y’hovah Elohecha. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’ milk. (Exodus 23:19)
and 2 other places where this is reiterated (Ex.34.26, Dt.14.21). Now what a kid of the goats being seethed in his mother’s milk has to do with enjoying a cheeseburger is beyond me – and WAY beyond Torah. It’s a fence that is meant to keep me from breaking Torah, but it helps to keep me from fulfilling it as well. Here’s another stretch, but it makes some sense – Y’hovah commands us to be set apart as he is set apart. Here, he ate the ingredients of a cheeseburger all at one sitting. Y’hovah cannot sin. SO-O-o-o …. It is not a sin to eat a cheeseburger, regardless the protestations of the rabbis. Q&C
Vv.9-15 – The entire group asked where Sarah was. Of course, it’s possible that this was like a formation of troops with an officer in charge who speaks for the group, the officer asking “Where is Sarah, thy wife?” They knew that her name had been changed, but this had only just been revealed to Avraham a few days ago, and he’d been circumcised in the meanwhile, so who had he told besides the men of his house? Avi told them she was in the tent. Y’hovah says loudly enough for her to hear that by this time next year, she would bear Avi a son. When she heard that, she started reasoning in her head and heart and laughed at the idea. She was old, Avi was older, and she had done the menopause thing long ago. She didn’t think it was funny so much as ridiculous, and I think that was what she thought. Her laughter was probably scornful.
Y’hovah asked why Sarah laughed. Perhaps he was ticked. Hadn’t Avraham told her of his prophecy of a few days ago? Was this the first she’d heard of this? The question he asked was meant to rebuke Avraham – “You know I am Y’hovah. Is anything too hard for Me?” The appointed time he speaks of was a mo’ed. When was Yitzhak born? I think it was Pesach time, the same time Yeshua would be offered 1800 years later. Can you see that the mo’edim were already in existence for the people of Y’hovah long before they were codified in Lev.23?
Sarah tried to cover up her laughter with a lie, but Y’hovah wasn’t biting. The way he answered seems bemused to me – like he thought it was cute, like she was a two year old trying to get away with something. When my daughter was about 18 months old, we had some friends over one night and had put her to bed. She got out of bed and sneaked up to the corner of the hallway behind me. Now, she was wearing one of those paper diapers with the plastic outer layer, so I heard her coming from the time she got out of bed. When she stopped just shy of the corner and was starting to peak around it I said (never having turned around to look at her), “Hannah!? What are you doing out of bed?” Then I heard her running back to her room and climbing into bed. I know she was thinking, “How did he KNOW?!?” Very cute. Of course, I had to get up and go rebuke her gently and tell her to stay in bed. The alarmed look in her eyes was priceless, but I couldn’t crack a smile. Had to keep up the front to keep the impression on her. I can see the almost smile on Yeshua’s face when he said, “No, but you DID laugh.” Q&C
Vv.16-33 – When the men stood up and looked toward Sodom, Avraham went with them for a way. I think he had an idea of what was going down. He knew his nephew Lot was an elder in the town and was concerned about him. The other 2 ‘men’ left, and Y’hovah Yeshua didn’t keep him in the dark, but revealed that the angels were going to bring judgment down on the wickedness in the city. So Avraham pled for Lot’s life and his family. Do you see the progression from 50 to 40, to 30 and finally to 10? I think Avraham was only worried about his kin, and acknowledged the need to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness. Meanwhile, Y’hovah Yeshua already knew that there were not even 2 righteous in the city – only Lot was a believer, and a carnal at that. I think Avi was more optimistic in his hope that Lot was a good witness to the people of Sodom. After all, he’d lived there for upwards of 13 years now, and had become a leader of the town. Yeshua was not so clueless. It’s possible that Avi was not clueless either, and just didn’t want to press his luck by continuing on to 1 righteous person, for fear that Lot himself may not have qualified.
I am of the opinion that the USofA is about to come under severe judgment, perhaps on a par with Sodom and Gomorrah. As Billy Graham once said, “If God doesn’t judge San Francisco, he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.” The same applies to the USofA. In the grand scheme of things, if America is NOT judged, Yeshua owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. Sodom was full of sodomites and idolaters – same here in the US. And the worst idolaters are the people who merely SAY they are the Children of Gaw-awd! The vast majority of people who name the Name of Yeshua are going to be sorely disappointed when they hear the most frightful words of all scripture,
“I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:23)
May it not be heard by any within the sound of my voice. I am afraid that there are some who, like Lot, are living carnally and need to repent of some idols in their lives. We need to constantly be looking at our own lives and keep ourselves pure of the world system. Do you do this? Or is there a little bit of Lot in ALL of us? Q&C
Isaiah 33.17-34.12 – V.13 is the beginning of the address to Y’hovah’s people. V.14 speaks of the people who claim to be Y’hovah’s, but aren’t walking in his ways. Vv.15-16 speak of the people our passage addresses – hopefully, US! Do you know what the word is that is translated ‘munitions’? M’tzadoth, מצדות, plural of Masada. Did the people of Masada think they were experiencing the fulfillment of this prophecy? Were they expecting Messiah to come and deliver them? I am hopeful that this is the case with us, today – that Messiah will come and deliver us. But are we certain it is? As certain as the Jews of 70 CE, who held off the Roman legions for a couple of years and finally committed suicide rather than allow a glorious Roman victory? Let me tell you, that if WE aren’t any more righteous than THEY were I wouldn’t count on it. And so, again, we need to watch our walks and keep in mind 1Jn.2.6 ‘Walk as Yeshua walked.’
Vv.17-19 – Those of v.16 will see the king, those of v.15 will see the very far off land – exile where no one can find them. The faithful will ‘meditate terror’. Meditate is the Hebrew word hagah, to ponder. They will consider the terror caused by those around them – sounds like what’s happening in Israel now – and what to do about it, how to punish the terrorizers. The scribe is the one who marks off the terrorizers; the receiver is the one who pays out the just recompense of the offense. Counted is the same root as scribe, so the one who marked the strongholds of the enemy. These will NOT see fierce men with mysterious languages or who stammer and can’t be understood. I think this is telling us that Y’hovah Yeshua is going to do the fighting – probably HarMegiddo. Kinda the opposite of Is.28.11, eh? That’s where we get to deal WITH all the stuff we WON’T have to deal with in Is.33. Basically, Is.33 is the comfort for those who had to endure the heathen overrunning the land during the tribulation time of trouble we see in Is.28 (and are about to enter into).
Vv.20-24 – “Look upon Zion” and “Jerusalem a quiet habitation” sets the timing as Millennial. Y’hovah is our Judge, Lawgiver and King – this is Yeshua on his throne. V.22-24 look more like New Earth/New Jerusalem to me, though it is stated that the people will be forgiven their sins, which is Millennial. In the new Earth there will be no sin to forgive. Q&C
Is.34. – Ye nations = Ephraim in exile. This whole chapter is to the people of all nations that they are accountable to him for what they know to do, but don’t do it. The indignation spoken of here could be referring to Gog u’Magog or even to Armageddon, I think Armageddon. I think that because his indignation is against ALL nations and their armies. If this refers to Gog u’Magog, it is the ultimate fulfillment at the end of the Millennium. However, vv.3&4 narrow it down to Armageddon, because the stench of their carcasses and their blood will be on the mountains. If this was the ultimate Gog u’Magog, there wouldn’t be time, as I think the GWT and recreation of all things immediately follows that ‘confrontation’. What vv.4-6 describe is the aftermath of Armageddon’s nuclear exchanges on the plains of Megiddo. I see 144,000 little bubbles of 70 degrees with a cool breeze in the midst of a sea of nuclear fire – Y’hovah protecting his own from the destruction he allows the armies of men to bring on themselves. Y’hovah’s sword is bathed in the heavens. His garments are stained with the blood of his enemies as he comes out of Bozrah (63.1). Idumea is the people of his curse – this is Edom and Esau, as in Mal.1.3.
2 I have loved you, saith Y’hovah. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’ brother? saith Y’hovah: yet I loved Jacob, 3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
In v.6, there is a reference to the fat around the kidneys. The word translated ‘fat’ is the Hebrew, chelev -כלב, and speaks of a fence of protection around the organs [particularly the heart, as that is a literal translation of the word chelev, around the heart]. Y’hovah is trying to pierce the fence around the heart of Esau, but to no avail.
The unicorn is a symbol of Y’hovah’s righteous judgment. The constellation we know as Taurus is called the r’em in the Hebrew denderah. R’em is NOT a bull, but a unicorn. This day is the day of Y’hovah’s vengeance for the controversy of Zion. Is that the controversy over the Israeli government’s decision to divide the Land and Jerusalem that will cause the religious [Biblical] Zionists to rebel, and secede, and declare a new political entity called Zion? Will this entity be looking for ANYONE, even Yeshua’s talmidim, who will recognize their legitimacy to come and help? Time will tell.
The Idumean landscape will be blackened and burn until the dissolution of all things in the lake of Fire. The source of this burning may be the petroleum set ablaze by Iranian and other nukes sent against Israel that will fall short of their destination, as Y’hovah protects his land from destruction.
Vv.11-12 – The only things that will be able to live in that area will be every unclean bird and carrion eater. Notice that the owl is mentioned 3 times. The owl is Molech, the god of the Edomites. He is the god of abortion, as his worshippers made their children ‘pass through the fire’. This refers to the giant hollow brass owl that was the idol Molech, in which the priests of the Tophet would build a fire and allow it to get red hot. Then the worshippers would bring their babies and lay them in the glowing arms of this monster they called god. This was done on the day of Sol Invictus, the 4th day after the winter solstice and the 1st day that is noticeably longer – what we call Xmas, December 25th. The political leaders of Edom shall be called to the Kingdom of Messiah in Zion, but none shall answer the call, for they are all wiped out by Messiah in Bozrah. Q&C
Psalm 14 – The first verses of this psalm certainly tie in with the haftarah don’t they. When it says they have all gone aside, it means they are not in Y’hovah’s strait gate and narrow path. This speaks of the natural man, of course. But how much does it speak of the spiritual man, as well. When we get off the narrow way even by a degree, we are in spiritual peril. A 1/4༠ course deviation to the north from Norfolk, VA to the Straits of Gibraltar will put you in the English Channel. And a nuclear aircraft carrier moving at top speed can make the trip in about 2 days. So, depending on the speed of motion, you can get a LONG distance off the Way in a very short time. The natural man is filthy in relation to Y’hovah, but we can get that way in a very short time if we do not guard our hearts and our walk. We need to keep close and short accounts with Y’hovah.
The implication of v.4 is that even the workers of iniquity know what Y’hovah requires of them, that they need to take care of the widows and fatherless, for their only recourse is to Y’hovah who will NOT forsake them – He is their refuge. If the iniquitous devour the substance of the poor, if he does not acknowledge Y’hovah in his deeds, he will pay the price. When Y’hovah brings again the captivity of his people (Hos.1.10), when Yeshua brings Torah from Zion, Jacob will be whole again, Judah and Ephraim will be one. That will be a glorious Kingdom. Bo, Moshiach, bo! Q&C
Luke 8.40-56 – V.40 says the ‘people gladly received him’. I find this to be true more often than not – the ‘small’ people receive him with gladness, but the ‘big guys’ reject him. The ‘big guys’ in this case, I think, are the Sanhedrin and their lackeys among the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. He was upsetting the status quo and threatening their places in the religious gov’t of Israel, and possibly their standing with the political Roman gov’t, as well. But he was releasing the average Jew (and Joe) from the strictures of men’s traditions. The word gladly was added by the KJV translators, but the Greek word is apodechomai, which means to take fully, to approve, so the addition is not unwarranted.
So, as an exception to prove the rule, who walks up to ask his help but Yehorash [Jairus], a ruler of the synagogue in Capernaum, whose daughter he had left near death to fetch the healer, Yeshua. Yehorash asked Yeshua to come heal his daughter and Yeshua went immediately with him. On the way, to Yehorash’s house, a woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years and had spent all her living on vampires posing as doctors, who just bled her of all her property and left her with nothing, came up to him in the crowd and touched ‘the border of his garment’ and was immediately healed of her discharge. That garment, I think, was his tallith (AENT has ‘edge of his cloak’, Orthodox Jewish Bible actually says ‘tzitzit of his garment’). Yeshua felt the ‘virtue’ or power go out of him. How attuned to the Spirit he is that he, who is one with Y’hovah El Shaddai, could feel any expenditure of power. He asked the question, ‘Who touched me?’ to test the woman, to see if she’d own up without any encouragement or coercion. Peter almost rebuked him with, “How am I supposed to know? We have to push people out of your way so you can walk!”
The woman knew that she was known, at least to Yeshua, and she came trembling. She was trembling because, according to Torah, she had possibly made everyone in the crowd unclean by going through the press to touch Yeshua, and she HAD made him unclean by touching his tzitzit. Here’s what it says in Lev.15:
19 And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even. 20 And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean. 21 And whosoever toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. 22 And whosoever toucheth any thing that she sat upon shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. 23 And if it be on her bed, or on any thing whereon she sitteth, when he toucheth it, he shall be unclean until the even. 24 And if any man lie with her at all, and her flowers be upon him, he shall be unclean seven days; and all the bed whereon he lieth shall be unclean. 25 And if a woman have an issue of her blood many days out of the time of her separation, or if it run beyond the time of her separation; all the days of the issue of her uncleanness shall be as the days of her separation: she shall be unclean. 26 Every bed whereon she lieth all the days of her issue shall be unto her as the bed of her separation: and whatsoever she sitteth upon shall be unclean, as the uncleanness of her separation. 27 And whosoever toucheth those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. (Lev.15.19-27)
Every person in that crowd was possibly made unclean and Yeshua was for sure. I think that was what he meant that he felt virtue or power go out of him. She could have been in big trouble with the religious authorities. But what is Yeshua’s response? “Your faith has made you whole. Go in Shalom.”
In the Hebrew way of thinking, faith is not just belief, but also the actions that result from that belief. It wasn’t just her mental assent to truth, but that she had acted on what she believed. Had she NOT come and touched Yeshua’s tzitzit, she would not have been healed. When she touched his tzitzit, she affirmed
But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. (Malachi 4:2)
The word translated sun is shemesh, שמש, and is properly translated sun, though perhaps it ought not be capitalized as in the KJV. Shemesh can also mean the pinnacle of a thing and the pinnacle of righteousness would definitely describe Yeshua. The word translated wings is kanaph כנף and is the edge of something. The hem of Yeshua’s garment would be the kanaph of it, so when this woman touched the kanaph of his tallith, she was affirming Mal.4.2 as the truth, and saying that she believed Yeshua was the pinnacle of righteousness – Y’hovah. Q&C
Vv.49-56 – A man came from Yehorash’s house even as the words “Go in Shalom” left Yeshua’s mouth. He said that the little girl was dead and to not trouble Yeshua any more. [Who was this guy? Was the girl actually dead? Or did this guy not want Yeshua to come to the house and gain more standing with the people? Maybe I’m just a suspicious type, but I don’t trust that everyone who speaks in scripture is telling the truth. Ananias and Sapphira come to mind right off.] Yeshua told Yehorash to not fear, but believe and she would be made whole. The woman healed of the issue would be enough for Yehorash, if not for the newcomer, to believe Yeshua’s word. She was healed before his eyes for a purpose, which was to build his faith. Now, would he act on what he believed?
When Yeshua entered the room where the little girl was, he only allowed his inner circle and the parents to accompany him. He told the mourners (I think professional mourners from the PMA) that she was not dead, but was only asleep. They laughed at him scornfully, which makes my point about them being from the “Pro Mourner’s Tour”. They were on a ‘sight walk’, not a faith walk. The word ‘knowing’ is from Gr. êido, which is more literally ‘seeing’ she was dead. What they saw told them she was dead. But what did Yeshua do? First, he put them out [I hope on their collective ears] and then he just took the girl’s hand and told her to arise. Did he pray with high sounding words? Did he gyrate or go into histrionics? Nope, he just told her to arise. And she did. Was she really dead? Probably, but a close look at the scripture doesn’t conclusively say so. Yeshua himself said she was only sleeping.
The application of these 2 incidents, the woman with the issue and Yehorash’s daughter can be illuminating. The woman’s 12 year issue speaks to the uncleanness of all 12 tribes of Jacob. She is indicative of the northern tribes who are in exile from the family, unclean and needing to be made nigh. The Jews are represented best by Yehorash’s daughter, not dead but asleep to who Yeshua is. The order of the healings is indicative as well, of the reception Yeshua would receive – first accepted by a few from Judah, but more whole-heartedly by the 10 tribes disbursed among the pagan nations to whom Yeshua was sent (Mat.10.6, 15.24). But when the m’lo hagoyim is full and made whole from her uncleanness, Judah will respond by awaking from her sleep. Q&C
What follows is from my study on “The Life of Yeshua haMoshiach”[3].
113). Afflicted woman healed (Mat.9:20-22, Mk.5:25-34, Lk.8:43-48)- According to all the evangelists, Yeshua was on his way to revive an elder’s [Yehorash’] daughter when this incident happened. Yeshua had gone back to Capernaum immediately following the drowning pigs incident. That was where they’d met Mat, who was probably trying to collect some taxes from the 3 (Pete, Jim and Jack). There seems to have been a crowd waiting for him at the shoreline which followed him to Mat’s house and waited for him in the street, for there they were when he came out of Mat’s house.
The woman comes up from behind to touch his garment. She had had this issue for 12 years and had spent everything she had on physicians. Mark says she suffered many things at their hands and got worse. No doubt they figured she had too much blood, so they’d leached her good to rid her of all that excess blood. Kind of like chemotherapy today. “Let’s try this” the doctors will say, not knowing it will help, but rather ‘practicing’ the most invasive measures first because they pay better than the non-invasive procedures. And besides, leeches have to eat, too.
But the point of the whole thing is that she finally had come to the end of herself and had nothing left to pay for her healing. She had probably resigned herself to the fact of the constant blood issue when she heard of this Rabbi who could heal the sick and the lame and the halt and cast out devils. “Maybe he can heal me,” she must have thought, a glimmer of hope arising to brighten her despair. But as she got closer she’d have remembered that this was not 21st century America, and it was not permitted for a woman to approach a Rabbi on the street. So she comes by stealth, all the while thinking something like, “I can’t just talk to him. Maybe if I can kind of brush up against him. But a man that can do the things he’s done is not an ordinary man. The power of Elohim rests on him.” She was grasping at straws, but the more she thought about it the more it seemed likely that Yeshua was the Moshiach, the Sun of righteousness with healing in his wings (Mal.4.2, Ps.147.3, Ruth 2.12, Ps.36.7, 91.4). She developed her strategy and touched the hem of his garment. The hem is the bottom of the garment, which brushed or was closest in contact with the ground. Remember the harlot in Simon Pharisee’s house, washing Y’hovah’s feet with her tears and drying the feet with her hair, her glory? Same deal. This is the part of the garment that came in contact with the filth in the street. She was truly at the end and was abasing herself before Y’hovah of glory.
When we swallow our pride and give control of our lives to Elohim, truly surrender all to him, he does great things in us and through us. We get healed of the disease of sinful pride and allow Elohim to use us instead of trying to do great things for him. It is then that Elohim does great things with us. It is also then that we are most likely to get prideful at the thing that Elohim has accomplished while we were surrendered and we start to take the control back. We think, ‘Wow, I’m doing pretty well here lately.’ And then we fall down and it takes another couple of years before we come to the end of ourselves and allow Elohim to take control again. Do we learn from this roller coaster ride? Not usually. We do it again and again. Commitment is a good thing, but surrender is better.
It was when she surrendered that Yeshua told her that her faith had made her whole. This woman was probably well known in that city as the wealthy woman who spent all she had on quack cures to no avail. She had done everything that was humanly possible, all she could think of. The whole reason for the question, “Who touched me?”, was to draw her out, to bring her to a public display of surrender to Y’hovah. That’s the devotional application. Are you surrendered to Yeshua? What is the thing in your hand that you know is your strength? Have you surrendered it to Yeshua? Or are you still working in your own strength?
Did the woman learn from her experience? The scripture doesn’t say what came of her, but this story is preached on quite often, usually by ‘faith-healers’ as an example of what they can do for you. Pish-posh!! This woman had given up on ever being well of her own devises. Indeed, she had no more devises at her disposal. She’d spent it all on vampire-like physicians who’d sucked her wallet dry until she had no more to spend and then told her they could do no more for her. Now she placed her trust in the only trustworthy Physician, the Great Physician, and she received freely what she could never buy from those quacks and blood-suckers, true health, both physical and spiritual. Q&C
114). Daughter of a synagogue official raised (Mat.9.18-19, 23-26, Mk.5.22-24, 35-43, Lk.8.41-42, 49-56) – Luke says the girl is dying, Mark says she’s at the point of death and Mat says she’s already dead. Which is it? Dying and at the point of death could be the same thing. Mat may have been using a figure of speech saying that she was as good as dead, or the father may have been speaking his fear. Like the woman in the parenthetical incident, Yehorash may have had to come to the end of himself before he’d trust Elohim to heal his daughter.
But Yehorash [Jairus] must have been a true seeker after Elohim, for he knew who Yeshua was. In each gospel he falls down at Yeshua feet and worships him. As the ruler of the synagogue he must have been well versed in the scriptures and known the prophecies of Moshiach, especially Mal.4.2, ‘with healing in his wings’.
When Yeshua arrived he found that the mourners hadn’t allowed the body to cool to room temperature before they started their histrionics. These were professional mourners who, like ambulance chasing lawyers, eagerly awaited some occasion to ply their trade, profiting from and feeding on the grief and pain of others. This is seen in their ability to shut off the tears and wailing and to turn on the scornful laughter at the mention of her non-terminal condition and impending healing. They probably thought, ‘I’ve mourned hundreds of dead folk and I know a dead folk when I see one. Just who does this guy think he is, anyway?’ Imagine their surprise about 30 seconds later when, what to their wondering eyes should appear, but a perfectly happy and healthy 12 year old formerly dead girl.
The words of Y’hovah are quite straightforward here. Mat says that Yeshua walked into the house, saw and heard the mourners, and said (Mark paraphrase), “Make a hole”, or “Out of my way” or, more likely, “Excuse me, the girl isn’t dead yet.” To put all the passages together we see Yeshua walk into the house. He sees and hears the tumult of the mourners and says (Mark paraphrase), “Why are you making all this racket? The girl isn’t dead, she’s sleeping.” When the mourners turn off the crocodile tears and turn on the scornful laughter, Yeshua says, “Get out of my way,” and he goes in with the parents and the 3 and revives the girl.
I think, I could very well be wrong, that in this instance modern medical techniques could have revived the girl, that she was clinically dead having no heartbeat, but not irreversibly dead – a set of paddles and a jolt of juice might revive her. But in that time, such things were 2000 years from invention, and therefore she was dead. Noone could revive her. And Yeshua did not have paddles, or CPR or any such thing. He merely and miraculously took her by the hand and spoke to her and she revived and got up off the bier. Resurrecting the dead by a touch and the Word of his mouth made his ‘true identity’ known.
The word ‘talitha’ translates to damsel or young girl. There has been a controversy among the ‘higher critics’ for years about Is.7.14 “a virgin shall conceive…” It is cleared up in the gospels, where Mat. uses the greek word parthenos which means virgin and cannot be properly made to say anything else. Here in Mark we have the word that translates young girl. If the ‘higher critics’ were not so high on their own erudition they might actually believe the Word of Elohim and be saved. It is interesting to me that Talitha is a transliteration from Chaldean to Hebrew to Greek and in its original refers to a fresh lamb, which demands maidenhood; i.e., either word could have been used for Miryam, but parthenos removes all doubt.
It is interesting that the only witnesses to the actual event were the girl’s parents and the 3, who were told not to publish the thing, but somehow word got out and spread quickly. Could be the UMW (the United Mourn Workers) put together an advertising campaign against Yeshua to have him removed from their midst before their livelihood was removed, like the pig farmers in Gadara. This may have been the origin of the 3rd oldest profession [#1, prostitution; #2 politician] – the union ‘business agent’. Q&C
End of Shabbat Bible Study
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