November 21, 2015 Shabbat Bible Study
©2015 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries
November 21, 2015 – Year 3, Sabbath 36
Devarim 17:14-18:13 – 1 Sh’muel 10:17-25 – Tehellim 133 – Acts 13:13-44
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urim_and_Thummim
Devarim 17:14 –Yehovah makes a provision for when the people decide that they want a king, ‘like as all the nations’. The ideal would be that Israel recognize that Yehovah was the King of kings and Master of masters and obey the priests and judges as they brought righteous, Torah-informed judgments and rulings as the people’s questions arose. It would be really quite a long time before they would ask for a king – almost 400 years from crossing Yarden. The straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, was seen in last week’s Haftarah, 1 Ki.8.1-7, when the righteous judge’s sons, the sons of Sh’muel, began to pervert justice so that the people would recognize their unjust, Torah-less decisions and surmise, at least, that they were accepting bribes and considering persons unjustly. I would venture a guess that what really frosted their cookies was made evident when Yoel and AviYah brought a prejudiced judgment in favor of an Israelite against a stranger in their midst – in the teeth of both law and justice. Is that not what frosts our cookies with politicians in our day; thinking about their corporate benefactors’ rather than their constituents’ interests and maintaining their power thereby? It does mine! So, the people asked Sh’muel for a king. It is obvious that the people trusted Sh’muel, but not his sons, for they came to him with the request, knowing that HE would enquire of Yehovah, not some moneyed interest. I am pretty certain that Yehovah would have removed Yoel and AviYah before the death of Sh’muel or shortly after had the people not asked for a king, because I am ABSOLUTELY certain that he had already chosen to raise David up as king in Yerushalayim. Whether David would have been Melech Moshiach and his progeny absolutely righteous we won’t know, maybe ever. But I think it is a possibility. Whenever we get ahead of Yehovah’s timing and plan, we throughly mess it up for ourselves.
V.15 – Yehovah requires that any king they set over themselves MUST be an Israelite; no ger or goy, no matter how impressive looking or how valiant in battle, was to be made king in Israel. Think about the 1st 2 kings of Israel.
Sha’ul was a HUGE man, perhaps he had some Nephilim DNA in him. He was ‘head and shoulders’ taller than anyone else in Israel. The people, acting in the flesh and on the evidence of their eyes, liked this choice. Yehovah gave them exactly what they desired, a man who would impress his enemies with his countenance, if not his skill and leadership. Sha’ul was impressive to see, but when you looked more closely, his character was less than exemplary. He was neither trained nor cut out for command. He was vindictive and often petty, not good traits for a king – it could cause needless wars.
David, on the other hand, was kinda puny; the runt of the litter, as it were. But his character was to his physique as Sha’ul’s physique was to his character. They were as opposite as 2 men could be. David had been trained to lead men by watching over sheep, even as Moshe had been. He had had to protect those sheep from wolves, lions and bears. At least 1 bear and 1 lion had found out what would become of them if they threatened David’s flocks. BTW, since David was from BethLechem, do you suppose that he was the shepherd of the Tabernacle’s flock, and watched over the Pesach lambs? Do you suppose that the shepherds who watched their flocks by night on the night that Yeshua was born were positionally direct descendants from David, perhaps even blood descendants? If such is the case, and Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek in Avraham, did David do obeisance to King Yeshua through those shepherds? Could be!
V.16a – Yehovah commanded Israel that her king should not multiply horses and chariots to himself, and David did not. There is one instance that MIGHT be seen as David disobeying this command, but I think he did not.
1 And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines. 2 And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And the Moabites became David’s servants, brought gifts. 3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. 4 And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariots, but reserved of them an hundred chariots. 5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men. 6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, brought gifts. And Yehovah preserved David whithersoever he went. (2Sam8.1-6 all but 1 added word removed)
The way I read that, David destroyed 1000 chariots of Hadadezer’s 1100 and made him give up 700 horsemen and 20K footmen, leaving him enough to defend his land, but not enough to go on the offensive. In effect (a Mark paraphrase), he told Hadadezer, “I’m going to leave you enough of an army to protect your nation. If you need help with an invader, you call me for help and I will be here. But if you try to rebuild an offensive army, I will return and wipe you out.” And, like Butch of the Little Rascals, he was “just the guy that can do it, too!”
V.16b – David would never have thought to take his people back to Egypt for anything. The only mention of Egypt during David’s reign is in 2Sam.7 and it is Yehovah who refers to it. David never considered an alliance. Shlomo was different, but he’s not our subject here. I don’t think Sha’ul gathered chariots or horses to himself, either; he had at least THAT much good sense.
V.17a – David did blow the next command off; multiplying wives to himself. He had 1 wife who was the daughter of a foreign king – Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, the mother of Absalom. This explains why Absalom fled to Talmai of Geshur when he fled Yerushalayim; it was his maternal grandfather. This also explains why David didn’t go after Absalom there; he wanted to keep peace in his house. This is what happens when we despise a command of Yehovah.
V.17b – It LOOKED like David was multiplying silver and gold to himself, but he was not; he was gathering the materials Shlomo would need to build the Temple in Zion. This is NOT to say that he lived like a pauper; he didn’t. But the silver and gold was a resource more than a possession that he coveted.
Vv.18-20 – I think also, that David may have been the ONLY King in Yisrael to actually sit down and write his own copy of Torah; maybe Shlomo did, but he surely didn’t follow THESE commands very well. Q&C
18.1-8 – Because the Levites are to have no land inheritance baAretz Yisrael, in the land, they were to have their needs covered by Yehovah, for HE is their inheritance. When an Israelite came to offer anything to Yehovah, the priests and all Levi were to get a portion of the flesh, grain and liquid oblations, as Yehovah had promised them. The foreleg, zroah, the jaw, l’chiy’, and the maw, kebah, of all the animals offered were for the priests and Levites. The sages say that they received the right foreleg because they used the right arm to perform the offering, the Jaw, including the tongue, because they taught Torah, and the maw, or first stomach, because they inspected the innards of the animal for any disqualifying imperfections. I think that the priest who offered the animal had to roast a small portion on the altar and consume it as he offered the animal as a symbol of Yehovah’s acceptance of the offering, though I could be way off base here. Also, the Levites were to receive the 1st-fruits of the offering as well, from the grain, the wine and the oil that was to accompany the flesh offering. These last were not very large portions singly, but over the course time it would provide well for the Levites. They were also to get a small portion of the first shearing of the sheep. All these offerings were provided during the priest’s course of service, or any time Yehovah led him to come up to Yerushalayim for service. The Levites that lived in the cities and towns of Israel could go up for service whenever Yehovah moved them to. I think that if he was coming up very frequently, some one might get suspicious of his true motives or his fitness for service at all. The 2 ulterior motives for which a priest might come up that come to mind would be desire for more stuff; covetousness, or a desire to slaughter more animals; blood thirst. I think if either of these were found out it would disqualify the priest.
Vv.9-13 – These commands seem to be general, but its context is with the Levites, so it may be addressing them specifically. Vv.10-12 deal with false prophets, sorcerers, and etc., so the juxtaposition with the Levites is interesting, at least. I think that this time it is referring primarily to the Levites, but also to Yisrael, generally. We had a very similar admonition just a month or so ago in ch.13
1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for Yehovah Elohechem proveth you, to know whether ye love Yehovah Elohechem with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after Yehovah Elohechem, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn away from Yehovah Elohechem, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which Yehovah Elohecha commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee … And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from Yehovah Elohecha, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. (Deut.13.1-5, 10)
Yehovah has already adjudicated this; after a thorough investigation to establish guilt, stone the false prophet to put this evil out of your midst, as he is tempting you to go after other gods and to abandon Yehovah. We are to follow after the Torah of Yehovah and the Levites are to guide us in our walks with him. If a Levite begins to tell people to walk in a way that Yehovah has forbidden them to walk, that Levite has become something other than he is supposed to be. The litany of offences that bring the death penalty is pretty short, but is very specific. All have to do with Canaanite religious practices, which can be traced back to Nimrod and Paleo-Babylon. Q&C
1Sh’muel 10.17-25 – Remember that in last week’s haftarah, Sh’muel’s sons Yoel and AviYah were appointed judges and that they were wicked judges, taking bribes and perverting justice. The people saw that they were not like their father and told Sh’muel to find them a king, like the other nations. Sh’muel seemed to take their rejection of his sons personally, as if they were rejecting him. I think that Yehovah’s handling of Sh’muel reflected Sh’muel’s attitude. He had been, quite probably, the most righteous judge in the history of the Israelite nation, for until now there had been nothing that might have even been remotely misconstrued into believing anything otherwise. But his reaction leads me to think that he might have begun to think he was worthy of being the progenitor of a judicial dynasty, like Denethor, the steward of Gondor, in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, began to believe that there was really no need for a king and that he should be the progenitor of a new line of kings in Gondor. I think that this is a human failing, for what else could be the spirit behind the eventual fall of men like Jim Bakker, Ted Haggard, etc.; men who started as servants of Elohim; who became, in at least SOME instances, GREAT servants of Elohim, and who just got too big for their britches, perhaps caught up in the hoopla and the grand lifestyle their positions afforded them. And so, Yehovah told Sh’muel, who had been a righteous judge and ‘steward’ of his nation, that Israel was not rejecting him as ‘steward’, but Yehovah as King.
SPECULATION WARNING! I think that, had Sh’muel gone to Yehovah for counsel on his plan to appoint his sons judges, Yehovah might have straightened the whole thing out and pointed out a good judge to replace him after his death – perhaps even David himself, or Yehonathan, son of Sha’ul. Can you imagine David as king and Yehonathan as head of the Sanhedrin, Chief Justice of Israel’s supreme Court? The point is that if Sh’muel had not appointed his non-tzadik sons as judges in his stead, everything might have been different. Yehovah might have had his 1st choice as king to be Israel’s 1st king. A government lead by king David, judged by Jonathan, the worship led by Zadok and Aviathar, Avner and Yehoav as chief military counsel, David’s mighty men as generals/local political leadership, and righteous priests and Levites as spiritual counselors in their respective cities would have been an easy one to submit to. Imagine the prosperity as Yehovah’s blessings flowed on Israel. Of course, over time it would have degenerated into a feudal system run by less righteous men than David had surrounding him. End of Speculation
It’s great to speculate of what might have been, but that’s not what happened. Sh’muel DID appoint his less than tzadik sons, and they DID drive the people to ask for a king. And Yehovah responded with a man who would LOOK impressive; he was nearly a giant himself, after all; but be thoroughly inadequate to lead the nation in a godly manner. Sh’muel conducted a lottery of sorts at Yehovah’s instruction. He called all the people to Mizpeh and proceeded to harangue them over their rejection of Yehovah as King over them, but to no avail. They still wanted their king to lead them in battle. So he had them present their tribal elders before Yehovah and BenYamin was chosen. THIS should have been a clue that this was not Yehovah’s first choice, since Ya’acov had conferred the sceptre to Yehudah in Gen.49.10
The sceptre shall not depart from Yehudah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (Genesis 49:10)
I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth. (Numbers 24:17)
That Numbers passage is, to me at least, a clear prophetic reference to Melech Moshiach, which was partially fulfilled, or typified, in David. I wonder why Sh’muel missed this, as I presume he had a thorough knowledge of Torah. Perhaps he knew that this was Yehovah’s way of teaching Israel to wait on him.
Once the tribe of BenYamin was chosen, the tribe was passed before Yehovah by families and Matri’s family was chosen. How Sha’ul ben Kish was specifically chosen is not told, but that he was not really the man for the job should have been obvious in his hiding amidst the ‘stuff’. It says that they enquired of Yehovah, so I infer this to mean that the Kohen Gadol was there, dressed in his garments, including the ephod and breastplate with the Urim and Thummim. Here’s an interesting quote from Wiki (it’s GOTTA be TRUE!)
Where the Scripture elsewhere describes an Ephod being used for divination, scholars presume that it is referring to use of the Urim and Thummim in conjunction with the Ephod, as this seems to be intimately connected with it: similarly where non-prophets are portrayed as asking HaShem for guidance, and the advice isn’t described as given by visions, scholars think that Urim and Thummim were the medium implied. In all but two cases (1 Samuel 10:22 and 2 Samuel 5:23), the question is one which is effectively answered by a simple yes or no; a number of scholars believe that the two exceptions to this pattern, which give more complex answers, were originally also just sequences of yes/no questions, but became corrupted by later editing.
So, Wiki’s author agrees with my inference, which proves that they CAN be trusted sometimes (I’m kidding – take everything on Wiki with a grain of salt, and check everything I say against Tanakh and Apostolic texts).
So, Yehovah having told them they could find him hidden amidst the ‘stuff’ they ran to get him and dragged him (screaming and kicking?) to the middle of the meeting. When the people SAW him, they thought, “Now, THAT’S a KING!” Here was a guy who was head and shoulders taller than the next tallest man in Israel; he was probably 7 feet or more tall – kinda like Yao among his Chinese countrymen. Going strictly by their sight, Israel determined that THIS was the perfect choice for their king. Yehovah knew that this was what Israel wanted, a man to rival the giants among the Philistines and other Canaanites; the genetically thinned seed of the Nephillim. Perhaps there was some Canaanite DNA in Matri’s/Kish’s family line to account for Sha’ul’s stature?
As was the case in all the nations round about Israel, the city where the king lived became the capital. Israel may have been the first nation to designate a ‘capital city’, Yerushalayim, after David took Zion from the Yevusites as his 1st act as king over the United Kingdom of Israel
1 Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hevron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. 2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and Yehovah said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel. 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hevron; and king David made a league with them in Hevron before Yehovah: and they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5 In Hevron he reigned over Yehudah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Yehudah. 6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Yevusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. 7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David. (2Sam.5.1-7)
David’s purpose may originally have been political; Yerushalayim being split by the border of Yehudah’s and BenYamin’s inheritances; but I think he already knew Yehovah’s plan for Yerushalayim. Q&C
Tehellim 133 – Hinei matov umanayim, shevet achim gam yachad!
I swear to you right now that I had not even looked at the Psalm until I finished writing my notes on 1Sh’muel. The psalm just fits so well with David having become king of the United Nations of Yisrael and moving their capitol to a place straddling the border between Sha’ul’s tribe and his own, signifying the unity spoken of in the psalm. I love how Yah does that. I do not deny that the idea MAY have been in my subconscious, but I had given absolutely no conscious thought to it and was amazed to see how Yah used v.1 of this psalm to illustrate the last point I made in the Haftarah notes.
This is yet another obvious (to me) reference to a prophecy typical of the unity of the 2 houses of Yisrael coming together under Melech Moshiach; being called from the 4 corners of the earth to inhabit and possibly vice-regent localities of his Kingdom (Yeshua’s kingdom parables). This unity is like the ointment poured over the High Priest at his inauguration, another type of Melech Moshiach also being the Tzemach Tzadik, the Righteous Branch
Behold, the days come, saith Yehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Yehudah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, Yehovah Tzidkenu. 7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Yehovah, that they shall no more say, Yehovah liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 8 But, Yehovah liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land. (Jeremiah 23:5-8)
That anointing oil is likened to the dew settling on Hermon and descending on the mountains of Zion. Now Hermon is called mount Sion once in Torah proper
From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon, (Deuteronomy 4:48)
Zion, the city of David, is about 90 miles south and a bit west, as the crow flies, from Mount Hermon, which is the northeast corner of the land as it is defined in Devarim 4. Every drop of water that settles on Hermon/Sion in the north flows southward down Yarden and does water the mountains feet to the south, including those around Yerushalayim/Zion. So, as the oil flows down from the MelchiZedek’s head to his feet, so does the dew that settles on Hermon flow down the Yarden to the feet of Yehudah. The whole psalm is about the redemption of Israel from the sides of the north and the 4 corners of haAretz (the land/earth) to the feet of Moshiach. And, though we in this room want nothing more than the unity of Yisrael, we do not see much interest from most of Yehudah or Ephraim, the vast majority being caught up in the past history and not desiring to accomplish the FUTURE history we all know is prophesied. This short Psalm is a part of the prophecy of the future restoration of the Tabernacle of David and his Kingdom into the hands of MelchiZedek Moshiach Yeshua. Would that Yehovah would work his will through us. Q&C
Acts.13.13-44 – AENT’s Note 119 on v.13 [pg.342] is interesting & I’d like to share with you. Yochanan Moshe, BarNaba and Sha’ul traveled from Antioch of Syria to Perga, where Yochanan Moshe left them for Yerushalayim. No reason is given for his departure, but we know that he became a bone of contention some months later between BarNaba and Sha’ul. Sha’ul didn’t trust him, but BarNaba did (I think they were related/family).
36 And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of Yehovah, and see how they do. 37 And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. 38 But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. 39 And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus; 40 And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. (Acts 15.36-40)
So they came to Antioch of Pisidia and after the reading of Torah and Haftarah the elders asked if the visitors had any exhortation for the congregation. So Sha’ul raised his hand to get the elder’s attention and possibly to salute the leadership and membership and got up to teach, I assume from the portions read. Please notice that they are in the synagogue on the Shabbat and they address both brethren (Yehudah) and ‘Yireh-Yehovah’, fearers of Yehovah (gentiles in the process of conversion, both from Ephraim and from the nations). There was already a 2-house presence and quite probably some whosoevers, as well. Sha’ul is practicing the lesson of Kefa’s dream in Acts 10. He is preaching the besorah (gospel) of Shalom (Peace) with Yehovah through Yeshua haMoshiach; they can have shalom with the Creator of the Universe through the finished work of Yeshua on the tree.
Now notice that there are 2 periods of probation spoken of; 40 years in the Wilderness Adventure and 40 years of the Kingship of Sha’ul, son of Kish. In between those probationary times were the 450 years of the judges, up to Sh’muel and Sha’ul’s public anointing; and then 450 years of kings in Yehudah/Yisrael, from about 1036-586 BCE±. There was also about a 450-year period from the Avrahamic Covenant to the Yarden crossing. Those numbers just interest me and they are not hard and fast; they are approximations. Why 450? I could not tell you. But I have a feeling someone can enlighten me.
We saw earlier how they desired a king ‘like the other nations round about’ and eschewed that holiness that they’d enjoyed since the Exodus by NOT having a human king. We also saw how Yehovah gave them the king that they wanted rather than the one HE wanted for 40 years. Probation is always with the intent of teaching the probie that he ought to wait on Yehovah’s timing and not be anxious to be like everyone else – a lesson we seldom really learn. The probation was actually a part of the 450 years of the kingdom of Israel, as the probation of the Wilderness Adventure was part of the 450 years of the wait for the promise to Avraham that his seed would inherit the land.
V.22 is the only clear biblical text that David was a man after Yehovah’s heart. The nearest things I can find are
11 And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; 12 Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. 13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. 14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee. [1Sam.13.11-14]
8 And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes; (I Kings 14:8)
Close, but not quite. I suppose Sha’ul could have been utilizing a ‘d’rash’, juxtaposing/conflating the one passage with the other or referencing a well-known Talmudic teaching based in 1Ki.14.8. Not being a Talmudic scholar, I cannot say. Maybe someone out there can enlighten us?
In v.24, Sha’ul shared with his diaspora audience the FACT that Yeshua was born of the seed of David, at the time that Yochanan the Immerser (haMatbeel) was preaching teshuvah for sins and that the Kingdom was at hand.
When Yochanan’s ministry was complete (v.25) he said, “You think I may be Moshiach. I am not. There comes one after me whose shoes latchet I am not worthy to loosen.” This gives me the idea that the Pharisee, Sha’ul may have been there when Yochanan said that.
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; 27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. (Yochanan 1.26-27)
Sha’ul was the star talmid of Gamaliel and I would think that he was sent on LOTS of missions for the Sanhedrin to check out the prophets of his day. I think he had at least 2 meetings with Yeshua during his ministry, and possibly KNEW him, since Yochanan said there was one AMONG his QUESTIONERS, the S&P, of whom Sha’ul was a part. This is merely dot-connecting on my part and I would not make a dogmatic statement to this effect, but the possibility DOES exist.
V.26 is another that I infer as a 2-house referral; stock of Avraham and Yireh-Yehovah – ‘God-fearers’. Both houses and howsoever will now have deliverance presented to them. AENT has a good comment on Yireh-Yhwh [note 128] pg. 344. V.27 says outright that the leaders of the religion in Yerushalayim failed to recognize Moshiach when he presented himself to them by fulfilling so many of the prophecies that they read every Shabbat in shul. Many of the people of Yisrael accepted him gladly. They killed him and some took him down from the tree and buried him, but he rose from death before corruption could set in on his body. He then points out 3 witnesses from the Psalms that should prove Yeshua as Moshiach. All the prophecies that refer to David were never fulfilled in him, but would be in his Seed, Moshiach.
I will declare the decree: Yehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. (Psalms 2:7)
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. (Isaiah 55:3)
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Psalms 16:10)
The YeshaYahu prophecy could NOT be fulfilled in David, unless it was in his Seed, Moshiach. Sha’ul hit them with the fulfillment of prophecy in one man – Yeshua, and that left them with a clear choice; repent and obey Torah, or go on as they had been. Their choice was between blessing and cursing
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: (Deuteronomy 30:19)
That Yehovah would not let his holy one see corruption is telling. Corruption set in on the 4th day of the corpse’s death.
Yeshua said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Master, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. (John 11:39)
Yeshua said that the only sign he would show that generation of religious leaders was
39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matt.12.39-40)
Had he stayed in the grave one second longer than that, he would have entered the 4th day and seen corruption. That’s 3 days and 3 nights; not 3 days and 3 nights + a second. He was out of that grave exactly 72 hours after his death – around evening offering time on the weekly shabbat of the Feast of ULB, IM[not so]HO. David was still in the grave, they knew EXACTLY where his bones were and they had seen corruption, so the prophecy did NOT apply to David, but his Seed, Moshiach.
Through Moshiach comes forgiveness of sins in v.38 – justification through faith in Moshiach. The Torah of Moshe is not that which justifies us. Even if we could fully observe it in our own power, we could not be made righteous by it. Only the supreme judge of the Universe, Yehovah Yeshua haMoshiach can declare us, not just ‘not guilty’ but, INNOCENT! Only in Moshiach are we justified (v.39; see note 129 on pg.344 of AENT). Then Sha’ul gives a warning to the synagogue’s leadership to not despise his word;
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. 5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, ye will not believe, though it be told. (Habbakuk 1.4-5)
That work, I think, is the gathering of the whole house of Israel from the 4 corners of the earth.
When Sha’ul finished his midrash and the Jews departed, the Ephraimites and mixed multitude ; the sojourners; asked him to return next week so that they could hear more of this kind of preaching. And the next Shabbat, nearly every synagogue in the area met at the one where BarNaba and Sha’ul were in attendance. Word of mouth really IS the best type of advertising. Of course, the ones who received Sha’ul’s word gladly told everyone they could about his preaching, and those who did not receive his message turned out everyone who would object. Blessing and Cursing is the 2-fold purpose of Torah. Q&C
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