Shabbat Bible Study for February 18, 2017

©2017 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries

Gen. 49.28-Ex.2:25 – Is.27:6, Jer.1:1-19, Ezek.16:1-20 – Ps.41 – 2 Cor.6:1-10

Link:

http://www.waytozion.org/teachings/Mark%20-%20Isaiah%2023-27%20Commentary.mp3 

Gen.49.28-33 – Ya’acov had blessed his sons by prophesying about their roles, strengths and weaknesses (if any) and how they would be a blessing to all the families of the earth. He had already gotten Yoseph’s promise to NOT bury him in Egypt, but in his own grave at Machpelah near Hevron, in the field and cave Avraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite. Now, he reiterates his desire and commands ALL his sons to ensure that his bones will be buried in haAretz, and NOT in Egypt. I think he did this to ensure that SOMEone would be able to do so, Ya’acov knowing that Paroh may not allow Yoseph to leave for any extended period of time. Paroh would be less likely to keep ALL Ya’acov’s sons from going to bury their father in his own sepulchre, bought with money from the former owners. Yoseph, as viceroy, perhaps, but not all 12 of them. Paroh, I’m sure, knew that Ya’acov was a wise and godly man, and would allow it in his case because of his status. So Ya’acov got ALL his sons’ promises that he would be buried in Mamre just in case Yoseph was unable to make the trip himself. Once he got their promises, he just curled up on his bed, and expired. No muss, no fuss. As it had been with his father and grandfather, when their time to die was upon them they knew, because their vitality had never left them until the last few days of their lives. When they started to feel very differently in a systemic sort of way, they knew their time was short. I would surmise that, like Avraham, Yitzhak and, later, Moshe, Ya’acov’s life’s natural force was not abated until the last day or 2 of his life. There is a very interesting [to me anyway] note to v.28 in the Schottenstein’s Chumash on pg.311.

50.1-9 – It is not normal for a Hebrew to be embalmed. The usual practice is for the family to bury their dead within 4 days. After 4 days, the body begins to show signs of decomposition and will even begin to smell like rotten, decaying meat – and anyone who’s ever smelt decaying meat knows that it’s about as nasty and pungent a stench as there is. Remember when Yeshua’s friend Lazarus died and when he finally got to Bethany Yeshua asked to have the stone removed from Lazarus’ grave. 

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)

The idea behind NOT embalming their dead was to not hinder the Word of Y’hovah,

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:19)

So Hebrews bury their dead before the body sees ‘corruption’, defined as decomposition and rot, or within 4 days of death. 

R. Or HaChaim, according to Schottenstein’s Chumash (pg.311, note for v. 2), said that a person like Yisrael, who had achieved the status of tzadik, would not decay at the same rate as your average ordinary person (or at all) based on (I think)

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One (chassid) to see corruption. (Psalms 16:10)

The reason he had the embalming done, according to some rabbis, was to not allow Ya’acov’s body to suffer the indignity of being a thing to worship because it would not naturally decay. Now, where they got this idea is beyond me (unless it was from their own nearly idolatrous veneration of the patriarchs, as if they were not just guys like you and me, and as they are revealed to us in scripture). The patriarchs were no more or less ‘holy’ than any of us can be. They had the same foibles as anyone else, which is one reason I know the Bible is true. Unlike the pagan scriptures, it shows its heroes to be just guys who screw up once in a while, but whose manner of life is to obey Y’hovah. More likely, he embalmed Yisrael’s body because it would be quite some time before the burial could be accomplished. It seems that it took the physicians 40 days to embalm the body, and that Egypt mourned for Ya’acov for those 40 and at least 30 more days for a total of 70 days of mourning in Egypt. If the passage is taken woodenly, it can be seen as up to 120 days before they left for Mamre. Then there would be a trip of 5-6 days to Mamre and Machpelah, the burial and then sitting shiva before the trip back – I would estimate at least 3 weeks to a month before they could return to Rameses. 

When Yoseph made the case that he needed to go to Canaan, he did so to Paroh’s house, not directly to Paroh, possibly to get him used to the idea of Yoseph being gone for a month or 2. It could also be that this was a different Paroh than the one for whom Yoseph had interpreted the dream. Perhaps this Paroh was worried about Yoseph’s popularity with his household staff or the people. Perhaps he didn’t like that Yoseph had given 80% of the produce of his land to the sharecropping serfs. And I get the impression by the wording that Paroh wasn’t pleased that Yoseph would have to be gone for so long. I don’t think there was the same level of trust as the dreaming Paroh had once had in Yoseph. The cause could also be the prosperity of the Yacovson’s. The importance of establishing that Ya’acov had made Yoseph promise to bury him personally is seen in v.5&6. Paroh was kinda backed into a corner, and had to let Yoseph and his brothers go to Canaan. But in v.8 we see that their wives, children, livestock, et al., were left in Egypt as an earnest of their return – hostages? I think. This may have been the beginning, the first outright act, of Israel’s bondage to Egypt. Also, when they finally went to Canaan, they were escorted by chariots and horsemen. Was this armored cavalry to ensure their return, or just a large retinue in full military regalia to impress the natives? I think, YES! Q&C

Vv.10-14 – Why did they mourn at the threshingfloor of Atad? I thought they were going to Mamre. The Hebrew is goren haAtad and it means ‘field or threshingfloor of thorns.’ A few weeks ago, we talked about Yoseph’s wife, Asenath, and that she may have been Dinah’s daughter by Shechem, and that if that were the case, her name means ‘under a thorn (specifically, blackberry) bush.” Might there be a connection? Chumash has an interesting bit of tradition that says the kings of Canaan and the princes of Ishmael massed against the retinue to prevent the burial, but when they saw Yoseph’s royal Egyptian crown hanging on the coffin (possibly a duplicate of Paroh’s), they hung their own crowns on it in tribute to Yisrael. All the crowns, supposedly 36 total, made the coffin look like a field surrounded by thorns of gold, which is what gave the area its name, goren haAtad. 

But it looks like they may have had more than one shiva, because they left Atad to go to Mamre for the actual burial. They continued their mourning during this journey, I think, because the Canaanites who witnessed the shiva called the place Avayl Mitzraim, the mourning of Egypt. That Yoseph’s crown may have been a duplicate of Paroh’s comes to my mind because of this designation. The Canaanites may have thought this was Paroh himself, who IS Egypt, and so called the place Egypt Mourns. I don’t know if it’s the same in the other services, though I suspect it is, but in the Navy, when a commanding officer steps aboard or leaves a Navy command (and not just his own), he is introduced as his entire command, “USS Enterprise, arriving”, or, “VP-64, departing”. In a legal sense, it is true. The commanding officer is like a king in his command – it all belongs to him and he is responsible for everything that happens there, which is why a CO is relieved when the junior ensign runs his ship aground while the CO is asleep in his stateroom. The CO is the sole living being aboard his ship, in a legal sense. Noone but the CO may use red ink in his pen, signifying that his blood gives life to the command. He is, in a sense, a ‘corporation sole’. The Canaanites may have thought that Yoseph was Paroh and his mourning would be the same as the entire nation of Egypt mourning. 

The 12 boys carried Yisrael’s coffin into the land, the Chumash says perhaps all the way to Mamre – Machpelah, which is a plausible inference. There is nothing in the text that contradicts that, though I think it is probably a flight of fancy. Goren haAtad/Avayl Mitzraim was on the east side of Yarden. The crossing point would be around Yericho. The 12 would have to carry the coffin about 35 miles across the mountains of Yehudah, which is possible, but not likely. However, B’nei Yisrael DID carry his body OUT of the galut, exile, and into haAretz, signifying to me that chol Yisrael shall be saved (Rom.11.26). It is predestined. Q&C

Vv.15-21 – After Ya’acov’s body was buried, the 10 brothers became fearful that Yoseph would take retribution for the way they’d done him. They went from perhaps he will to he certainly will without taking a breath. They STILL felt guilty after these nearly 40 years. Now, that is guilt over one’s actions. Yoseph had assured them at least twice that he held no animosity towards them, but, were it they, they couldn’t imagine not holding a grudge over similar treatment. So they made up a story about Ya’acov commanding Yoseph to treat them mercifully. It seems that their attitude cut him to the quick. He had been their ruler for over 17 years and had never given any inkling of his hatred or despite of them, but had always maintained that he acknowledged the goodness of Y’hovah towards them and chol Yisrael being revealed through his personal bondage in Egypt. It was not they, but Elohim who’d sent him to Egypt to preserve not only their lives but also those of every person who’d come to buy grain from Paroh. So he forgave them again and they seemed to get it this time. 

Isn’t that kind of how we are when we confess a sin to Y’hovah? When we’ve confessed our sin and turned away from it, Y’hovah has promised to forgive it or them. But we have a hard time forgiving ourselves sometimes. And other times, haSatan reminds us of those sins that were already forgiven. Y’hovah does not rescind his forgiveness. When he forgives our sins, he puts them in the depths of the sea and as far from us as east is from west. HE isn’t holding them over us like the Sword of Damocles. He has removed them from us. If we sin again, even after the same kind, when we confess it and repent of it, he forgives it again and removes it from us. He is faithful to fulfill his promises to us,

18 And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from Y’hovah: 19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. 20 My soul hath still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. 21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22 Y’hovah’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 New every morning: great thy faithfulness. 24 Y’hovah my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 25 Y’hovah good unto them that wait for him, to the soul seeketh him. 26 Good that should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Y’hovah. (Lam.3.18-26)

If we’d only get it.

On pp.315-16, Schottenstein’s Chumash has a couple of interesting traditions and one very true observation to share for the prefatory notes on vv.15-21.

Yoseph stayed in Egypt until he was 110 years old, and died there. If he was 40 when Ya’acov and sons came to dwell in Goshen and Ya’acov died 17 years later, he was 57 when he buried his father and reconciled (again) with all his brethren. So, they lived in Goshen with Yoseph the viceroy for 53 more years. And they were uneventful years compared to the 22 before. Was there perfect harmony? It’s doubtful, but there was no major battle to deal with and no major rift in the family. Just before he died, Yoseph called his 11 brothers to him and made them make the same promise they’d made to Yisrael – “Don’t let my bones remain in Egypt when Y’hovah remembers you and delivers you from here.” Yoseph wants his bones laid to rest in haAretz, not the world. This foreshadows the deliverance of Ephraim from the galut, like his father’s. The brothers promised him, and 150 or so years later Moshe kept that promise to Yoseph. So, as Yeshua went into the ground for a certain amount of time (3 days and 3 nights) to be resurrected and removed from spiritual Egypt, so did Yoseph in literal Egypt (until the end of the 430 years).

When Torah reiterates itself in successive words, that is a promise that can be put in the bank and accrue interest. What Yoseph told his brothers was pakor yiph’kor, Y’hovah ‘will remember remember you’. That’s like Yeshua saying, “Me’od me’od amri atechem”, “Verily, verily I say unto you!” It’s Y’hovah’s Truth! Bank on it! If that’s not enough, Yoseph reiterates the same reiteration in the very next verse, “Pakor yiphkor Elohim atechem”. Elohim will surely remember you. 

After that promise the traditional appendage to the books of Moshe is especially proper and salient:

Chazak! Chazak! V’nit’chazak!

Be Strong! Be Strong and be Strengthened!

Q&C

Ex.1.1-21 – I’d like to open today by sharing a portion of the prefatory comment in Schottenstein’s Chumash. During last week’s study [6 years ago], there was lots of comment about whether the Paroh who released Yoseph to go and bury Ya’acov was the ‘Paroh who knew not Yoseph’, and I said it was possible, but not likely due to the timing. The discussion got around to the Hyksos, who were called the ‘Shepherd Kings’ of Egypt and I made mention of the ‘Hibiru’ and the Hyksos perhaps being the same folks. I first heard of this from my Biblical Archeology prof at Cedarville College 30 years ago – Dr. James T. Jeremiah, the elder [and father of Dr. David Jeremiah of radio ministry ‘fame’ and pastor of Shadow Mountain Church in El Cajon, Calif.]. He was telling us about the el-Amarna letters, if memory serves. Some quick research online has shown that the idea, while not mainstream, is not outlandish at all. Some seemingly whacked-out cults have run with the idea, but that doesn’t negate the possibility or the veracity of the idea. Now, as I read the opening verses of Ex.1, I am struck by the very real possibility of the Hebrew sons of Ya’acov becoming the ruling class of Egypt (v.7), and there is some evidence that this is true. If it is, there was about a 100-year period when the Ya’acovsons ruled Egypt. Remember the amount of time Israel was in Egypt was about 210 years. The first 70 of them, Yoseph was Viceroy. When he died, his brothers, his sons and their sons could have taken over as Parohs and ruled for about 100 years, leaving ±40 years for them to be slaves after they were conquered by the Paroh that knew not Yoseph. All that is, of course, speculation and it has some problems, but I don’t think they are logically insurmountable. Perhaps the source of the trouble between the Hebrews was over Y’hovism/nationalism or paganism/syncretism with the conquerors; after all, only about 10% of the Hebrews came out of Egypt. Ch.2’s Egyptian soldier would have been from the conquering force and Moshe may have been secretly part of a Hyksos rebel force. Or maybe, as an adopted son of the previous Paroh’s house, he’d been appointed as a liaison for a peaceful transition of power? Why else would he have to run for his life, if he was raised in and was still part of Paroh’s family? If all this is true (and I am not saying it is, just thinking out loud), the Paroh who knew not Yoseph could just have come to power as the conquering general when Moshe was born and then raised the Hebrew child for political advantage. That the ruling family of the conquered had been made slaves is not hard to imagine either. That the conquerors would treat them badly is also more intuitive than counter. Bottom line, I think that the Ya’acovsons as a dynasty of Egypt makes logical sense, and the Hibiru/Hyksos Shepherd Kings fits the history pretty well. It would also explain the mutual animosity between the Hebrews and the Egyptian ruling class. So, I think I’ve got the background that I’ll work with for this Torah portion, and indeed, for the next 5-6 weeks of study – at least until Y’hovah’s day of battle. The year of the exodus was 1446BCE. Of this there is little question. Schlomo started building the Temple around 966BCE. This is a FACT of which there is little serious question – ± a year or 2. And 1Ki.6.1 says the Temple was started 480 years after Israel left Egypt. 966+480 = 1446±1.

V.7 tells us that the Hebrew’s were exceedingly fruitful and multiplied greatly, becoming a mighty force. It is very possible that they came to outnumber the Egyptians quickly, like the Moslems are doing all over the western world these days. It is possible, and many of the Jewish sages agree, that there were few single births among the Hebrews. If that is true, then a singular birth would be news, and 3 singular births would set a family apart – like Amram and Yocheved’s. Paroh was protecting his son’s future and his dynasty when he ordered the infanticide of all the male Hebrew babies. V.10 shows that Paroh thought the Hebrews were a force still to be reckoned with, even in their disarmed state. Sheer numbers can cause all kinds of heartache for a tyrannical government, don’t you know. Especially large numbers of independent thinkers who won’t just accept as truth the lies their government feeds them (of whom do you think I speak?). The Israelites were dangerous conspiracy nuts, and lots of them, and they were not assimilating.

Whatever Israel was doing was very important to Paroh and probably beyond his or Egypt’s ability to accomplish, or there would have been no reason to subjugate them. Like all narcissists, Paroh couldn’t let Israel provide the needed service in peace, they had to submit, just do as they were told. All that vaunted ‘Egyptian’ technology may have actually been Israelite technology. When it was time to build the Beit haMikdash in Yerushalayim, they employed the same stone cutting technology as they had in Egypt. And they made all the cuts remote from the building site, just as they had in Egypt. And the fit and finish was every bit as precise. And after Israel left Egypt, how much of that vaunted ‘Egyptian’ technology was employed in Egypt? Not much, if any.  Q&C

Of course, hindsight is usually more precise than foresight, but it seems to me that the Egyptians weren’t all that bright. It was not a good idea to drive the Hebrew slaves as hard as they did, because it just sent the Hebrew husbands to their wives for treatment of the aches and wounds, and the hands massaging the shoulders and backs … and that’s as far as I’m going with that. You can work out where that would lead on your own – like what we see in v.12, where Chumash has another salient comment that really has no textual support but does fit Y’hovah’s character. The hard bondage would also have created an even stronger, more physically formidable enemy, in a one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat situation. I don’t think the Egyptians stopped to think this idea through to its logical end. One does not make an enemy TIRED by hard labor, except in the short run. One makes him stronger, tougher and angrier in the long run. I guess that’s why Egypt needed a Yoseph – they had no real wisdom themselves.

With no other recreational activity, sex becomes king. And rather than take that away from them, in his magnanimity Paroh instead ordered infanticide. But infanticide is not something people like to do unless they are progressive pro-aborts, and people of Elohim are especially reticent to it – it’s an abomination. So they worked around it anyway they could. The midwives lied to Paroh and disobeyed him and Y’hovah rewarded them for it. You might say that lying breaks the 9^th commandment. And I would say that lying does not necessarily break the commandment to not bear false witness. 

Let’s define ‘false witness’ in scripture. 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour, (Exodus 20:16)

15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. 16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him wrong; 17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy, shall stand before Y’hovah, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; 18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, the witness, a false witness, hath testified falsely against his brother; 19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. 20 And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. 21 And thine eye shall not pity; life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. (Deut.19.15-21)

Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Yeshua, to put him to death; (Matthew 26:59)

A false witness is doing 1 of 3 things; 1) claiming to have witnessed something he did not or 2) lying about what he actually saw or 3) saying what the politicians have paid him to say. But that isn’t all that false witness means. The Deuteronomy passage, as well as Matthew, goes on further to say that the false witness has to have an ulterior motive for doing so, such as taking an unjust advantage, whether economic, political or interpersonal. BTW, the only time the old saw, “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” is ever mentioned in scripture it is in conjunction with a case in court. A false witness is one that unjustly improves his position at the expense of another’s. And when the righteous judges who are making the diligent inquiry uncover that unjust advantage, they are to apply the punishment against that false witness that would have been applied to the victim of the false witness. THAT is righteous judgment. If the false witness’ testimony would cost the one he is lying about his life or property, the false witness was to lose his life or property in like proportion. The Hebrew midwives lied to Paroh to save the lives of the Hebrew children, not to realize any personal gain or advantage. They lied; but they did NOT bear false witness. Y’hovah did reward them for their action to save the children, but reward was not their motive.

But what would our average 501(c)3 pastors say?! Quote – What about Romans 13.1-7? We’re supposed to obey our government, give unto Paroh the things that are Paroh’s, aren’t we? What wickedness was this that ran rampant in Israel, lying to the government in order to save baby’s lives? – end of quote. Don’t you just laugh derisively at the absolute folly many of our Xian pastors are foisting on us? Context is king in biblical interpretation, and in order to make Rom.13 say what most hireling pastors say it does, it must be wrested from its context, twisted beyond any semblance of that context, and stuffed back into a place where it just no longer fits. The midwives did exactly right in lying their little tookhises off to Paroh. They upheld the Word of Y’hovah at great risk to themselves and Y’hovah protected them and rewarded them for it. HalleluYAH! 

So Paroh ordered the people, not just the Hebrews but the Egyptians as well, to kill all their male children. Chumash has another salient prefatory comment to vv.15-22 and another on v.22. Was this a foreshadow of Herod’s murder of all the children 2 and under in BethLechem? Is THIS the historical antecedent of Matt.1.16-18 and YirmeYahu 31.15, Rachel weeping for her children? The people blew him off. I guess he wanted his harem of young Hebrew women and no competition with Israelite men. Don’t you love independent thinkers? Paroh didn’t. Kinda sucked to be Paroh, eh? Q&C

Ex.2.1-10 – Amram was of the House of Levi, but Yocheved was Levi’s daughter. Levi must have died at an extremely advanced age, for there is another reference that says that Yocheved’s father was Levi;

58.b Kohath begot Amram. 59 And the name of Amram’s wife was Yocheved, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aharon and Moshe, and Miriam their sister. (Numbers 26:58b-59)

This verse puts to an end, to my mind anyway, the rabbis claim that Yocheved was born on the journey down to Egypt to see Yoseph (ch.46), just before they crossed into Egypt. If she was borne right on the border, she was at least 130 years old when she bore Moshe. I know this is one of those silent miracles in Torah the rabbis speak about. But why would Torah tell of the great miracle of Sarah giving birth to Yitzhak at 90, but not mention that Yocheved bore Moshe at 130, or Aharon at 127 or Miryam at 110 (or however old she was)? Would it not be a greater miracle for Yocheved to have children at a more advanced age than even Sarah had been? It is much more likely that Levi lived to a very old age and his wife (or one of his wives) bore him Yocheved much closer to the normal time of life. Even today, there are men in their 90s fathering children by younger wives, so it is not out of the question that Levi, at say 110-120 years of age, would father a child.

Paroh’s daughter found Moshe in his ark in the bulrushes right where (I infer) Miryam had conveniently placed him and when he cried, she had pity on him. His sister Miryam offered to find a Hebrew wet nurse for the child and when given leave, got Yocheved to nurse him in her own home in Goshen. So Moshe was raised to about the age of 3 in his family home and then delivered to Paroh’s daughter to raise in the customs of Egypt. When children are first born, their brains are little sponges, just absorbing everything their senses can perceive. All that memory and nothing to fill it with, so it just takes in everything. It is said that a person’s character is shaped in the first 5 years of his life, and I don’t think that is a recent discovery. Amram, Yocheved, MirYam and Aharon all helped to form the character of Moshe from his first breath. It was quite probably the entire focus of their lives for those 3 years, because they KNEW that once he was brought into Paroh’s home, he would begin to learn the ways of Egypt. They needed to instill godliness in him from the first, so that when he grew older, he would live it,

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

He was called Monios (Paroh’s daughter would have called him by an Egyptian term, which Yocheved/Miryam would have translated to Hebrew – Moshe) by Paroh’s daughter because she ‘drew him out of the water’. Very often in scripture, and I believe it applies here, water represents the world system. I know it was Paroh’s daughter who named him, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Pilate’s wife dreamed about Yeshua and warned her husband about it. As haSatan can influence our minds though our spirits, so Y’hovah can with the heathen. And that’s what I think happened here. Yocheved and MirYam protected Moshe from the water in that pitched ark, as Y’hovah had done Noah and his family. Then he used Paroh’s daughter to raise him, perhaps so he could influence the court in Israel’s favor, but definitely so he could be the physical deliverer and spiritual teacher for that generation of Israel. Q&C

Vv.11- – Egypt was under the control of haSatan, and the Egyptian soldier Moshe saw oppressing his Israelite brother was a type of haSatan to Moshe’s type of Mashiach. In Gen.3.15 we see the proto-evangelion – the first mention of Y’hovah’s deliverance from bondage to sin and haSatan. 

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)

Moshe, in his first coming to deliver Israel, was rejected by his brethren, as Mashiach was by his,

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11)

When he returned 40 years later (40 being the # in scripture signifying probation or trial), he was accepted, as Mashiach will when he returns. If the typology holds true and each 49-year Yovel cycle is represented by a year in Moshe’s sojourn in Midian, we are about to see Mashiach Yeshua’s return – 40X49 = 1960 years between Mashiach ascending to his Abba and his return in glory. I’d say we’re just past due for his return. Since anti-Mashiach needs to be revealed 3½ years before Mashiach’s return, and that will probably happen on the 10^th of the 1^st biblical month to complete the counterfeit, what would the date of Mashiach’s return for his bride be? Yom T’ruah, 2020 maybe? Maybe. We’ll know the answer to that question with more or less certainty this Pesach time. 

Moshe, of course, isn’t a perfect example of Mashiach, as no types are. But there are incidents in his life that seem to foreshadow Mashiach. And that is to be expected, since Mashiach is the ‘prophet like unto Moshe’ (Dt.18.15-18). This murder doesn’t reflect the character of Mashiach; though it does somewhat picture the crushing of the serpent’s head. Of course, Paroh’s death in the Yam Suf is a clearer type of that. The fear Moshe showed and his unlawful flight to escape prosecution also doesn’t reflect well on Mashiach’s character, but it does picture Mashiach’s leaving those who rejected him to their lusts until he is sent back to claim that which he purchased with his own blood.

When Moshe got to Midian, he sat down near a well. Chumash has another salient prefatory comment on 16-22. Now, if he was thirsty from the long trek across the Sinai Peninsula desert, why did he sit down? Why wasn’t he getting a drink of water? Too used to service in the court of Paroh? Waiting for the shepherds to come so he could get help removing the stone that covered the well’s mouth? Maybe he was just tired. Reuel’s name means ‘friend of Elohim’, and he was the priest of Midian. When Reuel’s daughters came to water their flock of sheep, the other shepherds tried to drive them away. Maybe the shepherds were members of a rival religious gang, like the Sun Devils, or maybe they worked for one of AbiMelech’s descendants, the Canaanite king whose men stole wells from Yitzhak. When they tried to chase away the babes, Moshe, ever the chivalrous one, came to the ladies’ aid and drove off the shepherds and then watered their animals. Can you imagine the shepherds moving to chase off these young girls being confronted, as if out of nowhere, by Charleton Heston (that voice and all) in the prime of life and dressed in Egyptian military uniform and perhaps carrying the weaponry of an officer in Egypt’s army? A wrestling match or fisticuffs with a girl is one thing, but a knock-down, drag-out with a well-trained soldier who is equipped with – and knows how to use – the day’s equivalent of an M-16, Claymore’s and hand-grenades, is quite another. Of course, the girls were all atwitter about the handsome, Charleton Heston-type Egyptian who rescued them and then served them. And when Reuel heard their story, he was amazed that they didn’t invite Chuck home for dinner. I can imagine him saying, “I raised you better than that! What happened to your manners?” 

It doesn’t say so, but I assume he sent them out to find Moshe and bring him home so Reuel could thank him properly. Reuel must have offered him lodging, and Moshe accepted. Eventually, Reuel gave Moshe his daughter Tziporah as his wife. Talk about a proper thank you! The 3-letter root of Tziporah’s name means ‘twitter’, like a bird. I swear to you, I looked this up AFTER I said the girls were ‘all atwitter’, I really did. Was Tziporah the eldest of Reuel’s 7 daughters? Probably though we aren’t told. Tziporah bore Gershom to Moshe in Midian. Moshe called him that because he was a stranger in a strange land. Gershom’s name literally means, ‘stranger (ger) there (sham)’ as opposed to ‘here’ (halom). I think it signifies that Moshe knew he was in exile from Israel’s place of exile, that he knew he was an exile in Egypt, and now he was an exile even from there.

So the Paroh from whom Moshe fled croaked and about the same time B’nei Israel began crying out for deliverance from their bondage. Y’hovah heard the cries of his people, ‘remembered’ his covenant with their fathers Avraham, Yitzhak and Ya’acov and respected their cries. Anyone who has been listening for more than a month has heard me say the Y’hovah doesn’t forget like we do nor does he, therefore, remember like we do. When Y’hovah ‘remembers’ us, he means that he is about to act in our behalf, as he was about to do with Yisrael. That word ‘respect’ is yada, to know. Yada means to ascertain by seeing.  He saw their plight and moved to relieve it. We’ll see how beginning next week. Q&C

Is.27:4-6 – Follows an excerpt from a teaching I did over 7v years ago at Beit Yacov:

Vv.4-5 shows the deliberate and methodical manner of Y’hovah’s judgment AFTER his wrath is expressed and appeased. Notice that after the days of awe [vv.1-3], there is no fury left in him. He gives the armies of the earth who come against him a choice. 

4 Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

‘Briers’ is from H8068 shamiyr, literally a thorn that pricks or scratches. I think it’s interesting that the late PM of Israel was Yitzchak Shamir. His name fit his personality to a ‘T’. In our verse, Yah sees it as an irritant. ‘Thorn’ is from H7898 shayith, scrub or trash, wild growth of weeds or briers. I see them in this prophecy both as terrorists and as tares sown among the wheat, good for nothing except to be burned. So the minor irritants that do nothing but choke the spiritual life out of his people are about to be pruned, cut off and burnt in the fire of judgment. This judgment is not meted out in fury, remember, but in objective, deliberate righteousness. Those who would destroy Y’hovah’s bride will be dealt with in decisive calm.

BUT, before he does so, he understands that among the tares are those who have heard and understood the gospel in Torah, so he throws in,

5 Or let him take hold of my strength, he may make peace with me; he shall make peace with me.

This is an application of 

10 When you come near to a city to fight against it [as will Yeshua when he comes through the clouds in Y’hovah’s glory], then proclaim shalom to it. 11 And it shall be, if it gives you an answer of shalom, and opens to you, then it shall be, that all the people that are found in it shall be compulsory labor to you, and they shall serve you. [Dt.20.10-12 Restoration Scriptures]

Y’hovah actually offers his salvation to the ones arrayed against him in battle, and it is not an idle offer. IF they will take hold of his Strength (Mashiach is Y’hovah’s right hand and right arm), not only MAY he have peace with Y’hovah, but he SHALL have peace with Y’hovah. To have peace with Y’hovah is the gospel in a nutshell, the simplest way to put humanities need. We need to be at peace with our Creator. Mashiach is that peace. Do you see the mercy of Y’hovah here? I do, in spades. Those who were sent by their legal authorities to make war with Y’hovah are offered peace – last chance. This proves 2Pe.3.9 is true, Y’hovah is not willing that any should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance. These are the ‘erev rav’, the mixt multitude of the end of days, like the ‘erev rav’ of the Egyptian exodus. Taking hold of Y’hovah’s strength is like painting your lintels and doorposts with lamb’s blood. Any that turn to him at this time will prove the parable of the 11^th hour workmen, because in V.6 we see,

6 He shall cause them that come of Ya’acov to take root: Yisrael shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. 

When a person makes peace with Yah, he is immediately graffed into the tree of Yisrael and nourished by its root, Mashiach Yeshua. These who have turned from their own ways to walk in peace with Y’hovah will take root and fill the face of the whole earth in the Kingdom to come. Finally, Yisrael will do what Israel was supposed to do in the days after the Egyptian exodus, destroying the pagan high places and groves and being priests to the world by teaching them Torah and the corresponding love for Y’hovah, our redeemer. All the world will learn Torah. Their descendants will learn it, too, but most of them will not believe it. Q&C

That ends the excerpt of my teaching on Is.24-27, which can be heard at WTZ. 

Jer.1:1-19 – YirmeYahu was ordained a prophet to the goyim from his mother’s womb. When Y’hovah’s Word revealed this to him as a young man, he objected, not because he was disobedient, but because he was so young that he knew the elder priests would disdain his youth. YirmeYahu was the son of ChilkiYahu, the high Priest, and next in line for the High Priesthood – until his refusal to speak comfortable words to the king. Then the other priests conspired against him and actually had him imprisoned and eventually thrown into the dungeon that was 2-3 feet deep in ‘mire’. It was actually a one-holer outhouse – they didn’t call it a dungeon for nothing. He knew, as he grew older, that if he spoke Y’hovah’s Word, they would take him seriously, and he’d end up at the dirt end of the outhouse. But that wasn’t what he worried about. He was afraid of the condemnation other guys would receive for what they would do to him. He gave them warning from Y’hovah for their good. 

In 19 verses he says “the Word of Y’hovah came to me” 4 times, and ‘Y’hovah said’ 7 more times. I know that this is a parallelism of sorts, but I can’t help but think that the Word of Y’hovah actually appeared to him in the form of the risen Mashiach, complete with nail, thorn, whip and spear scars. I think the sight of those scars may have given him courage for what he would have to face at the hands of the hireling shepherds that the priesthood had devolved to. The Word of Y’hovah told him that he knew YirmeYahu before he was even conceived in his mother’s womb. That one verse should put any bible-believer firmly in the pro-life, anti-abortion, anti-infanticide camp. Any so-called ‘believer’ who can read this verse and say otherwise is lying to him or herself. How many YirmeYahu’s, how many who would have developed cures to dread diseases, how many Dr. Ben Carsons (whose mother was considering aborting him) have been murdered in what should have been the safest place on earth – their mothers’ wombs? How many would be dead today who have been saved from it by ‘un-aborted’ children whose mothers were on the verge of going to the abortuary? 

Y’hovah reached out his hand and touched YirmeYahu’s lips, placing his own Words in YirmeYahu’s mouth, and set him apart to call Yisrael and the nations to repentance and a Torah observant lifestyle. Moshe Koniuchowski, in the Restoration Scripture note to v.10

This is the outline for the only true calling to rebuild the Tabernacle of David. We are called to root out and destroy pagan roots and culture in the faith, all the while saving, preserving and building up the remnant people of both houses. A true restorer of the nation must be prepared to do both the pleasant work and the unpleasant task of exposing error in Renewed Covenant Yisrael.

That was YirmeYahu’s calling in 7thC. BCE Yehudah, and he was true to it. The Word of Y’hovah set him over the nations and the kingdoms to ‘root out, to pull down, to destroy, to throw down, to build and to plant’.

YirmeYahu saw a rod of an almond tree, which is exactly what budded overnight in the Korah rebellion to prove who was Y’hovah’s mouthpiece and set-apart leader. And, if you’ll remember, his Word hastened that day to perform his will, opening the earth to swallow up all the rebels. Did that quell the rebellion? For a few hours. Then the people assumed Moshe had worked his own magic and that it couldn’t possibly be they who were wicked. Then Y’hovah sent a plague among the congregation. Only the quick action of Moshe and Aharon saved the congregation, and at that almost 15000 died from the plague. There is a pattern seen all through scripture that when a plague is sent from Y’hovah, the only thing that can stop it is the prayers of the saints. Incense represents the prayers of the saints in Rev.8.3-4, as it indeed does in all of scripture. 

When Y’hovah asked what else he saw, YirmeYahu said, ‘a seething pot facing north’, which means the trouble will be coming from the north – Gog uMagog? All the families of the kingdoms of the north is a bunch of folks, of whom many will be Ephraimite descendants of Avraham, whether physical or by faith. And THAT explains the short passage in YeshaYahu today where the returning Mashiach will offer one last chance to repent and trust him to the armies of the earth who are amassed against him. Y’hovah will execute judgment, not just against Ephraim whom he divorced (in 3.8), but also against those of Yehudah who turn away from his truth and worship false Elohims, those of the cultivated tree whom he breaks (Rom.11.13-24), but will graft back in when they repent. So it was YirmeYahu’s (and our) job to give warning to all those who name his Name, but do not obey his Word. He (and we) should not fear their fierce countenance, because Y’hovah is our defense, and our rereward. They’ll pitch a fit, but Y’hovah will prevail. Q&C

Ezek.16:1-20 – When Y’hovah tells us to warn Yerushalayim, I believe he speaks of ALL those who believe; Yisrael, not just Jews. 

Yerushalayim was born of 2 pagan societies. The Amorites and the Hittites were both children of Canaan, son of Ham [perhaps by Noach’s wife? Gen.9.22-26, cf. Lev.18.8]. The Hittites eventually settled in southern Turkey, right where Asia minor juts out into the eastern Med, according to my bible’s inspired maps. The Amorites were just south of them along the eastern coast of the Med, north of Syria. Urushlim (its original name) was founded by pagans, so her paganism under Yehudi rule should not be too surprising. Her genetic predisposition, being the child of pagans, is idolatry (as is ours). But Y’hovah performed 10 things for us and to us to make us fit to be his bride; He 1) washed us in water, 2) removed our blood from us, 3) anointed us w/oil, 4) clothed us, 5) shod our feet, 6) wrapped us with linen, 7) covered us with silk, 8) adorned us w/ornaments, 9) put bracelets and chains (precious metals) on us and 10) a jewel in our foreheads, earrings in our ears and put a crown (precious stones) on our heads. All this (that sounds like the Father of the returning prodigal) was to set us apart to him. So, a gentile woman (that’s us) is taken to wife by Y’hovah, cleansed of her own blood and clothed in his splendor. But after awhile she begins to trust her own beauty, thinking that what Y’hovah has given her is actually hers by birthright. She’s become so used to the splendor that she’s come to think it is all due to her natural beauty, which is NOT at ALL natural, but the result of Y’hovah’s gifts. So she’s taken the gifts of Y’hovah and treated them as common things, stuff to be had at Woolworth’s or WalMart and to be used to fulfill her lusts in idolatry and adultery. That’s where we find almost all of us who name his Name, and hope to call ourselves his bride. And the end of it all is when we decide to make our children pass through the fire to Molech – precisely what we are allowing to happen in abortuaries all over this nation and the world. Look at what Y’hovah says in vv.20-21, and weep, for it is our fault this country has gotten to this point:

20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, 21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

The judgment that is soon to fall on this world is due directly to our, Yisrael’s, idolatry. Your idolatry and mine may show forth differently, but that IS what it is. We are all guilty and in need of repentance. Q&C

Ps.41.1-3 – What do you do to alleviate the need of the poor around you? Do you provide their need, whether food or clothing or fuel, perhaps a day job so it isn’t just charity, but earned? Torah makes it a mitzvah, a commandment and a good service to him, to care for the poor among us, our widows, fatherless and the Levites within our gates. And David blesses those who do and Y’hovah promises to deliver those who do in the time of trouble. He does NOT promise to repay in kind, only to eventually make it worth our while.

In vv.4-6, David (Mashiach?) is asking Y’hovah to perform what vv.1-3 promise -deliverance, preservation and strength to see the trouble through to the end. In David’s case, it speaks of his chief of Staff, Joab (most think it’s Absalom), who wanted David to name Absalom his successor instead of Solomon. In Yeshua’s case it speaks of Yehudah Skaryota (AENT), who would FORCE Yeshua to claim the throne. Both wanted to FORCE the King’s hand, not garner power or praise to themselves.

Vv.7-12 are most definitely Messianic in their nature, but also of dual fulfillment. Conspiracy rears its ugly head in v.7 – Yehudah Skaryota selling out Yeshua for the slave price in an effort to have Yeshua assert his authority as heir to the throne of David; Joab, in an effort to have the ‘stronger’ brother, Absalom (a man of action, like David and Joab) named as David’s successor. In v.8, the Sanhedrin thought all their troubles were over with Yeshua in the grave, and Absalom’s supporters thought the same once David was in exile. V.9 is where I get the idea that Joab is the guy meant in David’s day. It was his familiar friend whom he’d always trusted and his closest military advisor who went against him. Yehudah was the guy Yeshua trusted with the purse.

In vv.10-12, David and Mashiach ask Y’hovah to bring them up out of the pit so that they may triumph over their enemies, instead of their enemies over them. V.12 shows that when we put no other elohim in Y’hovah’s face, he puts us before his face.

V.13 – ברוך יהוה אלהי ישראל מחעולם ועד העולם אמן ואמן

Baruch Y’hovah Elohai Yisrael m’haolam v’ad haolam. Amein v’amein!

Bless Y’hovah, Yisrael’s Eloha, from Everlasting to Everlasting, Amein and Amein.  Q&C

2Cor.6.1-10 – Ch.5 ends with this context;

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Mashiach, as though Elohim did beseech by us: we pray in Mashiach’s stead, be ye reconciled to Elohim. 21 For he hath made him sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of Elohim in him.

Since we are workers together IN Mashiach and in His righteousness, we ought to not take lightly the grace that he’s bestowed upon us. As Moshe ministered to the daughters of Reuel, so we ought to serve the widows, orphans and Levites with a pure heart, as he’s given us the power (grace) to do it. As David said in the Psalm, we ought to endure the trouble that comes against us in the power (grace) that he supplies us with so that we can be his ministers (servants) to his people. 

V.2 quotes from Ps.69.13 and Is.49.8

But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, Y’hovah, in an acceptable time: O Eloha, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. (Psalms 69:13)

Thus saith Y’hovah, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; (Isaiah 49:8)

What do you suppose is meant by ‘the desolate heritages’? I think it may have to do with the lands into which Ephraim had been exiled, the lands that Israel did not inherit in the Egyptian Exodus, but over which those who overcome will rule and reign with Mashiach in his Kingdom. I think we will rule by our service to them, as Yeshua did in his walk on earth.  

How do we go about giving no offense in anything? No matter what we do, if we teach the Word of Y’hovah we will offend someone. But the issue is this; do we offend Y’hovah who gave us the gracious provision of power by His Ruach haKodesh? If we are not offending Y’hovah [may his people live forever with their King in the New Creation], we are definitely offending haSatan and his minions – may they (haSatan and his minions) all rot in the grave and burn to nothing in the final dissolution of this creation. 

The ministry is one of service to the people, not of lording it over them. That’s what ‘minister’ means – servant, to attend to the needs of someone. My wife is a minister to an elderly, housebound couple. I minister to y’all’s need for exposition of Torah truth, and y’all minister to my need to perform what Y’hovah has called me to do. In our ministries one to another, we perform different tasks, each reciprocating to another, but in doing so we help each other along the same Way toward the mark of the high calling of Elohim in Messiah Yeshua – and that mark is Shalom with Avinu Y’hovah. Even in our disagreements over fine points of teaching, we help each other become more like Y’hovah Yeshua. Q&C

Our ministry to Y’hovah’s people is in at least 10 different areas (all of which Messiah ministers to us and BY us); 1) much patience (wow, that’s a biggie that we seldom see exercised between believers of differing opinions), 2) in affliction (y’all ministered to me in my affliction), 3) in necessities (Y’all came through for me there, as well), 4) in distresses (in that y’all ministered to my wife, and I ask you please keep it up in your prayers), 5) in stripes (we haven’t seen much of this yet in America, but we have seen some – Kent Hovind comes immediately to mind), 6) in imprisonments (Kent again, but LOTS of us in the near future if I don’t miss my educated ‘guess’), 7) in tumults (keep your eyes on the REAL news and you’ll see that we’re on the knife’s edge of absolute pandemonium here in America), 8) in labors (as in ‘labor camps’ euphemistically referred to as ‘relocation centers’), 9) in watchings (keeping each other apprised of developments coming down the pike – keeping each other awake), 10) in fastings (the idea is the Day of Atonement, but I think it can be extended to eating only clean food, especially in the camps, er …. ‘Centers’). 10 is the number of ordinal perfection according to E W Bullinger. 

And how do we provide these ministries to each other? By 12 means; 1) by purity (not spotted by the things of the world), 2) by knowledge (both of what’s happening in the world and what’s going to happen) 3) by longsuffering (which y’all have already exercised toward me today – I’m on pg.11 of my notes), 4) by kindness (not one of my strong-points, humanly speaking – I can be kinda gruff), 5) by Ruach haKodesh (w/o whom none of us would be able to perform any of this), 6) by love unfeigned (I hope this describes me and I know it describes most of y’all), 7) by the Word of Truth – Derech l’Emet (the knowledge of this one is only from Ruach – it is spiritually discerned), 8) by the power of Elohim (which is his Ruach in us), 9) by the armour of righteousness (our righteousness is in Mashiach and by his Ruach in us – he has the point, the rear guard, both flanks, what’s above us and what’s below us, to cause us to fulfill Torah in our lives),  10) by honour before him and dishonour among his enemies, 11) by evil report from the enemy, but 12) by good report from Avinu and his people. 12 = the number of governmental perfection on earth, also according to Bullinger.

These varying reports are like those Yeshua was the brunt of before the Sanhedrin. The enemy sees what’s physically in front of his eyes, but does not discern spiritual things. These supposed dichotomies are physical/spiritual, and the enemy doesn’t get it. 1) As deceivers, and yet true (the enemy sees us as deceivers now, but we are true if we stay true to Y’hovah), 2) as unknown, and yet well known (the enemy pretends to not know us, but they know the Ruach who empowers us – and they tremble), 3) as dying, and Behold!, we live (Y’hovah is telling both our enemies and us to pay careful attention! As we die or are persecuted for our faithfulness to Y’hovah, they see that we have REAL LIFE! And it will engender jealousy which will have 1 of 2 effects on our human adversaries, a) they’ll hate us the more, or b) they’ll want the hope we have), 4) as chastened, and not killed (we will fail at times in our faithfulness, and we will receive rebuke and chastening by Ruach, but he will not kill us over it – he will, in fact forgive us if we repent, and THAT will make them all the crazier), 5) as sorrowful, and yet always rejoicing (there is NOTHING that ticks haSatan off as much as  succeeding in knocking one of us down, only to have us start singing the hodu of Y’hovah – he doesn’t get it!), 6) as poor, yet making many rich (by our graciously provided Ruach power we can build others up spiritually, even in, through and in spite of our perceived afflictions – another major peeve of haSatan’s), 7) as having nothing, and yet possessing all things (though stripped of all our possessions by the wicked ruling class, we know that we have life and untold reward in the Kingdom or the resurrection [whichever comes first], so what’s to bother us?). 7 is the number for spiritual perfection, again according to Bullinger. May Y’hovah give us the Ruach according to our need for his glory in the days ahead. Understand that our redemption draweth nigh! Keep your accounts short with Avinu. I think the abomination of desolation MAY be revealed this Pesach time, around Aviv 10. If not, it is nothing but the grace of Y’hovah. Prophecy is unfolding, folks. Q&C  

End of Shabbat Bible Study.