Shabbat Bible Study for 3 November 2018

©2018 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries

Year 3, Sabbath 34

Deuteronomy 15:7 – 16:17  – Isaiah 61:1-3 – Psalm 131 – Luke 4:14-30

Links: 

Devarim 15.7-16.17 – 15.7-11 – Chumash’s prefatory paragraph for vv.7-11 and the one specific to v.7 (pg.101) are quite good. V.8 opens with a double use of the verb פתח patach, Ki-fatocha tiftach, ‘For giving you shall give’. KJV says, “open thine hand wide”. It then goes on to use another double use of the verb עבט avat, v’haaveit tivatenu’ “and lending you shall lend.” When you see a brother in need, supply that need to the best of your ability. Ultimately, it isn’t you who is giving the gift, but Y’hovah is providing the brother’s need through you. The more open you are to giving, the more open and openly he will bless you. That blessing MAY be in kind, but not necessarily. What goes around will surely come around; we reap what we sow. We aren’t to worry that the borrower is borrowing near the sabbatical year and may not be able to repay before all debts are cancelled. Y’hovah will see to it that we are blessed if we will obey him in all things. There will always be poor people with us, as Yeshua taught on this passage

6 Now when Yeshua was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat to eat. 8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? 9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. 10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. 11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. 13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. (Matt.26.6-13)

There will be a time when poverty will be eradicated, as spoken of in v.4, but it will not likely come before the Kingdom, or perhaps even the New Creation.

Vv.12-15 – If our brother comes to us as a servant, we are to release him in the year of release. And when we release him, we are not to merely set him free, but ensure that he can live while he gets his feet on firm earth. In the same way, if a brother is declining towards bankruptcy, we are to help him regain a firm footing, because it is easier to keep one from falling into a pit than to try to pull him out of a pit. We are to remember where we were in Egypt and how Y’hovah brought us out of there to take us into the land that he promised to us through Avraham (or promised to Avraham through us). 

Vv.16-18 – If a Hebrew servant wants to STAY in his master’s house, for whatever reason, when the sabbatical year arrives, he may. The master will accept him into his house as a bond-servant. The same is true of a female servant who wishes to remain with her master through the sabbatical year of release. This is the only time any body piercing is sanctioned in Torah, and the Chumash notes to Ex.21.5-6 (p. 148) tell us why. When the master releases the servant in the sabbatical he is not to regret it, for he has received double his use as if he’d bought a heathen slave, both in production and in blessing from Y’hovah. 

Vv.19-23 deal with the firstfruits born to the flocks/herds. These were to be brought up to J’lem for offering to Y’hovah. Ch.16 tells us WHEN they are to be brought up. The firstborn of the dam is NOT to be made profit from; the sheep are not to be shorn and the cattle are not to be used as beasts of burden – NO WORK is to be done or profit made with them, because they are set apart to Y’hovah. They are to be offered and eaten at the aliyah feasts. If there is a blemish in the 1^st-born of the flock or herd, it is NOT to be offered, but may be eaten in the city in which we live. You are to treat it as a deer or other clean animal you take while hunting, as long as you bleed it properly. Please notice that you are NOT told that you can sheer or work the 1stborn animals. They are to be eaten, with only the perfect ones offered to Y’hovah in J’lem. Q&C

Ch.16.1- – I think it is very important for us to see that everything after Devarim 12.1 is to be performed when we live baAretz, in the land into which Israel is about to cross Yarden and take possession.

These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which Y’hovah Elohey avotechem giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth… But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which Y’hovah Elohechem giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; (Deuteronomy 12:1, 10)

When we do our Pesach, Shavuoth and Sukkoth celebrations, they are merely commemorations of the events, not actual observations according to Torah. Pesach, Shavuoth and Sukkoth can only be observed properly baAretz, in the land. The celebrations of these ‘presentation’ moedim are traditions that we observe, not mitzvot of Y’hovah. There is no record of ANY Pesach after the first one we kept in the Wilderness at the specific command of Y’hovah, as it is recorded in Numbers 9. But almost the first thing we did after crossing Yarden was to observe Pesach

And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. (Joshua 5:10-11)

That was barleycorn, BTW. Wheat wasn’t but short grass yet, as it had been in Egypt. ALL of the presentation Feasts are firstfruits offering and times to bring the tithes of the harvests into the storehouse from which the priests, widows and fatherless subsist.

The first command is to sh’mor Chodesh haAviv, “OBSERVE the month of Spring.” For this reason, I think we need to actually SEE the Aviv new moon’s first sliver. This would also be true of the Chodesh of the 7^th month that actually needs to be observed as a moed of Y’hovah, Yom T’ruah, and the rest of the fall Feasts. The observation of the Aviv Chodesh is so we can know the proper days to keep the spring Feasts Chag haMatzoh, Bikkurim, and Shavuoth. 

The 2^nd command is to offer the Pesach lamb (either a sheep or a goat) in the place where Y’hovah will rest his Name there, baAretz, in the land. The first Pesach in the land would be at the national altar in the Mishkan at Gilgal. When they completed the conquest of the land, his Name would rest with the Mishkan in Shiloh, until the ark was taken by the Philistines and temporary national altars were built, first at Nob and then Giveon, until Shlomo built the Temple for the final resting place of Y’hovah’s Name in Yerushalayim. 

V.2 says that we should offer the Pesach offering “of the flock and the herd”, which means a sheep or goat AND an ox or bull. The ox/bull was not the Pesach, but the accompanying offerings that went with the Pesach lamb, whether sheep or goat. The lamb was the Pesach. The bulls/oxen were national freewill offerings, whether for peace, thanksgiving, etc. 

Vv.3-4 – There was to be no leavened bread eaten from the 14^th at even until the 21st at even; there was to be no leaven found in our homes during those same days for the purpose of helping us to remember the 7 days we fled Egypt; from Rameses until we crossed the Yam Suf into Midian and the destruction of the pursuers in the flood when Y’hovah removed his restraining Word from the waters. Once Paraoh and the hosts of Mitzrayim were destroyed and there was no need to rush, the need to eat unleavened bread was gone and they could take the time to let the yeast raise the bread.

V.5-8 – The Pesach may NEVER be offered anywhere but at the national altar. If we lived afar off from the land we could slaughter a lamb to commemorate Pesach, but it was NOT the same as observing Pesach. What we do in the diaspora is a commemoration. When we do this, we must eat the lamb before sunrise and any leftovers are to be burned in the fire. We eat the unleavened bread for 6 more days, and in the 7^th day of the moed we have a miqra kodesh, a day of no servile work set apart to Y’hovah.  

Vv.9-12 – These verses deal with Chag haShavuoth, the Feast of Weeks. On the day after the 7^th day Shabbat during the Feast of Unleavened Bread is Chag haBikkurim, the day on which the High Priest offered the firstfruits of the barley harvest. In the year of Yeshua’s death, this day began with his resurrection along with a large number of saints who had died, of whom many living saints saw them in the city of Yerushalayim. These saints were the offering of the firstfruits of the dead that Yeshua offered in the Kodesh Kadashim in the heavens (Heb.9) and that the High Priest had been foreshadowing since the command went forth in 

10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before Y’hovah, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. (Lev.23.10-11)

This sabbath MUST be the 7^th day, since NONE of the spring moedim are called Shabbat. So the 7 weeks are counted from sundown beginning the first day of the week during ULB, 7 full weeks, and ends at the end of the 7^th day shabbat, exactly 49 days, 7 shavuahs, or Shavuoth. At sundown ending the 7^th week begins the Feast of Shavuoth, the spring picture of the Jubilee (Yovel) year of complete release from bondage. The Feast of weeks also coincides with the end of the wheat harvest and is the time to bring the tithe of that wheat harvest to the storehouse.

We are to remember that we were in bondage in Egypt and that we should do all that is in our power to help others out of bondage – remember what we saw in ch.15 today. 

Vv.13-17 – There is no mention of Yom Teruah or Yom Kippur here because they are NOT presentation Feasts, when all the males in Yisrael are to present themselves before Y’hovah in Yerushalayim. Both Chag haMatzoh and Chag haShavuoth are presentation Feasts, as is Chag haSukkoth. That is what this chapter is about. ALL of these feasts are times to bring the tithes of the just finished harvests into the storehouse for use of the destitute, non-inherited and poor. THIS is the Y’hovah appointed ‘welfare’ system. It was basically a voluntary offering for the needy. If we were doing this freely and voluntarily, there would be no need of the government to do it by coercion. 

We are to carry up our tithes, but also what we would need to rejoice and celebrate before Y’hovah for 8 days; us, our family, our servants, and the widows, orphans, the strangers and our Levites that are within our gates. As we saw a couple of weeks ago, we were to leave our lands and homes along with our whole house and leave it for Y’hovah to guard for us. We will see this in full force in the millennial Messianic Kingdom AND in the New Creation, when everyone will go up to Yerushalayim from the 4 corners of the earth and noone going up shall suffer loss. Q&C

YeshaYahu 61.1-4 – Ps.61 is Mashiyach speaking. The word translated ‘anointed’ is H4886, mashach משח, to smear/anoint. If we add the right hand of Y’hovah as a middle syllable (the letter yod), we spell Mashiyach. V.1 names 5 different ways Mashiyach delivers; preaches good tidings to the meek, binds up the broken-hearted, gives sight to the blind (LXX & Lk.4.18), proclaims liberty (Torah) to captives, opens the prison of the bound by proclaiming the acceptable year of Y’hovah. All these are spiritual conditions and the remedies were done in spiritual metaphor by Mashiyach Yeshua when he visited us. When he performed his miracles, he was USUALLY fulfilling one of these prophecies of Mashiyach. I think the reason the 3^rd condition he met was removed from the MT was to remove the thing that was unmistakably something that only Mashiyach could do – give sight to those who are born blind; In Jn.9, we see;

16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of Elohim, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. 17 They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. [Prushim divided]

24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give Elohim the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. 25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.

(The Iuaidio, i.e.; the political leaders of the religion said,) 29 We know that Elohim spake unto Moshe: we know not from whence he [Yeshua] is. 30 The man answered and said unto them [Mark edit – and the uneducated blind man taught the Iuaidoi], Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. 31 Now we know that Elohim heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of Elohim, and doeth his will, him he heareth. 32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. 33 If this man were not of Elohim, he could do nothing.

Talk about cut to the quick! Have you ever seen a ‘pro’ wrestling match and what they call a ‘pile-driver’? That’s what this guy just did to the Iuaidoi – the political leaders of the Hebrew religion. That phrase in Is.61.1 – recovery of sight to the blind – had to go, or their political positions would wither up and die. This was an unmistakable work of Y’hovah and his.

V.2 contains a gap of roughly 2000 years. Yeshua proclaimed the acceptable year of Y’hovah, but not the day of the vengeance of Elohim. It is likely that had the leaders of the religion accepted him as Mashiyach ben Yoseph, the day of Elohim’s vengeance would have come immediately following his resurrection as Mashiyach ben David. What would the proclamation of the day of vengeance have done? We’re told in vv.2c-the end of the chapter what it will do, so I assume it would have been done had there been acceptance then. It will 1) comfort all who mourn and appoint unto us, 2) beauty for our dust and ashes; 3) the oil of Joy for our mourning, 4) a garment of Praise for our heavy spirits so that we might be called 5) Aylay haTzedek – elms of righteousness and 6) the planting in which Y’hovah glories. I say we and us because we will go through a time of great heaviness and mourning before we overcome through to Y’hovah’s Messianic Kingdom. Keep that in mind when the persecution comes (and it will be coming quite soon, if I don’t miss my educated guess). Endure it until the end of either your life or the time of Ya’acov’s Trouble, and you shall be an overcomer and a part of his Bride. 

Those who overcome SHALL build the old wastes, raise up the old desolations, repair the waste cities and the desolations of MANY generations. Do you see why the people at the synagogue in Natzreth got angry when he quit in the middle of v.2? They wanted all the good stuff without any of the bad stuff, the delivery of the physical NOW, not the spiritual. They wanted what they could see with their eyes and touch with their hands, not just what they would merely know in their hearts and minds. They were no different from the typical believer, whether Jew, Xian or Messie. They want all the Kingdom will bring without having to endure the hardship of the days ahead. I REALLY and TRULY want the rapture to occur, but I know that it’s a lie, foisted on the evangelical church to destroy their faith when the fit hits the shan. Q&C

Tehellim 131 – We have an election this week and this psalm is exactly what we need to apply in its aftermath. I am relatively certain that noone in this audience will be truly ecstatic about the outcome, though I may be wrong about that. Look at David’s words. My heart is not haughty, nor do I look at things that are out of my league. I do not try to get involved in things that are to high for me. Too high for the KING?! This was a humble man who had a high position. That is what made him worthy of that position. It is that humility that marks the man of Y’hovah; the one that Y’hovah can use for great things. But he must have been worked up over something because in v.2 he tells us that he had to quiet himself, which I infer to mean that he reacted with his emotions and had to temper them and bring those emotions under control of his mind and spirit. He had to remember the fact that Y’hovah is the one who is ultimately in charge. It is Y’hovah’s plans that will be served by the circumstances that happen around us. We may never see it come to fruition in this life, but it SHALL work together for the good end that he has designed. David had quieted his emotional reaction and realized that Y’hovah would do what was right. Like a suckling child trusts his mother to provide all his needs; love, nutrition, physical warmth and protection, so David trusts Y’hovah. So WE must trust Y’hovah, even though circumstances LOOK like they could not be worse and our emotional response is to RUN; to save ourselves! David ends this wonderfully deep and short psalm with the admonition to have hope and to trust Y’hovah, even in the depths of despair. Q&C

Luka 4.14-30 – What follows is taken from my study on “The Life of Yeshua haMoshiach – an Hebraic perspective”.

59). Yeshua withdraws to Galilee – Mat. 4.12, Mk. 1.14, Lk.4.14-15, Jn. 4.1-3, 43-45 – We’ve already covered most of this, but we’ll recapitulate it. (SEE EARLY GALILEAN MINISTRY, ABOVE p.41). The way the chronology should go is: Yochanan is put in prison, Yeshua departs the pattern in Judea for the familiar environs of Galilee, He comes upon the Samaritans in Sychar where he ministers for 2 days (are WE the Samaritans and the 2 days = 2000 years of Mashiyach outside the Yehudean environment?), from there to Cana of Galilee to heal the nobleman’s son and bring that whole family into the kingdom (with the servants) and ‘go public’, as it were. His reputation had preceded him from Jerusalem, where he’d done many miracles and spoken more truth than even Nicodemus could handle. That is probably why the nobleman had come to him. Luke and Yochanan give us more information, once again, than the others. Luke tells us that he taught in their synagogues, bringing glory to Elohim. Yochanan tells us that the Galileans received him gladly, having heard and seen what he’d done in Jerusalem at the feast. He also tells us that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country (Mat.13.57, Mk.6.4). The incident that brings this up doesn’t happen until a year or so later, in Nazareth. Do not confuse it with the next thing to happen.

60). Discourse at Nazareth – Lk.4.16-27 – We’ll discuss the rejection later. At this time we’ll limit ourselves to what Yeshua read and says.

It was Yeshua’s custom to stand up and read the scriptures in synagogue on Shabbat. This was the town in which he grew up, all the people there knew him and his family. It could be that his father was prominent in the synagogue since Yeshua normally read from the scriptures, or perhaps the leaders of this place enjoyed the manner in which he read the scriptures – like he meant what he read. So someone delivered the Isaiah scroll to him and he ‘found’ the place he was looking for. I would assume he took a few moments to open the scroll to 61.1-2a to read the haftarah passage he’d chosen for that day. And I’d imagine that the people were waiting somewhat expectantly for him to read. They’d heard, no doubt, of his recent days in Jerusalem and the miracles he’d performed. Some of these folks were probably there to witness his miracles. If I were there, I’d be listening carefully to what he read, and whatever he said to shed light on the passage. 

The passage he chose was picked for a purpose, which he announced after he was finished reading. Look at it in Luke while I read from Isaiah 61:1-2a, 

“The Spirit of Y’hovah Elohim is upon me; because Y’hovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2To proclaim the acceptable year of Y’hovah…” 

He stopped quoting here, of course, because he was not going to fulfill the rest of the prophecy at this time. But see the reaction of the people. As he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the minister, every eye in the place was on him, waiting for his interpretation or comments. What he said must have surprised them, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” 

At that, while he’s still talking, for there is no reason to think he waited for them to react, they started thinking, ‘Isn’t this Joe’s boy? What’s he talking about? Did he just say prophet? What was that about Physician? How is this scripture fulfilled today?’ They weren’t listening anymore. They were trying to make heads or tails of that first sentence. They could not or would not accept that this Yeshua, whom they knew, was the Mashiyach (anointed) or even a prophet (sent). Remember Nathanael when he was called? ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ 

But Yeshua went on. Luke 4:23, “And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.” He was saying that they were going to demand proof of his claim by signs and wonders. They’d seen him grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with Elohim and men. They knew he was a special child and young man, but they refused to believe that a prophet, much less Mashiyach, had grown up in their midst and they knew nothing of it until now. What he said next must have knocked them down for the count.

He said, “No prophet is accepted in his own country,” And then he illustrates his point with 2 lessons from history. The 2 greatest prophets of the history of the Kingdom of Israel were rejected in Israel. EliYahu and Elisha did no great healing miracles on the people of Israel, but on gentiles. Naaman was healed of leprosy (2Ki5) and the widow of Zarepheth (1Ki.17.8ff) not only had oil and meal for food throughout the 3½ year drought, but had her son raised from the dead by a miracle of Elohim. Yeshua was saying that, as EliYahu and Elisha were rejected by Israel, so his town would reject him. He didn’t have to wait very long to be proven right.

2). THE YEAR OF POPULARITY– It should come as no surprise that the first thing to happen in Yeshua’s year of popularity is his rejection at Nazareth.

61). Rejected at Nazareth – Is.53.3, Lk.4.28-30 – We’ve said before that despise doesn’t necessarily mean hate, which has become the only usage of the word in modern times. Webster’s 1828 has 

DESPISE, .v.t. 1. To contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have the lowest opinion of. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Prov. 1. Else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Matt. 6.   {As an aside, the word contemn is not the same as condemn. Contemn means to hold in low regard or contempt (which is from the same root), while condemn means to adjudicate as guilty and to pronounce sentence upon.} 2. To abhor. 

In most scripture passages despise means to hold in low esteem or opinion, but in Is.53.3 it means to abhor. That is, according again to Webster, 

ABHOR’, v.t.  [L abhorreo, of ab and horreo, to set up bristles, shiver or shake; to look terrible.] 1. To hate extremely, or with contempt; to lothe, detest or abominate. 2. To despise or neglect.  Ps.22.24, Amos 6.8. 3. To cast off or reject. Jer.14.21. 

You will see how this applies momentarily. 

The reaction of the people in the synagogue was one of utter abhorrence. They were filled with wrath. The greek word for filled is pletho whence comes the word plethora. 

PLETH’ORA, n. [Gr. fullness.] Literally, fullness. In medicine, fullness of blood; excess of blood; repletion; the state of the vessels of the human body, when they are too full or overloaded with fluids. 

Their anger, then was full to overflowing, and it manifested itself in the attempt to murder Yeshua. They ‘thrust’ him out. The greek word is ekballo. It’s a compound with a prefix ek meaning out and a root word ballo meaning, well, throw. I mean, what is the purpose of a ‘ball-o’? 

Now consider for just a minute the lay of the land. Luke 4:29b “and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.” The city was near a cliff or an outcropping, a la the roadrunner and coyote. Every time you see that overhang of rock you know the coyote is going to somehow do a Peter Pan off that thing. That was the intention of the people in the Nazareth synagogue toward Yeshua that day. Gee, do you think he offended them somehow? So, what does he do? He either calmly walks through the crowd of people bent on his destruction, or he somehow miraculously makes himself invisible to them, either by blinding their eyes to him or just doing a ‘Philip’s transport’ on them (Jn.8.59). When we are in our new bodies, we will be able to move at the speed of thought. Could Yeshua do that even in his pre-resurrection body? If you think he couldn’t do it until he was in his resurrection body, how did Ruach ha Kodesh transport Philip (Acts 8.29-40)? Could he not do the same thing with Yeshua? Q&C

End of Bible Study

Shabbat Bible Study for 27 October 2018

©2018 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries

Year 3 – Shabbat 25

Devarim 12.20 – 15.6, Yirem’Yahu 23. 9-22, Tehellim 130, Mattityahu 7.15-27

Links:

http://rcg.org/questions/p130.a.html

http://bible.cc/exodus/23-19.htm

Devarim 12.20 – The context has us eating in Yerushalayim in Y’hovah’s presence. Y’hovah gives us permission to eat flesh foods. V.20 seems to give carte blanche to eat any kind of flesh you choose. But v.21 sets bounds on this permission. “… thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock…” That is sheep or cattle, not pigs or dogs or cats. Clean animals are what he allows. We may eat them in OUR gates. If we are remote from Yerushalayim, we can also eat our flesh foods in our own towns and houses. It need not be offered at Yerushalayim. But if we do, we MUST pour out the blood on the ground. There is no change in dietary requirements here – all the kosher instructions still apply. Where it says the clean and the unclean, it means that the people who eat it may be clean or unclean, not that the food may be either clean or unclean. IOW, you may have a goy over for dinner.

The ‘holy things’ in v.26 refers to those things that we have set aside, or been commanded to set aside as offerings to Y’hovah. These had to be taken to Yerushalayim to be offered at one of the presentation feasts. The blood in these cases is poured out on the Altar of Burnt Offering in the Mishkan or the Temple – nowhere else. ALL REQUIRED OFFERINGS for sin or as a part of the required oblations are to be done in the place Y’hovah has placed his name. If we live far from Yerushalayim, we may offer our freewill offerings on a family altar. 

In our cases, today, we no longer offer blood offerings, since Yeshua has fulfilled all blood offerings on his tree

16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith Y’hovah, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these [sins and iniquities remitted] no more offering for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Yeshua, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some; but exhorting  and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Heb.10.16-29)

The willful sin in this passage was for a Levite to offer blood on the Altar in Yerushalayim AFTER coming to certain knowledge of the truth that Yeshua had fulfilled the atonement, which was Sha’ul’s [or his Talmid’s] REASON for writing Hebrews – he was warning believing Levites who were considering returning to the Temple atonement system and essentially trampling Yeshua’s blood, thereby. 

We are NOW to offer our own bodies as a LIVING SACRIFICE, which is our REASON-able service.

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom.12.1-2)

Vv.29-32 (and most of the portion for today) deal with syncretism, the attempt or tendency to combine or reconcile differing beliefs. A believer who keeps a pagan holiday as unto Y’hovah is a perfect example – Easter or Xmas being great examples of Xian syncretism. Jeroboam’s entire religious structure for Beit Ephraim Israel was syncretistic. These verses at the end of ch.12 prohibit doing anything the pagans do as unto Y’hovah. He calls these practices ‘abomination’, and there is no more condemnatory term that crosses Y’hovah’s lips. We are to do as we are told and not add to or diminish from our orders. Do we live up to this? Do we not add to or diminish from his Word every day in one way or another? I do, though not intentionally, and I’ll bet you do, too. And making that bet is not a sin, since it is not gambling, but a relatively sure thing. 

Abortion is an offering to a pagan god, according to v.31. It is abomination to Y’hovah. The 46^th anniversary of the Supremes’ decision on Roe v. Wade is this coming January 22^nd, which means the 40 years of probation were complete on January 21, 2013 – inauguration day. Talk about “a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation”! All bets are off for America as we’re well beyond the 40 year probation. HOWEVER, Y’hovah sometimes witholds judgment in his foreknowledge of near-future events. Justice Kavanaugh was just this week sworn into office on the Supreme Court after a BITTER confirmation hearing process. THIS may be the reason the US is not toast just yet. Perhaps the Court will hear a case that will overturn the abomination of Roe v. Wade in one fell swoop. Q&C

Devarim 13 – Here we are told that if a prophet or dreamer gives a prophecy to walk contrary to Y’hovah’s Word, even if he validates it with truly miraculous acts, don’t follow him. Signs, wonders and dreams are a hallmark of satanic religion. We need to ask ourselves, “What is the motivation of the prophet? What does he want of the audience? Does it line up with the Word? Does the sign, wonder or dream exalt Y’hovah? Or does it exalt the dreamer-prophet? Does the prophet want you to do what Yah has forbidden? Or not do what he’s commanded? Does he want you to eat catfish? Profane the Shabbat? Keep C & E and Halloween?

It is a test from Y’hovah, to see if you’ll test the spirits of the prophets. 

Beloved, believe not every ruach, but try the ruachot whether they are of Eloah: because many false nevi’im are gone out into the world. [2] Hereby know ye the Ruach of Eloah: Every Ruach that confesseth that Yeshua haMashiyach is come in the flesh is of Eloah: [3] And every ruach that confesseth not that Yeshua haMashiyach is come in the flesh is not of Eloah: and this is that ruach of antiMashiyach, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. [1John 4:1-3]

This doesn’t say that the spirit will deny that Yeshua is Y’hovah, but that it denies the humanity of Yeshua. This is a reference to the Gnostic heresy that a fleshly body would defile the Spirit of Y’hovah. How a created thing (flesh) could defile Y’hovah himself is beyond me. He is ultimately holy, and cannot be defiled. If he could be defiled by contact with sinful flesh, then he cannot indwell you or me or even our fellowship in his Torah. To the Gnostics, flesh was equated to sin. Here’s what W1828 says about 

GNOS’TIC, n.  nostic. [L. gnosticus; Gr. to know.]

The Gnostics were a sect of philosophers that arose in the first ages of Xianity, who pretended they were the only men who had a true knowledge of the Xian religion. They formed for themselves a system of theology, agreeable to the philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato, to which they accommodated their interpretations of scripture. They held that all natures, intelligible, intellectual and material, are derived by successive emanations from the infinite fountain of deity. These emanations they called oeons.

Y’hovah commands that we put that false prophet to death. Remember that the passage’s context has us in our own land, not in exile. He is very serious about keeping us from idols and idolatry, which is ‘spiritual adultery’. 

Vv.6–11 make the same pronouncements about our siblings and friends. If anyone comes to you while in exile to entice you to follow after other elohims, raise the alarm among the brethren and get that one out of your congregation. When we are baAretz, in the land, in the Kingdom we will fulfill these scriptures to the letter. We will stone the blasphemer and the false brother. If it is a near kin, it will be a mercy for you to throw the first stone, for you will aim to make his pain less by killing or rendering him unconscious immediately. The point of the severity of this judgment is to deter the same crime in Yisrael (v.11). This will be done in the Kingdom. It will be another reason haSatan will use to entice the ‘for show’ Sukkoth-keepers in the quick gathering of the Gog uMagog rebellion at the end of the Messianic Era (Rev.20.8-10). 

Vv.12–18 tell us how to address allegations of idolatry that come to our knowledge. We are to diligently seek the truth. If the allegations are true we are to treat it the same as the others, stone them to death, and burn all their possessions to keep Yisrael clean. This is essentially what Yisrael was to do in Yir’cho as they came into Canaan. Notice the admonition to not let any of the booty ‘cleave to thine hand.’ The incident at Ai was an example of what could happen if even one of you despised this instruction. This MAY BE an illustration of what will come down in Washington, D.C., if Roe v. Wade isn’t overturned. After offering over 100 million babies on the Tophet altar to Molech and Ishtar, a fiery judgment from Y’hovah would be fitting. If you want Y’hovah’s blessing, you need to heed his admonitions to put false religious systems out of your life. They will influence you, even if you try to insulate yourself from them. Q&C

Dev.14 – Don’t cut yourselves; don’t shave that unibrow. You’re SUPPOSED to be peculiar. That’s what holy means – set apart, different from everyone else, PECULIAR! In that vein, we are to eat only clean flesh foods – no abominable things. We can eat a lot of stuff, so the commandment is NOT onerous. In 12.15 we saw a blessing for eating clean foods. Here in v.4 – 20 we are made aware of exactly WHAT is clean, and what is not. V.21 shows us the reason the people died after eating the quails (Num11.31-34) – they were not to eat what died of itself. That is a good way to contract a dread disease. The people died because they lusted so for flesh that when it came to them they didn’t follow the laws of clean/unclean and eschew that which had died of itself. I also think from the tenor of the passage that they died because they ate the flesh w/o pouring out the blood. 

The last bit of v.21 seems to be an, “Oh, by the way …”, because seething a kid in his mother’s milk doesn’t seem to fit in the passage. It would be OK to eat a kid or it’s mother, as they are both clean to eat and that is the general tenor of the passage. I think it is here to bring the ‘set-apartness/peculiarity’ of Y’hovah’s people in their clean food full circle. We are not only to eat ONLY that which Y’hovah declares clean. We are also to ensure it is done in a set-apart manner. If we go back to the last 4 verses of last week’s portion, we can see what I’m talking about

29 When Y’hovah Elohecha shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; 30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto Y’hovah Elohecha: for every abomination to Y’hovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. 32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. (Deut.12.29-32)

Seething a kid in his mother’s milk was a pagan Canaanite practice, they believing that sprinkling the resulting liquid on their fields would appease their gods and ensure a good crop. 

Clarke’s Commentary explains,

“It was a custom of the ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their fruits, to take a kid and boil it in the milk of its dam; and then, in a magical way, to go about and besprinkle with it all their trees and fields, gardens and orchards; thinking by these means to make them fruitful, that they might bring forth more abundantly in the following year.”

From Gill’s Exposition, as quoted at http://bible.cc/exodus/23-19.htm 

Maimonides and Abarbinel both suppose it was an idolatrous rite, but are not able to produce an instance of it out of any writer of theirs or others: but Dr. Cudworth has produced a passage out of a Karaite author (i), who affirms, “it was a custom of the Heathens at the ingathering of their fruits to take a kid and seethe it in the milk of the dam, and then, in a magical way, go about and besprinkle all their trees, fields, gardens, and orchards, thinking by this means they should make them fructify, and bring forth fruit again more abundantly the next year:” and the Targum of Jonathan on Exodus 34:26 seems to have respect to this, where, having paraphrased the words as here quoted above, adds, “lest I should destroy the fruit of your trees with the unripe grape, the shoots and leaves together:” and if this may be depended upon, the law comes in here very aptly, after the feast of ingathering, and the bringing in the first fruits of the land into the Lord’s house.

Respected commentators of both Yehudi and Xian tradition show the pagan nature of this practice and Devarim 12.29-32 explains why. I think I’ll get a cheeseburger.

Vv.22ff deal with the tithe. PLEASE notice that this tithe and its purpose is given in juxtaposition to the heathen practice that Y’hovah condemned in v.21 (for the 3^rd time; Ex.23.19 is a requirement of the Covenant, 34.26 restates this part of the Covenant AFTER the transgression, which was to bow to the Egyptian gods Apis and Hathor; were they mother and calf?). We bring the tithe so that the NEXT harvest will be at LEAST as plentiful as THIS harvest! Why did the heathen seethe their kids in their mother’s milk? 

The tithe is on the increase – the net, not the gross income. In an agrarian society, the increase is that which remained after all the expenses were paid. In today’s society, it means that which is yours after YOUR expenses. These include taxes, medical, household, etc. expenses. About ‘income’, W1828 says 

“the profits of commerce or of occupation; the interest of money or stock in funds.”

But about ‘increase’ it says, 

“1.  Increment; profit; interest; that which is added to the original stock.” 

NOT what you trade for labour, (pay from a job), but what you get as return from investments. Tithes were to be brought in kind, the increase of your flocks or grain. If you lived a great distance from Yerushalayim, you could sell your grain or livestock and carry current money and then purchase what you needed to celebrate before Y’hovah at the Feast. 

Once again there seems to be a carte blanche in v.26 on what we may eat at the Feasts until we read the details. It says, ‘whatsoever thy soul lusteth after’, but then goes on to elaborate, ‘oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink.’ It seems kind of silly to think that Y’hovah would lay down laws about what we may eat and then allow us to break his law right in his face, doesn’t it? But on Easter Sunday (a non-Torah celebration) we’re supposed to celebrate Y’hovah Yeshua’s resurrection with a pig? Seems unlikely to me. I COULD be wrong … but I DOUBT it. 

Vv.27-29 deal with our obligation before Y’hovah concerning the Levite within our gates. We are to provide for his enjoyment of the Feasts – all of them. We are to lay up our entire tithe every 3^rd year for the purpose of providing the needs of the Levites, widows, orphans and strangers that live within our gates. 

I think that this has a very great bearing on the passage in 1Cor.11.17-34, which deals with the ‘love feast’, where many Corinthians were providing for their own enjoyment and nourishment, but not providing for the needs of the poor among them (v.21). Now, I doubt that many from Corinth made the trip 3 times a year to Yerushalayim, so this was probably done with the kahal in Corinth. I think that the reason many ‘slept’ among them is that they starved in the midst of their brethren’s plenty. The example Sha’ul gives is of the Pesach Feast, but I think it could apply to any of Y’hovah’s presentation feasts – or even Shabbat onegs. While this has been seen historically in the church as the ‘unworthy’ dying before his time, it can be read as the ‘unworthy’ being the cause of another’s untimely death, the operative verses being  

21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning Y’hovah’s body. [30] For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. [1Cor.11:21, 29-30]

Y’hovah’s body is the kahal, is it not? See the juxtaposition of hungry and drunken? If we eat until we are gluttonously stuffed, like a man drinks until he’s drunk, and care not a whit about our brother who is starving or thirsty, have we not filled this passage full? Drunkenness here speaks of overindulgence in general, I think. I’d love to see this in the original Hebrew, as I think it would support me here. Again, I COULD be wrong … but I DOUBT it. I think this was plain to Sha’ul and the Corinthians, but today has become ‘sod’, due to centuries of bad, dispensational interpretation.  Q&C

Dev.15.1 – 6 – This passage deals with the sabbatical year of release to Hebrew servants. This was NOT intended to be the norm in Yisrael. The norm is seen in v.6. But it could happen that a Hebrew could walk contrary to Y’hovah’s halacha and be reproved with loss of freedom and property. It was Y’hovah’s intention that chol Yisrael be the head and not the tail. If they would diligently hearken to his Torah it would be hard to find even a stranger or a pagan in need – THAT’S how much Y’hovah would bless their obedience. I preach to myself, now, so don’t take this personally. If we are in debt, we are NOT following Y’hovah’s halacha as he commands. We need to examine ourselves, see where we are NOT in compliance with his revealed will – Torah, Nevi’im, Kethuvim and B’rit Chadashah. When we find a place where we are in sin, we need to repent and resolve to obey. Then we need to resolve to get out of debt, so we are free to obey him when he commands us to ‘GO!’ Q&C

Yirem’Yahu 23.9-22 – Sorrow and bitterness (lamentation) have overtaken the prophet because of the hearts of the other prophets and priests of Y’hovah in Yerushalayim. The whole land is full of adulterers and idolaters (same thing) and they seem to have gone over to the ‘dark side’ in v.10. The prophet and the priest are profaning the House of Y’hovah, as the pastors and teachers are profaning Y’hovah’s kahal today. Not all, but most. As it was in Jerry’s day, so it is today. Biblical history = prophecy of the end of days. Since the willfully blind are leading the willfully blind, Yah sends another obstacle for them – he makes their soles wet and the paths slick, so they’ll fall down in the mud. They are working hard to take part in their paganism, and Yah makes it hard for them, but they press on toward the mark of the low calling of the shadim. Their reward from Y’hovah for their vigilance to follow the devils is to send them into exile. 

The false prophets are telling the people who think Y’hovah is nothing that Y’hovah will still bless them. KJV says they despise Y’hovah (v.17). Despise = to hold in contempt, to think of no worth, useless and powerless. These people obviously think they are going after Y’hovah or they would not be interested in the prophet’s promise of his blessing. They have fallen into syncretism without even knowing it because their watchmen are not warning them of it. Because the prophets and priests are every bit as guilty, and in fact are the cause of the people going after strange elohims, they get to drink the preparation for the adulterous woman in Dev.24.

Y’hovah warns the people once again not to listen to the false prophets, but they want to have their sin and their blessing too. Reminds me of that verse from Keith Green, 

Bless me Lord, bless me Lord, you know that’s all I ever hear.

Noone aches, noone hurts, noone even sheds one tear.

But He cries, he weeps, he bleeds,

And he cares for your needs.

But you just lay back and keep soaking it in.

Oh, can’t you see it’s such sin?!

Unfortunately, we can’t, because our preachers keep telling us we don’t have to keep Torah. It’s been done away, don’t you know? Nailed to the tree with Yeshua. Noone is listening for Y’hovah’s counsel. None perceives his Word. 

Does v.19 sound like what happened in New Orleans in August of 2005, or on the East Coast in 2012 or in So. Carolina in 2015? Remarkable. Do you suppose that this is written for us today? V.20 comes right out and says so! He is telling us that the prophets who call themselves prophets and do not warn the people, but bless them, are not His prophets – he didn’t send them. These self-proclaimed prophets are going to receive the reward for their neglect of the prophet’s duty – to be a watchman, to warn the people of their impending judgment and need of repentance. There ARE a number of faithful watchmen performing their duty to Y’hovah and his kahal today. But their voice is like Ruach’s against the din of the world’s system: still and small. 

I’ve said some things today that could be misconstrued by wicked men as inflammatory to treason and riot. All I’ve done is observe trends and connect dots. I have not prophesied in the foretelling sense, nor urged anyone to illegality or unlawful acts, but evil men may twist my meaning to say what they need to make themselves look righteous in their tyranny, either personal or general. May Y’hovah destroy the evil intents of their god’s wicked heart. Q&C

Tehellim 130 – Why does it take us being in the depths before we recognize our need and call on Y’hovah for his deliverance? Fortunately, Y’hovah does not hold the confessed and forgiven sins of his children against them – he doesn’t mark their iniquities. Did he, none could stand before him. The reason he forgives is so we will fear him. To fear Y’hovah is the opposite of despising him. When we fear him, we consider him and his ways in all we do. When we despise him, we don’t ever think of him and what he commands. 

When we enter the ‘darkness’ part of the day of Y’hovah (in the next few weeks, maybe?), we will be diligently watching for the morning, watching for the morning. David’s soul was after Y’hovah more than that. It is in the morning that Y’hovah will deliver us from our iniquities and mercifully redeem us, Ephraim and Yehuda, from exile.  Q&C

Mattityahu 7.15-27 – Wolves in sheep’s clothing, false prophets, is what the Torah and Haftarah were about today. Notice please, that we are to check the fruit of the prophets. We are not told to check the fruit of every brother. The reason for this is that the prophet will influence groups of people, not just himself and his immediate acquaintances. As we saw in our portions from YirmeYahu and Tehellim today, the false prophets tell us that we can walk in Torahlessness and still be blessed of Y’hovah, and then David alludes to these same false prophets as they who “watch for the morning, watch for the morning.” I take that to mean that they are looking to the Kingdom and olam haba, but are missing the evil days that we will have to endure to get there: they tickle itching ears, telling people who will rely on their word instead of Y’hovah’s more sure Word of prophecy, that they will escape the calamity that’s coming. If a prophet says he’s a good tree, but all you get from him is this kind of bracken, you have a pretty good idea that he’s a liar and not a prophet from Y’hovah. A prophet brings warning of calamity to come so that Y’hovah’s people will be ready for it. This doesn’t take a lot of discernment, just attention to detail. 

The false prophet has broken the 3^rd commandment, taking Y’hovah’s Name in vain. The parable in vv.21-23 is speaking directly to the false prophet’s audience. If a prophet says, “Y’hovah has told me such and so will happen”, watch to see if what he says happens. If it doesn’t, you know. V.21 says that those who say they prophesy in Y’hovah’s Name are not necessarily true prophets. Yeshua says, “I never knew you. Depart from me, ye who work iniquity.” Iniquity = Torahlessness. If a prophet tells you that you can do as you please w/Y’hovah’s Word and still get Y’hovah’s blessing, he’s a liar and a false prophet. 

Vv.24-27 are the parable of the houses built on a deep, bedrock foundation or on sand. This is also an illustration of houses built by prophets of Y’hovah and false prophets. It is up to us to decide whom to follow and on what we build. If we hear Torah (in its most general sense – all of scripture) and do it, we are building on the rock – and that Rock is Messiah.  But if we know to do right and we do it not, we will not withstand the evil day. 

This parable is just more evidence of the folly of the pre-trib rapture. Why build on rock if I don’t need to worry about the tribulation to come, which is likened to the storm. Yeshua is telling the kahal/ecclesia that they are in for a fall of momentous proportion. The NAE president who  ‘fell’ a few years ago is yet another wake-up for the kahal. Here’s hoping it does its job. I think the majority of Xianity slept through the alarm.

Here’s my commentary for all these verses from my study on “The Life of Yeshua haMashiyach”. This may repeat a bit. If it seems REALLY familiar, you must have been with us last week, when we discussed the SoM of which these verses are a part.

Matthew 7:15-17, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.”

The interpretation here is pretty straightforward. We are to be on the lookout to keep false prophets out of our midst. And we’ll know a false prophet by the outcome of their prophecy. Is it true? Did it happen the way he said it would? Does it fit the character of the Creator Elohim of the universe?  If not, stone them without the gates. 

This does not apply simply to foretelling or predictive prophecy. It also deals with forth-telling or expository prophecy. Is the word from the pulpit (or that guy on the mic who keeps spouting off) in accord with the word of Elohim and the character of Elohim? What kind of fruit do you see in the preacher’s life? Does it meet the test of 1Jn.4.1? How about in your own life? Do you compare scripture with scripture, things spiritual with things spiritual? Or do you look for a scripture that can be twisted to say what you want it to say and support your lusts thereby? Are you a false prophet? What saith your fruit?

We have been warned that antiMashiyachs are all over the place. They had already crept into the assemblies in Yochanan’s day. How much more prevalent must they be today, so far removed in time from the source? Stay in the true Word of Elohim so you’ll know a counterfeit when he shows his ugly face. Try the spirit of the prophet and the spirit behind his teaching. If it doesn’t stand the sniff test, if something smells rotten, beware. If it doesn’t stand the comparison test, rebuke that spirit and get it out of your life. Then warn as many as will hear you.

Matthew 7:18-20, “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

If you are rooted in the Word of Elohim, sustained by the Root of Jesse (Is.11.10), abiding in the vine (Jn.15.1-7), you will produce fruit to the Kingdom of Elohim. Notice that in Jn.15.2, there are those branches that are in the vine, but do not bear fruit. These the Father takes away. They are suckers, they drain the life from the vine and don’t add anything to it. This is what is removed in the purging. Notice that it does not say that what is purged is cast away, gathered up and burnt. It says that what does not abide in him is cast away and gathered by men and burned. You can be a Xian, in Mashiyach, but not a disciple of Yeshua. There are many of these, especially in these last Laodicean days. The time will come when these will be removed and put where they can no longer drain the vitality from the vine and the good branches. But since they are in Mashiyach, they will not be cast away. They will spend eternity with Mashiyach without reward. Inheritance is what we get because we are adopted children. Rewards are what we get for our service in Mashiyach. All who are in Mashiyach will inherit eternal life. Only those who abide in Mashiyach will receive rewards. What does your fruit look like? Do you have any? 

What does a tree in scripture symbolize? Trees are nations. The olive tree signifies Yisrael in belief. The fig tree symbolizes Yisrael in unbelief. If the tree bears no fruit, it is cut down and thrown into the fire. That refers to a nation. Individuals are seen in Jn.15, nations in Mat.7. Do not confuse them, or you will hold to false doctrine. An individual is adopted. A nation is a group of individuals. That nation whose Elohim is Y’hovah is blessed (Ps.33.12). That is why America was blessed for so long, and why she is being cut down to be thrown into the fire now. She, as a nation, has forgotten Y’hovah, though there are still many individuals who serve him. They will be rewarded, but the nation will soon be plucked up and removed, unless a true revival happens by Elohim’s mercy and grace. I would have revival, but I think that America’s vial is almost full (Rev.15.7-8). 

Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Master, Master, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Master, Master, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Don’t just say that you are saved; be sure of it. False prophets and false professors will get the same inheritance – death. Your faith does not depend on your emotions, how you feel at the moment, or any work of righteousness you perform, or a sinless life. If it did, you would need to be saved hundreds of times a day. In fact, it is not even your faith that saves you, but the faith of Y’hovah Yeshua haMashiyach (Gal.2.16, Rev.14.12). Just because a person says, “I am a blood-bought, spirit-filled, prophet of Elohim and I perform all sorts of miracles” doesn’t make it true. What did Yeshua say in the previous verse? Mat 7:20, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” So be a fruit inspector, especially your own fruit (7.1-5). What does the fruit look like in your life? Are you in the vine? Where is your abode? How tragic it would be if you lived and learned of the Bible, but never got to know the Author. 

‘Not everyone that saith Master, Master, but he that doeth the will of my Father’. What is the will of the Father? 2 Peter 3:9, “Y’hovah is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” This is the simplest statement of the divine will, the very essence and the bare minimum – repentance. And the outcome of repentance can be seen in 2Chron.7.14, 30.9, Is.55.7, Zech.1.3, Lk.15.7, Job.22.23, Jer.24.7, Lam.3.40. If this is not the attitude of our hearts when we come before Y’hovah to confess, we are wasting our breath. We must truly repent before we can expect to be forgiven. Does this ensure that we’ll never do the same thing again? No way, dude. But the shorter we keep our accounts with Elohim the easier it will be to get on with the rest of his will. 

Psalm 40.8 tell us specifically what the will of Y’hovah is, “I delight to do thy will, O Elohai. Thy Torah is in my heart.” His Word is his will. Jms. 1.22 is the Brit Chadashah equivalent, “But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

The first thing Elohim wants from us is repentance; the next thing he wants is compliance. After we’ve turned away from our sins and iniquities we are facing in the right direction and can actually comply with the divine will. We can now be made more like Yeshua and bear much fruit. It is up to us to lead people to him, and it is up to the Ruach ha Kodesh to convince them of their need for the Saviour. If we are led by the Spirit of Elohim we will bear witness to Yeshua. If we are not bearing witness to Yeshua, it follows that we are not led by the Spirit. Rom.8.13-17, Gal.5.16-26.

Matthew 7:24-27, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

The difference between these two types of men is in what they did with the Word of Elohim. Hearing the Word of Elohim is not enough. It is in the doing that a man is adjudged wise by Elohim, not hearing only (Jam.1.22-25). The word for rock here is petra which means a mass of rock, bedrock. If you can dig your footer into bedrock, there’s nothing short of an act of Elohim that will take that building away. The same is true of your life and the Word of Elohim. If you base your life on compliance to the Word of Elohim, as simply understood as it can be done correctly, you will never waver in your faith, come hell or high water (this is where that saying came from). But if you base your life on the shifting sands of emotions or fashions or cultural whims or momentary fads, the smallest breeze will knock you down. Witness western civilization, and American civilization in particular, over the last 40 years. It’s a house of cards waiting for the wind to shift. When that happens it will all come down, and great will be the fall of it. 

Q&C

End of Midrashic Study

Shabbat Bible Study for October 20, 2018

©2018 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries

Year 3  Sabbath 25

Devarim 11:26-12:19 – YeshaYahu 54:11-55:6 – Tehellim 129 – Luka 6:20-49

Links: 

Devarim 11:26-32– I didn’t count how many times Y’hovah commanded compliance with his Instructions in the last chapter or two, but it didn’t take Moshe more than 6-8 minutes to say and I seem to remember at least 3 injunctions of the ‘enabling clause’, “I am Y’hovah Elohecha, who brought you out of bondage in Egypt.” Here, he is calling on us to take the choice. Will we answer the call in the affirmative for blessing? Or will we choose to despise Y’hovah and thereby choose his curse? Of course, evangelical Xianity has taught us for millennia that obedience to Torah is a curse. Have they never read the end of this chapter?!

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of Y’hovah Elohechem, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of Y’hovah Elohechem, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. 

Disobedience to Y’hovah’s Word, turning aside from his Way, is idolatry. Acts 9 is about the Way against which Rav Sha’ul got the ‘letter of Marque and Reprisal’ to take Damascene Netzarim bound to Yerushalayim for trial. Rav Sha’ul came face to face with his own covetousness, which is idolatry. Moshe gives the instruction that the blessings will be announced from Mt. Gerizim and the curses will be pronounced from Mt. Ebal on the western side of Yarden, near Shechem. Here is what the commentary in TSK has to say about Mounts Ebal and Gerizim:

Gerizim: Gerizim and Ebal, mountains west of Jordan, and in the tribe of Ephraim, are opposite, or parallel to each other, extending from east to west; mount Gerizim being on the south, and mount Ebal on the north. They are separated by the beautiful valley in which Shechem or Nablus is situated, which is only about 200 paces in width. Both mountains are much alike in length, height, and figure; being about a league [about 3 miles] in length, in the form of a semicircle, and so steep, on the side of Shechem, that there is scarcely any shelving. Their altitude appeared to Mr. Buckingham nearly equal, not exceeding 700 or 800 feet from the level of the valley, which is itself elevated. But though they resemble each other in these particulars, yet in another they are very dissimilar; for, says Maundrell, “though neither of the mountains has much to boast of as to its pleasantness, yet, as one passes between them, Gerizim seems to discover a somewhat more verdant, fruitful aspect then Ebal. The reason of which may be, because fronting towards the north, it is sheltered from the heat of the sun by its own shade; whereas Ebal, looking southward, and receiving the sun that comes directly upon it, must by consequence be rendered more scorched and unfruitful.”

Hence the very appearance of Ebal is of a curse, barren and dry; while Gerizim’s is of blessing green and better watered. Before very long in the land, Israel began to go her own ways and brought Y’hovah’s curse on herself – the very curse YirmeYahu laments about in the book of that name.

12.1-19 – Moshe begins to enumerate the chukim, mishpatim, and mitzvoth that Y’hovah expects Yisrael to guard (shamar) in the land. The first thing he commands is the destruction of all the groves and high places of the Canaanite religions. V.3 is a command to ‘hew down’ the graven images. ‘Hew down’ is from Strong’s #

H1438 גדע gada` gaw-dah’ a primitive root; to fell a tree; generally, to destroy anything:–cut (asunder, in sunder, down, off), hew down (NOT Hugh Downs, the ‘voice of NBC’ in the 60s and contributor to ABC’s 20/20 show in the 70s and 80s 😉 ).

If it is being felled, the graven image must have been carved from a standing tree; I think it was a phallic symbol and reckoned a god in Canaan and other pagan societies. An obelisk is a representation in stone of the same thing. The tallest building in Washington, D.C. is the Washington Monument obelisk, which MUST be the tallest building in the District of Columbia by federal law. I truly think old George Washington would spin in his grave if he knew that the monument bearing his name is a phallic symbol and by law no building can be taller – that it is, and will always be, the highest ‘high place’ in America’s Capital City. Shades of the Illuminist Masonic influence on DC’s design. Had Washington been alive, he’d have sharply protested the whole thing. The city is centered on a pagan idol. Y’hovah commanded Israel to destroy all such places baAretz, in the land. No Torah-observant believer in Messiah would have had any part in building it, and we are not to do anything like it and say its purpose is to worship Y’hovah Elohenu. 

Vv.5-7 – We are to tear down the pagan groves, high places and idols in Y’hovah’s land in vv.1-4, and go up 3 times every year to celebrate our harvests and bring our tithes of those harvests into his storehouse in the place in which he would place his Name. V.5 is the first of 6 times in this chapter [vv.11, 14, 18, 21 & 26] that the phrase, “the place where Yhwh Elohecha shall place his Name”, is used or alluded to. I think he was trying to drive the point home. When he repeats himself, he is being emphatic. When he repeats himself repeatedly, it probably ought to be even MORE scrupulously obeyed. 

The tithe in that storehouse was specifically for the widows and orphans, who have no ‘covering’ (husband or father), and Levites, who have no inheritance, to subsist on. If chol Yisrael were honoring Y’hovah in these commandments, there would be no abject poverty in Yisrael; even the widows, orphans and Levites would have plenty to hallel Y’hovah for, if they understood it was provided by the graciousness of Y’hovah and the obedience of their brethren to the commands of their gracious Elohim. In Israel they were entitled to it by the gracious provision of Y’hovah, but they were not to have an entitlement mentality, such as is so prevalent in society today.

Vv8-9 – While in the Wilderness, they had certain customs that they were free to do in their own ways, but once baAretz, they would have to abide by Torah’s commands in these regards. Schottenstein’s Chumash has a good comment on these verses on pg.83, first paragraph.

Vv.10-14 – So, while they were outside their inheritances and when there was no set place for the Mishkan or a Beit haMikdash, they could offer some freewill offerings on private altars, but once Y’hovah permanently placed his Name on a place, only THERE could offerings be brought. When a man went up to offer and to celebrate the Moedim of Y’hovah he was expected to bring his entire household with him, including his servants. They would have to leave the homestead unprotected and trust Y’hovah to guard against loss. If they drove all the Canaanites out and everyone went up for the feasts, there would be noone around to steal from them anyway, right? 

Vv.15-16 – But all flesh food did NOT have to go to Yerushalayim for offering. If an Yisraelite wanted to have a party, or some guests over for dinner, or just felt like some flesh food, he could butcher the clean animal on his own property as long as he remembered to properly bleed it on the ground and remove the innards and the fat, which Torah tells us are Y’hovah’s. This is NOT an offering, just dinner and usually a special occasion with family and/or friends. 

Vv.17-19 – Those tithes of our harvests were NOT for us to eat at home, but in Yerushalayim during the moedim. When we took our tithe for the widows, orphans and Levites up to the storehouse, we also brought up our tithe that we set aside for our family’s enjoyment at the moedim. All the moedim were celebrations of harvests and the tithes did not gather dust or mold while waiting for the festival to arrive. When harvest was complete it was moad time. We set aside 10% of the increase of our crops so that we could enjoy the feasts of Y’hovah, and so that those with less successful harvests than ours could enjoy them, too. And, finally, we are enjoined to NOT forget the Levites that live among us. Q&C

YeshaYahu 54:11-55:6 – The afflicted and comfortless refer to exiles. Isaiah is telling the exiles that if they make teshuvah, and follow in his way, their exile will end. Y’hovah will deliver them from their affliction and into Mashiyach’s Kingdom, a time of reward for their faithfulness. He tells them much the same thing in ZephanYah 3, where they begin in exile and end in the city of Yerushalayim and Zion 

12 I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of Y’hovah. 13 The remnant of Yisrael shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make afraid. 14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Yisrael; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. 15 Y’hovah hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Yisrael, Y’hovah, in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. (Zeph.3.12-15)

Afflicted and poor = exile. When the exile trusts the Name of Y’hovah, the remnant (not all Israel or all Xians) shall see deliverance from sin, will speak the truth and be able to sleep in comfort and confidence. When you see singing, shouting and rejoicing it signifies that the exile is ended, and when he says we will see no more evil it means we will never see exile again. Peace will come to us when we’ve been taught Torah by our King, when we teach Torah to the nations and live Torah as a matter of course. This will be the lot of the resurrected in Mashiyach’s Kingdom. 

The righteousness of v.14 is Torah observance, which will be established in and around us, so that we will not oppress or be oppressed by anyone because we will not know fear and terror will not come near us. Why do you suppose Y’hovah uses these words for our comfort? Do you suppose he knows that terror will be the normal way of life in the end of days, and that those who try to terrorize Torah-keepers will have a come-uppance at the hands of King Mashiyach? V.15 is a promise that those who would terrorize us will be gathered for his judgment, but HE won’t summon them – their political/religious masters will gather them to attack the Land and the Torah-keepers there and those terrorists will fall before us, like in

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth [land?], and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: (Rev.20.8-9a)

To form the weapons that will be used in that day, Y’hovah has called the smith (haSatan) that stokes the forges’ fires and to build the instruments of destruction, but those weapons are the ones Y’hovah will use against the terrorists, because there is no weapon devised that can harm us and no tongue that wags against us will be able to condemn us. Y’hovah will shut their mouths and weaken their hands against us. WE will condemn THEM. The battle is SPIRITUAL, and Ruach haKodesh that lives in YOU is infinite orders of magnitude greater than the Adversary and all of his imps, combined.  

 55.1-6 – “OY!” is how this chapter begins. The exclamation is to the plenty that the prophet sees after the trouble he just saw the remnant go through. The prophet is seeing the reward that comes for their trusting faithfulness to Y’hovah’s Torah and the Ruach that carried them through in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. These who remained true to Y’hovah had done exploits and will see rest and comfort in the Kingdom of our Mashiyach and in the New Earth and Heavens to come, the olam haba. Were you thirsty in the end of days? Did you ‘hunger and thirst’ for righteousness? You shall be filled with the water of the Word, with food, milk and wine to your heart’s content and you will not have to bribe someone to get a morsel of bread; in fact, I think the Kingdom’s economy may be cashless and barter based. We will not get what isn’t food, like we get today, but food that will actually sustain our body and our soul. We won’t labor for the garbage goods that we get now, but will receive good quality products for a good quality job performed. As we hearken to (shama) and live (shama) [it literally says listen, listen, as in Hear and do] Torah, we will garner its blessings,

3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. 6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make afraid: … 9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. 10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. 11 And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. (Lev.26.3-6, 9-12)

V.3 says that shama-ing; actively and intelligently listening = to come to Y’hovah = to live, and once you’ve done that, he will covenant with you the ‘mercies of David’. I think that David, in this light, speaks of King Mashiyach, as all kings of chol Yisrael, the 12 tribes, are likened to David. Vv.4-5 show that to us. Y’hovah has given us King Mashiyach for a witness to the people, a leader and commander. As we see in Rev.19, Mashiyach will come to defeat the armies of the earth in the land of Israel. The nations that sent armies against Y’hovah Yeshua, the Mashiyach ben David, will send embassage to make peace [after their armies are destroyed by the Word of Yeshua’s mouth (2-edged sword)], and he will accept their tribute and homage. We can only seek him in this life, as there is no other life promised to us. You have until your last breath to call on him for his deliverance from your bondage to sin – he will in no way, shape or form cast one out who repents of his sins and confesses them to him as sins against him and only him. When you get serious, he stands and waits for your humble reliance on HIS provision of Yeshua and his blood on his tree for your sins and he is right there to receive you to himself. If you haven’t repented yet, do so now. Who knows how many more breaths you have left? Y’hovah alone knows. Certainly not you or me. Q&C

Tehellim 129 – In vv.1-3 Yisrael calls out to Y’hovah for deliverance from her affliction – exile. From her youth as a nation in Egypt, she has been afflicted because she has turned away from Y’hovah’s Way and gone her own way, but even at that she has not completely forgotten Y’hovah’s promise of blessing if she would make teshuvah and start trusting him. By David’s time, Yisrael had turned away and returned as a nation dozens of times. Each time we turned away, he brought warnings and judgments to cause us to turn back, and each time we rebelled again. The stripes that we received from our Adversary got to be like furrows in a field – in fact, the stripes that Yeshua received were so bad that he looked like a plowed field, broken up, disked, plowed, and ready for seed. But Y’hovah has always been faithful to forgive us and accept us back when we turned from our own ways and returned to his Way. As the Prodigal’s father was constantly on the lookout for his son’s first step back toward him, so has Y’hovah always been watching for our return. 

In v.4, Y’hovah hears our humble prayer of repentance and call for deliverance from our exile, and he cuts the cords; breaks the bands of bondage to our sin and sends his deliverer, Yeshua haMashiyach. While delivering us in v.5, he confuses and confounds all those oppressors who hate Zion, not the political Zion of the enemy, but the Biblical Zion that Y’hovah promises to his faithful children. In vv.6-8 He makes those who hate Zion as thatch on a rooftop. That straw is of little use agriculturally. It would be useful as it grew to bring forth seed for planting and eating, but afterward, or if it withered due to scorching heat and lack of rain, its only use was to buffer us from storms, perhaps to be used as bedding or binder to make bricks. Same with those who have oppressed Yisrael and who WILL oppress Yisrael until we make teshuvah and Mashiyach comes to deliver us. The oppressors have never been blessed of Y’hovah or of any of his who happen by, for noone but the oppressor thinks them worthy of Y’hovah’s blessing. And even then, they do not want the blessing of Y’hovah on themselves, but they want to have the product of Y’hovah’s blessing from faithful Yisrael. They WANT the product of Y’hovah’s blessing, but not Y’hovah who gives it to his faithful servants who meet the requirements of receiving that blessing. Sounds like the slaves of socialism, doesn’t it? They say, “It’s not FAIR that you have so much and I have so little! You’ve been lucky! You need to share the wealth!” Socialists are jealous and lust for the blessings acquired by work. Fascists use the socialist’s jealousy and covetousness to acquire their legal, though unlawful, power over the faithful. What the socialists need to do is get off their fat rumps and work for it, like the prosperous did. The financially prosperous have EARNED their comfort, as the spiritually prosperous have earned their temporal blessings. 

What is it that Y’hovah requires of us in order that we can receive his blessing? He expects obedience to his Torah instructions. Everyone wants 

4 …rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely… 6 peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make afraid … 9 respect, … fruitful, … multiplicity … 10 shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. (Lev.26.4-6, 9-10 edited) 

Everyone wants the blessing, but only a few; a remnant; are willing to do what Y’hovah requires to receive it. Q&C

Luka 6.20-49 – This is Luke’s condensation of Yeshua’s “Sermon on the Mount”, the micro SoM. My study of the Sermon on the Mount centers on Matt.5-7, the macro SoM. I will go point by point from Luka and bring my notes from Matt 5-7 to bear on it. Luka is truly a condensation, even the verses are truncated somewhat, but the content is almost exactly the same.

V.20 – Blessed poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Matthew 5:3, “Blessed the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Yeshua preached the KoH/KoG, and the designations seem to be interchangeable. Does Yeshua say only the poor here? No, he says the poor in spirit. A man can be exceedingly rich and yet be poor in spirit. The attitude is what’s important here. Yeshua is implying that rich men usually trust their wealth more than they trust Elohim. Those who trust in their wealth will not be a part of the kingdom of heaven, while those who trust in Elohim will be. The Greek word xlated ‘poor’ speaks of the destitution of a beggar. When we come to Elohim as beggars, having nothing in ourselves to merit his favor and mercy, that is when he will use us. That is when we are saved, when we become a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is that type of humility that saved Na’aman, the Ninevite general and leper. It is that type of humility that saved Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king and lunatic. It is that type of humility that saves us, Laodicean believers who are so full of the good life on earth that we often forget Elohim – to our shame. We need to be poor in spirit – humble, like Naaman and Nebuchadnezzar, and fulfill 

Rev. 3:18, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see,” 

while rebuking ourselves of the attitude of 

Rev. 3:17, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”

V.21a Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled.

Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

For what do you hunger and thirst? Is it power, or the desires of the flesh, or the desire for things, or that your children have that stuff? Or do you hunger and thirst after the Word and Kingdom of Elohim? Do you truly want Elohim’s righteousness in your own life, or are you struggling after the good life or to make it to heaven on your own? If a man is righteous in his own eyes or rich in worldly goods, he is not likely to hunger or thirst for Elohim’s righteousness. As far as he’s concerned, why should he? He thinks, ‘I’m pretty good, especially compared to that guy.’ But he’s using the wrong yardstick. How is his righteousness compared to Yeshua haMashiyach haTzadik (1Jn.2.1)? Is.59.10-21 shows what happens to these men and, beginning at the end of v.15, what will happen to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who turn away from their transgression (pride). They will be filled with kingdom blessings [Ps.81.10, Pro.8.21, 28.25, Is.66.10ff, (in the millennium)]. Which end will be yours (66.24)? 

V.21b – Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

The reference here is to those who mourn over their sin. A couple of examples are king YoshiYahu and Daniel haNavi. When YoshiYahu was 24 yrs old the Law was found in the temple while it was being repaired. When the Law was read to YoshiYahu he rent his clothes and mourned over the sin of the nation, as well as his own personal sin. Because he mourned, Elohim blessed him and withheld the judgment that was due to befall Yehudah for a few years. And when Daniel mourned over his own and his nation’s sin, Elohim blessed him with a vision of the destruction of Persia, the rise of Greece and the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes, a type of the AntiMessiah. Great spiritual blessings ensue when we mourn over our sin and humble ourselves before the Elohim of the universe, though material blessings may be withheld until we can handle them. When we mourn over our sins, Elohim comforts us (the greek word is parakaleo ‘to call to his side’) by drawing near to us and filling us with the certain knowledge of gracious and merciful forgiveness. What a great and loving Elohim we serve, who will not deliver us to haSatan if we’ll be humble and mourn our sins. Q&C

V.22 – 22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. 23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

These 2 beatitudes are slightly different in their application. Each still requires a humility that is not found in mere humans, but the attitude is seen in our response to ill treatment from others rather than how we treat others or ourselves. Do you think that just being persecuted is going to bring a blessing?  It is your response to suffering that gets the blessing. These three verses must be seen together. Yeshua tells us that those who have been persecuted for standing up for Elohim and his righteous standard will be blessed, then he makes the personal application by saying ‘You (and I) will be supremely blest when you (we) suffer all these things for my (Yeshua’s) sake.’ Look at the way that sentence is built in verse 11. “Blessed are ye for my sake” is the simple sentence. The whole rest of the verse is a dependent adverbial clause. It cannot stand on its own and can be left out of the sentence without destroying it. It amplifies the verb ‘blessed’ in the simple sentence. Yeshua here rolls all the prophets and his audience together in the same bundle, calling them (and us) prophets. He also equates his sake to righteousness’ sake. In other words, Yeshua is righteousness and suffering for his sake makes the kingdom of heaven ours. Don’t worry about what people will think of you, just be his witness and bring others to him. Let the persecution come, it builds character (if you accept it humbly and joyfully).

V.24-26 – Here, Luka begins a short, 3 verses, midrash speaking of those who are the opposite of the ones he addressed in the first 4 verses. There is no passage like this in Matt’s SoM. In vv.20-23, the people he is describing are those who trust Y’hovah for their deliverance, while in vv.24-26, he describes those who trust the world’s system. 

24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. 

Does this mean that no rich man can enter the kingdom? Elohim Forbid! What it means is that the rich man has a greater probability of being satisfied with his riches than with Y’hovah, while the poor will want more and they will more likely trust Y’hovah because they are not satisfied with the world’s riches. Those who trust their wealth have received the reward they are looking for. 

V.25a – Woe unto you who are full, for you shall hunger.

Does this mean that if you have enough to eat you will not see the KoH/KoG? Elohim forbid! The word translated ‘full’ actually means ‘satisfied’. Yeshua is saying that if you are satisfied with, or ‘great in’, this world’s stuff, you have no desire for what Y’hovah has to offer. 

V.25b – Woe unto you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

Does this mean that if you laugh or have a sense of humor you will not see the KoH/KoG? Elohim forbid! The word translated ‘laugh’ is Strong’s greek 1070 gelao (like a bowl full of jelly?!), which means to be full of joy and satisfaction. Are we beginning to see a pattern here? 

V.26 – Woe unto you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

I am relatively certain that this will NEVER happen to me, because I am of very set opinions on matters spiritual/biblical and that informs all my other opinions. Even my family and friends don’t like me much of the time. Having men speak well of them is the bulls-eye that politicians strive to hit, because that is how elections are won. The word xlated ‘well’ is G2573, kalos, adverb form of 2570, kaloce, virtuous in appearance, as juxtaposed to G18 agathos, intrinsically good. IOW, the ‘good’ these folks exude is all for show. In today’s religion – especially the religious season we are in now, Election 2018 – everything is done for show, like the Kavanaugh hearings. That is PRECISELY why a truly HONEST man can’t be elected in America anymore – the vast majority of Americans are ‘all show/no go’. They elect men like themselves. I think that, in their heart of hearts, it makes them feel better about themselves that they can point at the politicians they elect and say with reasonable accuracy the they aren’t as bad as THAT guy! 

The point Yeshua is making is that we ought not be satisfied with our lives in this world, but should be striving to be better than the world system; to actually hunger and thirst for righteousness in our own lives, to want to be like our Master Y’hovah Yeshua in every way, and to not be satisfied with less than HIS righteousness. Q&C

V.27-28 – But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you… 32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. Matthew 5:43-48, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more; do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

We are the light of the world, the salt of the earth, a city on a hill. As such, we are to reflect the attitude of the Father and bring Him the glory. Yeshua is giving us a practical application here. He is referring in v.43 to De.23.3-6. No Israelite could marry a Moavi or an Ammoni. Moav and Ammon were Lot’s daughter’s sons. Yeshua shows the spirit of that law here. If you want to be the child of the Father in heaven, you have to love and do good to and pray for your enemies who hate you and despise you and use you spitefully. That’s how we all treat Yeshua at different times of our lives, even as believers. When we treat Yeshua like this as believers we are showing ourselves to be his enemies. And we all do this from time to time, consciously or unconsciously (I think unconsciously is worse, because it truly shows that we despise Elohim. If we presumptuously sin [Oh, Elohim will forgive me for this], we at least considered his reaction to it. Both are inadvisable). Elohim doesn’t treat anyone any differently in this life, we all get the same common blessings from him whether we believe him or not. Should we not treat every man with the same attitude, not just those in the household of faith? If you only defer to the Messianic, if you only love your family, what good are you to the kingdom? We are to be ‘perfect’ in our attitude of service to YHVH, as much as in our actual service to him, even as he is in his attitude (Phil.2.4-5) and his service (Phil.2.6-8).

Philip. 2:4-8, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let ^^this^^ mind be in you, which was also in Mashiyach Yeshua: 6 Who, being in the form of Elohim, thought it not robbery to be equal with Elohim: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even death on the tree.”

That is perfection of attitude and service.

V.29-31, 35-36 – And unto him that smiteth thee on the cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not coat also. 30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask not again. 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise… 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and the evil. 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Matthew 5:38-42, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have cloke also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” 

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth is a commandment of Y’hovah in Lev.24.20. The context of that verse (beginning in v.10) is speaking of a deliberate attack on another, which needed to be justly met by the civil authority. It doesn’t seem to be talking about an accidental thing, but I could be mistaken. It is certain that an accidental death was to be given the grace of the city of refuge (Ex.21.12-14), but the premeditated murderer was to have no mercy. I think the principle applies. Here’s what I shared in January on this point in our Torah notes,

If a man killed an animal, he needed to make restitution, like for like. The same restitution was due when causing an injury to another person. The restitution was to be like for like, and the eye for eye, tooth for tooth doesn’t mean that if he did something to cause you to lose an eye, you had the right to gouge out his eye. It means he has to make the loss good – ensure that the one who suffered the physical loss doesn’t see any loss of life, property or lifestyle. For instance, if a singer’s voice is injured due to someone’s negligence, the negligent one needs to provide a similar income as the singer earned before the injury. So, guess where the idea of limited liability insurance came from. What was good for the Israelite – Torah – was good for the stranger. There is one law for both the Israelite and the stranger – v.22. And to make that point, Y’hovah invokes the enabling clause, “I am Y’hovah Elohechem.” And Moshe told Israel Y’hovah’s mishpat and they carried out the execution. The rabbis at Artscroll/Mesorah Publications say this about our parenthesis in Stone’s Chumash, pg.692, 693. I think they make sense.

This was more or less the letter, pashat, of Torah.

But Yeshua took the law one further and showed the spirit of it. He taught that you are not to render evil for evil. The idea of the greek word is to take an active stance against the wickedness coming against you. The idea is something akin to Ghandi’s nonresistance. Allow the evil to be brought against you. As we go on we’ll see the rest of the application in praying for them that despitefully use us and so on. Our treasure is not of this world, but of Elohim and kept for us in heaven. If someone is treating you badly or requiring your service unjustly, give that service your best effort and do more than you are required to do. Look at Rom.12.17-20. 

17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith Y’hovah. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

This is to be our response to injustice 

21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: 22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and Y’hovah shall reward thee. (Pro.25.21-22). 

Give to him that asketh thee…   The idea here is to pay what you owe when the bill comes due. Ask is from greek aiteo to demand what’s due. And don’t as a matter of course turn your back on someone who needs a loan. Yisrael was to loan to their brethren without interest (Deut.23.19-20). This word, daneizo, means to lend at interest. Therefore, it must refer to gentiles. Don’t turn your backs on unbelievers who need help. If you loan without thought of the return, you are doing as Y’hovah has done for you and you are fulfilling the spirit of grace. You will be a witness against him at the great white throne if he doesn’t come to faith in Mashiyach, and may be a witness to the grace of Elohim that will lead him to Mashiyach. Either way, Elohim gets the glory.  Q&C

V.37-38 – 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

Matthew 7:1-2, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

Yeshua here tells us that we will be judged by whatever standard we use to judge others. The implication is very clear. We will never be able to live up to our own standards, we would ourselves be guilty in our own self-righteous judgment, how will we ever stand before a truly holy and righteous judge?

‘With what judgment ye judge’ tells us that when we are guilty of a fault, we will receive the same punishment we award others for that fault. ‘With what measure ye mete’ tells us we will be judged by the same standard we use. Do you judge others by their adherence to the Law of Elohim? Do you judge yourself by the same Law? Elohim will use the same yardstick we use and bestow the same mercy we bestow. Elohim save us from our selves.

With every principle taught in this lesson on the mount, I’ve been struck by my total inability to do what I’m told. My pride keeps getting in the way. I am not meek, nor a peacemaker, nor do I hunger and thirst after righteousness, nor do I forgive, nor do I seek first the kingdom of Elohim. And I certainly do not judge in righteousness, though I’m very good, indeed, at judging in self-righteousness. I’m quite good at finding fault in others and covering them up in myself. I fear that this is all too often the case in most of our lives. It is in this area, our total lack of honesty and humility, that we all probably need to repent in dust and ashes and ask Elohim’s forgiveness. Isn’t it wonderful that we have the promise of Elohim that he will forgive us if we confess our sins to him in an attitude of repentance?

“Good measure, pressed down and shaken together” means that he is filling us as full as we can be filled, and then making us overflow our vessel. If you ever want to fill a glass jar with solid material, you can always fill all the voids by shaking the jar, pressing the contents down and perhaps tapping the jar’s bottom on a table or counter top. After you get all the solids you can stuff into a jar, there is still space that a liquid can fill. Y’hovah wants to fill us until we overflow with blessing.

We’ll come back to vv.39-40, as they do not occur in Matt’s besorah.

Vv.41-42 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.  

This passage is a continuation of the last and must be taken in light of it. Notice that Yeshua changed from ye to thee, plural to singular. If you are pronouncing judgment on an issue of which you are yourself guilty, you are an hypocrite. Before any of us enters into a judicial situation we should be sure that we are not in transgression ourselves, that we are repented and confessed up to date. This is what is meant by “remove the beam from thine own eye.” And we should use the same standard Elohim used with us. Was Elohim gracious and merciful in his judgment and forgiveness? We ought to be, also. 

‘Cast out the beam’ comes from the greek word ekballo and means just what it says here. The same word is used in 5.13 and means the same thing there. The same word is used for casting out devils, casting children of the kingdom into outer darkness (Mat.8.12), and any uncleanness taken in through the mouth being ‘cast out in the draught’ (Mat.15.17). It means to throw out; your gotten rid of it, and, by implication, never to have it bother you again. This is not to say that once this beam is removed, cast away from you, and you can judge properly on this matter that another beam will not get in your way on some other matter. We will not be able to judge in absolute objective righteousness until we are given our glorified bodies, mortal corruption changed to immortal incorruption, sinful pride changed to genuine righteous humility. 

To paraphrase the NIKE advertisements, just don’t do it. Unless you are absolutely objectively righteous. Two chances of that – FAT and NONE. Q&C

Vv.43-45 – For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Matthew 7:15-17, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

The interpretation here is pretty straightforward. We are to be on the lookout to keep false prophets out of our midst; and one of the ways to smoke out a false prophet is to see if he judges people for what he himself is guilty, as we saw in our last passage. We’ll certainly know a false prophet by the outcome of their prophecy. Is it true? Did it happen the way he said it would? Does it fit the character of the Creator Elohim of the universe?  If not, stone them without the gates. 

This does not apply simply to foretelling or predictive prophecy. It also deals with forthtelling or expository prophecy. Is the word from the pulpit (or that guy in front of the room or on the mic who keeps spouting off) in accord with the word of Elohim and the character of Elohim? What kind of fruit do you see in the preacher’s life? Does it meet the test of 1Jn.4.1? How about in your own life? Do you compare scripture with scripture, things spiritual with things spiritual? Or do you look for a scripture that can be twisted to say what you want it to say and support your lusts thereby? Are you a false prophet? What saith thy fruit?

We have been warned that anti-messiahs are all over the place. They had already crept into the assemblies in Yochanan’s day. How much more prevalent must they be today, so far removed in time from the source? Stay in the true Word of Elohim so you’ll know a counterfeit when he shows his ugly face. Try the spirit of the prophet and the spirit behind his teaching. If it doesn’t stand the sniff test, if something smells rotten, beware. If it doesn’t stand the comparison test, rebuke that spirit and get it out of your life. Then warn as many as will hear you.

If you are rooted in the Word of Y’hovah, sustained by the Root of Jesse (Is.11.10), abiding in the vine (Jn.15.1-7), you will produce fruit to the Kingdom of Elohim. Notice that in Jn.15.2, there are those branches that are in the vine, but do not bear fruit. These the Father takes away. They are suckers, they drain the life from the vine and don’t add anything to it. This is what is removed in the purging. Notice that it does not say that what is purged is cast away, gathered up and burned. It says that what does not abide in him is cast away and gathered by men and burned. You can be a believer, in Mashiyach, but not a disciple of Yeshua. There are many of these, especially in these last Laodicean days. The time will come when these will be removed and put where they can no longer drain the vitality from the vine and the good branches. But since they are in Mashiyach, they will not be cast away. They will spend eternity with Mashiyach without reward. Inheritance is what we get because we are adopted children. Rewards are what we get for our service in Mashiyach. All who are in Mashiyach will inherit eternal life. Only those who abide in Mashiyach will receive rewards. What does your fruit look like? Do you have any? 

What is symbolized by a tree in scripture? Trees are nations. The olive tree signifies Yisrael in belief. The fig tree symbolizes Yisrael in unbelief. If the tree bears no fruit, it is cut down and thrown into the fire. That refers to a nation. Individuals are seen in Jn.15, nations in Mat.7. Do not confuse them, or you will hold to false doctrine. An individual is adopted. A nation is a group of individuals. That nation whose Elohim is Y’hovah is blessed (Ps.33.12). That is why America was blessed for so long, and why she is being cut down to be thrown into the fire now. She, as a nation, has forgotten Y’hovah, though there are still many individuals who serve him. They will be rewarded, but the nation will soon be plucked up and removed, unless a true revival happens by Y’hovah’s mercy and grace. I would have revival, but I think that America’s vial is almost full (Rev.15.7-8). Q&C

VV.46-49 – 46 And why call ye me, Master, Master, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: 48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Master, Master shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Master, Master, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 28 And it came to pass, when Yeshua had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

Don’t just say that you are saved; be sure of it. False prophets and false professors will get the same inheritance – death. Your faith does not depend on your emotions, how you feel at the moment, or any work of righteousness you perform, or a sinless life. If it did, you would need to be saved hundreds of times a day. In fact, it is not even your faith that saves you, but the faith of Master Y’hovah Yeshua haMashiyach (Gal.2.16, Rev.14.12). Just because a person says, “I am a blood-bought, spirit-filled, prophet of Elohim and I perform all sorts of miracles” doesn’t make it true. What did Yeshua say in the previous verse? “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” So be a fruit inspector, especially your own fruit (7.1-5). What does the fruit look like in your life? Are you in the vine? Where is your abode? How tragic it would be if you lived and learned of the Bible, but never got to know the Author. 

‘Not everyone that saith Master, Master, shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father’.

What is the will of the Father? 

 “Y’hovah is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2Pe.3:9

This is the simplest statement of the divine will, the very essence and the bare minimum – repentance. And the outcome of repentance can be seen in 2Chron.7.14, 30.9, Is.55.7, Zech.1.3, Lk.15.7, Job.22.23, Jer.24.7, Lam.3.40. If this is not the attitude of our hearts when we come before Y’hovah to confess, we are wasting our breath. We must truly repent before we can expect to be forgiven. Does this ensure that we’ll never do the same thing again? No way, dude. But the shorter we keep our accounts with Elohim the easier it will be to get on with the rest of his will. 

Proverbs 40.8 tells us specifically what the will of Y’hovah is, “I delight to do thy will, O Elohai. Thy Torah is in my heart.”

His Word is his will. Jms.1.22 is the Brit Chadashah equivalent,

“But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

The first thing Elohim wants from us is repentance, the next thing he wants is compliance. After we’ve turned away from our sins and iniquities we are facing in the right direction and can actually comply with the divine will. We can now be made more like Yeshua and bear much fruit. It is up to us to lead people to him, and it is up to the Ruach ha Kodesh to convince them of their need for the Saviour. If we are led by the Spirit of Elohim we will bear witness to Yeshua. If we are not bearing witness to Yeshua, it follows that we are not led by the Spirit. Rom.8.13-17, Gal.5.16-26.

The difference between these two men is in what they did with the Word of Elohim. Hearing the Word of Elohim is not enough. It is in the doing that a man is adjudged wise by Elohim, not hearing only (Jam.1.22-25). The word for rock here is petra which means a mass of rock, bedrock. If you can dig your footer into bedrock, there’s nothing short of an act of Elohim that will take that building away. The same is true of your life and the Word of Elohim. If you base your life on compliance to the Word of Elohim, as simply understood as it can be done correctly, you will never waver in your faith, come hell or high water (this is where that saying came from). But if you base your life on the shifting sands of emotions or fashions or cultural whims or momentary fads, the smallest breeze will knock you down. Witness western civilization, and American civilization in particular, over the last 40 years. It’s a house of cards waiting for the wind to shift. When that happens it will all come down, and great will be the fall of it. 

The word translated ‘astonished’ is ekplesso and it means literally to slap oneself with a flat hand – they probably said, “Oy, Veh!” while they did this. The reason was for the authority with which he taught. The greek word behind authority is exousia, which means out of himself. In other words, he wasn’t teaching from a text book, or from Talmud, or repeating what some guy thought. He taught what he knew experientially and essentially to be true. He was teaching himself, not some subject. To the people gathered there it must have been awesome. Here was a man teaching objective truth, not subjective opinion. How odd! What would happen if someone did this today? He’d be wrapped up in a strait jacket and deposited in the loony bin. Of course, that’s what the scribes, up to now the authorities on the Word of Elohim, wanted to so with Yeshua, so I guess there is nothing new under the sun (Ecc.1.9-10). So remember that when you proclaim the Word of Elohim without error, (something I’ll never have to worry about this side of glory) the authorities will try to have you put away. First you’ll be demonized, then marginalized, and finally shunted to a sidetrack for quick and quiet disposal into the dustbin of human history, they hope. 

The next couple of vignettes do not occur in Matthew’s SoM, but do elsewhere in his besorah. I will quote both together and give brief comments. 

V.39 – And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. (Matthew 15:14)

In both Hebrew and Greek the words translated in KJV as ‘ditch’ refer to a hole dug for a trap. This is very likely the result of one who cannot see either the letter or spirit of Torah following one as blind as himself, which result is destruction; either physically, or spiritually, or both. Nothing GOOD can come of this situation.

V.40 – 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? (Matthew 10:24-25)

Yeshua warns us that they, the leaders of the religion, will do the same to us as they did to him, and that we should expect it from them. I say that we can soon expect it from all around because we are different in that we prepare for hard times, look forward to the return of Yeshua as Mashiyach ben David to rule over the whole earth from Yerushalayim. In this last belief we get characterized as the same as the radical Islamists, even though we don’t behead people with whom we disagree or subjugate whole populations of people because they were unfortunate enough to be born female, as do Rad-Lamists. They hate us precisely because we will live according to Torah. I think it makes them feel guilty. Q&C

End of Shabbat Bible Study

Shabbat Bible Study for 13 October 2018

©2018 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries

Year 3 Sabbath 31

Deuteronomy 10:1 – 11:25 – 2 Kings 13:23 – Psalm 128 – Colossians 3:1-4:6

Links: 

Devarim 10.1-11.25 – In ch.9, Moshe recounted the sin of the golden calf and Y’hovah’s displeasure at Israel. The prefatory note to the recount of the golden calf in 9.7-29 would be well to recount here, as Schottenstein’s Chumash has a an important observation on pp.63-65. Y’hovah had proposed wiping out rebellious Israel and replacing them with a new nation out of Moshe’s seed. I think that was a test of Moshe, to see if he was as rebellious as Israel had been. Moshe passed the test; pleading with Y’hovah that he bring no reproach to his Name in the minds of the Canaanites, who would have thought that they were at LEAST all that AND a bag of chips; that Y’hovah could defeat Egypt, but NOT Canaan. When Moshe saw the idol, he was so incensed at Israel that, by way of an object lesson, he broke the tables of testimony that Y’hovah himself had made and inscribed: Israel had broken all 10 commandments so inscribed, so Moshe broke the stone tablets before our eyes. 

The original tablets were entirely the work of Y’hovah, who had both hewn the stone and inscribed the commandments upon them. Now, Y’hovah commanded Moshe to hew two tables of stone like the originals and bring them up the mountain to be inscribed with the commandments. Before the transgression, the work was all Y’hovah’s. But after the transgression I think we had to provide the medium on which Y’hovah would inscribe his Word: the medium of our hearts and minds, after we surrender them to him. The ark that Moshe made to contain the tablets represents our physical bodies. I do not believe that this is the Ark of the Kodesh Kadashim, but a temporary residence of the tables until Betzalel and Aholiav could construct the Ark. These tables, which were placed in this ark of wood without gold overlay, then resided in Moshe’s tent until the Mishkan was completed and dedicated to Y’hovah. The Mishkan in this metaphor, then, represented the resurrected bodies of believers in Y’hovah Yeshua haMashiyach. We see the original narrative in Ex.34,

27 And Y’hovah said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. 28 And he was there with Y’hovah forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. (Ex.34.27-28)

The way that comes out in KJV English, it can be taken to mean that Moshe actually inscribed the commandments on the stone tablets, while the narrative in Dt.10 is much less ambiguous, that Y’hovah did the actual writing. But regardless the actual hand that inscribed the commandments on the stone, the words were actually the work of Y’hovah – Y’hovah was the author, even if Moshe chiseled the words into the stone. To continue the metaphor, even our works of Torah that evidentially set us apart from the world system are not our own; they are the work of Y’hovah Yeshua in us, as the words that Moshe metaphorically inscribed in the tables were not his own, but Y’hovah Yeshua’s through him. 

The time that Y’hovah separated Levi was the same time that Moshe came down off the mount with the original tables that he broke. I think Moshe is engaging in midrash to make a point, as the sequence of encampments is different here than in Num.33, which I think is the actual sequence. Here he is making a midrashic point by inverting the sequence of a couple of encampments

31 And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Benejaakan. 32 And they removed from Benejaakan, and encamped at Horhagidgad. 33 And they went from Horhagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah. (Num.33.31-33)

Ja’akan means ‘twisting’ and Moserah means ‘correction’. Gudgodah means self-inflicted cuts and Jothbath means ‘pleasantness’. Aharon did not die until they got to Mount Hor, so I think the point that Moshe makes here is that when Aharon made the golden calf, which was both a twisting of what he knew to be right and a self-inflicted cut, his fate was to not enter the Promised land. It was as if he’d died and transferred his mantle to Elezar right there at the foot of Horeb, not 39 years later on Mount Hor. Y’hovah brought correction that was pleasant in his eyes. Aharon had known better than to fashion a calf, but did so because he allowed his eyes to dictate his actions rather than what he knew was right in Y’hovah’s eyes. Please understand that Aharon’s eternity was not affected by his sin in the golden calf incident, but he had to ‘bear his iniquity’, i.e.; the physical consequence of his sin; and not see the land of promise in his earthly life. 

In vv.12-18 Moshe comes back to the pashat and admonishes Israel to not slip into the flesh, as Aharon had, and think about our inadequacy to defeat the Anakim and other Canaanites, but to circumcise our heart and show our love of Y’hovah by obeying him in all that Yehoshua would command us in Y’hovah’s Name. Shlomo condensed vv.12-16 into 6 English words (4 in Hebrew et-haElohim yare v’et-hamitzvotain sh’mor) in 

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear Eloha, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

We do this because Y’hovah is who he is. He is not a man, who can be bribed or bought, but the Creator of all that is. How can Y’hovah, who already owns everything, be bought by someone he owns with what only he truly owns? Does anyone actually think he can buy Y’hovah’s favor and indulgence? Does anyone think that Y’hovah will not hold men accountable for their oppression of the widows, the fatherless and the stranger who follows him? 

We are to remember that we were strangers in Egypt; people of another nation who wished to live peacefully among them; and how they treated us. We are NOT to do to strangers as Egypt did to us. Y’hovah didn’t like the duplicitous treatment of his people in Egypt and taught us a lesson of how to NOT treat others, which we quickly forgot. America LEARNED this lesson and practiced it. Now we have extended this to even those who are bent on our subjugation to their foreign laws – to our soon destruction. We took away from this commandment in Israel and were exiled as a result: we added to this commandment in America, and are about to be exiled as a result. 

When will we learn that we need to shomer Y’hovah’s word and quit adding to or taking away from it? Q&C

11.1-25 – Vv.1 gives us a succinct definition of ‘Love Y’hovah’ – shamarta mishmarto; guard with guarding; his chukim, mishpatim and mitzvotim. Remember that his chukim are those commands that don’t make any apparent sense to us, his mishpatim are his judgments made in answer to our questions about his commandments and his commandments themselves. So we show that we love him by always and habitually obeying him in all these things; we guard ourselves by guarding his Word in our own lives. And in vv.2-7, Moshe told us that he was not telling this to those who did not experience the Wilderness Adventure, but to us who had and that we are to teach them; both the history of the Adventure and the statutes, judgments and commandments; to our children who would follow after us in haAretz, of which we were about to take possession. 

Moshe then promises us that if we will love Y’hovah as he desires, then he will prosper, preserve and protect us in haAretz in vv.8-9. This land, in vv.10-12, is not a desert, like Egypt, but is watered by rain in its season, where water will literally spring up from the places where our feet scrape the surface of the earth. The land is a place from whence Eloha never allows his eyes to wander. It is HIS land that he was giving us to provide our needs. If we would only obey his Word in vv.13-15, he would protect us and take care of us. But if we turn our backs on his Word, he would do the same to us; first removing the rain in due season, which would affect the crops and cause hunger, and finally he would exile us from the land he had given us (v.17). 

So in vv.18-25, Moshe advises that if we want to stay indefinitely in the land that will quite literally flow with milk and honey, we need to observe to do all that Y’hovah commands, and he will see to it for us. We will remember to do what Y’hovah commands. We will teach all his Toroth to our children, we will model this obedience in all that we do and everywhere we go, whether in our homes, on our property or in our dealings with people everywhere else. If we demonstrate our love for Y’hovah in everything we do and say, he will either make other people want what we have and ask us to teach them of his ways, or he will make them want to kill us and then he will drive them out or wipe them out before us. Then he said that, IF we would do what he said, every place the sole of an Israelite foot would tread would be ours; that no man would be able to stand in our presence to harm us. 

Has this been true of Israel or Yehudah since the days of David or Shlomo? Was it true after the land was conquered? Even in Yehoshua’s latter days, some had begun to forget these promises and within years of his death the Canaanites they failed to drive out came against them and subjugated them until Israel called out for a judge to deliver them. Y’hovah was true to his promises, though, and as long as we obeyed the judge, we were delivered. But soon we went our ways again and he would allow the heathen to subjugate us. The reason that Israel has been persecuted, I think, is because they have gone their own way and held to traditions of men as if they were the Word of Y’hovah, as well as holding to the Word of Y’hovah. It is this mixing of obedience with the additions that we were commanded to eschew that has caused all the trouble in both the Hebrew and the Xian-led countries. Israel and all the Xian led nations were founded by faithful men who wanted to follow Y’hovah to the best of their knowledge and ability, but then went their own ways until Y’hovah exiled them from their land. Exile is his final warning, and if his people, who are called by his Name will humble themselves and pray to him, seeking to observes his way and turn from our wicked ways, he will STILL hear from heaven, forgive our wickedness and heal our lands. It will not be long before we will reach the furthest extent of our forbearance of haSatan’s tyranny, and call out for deliverance. We will eventually get our fill of the wickedness of the wicked Egyptian/Babylonian system and call out for Y’hovah’s deliverance – Yehoshua Moshienu – and that he will answer with his strong right arm and Melech Mashiyach Yeshua. The question is this: How long before we get our fill? 

Melachim Bet 13.23 – Need I say more? Even the northern tribes of Israel, who had never kept the pureness of Y’hovah’s Toroth, were delivered in the days of her kings to honor their patriarch’s Avraham, Yitzhak and Ya’acov. It is because of the faithfulness of the Patriarchs that Y’hovah was patient with Israel and Yehudah; not sending them into exile immediately upon their rebellion, hoping they would turn back to him. Y’hovah is long-suffering towards us for the father’s sakes. Q&C

Tehellim 128 – See the amplification of what the fear of Y’hovah is in v.1? Walking in, or obeying, his Ways. The promise to us in v.2 and throughout scripture is that if we will obey him, we will eat the produce of our land by our own hands. 

17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear Elohecha: for I Y’hovah Elohechem. 18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. (Lev.25.17-19)

And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. (Lev.26:5)

The opposite is true if we fail to obey him and walk in his ways.

27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; 28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins… 38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. (Lev.26.27-28, 38)

The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: (Deut.28:33)

Not only will our land produce abundantly if we obey and walk in his ways, but in vv.3-4 our own offspring will also multiply from generation to generation. A man who fears Y’hovah will see all this physical multiplicity. We’ve said before that fear is a 2-edged sword. It speaks of abject terror of Elohim and how he will judge us when we turn from Y’hovah’s ways. But it also speaks of our awe and reverence for him when he delivers on his promises to us by blessing us for our obedience and walking according to his ways. PLEASE keep in mind that Israel NEVER had to obey the Torah in order to be saved, regardless the false teaching of the Xian churches. And neither do we. We and Yisrael, as brethren, obey Torah for the same reason Yisrael was to obey Torah – to receive His manifold blessings. In vv.5-6, Y’hovah will bless us from Zion and we shall see Shalom l’Yerushalayim, the Peace of Jerusalem, all the days of our lives. THAT speaks ultimately of the Kingdom and eternity future, when Yerushalayim SHALL see Shalom. But it can also be seen in our day, if Yerushalayim and Y’hovah’s people will just turn from our own ways and to Y’hovah’s. When we do that, and we WILL before long, for the persecution that is coming is going to make us either despair (if we see only with our physical eyes) or call out to Y’hovah for his Yeshua (turn to Y’hovah for deliverance). As long as we rely on our own strength, we will suffer ever greater condemnation from Y’hovah, and our enemies will overpower us. But when we humble ourselves and turn to Y’hovah Yeshua, he will answer according to his rachamim v’emet (mercy and truth). Q&C

Colossians 3.1-4.6 – Vv.1-5 begins to speak of our life in Mashiyach, and not in the traditions of men, as was said in the last verses of ch.2

20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Mashiyach from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. (Col.2.20-23)

(See the use of the word ‘ordinances’ in Paul’s other letters in juxtaposition to Torah;:1Cor.11.2, these ordinances are the judgments of the Beit Din in Acts 15; Eph.2.15, these are the oral Toroth of the Pharisees and/or the wild ultra-spiritual imaginings of the Gnostics, as are those in Col.2.14, 20.)

If we are IN Mashiyach, we are seated IN him at the right hand of Elohim and we have at our disposal the POWER of Y’hovah’s right hand, Yeshua haMashiyach, to empower us to live IN his Torah. If we are IN Mashiyach, dead and resurrected, we are, in spiritual reality, dead and resurrected in him, as well. We CAN live righteously and in obedience to His Torah, as we allow Yeshua to live in us. In v.3, we are hid IN Mashiyach. But in v.4, we see that when Mashiyach appears in his glory (Yom Kippur, some year soon? I think), WE shall appear WITH him 

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. (Dan.7:13)

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Mat.24:30)

Then we which are alive remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Master in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Master. (1Thes.4:17)

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Rev.1:7)

And then we see the ultimate fulfillment in Rev.19:

5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Hallel Elohenu, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for Y’hovah Eloha omnipotent reigneth. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of Eloha. 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Yeshua: worship Eloha: for the testimony of Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy. 11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes as a flame of fire, and on his head many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called haD’var l’Eloha. 14 And the armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty Eloha. 16 And he hath on vesture and on his thigh a name written, Melech l’Malachim, v’Rebbe l’Rabbim.

I think we will by then have our minds fully renewed (Rom.12.1-2 – throughly versed in Torah? Jer.31.31ff?) and, while still spiritually IN Messiah, we will also personally be fully in the Renewed Covenant as Yeshua’s vice-regents; walking it out and faithfully making mishpat before men as to their Torah obedience according to the beauty (tifereth) of Yeshua’s righteousness and compassion. ALL resurrected saints will have the wisdom in judgment of Solomon and the righteous walk of Yeshua.

V.5 – Because this is true, we ought to consider our flesh to be dead, not fulfilling the lusts thereof, but walking in the Ruach haKodesh’s power, blameless. Mortify means to treat as if dead. And the specifics are the deeds of the flesh; fornication, etc; all of which is idolatry. Idolatry is allowing anything to be more important than Elohim; job, family, self, stuff. Q&C

In v.6, the reference in KJV to the ‘children of disobedience’ is an exercise in anti-Semitism, as was the normal thinking of the Medieval and Renaissance church. The translators from Aramaic to Greek chose to use ‘sons’ rather than ‘deeds’.  In light of that thought, look at note 12 of the AENT (pg.605) on the wordplay between ‘son/children’ and ‘deeds’, which is how AENT translates the verse. Aramaic can be translated both ways. What one does is the ‘son’ of what he thinks, as thoughts give birth to actions. Y’hovah does not judge the children by anything but their actions/deeds, because 

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also Torah: for sin is the transgression of Torah. (I John 3:4)

Because Torah worketh wrath: for where no Torah is, no transgression. (Romans 4:15)

3:4  πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν ποιεῖ καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία

Anomia = Torahlessness. A literal translation of 1Jn.3.4 is 

Whoever performs the sin performs the Torahlessness; and the sin is the Torahlessness.

Where Torah exists, Torahlessness follows, not as a matter of course, but because we are not able to obey Torah fully as long as we are in our fallen flesh [most perform some Torah because society expects it; you shall not murder, for example]. We have generally developed a habit of Torahlessness long before we meet and begin to follow Y’hovah Yeshua haMashiyach. But as we yield to Ruach haKodesh and live our lives in obedience to Torah truth, it becomes more habitual to obey than not and we overcome our Torahlessness. This is an overcomer. 

All men are judged according to their obedience to Y’hovah’s Torah instructions. Those who live a lifestyle of sin and have not trusted the finished work/performance (ποιῶν) of Yeshua on the tree, are lost and Torahless without remedy; those who have trusted Yeshua’s finished ποιῶν/performance and yield to Ruach haKodesh begin to live IN Yeshua, who IS Torah – the 2 being inseparable. The lost are judged on their failure to obey and are therefore condemned to eternal death by Torah; the found and engrafted are judged on our obedience to Torah and rewarded, our Torahlessness having been and being placed on Y’hovah Yeshua and the debt paid through his finished (ποιῶν) work. 

When we ‘mortify’ (v.5) what have become our ‘members’; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affections, evil concupiscence (one of my favorite KJVisms – concupiscence = strong desire/lust) and covetousness, we are able to put off the ‘deeds of disobedience’ (v.6), IN which we walked (v.7) and which are specified in vv.8-9. It is ‘things’ and not people that bring the wrath of Elohim. So, treat those things as dead by ‘putting off’ the ‘old man’ and its ‘deeds’; live in Torah obedience, which is the proof that you have ‘put on’ the ‘new man’. Q&C

Vv.10-17 are general instructions to TorahFULLness; living in obedience to Y’hovah’s Word. After putting off the ‘old man’, we are admonished to ‘put on’ the ‘new man’. Just putting off the old does not finish the deal. What did Yeshua say about leaving a spiritual job ½ done?

43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. (Mat.12.43-45)

When we put off the old man we need to immediately replace it with the new. We do that by applying Rom.12.1-2; renewing our minds with Y’hovah’s Torah, Neviim, Kethuvim and Brit Chadasha. Just being born of the Spirit does NOT mean we are without demonic and fleshly influences – or even outright demonic infestation. We need to read and study all of Torah, from ּבראשית to Ἀμήν – 1^st word to last and allow Y’hovah to use it to literally renew our minds. 

V.11 has a couple of major differences between the Greek redaction and the Aramaic original. Aramaic does not have “Jew or Greek”, but “Jew or Aramean”. This is partly due to Sha’ul’s knowledge of the Israelite descent of the Colossian ‘gentile’ population and that Aramaic was the lingua franca of Asia minor and the rest of western Asia for over 600 years by this time (cf. Aramaic lingua franca 1^st paragraph in AENT pg.715). Another difference is ‘Barbarian, Scythian’ in KJV/TR, but ‘Greek, barbarian’ in Aramaic. The note here says that the Greek redactor was trying to use a barbarian/oriental tongue, but the redactor didn’t understand that, in Aramaic, ‘bar bar’ means ‘son son’. I think Sha’ul’s point is not missed in either case that Mashiyach is all and in all. AENT is just trying to show the originality of Aramaic v. Greek.

Once again, in vv.12-14, we are instructed to ‘put on’ our Master Y’hovah Yeshua’s attitude as we ‘put on’ the ‘new man’. We need to clothe ourselves in his love and compassion, one forgiving another for slights or sins and not holding grudges against our brethren as our minds are made new in and by Mashiyach. It says to forgive others ‘AS Mashiyach forgave you’. The word ‘as’ points to a simile (from W1828)

“… similitude; a comparison of two things, which, no matter how different in other respects, have some strong point or points of resemblance; by which comparison the character or qualities of a thing are illustrated or presented in an impressive light…”

In this case, we are to so mimic Mashiyach in our attitude of forgiveness that the difference between us and the world system is readily evident. The natural man is NOT inherently forgiving; just drive in a city’s rush-hour traffic for a few minutes and it is likely that you will PERSONALLY demonstrate what the natural man is like. I do. I am not very forgiving when someone tries to move into my lane when my front bumper and fender can be easily seen in the corner of the other driver’s eye. (Indianapolis is famous for drivers who forget to put their ‘eyes on’ before entering a freeway. SOME forget to put their ‘ears on’, as well, since they fail to react to a loud 2-tone horn only 2-3 feet to their left. Damn cell phones and radios! Of course, it COULD be a government initiative to give the blind and deaf minorities the same rights and privileges as the majority.) I get a little ticked when stupid people try to kill my wife, my dog and me in order to save a second or 2 at 70 mph; not very Messiah-like of me, I know. But that’s how it is. 

Meanwhile, just to make me feel even worse about my personal witness, Paul adds v.14, where, perhaps properly since the whole passage is about unclothing ourselves of the natural man and clothing ourselves with Mashiyach, KJV adds, “‘put on’ charity”; agapayn– ἀγάπην. Agape is the self-effacing love that Y’hovah Yeshua haMashiyach has for all of us, including the unbeliever. 

In the Aramaic, the word ‘perfection’ in v.14 is followed immediately by the word peace in v.15. AENT’s note shows that though the words are different, they have very similar meanings (cf.note 15 on pg. 606). 

Thou (that is Y’hovah, as v.4 makes VERY plain) wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. (Isaiah 26:3↑-4↓)

בטחו ביהוה עדי־עד כי ביה יהוה צור עולמים׃ 

That last is v.4, which begins with the word ‘trust’ (batach) and then names Y’hovah 3 times. It’s very plain that if we trust Y’hovah he keeps us in perfect peace, and Sha’ul seems to making that midrashic point in Col.3.14-15 (remember that there are no chapters or verse numbers in the originals), that all the things he’s said, from mortifying our fleshly nature to putting off the deeds of disobedience to putting on obedience in Mashiyach, come as a result of our trusting Y’hovah Yeshua. 

In vv.15-17, the Shalom of Y’hovah, the object of our deliverance and the gospel in a nut-shell, should go forth from us to all our brethren in Mashiyach. When we are angrily at odds with our brethren, we are not manifesting Shalom, are we? If our brother in Mashiyach doesn’t want to live in peace, we are better off just eschewing contact with him, for he will break our peace. If he wants to discuss our differences, we can learn from each other. We may not come to agreement, but we can discuss differences in shalom and love each other. It’s about having Messiah’s attitude of meekness, quiet strength. The body of Mashiyach is one, as Y’hovah is one. We ought to display that. 

We need to model a Torah lifestyle, which can only be done by assimilating Torah. To do this we need to ingest it, read and study Torah to show ourselves approved workmen that need not be ashamed by interpreting it correctly; not twisting numbered sound-bytes to make it seem to agree with us. 

Study to shew thyself approved unto Eloha, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15)

“Rightly dividing” = cut straight. Q&C

Vv.18-25 deal with personal relationships within families. These are general instructions on how to live in the home, not carte blanche for the leadership of the kahal to rule our homes. That is Nicolaitanism (conquerors of the people); a thing Y’hovah Yeshua HATES. 

But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. 

So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. (Rev.2:6, 15)

Wives! You are to be in subjection to your own husbands (NOT Nicolaitan pastors or rabbis), as the kahal is in subjection to Mashiyach. It doesn’t seem to differentiate between believing and unbelieving husbands and Kefa is pretty explicit that the wife ought to be subject to her unbelieving husband as a matter of witness to him,

1 Likewise, ye wives, in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation with fear. (1Kefa 3.1-2)

Imagine the wife’s witness to her husband when he sees how his buddies’ wives are with them! There may be no greater witness to the love of Y’hovah than the believing wife’s subjection to her unbelieving husband. And I don’t think this applies only to wives of unbelievers. She should also be a good example of what a godly wife is to her children, so that they will practice what their mother’s model for them. The godly husband will make this easy for her, as she will see Mashiyach in the character of her husband’s rule of the home and actually WANT to be his subject, as his yoke is easy and his burden light. 

Get it, guys?! If you are having trouble with a rebellious wife, guess whose probably at fault. Hint: It ain’t HER! If you love your wife like Mashiyach does the kahal, she is going to willingly be subject to you and you are golden. And you also will probably have your children in subjection, as well.

Kids! That 5^th Commandment comes in here.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land Y’hovah Elohecha giveth thee. (Exodus 20:12)

That is not just long personal life that is promised to you, but a long possession of property so that you can pass it on to your descendants and so that THEY can hold it as long as THEY honour their parents. As the generational curse is broken when a child repents and loves Y’hovah (which means that he obeys his commandments), so the generational blessing can be broken when a child turns and despises Y’hovah (which means that he counts Y’hovah’s commandments as dung or useless). So, even if your father ISN’T godly, you are to live in subjection to him as the same type of witness your mother is to be.

Fathers! You are to NOT provoke the anger of your children. This will likely only come into play if the father repents and his children do not. Believing parents should be raising their children in the nurture and admonition of Y’hovah, so this should not be an issue. But men who convert when the children are already trained to be pagans will need to walk a fine line, showing the love of Y’hovah through wisdom and understanding while not condoning a lifestyle of sin. 

Employees/servants! Give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay – anything less is theft!

Everyone! Whatever you do, do it as unto Y’hovah Yeshua (cf. AENT note at Lk.2.11 on pg.148), for ultimately, THAT is who you are serving; not your husband, father, wife, child, or master/employer. Do your best and do it honestly. If you don’t, you will ‘bear your iniquity’, the physical consequences of your actions. 

4.1-6 – Employers/masters! Don’t oppress your servants/employees by shorting them what wages they are due. 

13 In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession. 14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest of thy neighbour’ hand, ye shall not oppress one another: 15 According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour; according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee: 16 According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for to the number of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. 17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear Elohecha: for I Y’hovah Elohechem. (Lev.25.13-17)

14 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant poor and needy, of thy brethren, or of thy strangers in thy land within thy gates: 15 At his day thou shalt give his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it: lest he cry against thee unto Y’hovah, and it be sin unto thee. (Deut.24.14-15)

Y’hovah is not pleased or amused when one brother oppresses another, OR when a Yisraelite oppresses a stranger who lives and works ‘in the land’. 

Prayer is a sign of a believer. We all ought to pray more than we do, I suppose. I ought to pray more than I do, anyway. We have a source of abundant power and resources – more abundant than we could possibly imagine, for there is no limit to the power of Y’hovah. Sha’ul covets the prayers of the saints for him, that Y’hovah would open his mouth to spread the besorah that Y’hovah wants to live in perfect peace with his creatures; us! 

The mystery of Mashiyach that Sha’ul speaks of is the revelation of Mashiyach in the Tanakh that the rabbis either missed or ignored. They didn’t recognize it, anyway, for they did to Paul what he was sent to Damascus to do with the people of the Way – shut him up in prison. Yeah! THAT worked well for them didn’t it? He wrote 2/3 of the Brith Chadashah from prison. He wants to ‘unfold’ the mystery of Mashiyach, I think for the Jews of the diaspora, as well as the Ephraimites in the world. He may or may not have known how much influence he would have over future history. But he certainly did, and therefore we know that Y’hovah answered the prayers of the Colossian kahal. 

End of Midrashic Bible Study.