Shabbat Bible Study for May 20, 2017

Shabbat Bible Study for May 20, 2017

©2017 Mark Pitrone and Fulfilling Torah Ministries

Exodus 18:1-19:6a – Isaiah 6:1-13,  33:13,  61:6-10 – Psalm 54 – Romans 8:19-39

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphire

 

Shemoth 18.1-12 – When had Moshe sent Tzipporah and the boys back to Egypt? It had to have been between the circumcision ‘incident’ on Moshe’s return to Egypt from Midian and the time Moshe first came to Paroh to demand that he let Israel go to worship Y’hovah in the Wilderness. Had Tzipporah and the boys been with Moshe, Paroh could have just taken them hostage to get Moshe to back down, and we’d have had some word of them in that time. That we hear nothing of Moshe’s wife and sons from Ex.4 to Ex.18 tells me that they were sent, or just WENT, to Yithro BEFORE they came into Egypt. This also tells me that the inn where they did the CC had to have been in Midian, either in Al Bad near where Yithro lived and not too far from Mt. Horeb or in Aqaba at the northern end to the Gulf of Aqaba, probably the former, since Aharon met Moshe at Horeb:

24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that Y’hovah met him, and sought to kill him. 25 Then Tzipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband thou to me. 26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband, because of the circumcision. 27 And Y’hovah said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of Eloha, and kissed him. (Ex.4.24-27)

I think it’s a good possibility that there was some marital disharmony over the CC and that Tzipporah went home, or was sent home, to daddy. Our passage tells us she was sent to Yithro (v.2). Moshe would probably have thought about his mission and known Paroh might take out his frustration with Moshe on his wife and children. Eliezer could also have been quite a bit younger than Gershom, who MAY have been married by now – possibly 35 or so years old. 

Moses bowed to Yithro, like Obama did to Saudi’s king Abdullah [and almost every OTHER Moslem prince or head of State]. It was an act of subordination to his father-in-law. It seems that Yithro had the summary of Yisrael coming out of Egypt, but not the details, which Moshe filled in for him. Yithro may or may not have been the priest of Y’hovah before, but from this point he was ONLY that. He had been a priest at-large, I think, but now I infer from v.11 that he was sold to Y’hovah alone. Also in v.11 we see that Y’hovah dealt with Egypt in kind, “in the thing in which they dealt proudly”. Paroh had told Israel to drown all their male babies in the Nile, and Paroh and all his army was eventually drowned in the Red Sea. 

Somehow, some sages think that Yisrael received the Ten Words AFTER Yom Kippur, but that is at least 3½-4½ months too late for the chronology we’re seeing. Ex.19.1 kills the Yom Kippur idea for me. They were MAYBE 5-6 weeks out of Egypt (or in Midian), more likely 4-5. The rabbis seem to think that Moshe received Yithro ON Yom Kippur. Where do they get the Yom Kippur idea? Rashi says the people came to Moshe for judgment on the day after Yom Kippur as a continuation of the forgiveness of the previous day – a stretch. Whatever happened to the orthodox principle that Torah should be taken as a chronological record unless there is good reason to think it isn’t, like the last 6 verses of ch.16 that make no sense otherwise? Q&C

Vv.13-27 – Yithro saw Moshe judging Israel and saw the unwieldiness of it, how much it took out of Moshe, and he proposed a solution – a series of inferior courts to hear the lesser cases, which would free Moshe for the more important or harder judgments deemed to be beyond the knowledge or jurisdiction of the lesser courts. In effect, Yithro proposed the court system incorporated by the Founding American fathers in our Constitution – one Supreme Court to hear harder or more far-reaching cases, and a series of lesser courts to hear lesser cases. In fact, you’ll find that there are a LOT of proper functions of government to be found in Torah; the courts, the executive, the legislative branches can all be seen, along with legitimately delegated authorities to advise and implement the legitimate functions of those 3 branches of Constitutional government. You can also see that the idea of individual political/societal sovereignty under Y’hovah is of biblical, Sinai Covenant origin, at least as far as America’s founding fathers were concerned. 

Moshe’s family is not mentioned after Ex.18. There is one reference to his Ethiopian wife (Num.12.1), who may not have been Tzipporah. I think not, though only by inferences. Speculation Warning! Because Tzipporah and the children are never heard from again, I infer that when Moshe sent Yithro home, he sent Tzipporah and his sons with him. I really think that the CC was a cause for very deep and heated contention between them. I also infer that when Gershom was born, Tzippy would not allow Moshe to CC Gershom (or Eliezer later), perhaps thinking the practice cruel or barbaric, as many people do; and Moshe, trying to keep peace in the family, meekly acquiesced, as was his nature. While on the return trip to Egypt, Y’hovah would not have Moshe bring his family along unless the CC was done. How would it look if the one chosen to lead the people hadn’t or wouldn’t identify his own children with the people of Yisrael? Since Tzippy had been the source of the problem in my inference, my further inference is that Y’hovah required her to perform the rite and only by holding Moshe hostage would she do it. Now, in my inference, she had something against both Moshe AND Y’hovah; the CC. Remember the line, “A bloody husband because of the CC.” And so, Moshe had a decision to take, his family or his Eloha. He took the same decision twice, I think; at the inn in Midian and again at the foot of Horeb and he sent his wife and children home with her Abba. End of Speculation warning!

Shemoth 19.1-6a – On the 1st day of the 3rd month, Israel came to the foot of Sinai/Horeb. Rephidim was in the vicinity of Horeb. They struck camp and moved a few miles to the foot of Horeb. I think, and the lay of the land around what I think was Horeb supports my thinking, that they simply moved from one side of the reservoir created by the out-gushing from the Rock at Rephidim to the other. In The Exodus Case, by Dr. Lennart Moller, there are satellite photos of the area that shows a flat area on the eastern side of the Jabal al Laws ridge PLENTY large enough for the New camp, and a short walk to the Rephidim lakebed.  

Moshe went up the mount to meet with Eloha where the appointment had been made about 4-5 months before. The Word of Y’hovah told him that Israel had seen how he had borne them ‘on eagle’s wings’. This lends support in my mind that he had carried them across the Red Sea bed, as he would bare the ark and the priests who ‘bore’ it. And, as they had seen the result of his bearing them, so he would deliver on every promise he would make IF they would obey him – he would make them a ‘peculiar people’. Peculiar is from H5459 segulah, which is literally ‘most beloved’ of all peoples. And as such, he was going to make them a Kingdom of Priests. We were going to be the zechanim of the earth; the firstborn of all the peoples of the earth, for the whole world is Y’hovah’s.

In a few weeks we are going to see the transgression of the golden calf that will be the thing that causes Avinu to remove the zachan status from chol Israel. Because of that transgression we are no longer the firstborn of the earth, and in effect have been relegated to ‘everyday, average human’ status to Israel who here are called segulah – most beloved. Chol Yisrael was to be the Bride of Y’hovah and represent the nations of the earth to Y’hovah. After the transgression of the Covenant that we will see next week that we agreed to 4 times (19.8, 20.19, 24.3&7), we lost the standing as zachan and the reward of the most beloved. After the sin of Korach and Dathan, the Leviim would become the substitutionary firstborn of Yisrael. I think that in the Kingdom of Mashiach our lost status as the zechanim of the nations will be restored. Q&C

YeshaYahu 6.1-13 – Kadosh! Kadosh! Kadosh! Y’hovah! I think that when we wear our tallitoth with the tzitzioth attached we are trying to physically portray the glory of Y’hovah on his throne and the ‘train’, or the hem of his garment as it touches the floor of his throneroom. People ask why the tzitzioth are to have a ribband of blue, and it just occurred to me that it may be to represent the floor of the throneroom of Y’hovah, as the 75 participants (the 4 priests + the 70 elders + Y’hovah Elohenu) will see in Shemoth 24;

9 Then went up Moshe, and Aharon, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: 10 And they saw the Eloha of Israel: and under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in clearness.

If you look at the Wiki article on Sapphire at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphire you’ll see what I think the color t’chaylet (B’midbar/Numbers 15.38) is supposed to look like – sapphire blue (about 1/3 of the way down the page is a star sapphire – that’s it. Interestingly, it’s about the color that comes up when you type an internet link into the text of PT or a Word document. I wonder – Was that intentional?). 

The seraphims (2? More?) have 3 sets of wings, but only use 1 set to fly. One set is to cover his face so as to not look at the glory of Y’hovah, and the other set is to cover that part of their bodies that may contact and be defiled by the world. This is one reason YeshaYahu was concerned in v.5 that his eyes had beheld Y’hovah. If the very angels that are always in his presence have to cover their eyes, how much more ought we to cover our eyes in his presence? Do you suppose that this is ONE reason for the tallith in the 1st place – to cover our eyes in the presence of Y’hovah, like the hand that covered Moshe in the Rock’s cleft? Do you suppose that the cleft of the Rock is the same cleft from which the water poured? And do you suppose that that Rock is the one that followed them through the Wilderness? I’d say it’s likely all the same allegory – hidden in Mashiach. 

One seraph cries to another “Kadosh! Kadosh! Kadosh! Y’hovah Tzavaoth! Chol haAretz m’lo k’vado!” Does only one of the 2 speak, or do they cry, first one and then the other, continually? I think the latter. The voice is pretty powerful, to shake the doorposts of Y’hovah’s throneroom and to move the smoke off the incense altar to fill the room. From what we’ve been told so far, Y’hovah sits above the smoke, which would provide another covering between him and us. YeshaYahu is beside himself, knowing his own sinfulness and that he has actually seen Y’hovah’s kavod. 

When the seraph comes to him bearing the coal from the incense altar, YeshaYahu says specifically that the seraph took the coal off the altar with tongs. In Lev.10, we will see Nadav and Avihu take ‘strange fire’. It is possible that they will take the coals off the incense altar in some other manner. If the seraph, who is ever in the presence of Y’hovah, had to use the right tool to remove the coal from the incense altar, how much more would a sinful man have to use the proper tools? After the seraph touched to coal to Isaiah’s lips he said, “your iniquity is taken away and your sins purged.” Imagine the relief! Imagine the gratitude! When Y’hovah asks, “Who shall I send? Who will go for us?”, YeshaYahu JUMPS at the chance to serve him. The 1st 5 chapters of Isaiah’s prophecy against Yehudah and Israel seem to have set the stage for Y’hovah’s call and YeshaYahu’s response. He has seen all the prophecy against chol Israel and how deserving Israel is of the condemnation and responds affirmatively to Y’hovah’s call, possibly for fear that noone else will do so – and, if that is the case, he may have been right! 

Now imagine YeshaYahu’s disappointment at the message he has been chosen to carry – not disappointment that he must carry it, but in that he KNOWS what Israel’s response will be. He knew that his message would fall on fat, deaf and proud ears that would not believe that Y’hovah would send the heathen to carry them away into captivity and spiritual darkness. The generations that were carried into captivity into Babylon and Assyria, and were expelled from their land by Greece and Rome, did not return, and according to this prophecy, only a tithe of their descendants would return when Mashiach calls them from the 4 corners of the earth. After removing the supplied words in v.13, we see:

13 But yet in it [edit – that is the land] a tenth shall return, and shall be eaten [edit – literally, consume, not BE consumed]: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance in them, when they cast the holy seed, the substance thereof.

Eaten in the KJV is from H1197, ba’ar, which is a primitive root meaning to consume. I don’t think Y’hovah is going to bring a tithe of his people to be consumed in their own land. It looks to me that the substance of the lands, represented as the teil and the oak trees, into which the seed has been sown is the very set-apart seed that has been sown in them. IOW, WE are the only things keeping those lands viable – WE are the strength of those lands. And rather than heed our warnings, those lands will cast them (spew us?) out! And I think we may go to haAretz Yisrael, possibly to fight for her or to serve her in the fight for Zion – all depending on Y’hovah Yeshua’s call. Q&C

33:13 – Make the connection with Ephesians 2.11ff here folks, and remember how we finished the last section – with the nations that are about to be judged spewing us out. Here’s what 33.13 looks like without the supplied words:

13 Hear, ye far off, what I have done; and, ye near, acknowledge my might.

If we truly hear (shema) his acts and acknowledge (yada) his power, our spirits will be invincible. May it be so in all of us when we need to stand before the physical power of the enemy and rely on the spiritual power of Y’hovah’s Ruach in us.

61:6-10 – Y’hovah is going to find a way to make us Priests and Ministers for his Kingdom. In Ezekiel 40-48, the sons of Zadok are the ones who offer the freewill offerings while the Levites serve in the Temple. Speculation Warning! Maybe the resurrected saints will be the ‘sons of Zadok’ in the Kingdom. In v.5, we see the stranger (H2114, zuhr, one who turns aside to lodge) feeding our flocks and the alien (H5236, nekar, foreign) plowing our fields and dressing our vines, perhaps to free us to perform Y’hovah’s service in v.6. When it says we will eat the ‘riches’ of the gentiles, I don’t think it has the aspect of oppression, but that they will (at least at first) gladly make their offerings to Y’hovah, which we, as his reconciled Kingdom of priests, and the Levites will freely eat. If true, we will be in our resurrected bodies in the Kingdom, we will not have wrong motives in accepting the offerings of the zuhr and the nekar. But since they (aliens) are in their fallen physical bodies, they may perceive it as oppression, and you can bet your bottom dollar that after haSatan is released from his chains during that last few months or year of the Kingdom he will be playing the oppression card to the hilt. It will probably be one tool he will use to foment the final Gog uMagog rebellion. 

In v.7 the Priests will receive double for the trouble endured in their fallen flesh. 

And AzarYahu the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of Y’hovah, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for Y’hovah hath blessed his people; and that Y’hovah hath blessed his people, and that which is left is this great store. (II Chronicles 31:10)

V.8 shows what I mean by them NOT being oppressive, like AzarYahu the son of Zadok explained to Hezekiah in 2Chr.31.10, for Y’hovah HATES robbery for burnt offering. Zadok = Tzadik and Mashiach is our Tzadik. The priests, at the end of both the Judges and Yehuda’s kingdom time were being oppressive in their exactions for offerings. 

1Sam.2.27 And there came a man of Eloha unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith Y’hovah, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’ house? 28 And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel? 29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? 30 Wherefore Y’hovah Eloha of Israel saith, I said indeed thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now Y’hovah saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father’ house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. 32 And thou shalt see an enemy habitation, in all which shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thine house forever. 33 And the man of thine, I shall not cut off from mine altar, to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. 34 And this a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Pinchas; in one day they shall die both of them. 35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest, shall do according to which in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before my Mashiach for ever. (1Sam.2.27-35)

Zadok was that faithful Aharonic priest. Oppression will NOT happen with us in the Messianic Kingdom, as the sons of Zadok will officiate. Since the priest will not be taking more than Y’hovah requires, as some Aharonic priests did in the flesh, the people will have more of their own than they did under the priesthood of the earthly kingdom. The priests in the Millennial/Messianic Kingdom will be righteous judges and accept from the people only what is due Y’hovah or the people’s freewill offerings. And in v.9, the people will recognize the righteousness of the Priests, the sons of Zadok, who serve before Mashiach and execute his judgments, commandments, ordinances and statutes. I think v.10 ices the speculation that the priests are resurrected saints. These priests are clothed in garments of salvation, covered with robes of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks his bride with ornaments and as the bride gives her dowry of precious gems to her husband, as we will cast our crowns at Mashiach’s feet. End Speculation Q&C

Ps.54 – This psalm speaks to the haftarah. Vv.1&2 speak to what happens in this life. Vv.3-5 speak of the Kingdom Era. In the here and now, we need to be in a constant state of prayer to stay safe in the wicked world system. Yhwh’s Name IS his Strength by which he delivers us. It is also the Strength by which he SHALL deliver his people in the Kingdom Era. In the end of the Messianic Era, the Levites will need to be in that constant state of prayer to keep from going after the crowd, to stay faithful to Mashiach Yeshua. When the strangers (zuhr) rise up against the Priests and faithful Levites in the Gog uMagog war at haSatan’s instigation, when those who would oppress the faithful refuse to set Eloha before them, that is when the faithful Leviim will need to keep the shield of faith in place. Yhwh will reward the unfaithful with the fruit of their actions and cut them off – blot them out of the Book of Life. Vv.6&7 speak of the faithful whom Yhwh delivers from the rebellion; those who paid their vows and praised the Name that delivers them from trouble and recompenses the evil for their wickedness before their eyes. Q&C

Rom.8.18-39 – What follows is from my notes on Romans 8, which was prepared for a weekly bible study. It was written in 2006 or 2007, and has been recently edited in 2014 for the TTRT broadcasts. It is pretty good, if I do say so myself. Enjoy.

Vv.18-23 – Our suffering with the saints of Y’hovah is of no consequence when compared to the rewards received in Mashiach’s Kingdom. Not only that, but it doesn’t compare to the glory Y’hovah will receive in the very doing of the mitzvah. Y’hovah is revealed to others in our lives when we do these things. And then his kingdom is advanced by the envy of others to have the kind of life that would do such a thing for Y’hovah. Y’hovah’s glory is revealed in us now AND will be revealed more fully in the Kingdom. All of Creation has been yearning for Y’hovah’s revelation as King and Redeemer. We reveal him in our own groaning and travailing with and for his creation. The following is from the Romans study at Yashanet.com: 

The phrase “earnest expectation,” [v.19 – Mark] is rare in Greek and traces itself back to the Hebrew root “ta’arog,” used only in Psalm 42.1, (My soul pants for thee, O Eloha), and in Joel 1:20, relating to the coming day of Y’hovah. (See also 1 Corinthians 1:7, Hebrews 9:28.)

Paul is setting up his argument in the next section (chapters 9-11) of the letter where he will discuss how Israel’s success will bring about the “revealing of the sons of Eloha,” for which creation is longing. This will bring in riches beyond measure. Paul will show that Israel has not fallen – she is divided.

Arog (Strong’s H6165) means to long for. The creature is anything and everything created by the Creator, so all creation is longing for the revelation of … US! WOAH! Is that right? You betcha. When we are revealed in the glory and majesty of Mashiach at his coming, all creation will have its Shabbat and Israel will be physically reunited. Physical reality will, as usual, follow the spiritual reality, as water ‘mikvah’ follows the spiritual. All creation was effected by Adam’s fall through no fault of its own. It can’t WAIT for Mashiach to make all things like new again. 

V.20 speaks of this earnest expectation as ‘hope’. When the sons of Eloha are revealed, the creation will have the same deliverance, from the bondage of corruption to liberty of life. The creation will produce as originally intended by Y’hovah, before the fall of Adam. But we also earnestly desire the coming of Mashiach Yeshua, for it means our adoption and the redemption of our body. Sha’ul says ‘our (plural) body (singular)’. The body of Mashiach will be raised all at once. The Spirit of Eloha that is in us is but a taste of what will be then. The 1st fruits of the harvest is only a small portion of the whole [witness the bikkurim of the barley harvest, which was as much as the Kohen Gadol could gather in one hand, reap with a hand scythe and carry to the Mikdash as a wave offering before Yhwh; a very small portion of the entire harvest, indeed!]. As the creation groans and travails for the revelation of the sons of Eloha, so we groan within ourselves. So also does the Spirit groan for our revelation and the redemption of creation (v.26). The redemption of OUR body = bringing the 2 houses of Ya’acov. Q&C

Vv.24-26 – We are saved by hope? I thought we were saved by grace through faith! What is hope, but the earnest expectation of something promised but unseen? Hope is a noun, it is something we can experience or get hold of, either physically or metaphorically. We have a promise from Y’hovah Yeshua that he will raise us from the dead into a body like his, immortal and incorruptible. Have we seen it? Have we touched it? Then it must be hoped for. Faith is the ‘substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ We cannot hope for something we have in our hands. We can only hope for what has been promised. When we HAVE a thing, we no longer hope for it. So we hope for that which has been promised, but has yet not been delivered. I don’t know how patiently YOU are awaiting the redemption of the body and the resurrection of the dead, but I look at the wickedness of this world and its influence over ME, and I can’t wait! I am impatient for the promise to be fulfilled. THAT is earnest expectation and longing or groaning for the adoption to be complete.

But, do you know what? Ruach helps our infirmity, our longing for the completion of our redemption, by interceding with Avinu on our behalf with groanings so deep that they can’t even be spoken. In other words, if you think YOU can’t wait for your resurrection and adoption as Avinu’s sons, Yeshua’s and Avinu’s Ruach longs even more so. 

Vv.27-28 – I think the mind of the Spirit in v.27 is speaking of the spiritually minded man (v.6), or the one who is walking after the Spirit of Eloha. The Spirit searches our hearts and makes intercession for us in keeping with the will of Eloha. I don’t know if you see it this way, but this is saying that even when we are NOT praying in the will of Eloha, the Spirit of Eloha is. Our prayers are not answered the way we think they should be because WE are petitioning Y’hovah outside of his will. But Ruach prays IN the will of Y’hovah and THAT prayer IS answered perfectly. And so, all things work together for good to us who love Y’hovah and who are the called according to his purpose because Y’hovah’s will is being performed in us, whether we like it or not. Our circumstances may seem tumultuous and terrible, but Ruach in us is interceding for us so that it will all work to our ultimate good and to his glory. Q&C

Vv.29-30 – Here’s a ‘hard saying’ of Sha’ul, like Peter talks about in 2Pe.3.16. But I think the reason is that we use numbered sound bites instead of looking at the context, like Peter says, wresting it. Remember that ch.8 is the foundation for the arguments of the rest of the book. These verses say,

29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

These are all verbs, and they seem to indicate a progression of actions taken upon believers by Y’hovah. If we see evidence of these things occurring in us, we can be pretty well assured that we are his. The church has done all kinds of mental and scriptural gymnastics trying to explain the seeming inconsistencies of this text in juxtaposition to others. But if we’d just look elsewhere in Romans for Sha’ul’s usage of these words in like context, it would clear right up for us.

Whom did Y’hovah foreknow? The answer is given in ch.11

1 I say then, Hath Eloha cast away his people? Eloha forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Avraham, of the tribe of Binyamin. 2 Eloha hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Eliyahu? how he maketh intercession to Eloha against Israel, saying, 3 Master, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of Eloha unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Ba’al. (1Ki.19.18)

This tells me that Paul spoke of those who followed Y’hovah as those whom Y’hovah foreknew. This includes us, if we have not bowed the knee to Ba’al.

5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

He is speaking specifically of believing Israelites, but it extends to all who worship Y’hovah in Spirit and in truth, without intentional or known compromise. Kind of gives new impetus to “Come out from among them, be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing,” doesn’t it?

Now, whom he foreknew he did also predestinate. Predestination is a hard saying of Sha’ul because it seems to contradict free will. But it really doesn’t, and here’s why.

Paul has a definite meaning for predestination, and he shows it in ch.11.

25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Ya’acov: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Now the word ‘shall’ is much more powerful that the word ‘will’. Y’hovah can will something, and it not come to pass. After all, he wills none to perish and that ALL should come to repentance, but that isn’t what actually happens. But if he says, “I SHALL do such and such,” you can put that in the bank and collect the interest, assuming you can find a bank that actually PAYS interest. It is an unconditional promise to perform. It is predestined. The promise is that it shall be done. We just have yet to see the performance. The 2008 US Senior Open was at the Broadmoor course in Colorado Springs. There were people who had purchased their tickets and reserved rooms at the hotel in 2005. That is an earnest expectation and belief in a promise. I have my ticket to the show, but the performance is yet in the future.

ALL ISRAEL shall be saved also refers to the return from exile in Babylon and Assyria, from which only a remnant of Yehudah and BenYamin returned along with so small a number of the other tribes that they could not be considered even a remnant and were counted as parts of the tribes of Yehudah and BenYamin. In the future redemption, ALL Israel SHALL be saved. It is predestined.

Those who are predestined are the ‘called according to his purpose’. We see this in – you guessed it – ch.11.

28 As concerning the gospel, enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election beloved for the fathers’ sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of Eloha without repentance. 

Believing Yisrael is called of Eloha. Did you notice the jump from v.5 to v.25 in ch.11? I hope so. The verses in between 5 and 25 show HOW Israel means those who believe Y’hovah and are the called according to his purpose in 8.28.

What does Paul mean by ‘justified’? He tells us in – you guessed it again! – ch.11. 

30 For as ye in times past have not believed Eloha, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

Justification is the outworking of Y’hovah’s mercy in that we don’t get what we deserve; i.e., destruction. We could not justify ourselves before him, so he had to work a plan where he could show his mercy and justify us freely by his grace (3.21-26). 

Those of us who believe Y’hovah and do not bow the knee to Ba’al are predestined to partake of his glory. We do not now look as if we are glorified, but these promises (8.29-30) are past tense. He HAS glorified us and we can put that in the bank and collect the interest, too. 

So, whom did he foreknow? Who has been predestinated? Who has been called? Who has been justified? Who has been glorified? Chol Yisrael – All Yisrael are the foreknown, predestinated, called, justified and glorified children of Eloha. Does this mean that every physical descendant of Avraham is included? Rom.9 says,

6 Not as though the word of Eloha hath taken none effect. For they not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Avraham, all children: but, In Yitzhak shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh (Ishmael/Esav), these not the children of Eloha: but the children of the promise (Yitzchak/Ya’acov) are counted for the seed.

According to Eph.2.11ff all believers are of the Commonwealth of Israel, and according to Rom.11.6-24 all believers are graffed into the Root of Yisrael. So Yisrael must therefore mean all believers who are not walking after the flesh, but after the Spirit of Eloha (8.1), whether Jew or goy.  

Vv.31-39 – Seeing that we are foreknown, predestinated, called, justified and glorified already in heavenly places in Mashiach Yeshua, what is left to say? Eloha is for us. He’s our ally in the fight. Who can stand against us if he is our Rock and our Strength? Noone can take from us what he has freely given. Noone can bring a charge against us, for our advocate is the Redeemer of all the earth who justifies us. Noone can condemn us, for if we are walking after the Spirit there is no condemnation toward us (8.1) who have the Redeemer as our intercessor (Zech.3). We cannot be separated from the love of Mashiach by anything the world and its system can throw at us. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through Eloha to the pulling down of strongholds (2Cor.10.4). We are MORE than conquerors through Avinu/Mashiach/Ruach – Y’hovah. Nothing and noone can get between those of us who walk after the Spirit and our Eloha, Y’hovah Yeshua haMoshiach. Q&C

If anyone would be interested in purchasing my notes on Romans, email me of your interest at mark@pitrone.net I haven’t ANY idea how much it will cost to print it and bind it, but if there is sufficient interest I will pursue getting the information and give you an idea of what my cost is to print it and ship it. All I really want is that I don’t have to put any money out of pocket, because I haven’t got any to put out of pocket. I am less interested in making money on this than getting the information out for others’ edification. Of course, anything over and above my cost sent for a copy will be appreciated, but is NOT necessary. 

When Eddie had his books printed, he had to order many THOUSANDS of copies to get the unit cost low enough so they would sell for $15 and not lose a ton of money. I don’t think he ever made very much/copy. That was not his intent. His intent was to get the information out. Same here. Q&C

End of Shabbat Bible Study