Category Archives: Scripture

Scripture Studies

Holiness Is Like a Crown of Pure Gold

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Exodus 39:30, A crown of pure gold. What words were written on this golden crown that the high priest wore? Why did YHVH command that these words be written on the crown? To answer that question, think of this: What one word best describe who YHVH is? Most Christians would say that love is YHVH’s chief attribute. But is this what the Scriptures teach? Is there something higher? What are the six-winged seraphim declaring about YHVH Elohim day and night before his throne? (See Isa 6:5; Rev 4:8.)

20731763 Now consider this. YHVH made man in his own image (Gen 1:26), and wants man to become like him in character (note Lev 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7). Now read Revelation 14:1 and compare with Revelation 7:3. What does YHVH put on the heads of his end-times servants? What are the two noteworthy characteristics of YHVH’s end-times saints? (Note Rev 12:17; 14:12.) Holiness, Torah-obedience and a faith in Yeshua all go hand-in-hand.

Now let’s bring this brief discussion full circle. As the high priest of old wore a gold crown inscribed with the words “Holiness to YHVH,” what does YHVH expect of his end-times saints? (See Heb 12:14; 1 Pet 1:15.) What does Peter call the saints of the Holy One of Israel? (See 1 Pet 2:9.) What will YHVH’s saints become in Yeshua’s Millennial kingdom? (Read Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6.)

The word holiness (Heb. kadosh) as used in the Scriptures simply means “set-apart or the state of that which belongs to the sphere of the sacred, and which is distinct from the common or profane.” Elohim as the Creator is transcendent above his creation or that which is profane, earthly or worldly.

Being kadosh isn’t only a positional consideration, but an ethical one as well. The Torah is a reflection of the ethical qualities of Elohim, and is man’s ethical code book showing him how to be holy, set-apart or kadosh as Elohim is. Holiness in the Torah involves what we think, what we say, and what we do.

This code of holiness which is a pathway to a relationship with our Father in heaven teaches us how to worship (or love) Elohim, and how to treat (or love) our fellow man. Yeshua, the Living Word or Torah of Elohim (John 1:1, 14) showed us how to walk out the Torah perfectly, and he then empowers us through his Spirit to live out the Torah’s holiness code, but this is another discussion.

 

Where Are You in the Tabernacle of Moses?

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The Tabernacle of Moses—A Picture of One’s Spiritual Journey. The Tabernacle of Moses from its from to back represents one’s progression in one’s spiritual journey starting with initial salvation leading to eternal life in YHVH’s eternal spiritual kingdom. Where would you place yourself in the tabernacle with regard to your spiritual walk?

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In the outer court of the tabernacle, all the rituals and furnishings pointed to death, judgment, washing or cleansing. These prophetically foreshadowed salvation through Yeshua’s atoning death on the cross, Yeshua being the door to salvation, and baptism for the remission of sins. In the set-apart (kadosh or holy) place inside the tabernacle, everything there pointed to life, light, food, fragrant incense, the fruits and gifts of the Set-Apart Spirit. The outer court speaks of basic salvation for the redeemed believer in Yeshua, while the set-apart place speaks of spiritual growth and maturity, of moving from spiritual babyhood into spiritual adulthood or maturity.

Paul speaks of man being subdivided into body, soul and spirit (1 Thess 5:23). The tabernacle’s outer court seems to relates to the physical realm, while the Set-Apart Place speaks more of the psychological, volitional and emotional aspects of man’s inner realm or psychological realm (i.e., his soul), and the most set-apart place (kadosh hakadoshim or the holy of holies) portrays man approaching YHVH through the realm of his spirit man.

As one progresses into the tabernacle, it is as if YHVH is drawing man into an ever deeper Continue reading →

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 3/3 through 3/9/13

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Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei — Exodus 35:1 – 40:38
Haftarah — Ezekiel 45:16 – 46:18 **
Prophets — Isaiah 22:1 – 29:24
Writings — Psalms 147:1 – 150:6; Proverbs 1:1 – 4:27
Testimony — John 14:1 – 18:40

Most of this week’s blog discussion points will be on these passages. If you have general comments or questions on the weekly Scripture readings not addressed in a blog post, here’s a place for you to post those. Just use the “leave a reply” link below.

The full “Read Through The Scriptures In A Year” schedule, broken down by each day, can be found on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links.” There are 4 sections of scripture to read each day. One each from the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, and from the Testimony of Yeshua. Each week, the Torah and haftarah readings will follow the traditional one-year reading cycle.

Weekly Blog Scripture Readings for 3/3 through 3/9/13.

** A different Haftarah is read when it is a special sabbath in Jewish tradition. On 3/9 is the traditional “Shabbat HaChodesh” (Sabbath of the month), which is the Sabbath that precedes the beginning of the first month of the year. This haftarah as well as Exodus 12:1–12:20 are read as a reminder we are approaching the rosh chodesh (the new moon) that is the “beginning of months” or the new year. To declare the new year, the barley also must be examined to determine how ripe and near harvest it is (a stage called aviv). When living in the land, the barley was easily accessible and one could see how ripe it is. Today several groups of people from around the world search the land of Israel to determine the ripeness of the Barley harvest and report their findings via the internet.

 

Is America in End-Time Bible Prophecy?

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Isaiah 18:1–3, In the chapter heading in some Christian Bibles, Isaiah chapter 18 is titled “Ethiopia.” Is this an accurate chapter heading? Isaiah 18:1 refers to “the land … which is beyond [on the other side of] the rivers of Ethiopia.”

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The traditional view among many biblical commentators (both from Christian and Jewish sources) is that this prophecy is referring to the area of modern Ethiopia, which is just south of Egypt. It is believed that the river mentioned in this passage is the Nile with its tributaries, while the ships are a reference to boats that regularly ply those waters, and the whirring wings refer to either locusts or to tsetse flies, which are abundant in that region.

These same commentators offer various views on how this prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in ancient times. In these commentaries, no explanation was given of the meaning of the word sea in verse two and how that relates to Ethiopia, or how Ethiopia was a nation that was feared far and wide (verse 2). Perhaps another interpretation could be offered that would better fit the descriptions of the land and its people given in this prophecy. Continue reading →

 

Moses Prophesies His Own Resurrection and Glorification—and Ours Too

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Exodus 34:1–35, Moses’ second ascension of Mount Sinai is a prophetic picture of the saints’ resurrection and glorification at the second coming of Yeshua the Messiah.

According to Jewish tradition, Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the second set of stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments on the first day of the sixth month or 30 days before Yom Teruah, which occurs on the first day of the seventh month. Forty days later on Yom Kippur he descended from the mountain carrying with him the second set of tablets as a sign of YHVH’s forgiveness of the children of Israel after the golden calf incident. This signaled YHVH’s renewed relationship with Israel after they had repented of golden calf worship.

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We know that a biblical Israelite bride, while waiting for her betrothed to arrive from his father’s house, would hear the sound of the shofar in the distance as her bridegroom approached. If she were alert and not asleep (as were the ten virgins in Matt 25), she would have had time to put on her wedding robes, trim her lamp’s wick, and have it filled with oil and ready to light as soon as he arrived.

Prophetically, the Scriptures tells us that the saints of Yeshua are to be resurrected and to  Continue reading →

 

Grace—Not Just a New Testament Commodity

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Exodus 33:12–13, Grace. (Heb. chen meaning “favor, grace, charm, acceptance”). The Hebrew word chen (found 69 times in the Tanakh), which is translated as grace, in this verse is equivalent to the Greek word charis, which is found 156 times in the Testimony of Yeshua and is translated as grace 130 times in the KJV.

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The equivalency of these two words is confirmed by the translators of the Septuagint (the Greek Tanakh) who used charis in place of chen when translating the Hebrew Tanakh into Greek beginning in the third century B.C. According to The Theological Workbook of the OT, in the vast majority of occurrences of chen in the Tanakh, the focus of attention is not on the giver, but on the recipient. The emphasis is on the relationship of the superior to an inferior (e.g., a king to his subjects). What this teaches us is that despite sin and rebellion against him, YHVH (the king) is gracious (to humans, his subjects).

Contrary to what many in the church have been led to believe, the grace of Elohim is a very prominent theme in the Tanakh. Examples of this include Noah who found grace in YHVH’s eyes (Gen 6:8), or the children of Israel although dead in their sins in Egypt and deserving of YHVH’s wrath, they were saved by the blood of the lamb. There are a number of other references to the grace of Elohim in the Tanakh as well (Gen 18:3; Exod 3:21; 33:16,17; 34:9; Ps 84:11; Zech 12:10).

 

How Much Do You Love Yeshua? A Year’s Wages Worth?

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John 12:5, Three hundred denarii. This large sum is equal to 300 days’ wages for a common laborer.

Devotion for El-19158646 3To the natural mind, Judas’ objection to the use of this expensive spice (worth between $30,000 and $50,000 in today’s money) to anoint someone’s feet seems logical. It seems like a total waste of something very valuable. By contrast, from our perspective, we can look backwards historically with perfect 20–20 hindsight and realize that for Yeshua, the Messiah and Savior of the world, he was worth every penny of the spikenard and much more. Yet, from the perspective of Yeshua’s followers, Yeshua’s true identity and mission still weren’t clear. This confusion wouldn’t clear up until after his resurrection and glorification (v. 16). So for some of them, Mary’s act of faith in anointing Yeshua’s feet with a year’s wages of spice seemed to be illogical folly.

This spice, most likely was originally intended for use on Lazarus’ body, whom Yeshua had just resurrected and so was no longer needed for that purpose, at least. It is likely that it was out of gratefulness for resurrecting her brother that Mary performed this act of love and devotion to Yeshua, not realizing that her actions were prophetic in that she was pre-anointing Yeshua’s body for his own burial ten days from that night (v. 7).

Now let us consider the following. We know that YHVH Elohim the Father gave us his greatest love gift by sending Yeshua, his Son, to this earth to live, die and resurrect for our redemption and ultimate glorification (John 3:16). How much do we love Yeshua, and what is the greatest gift we could ever give him, even if those around us thought we were crazy to do so? Have you given him all your heart? Does all that you own belong to him including your life? Would you give away all of your possessions in devotion to him if he asked it of you? Would you literally lay your life down for him as he did for you? How much do you love Yeshua?