Category Archives: Weekly Scripture Readings

“Hosannah in the highest” — One Phrase With Many Prophetic Meanings

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Matthew 21:9, Hosannah in the highest. The simple Hebrew phrase hoshana rabbah has more depth and spiritual significance than first meets the eye. Let’s explore it.

First of all, it was this phrase—hosanna in the highest—(Heb. hoshana rabbah) that the crowds of Jews exclaimed as Yeshua entered Jerusalem riding a colt in Matthew 21:9 (also Mark 11:9; Luke 19:38). This event has become known as Yeshua’s “Triumphal Entry.”

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The phrase hoshana rabbah, in part, derives from Psalm 118:25, a psalm which is called the Great Hallel (Heb. meaning “praise”), and was the climax of a series of psalms that the priests would proclaim or sing from the temple in Jerusalem on various feast days including the Feast of Tabernacles.

Psalm 118 is a prophetic psalm, which speaks of the coming Messiah who was the hope of the Israelite people. The words of this psalm prophetically points to Yeshua the Messiah in every way. That’s why the crowds proclaimed “hoshana in the highest, ” at Yeshua’s entry into Jerusalem, for upon him, they had pinned their highest hopes of a Messianic figure who would deliverer them from their oppressors (in this case, the Romans).

The actual Hebrew words in Psalm 118:25 are ana YHVH hoshiah na, which can be translated as “I beg you YHVH save now,” (Green’s Interlinear), “Save now, I pray, O YHVH” (KJV), or “O [YHVH], please save us!” (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Tanach).

The phrase “Hosanna in the highest” was an added exclamation of the people, and is not Continue reading →

 

What to do when your brother sins against you…

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Matthew 18:15, When your brother sins. Yeshua says that when your brother sins against you, you‘re to follow certain protocols to correct him in effort to restore him to spiritual relationship. Many people read this verse to mean that when your brother offends you or hurts your feelings, you’re to go to him. This is not what Yeshua is saying here. He says, if your brother sins against you. By biblical definition, sin is the violation of the law or Torah of Elohim (1 John 3:4). Therefore, if your brother lies to you, steals from you, or sexually violates your wife, you are to go to him, and possibly the church leaders — not if your brother offends you (hurts your feelings) in word or in deed. In this case, Yeshua instructs us elsewhere that we’re to turn the other cheek, pray for our enemies, bless and not curse, and do good to them.

Below is a further discussion on this topic. (Written by Sandi Lawrence)

Have you heard someone say that they are claiming their Matthew 18 rights because they have been offended by this or that person? It’s actually quite common and is often what is taught as how to handle offenses between brothers.

What are our Matthew 18 rights that we keep wanting to invoke? Let’s look at this section that keeps getting called out…

Matthew 18:15-17 (NASB) says…

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

What does it address? Does this address if you are offended? Or does it address what to do if your brother is sinning; that is, he is going against Torah? Let’s not forget that the Bible defines sin as the violation of the Torah (1 John 3:4).

There is a common misappropriation of this instruction that every time we perceive that our brother (or sister) has offended us that we are to go and confront our brother about it. As an extreme (my opinion) but a real-life example, in our own congregation a couple Continue reading →

 

Prophetic Types and Shadows: A Quick Study on Isaac and Rebekah

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There are many prophetic spiritual types and shadows to be found in the Torah that point forward prophetically to Yeshua the Messiah. A series of events in Isaac’s life beginning in Genesis 22 and culminating in chapter 24 provide us with some amazing antetypical glimpses into events that would surround the life of Yeshua the Messiah Continue reading →

 

Deborah Was a Fiery Woman of YHVH

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Haftorah Reading—Judges 4:4-5:31

The Torah and Haftorah portions for this week bear many similarities. In both pericopes, Israel was languishing under oppressive foreign powers, YHVH sent them a savior to deliver them and through miracles and against overwhelming odds, Israel defeated its oppressors and the nation was brought to a new spiritual level. Prophets were instrumental in both cases, and women were used of YHVH in the deliverance of his people. And finally, both scenarios climax in the production of a psalm of praise to YHVH for his mighty hand in setting his people free.

The beautiful gothic girl holds a sword in a hand

1 The story of Deborah often brings up the question concerning the role of women among YHVH’s people. Proponents of women in leadership roles point to Deborah as a champion to their cause. Those who decry any sort of women leadership blush when the example of Deborah is brought up and are often quick to add that she was a one-time exception to this rule. What is the truth as presented by Scripture? Please note the role of women in Scripture by reviewing the following examples as Batya Wootten points out in Continue reading →

 

Protecting Our Children from the Filth of Babylon

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Genesis 24:6, 8, Beware that you bring not my son there again. Why was Abraham insistent that Isaac not be exposed to Babylon? What was there to beware of ( Heb. shamar meaning “to guard against, protect from, keep watch and ward, preserve, keep oneself from”)?

Horse manure with flies

The key is verse seven. What does this teach us about protecting our children and loved ones from the corrupting influences of this world? We must be ever vigilant like a soldier on guard duty to preserve and protect our children from those things that could lead to their spiritual ruination.

YHVH had led Abraham out of the spiritual filth of Babylon. In no way did he want Isaac to go back to what he had left behind. If Isaac had seen the prosperity and convenience of a Babylonian lifestyle, he might have been tempted to stay there — especially if he had found a suitable wife there. Abraham insisted that any potential mate leave Babylon and come to Isaac and not vice versa.

Are we investing the necessary time and energy into our children to insure that they do not return to the spiritual Babylon from which we fled prior to our conversion, and that they find spouses who are willing to leave spiritual Babylon behind before marrying our children?

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 11-1 Through 11-7-15

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THIS WEEK’S SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR STUDY AND DISCUSSION:

Parashat Chayei Sarah — Genesis 23:1 – 25:18
Haftarah — I Kings 1:1 – 1:31
Prophets — Judges 5:1 – 10:18
Writings — Psalms 28:1 – 34:22
Testimony — Matthew 18:21 – 21:46

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 11/1 through 11/7/15.

 

Offense Is the Best Defense…Keeping Your Spiritual Sword Sharp

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Judges 3:2, Taught to war. Among other reasons, YHVH allowed some of the Canaanites to remain in the land of Israel not only as a spiritual test to the Israelites to see if they would  remain faithful to YHVH in the face of worldly pressures (Judg 3:4), but so that they wouldn’t forget how to wage warfare.

knight

Once a person or a people have received their inheritance, it’s easy to become soft, lazy and complacent. If they don’t fight to hang on to their inheritance, they will usually end up losing it. This often happens to those who become the beneficiaries of sudden wealth (e.g., through inheritance or the lottery). They have never learned how to appreciate and to manage properly their resources because they never had to work hard to earn it, so they don’t value it as much as someone who started with nothing from scratch.

Each new generation must learn to maintain what has been given to them and then fight to hold on to it.

Likewise, each new disciple of Yeshua must also learn the principles of spiritual warfare and how to resist the enemy, so they don’t lose the precious spiritual gifts YHVH has given them through Yeshua the Messiah. If they take their spiritual inheritance for granted and become complacent, YHVH will allow their enemies to rise up and to test them.

Some disciples who have drifted away from YHVH will pass the test and defeat the enemies and return to YHVH. Others will continue down the slippery slope of drifting away from YHVH and will slowly “intermarry” with the enemy. This is what happened to the majority of Israelites during the time of the judges as we see in verse six of this chapter.