Leviticus 16—Natan’s Commentary Notes

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Leviticus 16:1–34, Passover and the Day of Atonement compared. A cursory reading of the Scriptures seems to indicate that there exists overlapping similarities between some of the blood atonement ceremonies of Passover or Pesach and the Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. What are the differences between the sin atonement offerings of Pesach and Yom Kippur? 

Perhaps realizing the fact that the Passover occurs during the spring feast day season and the Day of Atonement occurs during the fall feast day season may help to answer this question. This is because prophetically the spring feast days picture Messiah Yeshua’s first coming, while the fall feast days prophetically point to his second coming. How does this understanding shed light on the answer to this question? 

Both Pesach and Yom Kippur picture redemption through the shed blood of Yeshua, that is, the saint being delivered from bondage to sin and the rudiments of this world. Passover symbolizes the first steps a new believer takes when coming out of spiritual Egypt and accepting Yeshua, the Lamb of YHVH, as one’s Savior and Master. Yom Kippur, on the other hand, pictures the blood of the Lamb covering over the saint’ sins after his initial salvation experience and the corporate sins of the nation of Israel. 

If our understanding of the order of end time events is correct, Yom Kippur also prophetically points to the time when Yeshua will return to the earth to initiate the final regathering of the lost and scattered tribes of Israel, and to prepare to marry his bride, redeemed Israel or the Israel of Elohim (Gal 6:16), that is, the saints. Perhaps this latter understanding will help to answer why another Passover-like feast is needed. Yom Kippur does not focus so much on leaving Egypt, but rather on YHVH’s people preparing to enter the millennial kingdom under the Messiah. Those saints who will be the betrothed bride of Yeshua need to make themselves ready for Yeshua’s return by putting on spiritual robes of righteousness that are spotless and pure. Although the bride of Messiah saints are not sinners by definition, for the Bible calls them “the righteous” (1 Pet 4:18), they still sin (hopefully only occasionally; 1 John 1:8–9; Rom 7:13–25), and still need to have their sins washed away by the blood of Yeshua, even just before they meet Yeshua at his return. Yom Kippur pictures this final redemptive cleansing or preparation time of Yeshua’s bride.

Understanding the Yom Kippur Goat Rituals

Understanding and interpreting the rituals of Leviticus 16 can be perplexing and complicated task. This is because often encrypted in certain scriptural passages the deep and open-minded Bible student will find multiple levels of meaning and prophetic fulfillments. The serious biblical researcher understands this and is not put off by any seeming discrepancies between a surface or literal fulfillment of a scripture vis-à-vis its prophetic fulfillment. An example of this would be the virgin and child prophecy of Isaiah 7. There was both a historical or immediate fulfillment of this prophecy and a future one relating to the coming Messiah. 

Moreover, we must keep something else in mind when dealing with biblical passages that are difficult to understand because they contain figurative language of a prophetic nature that often employ typologies (types and shadows). By definition, a type is a person or thing that represents someone or something else. When dealing with prophetic types in Scripture, the type never perfectly mirrors that to which it is prophetically pointing. The type is merely a shadow of what is to come (Col 2:17; Heb 10:1; 8:5), and therefore it is neither a perfect representation of the reality nor its there a perfect one-to-one correlation between the two. However, there are enough similarities to deduce a correlation between the two, even as a shadow is the shape and outline of the image it represents, but it doesn’t contain all the details of it.

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The Protocols for Coming Into the Presence of the Almighty Creator

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Leviticus 16:1–31 Explained

How do humans come into the presence of YHVH Elohim? There is one proper way to do so, and many improper ways. The Torah’s discussion pertaining to the rituals associated with the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) reveal to us what the proper protocol is and also alludes to the fact that there is an improper way to approach the Almighty Creator as well—something which brings disastrous results. We see an example of this in the case of Nadab and Abihu.

Now YHVH spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before YHVH, and died… (Lev 16:1)

Elohim killed Nadab and Abihu because they came into the holy of holies in the Tabernacle of Moses (a representation of Elohim’s heavenly throne room) in a careless and indifferent manner. Not only does the Torah indicate that they intoxicated with alcohol, but they failed to follow the proper ceremonial protocols outlined by YHVH Elohim to come into his presence. The next few verses lay out what those protocols are to come before the King of the universe. To not follow those protocols brings the death penalty on the person. Such a person is entering illegally as an unauthorized trespasser.

Before exploring how to enter the presence of Elohim properly, let’s bring this abstract concept down to a level we can understand. For example, who hasn’t seen signs on private property that say something like this: “Private Property, No Trespassing,” “Government Property, No Trespassing,” “Unauthorized Entrance Prohibited,” “Violators Will Be Prosecuted to the Full Extent of the Law,” or “Violators Will Be Shot”? What happens to an uninvited intruder who climbs over the fence around the White House or over the walls of Buckingham Palace? Likely, they will be arrested if not shot on the spot. Similarly, there are penalties for coming into the throne room of the Almighty YHVH Elohim illegally.

…and YHVH said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. (Lev 16:2)

YHVH Elohim does not allow humans to casually saunter into his presence anytime and in any manner they want. Though Elohim is our loving Heavenly Father, he is holy (set-apart) and is the Creator of the Universe who is to be feared and respected (Heb 12:28), and he is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29). He has the power of life and death; he gives life and can take it away (Matt 10:28). Humans (especially Christians) would do well to know their place before the Almighty, to treat him with the respect he is due and to follow his instructions in all areas of their relationship with him. Indeed, YHVH wants humans to come before him, but in the proper way.

It is utter foolishness and hubris on the part of humans to ignore the clear commands and instructions of Elohim. Nadab and Abihu found out the hard way; their folly cost them their lives. There are no theologies regardless of the respectability or age of the religious institution or denomination or the erudition of the biblical scholars that invented them that can circumvent the clear instructions of YHVH Elohim. Phrases one often hears mainstream church leaders quote with regard to the laws of the Almighty such as “It has been done away with,” “It has been nailed to the cross,” “We’re under grace now, not under the law,” “That was for the Jews,” “Jesus fulfilled that for me, so I’m not required to do that” and so on will not pass muster with Elohim. He makes the rules, his rules do not change, and humans would do well to remember that. For those who take the commands of Elohim casually more as suggestions, remember Nadab and Abihu! “That was under the old covenant, we’re under the dispensation of grace now,” one might say in objection. My reply? Well, then consider the case of Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts whom Elohim struck down for lying to the apostles and the Set-Apart Spirit (Acts 5:1–11)!

So what is the first rule of protocol for coming into the presence of YHVH Elohim?

Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. (Lev 16:3)

Without humans acknowledging that they are sinners, they cannot come into the presence of Elohim. What’s more, they must bring the proper sin offering—a perfect bull or ram. Only by the shedding of blood can man’s sins be atoned for. Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” Until a person’s sins have been atoned for through the shedding of blood, one is not allowed into the presence of Elohim. Period! There are no religious rituals of man, no mantras, no amount of prayers, begging or pleading, no ascetic exercises, no formulas, no incantations, no drug induced altered states of consciousness, no conjured spells, no abracadabra mumbo jumbo words, no wishful thinking, no amount of good thoughts, no self-made or designer spiritual paths or anything else that can bring us into the presence of the Almighty. There is only one way to the Father in heaven and that is through the blood of Yeshua the Messiah, the Lamb of Elohim, who paid the price for each person’s sins (Acts 4:12; Matt 1:21; Mark 16:15–16; John 3:36; 14:6; 1 Tim 2:5–6; 1 John 5:11–12). The sacrificed animals in this chapter are prophetic foreshadows pointing to Yeshua’s death on the cross as a payment for each person’s sin penalty. As no one could come into the Tabernacle of Moses except by following the proper protocols involving sacrifices and the cleansing rituals associated therewith, even so, no one is allowed into the presence of Elohim except through the sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah.

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Leviticus Chapters 12 to 15—Natan’s Commentary Notes

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Leviticus 12 

Leviticus 12:2, Unclean.One may rightly ask why new life begins in tumah or spiritual impurity? Could this have anything to do with David’s statement in Psalms 51:5, “Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” The basic premise of all the false religions and humanistic philosophies of the world is that man is innately good and that any evil attributes he may possess are largely due to his evil environment. Do you believe this? Or have you taken responsibility or ownership of your own sin and the sin nature in you?

Leviticus 12:4, Come into the sanctuary/miqdash. The miqdash referred to the tabernacle or temple and denotes that which has been devoted to the sphere of the sacred. An area was sacred since it was the place where YHVH dwelt among his people (Exod 25:8) and it was not to be profaned (Lev 12:4; 19:30; 20:3; 21:12, 23; q.v. The TWOT). The command that a woman was forbidden from entering the sanctuary when in an impure state begs this question: When then could a woman enter the tabernacle? The ArtScroll Vayikra/Leviticus Commentary doesn’t answer this question nor do Rashi or Hirsch in their commentaries. Keil and Delitzsch suggest that she would have come into the sanctuary to partake of sacrificial meals (e.g. the peach or fellowship offerings (Lev 3:1–17; 7:11–21) although the Torah doesn’t specifically state this. Lev 7:20–21 does state that anyone eating this offering in a ritually impure state would be cut off from Israel, thus implying that this meal might have been eaten within the confines of the tabernacle or temple sanctuary—or at least the outer courtyard where the altar of sacrifice was located. But do we know this for sure? No. For example, in 1 Samuel chapter one, we read that Hannah, after offering her sacrifice, prayed outside the door of the tabernacle where she met Eli the high priest (1 Sam 1:9). Later, in the history of the Jerusalem temple, the Woman’s Court was constructed. This separate court for women, located just outside of the temple itself, was where women prayed and offered their sacrifices, and was, according to Jewish tradition, constructed in the time of King Jehosophat (2 Chron 20:5; Carta’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Temple in Jerusalem, p. 93, by Airel and Richman). Also according to Jewish tradition, women were allowed to go past the Women’s Court and enter the temple sanctuary itself to offer up sacrifices although no scriptures are given to support this assertion (ibid.)

Leviticus 12:5, Two weeks. One may also ask why a woman remains in a state of ritual impurity only seven days for a male child and two weeks for a female child? To some of our minds that may have been “leavened” by the “women’s rights” agenda of the 1960s, this may seem sexist. One thing is certain, YHVH is not a respecter of persons. He does not value one gender above the other. Both male and female were made in his image (Gen 1:27). Therefore, Elohim is both male and female. For Elohim to view women as inferior, he would be showing favoritism to one part of himself over another, and this is not possible. 

One explanation the Jewish sages give for the eight-day compared to the 14-day period of ritual impurity is that a male child has to be circumcised on the eighth day. A brit m’lah is to be a joyous occasion. If a woman were still in a state of ritual impurity she would not be able to participate in her son’s circumcision (The ArtScroll Tanach Series Vayikra, p. 187).

Leviticus 12:6, She shall bring. Why did the new mother have to bring a sin offering for her newborn child—after all isn’t childbirth a glorious and joyous event? To answer this question we will ask a question. What was one of the curses Elohim placed on Eve for her part in bringing sin into the world? (Gen 3:16) Labor pains were decreed upon woman for punishment for her part in original sin. The Jewish sages teach that the sin offering Torah demands her to give after giving birth is to atone for that. As believers in Yeshua, we might rather see this offering as pointing to ancient Israel’s need for atonement from sin in the Person of Yeshua the Messiah, who was yet to come. Does this not underscore the seriousness YHVH places on sin and that all have sinned and fallen short of his glory (Rom 3:33), and that we are all in desperate need of a Redeemer who would deliver us from that “certificate of sin debt that was against us” and nail it to his cross (Col 2:14)?

Leviticus 13

Leviticus 13:2, Leprous sore [Heb. tsaraath]. This was an infectious skin disease and not necessarily leprosy.

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Acts 15 Explained As You’ve Never Heard It Before

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Acts 15

Acts 15:1, Custom of Moses. What is the “custom” or “manner” of Moses as mentioned in Acts 15:1? Likely it is the Torah principle that circumcision of both the flesh and the heart is a requirement for citizenship in the nation of Israel. However, the latter takes precedence over and is at a higher spiritual level than the former, as we will now discuss.

The Torah-law requires physical circumcision of males, who the spiritual heads of their families as a ritual signifying sanctification (or being set apart or being separated) from the carnal rudiments of this world, the flesh and the devil. When the father, as the spiritual representative and head of his family, was physically circumcised, it is as if his whole family (including the females) were circumcised as well. 

But physical circumcision as Scripture, including the Torah, teaches is but a step toward and points to the higher principle of heart circumcision, which all people (both male and female) must undergo if they are to be part of the “Israel of Elohim” (Gal 6:16), which is comprised of both Jews and non-Jews, who have been grafted into the olive tree of Israel (Rom 11:11–32) and are not part of the nation of Israel through Yeshua the Messiah and are no longer Gentiles (in a spiritual sense; Eph 2:11–19). 

So the overall principle of circumcision comes from the YHVH Elohim. How it was specifically implemented and applied in daily life, or the exact details of how the law of circumcision was walked out, is specific to the era in which the people of Elohim lived. This is a fundamental distinction between the basic, eternal and over-arching principles of the Elohim’s Torah-law compared to “the law of Moses.” The principles of the former are for all time and for all people, while the latter are the specifics of how those principles were applied in the daily lives of a particular people at a particular time—in this case, the children of Israel who had a physical nation governed by many laws (i.e. the law of Moses) specific to that situation. In the case of physical circumcision, it was a physical proof of citizenship, like a passport, that one actually wore on one’s body. Since there is no longer a physical nation of Israel as in ancient times,  this specific law is not applicable in the same way as it was then; however, the higher principle of heart circumcision still applies today and includes both males and females. 

Another example of a literal Torah principle that does not apply to us today is the Torah’s ox in a ditch rule. Today, how many of us now use an ox for work or transpiration? Obviously we do not, but the principle of the pulling an ox out of the ditch on the Sabbath day still applies to us but in a different way, even though most of us have never even seen an ox much less own or use one. This principle allows us to help someone in need, or to perform emergency word on the Sabbath, which would otherwise be a violation of the biblical law to rest on that day. The eternal principles of the Torah, like the laws of circumcision and ox in the ditch, never change, but exactly how these principles are applied may vary from one generation and culture to another. 

This concept is very different than what the Christian church teaches about the law of Moses, which they say was “fulfilled” by Yeshua, which they take to mean was “done away with” or abrogated, so that we no longer have to do it. This concept, of course, is fundamentally flawed and illogical and is patently absurd, since it violates countless Scripture from one end of the Bible to the other that specifically uphold the validity of the Torah for all believers for all time. If the Torah was in fact been “done away with,” as the church teaches, then it logically follows that it is now permissible to murder, lie, have sex with animals, not have to tithe to your church, be a homosexual, etc., etc. Of course, this is patently ridiculous, yet this is, in essence, shows the logical fallacy of what church teaches with regard to the Torah-law of Elohim.

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Leviticus 12 to 15—Natan’s Commentary Notes on Some Disgusting Subjects

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Leviticus 12–15

Leviticus chapters 12 through 15  are some of the most distasteful and difficult to explain in the whole Bible, much less to relate to and to apply to our lives. After all, who wants to talk about diseases, disgusting molds and mildews, and bodily discharges? And who can relate to leprosy? Yuk!

Yet the Torah contains these subjects for a reason. Yes, sanitation, cleanliness and our physical good health is important to our Creator for obvious reasons, but lurking behind this distasteful and, at times, even revulsive subject is a much deeper issue: the disease of sin. When we view sin in terms of a contagious spiritual disease, suddenly we gain a new and deeper understanding of its destructive nature.

Even though the old adage, “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is not in the Bible, it is a biblical truism. Our cleanliness at all levels, body, soul (mind, will and emotions) and spirit are vital to a right relationship with Elohim. He is holy or set-apart (i.e. from the pollution, filth and defilement of this world), and without holiness, no one can see Elohim (Heb 12:14). In essence, holiness is nothing more than spiritual cleanliness. This is the deeper meaning behind Leviticus chapters 12 through 15.

Overview of Parshiot Tazria-Metzora (Lev 12–13 and 14–15)

Often these two parshiot (the plural of parashah meaning “Torah portion” in Hebrew) are combined in the yearly Torah reading cycle depending on how the biblical calendar falls for the year. Their combining is likely due to the fact that each is relatively short and deals with related subjects: namely, the ritual purity laws. 

As we shall see, the causes of ritual impurity involve sin issues. As a remedy to this problem, the Torah prescribes procedures that the afflicted person had to follow in order to be deemed cleansed and thus be readmitted into the camp of Israel after having been temporarily expelled because of ritual impurity. All the ritual cleansing laws prophetically pointed to Yeshua’s atoning death on the cross.

These two parshiot dealing with diseased and unclean persons immediately come after the laws concerning clean and unclean meats (Lev 11). What the Israelites ate as well as the state of their physical bodies was an important aspect of holiness in the eyes of YHVH.

From these two parshiot, we learn that an unclean person could only become clean through the atoning blood of a sacrificed animal or through ritual cleansing of water by which he was reconciled to Elohim and brought back into the camp of Israel. 

What can we learn from the juxtapositioning of these subjects (i.e. the laws pertaining to unclean meats and unclean people) in the Torah? Simply this. Man can easily become impure and defiled because of his innately depraved, crooked, and wicked heart that is at enmity with the laws of Elohim (Jer 17:9; Rom 8:7). 

Since the fall of Adam, man has been in a state of impurity from Elohim. Thus, sin separates him from the presence of Elohim and from his fellow Israelites. Only the sin-atoning blood of Yeshua can bring the sinner to a place of purity where he can be reconciled to the Kadosh (Holy) One of Israel, and become part of the camp (i.e. the congregation of the saints or kadosh ones) of YHVH.

Leviticus 12:1–8 deals with the purification of women after childbirth. Adam Clarke in his commentary states that when a woman has to bring a sacrifice after the birth of her child, Elohim maintained the remembrance of the fact that through woman sin entered the world. He also required the memorial of a sacrifice to show that the state of a sinner, howsoever deplorable, is not hopeless. In every ceremony, we may see both the justice and the mercy of Elohim. Hence, while we have the knowledge of our spiritual impurity, we have also the knowledge of our cure—the sacrifice of an innocent animal, which always points to Yeshua who once and for all, in his sacrificial death, cleansed us from sin’s impurity.

Leviticus 13–14 deals with the disease of tzara. The noun tzaarath means “disease” or “skin disease” and is from the root tzara meaning “to be stricken, strike down, to smite heavily.” This is another disease that pictures the ravages of sin.

It was up to the priests to diligently inspect each diseased person—based on YHVH’s instructions and criteria—to determine whether one was unclean or not, and whether one was fit to remain in the camp of Israel. The priests were not to be hasty in their judgments, but were to make determinations based on diligent inquiry and to follow the exact protocols as outlined in the Torah. This teaches us that YHVH is exacting as to how sinners can be cleansed spiritually from sin and thus become part of the spiritual camp of the righteous redeemed. The Torah is the standard of righteousness that will judge all men. It also defines sin (1 John 3:4), and will determine one’s rewards in YHVH’s eternal kingdom (Matt 5:19).

Today, from time to time, those involved in gross sin must be put out of the congregation of the righteous. This is the duty of the leaders who must inspect individuals and make righteous decisions. Yeshua discusses this in Matthew 18:15–19 where he instructs leaders on how to deal with sin in the camp.

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The Biblical Dietary Laws—What’s the Big Deal??? (Glad you asked!)

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Leviticus 11

The Biblical Dietary Laws Are Primarily About Holiness NOT Just Health!

What is the chief attribute of Yehovah Elohim? It is holiness, for this is what Scripture revealed that the spirit beings in his heavenly throne room are chanting day and night. 

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the YHVH of hosts; The whole earth full of His glory!” (Isa 6:1–3)

The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, YHVH Elohim Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Rev 4:8)

What is holiness? The Bible defines it is as those things, people, times and practices that YHVH himself has determined are to be set apart or are above or are transcendent. Set apart from or transcendent above what? From those things that are mundane or earthly, defiled or polluted by sin or by that which is unholy and ungodly. 

Why is it important to know that the chief character attribute of Elohim is holiness? Because he wants his children to be holy as he is holy (Lev 11:44, 45). Why is this? Because he wants to spend eternity with his redeemed and glorified children, for without holiness no one will see Elohim (Heb 12:14). It’s really that simple! Therefore, it’s important that his children learn now the difference between what YHVH considers to be the holy and the profane (Lev 11:47), so we can hang out with him in his holy presence for eternity.

Leviticus 11:1–47, The biblical dietary laws are about holiness. Let’s briefly discuss the subject of clean and unclean meats. The focal point of biblical dietary laws are holiness and separation. There are other issues here that need to be explored as well. How serious are you about obedience to YHVH’s commands, or is your belly your god? (See Phil 3:19; Rom 16:18.) Do your taste buds or the Word of YHVH rule your life? Remember, Torah covers all aspects of life: physical, spiritual, emotional, relational, civil, agricultural, political, jurisprudence, religious and economic. ­Torah is a very holistic handbook on life. Are you one who takes the (humanistic) pick-and-choose approach to Torah-obedience? “I’ll obey only the biblical laws that suit me.” Such an approach is akin to what the serpent told Adam and Eve when he said, “You can have it your way … YHVH didn’t really mean what he said when it comes to obedience.”

When most people think of word kosher, the biblical dietary laws come to mind. This is only part of the picture that the Bible presents when it comes to the subject of kashrut. The biblical kosher laws involve not only clean and unclean meats, but many other areas as well such as health issues, holiness (not defiling the body, the temple of YHVH’s Set-Apart Spirit), and separation issues—how we’re to act, live, eat, worship, think, dress and talk differently than the heathens around us. The word kosher derives from the Hebrew word kasher meaning “to be straight, right, acceptable” (see Est 8:5; Eccl 11:6; 10:10). YHVH has called his people out of this world and sanctified (set-apart) them to be “straight, right and acceptable” to him. Therefore, YHVH hasn’t give us the liberty to act, speak, dress, eat and live the way the heathens do. He has called us to a higher moral and spiritual standard. We can’t expect to be called the children of the Most High, and still live like the children of the world. We must choose whom we are going to serve (see Josh 24:15): YHVH or mammon and this world (Matt 6:24).

Leviticus 11:4, 47, Unclean.The word unclean is the Hebrew word tameh meaning “defiled, impure, polluted ethically, ritually or religiously” and the word clean is the Hebrew word tahor meaning “pure physically, ceremonially, morally, ethically.” In verse 43, YHVH says that in eating unclean meats one becomes abominable (or detestable, filthy). In Ezekiel 22:26, YHVH rebukes his people because, “Her priests have violated my Torah-law, and have profaned my set-apart [Heb. kadosh] things: they have put no difference between the set-apart and profane, polluted or common, neither have they shown difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” In Leviticus 11:45, the Torah states, “For I am YHVH that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your Elohim. You shall therefore be set apart, for I am set apart/holy.” 

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Who Is God of the Old Testament?

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Acts 7:35, The Angel. 

In Acts chapter seven verse 35 and the following several verses, Stephen makes a reference to an Angel. To whom is he referring: to YHVH the Father or YHVH the Son who became Yeshua the Messiah?

Angel is the Greek word angelos which has several meanings including the stereotypical meaning of the word angel. But the word angelos as well its Hebrew equivalent malak can also refer to a human messenger as well as to a divine messenger such as YHVH, the Word of Elohim or the preincarnate Yeshua the Messiah, as was the case with the “Angel” or Divine Messenger or YHVH who spoke to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus chapter three. 

This same Divine Messenger or YHVH spoke to the Israelites from Mount Sinai when giving the children of Israel the Torah-law as Stephen state in verse 38. 

Elsewhere, Paul goes on to say that the same Divine Entity, who later came to be known as Yeshua the Messiah, was the One who lead the Israelites in the wilderness and gave them water from the rock (1 Cor 10:4). 

Moreover, Yeshua clearly states in John 5:37 that the Israelites did not hear the voice of his Father, YHVH the Father, in the wilderness. Thus, whose voice did they hear? Who was the Messenger or “Angel” to which Stephen makes reference in this verse? It was none other than the preincarnate Yeshua the Messiah who was the Word of Elohim to which John makes reference at the beginning of his Gospel (John 1:1) who become the Messiah (John 1:14). 

Finally, in John 8:58, Yeshua states that he was the I AM of Exodus 3:14 that spoke to Yeshua out of the burning bush; Yeshua is YHVH the Son as opposed to YHVH the Father. The fact Yeshua was making the connection between himself and the I AM of Exodus is the reason that the Jews picked up stones in an attempt to kill Yeshua; they viewed his statements as blasphemous, since he was claiming to be deity. 

Thus, when we connect all of these statements together by Stephen, Paul, John and Yeshua, we see that Yeshua in his preincarnate state, and not YHVH Elohim the Father, who was the God of the Old Testament who spoke to the patriarchs, to Moses as well as to the prophets. 

The fact that Yeshua was the part of the Godhead who was the God of the Old Testament and not the Father (per se or directly) is contrary to what the mainstream church teaches and what most Christians believe. 

With this in mind, how does the fact that Yeshua or Jesus in his preincarnate state as the One who gave the Israelites the Torah-law from Mount Sinai challenge the idea that the same Divine Being who later came as Yeshua the Messiah came to do away with the same Torah-law as the mainstream Christian church teaches? Is this prevalent teaching in Christianity not incongruent with the facts of the Bible? How does the fact that Yeshua in his preincarnate state gave the law to the Israelites change how one views “the Law of Moses?” Similarly, does YHVH’s statement in Malachi 3:6 that “I am YHVH, I do not change” as well as the statement in Hebrews 13:8 that “Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever” not make more sense with respect to YHVH’s Torah-law, which is his unchanging and immutable standard of righteousness for all people for all time?

It is time for honest and truth-seeking Bible students and disciples of Yeshua to question and challenge many long held church traditions that are contrary to the plain and simple Truth of the Bible, and to bring their thinking and lifestyles into alignment with Truth!

Acts 7:37, A Prophet. Stephen is pointing out to the Jews that Yeshua was the fulfillment of Moses’ Deuteronomy 18:15 prophecy that “YHVH will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from among your brethren. Him you shall hear….”

Acts 7:38, He. Who is the “he” that Stephen is referring to here: the Prophet or Moses? The antecedent of he must be Moses, since in the same sentence he is juxtaposed with “the Angel.” As we discuss in our notes in verse s 35 and 37, that “Angel” was none other than the preincarnate Yeshua the Messiah.

Acts 7:53, Angels. Or human messengers, since this can be the meaning of the Greek word angelos.