Peter’s Vision Explained

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Acts 10:13–15, Peter’s vision. In Peter’s vision of the sheet covered with unclean animals, the voice from heaven commanded him three times to kill and eat these unclean animals. Peter was confused by the meaning of this vision since being a Torah-law abiding Jew he knew that eating unclean meat was forbidden and in good conscience he could not do that which was contrary to YHVH’s Torah-law, for to do so was sin (sin is the violation of the law, 1 John 3:4). 

Often visions are metaphorical in nature and not literal. There are many examples in the Scriptures of people receiving metaphorical visions. For example, read the books of Daniel and Revelation. Indeed, Peter’s vision was no exception, for no sooner had the vision ended when three Gentile men appeared at his door seeking the gospel message and the Spirit of Elohim bade Peter to go and to meet them. Peter then realized that the interpretation of his vision was that he should not call any man common or unclean; that is, the gospel message is for all people regardless of their ethnicity (verse 28). In Peter’s case, Bible itself interprets his vision. The issue is not about whether it is now permissible to eat non-kosher meat or not, but rather the Spirit of Elohim was directing the apostles to begin taking the gospel to the Gentiles, who by Jewish standards were considered common and unclean (verse 28).

Now consider this. If Yeshua had meant to say in Matthew 15:11 and Mark 7:18–19 that it was now permissible to eat all foods including those meats that the Torah prohibits to be eaten (e.g. pork, shellfish, etc.), presumably Peter would have known this, since he was present when Yeshua made the statement (see Matt 15:15). If Peter knew that Yeshua had given the okay for his disciples now to eat unclean meat, why then did Peter so strongly object when the voice from heaven commanded him to eat the unclean animals in the vision (Acts 10:13–14)? Obviously, Peter had not changed his opinion about not eating unclean meat, since Yeshua had never annulled the Torah command forbidding the eating of unclean meats in the first place. 

There is another point to consider with regard to Peter’s vision. In the Tanakh, unclean animals or beasts of the field was a Hebraic metaphor for the people of the nations (goyim), or Gentiles. Peter would have been aware of the meaning of this metaphor once the angel explained to him that the unclean animals he had seen in his vision was a not a reference to the biblical dietary laws, but to the Gentiles. Moreover, to the Jewish religious tradition of the day, interaction with the Gentiles was something that orthodox Jews did not do. To do so made one unclean or unkosher. This is not a biblical concept, since in the Tanakh, the nation of Israel was to be a light to the nations and to bring them to Elohim. Furthermore, the Torah is inclusive with regard to allowing Gentiles to be sojourn with the Israelites as long as they would accept Elohim and his laws and abandoned their heathen ways. There was to be one and the same Torah-law for both the native born Israelite and the Gentile that was grafted into Israel. There are also several examples in the Tanakh of Gentiles converting to the Israelites’ religion and being fully accepted (e.g. Ruth and Rahab). Once the angel explained the meaning of Peter’s dream, it would have been clear to Peter that Elohim was expressing disapproval of the Jewish view of Gentiles and that this vision was a mandate from heaven to evangelize the Gentiles. Moreover, the Gentile who was converted and brought into Israel was made spiritually clean, but the Scriptures never considered unclean animals kosher, and never made any provision for unclean animals to be made kosher—ever! 

Acts 10:13–15, Rise…kill and eat…Not so, Lord. On occasion, YHVH will give his servants a dream or vision that on the surface or at face value seems outrageous or even anti-Torah as was the case with Peter’s dream. It seemed that YHVH was asking Peter to violate his own Torah-Word by eating unclean meats. This is how the modern church has largely interpreted this vision, while de-emphasizing its metaphorical meaning. 

So why does Elohim use such methods at times to get his attention? Certainly, he’d never ask his people to go against his Written Word. This is impossible. Therefore, if one receives a dream that they believe is from Elohim, yet he seems to be asking them do something contrary to Scripture, as was the case with Peter’s vision, then it behooves one to ask oneself the following questions. Was the dream truly from Elohim, or from my own soulish desires or from Satan? Or is the dream to interpreted metaphorically, and YHVH is simply using hyperbole, strong, albeit symbolic, imagery to grab our attention, again as was the case with Peter’s vision, to strongly convey to us a particular direction in which he wants us to go or something he wants us to do? 

Interpreting dreams and visions can be a dicey issue as Nathan the prophet found out when he misinterpreted the vision he received from Elohim pertaining to David. YHVH wanted to build up the house or dynasty of David, but Nathan interpreted the vision as David building a house (a temple) for Elohim. Likely both Nathan’s and David’s passion for wanting to build a temple to replace the aging and derelict Tabernacle of Moses was forefront on their mind causing them to come to an erroneous interpretation of the dream. This is why it’s important to ponder over any dreams or visions we receive from Elohim to ensure that we’re interpreting the correctly.

Examples of righteous saints pondering over dreams, visions and angelic visitations include Joseph who pondered the angel’s announcement about the birth of Yeshua and waited for confirmation from heaven before acting and putting Mary away (Matt 1:19–20). Similarly, Jacob in response to Joseph’s seemingly preposterous and impertinent dream publicly rebuked him before his mockingly sceptical brothers, yet he afterward pondered the matter in his heart (Gen 37:11). 

 

Elohim’s Fiery Judgment Upon Nadab and Abihu—A Lesson for the End Time Saints

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Leviticus 10:1–7, Nadab and Abihu…profane fire. 

Nadab and Abihu were executed by the fire of YHVH for not following his commandments. This disobedience was induced by the consumption of alcohol, which impaired their ability to follow YHVH’s protocols for the tabernacle service (Lev 10:9). What can we learn from this tragic story of the disobedience of YHVH’s servants who should have known better, and how will this story repeat itself at the end of this present age upon some of YHVH’s unfaithful servants? We will now discuss the prophetic implications of this story and how history will repeat itself shortly. 

Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron the high priest, were unfaithful to Elohim in that they neglected to take his commandments seriously. Perhaps they thought that his instructions in righteousness did not apply to them but to someone else, or that his laws were done away with, or that YHVH Elohim simply did not really mean what he said. Whatever the case, while executing the ministerial role as Levitical priests in the tabernacle, they became lukewarm and careless in their duties and profaned the holy things of Elohim through their excessive use of alcohol and careless indifference to the Word of Elohim. Because they were in leadership positions as priests, their example of unrighteousness like a spiritual contagion could have infected the children of Israel and destroyed that new nation at its inception. Therefore, YHVH Elohim had to deal quickly and forcefully with these erring and rebellious sons of Aaron. In answer to their sin of not obeying YHVH’s laws, the holy fire of Elohim, like a bolt of lightning out of heaven, came out (presumably from the tabernacle—a picture of Elohim’s heavenly tabernacle and throne room) and fatally struck Nadab and Abihu then and there. 

What are the lessons that we can learn from this horrific story, and what are the end time prophetic implications of it? 

We learn from the book of Revelation that at end of the Messianic Age (or Millennium) that YHVH Elohim will execute unrepentant sinners fire by casting them into the lake of fire (Rev 20:15). This is because they have been made drunk by the false religious teachings of the whore system of religious spiritual Babylon and Satan (Rev 18:3–4). Even many of YHVH’s own people will fall prey to the Antichirst worldwide political-religious-economic system and fail to heed his warning to “come out of her my people” (Rev 18:4). Many will even take the mark of the beast thus forfeiting their possible salvation (Rev 14:9; 15:2; 20:4).

We are now living in an age where, thankfully, most of our sinful actions are not met with instant divine judgment (the case of Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts is a notable exception). Does knowing that YHVH will not instantly “zap” us with his proverbial lightning bolt from heaven when we sin cause us to become lax and even calloused toward sin in our lives? Do we truly walk in the fear of YHVH? Do we fear the consequences of sin even though the results may not be immediate? For many, the answer is yes. Therefore, the rest of us need to ask ourselves some serious questions lest we too slip into a state of careless indifference toward YHVH and his commandments as did Nadab and Abihu and, later, Annais and Sapphira. How loose is your spiritual walk? How many hidden sins that no one knows about do you have that you are failing to deal with that could lead down the proverbial slippery slope and away from Elohim? 

One thing is certain. As one progresses in their faith walk, the path of righteousness becomes narrower and ­narrower, and fewer people are on that straight and rigourous path. Moreover, there are levels of rewards in Yeshua’s kingdom. Not everyone will be “the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Some will be the least, and many will not even be there at all (Matt 5:19 cp. 1 Pet 4:18). Remember that the tares (i.e. those masquerading as saints of Yeshua) that were mixed in with the wheat (i.e. the true saints or converts of Yeshua) were culled out and burned (Matt 13:24–30). This is a picture of the true versus false converts coexisting in the spiritual body of Yeshua or the church to the very end! Let us not forget that the saints in Laodicean church were secure in their state of spiritual lassitude, yet YHVH had some harsh words for them. If they failed to repent and amend their ways, he promised to reject them.

It is time for the people of Elohim to wake up from their spiritual lethargic and drunken stupor, repent of their sin of taking a careless and even indifferent view of YHVH’s commandments.

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of Elohim: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev 3:14–20)

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” (Rev 18:4)

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Cor 10:12)

 

Natan’s Mother Now Awaits the Resurrection

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This past Friday afternoon, my mother went to her resting place where she awaits the resurrection of the righteous dead at Yeshua’s second coming. She fought a hard battle against cancer. She was a few days shy of her 85th birthday. My parents were married for 62 years. My father is doing fine. Our family is relieved that mom is free of her sick bed where she languished for a couple of months. Thankfully, she had little if any pain (other than bed sores) until the very last night, and even then, the pain was not from cancer, but the bed sores. Thank you for your prayers.

 

Is the Spirit of Elohim a He, She or It?

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Acts 8:16, For as yet He had. 

In most of our modern English Bibles, this verse supports the notion that the Holy or Set-Apart Spirit is masculine by using the third person singular of the verb in reference to the antecedent Holy Spirit, which is found in the preceding verse. Is this a correct translation? 

First, the Greek word spirit pneuma/pneuma is a neuter gender noun. To be grammatically correct, therefore, our verse should read, “For as yet, It….” and not “He.” However, the Bible reveals that the Set-Apart Spirit is a Person, so it has to be either masculine or feminine. In our text, the English words “he had” are the one Greek word ’hn which is the active, indicative, imperative, third person singular of the verb ’eimi meaning, in its infinitive state, “to be,” or in its imperfect tense, “was.” In this verse, the verb ’eimi in this form can mean either, “he was, she was, or it was” (Basics of Biblical Greek, p. 59, by William Mounce). 

So how do we determine what the gender should be of the Set-Apart Spirit? In the Tanakh, the Hebrew word for spirit (as in Set-Apart Spirit) is ruach/JUr, which is in the feminine gender. Since the concept of the Set-Apart Spirit originates in the Hebrew language of the Tanakh, and since Elohim (the plural Hebrew noun indicating the plurality of the Godhead) reveals himself as both male and female (Gen 1:26–27), it is, therefore, illogical to refer to the Set-Apart Spirit in the masculine gender in Acts 8:16. 

Therefore, in Acts 8:16, referring to the Set-Apart Spirit as he is a blatant example of scribal gloss, and is an example of the translators bowing to the Catholic doctrine of the third person in the Godhead being male in gender even though the linguistics of this verse don’t support it, and something the Bible as a whole doesn’t support. This now begs the following question: If the Set-Apart Spirit isn’t male, but is part of the Godhead, then what other gender is there for the Set-Apart Spirit to be?

 

Leviticus Chapter 9—Natan’s Commentary Notes

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Leviticus 9:1, 9, 15, 18, Take for yourself…sons of Aaron…the people’s offering. Redemption (along with obedience to YHVH’s commands leading to righteousness and holiness) starts with the individual (in this case, Aaron the high priest)—especially the head or priest of the home (i.e. the husband or father) and then ripples out to the immediate family (“the sons of Aaron”) and then spreads to those around us (“the people”). 

Leviticus 9:2–4, YHVH will appear. It is impossible to appear before YHVH Elohim without the shedding of innocent blood for the atonement of man’s sins. Man is too sinful and unholy to be able to come before his perfect and holy Creator. The sooner human’s realize their sinfulness and unworthiness, and the need to deal with the sorry state their live is in, the sooner they will be able to fill their inner (some say the “God-shaped) void and the unmet need of having an intimate relationship with their Creator.

Leviticus 9:6, This is the thing. When atonement for sin is made, and a person comes to their Creator on that basis, YHVH and his glory will appear in one way or another in that person’s life.

Leviticus 9:6, 23, The glory [kobowd] of YHVH. Kobowd means “glory, honour, glorious, abundance, riches, splendour, dignity, reputation, reverence.” The root word of kobowd is the verb kabad or kabed meaning “to be heavy, be weighty, be grievous, be hard, be rich, be honourable, be glorious, be burdensome and be honoured.” According to The TWOT, the literal meaning of kabad/kabed is rarely used in Scripture; rather, its figurative meaning (e.g. to be heavy with sin) is more commonly used. As such, in Scripture it often refers to a weighty, impressive or prominent person in society who is worthy of honor and respect. 

Derivatives of kabed include kabed meaning “great,” kabed meaning “liver,” kobed meaning ­“great,” kabod meaning “glorious” (Ps 45:14; Exek 43:41), kabod meaning “glory,” k’budda meaning “abundance, riches” (Judg 18:21) and k’bedut meaning “heaviness” (Exod 14:24).

In Lev 9:6 and 23, kabod is a noun referring to glory, glorious, honor or honorable and is often used combination with another noun as a noun-adjective (e.g. the glorious king).

Leviticus 9:7, Go to the altar…sin offering…make atonement. For the glory of YHVH to appear in one’s life, one must first go to the altar of the cross, and must do two things: lay one’s life down as an offering or living sacrifice (i.e. die to one’s carnal sin nature) before YHVH, and then receive Yeshua as an atoning sin offering in payment for one’s sins. 

Leviticus 9:12, Sprinkled all around. (Other references to sprinkling of the blood include Exod 24:6; 24:8; Lev 6:27; 8:11; 8:19, 24, 30; 9:12, 18.) This is a prophetic picture of Yeshua’s shedding or sprinkling his blood on the cross. The apostolic writers use the term sprinkling on several occasions to describe what happened on the cross for the atonement of sin (1 Pet 1:2; Heb 9:13–14; 10:22; 12:24).

Leviticus 9:22–23, Aaron lifted his hand…blessed the people…the glory of YHVH…fell on their faces. The acceptance of and the blessings from heaven flow down to us when what we are doing lines up with heaven’s word and will. Aaron lifting his arms up and blessing the people pictures the river of life flowing from heaven through him and onto all the people. This river of life occurred because Aaron had followed the instructions Moses had received from YHVH (i.e. the Torah), then he cleansed himself of sin (v. 1), then the spiritual renewal and the river of life and redemption flowed to his immediate family (v. 9), then outward to the people around him (vv. 15 and 18). This done, the people were blessed and “the glory of YHVH appeared to all the people” (v. 23), and their sin offering was accepted as in heaven and earth came into agreement with each other resulting in the people worshipping Elohim (v. 24). 

Leviticus 9:24 and 10:1,Fire from heaven versus profane fire. Fire is a biblical metaphor for spiritual light and truth. Divinely revealed Truth originates only from heaven. Man, because of his fallen, sinful condition, is incapable of originating Truth. Whatever religion, philosophy or ideology man invents out of his own carnal mind will, at best, be a mixture of Truth and error. This mixture is the result of humans feeding from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and listening to the fork-tongued two-pathed serpent (i.e. of good and evil or talking out of both sides of his mouth at once), who is lurking in that tree waiting to subvert and deceive man into joining his sinful rebellion against the Almighty Creator. That is why walking away from YHVH’s the divinely revealed (Torah) instructions—the spiritual light and fire of YHVH, is so perilous. This is what Nadab and Abihu did when they offered up strange fire to Elohim; they followed the inclinations of their sinful and fallen natures instead of walking in the light of YHVH’s truth by following his instructions. Playing with fire is a double-edged sword; fire both enlighten, energizes and purifies, but is also a symbol of divine judgement in that it destroys and consumes the carnal and often sinful works (the wood, hay and stubble, 1 Cor 3:12–15) of rebellious and prideful man.

 

Blog Scripture Readings for 4/4 Through 4-10-21

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Parashat Shemini — Leviticus 9:1 – 11:47
Haftarah — 2 Samuel 6:1 – 7:17
Prophets — Isaiah 38:1 – 45:25
Writings — Job 8:1 – 14:22
Testimony — Acts 8:26 – 12:25

Our annual Scripture Reading Schedule for 2020-2021 with daily readings that began on 10/11/20 is available to download and print. The link to the previous 2019-2020’s Scripture Reading Schedule will still be available on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links” into next year. If you are using a mobile device or tablet, the link may be below, meaning you’ll need to scroll down instead.

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 or the “share your thoughts” box 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 4/4 through 4/10/2021.

 

Isaiah Chapters 12 to 28—Natan’s Commentary Notes

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Isaiah 12 

Isaiah 12:2, LORD Yehovah. Heb. YAH YHVH. Yah (Strong’s H3050; TWOT 484b) is a contraction of YHVH (Strong’s H3068, see TWOT 484b) and is found some 50 times in the Tanakh. (For more on this subject, see notes at Ps 68:4.)

Isaiah 12:2–3, El is my salvation. The Hebrew word for salvation is Yeshua. Three times Isaiah declares that Yeshua is the actual name of coming Messiah, that he is El (i.e., deity), that he is the source of salvation for those Israelites who had been scattered around the world, and that through him these scattered Israelites would be regathered (Isa 11:11–12).

Isaiah 14

Isaiah 14:4, Proverb.Heb. maschal meaning “proverb, a parable containing an instructive point, an extended didactic discourse, byword, a public example (especially relating to someone involved in unorthodox behavior). In comparing the king of Babylon to Lucifer, Isaiah is using the mashal as a parable to illustrate a point. This is a similar literary device that Ezekiel employed when comparing the prince of Tyre to the anointed cherub in Eden who fell from grace in Ezekiel 28.

Isaiah 14:9, The dead.Heb. rephaim. This refers to the dead spirits or ghosts of the dead humans or the dead inhabitants of the netherworld. The rephaim are another name for the giants who were the demigod offspring of the fallen angels or sons of Elohim and the daughters of men. When these human giants died, the evil spirits (the fallen angel part) that inhabited the human bodies became the demons who continue to torment humans to this day.

Isaiah 14:12–21, Lucifer. Linking the king of Babylon to Satan can present a hermeneutical problem unless one interprets this passage metaphorically. If so, is there biblical precedence for doing so? Yes, for elsewhere in the Scriptures, Babylon is a metaphor for this world’s anti-Elohim system of which the ultimate spiritual head of that system is Satan himself (Rev 13:2,4 cp. Rev 17:5; 18:1–24; 20:1–3) who is the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4).

The name Lucifer means “morning star,” which is also a name for Yeshua the Messiah (Rev 22:16). This emphasized the fact that Satan as the great counterfeiter and imitator has as his basic strategy the impersonation of Yeshua. After all, in this Isaiah passage, he says, “I will be like the Most High….” To this point, elsewhere we read that Satan comes as an angel of light in attempts to deceive even the saints of Elohim (2 Cor 11:13–15). 

The parallels between Lucifer, the king of Babylon and the end times Man of Sin and Antichrist figure who plays a prominent role in the end times Babylon the Great worldwide system are striking. (For a discussion of this, see notes at 2 Thess 2:3–4.) Moreover, like the king of Babylon, Satan will fall from glory in defeat and will be cast into a pit and into the lake of fire (Luke 10:18; Rev 12:9; 20:1–3, 10).

Isaiah’s taunt of the king of Babylon in this passage goes to the heart of both the king’s and Satan’s rebellion against YHVH,which is pride. Both were attempting to deify themselves as the king of the earth, even as will the case with the end times Man of Sin, Antichrist figure along with the beast and whore systems with which he is aligned as revealed in Revelation chapters 13, 17 and 18.

Isaiah 17

Isaiah 17:5, Valley of Rephaim.This was a valley located east of Jerusalem, which produced abundant grain crops.

Isaiah 18

Isaiah 18:1–3, America in prophecy? 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.” 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.

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