Tag Archives: Children of Israel

What’s involved in coming into YHVH’s Presence? Much food for thought!

Posted on by
1

Worship 580391

Exodus 19:10, Consecrate them today. How did Israel, as a bride-to-be, prepare herself to meet with YHVH? How are YHVH’s people now to be preparing themselves for their spiritual marriage with Yeshua? (Compare Exodus 19:10 with Revelation 19:7–9.) What is the righteousness of the saints (mentioned in Rev 19:8)? Righteousness is defined in Psalms 119:172 as, “… all thy [Torah] commandments are righteousness.” If what the Scriptures define as righteousness (i.e., the Torah) was “nailed to the cross,” as is popularly taught, then who is in error? The Scriptures or those who teach against YHVH’s Torah laws?

Discussion A. Why is it essential to study the example of the children of Israel preparing themselves to come into the presence of YHVH in Exodus 19? After all, if Yeshua did it all for us, we can just come boldly before the Father’s throne anytime, anyway we want, right (Heb 4:16)?

Let’s explore this concept a little to see what the Bible has to say about it.

Paul says in I Corinthians 10:11,

Now all these things happened to them [i.e., the children of Israel] as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (See also Rom 15:4.)

The writer of Hebrews has something similar to say in his prefatory remarks to his statement in Hebrews 4:16 about coming boldly before the throne of YHVH through the merits of the sinless righteousness of Yeshua our High Priest. In the preceding several verses, the author draws upon the example of the children of Israel (Heb 4:1–10) as an example for us not to follow. They were a faithless and disobedient lot in that they rebelled against the Torah-word of Elohim.

Then in Hebrew 4:11, the author starts with the connecting word “therefore,” indicating Continue reading →

 

An Overview of YHVH’s Marriage to Israel as Fulfilled in the Lives of Redeemed Believers

Posted on by
1

Exodus 19–31 and the Marriage of YHVH to Israel—Types and Shadows

YHVH married ancient Israel at Mount Sinai.

Read Ezekiel 16:1–14

Redeemed believers are preparing to be the spiritual bride of Yeshua.

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Messiah. (2 Cor 11:2)

Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, “Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he saith unto me, “These are the true sayings of Elohim.” (Rev 19:7–9)

What are the prophetic implications of and spiritual parallels between YHVH’s first marriage to ancient Israel and YHVH-Yeshua’s upcoming marriage to his bride—the saints who keep his (Torah) commandments and have faith in him (Rev 12:17; 14:12)?

Marriage 33370184

In his Parable of the Ten Virgins, Yeshua likens his bride to the five wise virgins who had oil in their lamps. Oil is a Hebraism for the Spirit of Elohim and the Torah. In other words, the prospective bride of Yeshua will walk in the Spirit of Elohim and the truth of Torah, which Yeshua tells us is a mandatory requirement if one is to have a relationship with YHVH (John 4:23–24; 1 John 2:3–6). We learn from the fact that since five foolish virgins who weren’t allowed into the wedding supper that not all redeemed believers will be the bride of Yeshua. Some believers will be the least in YHVH’s kingdom and some will be the greatest (Matt 5:19). According to Yeshua, how obedient one is to the Torah will determine one’s level of rewards in his eternal kingdom (Matt 5:19).

Between Exodus 19 and 24, we find recorded the steps Israel took to enter into a marital Continue reading →

 

Leaving the Bitterness of Egypt and Experiencing Healing in the Wilderness

Posted on by
Reply

Exodus 15:27, From Egypt to Elim to provision in the wilderness. In this portion of Scripture, we see a prophetic picture of what new believers must go through when leaving enslavement to Pharaoh (Satan) and coming out of Egypt (the world).

Oasis 20098602

After leaving Egypt, Pharaoh pursued the Israelites not wanting to lose any of his subjects. YHVH then led the Israelites through the Red Sea, a picture of baptism for the remission of sins.

The Israelites then murmured against YHVH because of the bitter waters of Marah, which they were unable to drink. Moses, a prophetic picture of Yeshua, healed the waters when he cast a tree (a picture of Yeshua’s death on the cross) into the waters making them sweet and potable. This story shows us that we must put off the bitterness, unforgiveness, anger and fear of the carnal man before we can expect to receive a blessing from YHVH, and healing in our lives.

From there, the children of Israel came to the desert oasis of Elim where YHVH nourished them in a most refreshing way. Elim is a prophetic picture of coming into a bit of heaven on earth and the provisions of YHVH in the midst of our wilderness journey called life after having overcome our bitterness of past sin through the cross of Yeshua.

Immediately after this, YHVH began reigning manna down on the Israelites—a picture of Yeshua, the bread of life. This whole story teaches us that when we finally overcome the sins of bitterness and complaining through the power of Yeshua’s death, we can experience healing, physical nourishment, refreshment along with ongoing supernatural provision for our spiritual journey toward the Promised Land of YHVH’s kingdom.

 

Complaining and Murmuring Keeps Us From Hear YHVH’s Voice

Posted on by
2

Numbers 20:5, It [the wilderness] is not a place of seed and fig and grape and pomegranates; and there is no water to drink. This was the complaint of the people against YHVH. In Hebraic thought, water, the fig tree, wine from the grape, as well as oil, milk and honey (the two symbols of the Promised Land) are all metaphors for Torah (see Everyman’s Talmud, pp. 133–134).

109241938

The Israelites were seeking physical food, but were missing the spiritual food (i.e. Torah, faith in his Word and promises) that YHVH was abundantly providing them during their wilderness walk.

Additionally, the Hebrew word for wilderness is b’midbar (the Hebrew name for the book of Numbers), which means “in the wilderness, desert, uninhabited land or pasture.” The root word of midbar is the word dabar meaning “to speak, declare, command, promise or commune.” In a number of instances in the Scriptures, the terms word/dabar of God/Elohim or word /dabar of the LORD/YHVH is used to denote words coming directly from the mouth of YHVH. In the tabernacle (Heb. mishkan), the most set-apart place was called the d’veer (a cognate of the word debar) or oracle where Moses went to receive the word of YHVH.

What is the point of this brief word study? While going through the wilderness of life, if we have an attitude of gratitude instead of one of complaining, murmuring, doubt, fear and unbelief in the Word and promises of YHVH, will we not be more likely to understand YHVH’s purposes, instructions, (i.e. Torah), his heart and his plans for our lives? Will we not be more likely to hear YHVH’s voice more clearly and understand his will for our lives thereby receiving hope for the future and strengthened faith? One can waste one’s energy on murmuring and never grow up spiritually, or one can determine to hear YHVH and to commune with him in the wilderness of life and seek spiritual enrichment out of that wilderness and view it as our training ground for entering the Promised Land. Will you make a conscious effort to redirect your thoughts and attitude positively while never forgetting the bitter lessons of our Israelite forefathers (1 Cor 10:11): murmuring produced nothing except death in the wilderness?

 

The Golden Calf Incident: A Prophetic Picture of the Church

Posted on by
1

Exodus 32

On Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost), at Mount Sinai, YHVH entered into a marriage covenant with the children of Israel, but they were not ready to live up to the terms of that covenant. Those terms, simply stated, involved the Israelites being faithful and obedient only to YHVH, Israel’s Elohim (God) and spiritual husband, and to follow his instruction in righteousness, the Torah. This Israel quickly demonstrated they were not willing to do, for they had hardly said “I do” to their marriage vows (Exod 24:3, 7) when they turned their hearts away from YHVH and began worshipping the golden calf—a pagan deity from Egypt. After the golden calf incident and up until Yom Teruah (the Day of Trumpets or Shofar Blasts) when Moses received the second tablets of stone from YHVH containing the Ten Commandments, the children of Israel, the bride of YHVH, prepared herself not only to receive YHVH’s instructions again, but this time to be faithful to her marriage vows. This Israel did. She remained faithful to YHVH for approximately 38 years while trekking through the wilderness of Sinai, after which she entered the Promised Land and “stayed the course” until after the death of Joshua.

Golden Calf 6 21409020Sadly, the cycles of history often repeat themselves. This time, it involved the descendants of the children of Israel who were at Mount Sinai. In the early first century a.d.,  the redeemed Israelite followers of Yeshua received the Torah written on the fleshly tablets of their hearts by the finger of the Spirit of Elohim on the Day of Pentecost (Shavuot) as recorded in Acts 2. But starting at about a.d. 70 with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and continuing up through the Second Jewish Revolt of a.d. 135 until the time of Emperor Constantine (in the fourth century), the first-century spiritual bride of Messiah had, to a large extent, abandoned YHVH’s Torah-commandments and turned, to one degree or another, to a mixed form of worship (of which ancient Israel’s worship at the golden calif was a prophetic foreshadow) where some pagan practices were assimilated into the early churches’ belief system (most notably, Sunday replaced the Sabbath, and Christmas, Easter and other paganistic holidays replaced the biblical feasts).

Moses’ descent of Mount Sinai on Yom Teruah with the second set of tablets containing Continue reading →

 

New Video: Israel’s Seven Deadly Sins — A Warning for Us!

Posted on by
Reply

The chldren of Israel committed seven deadly sins that prevented them from entering the Promised Land and condmned them to have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. What are these seven sins, which still plague humans today and will keep us from entering the Promised Land of YHVH’s eternal kingdom?

 

New Video: From Marah to Elim, Bitterness to an Oasis

Posted on by
Reply

Sometimes life’s circumstances leaves you feeling bitter. However, when we leave our bitterness at the cross of Yeshua, our physical and emotional healing comes and YHVH leads us to an oasis of blessing and provision. This video explains this process.