Tag Archives: Exodus

Holiness Is Like a Crown of Pure Gold

Posted on by
Reply

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?

Posted on by
2

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?

Taberncale-a 257142

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 →

 

How the First Passover Perfectly Pictured Yeshua the Messiah

Posted on by
1

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Messiah, for it is the power of Elohim to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (Rom 1:16)

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor 1:18)

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved [except the name of Yeshua the Messiah]. (Acts 4:12)

According to the laws of statistical probability, what are the chances of an event happening and then fifteen hundred years later another event occurring bearing an uncanny resemblance to the first one? Now suppose that not only did fifteen hundred years separate the two events, but that they occurred in two different countries several hundred miles apart, which in the ancient world considering the difficulties of travel and communications may as well have been halfway around the globe. Now suppose that the second event involved the death of a person, and that the events leading up to their death including the manner and timing of that death was beyond the control of the individual dying so that in no way could the person dying stage his death to mirror the first event. In fact, those killing the individual possessed no foreknowledge of the event that had occurred fifteen hundred years earlier. What are the chances of this occurring? Well beyond the laws of possibility!

Lamb sacrifice

This is not a fictional story! Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. The details of these two events are chronicled in the pages of the Bible. The first event occurred in ancient Egypt and is recorded in the Book of Exodus chapters eleven and twelve. There we find recorded the details of the children of Israel’s first Passover while they were yet slaves in the land of Egypt. A whole series of events led up to this first Passover, which culminated with each family’s ritual killing of a lamb, smearing its blood on the frame of their doors, roasting the lamb, and then eating it. Doing this insured that YHVH would pass over their homes leaving those inside alive. The firstborn of those whose homes did not have the blood on them were killed.

The second event involved a descendant of those ancient people who was born in a different land fifteen hundred years later. His name was Yeshua of Nazareth, a Jew, and viewed by many of his day as the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. One of the proofs of his Messiahship would be whether he would fulfill the many prophecies that had been foretold Continue reading →

 

Yeshua in the Passover Lamb

Posted on by
Reply
A miraculous occurrence and a physical impossibility, 1500 years, two continents, and several hundred miles separated the Israelites’ first Passover in Egypt and Yeshua’s (Jesus’) death on the cross, yet the first Passover lamb perfectly foreshadowed Yeshua’s sacrificial death to take away our sins.
This video will either help you to find faith in Yeshua the Messiah, who has come to save you from your sins and to grant you eternal life, or it will substantially strengthen your existing faith.
 

Moses Prophesies His Own Resurrection and Glorification—and Ours Too

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Moses' shining face

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

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Love of Father 9784387

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).

 

The Twice Daily Sacrifice—A Picture of Our Daily Prayer and Praise

Posted on by
14

Exodus 29:38–42, In the morning…at twilight. (See also Lev 1:1–17 and Num 28:1–15.) This twice daily offering was known as the continual burnt offering (Heb. olah tamiyd), and was offered at the door of the tabernacle (verse 42). The word continual (Heb. tamiyd) means “continually.” The Hebrew word for burnt offering is olah meaning “ascent, stairway or steps,” and derives from the basic Hebrew verb, alah, meaning “to go up, climb or ascend.”

Altar fo Sacrifice -1 632195

In this offering, the fire consumes the entire animal, and the word olah refers to the smoke of this whole burnt offering ascending to heaven, which is a “sweet aroma” to YHVH (verse 41). The olah was an offering or gift (Lev 1:2, Heb. qorban) to YHVH and could be a bull, goat, ram, turtle dove or a pigeon as long as it was a perfect specimen without defect (Lev 1).

If an Israelite sinned, he could bring this gift-offering to the door of the tabernacle where he would place his hands upon the head of the animal, after which the priests would slaughter it, and sprinkle its blood around the altar of sacrifice just inside the door of the tabernacle (Lev 1:2,4,5). The meat was then prepared and arranged on the altar and entirely burnt (Lev 1:6–17). When the sinner laid his hands on the animal, it was as if he were transferring his sins onto the innocent, blemish-free animal, where upon YHVH accepted it as an atonement for the person’s sin (Lev 1:4).

The writer of Hebrews clearly teaches that this offering (along with all the other offerings in the sacrificial system) pointed to Yeshua, our Great High Priest, whose atoning death on the cross fulfilled all the types and shadows of the Levitical, sacrificial system (Heb 4:14–5:7; 7:1–10:18).

Besides the obvious antetypes pointing to Yeshua’s death on the cross, what else can we Continue reading →