Tag Archives: Genesis

The Sin of Sodom and Gay Pride

Posted on by
Reply

Genesis 18:20, Their sin [Sodom and Gomorrah’s] is very grievous. What was the sin of Sodom? Genesis 19:5 gives us the answer. The men of Sodom were so morally perverted that Paul says of such a human condition in Romans 1:24–29,

Wherefore Elohim also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of Elohim into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause Elohim gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature, and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain Elohim in their knowledge, Elohim gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness …

21486386

Ezekiel 16:49–50 speaks of the symptoms of a society that has given itself over to a spirit of sodomy (homosexuality) because it has become abundantly wealthy, proud and obsessed with idleness (entertainment and pleasure). As a result it has become inwardly focused and self-absorbed, which leads to an obsession with self-gratification instead of helping the poor and needy.

It shouldn’t be hard to see parallels between Sodom’s society before it was judged and the moral and spiritual decline we see occurring in America and the rest of the western world. America, for example, has become obsessed with the concept of pride—especially since September 11, 2001. Notice, for example, the many car bumper stickers expressing the idea of national “pride” since 9/11? Not only that, our culture has also become obsessed with promoting “gay” (homosexual or sodomite) rights and agendas calling it “gay pride.” It’s Sodom all over again! This begs the question: Is America and the rest of the western world ripe for Elohim’s judgment?

 

An Example of Torah-Obedience Before Moses

Posted on by
3

Genesis 18:19, Shall keep the way of YHVH…do justice and judgment. To what is YHVH referring here? He is referring to the Torah, something some Christian Bible teachers say did not exist before Moses and Mount Sinai (see also Gen 26:5). Let’s now see how the Scriptures define these terms and how they relate to the Torah. Genesis 18:19 says,

“For I [YHVH] know him [Abraham], that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of YHVH, to do justice and judgment; that YHVH may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken.” (emphasis added)

Let’s define the three highlighted words above in the larger context of the Scriptures.

Moses 10 Cs 2

“The way” is the Hebrew word derech (Strong’s H1870) and is used in the following places:

  • Blessed are the undefiled in the way [derech], who walk in the law [Torah] of YHVH. (Ps 119:1)
  • I will run the way [derech] of the commandments … (Ps 119:32)
  • Teach me, O YHVH, the way [derech] of thy statutes … (Ps 119:33)

“Justice” is the Hebrew word tsedaqah (Strong’s H6666) meaning “righteousness.” Here is an example of its usage:

  • … for all thy commandments are righteousness … (Ps 119:172)

“Judgments” is the Hebrew word mishpatim (Strong’s H4941) meaning “ordinances” referring to YHVH’s moral and ethical laws as embodied in the last six of the ten commandments, which teach righteousness in one’s business and personal relationships.

  •  …[YHVH’s] righteous judgments [mishpat]. (Ps 119:7)
  • I have chosen the way [derech] of truth: thy judgments [mishpat] have I laid before me. (Ps 119:30)
  • Thy word is true from the beginning; and every one of thy righteous judgments [mishpat] endures forever. (Ps 119:160)

Can there be any doubt, if we’re to believe what the Scriptures say literally that Abraham was Torah observant hundreds of years before Moses (Abraham’s great, great, great grandson) was born?

 

Understanding the Mysteries of Abraham’s Vision

Posted on by
Reply

A Vision of the Renewed Covenant

In Genesis 15:17–18fp, we read,

And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day YHVH made a covenant with Abram …

Abraham

What is the meaning of this? This is nothing other than YHVH giving Abraham a prophetic vision of Yeshua the Redeemer of Israel dying on the cross paying for the sins of Abraham’s descendants who would break that very covenant that YHVH made with Abraham on that day. Both Jewish and Christian biblical commentators recognize aspects of this truth.

Let’s first establish that YHVH passed through the pieces of sacrificed animal. Rashi, the medieval Jewish Torah scholar, recognizes that the Divine Presence was the one who passed through the pieces of animal while Abraham slept (Rashi’s commentary on Gen. 15:10). Furthermore, The ArtScroll Tanach Series Bereishis/Genesis Commentary, vol 1a, states, “The smoke [which rose up into the thick darkness (Radak)] was the ‘Cloud and thick darkness’ which appeared at the revelation of the Torah and the torch in its midst was ‘the fire’ which appeared at Sinai [see Exod. 19:18; Deut. 5:4]”…. [Elohim] caused His Presence, symbolized by the fire, to pass through and conclude the Covenant.… [T]he culmination of this vision was that the fire consumed the pieces, causing their smoke to ascend to heaven…” (pp. 534–535). Christian commentators Keil and Delitzsch in their commentary on this passage state, “In this symbol [i.e., the smoking pot and the fiery torch], Jehovah manifested Himself to Abram, just as He afterwards did to the people of Israel in the pillar of cloud and fire” (Hendrickson, p. 138). So both notable Jewish and Christian scholars relate the smoke and the fire Abraham saw pass between the pieces of meat to YHVH’s Presence in the cloud and pillar of fire that led Israel in the wilderness. We read in Exodus 13:21,

And YHVH went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.

Then in Exodus 14:19 it is written:

And the angel of Elohim, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them.

Who is this “Angel” of Elohim (in other places: he is called “the Angel” of YHVH)? Continue reading →

 

Bless the Food or Bless Elohim the Maker of the Food?

Posted on by
Reply

Genesis 14:19–20, He blessed him. According to Jewish tradition based on Genesis 14:18–20 and the example of Yeshua in the Testimony of Yeshua, we are to bless YHVH before partaking of a meal (Mark 8:7), and according to YHVH’s Torah instructions, his people are to thank him for the food after a meal is completed (Deut 8:10).

21181197The B’rakhah is a traditional Jewish blessing which is recited or sung before a meal involving the blessing and breaking of the bread of fellowship followed by the blessing of and the drinking of the fruit of the vine.

 

 

Elohim Relates to Men Through Covenants

Posted on by
1

The Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants Are Subsections of the Torah Covenant (or the Old Covenant)

The Torah, the first five books of the Bible, is the chronicle of YHVH giving man instructions to follow, and of his entering into covenantal relationships with men and men either keeping those agreements or breaking them.

Contract form–21599635

The word Torah means “instructions, teaching or precepts; specifically in biblical context: the teachings or instructions of YHVH to lead men into a righteous relationship with him through covenantal agreement.” The Torah is a giant b’rit or covenant. The Torah in a number of places even refers to itself by the Hebrew word b’rit or covenant. We see this in the following passages:

Exodus 34:27, And YHVH said unto Moses, Write you these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.

Deuteronomy 29:1, These are the words of the covenant, which YHVH commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

The Torah is not unlike an instruction manual that one might receive from the manufacturer of an automobile, computer or some such device to help the buyer to operate his new purchase in a manner that allows him to receive years of trouble-free service. The Torah is YHVH’s instruction manual to help man to live in a way that brings life and blessing; it helps man to enter into a loving relationship with his Creator and to have a trouble-free relationship with his fellow man.

Within the first five books of the Torah-covenant are several smaller covenantal subdivisions such as the Abrahamic and the Sinaitic or Mosaic Covenants. Continue reading →

 

A New Spiritual Identity and a New Name

Posted on by
Reply

Genesis 11:29, Iscah. According to rabbinical commentary, Iscah is another name for Sarah, Abraham’s wife. It was not uncommon in ancient and Hebraic culture to have more than one name. We find this to be the case in the Scriptures in many instances.

20474058For example, Jethro (Yitro, Exod 3:1), the father-in-law of Moses, was known by two other names: Hobab (Num 10:29; Judg 4:11) and Reuel (Exod 2:18). Sometimes a person’s name would reflect exploits or achievements accomplished in that person’s life, one’s character traits or one’s destiny. Often when one was given a new mission or calling in life a new name was given to that person to reflect their new destiny. Examples of this would be Abram (“exalted father”) becoming Abraham (“father of a multitude”), Sarai (princess) becoming Sarah (“noblewoman, queen”), Jacob (“prevailer, heelcatcher”) becoming Israel (“El prevails, prince of El”), or Hoshea (“savior, deliverer”) becoming Joshua/Yehoshua (“Yah saves/delivers”). It is not uncommon for redeemed believers returning to the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith to take a new name to reflect their new spiritual journey, mission, destiny or identity. Some may think this a strange thing to do, but in Hebraic culture this was a very acceptable practice. Often Elohim did the renaming as in all the examples given above.

Interestingly, YHVH promises a new name as part of their spiritual inheritance to those saints who overcome the world, the flesh and the devil (Rev 2:17; 3:12). Do you have your new name yet?

 

Prophetic Pictures in the Story of Noah

Posted on by
Reply

Genesis 6–8, Noah’s flood provides allegorical insights relating to end-times prophecy. 

In Matthew 24:37, Yeshua compares the end times to the days of Noah. The story of Noah has allegorical implications that give hints about end-times prophecy.

Noah and rainbow

In 1 Peter 3:18, we learn that the story of Noah is also a picture of salvation and water baptism. Noah is a prophetic type of Yeshua.

To start with, Noah building the ark is a prophetic picture of the redeemed believer working out his own salvation (Phil 2:12), yet while doing so according to YHVH’s exact plans or specifications (e.g., repentance from sin, faith in Yeshua, baptism for the remission of sins, and faithful obedience to YHVH’s commandments).

Noah builds an ark of safety from Elohim’s wrath or judgments against sinful man. The ark is a metaphorical picture of the believer’s salvation, and Noah is a spiritual picture of Yeshua. The flood is also a picture of water baptism for the remission of sins, which ceremonially pictures the death of the old sinful man, and the birth of the new spiritual man (Rom 6:3–6). Unregenerated sinful or carnal men perished in the floodwaters in Noah’s day, while the new, redeemed man (as pictured by Noah and his family) who had found grace in the sight of Elohim (Gen 6:8) found refuge on the ark. While the flood is a judgment against sinful man who has violated the Torah-laws or divine instructions of YHVH, the ark is a picture of the grace that YHVH offers to those who will repent of their sins (i.e. Torahlessness, see 1 John 3:4) and will turn to him through Yeshua. Since Noah found grace in the eyes of YHVH because he was “perfect in his generations” (Gen 6:8, 9), he was spared from YHVH’s judgments against sin (the wages of sin which is death, Rom 6:23). YHVH offers the same gift of grace to all men today (2 Pet 3:9).

The ark had three levels indicating the three levels of salvation rewards that YHVH offers to saints, which is analogous to the three sections in the Tabernacle of Moses. The highest level where Noah lived is the part closest to heaven, where YHVH abides, and is a picture of the kadosh hakadoshim (the holy of holies, also known as the d’veer meaning “oracle”), which was the place in the tabernacle from which Elohim spoke to the Moses and the Israelites. It is in that highest place that one hears Elohim’s instructions directly from him.

The unclean animals are a picture of lost and scattered Israelites returning to YHVH in the end times from the beast or heathen nations to where they have been scattered and where they have become like beasts of the field. In Peter’s vision of the sheet in Acts 10, the Gentiles are likened to unclean animals that YHVH has redeemed (e.g., the great and innumerable multitude or Rev 7, the lukewarm believers of Laodicea in Rev 3, the thief on the cross and the foolish virgins in Yeshua’s parable in Matt 25). The clean animals may represent the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14, and who are those saints who have remained faithful in keeping YHVH’s Torah commandments, while at the same time maintaining faith in Yeshua the Messiah (Rev 12:17; 14:12).

Noah escaping the wrath of Elohim may be a type of the second exodus of end-times Israelites from the nations of the world. As a mixed multitude joined Israel in the exodus from Egypt, so even within Noah’s family there was a mixed multitude containing a spiritual tare; namely, Ham who later fell into sin (Gen 9:22–27) and become the father of the evil Nimrod (Gen 10). Even Yeshua had Judas, a tare, among his select group, and Yeshua teaches that the tares would coexist with the wheat up until the end times (Matt 13:24–30).

The waters that flooded the world both came up from out of the bowels of the earth and down from heaven (Gen 7:11). Water is a biblical metaphor for the spoken word; namely, and it represents both the Word of Elohim from above, and the word (philosophies, thoughts, ideas, religions) of man that are counter to the Word of Elohim that have their source from below. In the last days, knowledge shall be increased, the devil shall spew out his mouth words or philosophies like a flood in an effort to spiritually drown the world and even the saints (Rev 12:15; Matt 24:14). Water can also be a judgment against men. YHVH will judge men for their words, philosophies and religions. Those who followed YHVH’s Word from heaven will be spared his wrath, while those who have subscribed to the words or philosophies of men from below will perish or be judged in a sea of men’s words that are often founded on doctrines of demons. Those who feed spiritually from the tree of knowledge (i.e., secular humanism and all the false religions and ideologies that have spawned from it) will die, while those who spiritually feed from the tree of life or the word of Noah (i.e. a prophetic picture Yeshua), the preacher of righteousness (i.e., the Torah, see Ps 119:172) will live. In the last days, the Word of YHVH will judge men, for when Yeshua returns to the earth on a white war stallion, the sword of the word of Elohim will be coming out of his mouth with which he will judge the nations (Rev 19:11–15).

It rained 40 days. This is another picture of judgment, since biblically, forty is the number of trials, testing or spiritual refinement.

The ark came to “rest” (Heb. nuach meaning “repose, settle down, be quiet”) on the mountains Ararat (Gen 8:4). From there, Noah built an altar and begin to rule the earth. This is a picture of Yeshua, at his second advent, coming to Zion or the Temple Mount where he will have his temple and will establish his kingdom on earth.

The word Ararat means “the curse is reversed.” The ark came to rest on Ararat during the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot. This is a picture of the saints coming to a place of rest at the beginning of the Millennium after the judgments of Elohim have been poured out on this earth against sin and wickedness.

The dove is a picture of the bride of Yeshua who follows the Spirit of Elohim. The dove coming from the top window of the ark is a picture of the bride of Yeshua coming back to earth from the first heaven to rule with Yeshua on earth. The dove left and came back on the seventh day — the Shabbat. This is a picture of the Millennium or the seventh millennia of man’s existence on earth. Several times in the story of Noah, it is mentioned about the dove finding rest or not finding rest. This is another picture of the Millennium — a time of rest for the saints or the bride of Yeshua.

The raven is a picture of the devil who feeds off of dead meat. He is also actively trying to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). Satan will be active at the end of the Millennium, as well, when he will be loosed and will incite Gog and Magog to come against Jerusalem (Rev 20:7–10).

Noah’s altar may well be a picture of the third temple (or Ezekiel’s temple).

According to Christian commentator Matthew Henry, the ark was an early Christian metaphor for salvation and YHVH’s delivering his people form evil and judgment against wickedness. We see this allusion in 1 Peter 3:20–22 where the flood is a picture of salvation, deliverance by baptism and the resurrection of Yeshua.

The ark was covered with pitch, which is a picture of the redeemed believer being covered by the blood of Yeshua to keep his spiritual ark from sinking under the judgment of Elohim against men’s sin. The blood of Yeshua keeps man from coming under (the penalty of ) the law even as the pitch smeared on the ark’s exterior kept it from sinking.

The name Noah means “rest.” Yeshua bids all who are heavy laden and need rest to come to him (Matt 11:28–30).

Noah was 600 years old when he went into the ark and the flood came. YHVH’s final judgment against wicked men will be at the end of the 6000 years of men’s rebellious tenure on this earth.

Noah didn’t leave the ark and set foot on the earth until YHVH bade him to do so (Gen 8:15). Likewise, Yeshua won’t return to the earth from heaven until the Father permits it.

The Noachic Covenant that Elohim made with all humanity (Gen 9:1) is a picture of the New Covenant being ratified in the Millennium with “all Israel.” No non-Israelites (i.e., no sinners) will be permitted to live, but will be burned up in the lake of fire at the end of the Millennium (Rev 20:11–15).