Tag Archives: Torah

Parashat Ki Tisa Exodus 30:11-34:35 Outline & Study

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Parashat Ki Tisa (when you take) Exodus 30:11-34:35 Outline & Study Sheet

Haftorah Reading

1 Kings 18:1–39

The Testimony of Yeshua

  • On the gifts of the Spirit: 1 Corinthians 12:1–31
  • On keeping the Sabbath: Hebrews 4:9
  • On the golden calf and idolatry: Acts 7:39–42; 17:29–31; 1 Corinthians 10:1–13
  • Come out wickedness; put on righteousness: 1 Corinthians 6:9–11; 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1; Hebrews 10:22
  • On the Book of Life: Revelation 3:5; 17:8; 21:27; 22:19; Matthew 11:28
  • On seeing the Father: John 1:18
  • On the grace of Elohim: Titus 3:5
  • On YHVH’s Feasts: Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Corinthians 5:8; 16:8
  • On the greater glory of Yeshua, the Second Moses: Hebrews 3:1–6
  • On the letter versus the spirit; first glory versus the second and greater glory: 2 Corinthians 3:1–18; John 17:1–2
  • On the second coming: 2 Peter 3:3–4

Outline of This Week’s Parashah (Torah Portion)

— 30:11 The Census/The Sacred Half-Shekel

— 30:17 The Bronze Laver

— 30:22 The Sacred Anointing Oil: Its Contents and Uses

— 30:34 The Sacred Incense: Its Contents and Uses

— 31:6 Bezaleel and Oholiab Chosen to Be the Chief Artisans Over the Construction of the Tabernacle/Mishkan

— 31:12 The Sabbath: A Sign Between YHVH and His People, An Eternal Covenant

— 31:18 Moses Receives the Tablets

— 32:1 The Golden Calf Incident

— 32:7 YHVH’s Anger Against Israel for Their Idolatry

— 32:11 Moses’ Successful Prayer of Intercession

— 32:15 Moses Descends From Mount Sinai

— 32:19 Moses Smashes the Tablets, Grinds the Idol into Powder and Causes the Israelites to Drink It

— 32:30 Moses Intercedes to YHVH Again on Behalf of the People

— 33:1 Aftermath of the Golden Calf Incident

— 33:7 Moses Pitches the Tabernacle/Tent of Meeting Outside the Camp

— 33:12 Moses Pleads for YHVH’s Presence

— 33:19 Moses Sees the Glory of YHVH Through the Cleft of the Rock

— 34:1 The Second Set of Tablets

— 34:5 YHVH Reveals the Thirteen Attributes of His Mercy

— 34:8 Moses’ Request; YHVH Seals the Covenant With Israel and Forbids Israel to Make Covenants With the Pagans

— 34:17 Israel Is Forbidden from Making Idols and Is Commanded to Observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Shabbat, Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Tabernacles (the Three Pilgrimage Festivals)

— 34:27 Renewal of the Covenant

— 34:33 The Radiance of Moses’ Face

Study Questions for This Week’s Midrash (Torah Discussion)

1— 30:11–16, Everyone was expected to contribute to the building of the mishkan (tabernacle). What can we learn from this passage about the Israelites’ spirit of giving? How are we about giving of our treasure to the work of YHVH?

2— 30:15 and 16, To make atonement for your souls. Some will read these verses and conclude that one can buy their redemption through charitable giving and therefore circumvent the need to place one’s faith in Yeshua’s atoning death on the cross. Does this passage suggest a theology where man can save himself from his sins by acts of charity? Let’s dig a little deeper to see what these verses are really teaching us.

In this passage, YHVH instructed the Israelites to pay an annual half-shekel temple tax. This money went, in part, toward, the service (verse 16) and constructing of the Tabernacle of Moses (e.g., Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the OT, vol. 1, p. 459; Exod. 3— 38:21–31), and later toward the purchase of the animals the priests sacrificed (The Temple and Its Service, by Alfred Edersheim, p. 48). In this way, the people were participating vicariously in the act of sacrificing an innocent animal as an offering or atonement for their sins. Again, the Scriptures reveal that this sacrificial system merely Continue reading →

 

What truth shall make you free?

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John 8:32, Know the truth. “The truth shall set you free” is an often-quoted axiom, but few understand its deeper biblical implications.

We violate the sanctity of Scripture if we impose on it our own meanings. This is a cavalier and presumptuous approach to understanding the Bible and can hardly be called “rightly dividing the word of Elohim” (1 Tim 2:15).This practice often occurs with this verse. To do so is to twist the meaning of the Scriptures to fit our own vicissitudes and biases. This is humanism and insults the mind, will and sovereignty of the Almighty as divinely revealed in his Holy Word.

To properly understand this verse, we must look solely to the Bible for the keys to understanding it. We can start this process by first asking the question, what is truth?

The Bible defines its own terms when it calls the Torah truth (Ps 119:142 and 151). The truth of Torah (i.e. the law of Moses) will set a person free, for when one hears and obeys the Torah, one ceases sinning (i.e. violating YHVH’s Torah-law; 1 John 3:4), and therefore doesn’t come under the penalty of the Torah-law’s judgment for breaking it, which the Bible calls sin and which leads (ultimately) to eternal death (Ezek 18:4; Rom 6:23). When one is not under the judgment of sin, one is free. With freedom comes life.

Yeshua the Messiah himself is also the truth (John 14:6), for he is the Living Torah-Word of Elohim (John 1:1, 14). When we place our trusting faith in Yeshua and follow him, his spiritual life in the form of his Set-Apart Spirit will then flow through us and empower us to walk away from sin and follow the spiritual light of his Torah, which will keep us sin-free. This is the path that leads us toward the ultimate freedom from eternal death resulting in everlasting life (John 8:52). As such, sin will no longer have any legal claim on us, and thus we will not come into condemnation, but will pass from death into everlasting life (John 5:24). This is possible because Yeshua has taken upon himself our past sins (Rom 3:25), paid the legal penalty of them, and wiped our spiritual slate clean and has given us a fresh start in life (Gal 2:20; 1 Cor 5:17) to walk sin-free (in accordance with his standards of righteousness, which is the Torah). This is the result of knowing the truth and experiencing the freedom that comes therefrom.

It’s astounding how so many people have been taught to believe the exact opposite of the truth—that the laws of Elohim will place you under bondage instead of setting you free!

Now that you have been set free from the traditions of men, which make of none effect the word of Elohim, you now have the freedom to understand the fuller, biblical meaning of Yeshua’s statement, “And you shall know the truth and it shall make you free.”

 

Exodus 30:11–34:35 Parashat KiTisa

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This is a gospel-oriented Torah study. Our goal is to connect the good news of Yeshua the Messiah (the gospel message) to its Hebraic, pro-Torah roots or foundations. The information given here is more than head knowledge. Understanding and wisdom (the right application of knowledge that is based on truth) is taught thus making biblical truth practical, relevant and applicable to your daily life. The truths of the Bible not only have the power to transform your life here and now for the better, but eventually to take you past the veil of death and into eternity.

This Torah study is subdivided in sections by topic in a magazine format thus making it easy to watch at several sittings.

May you be blessed as you watch this video.

For a free, printable adult and youth Torah study guide on this Torah portion (parashah), please go to http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/parshiot.html

 

To believe Yeashua, You have to first believe Moses

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John 5:46–47, Believed Moses. These two verses at the end of chapter five can easily be overlooked, but their implications are huge.

Quite simply, Yeshua is saying that those who don’t believe the writings of Moses (i.e. the Torah) won’t believe the words of Yeshua who himself upheld the Torah and taught its validity in the lives of his disciples.

This then begs the following question: Where does this leave all those who claim to be followers of Yeshua, but who believe that the law of Moses was abrogated? It’s hard to be absolutely black and white on this matter, since only YHVH can judge the heart condition of each individual, for undoubtedly many who claim the law was “done away with” still adhere to many of the law’s tenets (e.g., you shall not steal, murder, lie, commit adultery, worship idols and you shall honor your parents, etc.) and are thus obedient to the law to one degree or another. However, we can safely say that it’s a matter of degrees. To the degree that we don’t believe the words of Moses, we don’t believe the words of Yeshua who was a proponent (and, in reality, as the Word of Elohim, the Originator) of the Torah-law of Moses.

John makes a similar statement in his first epistle from which we can deduce the following: To the degree we don’t keep the (Torah) commandments of Elohim, we won’t know him; that is to say, conversely, if we keep his commandments which are a reflection of his character, will and heart, we will be able to know what pleases him, which in turn will determine the depth of our spiritual relationship with him (1 John 2:4).

In reality, these should be simple concepts to grasp and put into practice in one’s spiritual walk, yet, sadly, most religious leaders have misled Christians to believe anything and everything but the simple truth of the Bible and instead of concocted convoluted man-made doctrines and unbiblical traditions by which they have made the word of Elohim of no effect (Mark 7:13). It’s time for Elohim’s people to come out of the Babylonian church system with its webbed mixture of truth along with half-truths and outright lies (Rev 18:4).

Moreover, Yeshua is saying here that Moses’ prophecies about the coming Messiah formed the foundation for all the subsequent biblical messianic prophecies and the eventual coming of Yeshua the Messiah. If one couldn’t believe these prophecies of Moses, how would they recognize, much less believe in, Yeshua when he did come?

 

Exodus 27:20—30:10 Parashat Tetzaveh (A Gospel-Oriented Torah Study)

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This is a gospel-oriented Torah study. Our goal is to connect the good news of Yeshua the Messiah (the gospel message) to its Hebraic, pro-Torah roots or foundations. The information given here is more than head knowledge. Understanding and wisdom (the right application of knowledge that is based on truth) is taught thus making biblical truth practical, relevant and applicable to your daily life. The truths of the Bible not only have the power to transform your life here and now for the better, but eventually to take you past the veil of death and into eternity.

This Torah study is subdivided in sections by topic in a magazine format thus making it easy to watch at several sittings.

May you be blessed as you watch this video.

For a free, printable adult and youth Torah study guide on this Torah portion (parashah), please go to http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/parshiot.html

 

Salvation — What Is It and Do You Have It?

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John 3:16, Everlasting life.

What is Salvation?

The dictionary defines the word salvation as “the deliverance from the power and effects of sin.” In a general sense, salvation is “preservation from harm, ruin or loss.” Relating the first definition, which is biblical in nature, to the second definition, which is generic in nature, we see that salvation is the deliverance or preservation from the power of sin, which causes harm, ruin or loss. Salvation and redemption are synonymous terms in biblical Hebraic thought. We will discuss the idea of redemption below.

So what is sin that it causes harm, ruin or loss, and what is being harmed or being lost such that we need deliverance? Very simply, Scripture (the Bible) defines sin as the violation of YHVH Elohim’s (the LORD God’s) Torah-laws (1 John 3:4). What is YHVH Elohim’s Torah-law? It is the instructions, precepts or teaching of YHVH as found in the first five books of the Bible, which can then be expanded to include the entire Bible or Word of YHVH. Man is commanded to live by every word found in Scripture (Deut 8:3; Matt 4:4). Man is to hear and do the Words of YHVH (Deut 6:4), place YHVH’s words in his heart (Deut 6:6), teach them to his children (Deut 6:7), and to make them the basis for all that he does and thinks (Deut 6:8). The words or laws of YHVH Elohim can be summed up as loving YHVH and loving one’s neighbor (Deut 6:5; Lev 19:18; Mark 12:30; John 14:15). The cornerstone of those laws is found in the well-known ten commandments as found in Exodus 20. They are…

  • I am YHVH your Elohim.
  • You shall have no other gods before me.
  • You shall not take my name in vain.
  • Remember the Sabbath day to keep it set-apart.
  • Honor you father and mother.
  • You shall not murder.
  • You shall not commit adultery
  • You shall not steal.
  • You shall not lie.
  • You shall not covet your that which belongs to your neighbor.

The first five statements constitute loving YHVH Elohim, while the last five constitute loving one’s fellow man. These ten statements are but the beginning of YHVH’s laws as outlined Continue reading →