Tag Archives: Torah

Meeting Your Maker…On Pentecost!

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A Study on Exodus 19—Are You Ready for Pentecost?

On Shavuot or Pentecost, YHVH gave his people Israel the Torah at Mount Sinai. But before they could see his glorious manifest presence, hear his voice, and receive his Word, they had to prepare themselves to meet him. Are you preparing yourself to meet YHVH this coming Sunday—on Pentecost?

An invitation. In this chapter, YHVH invites his people to come near to him, to receive his Torah, and to enter into a spiritual relationship with him. He had just delivered them from their sins, suffering and bondage when he led them out of Egypt (v. 4). He now offered them enticing blessings and status among the nations of the world (v. 6) if, and only if, his people would agree to his terms and conditions (v. 5).

But he would not allow his people to accept his benefits on their terms, but only on his terms. This is where men and religious systems have missed it: they want to accept YHVH on their own terms, not YHVH’s terms. Such is the religion of humanism—that man knows better than YHVH what is good for him, which is the religion the serpent pawned off on the first man and woman at the tree of knowledge. The problem is that accepting YHVH on our terms is called sin, which leads to misery and eventually to eternal death!

There are preconditions to meeting with YHVH and coming into relationship with him—coming to his high and holy mountain, his place of abiding, and his presence. Coming to this place is not without cost. David talks about who can come to the mountain of YHVH in Psalms 15 and 24. Only those who have clean hands and pure heart and who abstain from sin.

YHVH told the children of Israel that they could approach him and become his special people if they would meet certain conditions, and only then would he bless them (v. 5–6).

Even after the people had agreed with his terms (v. 8), after they had accepted him as their Savior when they put the blood of the lamb on the door posts of their homes resulting in the judgments of YHVH passing over them (Exod 12), YHVH’s blessings could come only after they had met certain requirements. Salvation is based on faith and grace alone, but rewards and blessings come based on obedience to the commandments of Elohim (Matt 5:19). To receive YHVH’s blessing, the Israelites had to consecrate themselves to him (vv. 10,14). This involved putting away the filth of the world (symbolized by washing their clothes) along with men’s carnal passions (symbolized by abstaining from sexual relations with their wives, vv. 10, 14–15). Graciously, YHVH gave them two days to accomplish this (v. 10). They had to get ready to meet YHVH (v. 11). One can’t expect simply to waltz into the presence of the Mighty King of the Universe in a casual and haphazardly manner!

YHVH had additional protocols that the people had to follow to come into his presence. Boundary stones were set up at the base of the mountain (v. 12). A death penalty came upon any who crossed those boundaries and came presumptuously into the presence of the Creator of the Universe (vv. 13, 22, 24). Moreover, before they could come into the presence of the Almighty, the fear of YHVH had to be established in the hearts of the people—something that is entirely lacking among most people in our generation including those in the church!

It was then and only then after the Israelites had agreed to meet YHVH’s terms and conditions, after having consecrated themselves for two days prior, and then set up boundary stones at the base of the mountain that the fire and glory of YHVH fell upon the mountain for all the people to see. It was then that YHVH hand delivered to his chosen and consecrated people his precious instructions in righteousness—the Torah.

 

One Law for All!

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Numbers 9:14, You shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger and the native of the land. (Cross reference with Exod 12:49; Lev 24:22; Num 15:15, 16, 29). In this verse and in other Torah references, YHVH is clear: There is only ONE Torah-law for the Israelites, and those Gentiles who attach themselves to Israel. Stated otherwise, YHVH has ONE standard of righteousness for all people—not one for the Israelites and a different one for the Gentiles.

This is not what many of the false teachers in the church teach, however! They teach that YHVH gave one set of laws to the Jews, and that somehow, many of these same commandments don’t apply to “Gentile” Christians.

This is incongruous with the clear teachings of the prophets, Yeshua and the apostles!

The Torah and the prophets, in many places, spoke of the Gentiles (or the peoples of the nations) being drawn to the light of Israel, which is the Torah (including the Messiah of Israel, who is the Living Torah). They also prophesied that lost and scattered Israel (who become Gentiles) would repent of their Torahless ways and return to the Torah in the end times. They also predicted the time when the Torah would be written on the hearts of his people when he would make a new covenant with them.

Moreover, Yeshua said that not one jot or tittle of the Torah would pass away as long as the heavens and earth still existed, and that the righteous would be judged on the basis of the Torah to determine their eternal rewards.

The apostles confirmed the words of the Torah, calling it holy, just and good. Even Paul strongly stated that the message of grace in no way invalidates the Torah as the standard of righteousness for the saints. The writer of Hebrews (quoting Jeremiah the prophet) declares that YHVH will write the Torah on the hearts of his people. Then John in the Book of Revelation describes the end-times saints as those who keep YHVH’s (Torah) commandments and have the testimony of Yeshua.

Despite all this, for nearly 2000 years, numerous false teachers in the church have been saying the opposite. They have devised a plethora clever and mind-numbing arguments that twist the clear word of Elohim to say the opposite—that there are two laws for YHVH’s people: one for the Jews and one for the Christians. These doctrines of men by which the word of Elohim has been made of none-effect became institutionalized and cast into the concrete foundation of the Catholic Church and passed on to her many offshoot daughters.

Many of you have had to deprogram yourself from this way of thinking—that YHVH has two standards of righteousness—one for the Jews and one for the rest of the us.

Would you care share your testimony about your spiritual journey in this regard?

 

What Is the Midpoint of the Torah?

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Leviticus 10:16, Diligently sought or inquired insistently (ASET). According to one Jewish tradition, these two words are the exact halfway mark of the words of the Torah. “This is to teach us that the entire Torah revolves around constant inquiry. One must never stop studying and seeking deeper and broader understanding of the Torah” (The ArtScroll Vayikra/Leviticus Commentary, p. 159).

How many times have you read a passage in the Word of Elohim only to receive a fresh revelation or to find a new nugget of understanding? This is because the Word of Elohim is spiritually alive! (Heb 4:12; John 14:25–26; 16:13; also Ps 119:30; Isa 55:11.)

It must be noted that other Jewish traditions place the center of the Torah in other passages. (These options are discussed in the Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 30a.)

 

Nuggets in Isaiah

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Here are some precious pearls and gold nuggets from the first several chapters of Isaiah. Bon appetite!

Isaiah 6:3, Holy, holy, holy. (Also Rev 4:8.) Since these are the words of worship being proclaimed to Elohim in his throne room continually, then holiness must be his chief attribute—not love, mercy, grace, etc. as many in the church teach and believe.

Isaiah 6:8, Us. Here is another proof of the plurality of the Godhead. Compare this with Gen 1:26; 3:22; 11:7 and Matt 28:19.

Isaiah 7:11 and 14, Here is a scripture proving the virgin birth of Yeshua. (See http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/vbirth.pdf .)

Isaiah 8:14, A stone of stumbling. This an obvious reference to Yeshua who is a stone of stumbling to both houses of Israel (i.e., the non-believing Jews and the Christians.) The Christians stumble over or reject (at least, in part) Yeshua who is the Written Torah-Word of Elohim (John 1:1). The non-believing Jews, on the other hand, reject Yeshua, the Living Torah-Word of Elohim who came in flesh form (John 1:14).

Isaiah 8:16, Bind up the testimony. Here Isaiah is prophesying the canonization of the NT by the disciples of Yeshua (who is mentioned in verse 13). Did you know that the NT’s name for the NT isn’t the NT, but the Testimony of Yeshua—a name that John who finalized the NT canon gave it when he was writing the Book of Revelation? There, he calls the OT/Tanakh  the “Word of God/Elohim” and the NT “the Testimony of Yeshua” (see Rev 1:2, 9; 6:9; 12:17; 14:12; 20:4). If you didn’t know that John canonized the NT before his death, read my article on the subject (http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/nt_canon_full.pdf .)

Isaiah 9:7, Increase. Here is another proof of the virgin birth of Yeshua. How you say? You have to dig into the Hebrew on this one. (See my article http://www.hoshanarabbah.org/pdfs/closed_mem.pdf .)

Isaiah 11:11–16, The second exodus. This is one of the main Tanakh passages on this subject. It’s too detailed to discussed in this blog. Stay tuned to a full-scale teaching that I have written on the second exodus, which is about to be published on the hoshanarabbah.org website.

Isaiah 12:2 literally says, “God/Elohim is my salvation/Yeshua…He [YHVH Elohim] has become my salvation/Yeshua.” Then verse 3 says, “Therefore with joy you will draw waters from the wells of salvation/Yeshua.” This verse was quoted on Hoshana Rabbah (the last or seventh day of Sukkot) during the water pouring ceremony. Yeshua referenced this in John 7:37–38. Can anyone shout HALLELUYAH (!) for this Tanakh passage that not only proves the deity of Yeshua, but shows how Yeshua fulfilled the OT prophecies like no one else ever did!

 

“Not Far” from the Kingdom Vs. “Not in” the Kingdom

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Mark 12:34, You are not far from the kingdom. Yeshua makes this complimentary statement to the scribe who had correctly and succinctly summarized the message of the Torah (both its letter and spirit intent) in verses 32–33.

However, note that Yeshua didn’t say, “You are in the kingdom of Elohim (i.e., you have eternal life).”

What was the one thing that kept the scribe from being in the kingdom? It was doubtless the same thing that kept the rich young ruler from obtaining the eternal life that he sought (Matt 19:16). After having obeyed the Torah the best he could, the young ruler still needed to surrender all to Yeshua the Messiah, and to follow him unreservedly (Matt 19:18–22).

Not only is it difficult for humans to surrender all to the Master, and then to follow him wherever he leads, but having followed the Torah the best we can, we must still humbly recognize that without the righteousness of Yeshua in the equation, our best efforts at Torah-obedience will still miss the mark of YHVH Elohim’s acceptable standard of righteousness, thus leaving us maybe not far from the kingdom, but definitely not in the kingdom of Elohim.