AN INVITATION:



STOP AND TAKE A MOMENT TO VIEW THE NUMBER #1 GOOGLE RATED MESSIANIC VIDEO SO YOU CAN START TO SEE RAV SHA'UL IN A NEW LIGHT AS THE CHASID OF ALL CHASIDIM AND NOT A CONVERT TO A NON-JEWISH RELIGION









NOT A MESSIANIC BAAL TESHUVA YET BECAUSE YOU STILL HAVEN'T OBEYED MOSHIACH AND HAVEN'T YET MADE ZIKH GE'TOYVL'T IN DER MIKVE?












First let's get something clear about erroneous notions of Paul and his founding a new religion, which he didn't. True, the halakhah of his Judaism switched from the Pharisaic oral law to the Ruach Hakodesh, but his religion was still one of the Judaisms of the time, not a new non-Judaism Gentile religion.



WHY YOU NEED A SPIRITUAL HOME

IF YOU HAVE HIGH SPEED ACCESS, TAKE A MOMENT TO LISTEN TO THIS MP3 FILE BECAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE OF VITAL IMPORTANCE TO YOU THAT THEY ARE NOT TELLING YOU

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE HIGH SPEED ACCESS, TAKE A MOMENT TO READ THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE ABOVE MP3 FILE, BECAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE OF VITAL IMPORTANCE TO YOU THAT THEY ARE NOT TELLING YOU

The material you are looking at on your computer screen, the pages below,



are pages studied by Messianic believers at our messianic yeshiva, Omanim



Lema'an Yisrael (Artists For Israel) Messianic Yeshiva. No matter where in



the world you are right now, we want to welcome you onboard as a



fellow talmid at the first virtual messianic yeshiva on the Internet! You



net-surfed to the right place! One of the reasons our students study to



obtain Messianic S'micha to teach and enter Messianic ministry with large



classes of students is because of the chesed of Hashem using this Messianic



Yeshiva! In this file and in the other files on this web-site, you have more



than a complete seminary-level education, you have a complete messianic



yeshiva education as well. Take a look at the end of these pages for the



entrance exam that must be e-mailed in to us at office@afii.org and is



necessary for those seeking entrance to our virtual messianic yeshiva. May



you receive a barucha and may Hashem use you.



















The Kitvei Hakodesh are clear about Klal Yisrael. They will not



change their G-d: they will still believe in the G-d of Avraham,



Yitzchak, and Ya'akov. They will not change their religion. They



will still hold dear to Judaism as their faith. Nevertheless,



the Kitvei Hakodesh are clear: they will be changed by teshuva



and hitkhadeshut, all the Jewish people people in the world. And



they will be redeemed. One day they will look up into heaven and



they will see the Kodesh HaKodashim in heaven open, and they will



see not a changing of religions but a changing of Kohanim



Gedolim. And in this changing of the guard of the Kohanim



Gedolim in the Kodesh HaKodeshim in heaven, they will see a new



Kohen Gadol (after the order of Malki-Tzedek) replacing the old



Kohen Gadol. But this spiritual revelation will not cause them to



discard their Siddurim or their copies of the Shas. They will



not cancel Bar Mitzvahs or High Holiday Services. They will not



do away with Torah Services on Shabbos. They will still be loyal



to the Sinai Covenant and its mitzvot. They will change very



little, almost nothing as far as their Orthodox Jewish manner of



life is concerned. But they will be changed. They will see him



in heaven, wearing the garments that Caiapha once wore when



Caiapha unwittingly ordered the Akedah and had him bound and led



away, carrying the Scapegoat's burden of the evil Olam Hazeh.



They will see him--Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua,



standing in the Kodesh HaKodashim in Shomayim. They will see him



and they will weep. And the shul and the yeshiva will never be



the same after that. And they will have far better people to



produce materials such as the following, because there will be



thousands and thousands of rabbis and yeshiva scholars weeping as



I have wept for the Jewish people and looking up into heaven and



seeing the changing of the guard of the Kohanim Gedolim in the



Kodesh HaKodashim. But, until then, this meager offering is



presented with a prayer and with faith in the Kitvei Hakodesh and



in the Geulah Redemption of Klal Yisrael.























THE COMPLETE BOOK FOR ARTISTS FOR ISRAEL







COPYRIGHT (c) 1996 Artists For Israel International



All rights reserved.





































ONE: HEBREW













BERESHIS (GENESIS) 1:1-3:19 (1,039 WORDS FOR STUDY)



1 beh-ray-SHEET 2 bah-rah 3 Eh-loh-HEEM 4 et (es)



5 hash-shah-MY-yeem 6 vuh-et 7 ha-AH-rets



8 v'ha-AH-rets 9 ha-yeh-TAH 10 TOH-hoo 11 vah-VOH-hoo



12 vuh-KHOH-shekh 13 ahl 14 p'NAY 15 teh-HOHM 16 vuh-ROO-ahkh



17 Eh-loh-HEEM 18 m'rah-KHEH-feht 19 ahl 20 p'NAY



21 hahm-MY-yeem 22 vahy-YOH-mer 23 Eh-loh-HEEM 24 yeh-HEE



25 ohr 26 vah-yeh-HEE 27 ohr 28 vahy-YAHR



29 Eh-loh-HEEM 30 et (es) 31 ha-ohr 32 kee 33 tohv



34 vahy-yahv-DAYL 35 Eh-loh-HEEM 36 bayn 37 ha-ohr



38 oo-VAYN 39 ha-KHOH-shehkh 40 vahy-yeek-RAH 41 Eh-loh-HEEM



42 lah-OHR 43 yom 44 v'lah-KHOH-shehkh 45 KAH-rah 46 LAI-lah



47 vah-yeh-HEE 48 EH-rev 49 vah-yeh-HEE 50 VOH-ker 51 yohm



52 eh-KHAD 53 vahy-YOH-mer 54 Eh-loh-HEEM 55 yeh-HEE



56 rah-KEE-ah 57 buh-TOKH 58 hah-MY-yeem 59 vee-HEE



60 mahv-DEEL 61 bayn 62 MY-yeem 63 lah-MY-yeem 64 vah-YAH-ahs



65 Eh-loh-HEEM 66 et (es) 67 ha-rah-KEE-ah 68 vahy-yahv-DAYL



69 bayn 70 hahm-MY-yeem 71 ah-sher 72 mee-TAH-khaht



73 lah-rah-KEE-ah 74 oo-VAYN 75 hahm-MY-yeem 76 ah-sher



77 may-AHL 78 lah-rah-KEE-ah 79 vah-yeh-HEE 80 khehn



81 vahy-yeek-RAH 82 vah-yeh-HEE 83 lah-rah-KEE-ah



84 shah-MY-yeem 85 vah-yeh-HEE 86 EH-rev 87 vah-yeh-HEE



88 VOH-ker 89 yom 90 shay-NEE 91 vahy-YOH-mer 92 Eh-loh-HEEM



93 yee-kah-VOO 94 hahm-MY-yeem 95 mee-TAH-khaht



96 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 97 el 98 mah-KOHM 99 eh-KHAD



100 vuh-teh-rah-EH 101 ha-yah-bah-SHAH 102 vah-yeh-HEE



103 khehn 104 vaahy-yeek-RAH 105 Eh-loh-HEEM



106 lah-yah-bah-SHAH 107 EH-rets 108 oo-l'meek-VAY



109 hahm-MY-yeem 110 kah-RAH 111 yahm-MEEM 112 vahy-YAHR



113 Eh-loh-HEEM 114 kee 115 tov 116 vahy-YOH-mer



117 Eh-loh-HEEM 118 tahd-SHAY 119 ha-AH-rets 120 DEH-sheh



121 EH-sev 122 mah-zeh-REE-ah 123 ZEH-rah 124 aitz 125 p'REE



126 OH-seh 127 p'REE 128 leh-mee-NOH 129 ah-sher 130 zah-oh



131 voh 132 ahl 133 ha-AH-rets 134 vah-yeh-HEE 135 khehn



136 vah-toh-TSEH 137 ha-AH-rets 138 DEH-sheh 139 EH-sev



140 mahz-REE-ah 141 ZEH-rah 142 luh-meen-NAY-hoo 143 v'aitz



144 OH-seh 145 p'REE 146 ah-sher 147 zah-roh 148 voh



149 leh-meen-NAY-hoo 150 vahy-YAHR 151 Eh-loh-HEEM 152 kee



153 tov 154 vah-yeh-HEE 155 EH-rev 156 vah-yeh-HEE 157 VOH-ker



158 yom 159 sheh-lee-SHEE 160 vay-YOH-mer 161 Eh-loh-HEEM



162 yeh-HEE 163 meh-oh-ROHT 164 bee-r'KEE-ah



165 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 166 leh-hahv-DEEL 167 bayn 168 ha-YOM



169 oo-VAYN 170 ha-LAI-lah 171 veh-ha-YOO 172 leh-oh-TOHT



173 oo-l'moh-ah-DEEM 174 oo-leh-yah-MEEM 175 veh-shah-NEEM



176 veh-ha-YOO 177 lee-moh-ROHT 178 bee-r'KEE-ah



179 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 180 leh-ha-EER 181 ahl 182 ha-AH-rets



183 vah-yeh-HEE 184 khehn 185 vah-YAH-ahs 186 Eh-loh-HEEM



187 et (es) 188 shuh-NAY 189 ham-meh-oh-ROHT



190 ha-guh-doh-LEEM 191 et (es) 192 ham-mah-OHR



193 ha-gah-DOHL 194 leh-mehm-SHEHL-et 195 ha-YOM 196 vuh-et



197 ham-mah-OHR 198 ha-kah-TOHN 199 leh-mehm-SHEHL-et



200 ha-LAHY-lah 201 vuh-et 202 ha-koh-khah-VEEM



203 vahy-yee-TEHN 204 oh-TAHM 205 Eh-loh-HEEM



206 bee-r'KEE'ah 207 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 208 leh-ha-EER 209 ahl



210 ha-AH-rets 211 vuh-leem-SHOHL 212 bah-YOM



213 oo-vah-LAI-lah 214 oo-lah-hahv-DEEL 215 bayn 216 ha-OHR



217 oo-VAYN 218 ha-KHOH-shehksh 219 vahy-YAHR 220



Eh-loh-HEEM



221 kee 222 tov 223 vah-yeh-HEE 224 EH-rev 225 vah-yeh-HEE



226 VOH-kehr 227 yom 228 reh-vee-EE 229 vahy-YOH-mehr



230 Eh-loh-HEEM 231 yeesh-ruh-TSOO 232 hahm-MY-yeem



233 SHEH-retz 234 NEH-fehsh 235 chai-YAH 236 vuh-OHF



237 yuh-oh-FAYF 238 ahl 239 ha-AH-rets 240 ahl 241 p'NAY



242 r'KEE-ah 243 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 244 vahy-yeev-RAH



245 Eh-loh-HEEM 246 et (es) 247 ha-tahn-nee-NEEM



248 ha'geh-doh-LEEM 249 v'et 250 kohl 251 NEF-fesh



252 ha-chai-YAH 253 ha-roh-MEH-set 254 ah-sher



255 shah-ruh-TSOO 256 hahm-MY-yeem 257 luh-mee-nay-HEHM



258 v'et 259 kol 260 ohf 261 kah-NAHF 262 luh-meen-NAY-hoo



263 vahy-YAHR 264 Eh-loh-HEEM 265 kee 266 tov



267 vah-yeh-vah-REHKH 268 oh-tahm 269 Eh-loh-HEEM 270 lay-MOHR







271 peh-ROO 272 oor-VOO 273 oo-meel-OO 274 et 275 hahm-MY-eem



276 ba-yahm-meem 277 v'ha-OHF 278 YEE-rev 279 ba-AH-rets



280 vah-yeh-HEE 281 EH-rev 282 vah-yeh-HEE 283 VOH-kehr



284 yom 285 chah-mee-SHEE 286 vay-YOH-mer 287 Eh-loh-HEEM



288 toh-TSAY 289 ha-AH-rets 290 NEH-fesh



291 chai-YAH 292 luh-mee-NAH 293 beh-hay-MAH 294 vah-REH-mehs



295 veh-chay-TOH 296 EH-rets 297 leh-mee-NAH 298 vah-yeh-HEE



299 khehn 300 vay-yah-ahs 301 Eh-loh-HEEM 302 et



303 chay-yaht 304 ha-AH-rets 305 leh-mee-NAH 306 v'et



307 ha-beh-he-MAH 308 leh-mee-NAH 309 v'et 310 kol 311 REH-mes



312 ha-ah-dah-MAH 313 leh-mee-NAY-hoo 314 vay-yahr



315 Eh-loh-HEEM 316 kee 317 tov 318 vay-YOH-mehr



319 Eh-loh-HEEM 320 nah-ah-SEH 321 ah-DAHM



322 bay-tsahl-MAY-noo 323 kee-duh-moo-TAY-noo 324 vuh-yeer-DOO



325 veed-GAHT 326 ha-YOM 327 oo-vuh-OHF 328 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem



329 oo-va-beh-hey-MAH 330 oo-veh-CHOL 331 ha-AH-retz



332 oo-veh-KHOL 333 ha-REH-mes 334 ha-roh-MESH 335 ahl



336 ha-AH-rets 337 vay-yeev-RAH 338 Eh-loh-HEEM 339 et



340 ha-ah-DAHM 341 beh-tsahl-MOH 342 beh-TSEH-lehm



343 Eh-loh-HEEM 344 bah-RAH 345 oh-TOH 346 zah-KHAR



347 oon-keh-VAH 348 bah-RAH 349 oh-TAHM 350 vah-y'vah-rech



351 oh-TAHM 352 Eh-loh-HEEM 353 vay-YOH-mehr 354 lah-HEHM



355 Eh-loh-HEEM 356 p'ROO 357 oor-VOO 358 oo-meel-OO 359 et



360 ha-AH-rets 361 veh-kheee-vuh-SHOO-hah 362 oor-DOO



363 beed-gaht 364 hay-YAHM 365 oo-vuh-OHF



366 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 367 oo-veh-khohl 368 chai-YAH



369 ha-roh-MEH-set 370 ahl 371 ha-AH-rets 372 vahy-YOH-mehr



373 Eh-loh-HEEM 374 hee-NAY 375 nah-TAH-tee 376 lah-khehm



377 et 378 kol 379 EH-sev 380 zoh-RAY-ah 381 ZEH-rah



382 ah-sher 383 ahl 384 p'NAY 385 khohl 386 ha-AH-rets



387 v'et 388 kol 389 ha-aitz 390 ah-sher 391 boh 392 p'REE



393 aitz 394 zoh-RAY-ah 395 ZAH-rah 396 lah-KHEHM



397 yee-heh-yeh 398 leh-ohkh-LAH 399 oo-leh-khohl



400 chai-YAHT 401 ha-AH-rets 402 oo-leh-KHOHL 403 ohf



404 hash-shah-MY-yeem 405 oo-leh-KHOHL 406 roh-MES 407 ahl



408 ha-AH-rets 409 ah-sher 410 boh 411 NEH-fesh



412 chai-YAH 413 et 414 kohl 415 YEH-rek 416 EH-sev



417 leh-ohkh-LAH 418 vay-yeh-HEE 419 khehn 420 vay-yahr



421 Eh-loh-HEEM 422 et 423 kohl 424 ah-sher 425 ah-SAH



426 v'hee-NAY 427 tov 428 meh-OHD 429 vah-yeh-HEE 430 EH-rev



431 vah-yeh-HEE 432 VOH-kehr 433 yom 434 ha-shee-SHEE



435 vah-yuh-khoo-LOO 436 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 437 veh-ha-AH-rets



438 vuh-KHOHL 439 tseh-vah-AHM 440 vah-yuh-KHOHL



441 Eh-loh-HEEM 442 bahy-YOM 443 hah-shuh-vee-EE



444 meh-lahkh-TOH 445 ah-sher 446 ah-sah 447 vahy-yeesh-BOHT



448 bah-YOM 449 hash-shuh-vee-ee 450 mee-KOHL



451 meh-lahkh-TOH 452 ah-sher 453 ah-sah 454 vah-y'vah-REHKH



455 Eh-loh-HEEM 456 et 457 yom 458 hash-shuh-vee-ee



459 vah-yuh-kah-DAYSH 460 oh-TOH 461 kee 462 voh



463 shah-VAHT 464 mee-KOHL 465 muh-lahkh-TOH 466 ah-sher



467 bah-RAH 468 Eh-loh-HEEM 469 lah-ah-SOHT 470 EH-leh



471 tohl-DOHT 472 hahsh-sha-MY-yeem 473 veh-ha-AH-rets



474 buh-hee-bahr-AHM 475 buh-YOHM 476 ah-SOT 477 Adonoy



478 Eh-loh-HEEM 479 EH-rets 480 v'shah-MY-yeem 481 vuh-KHOHL



482 SEE-ahkh 483 hahs-sah-DEH 484 TEH-rehm 485 yee-heh-YEH



486 vah-AH-rets 487 vuh-KHOHL 488 EH-sev 489 hahs-sah-DEH



490 The-rehm 491 yeets-MAHKH 492 kee 493 lo 494 heem-TEER



495 Adonoy 496 Eh-loh-HEEM 497 ahl 498 ha-AH-rets



499 vuh-ah-DAHM 500 AH-yeen 501 lah-ah-VOHD 502 et



503 ha-ah-dah-MAH 504 veh-EHD 505 yah-ah-LEH 506 meen



507 ha-AH-rets 508 veh-heesh-KAH 509 et 510 kohl 511 p'NAY



512 ha-ah-dah-MAH 513 vahy-yee-TSEHR 514 Adonoy



515 Eh-loh-HEEM 516 et 517 ha-ah-DAHM 518 ah-FAHR



519 meen 520 ha-ah-dah-MAH 521 vahy-yee-PAHKH 522 beh-ah-PAHV



523 neesh-MAHT 524 chai-YEEM 525 vay-yeh-HEE



526 ha-ah-DAHM 527 luh-NEH-fesh 528 chai-YAH 529 vahy-yeet-TAH



530 Adonoy 531 Eh-loh-HEEM 532 gahn 533 beh-EH-dehn



534 mee-KEH-dehm 535 vah-YAH-sehm 536 shahm 537 et



538 ha-ah-DAHM 539 ah-sher 540 yah-TSAR 541 vahy-yahts-MAHKH



542 Adonoy 543 Eh-loh-HEEM 544 meen 545 ha-ah-dah-MAH



546 kohl 547 aitz 548 nehkh-MAHD 549 leh-mahr-AY



550 vuh-tov 551 leh-mah-ah-KHOHL 552 vuh-aitz



553 ha-chai-YEEM 554 beh-TOHKH 555 ha-gahn 556 vuh-aitz



557 ha-DAH-aht 558 tov 559 vah-RAH 560 veh-nah-HAHR



561 yoh-TSEH 562 meh-EH-dehn 563 leh-hahsh-KOHT 564 et



565 ha-gahn 566 oo-mee-SHAHM 567 yee-pah-REHD



568 veh-hai-YAH 569 leh-AHR-bah-ah 570 rah-SHEEM



571 shehm 572 ha-eh-KHAD 573 pee-SHOHN 574 hoo



575 ha-soh-VEHV 576 et 577 kol 578 EH-rets 579 ha-khah-vee-LAH



580 ah-sher 581 shahm 582 haz-zah-HAHV 583 oo-zah-hahv



584 ha-AH-rets 585 ha-HEE 586 tov 587 shahm



588 hahb-DOH-lahkh 589 veh-EH-vehn 590 ha-SHOH-hahm



591 vuh-SHEHM 592 hahn-nah-HAHR 593 ha-shay-NEE 594



ghee-KHOHN



595 hoo 596 ha-soh-VEHV 597 et 598 kohl 599 EH-rets 600 Koosh



601 veh-shem 602 hahn-nah-HAHR 603 ha-sheh-lee-SHEE



604 chee-DEH-kehl 605 hoo 606 ha-hoh-LEHKH 607 keed-MAHT



608 ah-SHOOR 609 vuh-hahn-nah-HAHR 610 ha-ruh-vee-EE 611 hoo



612 fuh-RAHT 613 vahy-yek-KAHKH 614 Adonoy 615 Eh-loh-HEEM



616 et 617 ha-ah-DAHM 618 vahy-yah-nee-KHAY-hoo 619 vuh-gahn



620 EH-den 621 leh-ahv-DAH 622 oo-leh-shahm-RAH



623 vah-yuh-TSAHV 624 Adonoy 625 Eh-loh-HEEM 626 ahl



627 ha-ah-DAHM 628 leh-MOHR 629 mee-KOHL 630 aitz 631 ha-gahn



632 ah-KHOHL 633 toh-KHEHL 634 oo-meh-AITZ 635 ha-DAH-aht



636 tov 637 vah-rah 638 lo 639 toh-KHOHL 640 mee-MEHN-noo



641 kee 642 buh-YOM 643 ah-KHOHL-khah 644 mee-MEHN-noo



645 MOHT 646 tah-MOOT 647 vahy-YOH-mehr 648 Adonoy



649 Eh-loh-HEEM 650 lo 651 tov 652 heh-YOHT 653 ha-ah-DAHM



654 leh-vah-DOH 655 EH-eh-seh 656 lo 657 AY-zehr



658 keh-nehg-DOH 659 vahy-yee-TSEHR 660 Adonoy



661 Eh-loh-HEEM 662 meen 663 ha-ah-dah-MAH 664 kohl



665 chai-YAHT 666 hahs-sah-DEH 667 vuh-et 668 kohl 669 ohf



670 hahsh-sha-MY-yeem 671 vahy-yah-VAY 672 el 673 ha-ah-DAHM



674 leer-OHT 675 mah 676 yee-krah 677 lo 678 vuh-KHOHL



679 ah-sher 680 yeek-RAH 681 lo 682 ha-ah-DAHM 683 NEH-fesh



684 chai-YAH 685 hoo 686 sh'MOH 687 vahy-yeek-RAH



688 ha-ah-DAHM 689 sheh-MOHT 690 leh-CHOHL 691 ha-beh-he-MAH



692 oo-leh-OHF 693 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 694 oo-leh-KHOHL



695 chai-YAHT 696 has-sah-DEH 697 oo-l'ah-DAHM 698 lo 699



mah-TSAH 700 EH-zehr 701 kuh-nehg-DOH 702 vahy-yah-PAYL



703 Adonoy 704 Eh-loh-HEEM 705 tahr-day-MAH 706 ahl



707 ha-ah-DAHM 708 vahy-yee-SHAHN 709 vahy-yee-KAHKH



710 ah-KHAHT 711 meets-tsahl-oh-TAHV 712 vahy-yees-GOHR



713 bah-SAHR 714 tahkh-TEHN-nah 715 vahy-yee-VEHN 716 Adonoy



717 Eh-loh-HEEM 718 et 719 hats-tseh-LAH 720 ah-sher



721 la-KAHKH 722 meen 723 ha-ah-DAHM 724 leh-eesh-SHAH



725 vah-y'vee-EH-hah 726 el 727 ha-ah-DAHM 728 vahy-YOH-mehr



729 ha-ah-DAHM 730 zoht 731 ha-PAH-ahm 732 EH-tsehm



733 meh-ah-tsah-MAHY 734 oo-vah-SAHR 735 mee-beh-sah-REE



736 luh-ZOHT 737 yee-kah-REH 738 ee-SHAH 739 kee 740 meh-EESH



741 loo-kah-CHAH 742 zoht 743 ahl 744 ken 745 yah-ah-zahv



746 eesh 747 et 748 ah-VEEV 749 vuh-et 750 eem-MOH



751 vuh-dah-VAHK 752 beh-eesh-TOH 753 vuh-ha-YOO



754 luh-vah-SAHR 755 eh-KHAHD 756 vahy-yee-huh-YOO



757 sheh-nay-HEM 758 ah-roo-MEEM 759 ha-ah-DAHM



760 veh-eesh-TOH 761 veh-lo 762 yeet-bo-SHAH-shoo



763 veh-hahn-nah-KHAHSH 764 ha-yah 765 ah-ROOM 766 mee-KOHL



767 chay-YAHY 768 has-sah-DEH 769 ah-sher 770 ah-SAH



771 Adonoy 772 Eh-loh-HEEM 773 vahy-YOH-mehr 774 el



775 ha-eesh-SHAH 776 ahf 777 kee 778 ah-MAHR



779 Eh-loh-HEEM 780 lo 781 tohkh-LOO 782 mee-KOHL 783 aitz



784 ha-gahn 785 vah-toh-MEHR 786 ha-ee-SHAH 787 el



788 hahn-nah-KHAHSH 789 mee-p'REE 790 aitz 791 ha-gahn



792 noh-KHEHL 793 oo-mee-p'REE 794 ha-AITZ 795 ah-sher



796 beh-TOHKH 797 ha-gahn 798 ah-mahr 799 Eh-loh-HEEM



800 lo 801 tohkh-LOO 802 mee-MEH-noo 803 v'lo



804 teeg-guh-OO 805 bo 806 pehn 807 the-moo-TOON



808 vah-YOH-mehr 809 hahn-nah-KHAHSH 810 el 811 ha-ee-SHAH



812 lo 813 moht 814 the-moo-TOON 815 kee 816 yoh-DAY-ah



817 Eh-loh-HEEM 818 kee 819 beh-YOHM 820 ah-khohl-KHEHM



821 mee-MEH-noo 822 veh-neef-kuh-KHOO 823 ay-nay-KHEHM



824 vee-h'yee-TEHM 825 kay-loh-heem 826 yod-AY 827 tov



828 vah-rah 829 vah-TEH-reh 830 ha-ee-SHAH 831 kee 832 tov



833 ha-aitz 834 leh-mah-ah-KHOHL 835 vuh-KHEE



836 tah-ah-vah 837 hoo 838 lah-ay-NAHY-eem 839 vuh-nehkh-MAHD



840 ha-aitz 841 leh-hahsh-KEEL 842 vah-tee-KAHKH



843 mee-peer-YOH 844 vah-toh-KHOHL 845 vah-tee-TEHN



846 gahm 847 luh-ee-SHAH 848 ee-MAH 849 vahy-yoh-KHAHL



850 vah-tee-pah-KAHK-noo 851 ay-NAY 852 sheh-nay-HEHM



853 vahy-yay-duh-OO 854 kee 855 ay-roo-MEEM 856 hem



857 vahy-yeet-peh-ROO 858 ah-leh 859 tuh-ay-NAH



860 vah-yah-ah-SOO 861 la-HEM 862 khah-go-ROT



863 vah-yeesh-meh-OO 864 et 865 kol 866 Adonoy 867 Eh-loh-HEEM



868 meet-hah-LEHKH 869 bah-gahn 870 luh-ROO-ahkh 871 ha-YOHM



872 vah-yeet-chah-BEH 873 ha-ah-DAHM 874 vuh-eesh-TOH



875 mee-p'NAY 876 Adonoy 877 Eh-loh-HEEM 878 buh-TOHKH



879 aitz 880 ha-gahn 881 vah-yeek-RAH 882 Adonoy



883 Eh-loh-HEEM 884 el 885 ha-ah-DAHM 886 vahy-YOH-mehr



887 lo 888 ah-YEH-kah 889 vay-YOH-mehr 890 et



891 kol-KHAH 892 shah-MAH'tee 893 bah-gahn 894 vah-ee-RAH



895 kee 896 ay-ROHM 897 ah-NOH-khee 898 vah-eh-chah-VEH



899 vay-YOH-mehr 900 mee 901 hee-geed 902 leh-CHAH 903 kee



904 ay-ROHM 905 AH-tah 906 ha-meen 907 ha-aitz 908 ah-sher



909 tsee-vee-TEE-chah 910 leh-veel-TEE 911 ah-KOHL



912 mee-MEH-noo 913 ah-KHAHL-tah 914 vahy-YOH-mehr



915 ha-ah-DAHM 916 ha-ee-SHAH 917 ah-sher 918 na-TAH-tah



919 ee-mah-DEE 920 hee 921 nah-t'NAH 922 lee 923 meen



924 ha-aitz 925 vah-OH-khehl 926 vah-YOH-mehr 927 Adonoy



928 Eh-loh-HEEM 929 lah-ee-SHAH 930 mah 931 zot 932 ah-SEET



933 vah-toh-MEHR 934 ha-ee-SHAH 935 ha-nah-KHAHSH



936 hee-shee-AH-nee 937 vah-oh-KHEL 938 vah-YOH-mehr



939 Adonoy 940 Eh-loh-HEEM 941 el 942 ha-nah-KHAHSH 943 kee



944 ah-see-TAH 945 zot 946 ah-ROOR 947 ah-TAH



948 mee-KOHL 949 ha-beh-heh-MAH 950 oo-mee-KHOHL



951 chay-YAHT 952 has-sah-DEH 953 ahl 954 geh-khoh-NEH-chah



955 teh-LEHKH 956 vuh-ah-FAHR 957 toh-KHOHL 958 kol



959 yeh-MAY 960 chay-YEH-chah 961 v'ay-VAH 962 ah-SHEET



963 bey-neh-CHAH 964 oo-VAYN 965 ha-ee-SHAH 966 oo-vayn



967 zah-ah-CHAH 968 oo-vayn 969 zahr-AH 970 hoo



971 yeh-shoof-CHAH 972 rosh 973 v'ah-tah



974 the-shoo-FEH-noo 975 ah-KEV 976 el 977 ha-ee-SHAH



978 ah-mar 979 hahr-bah 980 ahr-BEH 981 eets-voh-NEHCH



982 veh-he-roh-NEHKH 983 beh-EH-tsehv 984 teh-luh-DEE



985 vah-NEEM 986 veh-el 987 ee-SHEHKH 988 teh-shoo-kah-TEHKH



989 veh-hoo 990 yeem-SHOHL 991 bakh 992 oo-leh-ah-DAHM



993 ah-mahr 994 kee 995 shah-mah-TAH 996 leh-KOHL



997 eesh-teh-KHAH 998 vah-toh-KHOHL 999 meen



1000 ha-etz 1001 ah-sher 1002 tsee-vee-tee-CHAH 1003 leh-MOHR



1004 lo 1005 toh-CHOHL 1006 mee-MEH-noo 1007 ah-roo-RAH



1008 ha-ah-dah-MAH 1009 bah-ah-voo-REH-chah



1010 beh-eets-tsah-vohn 1011 toh-chah-LEH-noo 1012 kol



1013 yeh-MAY 1014 chai-YEH-chah 1015 veh-KOHTS



1016 veh-dahr-DAHR 1017 tahts-MEE-ahkh 1018 lach



1019 vah-ah-khahl-TAH 1020 et 1021 EH-sehv 1022 hahs-sah-DEH



1023 beh-zeh-AHT 1024 ah-PEH-chah 1025 toh-KHOHL



1026 LEH-chem 1027 ahd 1028 shuv-CHAH 1029 el



1030 ha-ah-dah-MAH 1031 kee 1032 mee-MEH-nah



1033 loo-KAHKH-tah 1034 kee 1035 ah-far 1036 AH-tah



1037 veh-el 1038 ah-fahr 1039 tah-shuv















GENESIS 1:1







1 beh-ray-SHEET 2 bah-rah 3 Eh-loh-HEEM 4 et (es)



5 hash-shah-MY-yeem 6 vuh-et 7 ha-AH-rets



















The above seven Hebrew words, read right to left, are the first



words in the Bible, Bereshis 1:1. In this Hebrew course, we are



going to read these seven words plus the first three chapters of



Genesis (up to the end of Gen. 3:19), and examine each of the



1039 words found there. In this way we will be able to not only



master the alphabet and the essentials of pronunciation and



grammar, but we will also be able to study in depth three of the



most important chapters in the Bible. This experience should



help us as we pursue a lifetime of study of the rest of the



Hebrew Bible. Let's look at these words one by one. [But first



get a CHUMASH and make an enlarged xerox of the first three



chapters of Bereshis (Genesis) and then take a red pen and number



the first 1,039 words up to the end of Gen. 3:19.



1. beh-ray-SHEET "in-the-beginning" is the first word. Find this



word in your Hebrew Bible. We are going to look at it's letters



one by one, right to left. This will just take a few minutes.



Then, as soon as we finish this one word, we are going to learn



the entire Hebrew ALEF BET, memorizing a different letter for



each prophecy about the Moshiach!!!!! The first syllable of



beh-ray-SHEET is made up of a consonant BET (it is pronounced "b"



as in "beginning") and a SH'VA, two vertical dots below the



letter, which, when it is vocal, has an "eh" sound as a



half-vowel as in "math-EH-ma-tics." The first syllable is



pronounced "beh." The second syllable is made up of a consonant



RESH (it is pronounced "r" as in "ray"), a vowel TZAYREH made up



of two horizontal dots below the letter pronounced "ay" as in



"pray," and a silent ALEF. The second syllable is pronounced



"ray." The third syllable is made up of, first, a consonant



SHIN. The letter SHIN is pronounced "SHEEN" and the sound is



pronounced "sh" as in "sheet" and is not to be confused with SIN,



a letter pronounced "SEEN" and the sound of the letter pronounced



"s" as in "see"). Notice the SHIN has a dot above the right side



and the SIN has a dot over the left side. Then we have a vowel



called CHEEREEK GADOL (a dot followed by a YUD and pronounced



"ee" as in "TREE"), and a consonant called a TAV (pronounced "t"



as in "tent"). (Note that TET also has a "t" sound; compare word



number #33 "tov"). The third syllable is pronounced "sheet." If



you take your Chumash and look at the CHEEREEK dot under the



SHIN, you will see a tipcha accent mark, a kind of slanted mark



to the left of the CHEEREEK. This is a musical note helping the



Baal Koreh or Reader sing or chant the reading in shul. It tells



us the proper pronunciation, that the accent is on the last



syllable, "beh-ray-SHEET." The accent is on the third syllable.



We know this thanks to the tipcha. We you buy a Biblical



Hebraica at your local Bible Society headquarters, a list of



these accents is provided in a handy book mark card. The "beh"



is the prefixed preposition meaning "in." Related words to the



root RESH ALEF SHIN are "rosh" ("head") and "ree-SHOHN" meaning



"first"). Now, if you want to jump in and learn the entire ALEF



BET then turn to Tehillim (Psalm) 119 where you get an acrostic



with eight repetitions of each letter of the ALEF BET with a new



letter introduced as the first letter for each new eight verses



of the Psalm: 8 ALEF's, 8 BET's, 8 GIMMEL, DALET, HAY, VAV,



ZAYIN, CHET,



TET, YUD, KAF, LAMMED, MEM, NOON, SAMECH, AYIN, PAY,



TZADE, KOOF, RESH, SIN/SHIN, TAV. Make a copy of each letter



and write it out eight times with its name as you study Psalm 119



and you will be ready to continue your lesson. Or here's a



better way to learn the Hebrew ALEF BET. Let's memorize a



different letter for each prophecy about the Moshiach, and



especially a key word in each prophecy that begins with that



letter. For example, TZEMACH (TZADE-MEM-CHET) starts with a



TZADE in Zecharyah (Zechariah) 6:12, where it says that YEHOSHUA



(Joshua/Yeshua) will have the name TZEMACH (MOSHIACH THE



"BRANCH" [OF DOVID]). So look it up in your Tanakh and memorize



TZADE--ZECHARYAH 6:11-12 YEHOSHUA SHMO TZEMACH



MOSHIACH. Then, learn some Hebrew calligraphy and start



designing a tract or a poster with the letters of the Hebrew ALEF



BET and the names and titles and prophecies of Moshiach in the



Tanakh. Hebrew sounds fun now, right? It is more than fun. It



is the most serious thing you can learn, and means the difference



between Shomayim and Gehinnom for 14 million Jewish people and 6



billion Gentiles now living on the face of planet earth.



ALEF, Moshiach is the "EH-ven" ALEF-VET-FINAL NOON, the "Stone"



that the builders rejected, TEHILLIM (PSALM) 118:22







BET, Moshiach is "beh-KHOHR" BET-CHAF-CHOLOM-RESH,



TEHILLIM (PSALM) 89:28(27), the "Firstborn" heir, the most



exalted king of the earth GIMMEL Moshiach is the "GOH-ehl"



"Redeemer"







GIMMEL-CHOLOM-ALEF-LAMMED, RUTH 2:20; IYOV (JOB)



19:25-26







DALET Moshiach is the "DEH-rekh ha-chay-YEEM" "the way of Life"



DALET-RESH-FINAL CHAF, YIRMEYAH (JEREMIAH) 21:8







HAY Moshiach is the one born of "ha-al-MAH" "the virgin" YESHAYAH



(ISAIAH) 7:14 HAY AYIN LAMMED MEM HAY with a miraculous



"he-ra-yohn" "conception" (RUTH 4:13)







VAV Moshiach is the one who will be violently killed "V'AYN LO"



"and not for himself" (DANIEL 9:26) VAV ALEF YUD FINAL NOON



ZAYIN Moshiach is the "ZEH-rah ha-ee-SHAH" "Seed of the Woman"



BERESHIS (GENESIS) 3:15 ZAYIN-RESH-AYIN and the "z'ROH-ah



HASHEM" "THE ARM OF THE L-RD" YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 53:1



ZAYIN-RESH-CHOLOM-AYIN







CHET Moshiach is the "chem-daht kol ha-Goyim" "the desired of all



nations" CHAGAI (HAGGAI) 2:7 CHET-MEM-DALET-TAV meaning the



desired object







TET Moshiach is the one led like a lamb to the "The-vakh"



"slaughter" YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 53:7, a word that refers to the



slaughter of animals, since Moshiach died on Pesach as a korban



pesach at the same time as the lambs were being



slaughtered by the kohenim TET-VET-CHET







YUD Moshiach is the one who will "yatz-DEEK"



YUD-PATACH-TZADE-SH'VA-DALET-CHEEREEK-YUD-KOOF



"justify" many, make them have a right standing before Hashem



YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 53:11







KAF Moshiach is the one sold for thirty pieces of "KEH-sehf"



"silver" KAF-SAMECH-FINAL FAY ZECHARYAH (ZECHARIAH)



11:13







LAMMED Moshiach is the one born in "beth LECHEM"



LAMMED-SEGOL-CHET-SEGOL-FINAL MEM "house of BREAD"



MICHOH (MICAH) 5:1 (2)







MEM Moshiach is the "Moh-SHEE-akh" MEM-SHIN-YUD-CHET who will



be



violently killed and cut off from his people, but not for himself



DANIEL 9:26; YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 53:8











NOON Moshiach is the one whose "NEF-esh" NOON-FAY-SHIN has to



undergo suffering YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 53:10-11 and become an



"ah-shahm" guilt offering for the "transgressions of Israel"



YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 53:8











SAMECH Moshiach is our "SEH-vel" bearer SAMECH-VET-LAMMED,



our



"burden" bearer, who carries away our sins YESHAYAH (ISAIAH)



53:11-12







AYIN Moshiach is the RIGHTEOUS "ahv-DEE" "My Servant"



YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 53:11 AYIN-VET-DALET-YUD







PAY Moshiach is the one put to death and cut off from the land of



the living for the "PEH-shah ahm-mee" PAY-SHIN-AYIN



("transgression of my people Israel") YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 53:8;



49:5; He is also our Pesach PAY-SAMECH-CHET korban lamb







TZADE Moshiach is the "tzad-DEEK ahv-DEE" "My Righteous Servant"



YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 53:11 TZADE DALET YUD KOOF







KOOF Moshiach is the BEN YOSEF HAADON "SON OF JOSEPH THE



L-RD" who commands us to come "qah-ROHV" "near"



KOOF-RESH-CHOLOM-VET BERESHIS (GENESIS) 45:9-10;



MALACHI 3:1; YESHAYAH (ISAIAH) 1:24; ZECHARYAH



(ZECHARIAH) 4:14; 14:4; 6:5







RESH Moshiach is the "ro-EH" who is stricken



RESH-CHOLOM-AYIN-HAY



ZECHARYAH (ZECHARIAH) 13:7; see also YESHAYAH (ISAIAH)



53:8



SIN/SHIN Moshiach is the SEH HAELOHIM (LAMB OF G-D)



BERESHIS (GENESIS) 22:8; SHEMOT (EXODUS) 12:5-13; YESHAYAH



(ISAIAH) 53:7 SIN SEGOL HAY







TAV Moshiach is the one who brings the TORAH of the Besuras



haGeulah to the Nations



TAV-CHOLOM-RESH-KAMATZ-HAY (TORAH) YESHAYAH



(ISAIAH) 42:4







Now that we know our letters of the ALEF BET, let's return to



word #1, beh-ray-SHEET. This very important word tells us that



the creation had a definite beginning in historical time. There



was a time when the creation did not exist, indeed before time



itself. In the timeless eternity of G-d Himself, there was only



Eh-loh-HEEM and the Ruach Haelohim (the Spirit of G-d--Gen.1:3)



and the Dvar Hashem, the Word of G-d--Psa.33:6).



Genesis 1:1-2:1 tells us that G-d used His Spirit and His Word to



create everything that exists. So behind the finite universe



stands not G-dless Evolution but the Creator G-d. The



"steady-state" theory of the universe is a scientific speculation



that asserts that the universe had no beginning and will have no



end. This theory is refuted by this word beh-ray-SHEET which



asserts that the universe does have a beginning and also carries



the inference that the universe will have an end. Therefore,



Genesis is not merely a book of origins; it is an eschatological



(or end-times) teaching which is the way Revelation, Ezekiel,



Isaiah and other parts of the Bible interpret it. The "big-bang"



cosmological theory is more favored by scientists today than the



"steady-state" theory. The "big-bang" theory asserts that the



universe began with a primordial explosion and has a finite size



and age, meaning it had a definite beginning and will one day



have a definite end. It is not our purpose to speculate about



these theories, as to which is scientifically more defensible,



only to comment that the "steady-state" theory is Biblically



refuted. This does not mean that we are endorsing the "big-bang"



theory. But this idea of a definite beginning and a definite end



is what the Bible teaches, and this is also what the science of



cosmology (a branch of astronomy concerned with the origin of the



universe) has tended to confirm. However, scientists go through



great theoretical contortions trying to get around all the



enigmas involved in the fragmentary and frequently changing



character of their purported empirical scientific evidence (of



which much defies theory). They postulate the "big-bang theory"



and assert that the universe exploded into existence perhaps some



20 billion years ago, more or less, and project that the earth is



between 4.5 and 4.7 billion years old and that humans evolved



from some sort of apelike primate ancestor 2.5 million years ago.



Then, just when they are certain of their results and have



convinced themselves that their cosmological scientific theories



fit all the complexities of new astronomical discoveries, the



fossil record, radio-carbondating, paleontological discoveries,



etc, conflicting new data emerges and they are left to flounder



around with a lot of empty and passing ideas and unsettled



"conclusions" that are more a matter of blind faith than



scientific fact. "For the heavens are as high above earth as



G-d's thoughts are above our thoughts," Isaiah 55:9 says, and



things without number are beyond our comprehension. So we cannot



endorse any scientific theory. But we can find out what the



Bible teaches. Biblical faith is sure of this: if we reject the



words of Genesis and look elsewhere for an inerrant cosmology, we



will never find one, because mere man, unaided by the inspiration



of the Ruach Hakodesh of G-d, can never write an inerrant



cosmology, and to this, at least, the ever collapsing theories



and endless disputes of scientists eloquently concur.







2. bah-rah "(He) created" is the second word. You have had all



of these consonants. What are they? Review #1. The new vowel



point KAMATZ looks like a small T under the consonants BET and



RESH and is pronounced with an "ah" sound as in "card." This



same small T is sometimes a KAMATZ HATOOF pronounced "o" as in



"soft" in words like #450, meaning "from all" and pronounced



"mee-kohl" (#450), not "mee-kahl." The G-d of Israel is always



the subject of this verb in the Hebrew Bible, never man or pagan



deities. No one can "bah-rah" except the G-d of Abraham, Isaac



and Jacob. "Mother Nature" cannot "bah-rah," G-dless "Evolution"



cannot "bah-rah." Also, as every spiritually reborn believer



knows experientially, not psychotherapy, not human science, nor



human endeavor of any kind, but only G-d can "bah-rah" the new



creation we have in Moshiach Yehoshua. This verb bah-rah is in



the perfect tense, meaning the action is complete. G-d



accomplished the creation of everything and this is a finished



work. Since only G-d was in the beginning and everything else



came to exist as part of His creation, creation is creatio ex



nihilo, out of nothing. Without the use of pre-existing



materials G-d "called into existence the things that do not



exist" (Romans 4:17).











3. Eh-loh-HEEM "G-d" is the next word ALEF and CHEEREEK GADOL



we



have already had. Review #1. ALEF is a silent consonant. A



syllable in Hebrew never begins with a vowel. It always consists



of a consonant plus a vowel or a consonant plus a vowel plus a



consonant. CHATAF SEGOL under the first letter looks like five



dots and has an "eh" sound. LAMMED has an "l" sound. CHOLOM is



a dot above the consonant and has an "oh" sound. It can be



written with or without a VAV and in either case has an "oh"



sound. The second syllable is "loh." HAY is a consonant with an



"h" sound. And the "m" consonant is called a MEM but looks like



SAMECH but is more rectangular when it comes at the end of a word



as FINAL MEM as here (SAMECH has an "s" sound as in "six"). This



syllable is pronounced "heem." In your Biblia Hebraica the accent



mark under the HAY and to the left of the CHEEREEK marks this



word as the middle of the verse. This accent is called an atnah



(meaning "rest"). The word Eh-loh-HEEM is plural in form



(CHEEREEK YUD FINAL MEM is a plural ending) but singular in



meaning, here construed with a singular verb, "He created," not



"They created." (However, see Gen.35:7 Elohim "They were



revealed" to him. Also, see Ps.58:12.) This plural is called



"plural of majesty." So in the word for G-d we have the idea of



plurality in unity, the One G-d who is eh-KHAHD "one" in the



sense of complex unity, not yah-KHEED "one" in the sense of



absolute, uncompounded singleness. See these last two Hebrew



words in Deut.6:4 and compare Gen.2:24 and Jdg.11:34. 4.



"et" untranslated sign of the direct object is the next word,



which tells you that "the heavens and the earth" are the direct



objects of the verb and therefore are the objects of the verb's



action. Note the ALEF and the TZAYREH and the TAHV. Review #1



if you've forgotten these.







5. hahsh-shah-MAH-yeem "heavens, sky" is the next word. Note the



short horizontal dash under the HAY. This is called a PATACH and



is pronounced "ah" as in "card." The dot inside the SHIN doubles



the letter. We have already had all the other letters. What are



they? HAY is the definite article "the," used here because "the



heavens" and "the earth" (see #7) are nouns with unique



referents. Remember that a noun is the name of a person, place,



or thing. Notice here the plural ending CHEEREEK YUD FINAL MEM



as in Eh-loh-HEEM.







6. vuh-et "and (sign of direct object)" is the next word.



Notice the prefixed conjunction "and" VAV pronounced with a "v"



sound as in "vote." (Do not confuse this letter with ZAYIN



which has a "z" sound as in "zoo".) The name of G-d we will see



later contains the consonants YUD HAY VAV HAY.





7. ha-AH-rehts "the earth" is the next word. Notice the accent



under the ALEF indicating that this is the accented syllable. Do



you see the SEGOL? the KAMATZ? The last letter is a FINAL TZADE



which is the way the TZADE looks when it comes as the last



letter of a word. It is pronounced "ts" as in "fits" or tsuris



(Yiddish = "trouble"). Notice the definite article HAY at the



beginning of this word, "the earth." When compounded with "the



earth," "heaven" designates the whole cosmos; so this expression,



"the heavens and the earth" really means "everything." So Genesis



1:1 teaches an absolute beginning of everything that exists as a



direct act of G-d. This is why He alone is worthy of praise and



worship. Everything has its existence of Him and through Him and



from the good pleasure of His will.









GENESIS 1:2A





8 v'ha-AH-rets 9 ha-yeh-TAH 10 TOH-hoo 11 vah-VOH-hoo



12 vuh-KHOH-shekh 13 ahl 14 p'NAY 15 teh-HOHM









8. v'ha-AH-rets "and-the-earth" --Review #6 and 17.







9. ha-yeh-TAH "(she) was" --Notice the accent mark under the last



syllable. Look at the first syllable HAY KAMATZ. Look at your



three vowels (the SH'VA here is a half-vowel). Syllables that end



in a vowel-sound are called open syllables (meaning syllables



without a consonant ending), so we know to break the syllable



here and pronounce the word "ha-yeh-TAH," not "hi-TAH." This is



the way we write "she was" since "earth" is feminine in Hebrew.





10. TOH-hoo "nothingness. formless" --For the CHOLOM review #3.



Notice the SHURUK long vowel at the end, which looks like a dot



in the middle of a VAV. This has an "oo" sound as in "loot" and



is pronounced the same as KUBUTZ which is three slanted dots



under the consonant.







11. vah-VOH-hoo "and-empty, void" --On the prefixed conjunction



"and" see #6 and #8, here written with a KAMATZ instead of a



SH'VA. We had BET in #1. Without the dot it is VET and



pronounced "v" instead of "b" (vet, not bet). Notice the SHURUK.







12. vuh-KHOH-sheh~ "and-darkness" --See prefixed conjunction



"and." SH'VA is a half-vowel. It is pronounced quickly and softly



with the VAHV as "vuh." Do not confuse CHET



(pronounced "kh" as in "Sikh" or "ch" as in CHanukah) and HAY



(see #3) and DALET which has a "d" sound as in "doll" and FINAL



CHAF. Notice the two dots which must be written but have no



sound. This vowel has the same sound as the second letter CHET.



The dot in the KAF ("k" as in "kick") distinquishes it from the



CHAF. The KOOF also has a "k" sound. For the CHOLOM review #3.



Note the accent under the second syllable. For the SHIN see #1.



Note the SEGOL "eh" vowel under the SHIN.







13. ahl "upon" AYIN is a silent consonant like ALEF. Note the



PATACH and review #5. Note the LAMMED and review #3. This is a



preposition, since it is used before the noun in #14 and forms a



prepositional phrase with it modifying word #12.







14. p'NAY "faces-of, surface of" --PAY has a "p" sound as in



"put" and when the dot is absent is FAY with an "f" sound as in



"fit." FINAL FAY (see #403) is not to be confused with FINAL



CHAF. NOON is an "n" sound as in "not" but when it comes as the



last letter of a word looks like FINAL NOON in word #38 and is



not to be confused with VAV. Do not confuse GIMMEL which has a



"g" sound as in "get" with NOON which has an "n" sound as in



"not." TZAYREH is a vowel with an "ay" sound as in "pray" and is



two horizontal dots under the consonant. TSEREH can also be



followed by YUD as in #14 but is pronounced the same. (Do not



confuse TZAYREH with CHEEREEK which has only one dot under the



consonant and is pronounced "ee" as in "siesta" and may or may



not have a YUD following it.)







15. tuh-HOHM "the (oceanic) deep". "p'NAY" is said to be in



construct" with "tuh-HOHM" because p'NAY is closely connected



with the following word "tuh-HOHM" and also "p'NAY" has a



construct ending TZAYREH YUD. The accent under the second



syllable of "tuh-HOHM" marks this word as the middle of the



verse. Now let's review the alphabet, first the consonants,



then the vowels. Make sure you have a mental image of each one



and a sound in your ear for the sound of each as we go along.



You may have to go back over the last 15 paragraphs and look at



each word in the Tanakh and make flash cards for yourself. ALEF



BET VET GIMMEL DALET HAY VAV ZAYIN CHET TET YUD KAF



FINAL KAF



CHAF



FINAL CHAF LAMMED MEM FINAL MEM NOON FINAL NOON



SAMECH AYIN PAY FAY FINAL FAY TZADE FINAL TZADE



KOOF RESH SHIN SIN TAV. Make not of all of them as we go along



until you have mastered the ALEF BET. Now let's take the vowels.



KAMATZ (the vowel under the BET and the RESH in word #2),



PATACH (the vowel under the CHET in word #16),







TZAYREH (the vowel under the RESH in word #1),







SEGOL (the vowel under the RESH in word #7),







SH'VA (the vowel under the BET in word #1),







CHOLOM (the vowel dot above the HAY and to the left of the LAMMED



in word #3; also the third letter in word #15),







CHEEREEK (the vowel under the HAY in word #17),







KUBUTZ (the vowel under the CHAF in word #435, first word in



Gen.2:1, vah-yuh-khoo-LOO),



SHURUK (the last letter in word #93, yee-kah-VOO),







CHATAF KAMATZ (I could not find one in the first 1039 words. You



will see one only rarely. It is a KAMATZ with a SH'VA to the



right of it. Go to Ezekiel 39:14 and look at the next to the



last word, the first letter CHET and you will see a CHATAF KAMATZ



under it), CHATAF PATACH (the vowel under the ALEF in word



#424),







CHATAF SEGOL (the vowel under the ALEF in word #3).









Make flash cards for yourself for all vowels and the entire ALEF



BET using the relevant words I am giving you form Gen.1:1-3:19.



These will be learned by memorization and repetition, but it will



be fun because we are going to master this material and see the



doctrines of our faith in the words in the process. Just as you



did not learn English by listening to a lecture, so neither will



you learn Hebrew by merely staring at these pages. You must



become like a child with a crayon and write out your alphabet



and, as it were, once again make your own copy of "See Dick run.



See Jane run. See Spot run." Otherwise you will be like the kid



who says he can't ride bicycles and has never even got on one.



Practice writing in your own handwriting the first several verses



of Genesis. Purchase a large print Hebrew Bible (preferably the



Biblica Hebraica Stuttgartensia which I will show you how to use



and which will come in very handy when we get to the messianic



prophecies.) As you write each letter down, look it up above.















GEN.1:2B







16 vuh-ROO-ahkh 17 Eh-loh-HEEM 18 m'rah-KHEH-feht 19 ahl 20



p'NAY



21 hahm-MY-yeem













16. vuh-ROO-ahkh "and-Spirit-of" --Notice the PATACH is



pronounced before the CHET and not after it, as in mo-SHI-ach



(see Daniel 9:26) (Anointed One, Messiah). This is called furtive



PATACH and we will discuss it later.







17. Review word #3. The same Spirit of G-d in Exod.31:3 that



filled the artist Bezalel and equipped him to build the



tabernacle is at work here in creating the earth.







18. m'rah-KHEH-feht "brooding" from the root RESH CHET FINAL FAY



meaning "to hover tremulously, shake, tremble" as in Deut. 32:11



where it describes an eagle hovering over the young in its nest.



Like a giant eagle egg was the earth under the hovering Ruach



Hakodesh. See how your knowledge of Hebrew helps you read the



Bible on a whole new level of comprehension. You should now have



the motivation to want to read the next three chapters of Genesis



with us. The MEM at the beginning indicates it is a participle



or verbal adjective, here modifying "Spirit of G-d."







19. review #13.







20. review #14.







21. hahm-MY-yeem "the-waters" --The short vertical accent under



the first MEM indicates the end of the verse, and the large



colon-like marks after FINAL MEM always follow this accent and



function as the period of the sentence. Notice the dot in the



first MEM. A dot in a letter preceded by a full vowel indicates



doubling of the letter and the dot is called dagesh-fort.



(Remember, SH'VA is only a half-vowel, not a full vowel.) So the



"m" is doubled "hahm-MY-yeem." The usual form of the definite



article "the" prefixed at the beginning of a noun is HAY PATACH



with the dagesh-forte' in the following letter (doubling the



letter); see #5. However, notice the exception in #7, because



there is no dagesh-forte in the ALEF in #7 since HAY CHET AYIN



RESH ALEF do not have the dagesh dot in them. The doubling



dagesh or dot should not be confused with the pronunciation



dagesh that makes a BET out of a VET, a KAF out of a CHAF, and a



PAY out of a FAY, and can also appear in a GIMMEL, a DALET, and a



TAV, though not all these letters are pronounced differently in



modern Hebrew. This is called the b-g-d-k-f-t dagesh. So when



you see a dagesh dot in a letter, ask yourself if it is a



doubling dagesh or a b-g-d-k-f-t pronounciation dagesh.











GEN.1:3





22 vahy-YOH-mer 23 Eh-loh-HEEM 24 yeh-HEE 25 ohr







26 vah-yeh-HEE 27 ohr

















22. vahy-YOH-mehr "and-(He)-said" --Note the dagesh-forte in the



YUD, which indicates there are two YUDS "vahy-YOH-mehr." There



are two main tenses in Biblical Hebrew: the perfect tense, which



are actions that are completed as in "He said;" and the imperfect



tense, which are actions that are not completed as in "He will



say, He usually says, He might say.." The word ALEF MEM RESH,



is 3rd person masculine singular perfect of "he said." Here it



is a divine fiat that not only commands but commands effectively,



actually declaring the future and then causing what it declares



to come into being; see #24 and #26. In #22 the YUD indicates the



imperfect "he will say" but the VAV PATACH DAGESH conjunction



"and" not only connects this sentence with the preceding, it also



makes the imperfect "he will say" equivalent to the perfect "he



said," so we call it a VAV CONVERSIVE. The VAV PATACH DAGESH



VAV



CONVERSIVE is often attached to verbs in a sequence and reverses



their tense. When a verb is in the imperfect tense, the addition



of the VAV PATACH DAGESH VAV CONVERSIVE changes its



meaning to



that of the perfect tense. If the verb is in the perfect tense,



the addition of the reversing VAV changes its meaning to that of



the imperfect tense. If you looked up #22 in your Hebrew lexicon



(language dictionary) you would have to look up the word under



the root form ALEF MEM RESH. Remember that roots have three



letters and all other letters are prefixes and suffixes added to



the root. You have to subtract all of these to find the root and



therefore be able to know how to look up the word in the



dictionary. This is a very high frequency word and must be



memorized. Put it on your vocabulary flash cards. Remember the



conjunction "and" VAV SH'VA connects but the reversing VAV PATACH



DAGESH connects and changes the tense of the verb.







23. review #3.







24. yuh-HEE "shall be" or "let be" from HAY KAMATZ YUD KAMATZ



HAY



"he was"--see #9. The SH'VA is always vocal SH'VA if it is in the



first syllable like this. Compare the silent SH'VA in #28. The



initial YUD indicates the imperfect tense as in #22. However,



this tense is called the jussive, although in this case it is



written exactly like the imperfect. The jussive tense expresses



volition "let it be." G-d wanted light and that's what he called



forth and got. There are three kinds of imperatives in Hebrew



that you need to know about: cohortative ("let me/us do some



action [first person]), imperative ("you do some action [second



person]); jussive ("let it/him/her/them do some action [third



person]). Do not feel overwhelmed with all this; you will be



seeing all this new material over and over again as you go along



in Gen.chps. 1-3 and it will eventually sink in. Don't get



discouraged. Allow your mind to get the repetitions it needs to



begin to clarify everything conceptually through repetition.



This is how we learn.







25. ohr "light"





26. vah-yuh-HEE "and-(there)-was" --This word is written like an



imperfect verb with an initial YUD but has the CONVERSIVE VAV VAV



PATACH DAGESH in front of it, which switches it to a perfect "and



there was." Compare the two words "#26 and #24 to see how the



CONVERSIVE VAV VAV PATACH DAGESH throws the switch from



imperfect



to perfect, incomplete action to completed action. The CONVERSIVE



VAV VAV PATACH DAGESH is not merely a conjunction connecting the



previous part of the sentence. The CONVERSIVE VAV VAV PATACH



DAGESH converts the imperfect ("shall be") into a perfect tense



("there was").





27. see #25. The hyphen at #26 indicates that this word is to be



accented with #26 and pronounced with it.











GEN.1:4





28 vahy-YAHR 29 Eh-loh-HEEM 30 et (es) 31 ha-ohr 32 kee 33



tohv 34 vahy-yahv-DAYL 35 Eh-loh-HEEM 36 bayn 37 ha-ohr 38



oo-VAYN 39 ha-KHOH-shehkh

















28. vahy-YAHR "and-(He)-saw" --Notice the letter YUD indicates



imperfect tense "he will see" but the CONVERSIVE VAV VAV PATACH



DAGESH makes it perfect. Is the SH'VA silent or vocal? Review



#24. The root for "he saw" is RESH ALEF HAY in the Hebrew



dictionary.







29. review #3 if you need to.







30. review #4 if you need to.







31. review #25. What is HAY KAMATZ? Review #21. Why is there no



dot in the ALEF? Review #21. Look at the horizontal stroke or



hyphen-like mark (it's called a makkef "binder" and shows that



these two words are bound together and there is only one major



accent and it is on the last word of those bound) between #31 and



#30? Review #27. "The light" is the object of the verb of



perception "and-He-saw." Note the sign of the direct object #30.







32. kee "that" --This word can mean various things, depending on



the context: "that, but, except, because, for, when, if, as,



like." See p.155, William L. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and



Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Eerdmans, 1971.





33. tohv "good, beautiful, fit for its purpose" --Note the TET.



Notice the creation reflects the goodness of its Creator. This



little word refutes the gnostic false teacher Cerinthus (I



Yochanan 2:22, OJBC) who taught that the creation and the body



are evil and that therefore the divine good Moshiach could not



actually be the same as the dying man Moshiach Yehoshua in a real



(presumeably evil, according to Cerinthus) body.







34. vahy-yahv-DAYL "and-(He)-caused-a-division/separation" --from



the root VET DALET LAMMED ("to divide") with the HAY preformative



(indicating "cause to divide"). (We will explain what happened to



the HAY later; it has disappeared and the dot in the YUD is the



only trace of it.) If you look this word up in The Englishman's



Hebrew Concordance (p.181, Baker Book House Publishers) you see



that G-d is in the business of separating and causing division.



In Ezra 9:1 the Jews had not kept themselves separate from the



neighboring people and their detestable practices. In Num. 16:21



G-d said to Moses and Aaron, "Separate yourselves from this



wicked (Korah's) assembly so I can put an end to them at once.



But even before this, G-d caused a division between Cain and Abel



and between the children of Ishmael and Isaac. In Luke 12:51-52



Moshiach Yehoshua is the light causing a division in a household.



Notice the imperfect YUD and the CONVERSIVE VAV, VAV PATACH



DAGESH.





35. review #3.





36. bayn "between" --Notice the FINAL NOON.





37. review #25 and #31 if you need to.





38. oo-VAYN "and-between." The conjunction VAV SH'VA ("and") is



generally found written like a SHURUK before MEM FAY and VET and



vowelless consonants. Compare #36 and #38.







39. review #12. Do you see the definite article. Do you



remember why there is no dagesh dot in the CHET? Review #21.







GEN.l:5





40 vahy-yeek-RAH 41 Eh-loh-HEEM 42 lah-OHR 43 yom



44 v'lah-KHOH-shehkh 45 KAH-rah 46 LAI-lah 47 vah-yeh-HEE



48 EH-rev 49 vah-yeh-HEE 50 VOH-ker 51 yohm 52 eh-KHAD











40. vahy-yeek-RAH "and-He-called" --Notice the KOOF and review



#12. From KOOF RESH ALEF a root meaning "to call, to proclaim, to



read." This last definition is important in terms of certain



Masoretic marginal notes in your BHS (Biblica Hebraica



Stuttgartensia). The Masaretes were a new type of Hebrew Biblical



scholar and they came on the scene after 500 C.E. They developed



a system of notations to help preserve their critical and



explanatory notes of their authoritative exegetical guide to the



grammar and pronunciation etc of the Hebrew Bible. They would not



altar the consonantal text, but if they felt there was a scribal



error in the consonantal text, or if they knew of a textual



variant, they would put the word "to be read" KOOF RESH YUD



"kerey" in the margin with the abbreviation KOOF with a dot above



it and they would put this word's vowel points under the word in



the consonantal text. For example, in BHS Gen.8:17 the form that



is KAF TAV YUD VET (written) in the consonantal text is that Noah



VAV YUD TZADE ALEF "came out" but the word in the margin is in



the imperative HAY YUD TZADE ALEF "Go out". Taking this reading



as perferred, the New Revised Standard Version translates, "Then



G-d said to Noah, 'Go out of the ark.." whereas the NIV



translates the consonantal text, "And Noah came out..." The BHS



text is the so-called Masorah (collection of notes) of these



scribes plus a reproduction of Codex Leningradensis (1008 C.E.)



plus the critical apparatus at the bottom of the pages indicating



portions where other manuscripts or versions differ or where



scholarly research brings the BHS text into question. All of



these witnesses help us stay close to the original inerrant



autographs of the infallible Biblical authors. KOOF RESH ALEF =



he called YUD KOOF RESH ALEF = he will call + CONVERSIVE



VAV,



VAV PATACH DAGESH = "he called."







41. review #3.





42. lah-OHR "to-the-light" --The preposition "to, for" is



LAMMED.







43. yohm "day"





44. v'lah-KHOH-shehkh "and-to-the-darkness" VAV = "and" LAMMED =



"to, for" HAY PATACH DAGESH = def.art."the"--Notice the HAY of



the article elided (ignored) and its vowel PATACH is given to



LAMMED. We have had this word. Learn it. Review #12. 45.



KAH-rah "he called" --Review #40. This is the simple stem or



root of the verb. Most Hebrew roots consist of three letters



called radicals. The root is generally given in its simplest



verbal form, 3rd person masculine singular perfect.







46. LAHY-lah "night" --Notice we have a chiasmus (reversal in the



order of words" in verb/indirect object here:



"cal1ed-light/darkness-called." This expresses unity between the



two acts of naming as one action.







47. review #26.







48. EH-rehv "evening" as in erev Shabbat or Friday evening.



49. review #26.





50. VOH-kehr "morning" --Notice the accent under the VET.



51. review #43.





52. review #3. The cardinal "one" may be used for the ordinal



"first" in Hebrew. See Gen. 2:1 ha-eh-khad "the first." There



are those who assert that this "first day" must be a twenty-four



hour solar day. However, evening and morning appear three days



before the sun and moon, which the text says are to be for "days



and years" (1:14). Psalm 90:4 gives us the impression that a



cosmic day, from the divine point of view, might be a thousand



years or more, indeed a whole age or epoch. Since this section



has to do with life and eternal life and eternal righteousness



(Gen. 2:9,17; 3:22-24), the larger point seems to be that if even



G-d finds eternal rest at the end of his "week" of good works,



will not there be Chayyei Olam eternal life and rest and



righteousness and "glory and honor and peace for everyone who



does good" (Rom. 2:l0)? Made in the image of G-d to live by every



word that proceeds from the mouth of G-d, Man cannot live his



life's work-week for bread alone (Deut. 8:3; Yochanan 6:27),



since there is no true rest or food for his soul except in G-d



(Matt. 11:29). And those who doubt this fundamental teaching of



Torah should remember that the creation has been so ordered from



the beginning. Not only so, G-d will bring every deed into



eternal judgment when evening comes at the end of life's brief



"week" (Eccles. 12:14; Gen. 29:27-28; Dan. 9:24). The good G-d we



see at work in Gen. 1:1-2:3 reflects Himself in His good creation



in which everything is put together "decently and in order," the



"luminaries" of Day 4 interdependently pointing back to the



divine "light" in Day 1, the "birds and fish" of Day 5



symbiotically related to the separated rain clouds and oceans of



Day 2, the animals and man of Day 6 beneficially dependent on the



dry land and vegetation of Day 3, and, finally. all this divine



time of creative work dependent on the Sabbath of eternity, where



G-d returns when His good cosmos is finished, for this is where



He started "in the beginning" (Gen. 1:1).















GEN. 1:6





53 vahy-YOH-mer 54 Eh-loh-HEEM 55 yeh-HEE 56 rah-KEE-ah 57



buh-TOKH 58 hah-MY-yeem 59 vee-HEE 60 mahv-DEEL 61 bayn 62



MY-yeem 63 lah-MY-yeem













53. review #22.







54. review #3.







55. review #24.





56. rah-KEE-ah "dome"--This word is found in Ezek. 1:22-23



"spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what



looked like a dome, sparkling like awesome crystal." It is the



atmosphere seen as a vaulted ceiling or dome. The PATACH under



the AYIN is called PATACH furtive. Review #16.







57. buh-TOHKH "in midst of"







58. review #21.





59. vee-HEE "and let (it) be" review #24. This is YUD SH'VA HAY



CHEEREEK GADOL + "and" VAV so that the SH'VA contracts to



HEEREEQ forming VAV CHEEREEK.







60. mahv-DEEL "causing-a-division" --review #34. This is a



participle or a verbal adjective as indicated by the preformative



MEM. Because this participle follows the verb "to be" it



expresses continuing future action.







61. review #36.







62. MAH-yeem "waters"





63. lah-MAH-yeem "from-the-waters" = LAMMED = "from, to, for"



--Notice the KAMATZ replaces the normal PATACH under the MEM in



#62 and #63 because it's the last word in the sentence, the voice



rests upon it, strengthens the vowel, and words with such vowel



changes are said to be "in pause." Notice the final accent in the



verse, which is called siIluq. Look under the MEM. Notice the



aof passuq which looks like a colon (:) and marks the end of the



verse.















GEN.1:7







64 vah-YAH-ahs 65 Eh-loh-HEEM



66 et (es) 67 ha-rah-KEE-ah 68 vahy-yahv-DAYL 69 bayn 70



hahm-MY-yeem 71 ah-sher 72 mee-TAH-khaht 73 lah-rah-KEE-ah 74



oo-VAYN 75 hahm-MY-yeem 76 ah-sher 77 may-AHL



78 lah-rah-KEE-ah 79 vah-yeh-HEE 80 khehn









64. vah-YAH-ahs "and-(He)-made"--not SHIN but SIN. The root is



AYIN SIN HAY "he made" with the imperfect form "he will make" YUD



AYIN SIN HAY and VAV PATACH DAGESH conversive.





65. review #3.







66. review #4.







67. ha-rah-KEE-ah --review #56.







68. review #34.







69. review #36.







70. review #21.







71. ah-SHER "which" --This is a high frequency relative pronoun



meaning "who, which, that." Memorize it.





72. mee-TAH-khaht "from under" TAV CHET TAV means "under" and



MEM CHEEREEK FINAL NOON means "from" and the NOON is



assimilated or absorbed when the two words become one.





73. Study #56 and #63 and you ought to be able to figure this one



out by yourself.







74. review #38.







75. review #21.







76. review #71.





77. may-AHL "from upon" MEM CHEEREEK FINAL NOON = "from" +



AYIN



PATACH LAMMED "upon" with the FINAL NOON absorbed



lengthening the HEEREEQ under MEM to TZAYREH





78. lah-rah-KEE-ah "to the dome"





79. review #26 "and-it-was"





80. khehn "so" --The note in the textual apparatus of BHS for



#79 and #80 tells you that the Targum Ha-Shivim (Septuagint)



transposes this phrase to the end of verse 6. You will notice



that the symbol for the Greek translation of the Tanakh is an



ornate looking G. Cp = chapter. The two a's separated by a dash



next to 7 means that everything between those two a's is referred



to. Cf means compare. Each footnote is separated by parallel



double vertical lines. The apparatus footnote tells you that the



Targum Ha-Shivim translates "And G-d saw that it was good" into



Greek and inserts it at the end of verses 4,10,12,18,21,31, and



8. However, this is an inept attempt at standardization because



the Masoretic Text has this formula seven times to show the



complete perfection of G-d's works. If you want to know more



about the ancient versions referred to in the apparatus at the



bottom of each page (Samaritan Pentateuch, Syriac [Peshitta],



Latin Vulgate, Targum Onqelos, etc), get Ernst Wurthwein's The



Test of the Old Testament, Eerdmans Publishers, 1979.













GEN.1:8







81 vahy-yeek-RAH 82 vah-yeh-HEE 83 lah-rah-KEE-ah



84 shah-MY-yeem 85 vah-yeh-HEE 86 EH-rev 87 vah-yeh-HEE 88



VOH-ker 89 yom 90 shay-NEE











81. review #40. The little "s" like mark under the RESH in your



BHS is an accent.







82. review #3.







83. review #78.







84. review #5.







85. review #26.







86. review #48.







87. review #26.







88. review #50.







89. review #43.





90. shay-NEE "second." Notice in the BHS that the FAY to the left



of this word means paragraph, indicating a new paragraph begins



after that letter.















GEN. 1:9



91 vahy-YOH-mer 92 Eh-loh-HEEM 93 yee-kah-VOO 94



hahm-MY-yeem



95 mee-TAH-khaht 96 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 97 el 98 mah-KOHM 99



eh-KHAD 100 vuh-teh-rah-EH 101 ha-yah-bah-SHAH



102 vah-yeh-HEE 103 khehn















91. review #22.







92. review #3.





93. yee-kah-VOO "let be collected" --The root is KOOF VAV HAY



"he collects." The passive stem is indicated by a NOON



preformative. The word for the place for the tevilah immersion



is mikvah meaning a "gathering/collection of waters" using a MEM



prefix which is often used in noun-formations. Study this word



carefully. The YUD indicates the imperfect or jussive (review



#24) 3rd person singular. The dagesh forte in the KOOF indicates



the absorbed NOON prefix of the passive stem of the root. See



also #108. Many Jewish people believe they must take a mikvah to



remove a state of ritual impurity. This is a ritually prepared



bath for purification in accordance with various regulations.



Strictly observant Jews often attempt to purify themselves in



this way before Sabbaths and Festivals. Also, following the



menstrual period, a woman is required to immerse herself. This is



TET VET YUD LAMMED HAY "tevilah" or total immersion. This occurs



following seven "clean" days after the woman's last menstrual



period. Many Jewish women even take their dishes to the mikvah or



"ritualarium" to be immersed before ever using them. A complete



immersion is necessary. This ritual goes back to the kohanim in



the Torah who had to cleanse themselves from ritual impurity



derived from contact with unclean objects or circumstances. That



there were such ritual bath facilities at the time of Moshiach



Yehoshua is clear from excavations at the desert fortress Masada.



It is therefore clear that Yochanan the Tevilah immersionist was



a kohen (hereditary priest) navi (prophet) offering a tevilah



haTeshuvah "immersion of repentance." It is an absurd lie to say



that this is a Gentile ritual foisted on the Jewish people. See



Deut.23: l0-11.







94. review #21.







95. review #72.







96. review #5.





97. el "to"



98. mah-KOHM "place, location."







99. review #52







100. review #28. vuh-teh-rah-EH "and-she-shall-be-seen" --The



subject ("dry land") is feminine. TAV is a prefix for the



imperfect 3rd pers. fem. sing. just as YUD is a prefix for the



imperfect 3rd pers. masc.sing. Look at #21 to see why, although



the NOON prefix of the passive N-stem assimilates into the



previous letter, in this case, since it is a RESH there is no



dagesh forte in the RESH. See Isaiah 53:10 YUD RESH ALEF HAY "he



will see" which is predicated about Moshiach at the time of his



Resurrection after Moshiach was "cut off out of the land of the



living" (53:8).





101. ha-yah-bah-SHAH "dry land" = feminine noun. Notice the



def.art. HAY PATACH DAGESH "the"







102. review #79







103. review #80.











GEN.1:10







104 vaahy-yeek-RAH 105 Eh-loh-HEEM 106 lah-yah-bah-SHAH



107 EH-rets 108 oo-l'meek-VAY 109 hahm-MY-yeem 110 kah-RAH 111



yahm-MEEM 112 vahy-YAHR 113 Eh-loh-HEEM 114 kee 115 tov











104. Review #40.







105. Review #3.





106. Review #101. LAMMED prefix means "to, for." Review #97



and #78.







107. Review #7. EH-rets = "land."







108. Review #93 and #38 and #97. oo-luh-meek-VAY



"and-to-collection-of"







109. Review #21. In Biblical Hebrew there is no word to express



the English word "of' when it indicates either possession or



description as in "the house of Ruth" or a "word of kindness."



However, in Hebrew, when two nouns are linked together to create



a single idea, the first noun carries with it the meaning "of."



This noun is in what is called the construct state.







110. Review #40. kah-RAH "he-called"





111. yahm-MEEM "seas" YUD KAMATZ FINAL MEM = "sea." Notice



the KAMATZ under the YUD becomes PATACH when the plural is



formed



by adding CHEEREEK YUD FINAL MEM at the end, making the form



you



see here "seas".







112. review #28.







113. review #3.







114. review #32.







115. review #33.















GEN.1:11







116 vahy-YOH-mer 117 Eh-loh-HEEM 118 tahd-SHAY 119 ha-AH-rets



120 DEH-sheh 121 EH-sev 122 mah-zeh-REE-ah 123 ZEH-rah 124



aitz 125 p'REE 126 OH-seh 127 p'REE 128 leh-mee-NOH 129



ah-sher 130 zah-oh 131 voh 132 ahl 133 ha-AH-rets 134



vah-yeh-HEE 135 khehn









116. review #22. The simple stem is called the Qal stem. The



n-stem or passive stem is called the nifal stem. The h-stem or



causative stem is called the hifil stem. For example, "he ate"



is the Qal or simple stem. The nifal stem is "it was eaten," and



the hifil is "he caused to eat, he fed."







117. review #3





118. tahd-SHAY "she-shall-cause-to-spring-forth, sprout, be green



--The TAV prefix indicates the imperfect tense "she shall." The



PATACH under the TAV indicates that this is a HAY causative stem



verb "she shall cause." On this see also #122 and the causative



PATACH under the YUD in #34. The root is DALET SHIN ALEF and



we



see on page 75 of William Holladay's A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic



Lexicon of the the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 1971) that it is a



jussive as in #24, "let her sprout."







119. review #7.







120. DEH-sheh "grass, vegetation" see #118 DALET SHIN ALEF "be



green"







121. EH-sehv "herbs, plants"





122. mah-zeh-REE-ah "causing to seed" --Root ZAYIN RESH AYIN.



Notice the furtive PATACH and review #56 and #16. The prefix MEM



indicates the word is a verbal adjective or participle. We must



ask what noun it modifies and the answer is #121, "plants



yielding seed."







123. ZEH-rah "seed." The noun form of the previous word, the verb



ZAYIN RESH AYIN "it seeds, he sows." This is a very important



word. Yehoshua says that Abraham looked forward to seeing his



day (Yochanan 8:56). Yehoshua means that Abraham's seed in Gen.



12:7 refers to the Moshiach (see Gal. 3:16). David's seed (II



Sam. 7:12) also is a Messianic term. Isa. 53:10 says the



Moshiach shall see his seed (believers). The Seed of the Woman,



also a Messianic term, in Gen. 3:15 is ZAYIN RESH AYIN HAY "her



Seed."







124. aitz "trees, tree." --Look at 2:9, 17; 3:5,22. The "aitz



haDa'as tov varah" ("tree of the knowledge of good and evil" is



the tree of moral autonomy where men add to G-d's commandments



(Deut. 4:2) their own will and their own traditions (Mark 7:9)



and reject G-d's word in order to honor their own ideas about



what is good and evil. There is a way that seems right to a man



but whoever turns aside from the law and goes that way (Josh.



1:7) will find that its end is death (Prov. 16:25). On the other



hand, there is also the "aitz haChayyim" (the tree of life) which



if a man eat of it, he will live forever. This tree points to



Moshiach Yehoshua (Yochanan 5:46; 6:51; Rev. 22:l-2).







125. p'REE "fruit"





126. OH-seh "making" --This is a participle of ALEF SIN HAY "he



made" The CHOLOM indicates a participle or verbal adjective and



here it modifies "fruit trees."







127. review #125. "Baruch atah Adonoy Eloheinu Melech haOlam



bore p'ri hagafen. "Blessed art thou 0 L-rd our G-d, King of the



universe, who creates the fruit of the vine." Moshiach Yehoshua



gave this blessing over the Kiddush cup at his Last Pesach.



128. leh-mee-NOH "to-his-kind" --The pronoun suffix "his"



(CHOLOM) is at the end. The inseparable preposition LAMMED SH'VA



is at the beginning. The noun is MEM CHEEREEK YUD FINAL NOON



"kind."





The Bible says that G-d created the first member of each kind and



put the seeds of reproduction in each so that it could perpetuate



its kind. Evolution teaches that species simply evolve from one



to the other, and that if you have apes and you wait long enough



some of them will evolve into higher forms, that is, human beings



through ape like/man like inter-species "transitional forms."



This speculation is by no means proven to be true.







129. review #71.







130. zah-oh "his seed"





131. voh "in him." Notice the inseparable preposition BET SH'VA



"in." For the suffix review #123.





132. review #13.







133. review #7.







134. review #26.







135. review #80. Gen. 1:12













GEN.1:12







136 vah-toh-TSEH 137 ha-AH-rets 138 DEH-sheh 139 EH-sev 140



mahz-REE-ah 141 ZEH-rah 142 luh-meen-NAY-hoo 143 v'aitz 144



OH-seh 145 p'REE 146 ah-sher 147 zah-roh 148 voh 149



leh-meen-NAY-hoo 150 vahy-YAHR 151 Eh-loh-HEEM 152 kee 153 tov













136. vah-toh-TSEH "and-she-caused-to-bring-out"--the PATACH under



the VAV is causative --(review #118). The root YUD TZADE ALEF



means "go out" in the Qal stem and in the hifal stem stem it



means "caused to go out" or "bring out" (review #116). The TAV



is imperfect 3fs "she will cause to go out" but the VAV PATACH



DAGESH CONVERSIVE converts it to the perfect "she caused to go



out."





137. review #7.







138. review #120. The New Revised Standard Version punctuates



this by putting a colon after #138.







139. review #121.







14O. review #122.







141. review #123.





142. luh-meen-NAY-hoo "to-his (its) kind" --Review #128. The HAY



SHURUK ending is the full form of the pronominal suffix meaning



"his" or "him." The TZAYREH under the NOON is a connecting



vowel.





143. review #124.







144. review #126.







145. review #125.







146. review #71.







147. review #130.







148. review #131.







149. review #142.







150. review #28.



151. review #3.







152. review #32.







153. review #33.















GEN. 1:13



154 vah-yeh-HEE 155 EH-rev 156 vah-yeh-HEE 157 VOH-ker



158 yom 159 sheh-lee-SHEE















154. Review #26.







155. Review 148.







156. Review #26.







157. Review #50.







158. Review #43





159. shuh'lee-SHEE "third." What does the FAY mean after #159 in



BHS? It means new paragragh. The SAMECH before the first word



in Genesis mean Sedarim. There are 167 Sedarim or lessons in the



Torah. This mark divides the Hebrew Bible into 452 lessons. On



page 85 in the BHS you have the counts for Genesis. It says "Sum



of the verses of book, thousand and five hundreds and thirty and



four 1000 500 30 4 and mid-point is "VAV AYIN LAMMED (makkef)



CHET RESH BET FINAL CHAF (this is the middle verse--see p. 43 in



BHS) and paragraphs 45. As the Masoretes counted also every



letter, they could avoid scribal errors where words were



inadvertently added or subtracted from the text as the scribe's



eye skipped on the text as he was writing. On page 353 in BHS we



are told that there are 79,856 words in the Torah. In this



course we will read 1039 of them. According to page 353 in the



BHS, there are also 400,945 letters in the Torah, but we will not



count them; we will take the Masoretes' word for it. Amen?











GENESIS 1:14







160 vay-YOH-mer 161 Eh-loh-HEEM 162 yeh-HEE 163 meh-oh-ROHT



164 bee-r'KEE-ah 165 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 166 leh-hahv-DEEL



167 bayn 168 ha-YOM 169 oo-VAYN 170 ha-LAI-lah



171 veh-ha-YOO 172 leh-oh-TOHT 173 oo-l'moh-ah-DEEM



174 oo-leh-yah-MEEM 175 veh-shah-NEEM











#160. Review #22.







161. Review #3.







162. Review #24.





#163. meh-oh-ROHT "luminaries" --The MEM in front, if taken



away reveals, the word ALEF CHOLOM RESH or "light."





#164. bee-r'KEE-ah "in-dome-of" --This word is in construct



with #165 (review #109). Review #1 and #56.





#165. review #5.







166. leh-hahv-DEEL "to-cause-a-separation." Notice the HAY.



This word is the causative hifal stem. On LAMMED SH'VA "review



#97.







#167. Review #36.







168. Review #43. Do you see the definite article? Review #21.







#169. Review #38.





#170. Review #46. Do you see the definite article? Review #21.



The luminaries (carefully not mentioned by name since many



worship them as g-ds--see Deut. 17:3) divide the day from the



night, the moon lighting the night, the sun lighting the day.



SHEMESH is the name for "sun" and yah-RAY-ach is the name for



"moon."







#171. veh-ha-YOO "and they shall be" --This is the verb "to



be."







#172. leh-oh-TOHT "for signs (that is, of fixed times)" --ALEF



CHOLOM TAV = "sign"







#173. oo-leh-moh-ah-DEEM "and for seasons" from MEM CHOLOM



AYIN



DALET = mo'ed = "season" --Notice the plural ending. Review #3.



The conjunction VAV SH'VA before a consonant with SH'VA (in this



case LAMMED SH'VA) is written SHURUK (SHURUK is always written



with VAV used as a vowel-letter).







#174. oo-leh-yah-MEEM "and days" --Review #43.





#175. veh-shah-NEEM "and-years" --SHIN NOON HAY "sha-nah" =



"year." On Rosh Hashanah we say shah-nah tov-ah.













GEN.1:15







176 veh-ha-YOO 177 lee-moh-ROHT 178 bee-r'KEE-ah



179 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 180 leh-ha-EER 181 ahl 182 ha-AH-rets



183 vah-yeh-HEE 184 khehn











#176. Review #171.







#177. Review #163. Contrast the feminine plural ending here



CHOLOM TAV with the masculine plural ending we've encountered



many times thus far CHEEREEK YUD FINAL MEM.







#178. Review #164.







#179. Review #5.





#180. leh-ha-EER "to-cause-to-shine/light" from the verb ALEF



CHOLOM RESH = "be/become light" in the hifil stem HAY ALEF YUD



RESH with the causative force here in the infinitive. Review



#116.





#181. Review #13.







#182. Review #7. "to-cause-to-shine/light upon the earth."



Charles Darwin's speculations would lead one to believe that what



looks like design and a Designer in nature (the so-called



Teleological Argument for the existence of G-d) is actually



"natural selection" wherein, for example, the skunk's



odor-generating capacity was not designed and put there by G-d



for its protection but was a chance variation or mutation



retained in the process of evolution for its advantageousness in



the survival of that species. But natural selection cannot



explain the inorganic adaptation in the universe, wherein the



earth and the sun are in such a relationship to each other that



life and breath are possible, a fact that indicates there is



design and a Designer in the universe, as this verse teaches. Had



the earth not been designed to have the particular size and mass



and position in the ecosphere (region around the sun) that it is



favored with, it would not have the kind of atmosphere it enjoys,



with oceans and clouds of water (review Gen. 1:6-8), oxygen-rich



air, and a temperature conducive to life. Slightly closer to or



farther from the sun and the earth might never have developed



life. Mercury essentially has no atmosphere and Venus has one



that is 90 times denser that the earth's and is composed



primarily of carbon dioxide, with some sulfuric acid. Can earth's



favored status be decribed by any "survival of the fittest



planet" theory? Of course not. Also, to say that the earth's



size, mass, ecospheric position, etc is a fortuitous accident



producing a breathable atmosphere quite gratuitiously and without



a Designer's plan is as absurd as asserting that Rembrandt's



paintings were produced by paint accidently spilled on a canvass.



The causative force in word #180, a hifil stem infinitive, shows



that there is a Designer and the sun and the moon were formed by



Him in order to cause light to shine on the earth, "leh-ha-EER"





#183. Review #79 and #26.







#184. Review #80.















GEN.1:16







185 vah-YAH-ahs 186 Eh-loh-HEEM 187 et (es) 188 shuh-NAY 189



ham-meh-oh-ROHT 190 ha-guh-doh-LEEM 191 et (es)



192 ham-mah-OHR 193 ha-gah-DOHL 194 leh-mehm-SHEHL-et



195 ha-YOM 196 vuh-et 197 ham-mah-OHR 198 ha-kah-TOHN 199



leh-mehm-SHEHL-et 200 ha-LAHY-lah 201 vuh-et



202 ha-koh-khah-VEEM















#185. Review #64.







#186. Review #3.







#187. Review #4.







#188. shuh-NAY "two-of" --Review #90. This is in the construct



state of the number sh'nayim (where the dual ending of CHEEREEK



YUD FINAL MEM for objects that go in pairs) has been altered to



TZAYREH YUD to show this word is in contruct with #189.



#189. Review #163. ham-mah-ohr "luminary, light" (HAY MEM ALEF



CHOLOM RESH) is masculine noun, although in the plural it has a



feminine plural ending. Review #177.







#190. ha-guh-doh-LEEM "the great" --Notice this adjective



(called an attributive adjective) follows the noun it modifies



and agrees with it in the masculine plural ending (it has



CHEEREEK YUD FINAL MEM since #189 is a masculine plural noun).



An attributive adjective agrees with the noun it follows in



gender, number, and definiteness.







#191. Review #4.







#192. Review #163.







#193. ha-gah-DOHL "the great" --Review #190.





#194. leh-mehm-SHEHL-et "for-dominion-of" from MEM SHIN



LAMMED



"he rules, has dominion. This is a very important thematic word



in Genesis and the Hebrew Bible. The sun and the moon rule over



the day and the night (Gen. 1:18), the husband rules over the



woman/wife (Gen. 3:16); Mankind is to rule over the fish of the



sea and birds of the air and all creation (Gen. 1:28); Joseph



will rule (Gen. 37:8); Moshiach is to be a ruler in Israel (Micah



5:1-2); Psalm 8:6 (7) says, "Thou madest him to have dominion;



Anti-Moshiach will rule, Dan. 11:43; Moshiach will rule (Zech.



6:13) and will have dominion from sea to sea (Zech. 9:l0). By



using this linking the matic word you can show what Moshiach



Yehoshua meant when he said the Bible is speaking about him,



really, all the way through (Luke 24:27). This kind of in-depth



study of the Scriptures is impossible without some grasp of the



Hebrew. The first MEM is a noun preformative. The TAV is a



feminine ending. You know the inseparable preposition LAMMED



SH'VA (review #97. It can mean "to" or "for," in this case



"for").







#195. hay-YOHM "the day" --Review #43.





#196. Review #6.







#197. Review #163.





#198. ha-kah-TOHN "the small."







199. Review #194.





#200. Review #46. Do you see the definite article HAY PATACH



DAGESH?







#201. Review #6.







#202. ha-koh-khah-VEEM "the stars" --KAF CHOLOM CHAF VET



"koh-KHAHV" = "star." A koh-KHAHV will come out of Ya'akov



(Jacob) according to Num. 24:17. A false Moshiach was named "Son



of a Star" or Bar Kokh-vah and hundreds of thousands of Jewish



people perished because they listened to a rabbi who taught them



to believe in such men and to reject the true Messianic



prophecies and doctrines of our Shluchim. (This took place



during the time of the Second Jewish revolt about a hundred years



after the resurrection of the Moshiach.)







Ironically, this rabbi is considered a hero to this day, and no



one blames the "false Moshiach holocaust" he was partially



responsible for on him, though those who use blanket statements



to blame the Holocaust on followers of our Moshiach would never



blame their hero rabbi. This is terrible hypocrisy and



irrationality. Incidently, while you're learning Hebrew, you



probably should pick up a little inexpensive paperback, The



Signet HEBREW-ENGLISH ENGLISH/HEBREW Dictionary, by Dov Ben



Abbe



(Signet New American Library, 1977). If you look on page 143 in



the Hebrew half, you will see how to pronounce koh-KHAV. I also



recommend Zevi Scharfsteins Shilo Pocket Dictionary because it



has many important Biblical and theological words.













GEN.1:17







203 vahy-yee-TEHN 204 oh-TAHM



205 Eh-loh-HEEM 206 bee-r'KEE'ah 207 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 208



leh-ha-EER 209 ahl 210 ha-AH-rets













#203. vahy-yee-TEHN "and he gave/set/put" --Root NOON TAV FINAL



NOON, "he gave/set/put" --The dagesh forte is an assimilated NOON



as in #72. This is a Qal imperfect with VAV CONVERSIVE giving it



perfect force. Review #22.





#204. oh-TAHM "them" This is the sign of the direct object ALEF



TAV (review #4) with the masculine plural pronominal suffix



KAMATZ FINAL MEM, condensed together.







#205. Review #3.







#206. Review #164.







#207. Review #5.







#208. Review #180.







#209. Review #13.







#210. Review #7.















GEN.1:18







211 vuh-leem-SHOHL 212 bah-YOM 213 oo-vah-LAI-lah



214 oo-lah-hahv-DEEL 215 bayn 216 ha-OHR 217 oo-VAYN



218 ha-KHOH-shehksh 219 vahy-YAHR 220 Eh-loh-HEEM 221 kee



222 tov







#211. Review #194.







#212. Review #43 and #l.







#213. Review #38. #44, #46.







#214. Review #34. Remember HAY = causative. What is LAMMED?



Review #42.







#215. Review #36.







#216. Review #25.





#217. Review #38.







#218. Review #12.





#219. Review #28.







#220. Review #3.





#221. Review #32.







#222. Review #33.













GEN.1:19







223 vah-yeh-HEE 224 EH-rev 225 vah-yeh-HEE 226 VOH-kehr 227 yom



228 reh-vee-EE











#223. Review #26.







#224. Review #48.







#225. Review #26.







#226. Review #50.







#227. Review #43.





228. ruh-vee-EE "fourth" --Now count from one to four:



eh-KHAD (one) shuh-nayim (two) shalosh (three) ahr-ba (four)











GEN.1:20







229 vahy-YOH-mehr 230 Eh-loh-HEEM 231 yeesh-ruh-TSOO



232 hahm-MY-yeem 233 SHEH-retz 234 NEH-fehsh 235 chai-YAH



236 vuh-OHF 237 yuh-oh-FAYF 238 ahl 239 ha-AH-rets 240 ahl



241 p'NAY 242 r'KEE-ah 243 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem











#229. Review #22.







#230. Review #3.





#231. yeesh-ruh-TSOO "they shall swarm" from SHIN RESH FINAL



TZADE "it swarmed" --imperfect active 3rd person plural.





#232. Review #21. Notice that this is the subject of #231.



#233. SHEH-retz "swarm" or, collectively, swarms. This noun is



formed with the same root letters as #231.





#234. NEH-fehsh "soul, being, breath"





#235. chai-YAH "living thing" (a feminine noun) --Translate



#234 and #235 together as "living creatures." When this word is



chayyim it means "life."







#236. vuh-OHF "and bird"





#237. yuh-oh-FAYF "he shall fly" --Imperfect 3rd person



masculine of AYIN VAV FINAL FAY "he flew."





#238. Review #13.







#239. Review #7,







#240. Review #13.







#241. Review #14.





#242. Review #78.







#243. Review #5.

















GEN.1:21







244 vahy-yeev-RAH 245 Eh-loh-HEEM 246 et (es)



247 ha-tahn-nee-NEEM 248 ha'geh-doh-LEEM 249 v'et 250 kohl



251 NEH-fesh 252 ha-chai-YAH 253 ha-roh-MEH-set 254 ah-sher



255 shah-ruh-TSOO 256 hahm-MY-yeem 257 luh-mee-nay-HEHM 258 v'et



259 kol 260 ohf 261 kah-NAHF 262 luh-meen-NAY-hoo 263 vahy-YAHR



264 Eh-loh-HEEM 265 kee 266 tov













#244. vahy-yeev-RAH "and-(He)-created" --Review #2. Do you see



that this is imperfect "he-will-create" YUD VET RESH ALEF with



CONVERSIVE VAV PATACH DAGESH?







#245. Review #3.







#246. Review #4.







#247. ha-tahn-nee-NEEM "the sea-monsters" --Root TAV NOON YUD



FINAL NOON --This word is used of the powerful creatures G-d has



made. In Isaiah 27:1 the word is used of Leviathan the serpent



whom the L-rd will destroy and who symbolizes the power of evil



and the anti-G-d nations.







#248. Review #190. An adjective, when attributive, follows its



noun, and agrees with it in gender, number and definiteness.



Compare the endings of #248 and #247.







#249. Review #6.







#250. kohl (not kahl) This KAMATZ is a KAMATZ HATOOF and is not



pronounced like a KAMATZ. It means "all." It can also mean "any."



Review #15.







#251. Review #234.







#252. Review #235.





#253. ha-roh-MEH-set "the (one) creeping/moving" --A participle



from the root RESH MEM SIN "he creeped/glided along/moved



about." The participle stresses the doer of the action. The



participle is also like an adjective modifying in this case word



#235, a feminine noun. Therefore we should not be surprised to



see a feminine ending TAV on this participle.







#254. Review #71.





#255. shah-ruh-TSOO "they swarmed" --Review #231.





#256. Review #21.





#257. luh-mee-nay-HEHM "to their kinds/types" --Review #128.



HAY SEGOL FINAL MEM at the end of this form is a pronominal



suffix 3rd person masculine plural "their."







#258. Review #6.







#259. Review #250.





#260. Review #236.





#261. kah-NAHF "wing" --This word is found in Daniel 9:27 where



it means "wing" ..."and on a wing will be a desolating



abomination: even until the End, even one being decreed (by G-d),



overwhelms the desolator." This passage is about a wing of the



Beis Hamikdash that the Anti-Moshiach will desecrate. The



winglike top corner of the Temple could be the pinnacle of



Mat.4:5, or possible the winglike top corner of the altar.





#262. Review #142.







#263. Review #28.







#264. Review #3.







#265. Review #32.





#266. Review #33.



















GEN.1:22







267 vah-yeh-vah-REHKH 268 oh-tahm 269 Eh-loh-HEEM 270 lay-MOHR







271 peh-ROO 272 oor-VOO 273 oo-meel-OO 274 et



275 hahm-MY-eem 276 ba-yahm-meem 277 v'ha-OHF 278 YEE-rev



279 ba-AH-rets















267. vah-yeh-vah-REHKH "and (He) blessed" from the root BET RESH



FINAL CHAF, "he blessed." Now here you have a new stem, the piel



intensive stem. The characteristic of the intensive piel stem is



dagesh forte in the second radical or letter of the root, in this



case RESH. However, as we saw in #21, RESH rejects the dagesh



dot so you cannot use that indicator to identify this word as a



piel. You must just memorize it as a piel stem.







#268. Review #204.







#269. Review #3.





#270. lay-MOHR "to say" --We translate this as "saying" and



know that what follows is a direct quotation that should be put



in quotation marks.







#271. peh-ROO "be-ye-fruitful" --a Qal imperative 2nd person



plural of PAY RESH HAY, "he bore fruit/was fruitful." Yochanan



15:5,8 is an allusion to this verse.







#272. oo-ruh-VOO "and-multiply-ye/increase ye --a Qal



imperative 2nd person plural of RESH VET HAY "he multiplied.



#273. oo-meel-OO "and-fill-ye" from the root MEM LAMMED ALEF



"he filled" a Qal imperative 2nd person plural.





#274. Review #4.







275. Review #21.







#276. Review #111.







277. Review #236.







#278. YEE-rehv "let it multiply" --Review #272.







#279. Review #1 and #7.















GEN.1:23







280 vah-yeh-HEE 281 EH-rev 282 vah-yeh-HEE



283 VOH-kehr 284 yom 285 chah-mee-SHEE













#280. Review #26.







#281. Review #48.







#282. Review #26.







#283. Review #50.





#284. Review #43.







#285. khah-mee-SHEE "fifth."













GEN.1:24







286 vay-YOH-mer 287 Eh-loh-HEEM 288 toh-TSAY 289 ha-AH-rets



290 NEH-fesh 291 chai-YAH 292 luh-mee-NAH 293 beh-hay-MAH



294 vah-REH-mehs 295 veh-chay-TOH 296 EH-rets 297 leh-mee-NAH



298 vah-yeh-HEE 299 khehn













#286. Review #22.







#287. Review #3.





#288. toh-TSAY "let her cause to bring out" hifil imperfect 3rd



person feminine singular at YUD TZADE ALEF "he went forth."



Review #136. This word in the hifil means "produce" both here



and in #136.







#289. Review #7. This is the feminine subject of #288.





#290. Review #234 end #235.







#291. Review #234 and #235.







#292. luh-mee-NAH "to her kind" --Review #128 and note the



difference between the masculine singular pronominal suffix



CHOLOM and the feminine singular pronominal suffix KAMATZ HAY,



here and in Gen. 3:l5 "her seed" (i.e. the Moshiach). The dot in



the HAY is not a dagesh but a mappiq to differentiate the 3fs



suffix from a feminine noun ending KAMATZ HAY, as in the next



word, #293, which is a feminine noun.







#293. beh-hay-MAH "beast, animal, cattle"





#294. vah-REH-mehs "and creeping things" --Review #253.





#295. vuh-khahy-TOH "and beast of." The TAV tells you that



chay-YAH "beast" is in construct with #296. The CHOLOM is an old



ending, now obsolete. This word "beast" is what the King of



Babylon becomes in Dan. 4:13(16) for seven "times" or years. In



chps 13,17,18 in the book of Revelation the King of Babylon is



the Anti-Moshiach "Beast" who makes unsaved people take the "mark



of the Beast." See. Rev. 16:2. Although the word in Daniel is



Aramaic, it is the same word. Remember that Anti-Moshiach Beast



Hitler who made the Jewish people carry the mark of his tatoo,



marking them for death. This kind of word study helps one follow



Yochanan's thought. The Anti-Moshiach will be a killer, like a



wild animal, and he will have not one shred of humanity or human



compassion or mercy. Don't confuse this word for the noun



"beast" with the word (verb) for "be/stay alive" or the word



meaning "life," Chai, or this same word in the plural, Chayyim.







#296. Review #7.







#297. Review #292.





#298. Review #79.







#299. Review #80.













GEN.1:25







300 vay-yah-ahs 301 Eh-loh-HEEM 302 et 303 chay-yaht



304 ha-AH-rets 305 leh-mee-NAH 306 v'et 307 ha-beh-he-MAH



308 leh-mee-NAH 309 v'et 310 kol 311 REH-mes 312 ha-ah-dah-MAH



313 leh-mee-NAY-hoo 314 vay-yahr 315 Eh-loh-HEEM 316 kee 317 tov













#300. Review #64.







#301. Review #3.







#302. Review #4.







#303. Review #295.







#304. Review #7.







#305. Review #292. "after her kind."







#306. Review #6.







#307. Review #293.







#308. Review #292.







#309. Review #6.







#310. Review #250.







#311. Review #253.







#312. ha-ah-dah-MAH "the ground, the earth" --Keep in mind that



this word is made of the same root radicals or letters as Man



(ALEF DALET FINAL MEM, which is like saying that the first man



was named Mr. Mud (which is surely what his name was after the



fall!). This word-play is lost in English. Another reason to



learn Hebrew. There is the Adam from the mud and there is the



Adam from Shomayim.





#313. Review #292.







#314. Review #28.







#315. Review #3.







#316. Review #32.







#317. Review #33.















GEN.1:26







318 vay-YOH-mehr 319 Eh-loh-HEEM 320 nah-ah-SEH 321 ah-DAHM



322 bay-tsahl-MAY-noo 323 kee-duh-moo-TAY-noo 324 vuh-yeer-DOO



325 veed-GAHT 326 ha-YOM 327 oo-vuh-OHF 328 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem



329 oo-va-beh-hey-MAH 330 oo-veh-CHOL 331 ha-AH-retz



332 oo-veh-KHOL 333 ha-REH-mes 334 ha-roh-MESH 335 ahl



336 ha-AH-rets















x#318. Review #22.







#319. Review #3.





#320. Review #64. See the NOON -- this tells you the form is



1st person common plural "we." However, here the verb is not



imperfect but cohortative--"let us make." G-d is speaking to His



Spirit mentioned back in 1:2. Up till now G-d has used the



jussive ("let there be"); now He uses the cohortative ("let us



make") as He prepares to use His Spirit in the creation of a



unique spiritual being made in His image, namely Mankind. Because



of the complexity in the being of the One G-d, He can communicate



with his rational creative Word (Ps. 33:6) and also with His



Spirit. Man, who is likewise both rational and spiritual can



deliberate within himself like G-d does in Gen. 11:7 NOON RESH



DALET HAY "let us go down" and Isaiah 6:8 "Who will go LAMMED



KAMATZ NOON SHURUK for us?"





#321. ah-DAHM "mankind" (not a proper name here in this verse).



ha-ah-DAHM "the man." Ah-dahm = Adam.





#322. bay-tsahl-MAY-noo "in-our-image" --Notice the



inseparable preposition at the beginning of the form. Review #1.



The root is TZADE SEGOL LAMMED SEGOL FINAL MEM "image" as



in



p.306 in your Hebrew lexicon and as in Gen.5:3 "when Adam had



lived 130 years he had a son in his own image." Review #321 to



see how human beings resemble G-d in a way that animals, lacking



rationality and a human spirit, do not. Notice the pronominal



suffix "our" (NOON SHURUK at the end of the form. Not "my image"



but "our image." Elohim HaAv, and Ben haElohim Moshiach Chochmah



of G-d (Psa. 2:7; Mishle 30:4) and the Ruach Hakodesh. Moses was



made aware of the complexity within the unity of the One G-d who



is Eh-loh-HEEM and Roo-ahkh ha-Eh-loh-HEEM, the Spirit of G-d and



D'vahr ha-Eh-loh-HEEM, the Word of G-d. It is foolhardy and



faithless to assert that such an idea is foreign to the Hebrew



Bible when it is literally staring right at you there in the



text.







#323. "kee-duh-moo-TAY-noo" according to our likeness" as in



Ezek. 1:26 where it says that on G-d's throne was the "likeness



as the appearance of a man" --the root is d'mut DALET SH'VA MEM



SHURUK TAV "likeness." KAF SH'VA "as, while, according to" is



an inseparable preposition.





#324. vuh-yeer-DOO "and let them rule" --root RESH KAMATZ



DALET KAMATZ HAY "he rules." This is jussive 3rd person masculine



plural. Man is like G-d in that he can rule over the rest of the



creation with G-d-like dominion.





#325. vee-duh-GAHT "over the fish of" --root DALET GIMMEL HAY



= "fish." The TAV tells you it is in construct with #326.



Review #109.







#326. Review #111.





#327. oo-vuh-OHF Review #236. There are a few rules to



remember concerning when the SH'VA is pronounced with an "uh"



sound. (Otherwise it is a silent syllable divider as in #324.)



SH'VA is generally pronounced at the beginning of a word as in



#1. SH'VA is generally pronounced if there are two of them, in



which case only the second of them would be pronounced as in



#231. A SH'VA under a dotted letter is generally pronounced as



in #189. A SH'VA is generally pronounced when it follows CHEEREEK



as in #325 or #397, when it follows SHURUK as in #330, when it



follows CHOLOM as in #826, when it follows TZAYREH, as in #853,



and when it follows KAMATZ as in #255 (though there are



exceptions, so let the accents help you). The SH'VA is generally



silent in the following CHATAF PATACH, CHATAF SEGOL, CHATAF



KAMATZ







#328. Review #5.







#329. Review #293.







#330. Review #250.



#331. Review #7.







#332. Review #250.







#333. Review #294







#334. Review #253







#335, Review #13.







#336. Review #7.















GEN.1:27







337 vay-yeev-RAH 338 Eh-loh-HEEM 339 et



340 ha-ah-DAHM 341 beh-tsahl-MOH 342 beh-TSEH-lehm



343 Eh-loh-HEEM 344 bah-RAH 345 oh-TOH 346 zah-KHAR



347 oon-keh-VAH 348 bah-RAH 349 oh-TAHM















#337. Review #244.







338. Review #3.







339. Review #4







#340. Review #321 and #312.





#341. buh-tsahl-MOH "in His image" --Review #322 and #128.



#342. buh-TSEH-lehm. Notice the accent. Review #322.





#343. Review #3.







344. Review #2.





#345. oh-TOH "him" Review #204. When for any reason it is better



to put the suffix somewhere else rather than at the end of the



verb, it can be connected with the sign of the direct object ALEF



TAV as here, CHOLOM + ALEF TAV = #345. Review #128.



#346. zah-KHAHR "male"





#347. oo-neh-keh-VAH "and female" from NOON KOOF VET HAY



"female." The inseparable conjunction ("and") VAV before a



consonant with SH'VA becomes SHURUK as here and also in #327 and



#330. When you see the ending KAMATZ HAY as here, it is an



indication of feminine gender. Notice mankind is ma1e and



female, humanity being incomplete one without the other, and the



complex unity of the Echad G-d not reflected without



male-and-female, two who can generate three. A similar



reflexion of G-d and his complex personhood is found in Daniel



7:13-14.







#348. Review #2.







#349. Review #204.

















GEN.1:28







350 vah-y'vah-rech 351 oh-TAHM 352 Eh-loh-HEEM 353 vay-YOH-mehr



354 lah-HEHM 355 Eh-loh-HEEM 356 p'ROO 357 oor-VOO



358 oo-meel-OO 359 et 360 ha-AH-rets 361 veh-kheee-vuh-SHOO-hah



362 oor-DOO 363 beed-gaht 364 hay-YAHM 365 oo-vuh-OHF



366 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem 367 oo-veh-khohl 368 chai-YAH



369 ha-roh-MEH-set 370 ahl 371 ha-AH-rets















#350. Review #267.







#351. Review #204.







#352. Review #3.







#353. Review #22.







#354. Iah-HEHM "to them." Review #63.



You need to know these pronominal suffixes.







3ms HAY SHURUK or KAMATZ YUD VAV or CHOLOM "his,"







3mp HAY SEGOL FINAL MEM "their, them" (as in this word #354)



3fs HAY KAMATZ or KAMATZ HAY with mappiq (see #292) "her"







3fp HAY SEGOL FINAL NOON "their, them"







2ms FINAL CHAF with KAMATZ "you, your"







2mp CHAF SEGOL FINAL MEM "you, your"





2fs FINAL CHAF with SH'VA "you, your"







2fp CHAF SEGOL FINAL MEM "you, your"







1cs CHEEREEK YUD "my, me"







1cp NOON SHURUK "our, us" (see #320)







#355. Review #3.







#356. Review #271.



#357. Review #272.







#358. Review #273.







#359. Review #4.







#360. Review #7.





#361. veh-khee-vuh-SHOO-hah "and subdue-you (plural)-her" from



KAF VET SHIN, "he subdues" --Review 3fs pronaminal suffix in



#354. Notice the KUBUTZ under the SHIN and review #15. This is



the SHURUK written defectively. #356, #357, #358 and this word



are all masculine plural imperatives or commands. These are



commandments to the human race. You should be aware of all the



imperatives in the Bible because obeying G-d is your duty. All



these imperatives look like the 2mp imperfect active verb without



the TAV in front.







#362. oo-ruh-DOO "and rule ye." Review #324. Another imperative.



Does not G-d command us to rule and reign and be overcomers?



Remember Revelation's refrain "to him who overcomes I will



give...?" Notice this word and how it unifies the meaning: The



sun rules over the day, the moon rules over the night, the tree



rules over eternal life, mankind rules over creation in the



divine image and after the divine likeness, the husband rules



over the wife, the Moshiach will rule over (actually crush



Satan's head) the seed of the Serpent, and G-d rules over all.



The Fall is rebellion against this G-d-ordained ruling order in



the cosmos. The Olam Hazeh is in rebellion, just as Rav Sha'ul



was as long as he was part of the world and attacking the



Messianic Jewish people. Do you think it's time you stop your



rebellion?







#363. Review #325. Is the SH'VA pronounced? Review #327.







#364. Review #111. Notice the definite article. The article



cannot be prefixed to a noun in the construct state (#363 is in



the construct state--review #109); if the article is needed, it



is given to the noun following, as here.





#365. Review #236.







#366. Review #5.







#367. Review #250.







#368. Review #295 "living."







#369. Review #253.







#370. Review #13.







#371. Review #7.















GEN.1:29







372 vahy-YOH-mehr 373 Eh-loh-HEEM 374 hee-NAY



375 nah-TAH-tee 376 lah-khehm 377 et 378 kol 379 EH-sev 380



zoh-RAY-ah 381 ZEH-rah 382 ah-sher 383 ahl 384 p'NAY



385 khohl 386 ha-AH-rets 387 v'et 388 kol 389 ha-aitz 390 ah-sher



391 boh 392 p'REE 393 aitz 394 zoh-RAY-ah 395 ZAH-rah



396 lah-KHEHM 397 yee-heh-yeh 398 leh-ohkh-LAH













#372. Review #22.







#373. Review #3.





#374. hee-NAY "Look!" This word means "pay attention."



Unfortunately, we don't pay attention to eating habits, even



though G-d has made the gift of vegetables and green, leafy herbs



and fruits available "for food" to the human race. Nutritionists



know that these will not have the adverse effects on health that



other types of diets have. Obese people often lose weight by



eating lots of vegetables and cutting down on other foods. This



verse needs to be meditated on by people who are foodoholics.



Look at what Prov. 23:20-21 says about the glutton ZAYIN CHOLOM



LAMMED TZAYREH LAMMED who gorges himself on flesh/meat.



#375. nah-TAH-tee "I have given" --Qal perfect 1st common



singular. Someday when you are depressed and you feel you have



nothing, take your Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of



the Old Testament (Baker Book House Publishers) and look up NOON



TAV FINAL NOON "he gives" and see the hundreds and hundreds of



times it occurs on pages 851-863 in that book and you will be



overwhelmed with all G-d has given you and the world and the



Jewish people.





#376. Review #42 and #354.







#377. Review #4.







#378. Review #250.





#379. Review #121.





#380. zoh-RAY-ah "seed-bearing" This is a participle as we see



from the CHOLOM. Participles are also indicated by a preformative



MEM. Review #122.







#381. Review #123.







#382. Review #71.







#383. Review #13.







#384. Review #14.







#385. Review #250.







#386. Review #7.







#387. Review #6.







#388. Review #250.







#389. Review #124.







#390. Review #71.





#391. Review #131. Notice the dagesh makes it "boh" instead of



"voh."







#392. Review #125. This is in construct with #393. Review #109.





#393. Review #124.







#394. Review #380.





#395. ZAH-rah "seed" Review #123 and #3 (the accent we spoke of



in #3 has lengthed this vowel because it is "in pause").



#396. Review #42 and #354.





#397. yee-huh-yeh "he/it shall be" imperfect 3ms of #24. Is the



SH'VA pronounced? Review #327.





#398. luh-ohkh-LAH "for food" --See the verb "he ate" in #116.















GEN.1:30







399 oo-leh-khohl 400 chai-YAHT 401 ha-AH-rets 402 oo-leh-KHOHL



403 ohf 404 hash-shah-MY-yeem 405 oo-leh-KHOHL 406 roh-MES



407 ahl 408 ha-AH-rets 409 ah-sher 410 boh 411 NEH-fesh



412 chai-YAH 413 et 414 kohl 415 YEH-rek 416 EH-sev



417 leh-ohkh-LAH 418 vay-yeh-HEE 419 khehn

















#399. Review #250. "and-to-every-of."







#400. Review #295.







#401. Review #7.







#402. Review #250.







#403. Review #236.







#404. Review #5.







#405. Review #250.





#406. Review #253. Do you see the CHOLOM that makes this a



participle? Review #380.







#407. Review #13.







#408. Review #7.







#409. Review #71.







#410. Review #131.







#411. Review #234.





#412. Review #235. Translate #234 and #235 as "breath of life."



#413. Review #4.







#414. Review #250.





#415. YEH-rehk "green" from YUD RESH KOOF "green."





#416. Review #121.







#417. Review #398.







#418. Review #79.







#419. Review #80.















GEN.1:31







420 vay-yahr 421 Eh-loh-HEEM 422 et 423 kohl 424 ah-sher 425



ah-SAH 426 v'hee-NAY 427 tov 428 meh-OHD 429 vah-yeh-HEE 430



EH-rev 431 vah-yeh-HEE 432 VOH-kehr 433 yom



434 ha-shee-SHEE















#420. Review #28.







#421. Review #3.







#422. Review #4.





#423. Review #250.







#424. Review #71.







#425. Review #64.





#426. Review #374.







#427. Review #33.





#428. meh-OHD "very, exceedingly." This 13 an adverb modifying



the adjective #427. The perfection and harmony of the universe



and the earth and all that is in it is "very good."







#429. Review #26.







#430. Review #48.







#431. Review #26.







#432. Review #50.







#433. Review #43.







#434. "ha-shee-SHEE" "the sixth." Go back and make sure you can



count from one to six in Hebrew.















GEN.2:1







435 vah-yuh-khoo-LOO 436 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem



437 veh-ha-AH-rets 438 vuh-KHOHL 439 tseh-vah-AHM















#435. vah-yuh-khoo-LOO "and they were finished" from the root



CHAF LAMMED HAY "he finished." Review #116 and #267 where you



were introduced various verb stems and the force of their



meaning. In the piel (intensive active) stem, this verb means



finish. In the pual (intensive passive) this verb means "be



finished" which is the meaning here. The KUBUTZ in verbal forms



marks the passive, and under the first radical or letter of the



root, as here, marks the pual stem.





#436. Review #5.







#437. Review #7.







#438. Review #250.







#439. tsuh-vah-AHM "their hosts, array" from TZADE VET ALEF,



"army, host." The L-rd is the L-rd of Hosts or Armies in the



Bible, Adonoy Tz'vaot. --Notice the pronominal suffix, "their



array." Review #354.















GEN.2:2







440 vah-yuh-KHOHL 441 Eh-loh-HEEM 442 bahy-YOM



443 hah-shuh-vee-EE 444 meh-lahkh-TOH 445 ah-sher 446 ah-sah



447 vahy-yeesh-BOHT 448 bah-YOM 449 hash-shuh-vee-ee



450 mee-KOHL 451 meh-lahkh-TOH 452 ah-sher 453 ah-sah















#440. vah-yuh-KHAHL "and he finished." Review #435.





#441. Review #3.







#442. bahy-YOHM "by the day" Do you see the definite article has



been omitted? When the definite article HAY PATACH DAGESH is



preceded by a preposition (as here) it is omitted and its vowel



is thrown back to fall under the preposition. Do you see the



dagesh of the definite article in the YUD? What two things tell



you the definite article is hidden in this word? Remember it is



not "by day" but "by the day." Moshe Rabbeinu is teaching, "If



G-d can finish all His work by the Sabbath, why can't you



Sabbath-breakers finish all your work by the Sabbath?" #443.



hah-shuh-vee-EE "the seventh". (Jewish people "sit shivah" or



seven days as a period of avelut (mourning) when a loved one



dies). Review #248.







#444. muh-lahkh-TOH "his work" Review #354. This is a noun MEM



LAMMED ALEF CHAF HAY = "work, occupation. workmanship, service."



Shliach Sha'ul says that whoever is not willing to engage in



this, let him not engage in eating either (II Thes. 3: 10).



#445. Review #71.







#446. Review #64.





#447. vahy-yeesh-BOHT "and he rested" Qal imperfect with



CONVERSIVE VAHV. --root SHIN VET TAV "he rested." This is where



we get the noun SHABBAT or Sabbath, which we see begins on Friday



evening and ends on Saturday evening, with Yom Rishon, Yom



HaAdon, actually starting on Saturday evening and ending just



before Sunday evening, according to the Biblical reckoning that a



day begins at evening. The early believers in the Brit Chadasha



observed both days (I Cor. 16:2; Acts 20:7; Rev. 1:l0; Acts



21:20) and, since the thing that ultimately matters is the new



birth, we're warned not to take an arrogant attitude toward



either day or toward anyone who observed either day (Rom.



14:5,l0). However, in Jewish ministry we cannot neglect starting



messianic synagogues with a full array of week-end services where



we minister on both Shabbos and Yom haAdon the days like the



first Brit Chadasha Kehillah in Yerushalayim.







#448. Review #442. The preposition can mean "by, in, on, over,



with." Here it means on.







#449. Review #443.







#450. mee-KOHL --Review #250 and #72. "from all of."







#451. Review #444.







#452. Review #71.







#453. Review #64.















GEN.2:3







454 vah-y'vah-REHKH 455 Eh-loh-HEEM 456 et 457 yom



458 hash-shuh-vee-ee 459 vah-yuh-kah-DAYSH 460 oh-TOH 461 kee



462 voh 463 shah-VAHT 464 mee-KOHL 465 muh-lahkh-TOH



466 ah-sher 467 bah-RAH 468 Eh-loh-HEEM 469 lah-ah-SOHT



















#454. Review #267.







#455. Review #3.





#456. Review #4.







#457. Review #43.







458. Review #443.







#459. veh-yuh-kah-DAYSH "and he made holy, he sanctified, set



apart" --from KOOF DALET SHIN "he was holy." This is the piel



(intensive or causative) stem. Review #267 and look for the



dagesh forte in the second radical or letter of the root.



#460. oh-TOH "it" Review #204 and #354.





#461. Review #32.







#462. Review #32 but here it means "because."





#463. Review #447.







#464. Review #450.







#465. Review #444.







#466. Review #71.







#467. Review #2.







#468. Review #3.







#469. This is the Qal infinitive of the verb you had at #64.



There are two infinitive forms, the infinitive construct and the



infinitive absolute. When you see a preposition (as here) affixed



to an infinitive or pronominal suffixes attached to the end, you



know it is an infinitive construct. The infinitive construct is a



verbal noun, the name of the action or state expressed by the



verb. Here "to make" = "in making. creating." So here we see



that rest is holy, not worldly recreation. Notice the SAMECH in



the right hand margin of BHS next to this word and review #159.



This is the end of the first of 167 Sedarim in the Torah.











GEN.2:4







470 EH-leh 471 tohl-DOHT 472 hahsh-sha-MY-yeem 473 veh-ha-AH-rets



474 buh-hee-bahr-AHM 475 buh-YOHM 476 ah-SOT 477 Adonoy



478 Eh-loh-HEEM 479 EH-rets 480 v'shah-MY-yeem













#470. EH-leh "these" --This is a demonstrative pronoun. You



need to learn it. Also "this" ZAYIN SEGOL HAY (masculine) and



"this ZAYIN CHOLOM ALEF TAV (feminine).







#471. tohl-DOHT "account/history of generations." Here we see



that the creation of the heavens end the earth was an historic



event as opposed to the Greek idea of the eternality of the



universe. This word #471 is a major organizing word for



outlining the book. See its reappearance 5:1; 6:9; 10:1;



11:10,27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2.







#472. Review #5.







#473. Review #7.







#474. buh-hee-bahr-AHM "when to be created them" or "in their



being created." Review #2. This is a Nifal (passive stem)



infinitive construct (review #469) governed by the preposition



BET. The nifal NOON has become dagesh forte in the VET (review



#203). The other sign that this is a nifal infinitive construct



stem is the KAMATZ under the first radical with the HAY in front



of it. Do you see that the pronominal suffix is "them" or



"their" (review #354).







#475. Review #448 but here no def. article.







#476. Review #469.







#477. The original pronunciation of YUD HAY VAV HAY is sacred



but we say Hashem (literally, the Name). The JW cult



mispronounces and blasphemes his holy name. Jewish people read



Adonai and put the vowel points of that word under this word in



order to remind them not to use the sacred name itself. Review



#6.







#478. Review #3.







#479. Review #7.







#480. Review #5. We need to make this verse more fluent in



English, "This is the history of the generations of the heavens



and the earth when they (the heavens and the earth) were



created."















GEN.2:5







481 vuh-KHOHL 482 SEE-ahkh 483 hahs-sah-DEH484 TEH-rehm 485



yee-heh-YEH 486 vah-AH-rets 487 vuh-KHOHL 488 EH-sev 489



hahs-sah-DEH 490 The-rehm 491 yeets-MAHKH 492 kee 493 lo 494



heem-TEER 495 Adonoy 496 Eh-loh-HEEM 497 ahl



498 ha-AH-rets 499 vuh-ah-DAHM 500 AH-yeen 501 lah-ah-VOHD 502 et



503 ha-ah-dah-MAH















#481. Review #250.







#482. SEE-ahkh "desert shrub of"--Review #16 to pronounce the



last syllable.







#483. hahs-sah-DEH "the field" Root SIN DALET HAY = "field,



land."







#484. TEH-rehm "not yet" --This is en adverb, here modifying



the verb in #485.







#485. Review #397.







#486. Review #7.







#487. Review #250.







#488. Review #121.







#489. Review #483.







#490. Review #484.





#491. yeets-MAHKH "he sprang up" --Root TZADE MEM CHET "he



sprouted, branched out." This verb has the same root letters



found in the noun for the allegorical name of the Moshiach, "The



Branch" TSEH-mahkh in Jer. 23:5-6 and Zech. 3:8; Ezra 3:8;



6:11-12. and it says Yehoshua/Yeshua is "his" name. In Acts 7:45



we find out that the Greek word for Yehoshua, Joshua, and Yeshua



is all the same word, proving that the Hebrew name of our



Messiah, Yehoshua, according to the Brit Chadasha and the Tanakh



Scriptures is the name of Moshiach. (See HOW TO POINT TO



MOSHIACH IN YOUR RABBI'S BIBLE on this word from our AFII



website at http://www.afii.org ) This is a Qal imperfect 3ms



verb. Remember the imperfect tense has the incomplete idea that



the action of the verb had not yet come to pass or is not



completed.







#492. Review #32.







#493. loh "not, no."





#494. heem-TEER "he had caused rain" --The root is MEM TET RESH



"he/it rained" but the HAY preformative means it is the hifil



stem of the root. Review #116.







#495. Review #477.







#496. Review #3.







#497. Review #13.







#498. Review #7.







#499. Review #321.







#500. AH-yeen "was not" --This is a substantive (noun) meaning



"nothing" but it is used as a predicate "and there was not." See



the word used in Dan.9:26, "And after the 62 heptads Moshiach



will be cut off and there was not to him." Or "Moshiach will be



cut off [violently killed] and not for him [i.e. for himself, see



Isaiah 53:5 "he was wounded/pierced for OUR transgressions," not



for HIS transgressions.]







#501. lah-ah-VOHD "to work" --Qal infinitive construct of the



verb AYIN VET DALET "he worked, served." The CHOLOM is a sign of



the Qal infinitive construct. Review #469.







#502. Review #4.







#503. Review #312. In the beginning, everything is barren



because the L-rd had not yet "worked" the land by causing rain



to fall on it, and there was not yet a man to "work" the land by



tilling it or farming it. We see here that when man comes an the



scene, G-d intends him to be a fruitful co-laborer with G-d (I



Cor. 3:9).















GEN.2:6







504 veh-EHD 505 yah-ah-LEH 506 meen 507 ha-AH-rets



508 veh-heesh-KAH 509 et 510 kohl 511 p'NAY 512 ha-ah-dah-MAH















#504. veh-EHD "but spring".







#505. yah-eh-LEH "it used to go, rise" --Qal imperfect of AYIN



LAMMED HAY, "he went up." The imperfect in past sense expresses



duration or customary action.







#506. Review #72. #507. Review #7.







#508. veh-heesh-KAH "and He watered" --Root SHIN KOOF HAY "he



gave to drink, he watered." This is the hifal stem. Do you see



the HAY? The CONVERSIVE VAV VAV PATACH DAGESH gives the



verb



the



same force as the verb in #505. Review #21 for why there's no



dagesh or dot in the HAY.







#509. Review #4. #510. Review #250. #511. Review #20.



#512. Review #312.















GEN. 2:7







513 vahy-yee-TSEHR 514 Adonoy 515 Eh-loh-HEEM 516 et



517 ha-ah-DAHM 518 ah-FAHR 519 meen 520 ha-ah-dah-MAH



521 vahy-yee-PAHKH 522 beh-ah-PAHV 523 neesh-MAHT 524



chai-YEEM



525 vay-yeh-HEE 526 ha-ah-DAHM 527 luh-NEH-fesh 528 chai-YAH















#513. vahy-yee-TSEHR "and He formed" Root YUD TZADE RESH "he



formed" --This is the Qal imperfect with CONVERSIVE VAHV VAV



PATACH DAGESH







#514. Review #477. #515. Review #3. #516. Review #4.







#517. Review #321.







#518. ah-FAHR "dust." If one sees how a dead body decomposes and



in time becomes dust, it does not take much of a chemist to see



that such is the "stuff" of which the body is made and returns.



Man is made of dirt, he works or tills the dirt, and he returns



to it (see 3:19 where the same word is used), but if we are the



clay, G-d is the potter who shapes us (see #513).







#519. Review #72.







#520. Review #312.







#521. vahy-yee-PAHKH "and He breathed" from the root NOON FINAL



NOON FAY CHET meaning "to blow." The NOON is assimilated into



dagesh forte in the PAY. Do you see why it is perfect and not



imperfect? CONVERSIVE VAHV changes imperfect to perfect. G-d



breathed the breath of life into Man's nostrils (Gen.2:7), and it



is through the nostrils that man breathes so also lives. (See



Isa.2:22, which says "Turn away from mortals, which has only the



breath in its nostrils. Of what account are they?") The sneeze of



the son of the Shunammite woman in II Kings 4:35 showsthat life



has returned. But more profoundly Yochanan says, "In Him was (the



breath of divine) life, and the life was the light of Man"



(Yochanan 1:4) and he breathed on them (to regenerate them in the



divine life) and they received the Ruach Hakodesh (Yochanan



20:22).







#522. beh-ah-PAHV "into his nostrils" --Root is ALEF FINAL FAY



nose. 3rd masculine singular suffix, review #354.







#523. Review #234. This word is in construct with #235.







#524. Review #235.







#525. Review #24 and #26. --"and he became" (the subject of this



verb is #526.







#526. Review #321. #527. Review #234. #528. Review #235.















GEN.2:8







529 vahy-yeet-TAH 530 Adonoy 531 Eh-loh-HEEM 532 gahn



533 beh-EH-dehn 534 mee-KEH-dehm 535 vah-YAH-sehm 536 shahm



537 et 538 ha-ah-DAHM 539 ah-sher 540 yah-TSAR















#529. vahy-yeet-TAH "and he planted" from NOON TET AYIN "he



planted" Review #203.







#530. Review #477. #531. Review #3. #532. gahn "garden".



#533. beh-EH-dehn "in Eden." Notice the accent.







#534. mee-KEH-dehm "from East, in East" --KOOF DALET FINAL MEM



=



East. Review #72.







#535. vah-YAH-sehm "and he put" --Root SIN YUD FINAL MEM = he



put.







#536. "shahm" there. #537. Review #4.







#538. Review #321. #539. Review #71.







#540. Review #513.































GEN.2:9







541 vahy-yahts-MAHKH 542 Adonoy 543 Eh-loh-HEEM 544 meen



545 ha-ah-dah-MAH 546 kohl 547 aitz 548 nehkh-MAHD



549 leh-mahr-AY 550 vuh-tov 551 leh-mah-ah-KHOHL 552 vuh-aitz



553 ha-chai-YEEM 554 beh-TOHKH 555 ha-gahn 556 vuh-aitz



557 ha-DAH-aht 558 tov 559 vah-RAH















#541. vahy-yahts-MAHKH --Review #491. The PATACH under the



preformative is an indicator of the hifil stem. Review #116. "he



caused to sprout forth."







#542. Review #477. #543. Review #3. #544. Review #72.



#545. Review #312.



#546. Review #250. Before an indefinite noun (without the



definite article) this word may mean "all kinds of."







#547. Review #124. "all kinds of trees."







#548. nehkh-MAHD "being pleasant"--from NOON CHET MEM RESH



"to



be desirable" --The NOON indicates nifal. Review #116.



#549. leh-mehr-AY "to sight" Review #28. The noun is formed out



of the verb by the prefix MEM.







#550. Review #33.







#551. leh-mah-ah-KHOHL "for food." "Good for eating." Review



#398.







#552. Review #124.







#553. Review #295. Do you see how the plural ending might be a



"plural of extension" (as in AYIN CHOLOM LAMMED MEM YUD



FINAL



MEM which is the plural of AYIN LAMMED FINAL MEM "ancient time,



ages" and in the plural means everlasting ages or eternity or



forever as in Isaiah 51:9 (cf. Isa. 53:1) regarding the Z'ro'a



Hashem Moshiach)? Remember the plural ending of Elohim is not a



true plural but a plural of majesty or plural of excellence."



The word #553 is in the Hebrew Bible used of endless life not



only in Daniel 12:2 but from the beginning, right here, as is



clear in Gen. 3:22 "he might reach out his hand and take also



from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." So the notion



that the concept of Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life) is a late idea



in Judaism is a liberal untruth. Such was the Besuras haGeulah



from the beginning. We are making every sacrifice to see Jews



and Non-Jews delivered from judgment because as Daniel 12:2 makes



clear, Shomayim and Gehinnom are forever.







#554. Review #57. "In the middle of" suggests its central



importance.







#555. Review #532. #556. Review #124.







#557. ha-DAH-ahs "the knowledge" from the root YUD DALET AYIN



"he knew." Review #248. Notice the accent under the second



syllable.







#558. Review #33.







#559. vah-RAH "and evil RESH AYIN = evil. Review #124 for the



meaning of this expression.















GEN. 2:10







560 veh-nah-HAHR 561 yoh-TSEH 562 meh-EH-dehn



563 leh-hahsh-KOHT 564 et 565 ha-gahn 566 oo-mee-SHAHM



567 yee-pah-REHD 568 veh-hai-YAH 569 leh-AHR-bah-ah



570 rah-SHEEM















#560. veh-nah-HAHR "and river/stream."







#561. Review #288. "going forth" The CHOLOM tells you this is an



active participle of the Qal stem. Review #406.







#562. meh-EH-dehn "from Eden." Review #72.







#563. Review #508. leh-hahsh-KOHT "to cause to drink, i.e. to



water." This is a hifal infinitive construct (note the



HAY).Review #469.





#564. Review #4. #565. Review #532.







#566. oo-mee-SHAHM Review #72 and #536.







#567. yee-pah-REHD "it divides itself." Note the assimilated



NOON seen as dagesh forte in the PAY. The nifal can be either



passive or reflexive, here reflexive. Review #116. The KAMATZ



under the first radical is the second indicator of the nifal



stem.







#568. veh-hay-YAH "and it became" Review #9.







#569. leh-AHR-bah-ah "for four" --Review #228.







#570. rah-SHEEM "heads, head streams" --Review #1. The Zohar



speaks about three heads in Elohim, see EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO



GROW A MESSIANIC SYNAGOGUE and EVERYTHING YOU NEED



TO



GROW A MESSIANIC YESHIVA on our website. Download the files.











GEN. 2:11







571 shehm 572 ha-eh-KHAD 573 pee-SHOHN 574 hoo 575 ha-soh-VEHV



576 et 577 kol 578 EH-rets 579 ha-khah-vee-LAH 580 ah-sher



581 shahm 582 haz-zah-HAHV















#571. shehm "name" not to be confused with #536.







#572. Review #52.







#573. pee-SHOHN. Scholars believe that this river flowed into



what is today the Persian Gulf, an area which is important in the



beginning of the Bible and may prove important in end-time



prophetic fulfillments in our own day.







#574. hoo "he/it" (is).







#575. ha-soh-VEHV "the one winding" --Root SAMECH VET VET "to



turn around, go around, surround." Do you see this is a



participle? Review #406.







#576. Review #4. #577. Review #250.







#578. Review #7 and #546.







#579. ha-khah-vee-LAH "the Havilah" In Gen. 25:18 Havilah is



Ishmaelite territory and seems to be in southwestern Arabia.



#580. Review #71. #581. Review #536.







#582. haz-zah-HAHV "the gold" --Do you see the definite article?



ZAYIN HAY VET = "gold."















GEN. 2:12







583 oo-zah-hahv 584 ha-AH-rets 585 ha-HEE 586 tov 587 shahm



588hahb-DOH-lahkh 589 veh-EH-vehn 590 ha-SHOH-hahm















#583. Review #582. Remember #38 because it falls before a



consonant with SH'VA.







#584. Review #7.







#585. This is archaic. ha-HEE "the that(f.)" here used as a



remote demonstrative pronoun modifying #584, which is also



feminine. Review #470.







#586. Review #33. #587. Review #536.







#588. hahb-DOH-lahkh "bdellium" --a fragrant yellowish



transparent gum to which manna is compared in Num.11:7.



#589. veh-EH-vehn "and stone of" This word "stone" refers to



the Moshiach in Dan.2:35 and Psalm 118:22. The "Builders" of



Judaism rejected this Stone (Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 53).







#590. ha-SHOH-hahm "the onyx."















GEN. 2:13







591 vuh-SHEHM 592 hahn-nah-HAHR 593 ha-shay-NEE



594 ghee-KHOHN 595 hoo 596 ha-soh-VEHV 597 et 598 kohl



599 EH-rets 600 Koosh















#591. Review #571. #592. Review #560.







#593. Review #90 and #248. Do you the definite article?







#594. ghee-KHOHN --This river is associated with the Nile and



Egypt as is the river at #573.







#595. hoo "that (m.) (was)" --Here the remote demonstrative



pronoun "that (m.)" modifying the masculine noun #592 has the



force of a copula or "linking verb." Review #585.







#596. Review #575. #597. Review #4.







#598. Review #250. #599. Review #7 and #546.







#600. koosh "Cush" (this word may indicate western Iran here



although normally it refers to ancient Nubia or modern northern



Sudan, a land of famine and fundamentalist Islamic despotic



government now. This word describes one of Gog's allies, along



with Iran and Libya in Ezekiel 38:5 when an end-time invasion of



Israel takes place.)



































GEN. 2:14







601 veh-shem 602 hahn-nah-HAHR 603 ha-sheh-lee-SHEE



604 chee-DEH-kehl 605 hoo 606 ha-hoh-LEHKH 607 keed-MAHT



608 ah-SHOOR 609 vuh-hahn-nah-HAHR 610 ha-ruh-vee-EE 611 hoo



612 fuh-RAHT















#601. Review #571. #602. Review #560.







#603. Review #159. #604. hee-DEH-kehl "Tigris."







#605. Review #595.







#606. ha-ho-LEHKH "the one running/going" Qal active participle



(see the CHOLOM?) of HAY LAMMED FINAL CHAF "he went, walked."



The



participle often serves as the equivalent of a relative clause,"



which flows etc" --From this root we get the noun halakhah,



which is the legal part of the Talmud where the rabbis discuss



how one must "walk," according to the laws of the Bible and their



own traditions, which they call "the oral law."







#607. keed-MAHT "eastward of" Review #534.







#608. ah-SHOOR "Assyria" See Micah 5:5. This is Iraq, which



the Bible says will invade Israel. (The Northern kingdom of



Israel and its capital Samaria were invaded and destroyed in 722



B.C.E. as a partial fulfillment of Micah's prophecy.) "The



Assyrian" is the eschatological enemy of Israel, like Gog in



Ezekiel (both invade Israel in the last days). Apparently, Micah



expected the Moshiach to come at the end ofthe Assyrian (Iraqi?)



crisis in the last days.







#609. Review #560. #610. Review #228.







#611. Review #595. #612. fuh-RAHT "Euphrates"



















GEN 2:15







613 vahy-yek-KAHKH 614 Adonoy 615 Eh-loh-HEEM 616 et



617 ha-ah-DAHM 618 vahy-yah-nee-KHAY-hoo 619 vuh-gahn



620 EH-den 621 leh-ahv-DAH 622 oo-leh-shahm-RAH















#613. vahy-yeek-KAHKH "and he took" from LAMMED KOOF CHET "he



took" but here the LAMMED is assimilated as in #203. Do you see



the imperfect indicator YUD and the conversive VAV that makes the



imperfect perfect? Review #22.







#614. Review #477. #615. Review #3. #616. Review #4.



#617. Review #321.







#618. vahy-yahh-nee-KHAY-hoo "and He caused to put/rest him"



hifil stem from NOON VAV CHET "he gave rest, put" with 3rd



masculine pronominal suffix ending "him" --Review #354.



#619. Review #532. #620. Review #533.







#621. Ieh-ahv-DAH "to work her (i.e. the garden)" --Review



#501.







#622. oo-leh-shahm-RAH "and to cars for/keep her" 9DV "he keeps,



watches" Review #621. The infinitive form ofthe verb is



"infinite," without the limits of person, gender,number, or



tense and does not need to agree with any other word in the



sentence. In English, "I went to serve," serve is an infinitive



indicated by the word "to" and the unconjugated form of the verb.



#621 and #622 are both infinitive constructs. So G-d put man on



earth to till his garden and to keep it. The purpose for which



man was created was to work and take care of G-d's world as



G-d's steward. Ecclesiastes (Kohelet) says man should find



pleasure in this. The Thessalonian epistles says that man, even



regenerate man, must work. Here in this verse we find the



reason. It was for this cause that we were created in the



beginning. One of the things that requires work is Textual



Criticism. This is the task of reconstructing the original



inerrant text of the Bible from the available manuscripts,



versions, and ancient translational clues. If you look at page



192 in your Biblica Hebraica and look at Lev.20:l0 you will see



five Hebrew words sandwiched in between two a's. These five words



are ISH ASHER YINAF ES ESHET. If you look down at the bottom of



the page in the BHS textual apparatus, you will see the note 10



a-a > G min, dl (dttg). This means that these Hebrew words are



absent from the Septuagint, and that you should delete them,



because this is dittography, the accidental duplication of a



letter or letters in a single word or group of words. If you



notice, these five words are an almost exact duplication of the



first five words in the verse. The scribe's eye skipped and he



unwittingly copied these words twice. Now do you see why you need



the Biblica Hebraica? How can we begin preaching a text until we



have first established the text? See p.218.























GEN 2:16







623 vah-yuh-TSAHV 624 Adonoy 625 Eh-loh-HEEM 626 ahl



627 ha-ah-DAHM 628 leh-MOHR 629 mee-KOHL 630 aitz 631 ha-gahn



632 ah-KHOHL 633 toh-KHEHL















#623. vah-yuh-TSAHV "and He commanded" from the root TZADE VAV



HAY, "he commanded." This is imperfect with CONVERSIVE VAV.



The PATACH under the first radical indicates it is a piel



intensive stem. We get the word MITZVAH from this same root,



meaning a deed, duty, or commandment. Orthodox Jews believe they



have found 613 MITZVOT in their Scripture which they must obey.



The problem is that "merit" gets involved in their thinking. In



THE TORAH: A MODERN COMMENTARY (UNION OF AMERICAN



HEBREW



CONGREGATIONS, NEW YORK, 1981), the comment says that "the



mainstream of Judaism" refused to make the "tale of Eden" an



important aspect of its world view and maintained that the only



road to salvation was through g-dly deeds (mitzvot) rather than



through belief in a Moshi'a (savior), and that "while man tended



to corruption (Gen. 6:5; 8:21), he was not basically a corrupt



creature." Notice the Pelagianism dressed up like Judaism. The



comment goes on to assert that by carrying out G-d's commandments



man can overcome or at least control the yetzer hara and thereby



develop his impulse for good. In this view mitzvot innoculate



against sin. Later we will analyze the Pelagian error in this



statement. For right now, realize that the early Jewish



followers of Moshiach in the first century had zeal for the



mitzvot (Acts 21:20) but did not rely on mitzvot for salvation



(Eph. 2:8-9). To reach the Orthodox Jews and the Chassidic Jews



with the Good News, messianic synagogue planters need to be



raised up by G-d and trained to establish shuls that are zealous



for the mitzvot and which put themselves as if subject to the Law



to win those who are under the Law (I Cor. 9:20). To see what



that entails, one must ask, "When we see the Orthodox Jewish man



hurrying to shul every day, which laws is he so zealous to



observe?" To answer the question, start by reading Abraham



Chill's THE MITZVOT, the commandments and their rationale, Keter



Publishing, 1974.







#624. Review #477. #625. Review #3. #626. Review #13.



#627. Review #321 #628. Review #270.







#629. Review #72 and #250. #630. Review #124.







#631. Review #532.







#632. Review #116. Remember we said an infinitive can be either



an infinitive construct or an infinitive absolute. This is a Qal



infinitive absolute (the form that stands alone without pronouns



or prepositions) and we translate it "to eat." The KAMATZ under



the first radical and the CHOLOM between the second and third



radicals are the indicators.







#633. same root as #632. VERY IMPORTANT: the imperfect active



2ms. Do you see the TAV preformative? G-d is talking to the man



as the kohen of his own household and he is giving the



commandment to him, not to his wife. The man is the head of the



household, not the wife. Later we will see that the woman does



not check with the head of her household, her husband, before she



gets involved with the forbidden tree and the Tempter. She in



effect goes over the head of his office, like Korah in the



wilderness with Moses. She does not respect her head. I Cor. 11



is on this problem. And the man does not function as the kohen



of his bayis (household). Look at the verb --"you (masculine



singular) may eat." Notice the infinitive absolute emphasizes the



verb. This is why the translations say "you may indeed eat" or



"you may freely eat." Do you see the same root ALEF CHAF LAMMED



"he ate" used in both #632 and #633?















GEN. 2:17







634 oo-meh-AITZ 635 ha-DAH-aht 636 tov 637 vah-rah 638 lo 639



toh-KHOHL 640 mee-MEHN-noo 641 kee 642 buh-YOM



643 ah-KHOHL-khah 644 mee-MEHN-noo 645 MOHT 646 tah-MOOT

















#634. Review #72 and #124. #635.Review #124.







#636. Review #124. #637. Review #124.





#638. Review #493. #639. Review #633.







#640. Review #72 and #354. MEM CHEEREEK FINAL NOON (MIN)



takes



a special form before suffixes. The HAY is assimilated and



represented by dagesh forte in the NOON. mee-MEHN-noo = "from



it."







#641. Review #32. #642. Review #1 and #43.







#643. ah-KHOHL-khah "your eating" --This is an infinitive



construct. Review #469.







#644. Review #640.







#645. Review #633 on the force of the infinitive absolute. The



root in both #645 and #646 is MEM VAV TAV "he died." It looks



different because it is a so called "hollow verb. "dying."



#646. tah-MOOT "you will die." This is also an imperfect



active 2nd person masculine singular verb as in #633. Because



the infinitive absolute in #645 emphasizes the verb, the root of



which is repeated in #646, we should translate, "dying you will



die" into more fluent "you will indeed die." G-d is emphasizing



the lethal aspect of disobeying his commandment. So the text of



Gen. 2:17 is saying that the man who scorns G-d's sovereign and



revealed will in the Holy Scriptures and instead chooses moral



autonomy will eat the corrupting fruit of his sin. This is an



epochal commandment to the entire old humanity in Adam. We will



soon see in the narrative that man by nature is lost in the fall



and eats of this tree by nature and has a blind and stubborn



heart needing spiritual circumcision and a Deliverer. When the



Moshiach comes on the scene as the new Adam with the tevilah of



the Ruach Hakodesh and the spiritual rebirth for man, a new



humanity will begin to be fruitful and multiply all over the



earth in anticipation of the new heavens and the new earth and



the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven. This new Adam will



say, "My food (not from the tree of the knowledge of good and



evil) is to do (not my own will as in moral autonomy) but the



will of him who sent me" (Yochanan 4:34).















GEN. 2:18







647 vahy-YOH-mehr 648 Adonoy 649 Eh-loh-HEEM 650 lo 651 tov



652 heh-YOHT 653 ha-ah-DAHM 654 leh-vah-DOH 655 EH-eh-seh



656 lo 657 AY-zehr 658 keh-nehg-DOH



















#647. Review #22. #648. Review #477. #649. Review #3.



#650. Review #493. #651. Review #33.







#652. Review #9. This is an infinitive. "to be"







#653. Review #321.







#654. leh-vah-DOH "in his separation, i.e. alone" BET PATACH



DALET = separation (noun). Review #354. It may not be G-d's



will for every person to marry, but it is G-d's will for people



not to be separate from Messianic fellowship. It is not good to



separate oneself from G-d's people and be alone. The mental



illness and spiritual immaturity we see even in believers often



stems from this problem, where people willfully cut themselves



off from Messianic chavurah and the Moshiach's Tish and go their



own way and stubbornly do what is not good for them.



#655. Review #64, especially Imperfect active 1cs, EH-eh-seh "I



will make." The mappiq dot in the last HAY in BHS is unusual and



is not followed by most manuscripts. It is not the feminine



singular suffix "her" as in "her seed" in Gen. 3:l5. Ignore it



here.







#656. Review #44 and #354.







#657. AY-zehr "helper." Man needs help. In separation he is



weak and not adequate, in the sense that he is in a situation



that is not good.







#658. keh-nehg-DOH "like opposite to him" NOON GIMMEL DALET =



"opposite to." Review #354 and #323, which can also mean



"like." This has the idea of complementary as opposed to



identical. The helper corresponds to and complements the



opposite sex. We will see later in the Torah (Deut. 22:5) that



G-d does not want the sexes to dress alike because to do so



obscures this aspect.



















GEN. 2:19







659 vahy-yee-TSEHR 660 Adonoy 661 Eh-loh-HEEM 662 meen



663 ha-ah-dah-MAH 664 kohl 665 chai-YAHT 666 hahs-sah-DEH



667 vuh-et 668 kohl 669 ohf 670 hahsh-sha-MY-yeem



671 vahy-yah-VAY 672 el 673 ha-ah-DAHM 674 leer-OHT 675 mah



676 yee-krah 677 lo 678 vuh-KHOHL 679 ah-sher 680 yeek-RAH



681 lo 682 ha-ah-DAHM 683 NEH-fesh 684 chai-YAH 685 hoo



686 sh'MOH















#659.Review #513. #660. Review #477. #661. Review #3.



#662. Review #72. #663. Review #312.







#664. Review #250. Remember this word can also mean "every."



#665. Review #295. #666. Review #483. #667. Review #6.



#668. Review #250. #669. Review #236.







#670. Review #5. Here the word means "the air."







#671. vahy-yah-VAY "and He caused to come/He brought" --Hifil



imperfect 3rd. masc. singular with VAV conversive of the root BET



CHOLOM ALEF he "he brought in." Normally you would have PATACH



under the preformative in a hifil stem (Review #541) but because



it is in an open syllable (a syllable without a consonant at the



end) it becomes KAMATZ here.







#672. ehl = "to" --This is a preposition. #673. Review #321.





#674. Review #28. This is an infinitive construct "to see."



Notice man is not predisposed by an eternal decree to do



everything. G-d watches man exercise a certain amount of



freedom here, which is something hypercalvinists don't allow G-d



the freedom to do. Even now we are "in the garden" under



surveillance in a sense, because G-d is watching to see if we'll



use our freedom to name sin in our lives and turn in teshuvah.











#675. mah "what~ (This is the interrogative "what?", a word



you will need to use a great deal in speaking conversational



Modern Hebrew.) For the task of learning this, you may want to



acquire Haiim B. Rosen's A textbook of Israeli Hebrew, University



of Chicago Press, 1966.







#676. Review #40. There is no VAV reversive so we translate it



imperfect "he would call/name" --Is the SH'VA pronounced? Review



327. yee-kuh-rah







#677. Review #131. This is "to it." Review #42.







#678. Review #250. #679. Review #71. #680. Review #676.



#681. Review #677.



#682. Review #321.







#683. Review #234. This word can also mean "creature."



#684. Review #235. #685. Review #595.







#686. Review #571 and #354. The CHOLOM pronominal suffix



changes the TZAYREH under the SHIN in "name" to SH'VA.



















GEN. 2:20







687 vahy-yeek-RAH 688 ha-ah-DAHM 689 sheh-MOHT 690 leh-CHOHL



691 ha-beh-he-MAH 692 oo-leh-OHF 693 hahsh-shah-MY-yeem



694 oo-leh-KHOHL 695 chai-YAHT 696 has-sah-DEH 697 oo-l'ah-DAHM



698 lo 699 mah-TSAH 700 EH-zehr 701 kuh-nehg-DOH



















#687. Review #40. #688. Review #321.







#689. Review #571. Notice the feminine plural ending on



CHOLOM TAV on this noun as opposed to the masc. p1. ending in



#553. Because man is able to label the rest of his world, he has



discernment on a completely different level than that of the



animal kingdom. Part of the divine image in man is the G-d-like



ability to assign names (cf.#40-#46).







#690. Review #250. #691. Review #293. #692. Review #236.



#693. Review #670. #694. Review #250. #695. Review #295.



#696. Review #483. #697. Review #321. --"but for the



man/mankind".







#698. Review #493.







#699. mah-TSAH "he found" --MEM TZADE ALEF "he found"



#700. Review #657.







#701. Review #658. "to correspond to" "to suit" "matching him."



As far as the animal kingdom is concerned, man is matchless. He



is not an animal. There is nothing in the animal kingdom that



corresponds to him. You could wait a billion years and the ape



family could not join and become part of the human family because



the human family is matchless and nothing in the animal kingdom



corresponds to it. Unlike an animal, "the human spirit is the



lamp of the L-rd, searching every innermost part" (Prov. 20:27).



















GEN. 2:21







702 vahy-yah-PAYL 703 Adonoy 704 Eh-loh-HEEM 705 tahr-day-MAH



706 ahl 707 ha-ah-DAHM 708 vahy-yee-SHAHN 709 vahy-yee-KAHKH



710 ah-KHAHT 711 meets-tsahl-oh-TAHV 712 vahy-yees-GOHR



713 bah-SAHR 714 tahkh-TEHN-nah













#702. vahy-yah-PAYL "so He made/caused fall --root NOON FAY



LAMMED, "he caused to fall."The PATACH under the preformative



YUD tells you the verb stem is hifil (causative force). Do you



see how the first radical of the root is a NOON that has



assimilated to dagesh forte in the YUD? Do you see the PATACH



hifil indicator under the preformative? Review #541 and #203.







#703. Review #477. #704. Review #3.







#705. tahr-day-MAH "deep sleep"







#706. Review #13. #707. Review #321.







#708. vahy-yee-SHAHN "and he slept" --root YUD SHIN FINAL NOON



"he slept"







#709. Review #613.







#710. Review #52. Notice this word is in construct with



#711 so we supply an "of." This is feminine of ECHAD.







#711. meets-tsahl-oh-TAHV "from ribs of him." Here we have a



feminine noun TZADE LAMMED AYIN. Review #689, #354 and #77.



The



word can also mean "side" as in Exod. 26:20 "the (north) side of



the tabernacle...," suggesting that male and female are made



equal, out of essentially the same essence, and are



complementary, different "sides" of the same thing, with humanity



incomplete without both, just as Elohim is incomplete without his



Dvar Hashem Moshiach and his Ruach Hakodesh (Gen. 2:24; Deut.



6:4).







#712. vahy-yees-GOHR "and He closedup" from SAMECH GIMMEL



RESH



"he shut/closed".







#713. bah-SAHR "flesh." This is a very important theological



word in the Bible. It can mean 1) meat or muscle of animals or



man; 2) humanity at large 3) what is frail or perishable about



the human race 4) in the Brit Chadasha Scriptures it is



translated with the Greek word SARKS and is a technical term for



the life of the old human nature unrenewed by the Ruach



Hakodesh.







#714. tahkh-TEHN-nah "in place of it (rib). The word can mean



"under" (Review #72). It can also mean "below, instead of," and



here it means "in place of." Review #354. Do you see the



pronominal suffix "her" referring to the rib which is a feminine



noun? The NOON is a connecting letter.















GEN. 2:22







715 vahy-yee-VEHN 716 Adonoy 717 Eh-loh-HEEM 718 et



719 hats-tseh-LAH 720 ah-sher 721 la-KAHKH 722 meen



723 ha-ah-DAHM 724 leh-eesh-SHAH 725 vah-y'vee-EH-hah 726 el



727 ha-ah-DAHM













#715. vahy-yee-VEHN "then He made/built" from the root BET NOON



HAY "he made/built." The Stone that ha-Bonim (the Builders)



rejected has become the chief cornerstone. (Ps. 118:22) The word



ha-Bonim in that verse is from this same root. The builders of



Judaism were destined to reject the Moshiach. See Isaiah 53.



#716. Review #477. #717. Review #3. #718. Review #4.



#719. Review #711 and #21 on the definite article.







#720. Review #71. #721. Review #613. #722. Review #77.



#723. Review #321.







#724. leh-eesh-SHAH "into woman"--ALEF SHIN HAY, means "woman"



(see #738). The word sounds like the word for "man" (see #740),



and the author will make a word play in Gen. 2:23 on these two



words "nashim" = plural.







#725. Review #671 and #354.







#726. Review #97. #727. Review #321.















GEN. 2:23



728 vahy-YOH-mehr 729 ha-ah-DAHM 730 zoht 731 ha-PAH-ahm



732 EH-tsehm 733 meh-ah-tsah-MAHY 734 oo-vah-SAHR



735 mee-beh-sah-REE 736 luh-ZOHT 737 yee-kah-REH 738 ee-SHAH



739 kee 740 meh-EESH 741 loo-kah-CHAH 742 zoht



















#728. Review #22. #729. Review #321.







#730. Review #470. This is the first time a human being speaks



in the Bible, so we should expect it to be an important saying,



"This (one)"



#731. See the definite article. PAY AYIN FINAL MEM = "time,



stroke." Here the article has demonstrative force "this time."



See Gen.29:34, where Rachel says, "Now HAY PAY AYIN FINAL MEM



this time my husband will become attached to me."







#732. EH-tsehm "bone" --Do you see the accent on the first



syllable. Look at your Biblica Hebraica.







#733. Review #732, #354, #72. #734. Review #713.



#735. Review #713, #354, #72.







#736. Review #470, #42.







#737. Review #40. "it (i.e. the flesh/bone) shall be called."



The KAMATZ under the first radical is a sign of nifal imperfect



3ms.





#738. Review #724. #739. Review #32.







#740. "Ish" = "man" --Review #72.







#741. Review #613. The KUBUTZ under the first radical of the root



indicates the pual verb stem (Review #435). "she was taken"



#742. "this (one)" --Review #470 and #730. Notice this is the



subject of #741.















GEN. 2:24







743 ahl 744 ken 745 yah-ah-zahv 746 eesh 747 et 748 ah-VEEV



749 vuh-et 750 eem-MOH 751 vuh-dah-VAHK 752 beh-eesh-TOH



753 vuh-ha-YOO 754 luh-vah-SAHR 755 eh-KHAHD













#743. Review #13.







#744. Review #80. This is an idiom (an expression whose



meaning cannot be derived from its constituent elements, as "kick



the bucket" is an idiomatic expression meaning "to die." "upon



so (#743 and #744)" means "therefore." Memorize it. These means



that Gen. 2:23 explains Gen. 2:24. "Therefore" means for this



reason.







#745. yah-ah-zahv "he will leave/forsake" AYIN ZAYIN VET =



leave. Notice the "he." It does not say the woman will achieve



the detachment from parents that the man achieves or should



achieve when he stops being a child and marries and starts his



own family. The woman may cling to her husband but she does not



forsake her parents as completely as the man does. This is a



shrewd psychological insight and means that in marriage



counselling the man should be advised to take a good look at his



prospective father-in-law and especially his prospective



mother-in-law since his fiancee is not likely to forsake either



one of them, especially her mother.







#746. Review #740. #747. Review #4.







#748. Review #354. ALEF VET = "father." Review #354. Moshiach



Yehoshua called G-d by the intimate and affectionate word for



Father (AB-bah) "dear Father." Can you?







#749. Review #4.







#750. Review #354. ALEF TZAYREH FINAL MEM = mother. Mommy



in modern Hebrew is EEM-mah.







#751. The VAV reversive makes it imperfect "and he will unite."



DALET VET KOOF = "he united."







#752. Review #724, #448, #354







#753. Review #171. Notice #525 and #527 where this verb is



often followed by LAMMED SH'VA in which case we do not translate



LAMMED SH'VA in English.







#754. Review #713.







#755. Review #52. Notice that a cluster of grapes is a



complexunity in Num. 13:23.



















GEN. 2:25







756 vahy-yee-huh-YOO 757 sheh-nay-HEM 758 ah-roo-MEEM



759 ha-ah-DAHM 760 veh-eesh-TOH 761 veh-lo



762 yeet-bo-SHAH-shoo



















#756. Review #171 with VAV conversive.







#757. Review #188, #354.







#758. AYIN RESH CHOLOM FINAL MEM = "naked, nude."







#759. Review #321.







#760. Review #724, #354. "his woman, his wife"







#761. Review #493.







#762. The root is VET CHOLOM SHIN = "was ashamed." This is the



hitpael stemnamed after the "hit" HAY CHEEREEK TAV that precedes



the perfect, imperative, and infinitive forms of the verb and



tells you that the verb has an intensive reflexive force as in



#762 which is a hitpael 3mp "they were intensely ashamed of



themelves". First there was the primal innocence before the Fall.



"The fall of mankind" refers to that sense of primal shame and



lost innocence that rebellious morally autonomous Man experiences



as part of his ontology (nature of existence). This verse



together with Gen. 3:7 tells us that there is now deep primal



guilt in every human being and that this is part of our very



nature as members of the race of Adam and we cannot be truly



happy and at peace with ourselves or anyone else until we have



regeneration and reconciliation with G-d.



















GEN. 3:1







763 veh-hahn-nah-KHAHSH 764 ha-yah 765 ah-ROOM 766 mee-KOHL



767 chay-YAHY 768 has-sah-DEH 769 ah-sher 770 ah-SAH 771 Adonoy



772 Eh-loh-HEEM 773 vahy-YOH-mehr 774 el 775 ha-eesh-SHAH



776 ahf 777 kee 778 ah-MAHR 779 Eh-loh-HEEM 780 lo



781 tohkh-LOO 782 mee-KOHL 783 aitz 784 ha-gahn















#763. veh-hahn-nah-KHAHSH "now the Snake" (Deut. 8:l5 speaks of



poisonous snakes.) The word for snake is NOON CHET SHIN,



Nah-KHASH. But we are going to see that this Snake has enough



power in his venom to bite the whole human race and therefore



enslave them all to the fear of death, because he is "the devil



that ancient serpent" (Rev. 12:9; 20:2; Heb. 2:l4-l5). See also



Isa. 27:1 and Job 26:13.







#764. Review #9.







#765. ah-ROOM, AYIN CHATAF PATACH RESH SHURUK FINAL



MEM "crafty, shrewd in the sinister sense of full of wiles, very



tricky." The author seems to be making a word play on "nude" AYIN



CHATAF PATACH RESH CHOLOM FINAL MEM and this word



"shrewd."



Compare words #758 and #765.







#766. Review #250 and #77. "more than all of" (notice that



comparison is expressed by means of the MEM CHEEREEK FINAL



NOON



preposition).







#767. Review #295. #768. Review #483.







#769. Review #71. #770. Review #64. #771. Review #477.









#772. Review #3.



#773. Review #22. #774. Review #97. #775. Review #724.











#776. Indeed?











#777. really? (#776 and #777 are together an idiom--review #744



-- with the thought something like, "Really? Just to think that



(G-d gave you such an unreasonable commandment)..." The Serpent



is acting shocked with G-d's supposedly severe commandment, which



he twists in a subtle lie that makes the commandment seem severe,



which it really isn't. The commandment is generous. Everything



is given to them except one thing: the license to be disobedient



and morally autonomous, proudly thinking that they are shrewd



enough to discern good from evil without G-d's teaching or the



Torah of his mitzvot.







#778. Review #22.







#779. Review #3. (Notice He is not called by His personal



covenant name (see #477) used by those who know Him but by a



remote label, which tells you something about the Adversary's



relationship with G-d.)







#780. Review #493.







#781. Review #116. This is imperfect 2mp ["you (plural) shall



eat"]. Notice Gen. 2:16 and see how the Snake twists the mitzvah



(commandment). The woman also garbles it. The reason that neither



one of them know it is because it was not given to either one of



them but to the kohen of the Bayis, the mashgiach ruchani



(spiritual overseer) of the mishpachah family unit, the man. Look



at #639 and #633 which shows that the commandment was 2ms, given



to the man, who is not even included in the discussion but these



two kehillah spliters. Don't miss this nuance in the Hebrew.



In a way, this is the first "Brit Chadasha kehillah split" in the



Bible, since the one in charge, the mashgiach ruchani of the



home, has his authority ignored, and a rebellious, demonic plot



is carried out with the help of a presumptuous "congregant" in



league with the devil and, moreover, a "congregent" who is not



in charge and has no kehillah office to be in charge but takes



over at Satan's urging.





#782. Review #72 and #250.







#783. Review #124.







#784. Review #532.



















GEN. 3:2







785 vah-toh-MEHR 786 ha-ee-SHAH 787 el 788 hahn-nah-KHAHSH



789 mee-p'REE 790 aitz 791 ha-gahn 792 noh-KHEHL













#785. Review #22. With verbs that have it for the first radical



of their root ALEF you will often see the CHOLOM after TAV in the



imperfect.







#786. Review #724. #787. Review #97.







#788. Review #763.







#789. Review #125 and #72. #790. Review #124.



#791. Review #532.







#792. Review #116. lcp imperfect "we may eat"



















GEN. 3:3







793 oo-mee-p'REE 794 ha-AITZ 795 ah-sher 796 beh-TOHKH



797 ha-gahn 798 ah-mahr 799 Eh-loh-HEEM 800 lo 801 tohkh-LOO



802 mee-MEH-noo 803 v'lo 804 teeg-guh-OO 805 bo 806 pehn



807 teh-moo-TOON



















#793. Review #125 and #72. #794. Review #124.



#795. Review #71.







#796. Review #57. #797. Review #532.







#798. Review #22. #799. Review #3. #800. Review #493.





#801. Review #116.







#802. Review #640. #803. Review #493.







#804. teeg-guh-OO "you shall touch" --Note how the NOON is



assimilated into the GIMMEL by means of dagesh forte. 2mp



imperfect of NOON GIMMEL AYIN, "he touched." Note that SHURUK



+



TAV = imperfect 2mp. Look at Gen.2:16-17 again and you will see



that she is adding to G-d's word, something Deut.4:2 specifically



forbids, and something Rabbinic Judaism and all non-Biblical



religions do. When Rabbinic Judaism at Yavneh (near Jaffa,



Israel), around the year 100 C.E., began formulating the liturgy



so that Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, could be transferred



from the Beis Hamikdash in Yerushalayim to the synagogue,



effectively substituting prayer and good deeds, confession and



repentance, for Lev. 17:11 "It is the blood that makes atonement



for the soul," the rabbis followed the sin of the woman in our



text here, Gen. 2:16-17, and added to G-d's word. They should



have believed Isaiah: Moshiach "gives his life as an asham guilt



offering for sin" (Isaiah 53:10). Remember the Reformation



watchword Sola Scriptura (the Bible alone is authoritative for



faith), which means that only the Bible can tell us how to 1ive



or how to interpret Scripture. Rom. 4:17 has to tell us how to



interpret Gen. 1:1. If we trust some liberal commentator we are



letting his words add to G-d's word. An even so helpful a



commentary as the Talmud must not be placed on the same par as



the Bible. We devote our attention not to man's word but to



G-d's inspired and anointed Word.







#805. Review #131. #806. pehn "lest/so that ...not"







#807. Review #645. This has an archaic ending in the final NOON



at the end. This verb is imperfect 2mp. Look at the indicators



and review #804. Note how KUBUTZ can be SHURUK as here.



















GEN. 3:4







808 vah-YOH-mehr 809 hahn-nah-KHAHSH 810 el 811 ha-ee-SHAH



812 lo 813 moht 814 eh-moo-TOON













#808. Review #22. #809. Review #763.







#810. Review #97. #811. Review #724.







#812. Review #493.







#813. Review #645. (This is a Oal infinitive absolute--Review



#632.) Here the Snake implies that G-d is a liar not to be



trusted and, surprisingly, the woman doesn't resist this idea or



the devil who conceived it.







#814. Review #807 and especially #646 ("you will indeed/surely



not die"--a direct contradiction).















GEN. 3:5







815 kee 816 yoh-DAY-ah 817 Eh-loh-HEEM 818 kee 819 beh-YOHM



820 ah-khohl-KHEHM 821 mee-MEH-noo 822 veh-neef-kuh-KHOO



823 ay-nay-KHEHM 824 vee-h'yee-TEHM 825 kay-loh-heem 826 yod-AY



827 tov 828 vah-rah















#815. Review #32. "For" (what follows is the secret evil reason



G-d supposedly has for giving his allegedly unreasonable mitzvah



commandment, according to the devil's big lie)







#816. Review #557. "he knows" yoh-DAY-ah (see accent in BHS,



Biblica Hebraica Stuttgartensia).







#817. Review #3.







#818. Review #32.







#819. Review #412.







#820."of your eating" This is a Qal infinitive construct with



the pronominal suffix given to you in #354.







#821. Review #640.







#822. veh-neef-kuh-KHOO "they will be opened" nifal perfect with



VAV reversive 3p from root ~ "he opened" --Which SH'VA is



pronounced? Review #327.







#823. Review #354. ay-nay-KHEHM your eye: from AYIN YUD FINAL



NOON = "eye".







#824. Review #171. Notice 2mp perfect with reversive VAV.



Notice in #822 and #824 the conjunction VAV is used to connect a



statement of time with the clause to which it relates. Note: in



the day of your eating then will be opened your eyes and then you



will be like G-d (morally autonomous).







#825. Review #32 and #3. "like G-d" Satan is saying that



equality with G-d is a thing that can be grasped (Phil. 2:6).



However, instead of becoming like G-d we are a race condemned to



"eternal shame" (Gen. 2:25; 3:7; Dan. 12:2) unless we have that



primordial shame washed away by the Moshiach's blood (Lev. 17:11;



Isaiah 53:10; Heb. 9:22; Babylonian Talmud Yoma 5a, Menahoth 93b,



Zebahim 6a), which is the only acceptable blood we have, now that



the center of Judaism, the Beis Hamikdash, has been taken away.







#826. Review #557. #827. Review #33.











#828. Review #124.



















GEN. 3:6







829 vah-TEH-reh 830 ha-ee-SHAH 831 kee 832 tov 833 ha-aitz



834 leh-mah-ah-KHOHL 835 vuh-KHEE 836 tah-ah-vah 837 hoo



838 lah-ay-NAHY-eem 839 vuh-nehkh-MAHD 840 ha-aitz



841 leh-hahsh-KEEL 842 vah-tee-KAHKH 843 mee-peer-YOH



844 vah-toh-KHOHL 845 vah-tee-TEHN 846 gahm 847 luh-ee-SHAH



848 ee-MAH 849 vahy-yoh-KHAHL















#829. Review #28. Imperfect 3fs with VAV conversive.







#830. Review #724. #831. Review #32.







#832. Review #33. #833. Review #124.







#834. Review #398. #835. Review #32.







#836. tah-ah-vah "delight" The verb ALEF VAV HAY for "want" or



"desire" (as found in the tenth commandment against coveting--see



Deut.5:21 "you shall not desire your neighbor's house etc") is



turned into a substantive or noun "delight" with the prefix TAV.





#837. hoo "he" (this refers to the tree). You need to learn some



of the independent pronouns: anachnu (we 1cp), ani, anochi (I



1cs), atem (2mp), atah (2ms), aten (2fp) at (2fs), hem hemmah



(3mp), hoo (3ms), hen hennah (3fp), hee (3fs)







#838. Review #823 and #42. #839. Review #548.



#840. Review #124.







#841. leh-hahsh-KEEL hifil infinitive construct of "to make or



cause to be wise" SIN CHAF LAMMED -- The way of death offers a



false wisdom and a g-d-like knowledge and beckons with



eye-catching, desirable allurements and pseudo-wisdom as well as



individualistic ethics.







#842. Review #613. #843. Review #125 and #72 and #354.



#844. Review #116.







#845. Review #203 and compare #375. First one person corrupts



himself/herself and then becames a "serpent of temptation" to



corrupt someone else.







#846. gahm "also"







#847. Review #325 and #42 and #354. "to her man/ her husband"







#848. ee-MAH "together with her" Review #354. = AYIN CHEEREEK



FINAL MEM "with, together with." "who was with her"







#849. Review #116. Compare #22 to see imperfect with reversing



VAV. "and he ate."



















GEN. 3:7







850 vah-tee-pah-KAHK-noo 851 ay-NAY 852 sheh-nay-HEHM



853 vahy-yay-duh-OO 854 kee 855 ay-roo-MEEM 856 hem



857 vahy-yeet-peh-ROO 858 ah-leh 859 tuh-ay-NAH



860 vah-yah-ah-SOO 861 la-HEM 862 chah-go-ROT













#850. Review #822. imperfect passive (nifal) 3fp with VAV



CONVERSIVE "and they were opened." This is a nifal stem



imperfect (note the dagesh forte in the first radical of the root



and also the KAMATZ under it).







#851. Review #823. Do you see how the form changes when it is



in contruct with the following word and we have to translate by



adding an "of"?







#852. Review #188 and #354.







#853. Review #557. Oal imperfect 3mp with VAV conversive.



Figure out the pronunciation. "vahy-yay-duh-OO" Do you see that



the SH'VA has to be pronounced and is just a silent syllable



divider. Review #327. #854. Review #32.









#855. Review #758. The plural is somewhat irregular here.



#856. Review #837.







#857. vahy-yeet-puh-ROO "and they sewed" root TAV FAY RESH; "he



sewed" This is Qal imperfect 3mp with VAV conversive. Yochanan



3:19 says that unregenerate fallen Man tries to use darkness as a



covering of evil deeds. Man is always sewing a web of concealment



to try to mask, even from his own eyes, his primal guilt and



fear before a Holy G-d.







#858. AYIN LAMMED HAY = leaf. Notice it is the contruct state



with #859.







#859. TAV ALEF NOON HAY = "fig (tree)" Is there any symbolic



significance of this verse in the Brit Chadasha Scriptures in



that the fig tree Moshiach Yehoshua curses (Mark 11:13-14,21) and



the one that blooms in the "summer" of the last days (Mark



13:28-29) as Israel comes to faith in our Moshiach is the



"covering" of the world, namely a symbol of the people both of



the Temple and the Jerusalem atonement, the Jews?







#860. Review #64. #861. Review #837.







#862. CHET GIMMEL CHOLOM RESH HAY = "loin covering girdle or



loincloth" The kohen wore a linen ephod as did King David. The



Second Adam Moshiach Yehoshua may or may not have had one (Roman



victims such as he was were often naked) but He knew only our



primal shame in such nudity, for he had none of His own.











GEN. 3:8







863 vah-yeesh-meh-OO 864 et 865 kol 866 Adonoy 867 Eh-loh-HEEM



868 meet-hah-LEHKH 869 bah-gahn 870 luh-ROO-ahkh 871 ha-YOHM



872 vah-yeet-chah-BEH 873 ha-ah-DAHM 874 vuh-eesh-TOH



875 mee-p'NAY 876 Adonoy 877 Eh-loh-HEEM 878 buh-TOHKH 879 aitz



880 ha-gahn



















#863. SHIN MEM AYIN = he heard. This word is found in the "Shema"



confession in Deut.6:4. vahy-yeesh-muh-OO "and they heard."



#864. Review #4.







#865. KOOF CHOLOM LAMMED = "sound, voice" Deut.4:l2 says that



this is the way G-d revealed himself, by his voice from the fire,



with no idolatrous form or image. In the Day of the L-rd, which



will be inaugurated with plagues and will climax in fire, there



will be the voice of the L-rd and the archangel(I Thes.4:16).







#866. Review #417. #867. Review #3.







#868. Review #606. This is a hitpael (Review #762) participle



meaning "walking." Review #762. This is a masculine singular



hitpael participle, as is indicated by the MEM.











#869. Review #532.











#870. Review #16. "In the breeze of" i.e. the windy or breezy



cooler early evening as opposed to "the heat of the day." This is



the word for wind or Spirit.







#871. Review #442.







#872. This is the hitpael of CHET VET ALEF, "he hid" --Review



#762, "he intensively hid himself." Notice Adam is supposed to



be the kohen of his home, but ironically the only thing he takes



the lead in is hiding from G-d."











#873. Review #321. #874. Review #724 and 354.



#875. Review #14.







#876. Review #477. #877. Review #3. #878.



Review #57."among"







#879. Review #124.







#880. Review #532. Notice that Man hides among the trees of the



garden. Like a modern day atheist hiding out in his faculty post



at the local university, Man uses his source of self-sufficient



knowledge and moral autonomy (a tree) to flee and hide from G-d.



















GEN. 3:9







881 vah-yeek-RAH 882 Adonoy 883 Eh-loh-HEEM 884 el



885 ha-ah-DAHM 886 vahy-YOH-mehr 887 lo 888 ah-YEH-kah















#881. Review #40. #882. Review #477. #883. Review #3.



#884. Review #97.











#885. Review #321. #886. Review #22. #887. Review #42 and



#354.











#888. "where (are) you? ALEF TZAYREH YUD = "where?" also ALEF



TZAYREH YUD FAY CHOLOM HAY = "where?" The CHAF



KAMATZ HAY is a fuller way to write the pronominal suffix for



2ms. Review #354. Morally autonymous man is lost and condemned



under the wrath of G-d, without a relationship of mishma'at and



shalom with the G-d he has offended and forfeited personal



knowledge of.















GEN. 3:10







889 vay-YOH-mehr 890 et 891 kol-KHAH 892 shah-MAH'tee



893 bah-gahn 894 vah-ee-RAH 895 kee 896 ay-ROHM 897 ah-NOH-khee



898 vah-eh-chah-VEH













#889. Review #22. #890. Review #4.







#891. Review #865 and #354. Notice how this word, which is the



direct object of the verb, should be in italics in your



translation because it is put before the #892 verb rather than



after it as in the normal manner. Sinners fear not idols but the



voice of the one true G-d who did not show his form or any



idolatrous image either to Adam or on the holy mountain in



Deut.4.







#892. Review #863. This is a perfect active Ics verb.







#893. Review #448 and #532.







#894. YUD KAMATZ RESH TZAYREH ALEF = "he feared" Qal



imperf 1cs with VAV conversive. The tragedy of man is that he



knows about G-d's existence but, unless G-d opens his heart, he



hides from G-d and shamefully flees from His presence. #895.



Review #32.







#896. Review #758. #897. Review #837.







#898. Review #872. This is the nifal imperfect 1cs with VAV



conversive. Notice the nifal (passive) often has a reflexive



force. We translate "I hid myself." We hide the self but G-d



wants the self made completely new in G-d's perfect image, the



Son of Man, the Son of G-d, His Word, Moshiach



Yehoshua.















GEN. 3:11







899 vay-YOH-mehr 900 mee 901 hee-geed 902 leh-CHAH 903 kee



904 ay-ROHM 905 AH-tah 906 ha-meen 907 ha-aitz 908 ah-sher



909 tsee-vee-TEE-chah 910 leh-veel-TEE 911 ah-KOHL



912 mee-MEH-noo 913 ah-KHAHL-tah



















#899. Review #22. #900. mee = "who?"







#901. This is a hifal (causative) perfect 3ms of NOON FINAL



NOON GIMMEL DALET "he made known" with the NOON assimilated



into



the GIMMEL. Remember if aletter elides, it simply disappears; if



it assimilates, it leaves a dagesh behind; if it is quiescent the



letter can be seen but is not heard, as is the case with the ALEF



in #899.



#902. Review #42 and #354. #903. Review #32.







#904. Review #758.







#905. Review #837 (notice: G-d is talking to the head of the



house, the man).







#906. Review #72. Notice the HEH interrogative HAY CHATAF



PATACH



prefixing the preposition. This signals a question being asked.







#907. Review #124 and #21. #908. Review #71.







#909. Review #623 and #354. This is a piel perfeat lcs. Notice



the suffix. He is still talking to the man. The dagesh forte in



the second radical is characteristic of the piel which has an



intensive active force.







#910. BET LAMMED TAV YUD is the negative "not" used with



inseparable prepositions such as #42.







#911. Review #116. #912. Review #640.







#913. Review #116. (Notice the absolute infinitive #911 and verb



#913 together emphasize the verb "I commanded you not to EAT"



--Review #633.)



















GEN. 3:12







914 vahy-YOH-mehr 915 ha-ah-DAHM 916 ha-ee-SHAH 917 ah-sher



918 na-TAH-tah 919 ee-mah-DEE 920 hee 921 nah-t'NAH 922 lee



923 meen 924 ha-aitz 925 vah-OH-khehl















#914. Review #22. #915. Review #321.







#916. Review #724. #917. Review #71.







#918. Review #375. Qal perfect active 2ms.







#919. Review #848 and #354.







#920. Review #837. The independent pronoun used as subject of a



verb is expressed whenever, as here, it is emphatic. "The woman



whom You put with me she gave to me from the tree and I ate."



Man blames both G-d and others for his sin, thus excusing



himself and trying to justify himself.







#921. Review #375. #922. Review #42 and #354.







#923. Review #72. #924. Review #124.











#925. Review #116. Notice this is a VAV conversive but the dagesh



forte has been rejected by the ALEF (Review #21) and the VAV



conversive has a VAV KAMATZ instead of a VAV PATACH in this verb.



While you may be sure that VAV PATACH DAGESH in front of a verb



makes it VAV conversive, not every prefixed VAV indicates VAV



reversive and you have to look at the context to see which are



simple conjunctions and which reverse the tense of the verb.











GEN. 3:13







926 vah-YOH-mehr 927 Adonoy 928 Eh-loh-HEEM 929 lah-ee-SHAH



930 mah 931 zot 932 ah-SEET 933 vah-toh-MEHR 934 ha-ee-SHAH



935 ha-nah-KHAHSH 936 hee-shee-AH-nee 937 vah-oh-KHEL



















#926. Review #22. #927. Review #477.











#928. Review #3. #929. Review #42 and #724.











#930. mah = what? Review #900 for another interrogative pronoun



you need to memorize.











#931. Review #470.











#932. Review #64. perfect active 2fs. "what this you did?"



#933. Review #22.











#934. Review #724. #935. Review #763.











#936. Review #354. NOON SHIN ALEF = "he deceived" See the HEH?



hifil perfect 3ms. Do you see the assimilated NOON of the root?



Notice the warp in mankind. Instead of repenting, demonic powers



are blamed. The nature tendency to sin that we will see in



Mankind from here on until we get to Moshiach is already in



operation. This is the doctrine of Chet Kadmon, Original Sin,



Rom. 5:12.







#937. Review #116.















GEN. 3:14







938 vah-YOH-mehr 939 Adonoy 940 Eh-loh-HEEM 941 el



942 ha-nah-KHAHSH 943 kee 944 ah-see-TAH 945 zot 946 ah-ROOR



947 ah-TAH 948 mee-KOHL 949 ha-beh-heh-MAH 950 oo-mee-KHOHL



951 chay-YAHT 952 has-sah-DEH 953 ahl 954 geh-khoh-NEH-chah



955 teh-LEHKH 956 vuh-ah-FAHR 957 toh-KHOHL 958 kol 959



yeh-MAY



960 chay-YEH-chah















#938. Review #22. #939. Review #477. #940. Review #3.



#941. Review #97.







#942. Review #763. #943. Review #462.







#944. Review #64 2nd person masculine perfect. See how the



personal indicators of the perfect are affixed at the end



instead of the beginning as in the imperfect.











#945. Review #470. This is a demonstrative adjective, pointing



out the thing that the Snake did.











#946. This is a Qal passive participle of ALEF RESH RESH, "curse"



"being cursed" --In the Bible when one curses someone or



something, one invokes G-d's judgment on that person or thing.



Notice how similar this word looks to #765. Do you think Moses



is making a point with this word-play? What is it?







#947. Review #837.







#948. Review #77, #250. In Hebrew we compare and say "more than"



by using the particle MEM CHEEREEK FINAL NOON in front of a noun



or adjective. "more than all"







#949. Review #293.







#950. Review #948. In front of the letters VET MEM FAY the



conjunction VAV SH'VA becomes the long vowel SHURUK.







#951. Review #295. #952. Review #483.







#953. Review #13.







#954. Review 2ms suffix in #354, telling you G-d is referring to



the belly of the masculine Snake and not the woman. GIMMEL CHET



CHOLOM FINAL NOON = belly.







#955. Review #606. imperfect 2ms.









#956. Review #518. #957. Review #116. #958. Review #250.







#959. Review #43.











#960. Review #295 and #354. The snake was worshipped as a g-d in



Egypt but Moses is saying that the "shrewd g-d of this world" is



cursed (the word "shrewd" and the word "cursed" sounding alike in



Hebrew). To crawl and eat dust is a figurative way of saying



"live in abject humiliation and defeat" as a vanquished enemy



(Ps. 72:9; Isa. 49:23; Mic. 7:17). The Snake g-d of the Olam



Hazeh this world is defeated by the true G-d, the G-d of Israel.



















GEN. 3:15







961 v'ay-VAH 962 ah-SHEET 963 bey-neh-CHAH 964 oo-VAYN



965 ha-ee-SHAH 966 oo-vayn 967 zah-ah-CHAH 968 oo-vayn



969 zahr-AH 970 hoo 971 yeh-shoof-CHAH 972 rosh 973 v'ah-tah



974 teh-shoo-FEH-noo 975 ah-KEV















#961. ALEF TZAYREH YUD VET KAMATZ HAY = enmity, personal



hostility. This is the "ancient enmity" (Ezek. 35:5) that is at



the center of this life and which only the death of Moshiach and



his love can excise. We are going to see this hatred and



hostility erupt in bloodshed and fratricide in the next chapter.



(See Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, p.33, Oxford,



1972, and its Index by Bruce Einspahr, Moody Press, 1976. See



also below in chapter five the additional material on Gen. 3:15.)









#962. SHIN YUD TAV "he set/put" imperfect 1cs.







#963. Review 136 and #354 2ms suffix "between you (snake)."



#964. Review #38.







#965. Review #724. Notice it is "the woman" with a definite



article just as it is "the virgin" with a definite article in



Isaiah 7:14, as if a Messianic allusion to this verse is implicit



in the definite article in Isaiah 7:14.







#966. Review #38.







#967. Review #763 and #354. 2ms suffix again "your (snake)



offspring." This word leads us to believe that we will see people



arising later in the story who are full of wiles and have a



nature that is wickedly shrewd, like the Snake (3:1). The



offspring of the Snake is set in contrast with the "Seed of the



Woman" here and with the "sons of G-d" in Gen. 6:2 and with the



seed of Moshiach in Isaiah 53:10, the Messianic believers. The



first such offspring of the Snake will be Cain the murderer. The



first "son of G-d" will be Abel the first g-dly worshipper to



offer an acceptable blood sacrifice and in a sense the first



martyr for true Messianic religion. The enmity between the sons



of G-d and the offspring of the Snake will continue throughout



the history of Man until the Seed of the Woman crushes the head



of the serpentine anti-G-d humanity, the Anti-Moshiach.



Expectation is building in this verse for a coming eschatological



Redeemer-Ruler, a Moshi'a Savior from sin and death, a "Great



Descendent" or "Seed" ZAYIN SEGOL RESH PATACH AYIN. In Genesis



we



see the "Fall" or "creation being subjected to futility" (Rom.



8:20) and the whole human race being brought under the bondage of



the law of sin and death (Rom. 6:23) and all this occurred long



before the death-dealing Law of Moses was given at Mt. Sinai.



Romans 5:12 tells us how to view this chapter. Adam is an



epochal figure whose failure and fall determines the character of



all encompassed in his epoch; that is, all of G-d-alienated



humanity is in need of the epoch of the second Adam, the New Man,



the Moshiach, and especially in need of the new life that flows



from him. When we look at the first man lying on the ground dead



(Gen. 5:5), the Bible is showing us the first sinner of a



sinning/dying epoch which only the Moshiach's death brings to an



end (II Cor. 5:14). This verse contains a promise so vast that



the Exodus from Egypt, the conquering of the land of Israel, the



building of the Beis Hamikdash, and the return from the Exile,



are all part of the process of making the way straight for the



coming of this One who will crush Satan's head. The theme of the



eschatalagical Deliverer is enlarged by Isaiah. Since Satan



deceives and tempts to sin, death is both sin's penalty and



Satan's power (Isa. 27:1). Isaiah shows us a deliverer coming



who can wrest this Satanic power away, pay sin's penalty, defeat



both sin and death itself (Isa. 53:10-12), and so reveal the new



life where the exile of sin (Isa. 59:2) is ended in a mighty



exodus from death's eternal torment (Isa. 66:24; 14:11; 48:22;



50:11; 57:21; 1:31). This deliverer will come from the line of



Seth (Gen. 4:25), from the offspring of Shem (Gen. 9:26), from



the family of Abraham (Gen. 12:3), from the seed of Isaac (Gen.



26:3) and from the sons of Ya'akov (Gen. 46:3) and from the tribe



of Judah (Gen.49:10), and of course, he must be Jewish and an



Israelite living on the land (Deut. 17:l5;l8:15).











#968. Review #38.











#969. Review #292. Notice the suffix #354. Keep in mind that



Khavvah (Eve) is a virgin here. The seed of the virgin is an odd



phrase, since the seed is in the man unless G-d works a miracle.



This is one of the first Biblical references to the Moshiach who



will be referred to again later in verses that seem to have this



passage in mind: Gen.49:10 (obedience of the wicked peoples



belongs to him), Isa. 7:14 (the "G-d-with-us" miraculous ben



haAlmah will be born of a virgin to the House of David and



Judah's enemies will be defeated) and Mic. 5:3 ("G-d will



abandon His people only until she who is imminently about to go



into labor and bring forth" finally gives birth to the Moshiach).



This is no etiological myth explaining why there is hostility



between the serpent world and mankind. The Serpent was no



ordinary serpent and the Seed of the Woman will be no ordinary



man. In both the Palestinian targums (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan,



Targum Neofiti, and Fragment-Targum) and in rabbinic literature



(Babylonian Talmud, Sot. 49b) is a Messianic interpretation given



to this text. Rom. 16:20; Yochanan 2:4; 6:70; 8:44 are some of



the Brit Chadasha passages that corroborate the interpretation



that sees both Satan and his "children" and the Moshiach and the



"seed" of the elect woman Israel that are with him (Isaiah



53:10).







#970. Review #837 and #920 on emphatic force of the pronoun. "As



for him (the Seed of the Woman Moshiach)" he...







#971. SHIN VAV FINAL FAY "bruise/crush." Notice the object



suffix and review #354. Qal imperfect 3ps. Compare Isa. 53:5



"he was crushed for our iniquities" using another word meaning



"crushed" DALET CHAF ALEF. That the same word is used in #974



and a serpent would not ordinarily "crush" a human heel is beside



the point. This is no ordinary serpent but the Tempter of the



whole human race.







#972. Review #1. This is called accusative of specification. "As



for him, he will crush you, that is, (your) head (,Snake)."



#973. Review #837. Because this is a 2ms we know it refers to



the Snake.







#974. Review #971. Qal imperfect 2ms with object suffix that is



3ms "him." Note the pronominal suffix HAY SHURUK (him) with the



connecting syllable SEGOL NOON.











#975. Review #972. "As for you, you will crush him, that is



(his) heel" This implies that the Moshiach will have to be



utterly crushed, he will have to die, but the lethal blow will



hit the site of his heel, one of the five wounds of Moshiach at



Golgotha. Ya'akov is the word for Jacob, and it means "he



grasps the heel."



















GEN. 3:16







976 el 977 ha-ee-SHAH 978 ah-mar 979 hahr-bah 980 ahr-BEH



981 eets-voh-NEHCH 982 veh-he-roh-NEHKH 983 beh-EH-tsehv



984 teh-luh-DEE 985 vah-NEEM 986 veh-el 987 ee-SHEHKH



988 teh-shoo-kah-TEHKH 989 veh-hoo 990 yeem-SHOHL 991 bakh















#976. Review #97. #977. Review #724.







#978. Review #22.







#979. Review #272. See #645 and #646 on the infinitive



absolute and verb, which together emphasize the idea of the



action. "to cause to multiply" hifil infinitive absolute.



#980. Review #272. "I will cause to multiply" hifil imperfect



1cs.







#981. AYIN TZADE VET CHOLOM FINAL NOON = pain, toil.



Review



#354. Notice this is a 2fs pronominal suffix. Compare it to the



2ms pronominal suffix in #971.







#982. HAY RESH CHOLOM FINAL NOON = "pregnancy,conception,



childbearing" Review #354.







#983. Review #981, #448.







#984. YUD LAMMED DALET = "bear, beget, father someone" imperfect



3ms. In Isaiah 7:14 it says that the virgin will be with child



(pregnant) and will bear (using this word #984) a son and she



will call his name Immanuel.







#985. plural of BET TZAYREH FINAL NOONi; = son (BET PATACH



TAV



bat = daughter).







#986. Review #97. #987. Review #740 and #354.







#988. TAV SHIN SHURUK KOOF HAY = "longing, urge, desire"



Review #354. Notice 2fs pronominal in #988 and #991 also. This



same word will be used in Gen. 4:7 when it says that "sin is



crouching at the door and its desire/longing is to have you." It



could have a negative meaning of wanting to control and



dominate. Her husband, however, is the one to whom she is



accountable, and her desire is for him (see #990).







#989. Review #837 and #920 on the emphatic use of the pronoun.











#990. Review #194. imperfect 3ms.







#991. Review #354. "over you (f.s.)"















GEN. 3:17







992 oo-leh-ah-DAHM 993 ah-mahr 994 kee 995 shah-mah-TAH



996 leh-KOHL 997 eesh-teh-KHAH 998 vah-toh-KHOHL 999 meen



1000 ha-etz 1001 ah-sher 1002 tsee-vee-tee-CHAH 1003 leh-MOHR



1004 lo 1005 toh-CHOHL 1006 mee-MEH-noo 1007 ah-roo-RAH



1008 ha-ah-dah-MAH 1009 bah-ah-voo-REH-chah



1010 beh-eets-tsah-vohn 1011 toh-chah-LEH-noo 1012 kol



1013 yeh-MAY















#992. Review #42 and #321. Moses will make a play on words



with "Adam" in verse 19.







#993. Review #22. #994. Review #462. #995. Review #863.











#996. Review #865 (see #997. He listened to the voice of his wife



rather than to the voice of G-d, whom Adam hides from in Gen.



3:10 just as the children of Israel similarly hide in Deut



5:24-21, a point in favor of common authorship, but more



importantly an important insight about fallen man).











#997. Review #724 and #354.







#998. Review #116. Do you see the VAV conversive?







#999. Review #77.







#1000. Review #124. Do you see the definite article? Adam's sin



was listening to a human voice rather than G-d's word, thus



effectively adding to the Bible (Deut. 4:2). This is where



Rabbinic Judaism and Biblical Judaism parts company. He chose a



life wherein he could obtain his own knowledge of good and evil



apart from the abundant life that G-d provides through his word.



Whoever chooses that life will find death, and whoever tries to



keep his life and go his own way searching for a knowledge of



good and evil will lose his life.











#1001. Review #71. This is a relative pronoun, introducing the



clause that follows, with the antecedent "tree (of the knowledge



of good and evil)" being referred to. G-d wants to talk about



the way of moral autonomy that he specifically forbade.



#1002. Review #623 and #354. Notice the 2ms suffix. G-d is



talking to the man, the priest of the home. The woman is ignored.



The father is ultimately responsible.



#1003. Review #270. What follows is direct speech.











#1004. Review #493. #1005. Review #116.







#1006. Review #640.







#1007. Review #946. Qal passive participle







#1008. Review #312. This is a feminine noun, as you see from



its KAMATZ HAY ending and from the 3fs suffix in #1011.



#1009. Review #354. BET AYIN VET SHURUK RESH = "because of"













#1010. Review #981 and #448. "by painful toil"







#1011. Review #116. Notice 3fs suffix referring you back to



#1008.











#1012. Review #250.







#1013. Review #43. Do you see the plural construct ending?



#1014. Review #295.















GEN. 3:18







1014 chai-YEH-chah 1015 veh-KOHTS 1016 veh-dahr-DAHR



1017 tahts-MEE-ahkh 1018 lach 1019 vah-ah-khahl-TAH 1020 et



1021 EH-sehv 1022 hahs-sah- DEH















#1015. "and thorn"







#1016. "and thistle"







#1017. Review #491 hifil. she (the ground) will cause to spring



forth/sprout.











#1018. "for you (2ms)" It looks like 2fs but the atnah puts the



word in pause and changes the vowel. This is why it is a FINAL



CHAF SH'VA







#1019. Review #116.







#1020. Review #4. #1021. Review #121. #1022. Review #483.















GEN. 3:19







1023 beh-zeh-AHT 1024 ah-PEH-chah 1025 toh-KHOHL 1026 LEH-chem



1027 ahd 1028 shuv-CHAH 1029 el 1030 ha-ah-dah-MAH 1031 kee



1032 mee-MEH-nah 1033 loo-KAHKH-tah1034 kee 1035 ah-far



1036 AH-tah 1037 veh-el 1038 ah-fahr 1039 tah-shuv













#1023. ZAYIN AYIN HAY = "sweat, perspiration" Review #448 "by



sweat of" Do you see the TAV contruct ending?







#1024. Review #522. literally "nostrils, nose" we translate"



brow" 2ms suffix.











#1025. Review #116.







#1026. literally "bread" we translate "food" In Mic.5:2 the



place of the Moshiach's birth is Beth-Lechem "house of bread"











#1027. "until"







#1028. SHIN SHURUK VET = "to turn beck, return" From this word



we get the word repentance teshuvah TAV SHIN SHURUK VET HAY =



teshuvah







#1029. Review #97.







#1030. Review #312. Do you see the play on words? It's like



saying "Mr. Mudd, by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread



until you return to the mud."











#1031. Review #462.







#1032. Review #640 and #354. "from her (the ground)"



#1033. Review #613 and #435 on pual. "you were roughly taken"



pual perfect 2ms passive intensive. The KUBUTZ under the first



letter tells you it is a pual. Notice also the dagesh forte in



the middle letter of the root. Remember the difference between



the active and the passive voice. In the passive voice the



subject is the recepient of the action of the verb rather than



the agent. The active voice is the state of the verb in which the



subject is doing the action.







#1034. Review #462. #1035. Review #518.







#1036. Review #837 and #920 on emphatic use of pronouns.





#1037. Review #97. #1038. Review #518.











#1039. Review #1028. Having completed this short Introduction



to Biblical Hebrew course, it is our hope that you see that "all



we like sheep have gone our own way" (Isaiah 53:6) eating from



the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but that Hashem has



laid on Moshiach the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6), and



therefore the Aitz of Moshiach Yehoshua (Deut. 21:23) has become



for us who are being delivered from Judgment the Aitz haChayim.



SHORT NOTE ON DIBLICA HEDRAICA STUTTGARTENSIA (8115):



If you look on the bottom of page 3 of the BHS you will see



various abbreviations. A few of them are important to recognize



now. For example, look at the symbol for the Samaritan



Pentateuch, a 5th century Hebrew document, and the Septuagint



(G), a 3rd-2nd century Greek translation. In Genesis 2:2, in the



fourth Hebrew word in the verse, HAY SHIN VET YUD AYIN YUD, we



see an a superscript pointing us to the bottom of the page in the



BHS textual apparatus. There we see that the Syriac (S) Aramaic



translation also supports the reading HAY SHIN SHIN YUD ("the



sixth") rather than the seventh day. This appears to be a



"correction" in these versions to make it clear that G-d was not



active on the seventh day. In this case the Masoretic reading is



preferable. At the front of the BHS, on pages XLIV-XLVIII, you



see other abbreviations, such as that for the Dead Sea Scrolls



(Q). Some of these you will begin to recognize.







































































TWO: TANAKH



















Before we begin studying the Bible together, let us remember the



danger that lies in only reading about the Bible. If you read



the notes we've given you and do not read what the notes are



derived from, i.e. the entire text of Scripture (in this case the



entire book of Genesis), then you are like the person born



without a tongue who did not eat the ice cream but only had the



experience described to him in a book. G-d wants to speak to you



directly through "every word that proceeds from the mouth of



G-d." His words are inerrant and will stand forever in the



theatre of mankind. All that our fallible little notes can do is



help to set the stage for you and to possibly raise the curtain.



If you don't have an on-going schedule to keep you actually



reading the Bible itself cover to cover, you may possibly "miss



the show" and these pages will be useless in the end, like



program notes given to you by an usher for a play you never saw.



So sit down now and read the book of Genesis, all fifty chapters.



Put the food of the Word of G-d directly into your mouth. Then we



can talk about it. We will proceed only on the assumption that



you have done that and will continue to do that as we go along



from book to book.



























BERESHIS (GENESIS)















....B'ray-SHEET ("in the beginning") is the Hebrew name for



Genesis. Many of the books of the Hebrew Bible are named from



their first words. This Hebrew word begins the first fifth of



the so-called "book of the Law of Moses" SEFER TORAT-MOSHE



II Kgs. 14:6). In view of the watchword Sola Scriptura (the



Bible alone is authoritative for faith), we must allow inerrantly



inspired authors of Scipture to give us our normative



interpretation of Scripture. For example, when we look at Genesis



1:1, we should remember Rav Sha'ul's teaching of the doctrine of



creation ex nihilo (Latin, "from nothing") that G-d "calls into



being that which does not exist" (Romans 4:17). With Rav Sha'ul's



inerrant teaching to guide us, we will not be tempted to



interpret Genesis 1:1 in any way that would have G-d creating the



cosmos from pre-existing materials. The book of Romans would



have us see the book of Genesis in terms of the sovereignty of



G-d, that G-d created the cosmos out of nothing and the chosen



nation of Israel out of nothing, since Abraham and Sarah were old



and "as good as dead" (Romans 4:19). So Genesis chps 1-11 are



about the creation of the inhabited world. And the book begins



with Adam, who is told to govern the world as the son of G-d,



being a type of "the one who is to come" (Romans 5:14; Genesis



3:15; 49:10 NIV), as expectation begins to build about a promised



eschatological Redeemer-Ruler, a Savior from sin and death, a



Great "Descendant" or "Seed" ZERAH. In Genesis we see the



"fall," that is, "creation being subjected to futility" (Romans



8:20) and the whole human race being brought under the bondage of



the law of sin and death (Romans 6:23) and all this occurred long



before the death-dealing Law of Moses was given at Mt. Sinai.



Romans 5:12 tells us how to exegete (interpret) Genesis 3. Adam



is an epochal figure whose failure and fall determines the



character of all encompassed in his epoch; that is, all of



God-alienated humanity in need of the epoch of the second Adam,



the New Man, the Moshiach, and especially in need of the new life



that flows from the Kingdom of G-d and G-d's great King Moshiach



and the Messianic Adamic fountain head. When we look at the



first man lying on the ground dead (Gen. 5:5), the Bible is



showing us the first sinner of a sinning/dying epoch which only



the Moshiach's death brings to an end (II Cor. 5:14). The six



days of creation may also stand for creationary epochs because



the Seventh Day or Shabbos may also point toward the millennial



epoch at the end of this age, if the book of Revelation (Rev.



20:4) and its creation theology is allowed to exert any force as



an interpretive key to the meaning of Gen. chp. 1-3. YOM can be a



period of in definite length in the Hebrew Bible. The age-day



interpretation fits well with the geological record. Moreover, if



the sun had not yet been created on Day One, you could hardly



have a 24-hour solar day on that "day" of no sun! If the sun were



not visible until day #4 (as in a long period where thick clouds



constituted the primordial atmosphere) such a description as



Genesis gives us could be reconciled with science. However, we



need to remember in all of this that Moses is not conducting an



amoral science lecture but rather is preaching a life-or-death



sermon (Deut. 30:l5) to get his Jewish people to stop violating



the law and get delivered from the wrath of G-d.







In a sense it would be better to read the book of Genesis last



instead of first. The reason is that Genesis answers all kinds of



questions that only get raised for the reader later in the Bible.



So it is only when you read Obadiah and Malachi that you really



start asking, "Who are the Edomites and when do we first hear of



their patriarch Esau?" Similarly, when Gog and Magog are



mentioned in Ezekiel, when Javan (Greece) is mentioned in



Zechariah, when Babylon (Shinar--Gen. 14:1) is mentioned in



Isaiah, when the Canaanites and the Moabites and the Amorites



(Noah's son Ham is the father of the Amorites) are discussed in



the rest of the Scriptures, Genesis is the place to turn to get



the Bible's theological introduction and overview of their



significance and determinative character. Genesis introduces us



theologically to all the major questions of life. What is



mankind? What is marriage? What is work and rest from work in



relation to G-d? In Proverbs it says that wine is a mocker



(20:1). How does the Bible first introduce us to that fact?



(Hint: see Gen. 9. Read also Lev. 10:8-11; Num. 6 :l-4; Luke



1-15; Rom. 14:2l.) How did the evil of polygamy begin? (Note



Gen. 4:19 and Lamech's overweening desire for both women and



violence--see Gen. 2:24 on monogamy.) What is sin? What is guilt?



Does man have to sin? (See Gen. 4:7). How in the human heart



did wickedness begin and proliferate over the earth? How did it



happen that the life-blood was set apart as holy in the



beginning, when G-d began to institute blood sacrifice as a



necessary aspect of the faith of Abraham? Where did Moses and



Joseph and the children of Israel come from? How did bondage,



especially bondage in Egypt come about? How can it be circumcised



and rolled away from the human heart so that we might know G-d



personally and become his true sons? Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh,



Enoch, Noah, Shem, Arphachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug,



Nahor, Terah and Abraham show us sons of G-d, whereas the sons of



the Serpent become a brood of "Lamech's" swallowed in a flood of



wrath. The coming "Descendant" is "the seed of the woman" and



"the son of Man" and is also part of the promise given to



Abraham.







Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua/Yeshua tells us this when he



says, "Abraham your father rejoiced at the thought of seeing the



day of my coming" (Yochanan 8:56) See correct spelling of the



Moshiach's name in the Hebrew Bible Neh. 7:39; see prophecy



regarding this name as Moshiach's name Zech. 6:12; Ezra 3:8. Now



this is important: Galatians 3:16 interprets in this Messianic



sense Genesis 12:7;13:15; 17:7; 22:18 and 24:7. G-d promised



many descendents but the fact that the word ZERA or SPERMA is



singular Shliach Sha'ul takes as a Messianic reference, not



merely a reference to the nation. Shliach Sha'ul sees the notion



of promise, including a promised esohatological covenant (Genesis



17:2), as central to the book of Genesis, because the Exodus from



Egypt, the conquering of the land of Israel, the coming of the



King Moshiach, and his inheritance of the nations are all an



unfolding of the promise that has its beginning in Genesis (the



word "Genesis" is from a Greek word meaning "origin"). Since a



gracious promise from a sovereign G-d who creates out of nothing



negates any notion of salvation through meritorious



works-righteousness, Shliach Sha'ul has Moses and Habakkuk to say



"amen" when Shliach Sha'ul teaches that righteousness was



credited to Abraham's faith when Abraham became the father of all



(Jewish people and Gentiles alike) who believe (see Genesis 15:6;



Deuteronomy 7:7-8; 9:4-6; Habakkuk 2:4). This is the teaching of



Yehoshua in Yochanan 6:28-29. Although the book of Genesis tells



us the origin of everything from marriage to polygamy and from



the Edomites to the Sodomites, Shliach Sha'ul shows us the most



important doctrine that originates from Genesis, the doctrine of



justification by faith alone (Romans 3:28).







Important prophecies in Genesis are these: one descendent of



Abraham will bless the nations (see Genesis 12:1-4; Isaiah



49:5-6); Abraham's descendants will be slaves 400 years in a land



not their own (Genesis 15:13); Abraham's descendants will be



delivered in the fourth generation (Genesis 15:14-16); the land



of Canaan would be given to Abraham's descendants as an



inheritance (Genesis 15:16-21) and the promise would be given



graciously and miraculously through Isaac (17:21; 21:12). If the



book of Revelation reads Genesis 3 with an apocalyptic symbolic



interpretation (see Revelation 12:9 and 20:2) then we should not



read it with an empty literalism as though it were just a story



about the origin of lethal snake bites (some famous rabbis have



made this mistake). On the other hand, we would make a big error



if we read Genesis 3 as a fictious myth, as though it weren't



dealing with facts and with the sober historical reality of the



human condition. Just because something is told in picture



language fraught with symbolism rather than with scientific



mathematical formulas does not mean that it is any less true or



that it did not in fact occur. The story in Genesis 3 is not a



mere parable. However, like a parable, the story points beyond



itself to its practical lesson, that the fruit of going our own



way (Isa. 53:6) against G-d's Word is death, and there is a way



that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death



(Prov. 16:25). For Man must live by every word that proceeds from



the mouth of G-d (Deut. 8:3). Satan is not literally a snake.



If he were, we wouldn't need the new birth, just medicine to



neutralize the venom. But Moses talks about the need for



hitkadeshut when he uses the metaphor of the "circumcision of the



heart" in Deut. 10:16; 30:6 and when he talks about the spiritual



change or new birth indicated when Abram and Jacob received their



new names as Abraham (father of many") and Israel ("he strives



with God"). On this, see Gen. 17:5;32:28.







Man is morally responsible before G-d and is commanded to yield



his heart in obedience. On the other hand, G-d is free to choose



and to judge. G-d is free to judge the attitude of Cain or to



sovereignly choose the younger rather than the elder son as the



heir of the promise. Judging from what we are saying here, would



you say that Shliach Sha'ul is dealing with the issue of the new



birth versus a works-righteousness religiosity when he refers to



Genesis and to the "children of the promise" in Romans 9:8? Is



Shliach Sha'ul seeing in Genesis the idea that only a sovereign



Creator can effect the new creation, and that self-righteousness



and self-efforts can never be our savior?







The world offers various g-dless cosmogonies (theories of the



origin and development of the universe) such as evolution. But



the Bible declares that without regeneration from G-d, Man is not



evolving upward from the beast but downward toward the Beast, and



the number of his name is 666, the number of unregenerated



Mankind at his most bestial. Without regeneration, man tends



away from the likeness of G-d and toward the likeness of the



unreasoning beast (Jude 10). If you come to the Bible looking for



information to support the latest scientific theory instead of



approaching the Bible to look for Yehoshua (Yochanan 5:39) and to



gather fruit from the Aitz HaChayim (the tree of life), you are



reading the Bible the wrong way, like a woman trying to find a



recipe in a telephone directory. The Bible was not written to



form us into gods who know exactly how old the universe is or how



scientists might someday create a human being from the mud of



matter. The Bible was written to give assurance of salvation and



to equip the man of G-d for every good work (Yochanan 20:31;



I Yochanan 5:13; II Tim. 3:16-11). Any fool might believe that



such a complex organ as the human eye could by evolution



spontaneously generate itself to see and rationally comprehend



the world, but a miracle is needed before a depraved heart can



believe that it has a need for G-d's Moshi'a (Deliverer), the



Moshiach. The Bible was written to tell us what is man,



something paleoanthropologists only pretend to know. They try to



divine that what differentiates humanity from the animal kingdom



is human speech or rational thought or the ability to use complex



tools or to walk in an upright manner on two feet. They can't



agree, however, and tend to put clever extinct species of apes



and "near-men" and "cave men" and modern man all in the same



genus, Homo (man). However according to the Bible, the genus of



Man is not alone defined by his rationality (which serves a



depraved will) but by the fact that Man is something that animals



are not: man is a sinner needing the covering of G-d's saving



hand, that is, a sinner needing the Moshiach. If we ask



ourselves, where does the notion of a suffering yet innocent



redeemer of the world originate, the answer again is Genesis.



Starting in chp 37, Joseph, like Yehoshua son of Joseph, is an



incognito prophet and savior, unrecognized by his own people,



envied and rejected as not from G-d, buried as dead, but raised



up by G-d to the right hand of supreme power to feed the bread of



new life to the whole world, including at last his own people who



do not recognize him until the end. (Rav Sha'ul may have had



this Joseph cycle in mind when he wrote Romans 11.)



This Anointed King, this Deliverer, will come from the line of



Seth (Genesis 4:25), from the offspring of Shem (Genesis 9:26),



from the family of Abraham (Genesis 12:3), from the seed of Isaac



(Genesis 26:3) and from the sons of Jacob (Genesis 46:3) and from



the tribe of Judah (49:10). Are you staying with me? Got a



dictionary? The word ZERA means what? ______________________



What does ex nihilo mean? _____________________







Read Gen. chps 6-10. Archaeologists are not ignorant of flood



strata in the geological record of ancient Mesopotamia. There



definitely was some kind of horrific flood in antiquity. Flood



stories are part of the memory of the human race and are almost



universally known. The death that swallows Adam and the



generations after him nearly swallows the whole human race in the



wrath of G-d unleashed in the great deluge. But once again there



is a Moshi'a savior figure, a kind of second Adam, and those who



find salvation in his ark survive, while all those outside him



are destroyed. See II Shimon Kefa 3:6. Possibly around 2166



B.C.E. Abraham was born in what is today modern Iraq. His home



was in the city of Ur of the Chaldees (part of today's Iraq and



Kuwait) and his people were Arameans, a Semitic group spreading



out from the Euphrates in Iraq. His family migrated to Haran (an



area near the Turkey-Syrian border 20 miles southeast of Urfa in



modern Turkey), where his father died, where his brother Nahor



settled, and where this Gentile named Abraham received his call



to make aliyah [he was the first foreign emissary of Moshiach's



shlichut (mission) to the Holy Land.] G-d chose to save Abraham



and to make him the founder of a nation (Israel) and the father



of many peoples (the Arab people come through his son Ishmael,



born when Abraham was 86). G-d chose to make him a prophet and



to give to him and to his "seed" both a covenant and a land and



various promises, including the promise of a Moshiach and



universal salvation, including the inheritance of the Gentile



nations. These covenant promises were renewed to Abraham's son



Isaac and Abraham's grandson Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to



Israel. The area of Haran is important because it was from this



region that Nahor's granddaughter Rebecca came, and she was



destined to become the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob.



Also, Leah and Rachel, the wives of Jacob, came from this region,



because the father of these girls was Laban, Rebecca's brother



and Jacob's uncle/father-in-law.







When we study Genesis, we see this 75 year old Abraham leaving



Haran and being guided by G-d to the land of Canaan with stops at



Shechem, the vicinity of Bethel, the Negev desert to the south of



Israel, Egypt, Bethel again, and then Hebron, where Abraham spent



most of his life. He is a prophet, proclaiming G-d to the heathen



Canaanites by "calling on the name of the L-rd." He acts not only



like a prophet (notice his prophetic intercessory ministry in



20:17 and in 18:23-32) but also like a kohen, building altars and



making sacrifices. But then appears a greater kohen, a



mysterious royal figure ruling almost messianically over the city



that became known later as Jerusalem. This kohen, a type of the



Moshiach, takes Abraham's tithe and blesses him (Gen. 14). Four



eastern kings then attack Sodom and, because Abraham's nephew Lot



lives there, Abraham rescues him. But the same G-d who leads Lot



to escape that homosexual stronghold Sodom, leads Abraham to



miraculously father a son (Isaac) in his old age and then to send



his servant (possibly the Eliezer of Gen. 15:2) to Laban to get



Isaac a bride (see Gen. 24). With the birth of Isaac (a promise



25 years in coming), the promise of the rise of the nation, the



possession of the nation's land (Israel), the coming of the



Moshiach, and the inheritance of all the nations of the



world--this great unfolding promise and its fulfillment--is



assured. This is why the visit of the Angel of the L-rd in Gen.



18 is so important (18:2,17,22,33; 19:1 seems to make the



inference that the Angel of the L-rd is G-d himself). Under the



guidance of G-d we see Abraham moving around to different places,



Hebron, the Philistine territory in Gerar, Beersheba, and Mount



Moriah (later the site of the Beis Hamikdash mount--II Chron.



3:1). This is where his faith endured its most difficult test,



prefiguring the vicarious, substitionary sacrifice in the coming



Beis Hamikdash, prefiguring the sacrifice of the Moshiach, and



prefiguring the sacrifice of every true believer who must put all



on the altar to follow the L-rd. But G-d's guidance, made real



to Abraham by the intervention of an angel (Gen. 22:11), came to



his rescue even in the midst of severe testing. Abraham was put



in the right before G-d by faith (15:6), as are all his Messianic



heirs and spiritual children according to the promise (Gal.



3:7-9,29).







Isaac's movements are also under the guidance of G-d from the



time he narrowly escapes death as a child until his dying day:



Mount Moriah, Gerar (Philistine territory), Beersheba. When his



servants dig a well, the L-rd invariably leads them to water and



the eyes of the heathen see "plainly that the L-rd has been with



you" (26:28). Even as a blind old man, Isaac's hands were guided



by the L-rd (see Gen. 27).







The Edomites, a people south and southeast of the Dead Sea, in



the country called Edom or Seir, raided Judah at the time of the



Babylonian invasion (Obad.11) in the 6th century B.C. and



possessed lands in the Negev desert (Ezek.35). But any claim they



might have made on the territory of Israel was forfeited by the



founder of their nation, Jacob's brother, Esau, who despised his



birthright and was supplanted by his twin brother Jacob. We see



the hand of G-d protecting Jacob, sending him away from Esau to



Haran, prospering him in spite of all Laban's deceptive



practices. As G-d was with Abraham and Isaac, so G-d guided



Jacob. Just as both Sarah and her maid-servant, Hagar, gave



Abraham offspring, so from Leah was born Reuben, Simeon, Levi,



Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. From Rachel was born Joseph and



Benjamin. From Rachel's maid-servant Bilhah was born Dan and



Naphtali. From Leah's maid-servant Zilpah was born Gad and Asher.



When Jacob's caravan left Haran, G-d was with him as he headed



for Gilead, protecting him from Laban. "The L-rd watch(ed)"



(31:48) and angels met him at the place he named Mahanaim and he



strove with G-d and prevailed until he received the blessing as



"Israel." G-d guided Jacob to Shechem and met him at Bethel,



leading him to Hebron. Through his son Joseph, G-d led Jacob even



to Pharaoh's court in Egypt. And the same G-d that led his son



Joseph to become a prophet in Egypt led Jacob's body to be



returned for burial in the promised land, where his tomb (Gen.



50) would become a sign pointing to the Moshiach's tomb and the



Exodus from sin and death. The tribes of Israel that Moses led



out of Egypt in the Exodus were given much assurance by these



stories from G-d's prophetic Word: G-d was likewise leading and



guiding and providing for them as he had for their fathers.



Joseph's movements under the guidance of G-d can be seen in three



days: the day his brothers rejected him as a prophet and as their



savior, refusing to do obeisance, selling him as a slave, and



burying him as dead; the day he was falsely accused and



imprisoned in Egypt; and the third day, the day he was raised to



the right hand of supreme power as a vindicated prophet and the



Moshi'a Savior of the world, ruler of all (Gen. 45:8). (See



I Cor. 15:4 "the third day")







The inference of Gen. 49:10 is that Judah's sovereignty



(shepherd's staff) will remain with that tribe until the coming



of David and the Son of David the Moshiach. See Ezek. 21:27 and



its near quote of Gen. 49:l0, "until he comes to whom it



rightfully belongs." Gen. 49:l0 says "the obedience of the



peoples" is his, that is the Moshiach's. In the Babylonian



Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b says that this is indeed a Messianic



prophecy.



GENESIS 3:15



And I will put enmity between thee (the Serpent) and the woman,



and between thy seed (the children of the evil one--Yochanan



8:44) and her seed; it (the seed of the woman) shall bruise thy



head (the Serpent), and thou shalt strike his heel. ["The Son of



the promise" is an important Messianic theme. The "seed of the



Woman" who is promised in Genesis 3:15 is to crush the Serpent.



This idea of the "Son of the Promise" underscored in Genesis



18:14 points toward the Deliverer foreshadowed also by others,



like Samson and Samuel, whose supernaturally orchestrated births



were a sign of divine rescue on the way. Moses tells us in



Genesis 49:10 that the Deliverer will come through Judah. But



here, even before Judah or Jacob, G-d miraculously brings into



being Isaac, just as G-d miraculously brings into being his true



people of the new birth. The supernatural birth of both people



(from the exile of sin) and the Moshiach (Immanuel) is a key



theme related to the doctrine of salvation in Isaiah.]



GENESIS 49:10



The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a ruler's staff from



between his feet until Shiloh (or if Shelo "until he whose it



is") come and the obedience of the nations (peoples) is his.































SHEMOT (EXODUS)















G-d's blessing on the people of Abraham (Gen. 12:3; 15:5) is such



that, according to Ex. 1:12, "the more they were oppressed, the



more they multiplied and spread." We see this in our own day in



the way the Nazi Holocaust of 1933-1945 led to the thriving



nation of Israel in 1948, growing with a vast exodus of diaspora



Jews from the Soviet Union, Ethiopia, and other lands. G-d keeps



his promises as we see in Gen. 15:13 and Ex. 12:40. There are



modern liberal scholars (not too many of them) who believe that



the Exodus from Egypt did not take place historically. Abraham



is declared to be a fictional character and his prophecy in Gen.



15:13-16 about the Egyptian Exodus is declared to be a post



events literary creation. But we know that it is an historical



fact that the Exodus from the Babylonian Exile began around 538



B.C.E. (see Ezra 1:1-4) and that Jeremiah was a real historical



character and his prophecy about the coming Babylonian Exodus in



Jer.16:14-15 can be dated before 586 B.C.E. when Jerusalem's



destruction made the Exile in Babylon complete. Now if G-d can



prove to us that the latter Exodus is historical, why should we



be skeptical that the former Exodus is historical? The doubters



living in the last decade of the 20th century are without excuse



for their unbelief, since they are themselves eye-witnesses of a



full scale Russian Exodus that promises to double Israel's



population in just a few years.







This book tells of the enslavement and deliverance of a people



and the birth and preparation of their deliverer. We hear of a



contest between the G-d of the people of the coming Moshiach and



the people of Pharaoh and his fals g-ds We learn of a



miraclous deliverance out of Egypt and the journey to Mt. Sinai



(Mt. Horeb). It is on this mountain that G-d reveals Himself



first to Moses and then to the people, requiring by means of a



covenant or contract that they be exclusively devoted to Him as a



holy nation, with His holy presence accompanying them on the



march by means of the mishkan and the kehunnah (priesthood)



carrying the law of Moses. As men had to enter the ark of



Noah's salvation to be saved from death, so we must enter the ark



of the true Messianic deliverance to be saved. And another



deliverer, the baby Moses, [MOSHE has the idea of "drawing out



(of the water)], was also in a tiny ark (the same word is used in



both stories: TEVAH meaning "vessel" is probably from an Egyptian



loan word meaning "chest" or "coffin"). In the case of both Noah



and Moses, the people would have to be submerged in a tevilah



into covenantal fellowship with their deliverer to be saved (see



I Corinthians 10:2; I Shliach Kefa 3:20f; II Shliach Kefa 2:5).



And just as the Noah cycle in Genesis shows a glimmer of



Messianic typology (see Matthew 24:38; Luke 17:27), so the book



of Exodus is also Messianic and eschatological. Both stories



point toward a new world coming which only a remnant preserved



through judgment will inherit. Moses is depicted not merely as a



prophet but as a mediator and judge/ruler who does a kohen's work



as well. When he says "a prophet like me" in Deut. 18:15, this



would include all these facets and by necessity would refer to



the Moshiach. This is confirmed by Isaiah, who declares that the



Prophet Moshiach will be a new Moses (Isa. 49:9-10). Look at



chapter 24:2, where Moses is a type (a perfect model pointing to



something higher) of Messiah because he symbolizes G-d's



mediator. Like the expected Moshiach-Prophet, Moses is also a



Mediator and law-giver (see Isaiah 42:4; Deuteronomy 18:18-19;



Isaiah 49:8-9), liberator, the inaugurator of the Kingdom of G-d,



the bringer of the covenant, the one delivered in order to be



G-d's deliverer, the one who rules and judges G-d's people and



raises up the divine dwelling of G-d in their midst, the



tabernacle, the MISHKAN OHEL MO'ED (the sanctuary of the tent of



meeting). Actually, Moses and Aaron together give us a picture



of the ruler-kohen Moshiach of Zechariah 6:13



(Yehoshua-Zerubbabel) and Psalm 110.







There is a recapitulation of the life of Moses in the life of



Moshiach Yehoshua. Both are saved from a slaughter of innocents,



both are called out of Egypt; Herod is a latter-day Pharaoh.



Twelve disciples to match the twelve tribes; there are forty days



in the wilderness to match the forty years of wandering, etc.



However, Moses is not a mere political leader bringing in a



this-worldly national liberation or revolution (this is only the



"Moses" of the "liberation theology" of Roman Catholic liberalism



in South America). He is a mediator pointing toward an



other-worldly G-d (G-d's angel goes before the Israelites--see



23:23; 33:2 and they see God--24:10). This G-d descends from



heaven and pitches His tent with His people, Himself dwelling



over the Aron HaEdut (ark of the testimony) where He sits



enthroned between the cherubim and over the Word He inscribed on



stone tablets. Moses sprinkles the elect nation (Exodus 24:8)



just as the Moshiach will sprinkle the elect nations (Isaiah



52:15). In both cases the elect are redeemed as a



blood-covenanted possession. Furthermore, in the book of Exodus,



Egypt's "new king who knew nothing of Joseph" (Exodus 1:8) is a



prefigurement of the Anti-Moshiach of the book of Revelation,



where the Exodus-like plagues of G-d's wrath (angry judgment)



fall on the Anti-Moshiach Beast's end-time Sodom civilization.



So Pharaoh's fall gives us a foreglimpse of the fall of the Beast



and his last-days "Babylon" civilization we see pictured so



vividly in Revelation 16 (see also Rev. 11:8). The Besuras



Hageulah of Yochanan is also organized much like Exodus, with



"signs" in both books convincing the people of the credibility of



each saving Mediator. While there are seven signs in Yochanan



there are ten signs building up to the Exodus of Moses. These



ten are Dahm (blood 7:14-24); Z'fard'im (frogs 8:1-15); Kinim



(gnats 8:16-19); Arov (flies 8:20-32); Dever (pestilence on



livestock 9:1-7); Sh'chin (boils 9:8-12); Barad (hail 9:13-35);



Arbeh (locusts 10:4-20); Chosech (darkness 10:21-29) Makat



B'chorot (slaying of firstborn 12:29-32). These are recited every



year in the Passover Seder, which is eaten with matzah and



M'rorim bitter herbs (see 12:8). Read carefully 12:1-27. Notice



the mixed crowd or rabble Erev Rav (large motley group) in 12:38



and remember the parable of the tares and wheat in Matt. 13:25.



Not all were prepared for holy battle (13:18).







Normally, passages like 12:37-39 are used in the Seder to explain



the matzah or unleavened bread. Ex. 12:42 explains why some



Jewish people stay up all night for the Chag festival. Read the



breath-taking description of the parting of what is traditionally



called the "Red Sea" (Yam Soof in Hebrew) in Ex. 14. and the



"Mi-chamochah Ba'Alim Adonai song in Ex. 15:11 found in the



synagogue liturgy. Notice a key theme of the entire Torah in



Ex. 15:13, "You guided them by Your strength to Your Holy Abode."







A Messianic theme in Exodus is the refrain we heard in Genesis



37:8, where Joseph's brothers taunt Joseph with the question: "Do



you think that you will indeed be king over us and rule us?" In



Exodus 2:14 Moses, even though he has been raised in a palace as



a prince, is likewise taunted, "Who set you as an official and



judge over us?" This is a continuation of the theme we will see



again in King David's life and in Isaiah 53 where, once again,



the spiritually anointed Leader is sent by G-d but rejected by



the people. In the case of both the Mediator of the Sinai



Covenant and also the Mediator of the (Jer. 31:31-34) Messianic



Brit Chadasha, the Savior-figure who "sprinkles" ["NAZAH"], with



the blood of the Covenant (Ex. 24:8; Isaiah 52:13) is called the



Eved (Servant) of the L-rd (Ex. 14:31; Isa. 52:13). Prince



Moses will be a type of the Moshiach, just as Joseph "prince



among his brothers" (Gen. 49:26) was. Genesis 49:10 tells us



that the obedience of the nations will come to the Moshiach



descended from the tribe of Judah, but Scripture gives us various



pictures of him. For example, the Jewish people (some of them,



that is) meant to do Yehoshua Son of Joseph harm, but G-d meant



to bring good out of it by saving many people (Genesis 50:20).



Also, Genesis offers the promise of land and life but ends with



everyone being sucked into a tomb (see Genesis 49:29-33), and the



body of Joseph going back to that tomb in a 400 year long trek



(Genesis 50:24-26; Exodus 13:19). But a victory over the defeat



of that tomb will occur when "the 70" (Exodus 1:5) burst forth



from the tomb of Egypt in a great exodus of "600,000" (Exodus



12:3?). This was possible because of midwives who didn't believe



in abortion (1:17), who did believe instead in the G-d of



Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the G-d of the living. This awesome



G-d commissions Moses (1:23-2:15) while he is a shepherd in



Midian on Mt. Sinai (Horeb) to deliver His people with Match



Ha'Elohim (the rod of God) performing signs and wonders (this



word wonder" mofet in Ex.7:3 we will see again in a key



Messianic passage in Zechariah 3:8). The G-d of Israel reveals



to Moses his personal covenant Name which contains his character,



that he is the G-d who always is (Ex. 3:14), the eternally



self-existent true G-d. This one true L-rd is the author of



salvation (Ex. 6:1-8), and he explains that he is going to



remember his covenant with the Patriarchs (Ex. 2:24) and then he



will plunder the Egyptians (3:21-22; 11:2-3 12:35-36) and harden



Pharaoh's heart before he brings out Israel from Egypt with a



mighty hand. G-d has many marvelous reasons for this (see 6:1;



7:3; 9:16; 10:1-2; 11:9; 14:4; 18:11). The plagues of the Exodus



were acts of judgment. The plagues were also deliberate



denigrations of the destructive deities and idol religion of the



Egyptians (12:12), the kind of Holy War that Moses and Joshua



will be continuing as preparations are made to invade the Holy



Land. Ex. 6:6 says "I am the L-rd, and I will free you from the



burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I



will redeem (I will be the Go'el) Redeemer, literally buying you



back from slavery by putting a blood sacrifice ransom on every



door). I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with



mighty acts of judgment." But in doing these acts of judgment, in



pouring out the plagues, G-d promises to "make a distinction



between my people and your (Pharaoh's) people" (Ex. 8:23; Gen.



3:15). This is the key to what Yochanan means in Rev. 3:10,



"Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep



you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to



test the inhabitants of the earth." Believers have been taken



out of judgment and they will not be "destroyed with those who



destroy the earth" (Rev. 11:18); just the opposite, they will be



raptured first (Rev. 11:12). G-d will "take" them like he took



Enoch and Elijah. However, not all the tribulation plagues of



Exodus necessitate evaculation for G-d's people to escape them



(see 8:22; 9:20-21,26,34; 10:23; 11:6-7). This should prompt us



to anticipate an imminent rapture but not to presume that rapture



is the only way G-d can protect his kedoshim while He pours out



bowls of wrath and plagues of judgment on the worldly people all



around his chosen ones. Like a typical reprobate who continually



refuses to humble himself before G-d (10:3), the proud



unregenerate Pharaoh does not believe even though all the



terrible plagues of judgment and wrath fall on him. But these



plagues the L-rd uses to distinguish between Egypt and Israel



(11:7), for He is redeeming a people of slaves set apart to



worship Him (10:26) and to become a free nation of kohanim to



G-d. The L-rd will make his covenant with his redeemed people,



and they will remember the covenant in a solemn covenant meal,



the Pesach Seder (chapter 12 Pesach). Chapter 13 hearkens back to



Genesis 22 and shows that only the first-born of the redeemed



will be included in the Pidyon HaBen redemption of the son--see



22:29b-30). When the first-born of Pharaoh and Egypt were struck



down while the first-born of Israel was preserved alive even



before the Red Sea parted, these events showed the Israelites



that they were being delivered from destruction by One who is



omnipotent and can alone assure their future (their future lay



with the ruling heir, the firstborn). The early Messianic Jews



had the same realization when they saw G-d likewise save and



raise his own firstborn Son from the dead and effect their and



His "exodus"--see Luke 9:30 and I Cor. 5:7. Matthew also



presents Moshiach Yehoshua as the New Moses, just as Isaiah looks



forward to a new exodus of salvation and the Moshiach to lead it



(see Isaiah 49:9-10). The Pesach lamb was a vicarious sacrifice



for the first-born heir, who represented the whole community and



its future. The Pesach Lamb purchased the redemption of those who



were saved and its blood on their houses literally bought them so



that they became the people whom G-d bought or acquired ["KANAH"]



Ex. 15:16; 12:23-27). Atonement money (30:11-16) was meant to



remind the Israelites of the ransom given in the blood sacrifice



of the Pesach lamb and in the tent of meeting, that is "the kofer



(ransom) given for your lives" (30:12). Trace the word for lamb



in Hebrew Seh from Genesis 22:7 to Exodus 12:3 to Isaiah 53:7.



Moshiach is the coming Passover Lamb, the redemptive-savior of



Abraham's progeny. He is the one that Isaac asks for (unwittingly



not only for his own redemption but also for the purchased



redemption of all Abraham's children by faith).







Sometimes, as in the case of the detour the Israelites took



through the desert rather than the more direct route to Israel,



G-d has a reason for making us take longer to reach our



objectives. The disheveled ex-slaves needed time to get



disciplined and organized. We talmidim also sometimes need more



time and therefore should not get discouraged when our long-range



goals are not reached over-night. See 13:17-18. The important



point is that we must wait on the L-rd who will remember his



people (2:24). The L-rd works very quickly when he wills to do



so. It took only three months for the L-rd to bring his



Lamb-redeemed (13:13-14) and Red Sea-mikvehed people to Mount



Sinai (Horeb) where he met with their mediator Moses for one year



and where Israel became a blood-covenanted nation! These latter



two events look forward to the mediator Moshiach on the Mount of



Transfiguration and the remnant Shluchim of Israel at the



Moshiach's Last Passover Seder, when we too became a



blood-covenanted people.







One of the twelve sons of Jacob was Levi. He had a son named



Kohath who had a son named Amram whose children were Aaron and



Miriam and Moses. Aaron had a son named Eleazar who had a son



named Phinehas (read about Eleazar's death in the last verse of



Joshua). In the book of Exodus Moses is depicted as a Levite who



in chapter 32 leads a vanguard of zealous Levites in setting the



standard of kedushah for the Israelites in the wilderness. Many



Hebrews are still slaves in Egypt, spiritually speaking,



worshipping the Egyptian bull G-d Apis (the golden calf) with



orgiastic worship (the Hebrew word L'Tsachek in 32:6 has,



according to the medieval rabbinic commentator Rashi, sexual



connotations). The point is that the called out kahal of the



Exodus is in need of a second Exodus, a new creation Exodus from



the "Egyptian" idolatry and bondage within and the hard-hearted



"Pharoah" of their own proud and unspiritual nature. Moses has



been to the mountaintop and has seen the pattern of G-d's coming



salvation (25:9,10; 26:30), but the people, lacking his vision,



murmur against G-d's leader, break the covenant, and perish



("without a vision the people perish" [Prov. 29:18]--not



realizing that there is a spiritual march and a discipleship



discipline necessary to reach salvation's goal.) The people



develop increasing carnality, rebelliousness, faithlessness,



ingratitude, unteachability, anger and cowardice until G-d



condemns them and replaces them with a new-born people that



emerges at the end of the forty year wilderness wanderings. Only



the new-barn "inherit the earth" of the land of Israel in the



end! But G-d is the Prime Mover of the Exodus; it doesn't depend



on Moses' eloquence (or lack of it--4:l0; 6:30) or even on



Israel's competence. He will say, "Israel, come forth!" and she



who was dying in chains in an unclean land of idols will come



forth living and free, destined for kedushah and hitkhadeshut.



Notice the power encounter is between the "New Age" Anti-Moshiach



pseudo-miracles and occult arts of magicians in Pharaoh's court



and the power of the Ruach Hakodesh (7:11; see II Thes. 2:9-10;



Rev. 13:11-18). We see that Anti-Moshiach oppression is of a



political and religious kind, and that it is diabolically



designed to hinder worship of the true G-d and His Moshiach (See



13:13).











In many ways Moses prefigures the Moshiach. Moses himself is no



messianic hero, however, but a limited man who needs Aaron as his



press secretary and spokesman, and Miriam as his music and



choreography worship leader. Through Jethro's advice, Moses



wisely admits his need for a vast division of labor as far as



leadership is concerned (18:18, 21), because the job of Shofet



(Judge) was getting too large for him. So we see Moses as a



model of the true spiritual leader, one who spends time on the



mountaintop alone in intercessory prayer and devekut with G-d as



well as in meditation on the Word, and then allows a host of



others to help him carry the load of work, which would be too



heavy for him to bear alone. He does this by supervising their



work which is compartmentalized and graded in complexity under



properly fitted leadership so that as problems go up the



hierarchy, most get solved before they reach him. Exodus 29:4



shows the kohen's total abulation looking forward to Moshaich's



tevilah. This kohen's washing is the source of the consecration



ritual for service to G-d (19:14) and the proselyte initiation



ritual which is Brit Chadashah tevilah. See the word (mikveh) in



Exodus 7:19 and Genesis 1:10. There is typology for this in the



parting of the Red Sea and in the washings of the kohanim as they



are installed in their ministry. Deliverance and redemption,



however,are not ritually received (rituals are commanded but as



"wilderness tests" of obedience and faith, not for their supposed



magical properties). Deliverance and redemption come through



emunah in the ransom of the Passover Lamb (later fulfilled in the



Moshiach) that heals us from the plagues of sin and death (Ex.



15:26; 23:25; Isa. 53:5,7).







The promised life G-d offers (later fulfilled in the mavet,



kevurah and techiyas hamesim of the Moshiach) is symbolized in



time (Shabbos and Festivals of Sacred Calendar) and in space



(Holy Camp, Mishkan and Promised Land).







In front of the OHEL MO'ED was the KIYYOR for washing and the



MITZBE'ACH of the burnt-offering. In the Holy Place was found the



golden SHULCHAN with the LECHEM PANIM and beside it, the



MENORAH.



In front of the PAROKHET on the KODESH HAKODESHIM was a



MITZBE'ACH HAKETORET. In the KODESH HAKODESHIM was the



ark of the



covenant with the ASERET HADIBROT on the LUCHOT AVANIM



inside and



the KAPPORET functioning as its lid, with the two cherubim facing



each other on top of the KAPPORET. Typology of Moshiach is seen



in the MISHKAN's construction, since he is the perfect pattern of



G-d's saving presence with men; he is the bread of life, the



Lechem Panim, bread of the Presence and he is the Shulchan upon



which all our sustenance rests; he is the menorah, the Lampstand,



the light of the world; he is the Mizbe'ach Haketoret (the altar



of incense), He is the sweet fragrance of salvation's incense; He



is the Mizbe'ach Ha'Olah, (the altar of burnt-offering); he is



the great Kohen Gadol, the acceptable sacrifice, the one MELITZ,



the kiyyor (basin) who washes us with the Ruach Hakodesh, the



law-giver, the door, the KAPPORET, the blood, the victim, and the



Word as well as the Presence who tabernacled with us in the



flesh. Isaiah says He is even the covenant (Isa. 42:6).



Exodus 30:30 is the origin of the word Moshiach. Kohanim were



anointed with a special oil, and among laymen only the Davidic



King (Himself a kohen after the order of Malki-tzedek) was



anointed. When David's dynasty became acknowledged as the



Messianic line, "G-d's anointed" (Moshiach) became a portentous



way of referring to David's Moshiach-bringing dynasty. (See the



Hebrew word in Psalm 2:2 and Daniel 9:26).







In the theology of Exodus, Egypt is not just exited; it is judged



and condemned, just as is the old humanity in the momentous



sacrifice of the Lamb of G-d. The true people of G-d is a



remnant within the "rabble." Not all Israel is Israel. The royal



idol of Pharaoh was a serpent g-d, a cobra, and the most



important of all Egyptian devils was Apophis represented by a



serpent. Genesis 3 has this in its background since Moses is the



author. The Serpent g-d of this world is being rejected.



Ironically, Moses finds he has a more gruelling challenge in



dealing with the people of G-d than he did with the people of



Pharoah. Nearly stoning him, they crave the sensual delights of



their former life of slavery, not realizing that these will bring



upon themselves the evil diseases of Egypt (see Exodus 15 and



Deuteronomy 7). The murmurers are always yearning to get out of



the ministry and have a "normal life." Doubting that G-d can



furnish a table in the wilderness" (Psalm 78:19), many fail to



endure to the end and be saved.







As we see in the Servant Songs of Isaiah, both Israel and



Moshiach are G-d's first-born Son (see Exodus 4:23; Psalm 89:27).



They are both the "seed" of Abraham, but Isaiah 53 says that



Moshiach makes atonement for the people. "For the transgression



of my people was he stricken" (Isa. 53:8). We see much typology



of Moshiach in Exodus: the Pesach lamb chavurah meal (with blood



protection for covenant-keepers), the manna "test of obedience"



meals (teaching not to "gather" faithlessly in the flesh but to



wait on the L-rd and trust in the L-rd's providence and his



provision), and the legislation about strangers and outsiders



needing to be consecrated in the covenant initiation of



circumcision to partake of Pesach, as well as the sections on the



Zekenim eating and drinking with G-d.







Exodus 36:2 speaks of the artists G-d used to make His worship



beautiful and acceptable to Him (see also Ex. 35:10-19;



35:30-36:7). If the worshipers sacrificing and meeting G-d at



the MISHKAN are a prophetic foreshadow or type of the people of



G-d, then each KEHILLAH should have its artisans and artists



today to coordinate and embellish the gifts and talents that each



worshipper is prompted by his own heart to bring to G-d's



service. In Exodus we see the leaders coordinating the arts and



the artistic contributions of the people for the esthetic



enhancement of worship. It's important to remember that



Solomon's Beis Hamikdash and other artistic achievements of great



beauty (such as the Bible itself as a literary achievement) are



used by G-d to attract the heathen to come and taste and see that



the L-rd is good. No Brit Chadasha kehillah should underestimate



the power of the arts in attracting outsiders.







Exodus chps. 35-40 tells about the building of the mishkan (a



type of portable royal pavilion-palace for G-d to dwell in as His



people travelled with Him toward the Promised Land of new life).



The fire and cloud (Ex. 40:34-38) associated with it from the



time of its completion are a sign that G-d indeed dwells there.







At the end of Deuteronomy we find Moses, old and ready to die and



yet not entering the promised land. G-d had almost killed him



once before (possibly in a deadly illness) over the mitzvah of



Bris Milah (circumcision) [Ex. 4:26]. In the book of Exodus we



learn about many Jewish matters of importance: the L-rd calls



Himself the Elohei Ha'Ivrim (G-d of the Hebrews) (7:16); the L-rd



gives the prohibition on travel and fire-building on Shabbos



(16:29-30; 35:3); the testing of Moses occurs (compare Ex. 17 and



Num. 20); we see the Amalek (17:14) people over whom King Saul



got in trouble for not killing their king (I Sam. 15:8), There



are other important themes. The people of G-d are called to be a



malchut of kohenim and a holy nation (19:6). The reverential



glory attached to the ministry is seen in the striking ceremonies



and clothing of the kohanim (28:40-43). We see the trumpet or



shofar and catch its esohatological significance (see 19:13,16



and I Thes. 4:16).







The Aseret haDibrot which form the basis of all other laws in the



Bible are introduced (20:1-17). A depiction of G-d's nature is



given to us (34:6-7). The fear of the L-rd is seen as a



preventative against sin (20:20). The redemption price of a slave



is thirty shekels of silver (see Zech. 11:12 and Matt. 26:15;



27:3,9). The typology of Moses the Judge points to Moshiach the



Judge, since, to come before such a Judge means to come before



G-d (see 22:9); the Angel (Messenger) of the L-rd will have the



Name or Presence of G-d in Him and will be virtually the



equivalent of the L-rd Himself and therefore a picture of Mal.



3:1--see Ex. 23:20-21.







The reason for the Holy War In the Holy Lend concerns the seven



indigenous peoples there who were made Charem (devoted under the



ban of destruction--Ex.23:32-33).







Much of this book is taken up with the detailed plans for



building the Mishkan as an acceptable place for G-d to dwell and



be met by His people. In fact it is called Ohel Mo'ed the tent of



meeting." Notice the fulfillment that comes with serving the L-rd



there. "The Israelites had done all of the work just as the L-rd



had commanded Moses. When Moses saw that they had done all the



work just as the L-rd had commanded, he blessed them" (Ex.



39:42-43).







On Moses' authorship, see 24:4,7 which says "Moses wrote down all



the words of the L-rd"..and read from "the Sefer HaBrit (Book of



the Covenant)." On the other "book," the Sefer HaChayyim,



referred to elsewhere in Scripture, see Ex. 32:33.







The Moshiach is Immanuel ("G-d-with-us"), the Word of G-d (G-d's



Wisdom, His Son) who descended from heaven to Mount Sinai to



dwell "with us" in the Devir (Kodesh HaKodeshim) of the



Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, where G-d pitches His Royal



Pavilion among His people and can only be approached with



Biblically specified blood sacrifice acceptably mediated.



The temporary Tent of Meeting that Moses set up before the



tabernacle was erected is mentioned in Ex. 33:11.







EXODUS 3:13







And Moses said unto G-d, Behold, when I come unto the children of



Israel, and shall say unto them, The G-d of your fathers hath



sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name?



what shall I say unto them?







EXODUS 3:14







And G-d said unto Moses, I AM WHO I AM: and he said, Thus shalt



thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.







EXODUS 25:40







And see that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown



thee on the mountain.



















































VAYIKRA (LEVITICUS)



















A whole book of the Bible is devoted to underscoring the fact



that Biblical (as opposed to Talmudic) Judaism is a faith



requiring shefikhat dahm (shedding of blood) for the SELICHAT



AVON. On Mt. Sinai the L-rd made it clear that He could not be



truly honored as G-d without blood (7:37-38). We were bought at



great price, and all the blood of bulls and goats pointed to the



blood of the Lamb of G-d who takes away the sin of the world.



When we meditate on this book we see at what great price of blood



the world was redeemed. For, as in the institution of the Brit



Chadasha (Matt. 26:28), so the Sinai Covenant was instituted by



blood sacrifice (Ex. 24:3-8). In Leviticus we see that this is



emphasized with no less than eight types of offerings: the sin



offering [CHATTAT] (Lev. 4:1-35; 6:24-30) to atone for specific



unwitting sin; different animals or offerings were required,



depending on the rank of the offender--ruler, kohen, or common



person, poor person, very poor person; the offerer laid his hand



on the victim and identified with it (as we must identify with



Moshiach); this blood alone was put on the horns of the incense



altar (4:16-18) in the Holy Place; on the Yom Kippur, this blood



was taken into the Kodesh HaKodeshim and manipulated as for a



leprous unclean people (Lev. 14:7; 16:14). The kohen performed



ritual eating with part of the meat in the Beis Hamikdash area;



the Moshiach's Seder looks back to this since we are Brit



Chadasha kohanim (Yochanan 6:49-58).







Next, the guilt or trespass offering [ASHAM] (the same word is



predicted about the Moshiach in Isaiah 53:10) to atone for



unwitting sin requiring restitution (this was also eaten; read



Lev. 5:14-6:7; 7:1-7; whenever G-d or someone else was defrauded



or cheated of what was rightly his, this sacrifice was necessary.



Like the leper who, because of his uncleanness, defrauds G-d of



acceptable service and needs the cleansing blood applied to his



ears, hands, and feet (see 14:12-14), so we, who have defrauded



G-d of much service because of our uncleannesses, need the blood



of the Moshiach applied to our whole being.







Next, the holocaust [OLAH or burnt offering] to atone for



unwitting sins in general; the kohen had to keep the fire burning



continuously (Lev. 6:8-13) because the victim had to be burned



completely and there were sacrifices morning and evening. In the



L-rd's work the minister has to keep the fire of spiritual



awakening burning continuously by not neglecting the Word and



prayer and other ministry duties (see Acts 2:42; Heb. 10:25).



Next, the cereal offering [MINCHAH] to secure or retain good will



(not a blood sacrifice but fine flour, olive oil, and



frankincense offered along with such); unless the offering was



for his own sin, the kohen could eat part of it (6:16; 1:9), and



this was one of his "mitzbe'ach rights," just as we have certain



mitzbe'ach rights at the Table of the L-rd that unbelievers have



no right to share (Heb. 13:10).







Next, the peace offering [SHLOMIM] or fellowship offering to



render thanks to G-d; the kohen took the sacrificial meat and the



cakes or wafers and gave them back to the repentant choteh to eat



wherever he chose. This is a picture of the privileges and



benefits that accompany the ministry of the laity and also points



to the Moshiach's Tish.





Next, the drink offering [NESECH] was denied the kohen and



completely poured out, just as our lives must be wholly expended



for the L-rd (see II Tim. 4:6) and we must not get involved in



civilian pursuits (II Tim. 2:4); (in addition there was the thank



offering [TODAH] for a blessing received,







Next, the vow offering [NEDER] upon completion of a vow, and the



freewill offering [N'DAVAH]"from a glad heart" (a voluntary



offering, such as was given at the three major feasts: Pesach,



Shavuos and Sukkot).







In some of these sacrifices, hands are laid on the victim, which



must be without flaw, and the victim then, with this physical



contact, becomes (through the gracious gift of saving emunah) a



substitute, and a vicarious kapporah is thereby appropriated for



the choteh (see Leviticus 1:4). With the touch of the hand and



the emunah of the believer, the sin transfers to the victim whose



bloody death expiates (removes) the chet from the choteh and



propitiates (appeases) the wrath or anger of G-d against sin.



Thus the sin is covered or atoned for. In Leviticus 4:1-3 we see



that sin doesn't get off scot-free...somebody has to pay. We see



the bull come forward to pay, just as later we see the perfect



victim, the filial Word of G-d the man Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach



Yehoshua, come forward to pay (as foretold in Isaiah 53). In



Leviticus 4:15 we see the zekenim of the community lay their



hands upon the head, just as later they unwittingly laid their



hands upon the head of the eternal Word Himself, the Moshiach



Kohen-Lamb. In this respect the Moshiach's death was not only an



Asham it was also a Chattat that is, a sin offering for the whole



community. In fact all of the sacrifices find their fulfillment



in the death of the Moshiach. On Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol



lays both of his hands on the head of the victim, confesses over



it all the perverse sins and transgressions of the people,



transfering them to the head of the doomed victim, who will bear



[NASAH] them away outside the makhaneh (camp) to the wilderness



where it will die (notice Lev. 16:22 and Isaiah 53:12 "He bore



the sin of many"). The covenant of salt referred to in Lev. 2:13



symbolizes permanence, which is an aspect of both salt's



preservative quality and G-d's covenant love for his people.



G-d spoke to Moses about such critically important matters from



the Ohel Moed (Tent of Meeting) (Lev. 1:1). And the chesed



Hashem is emphasized in the fact that Aaron, although he had made



a golden calf for the people and was completely unworthy to be a



minister (like Shliach Kefa and Rav Sha'ul), and although he in



no way earned by zechus the personal relationship to the King of



Kings that the Covenant offered, nevertheless, the grace of G-d



was such that G-d revealed to Moses how He wanted to be



worshipped in the Mishkan. Then G-d had Moses ordain Aaron and



instruct him to perform the holy duties of a kohen as are written



out in this book, the book of Leviticus. Nevertheless, not many



should become teachers and engage in the kohen's service of



teaching, since those who teach will be judged with greater



strictness (Ya'akov 3:1), and Leviticus warns us several times



about what will happen to kohanim who are careless in their



duties. In Leviticus 4:31 it says, "Thus the kohen shall make



atonement for him and he shall be forgiven." The perfect Word of



G-d, who came to Moses with this oracle, Himself came later as



our eternal kohen (Psalm 110:4) and made expiation for us with



his own flawless life poured out in a bloody death so that we



could be forgiven. This is "the ram of the guilt offering" (Lev.



5:16) that G-d promised to provide for Abraham (Genesis 22:11-14;



Isa. 53:l0). Leviticus 9 promises the glorious Presence of the



L-rd will appear to you if the enjoined sacrifice is accepted



(9:1,5-7, 23); Yehoshua is the Word of G-d's Presence appearing



among us as Immanuel (God-with-us). Notice I Cor. 15:5f says "he



appeared.







In chapter 10 we see that two kohanim went beyond what is written



and the L-rd permanently retired them from their S'MICHA



(ordination), just as many great spiritual leaders, involved in



the "illicit fire" of wine, women and financial corruption, have



likewise been ingloriously defrocked and wiped out of the



ministry by the L-rd. If we know the Moshiach and we are kohanim



who have entered the Tent of Meeting, then why do we break the



law and drunkenly crave wine (Lev. 10:9)? If you are in the



L-rd's ministry, you cannot go anywhere you want or do anything



you want; you must not go outside the entrance of the Tent of



Meeting lest you die" (10:7). We must not touch anything



unclean, lest we grieve the Ruach Hakodesh and break our Rev.



3:20 communion with the L-rd, to which Lev. 10:17 points. If



anyone thinks that he is so gifted and invaluable to the L-rd



that he can get away with secret sin, he should remember that G-d



had for kohanim only Aaron's four sons and G-d put half of them



to death! No man is indispensible with G-d; all of us can be



eliminated and replaced (G-d replaced the whole people of Israel



in the wilderness); so we should meditate on this book and fear



G-d. G-d seems to be saying in Lev. 10:2-3, "Offer right



sacrifices, O ministers, or you will be sacrificed." The



eye-witnessed detail in Lev. 10:5 reminds us of Acts 5:1-11 where



two other ministers committed high-handed sin. Aaron's sons



deliberately shunned the fire from G-d (Lev. 9:24) and offered



unholy fire (10:1) of their own choosing.







In chapter 13, we see that G-d's minister must examine the flock



and sometimes infected members must be quarantined and dealt with



apart from the others. Suppose you as a spiritual leader



interviewed a lonely bachelor with a history of fornication and



suppose he was seeking admission to your ministry because he was



"lonely" for lady companionship. Would you see this as "leprosy"



and quarantine him? Or would you play the Jewish matchmaker and



rush to "meet his needs?" We need to make sure that all of us



keep our "itch" (Lev. 13:30) under the examination of the Lord's



body through faithful submission to the House of G-d where we've



been called. Lev. 16:2 tells us about the Parokhet (or curtain



veiling the Kodesh HaKodashim) and about the Aron Kodesh (the



Holy Ark) and regarding the atonement cover or Kaporet where G-d



Himself appears. In Rom. 3:25 the word (ilastE/rion is the word



for Moshiach's sacrifice of atonement, and it is a direct



reference to this Greek word which is also found here in the



Septuagint translation of Lev. 16:2. So Yehoshua is where G-d



appears in holy sacrifice. Yehoshua sprinkles the nations in a



cosmic Yom Kippur sacrifice, according to Isaiah 52:15, since he



is the cosmic and eternal kohen of Psalm 110:4. Aza'zel is



generally translated "scapegoat" in Lev. 16:10. It cannot mean



demon (see Lev. 17:7).







In chapter 18 polygamy (18:18) and homosexuality (18:22) are



condemned and sexual sins are made one of the grounds for exile



which is threatened (compare 18:25 to 18:28; also 26:34). Since



the illicit and incestuous unions in Leviticus 18 seem to be



referred to in Acts 15:20 and Matthew 19:9, a case can be made



that Moshiach Yehoshua allowed no other grounds for divorce and



remarriage (other than porneia). Porneia would have been the



grounds for the annulment of Yosef's marriage to Miryam had she



been guilty of this kind of sexual deception during the



engagement period (see Matthew 1:19), and in that case had he



remarried he would be considered married only once (I Timothy



3:2). Other than these types of exceptions, Yehoshua considered



the marriage vow indissoluble. If one intends to be a leader in



G-d's work and if one knows that his calling entails it, one



should seek ordination, not necessarily a prestigious academic



degree. The Bible says nothing about prestigious degrees (except



that Moshiach Yehoshua condemns the idolatrous and caste-creating



use of titles in the L-rd's House -- Matthew 23:5-12), but it



says plenty (even in Leviticus) about ordination! Do you think



someone should not have to possess a medical license (that can be



revoked if they engage in malpractice) if they want to be a



doctor or a medical healer of bodies? If this is true, why do



you think you should be able to lead in the L-rd's work without a



similar recognized appointment holding you accountable for your



moral and doctrinal integrity? Just as Exodus gives minute



details for the building of the Mishkan, so Leviticus gives



minute details for how the kohanim are to be ordained so they can



be overseers who inspect the worshippers according to the exact



laws and regulations protecting the holiness of G-d's people.



G-d wants quality control and quality control inspectors to



insure holiness in his worshippers. This is why Shliach Sha'ul



lays down qualifying principles for the standards ministers must



keep (see 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1). Anti-clericalism is the



renunciation of the ordained ministry and is a reaction against



clericalism, wherein the clergy is turned into a caste system



that abuses ministerial privileges and lords it over the laity.



But anti-clericalism is itself a sin against G-d's Word because



G-d does want mesharetim (ministers, servants) and G-d does want



them authorized and accountable to those who appointed them.



In Lev. 8:22-32 we see the ordination ceremony. Moses



officiates. (See also Ex. 29:19-34 and its description.) Notice



that a man cannot ordain himself. Aaron and his sons are



dependent on the G-d who called them to dress them in the holy



garments of a kohen using his "dresser" Moses. The minister's



hands, ears, end feet are made holy and sanctified and



consecrated for avodas kodesh by the purifying blood. From now



on, everything the minister touches, or listens to, and every



place he frequents must be part of his holy business as a kohen



because it is all under the blood (see Lev. 8:23,30). The



minister's hands have been filled with holy work and he must be



about G-d's holy business (see 8:26-28). G-d will uniquely



sustain the minister in all this (Ex. 29:33), but the minister



must eat the offering G-d provides in the place where G-d assigns



him (8:31-36) and not journey out in his own stubborn will to



minister wherever he pleases. To do so might mean the death of



his ministry (see Lev. 8:35). These are some of the many deep



spiritual truths in Lev. 8, and there is a sense in which these



truths apply to both lay and ordained ministers, though the



specific teachings regarding ordination are emphasized.







In Leviticus 26:39-45, G-d promises he will expel and return the



Jewish people to the land of Israel as part of his moral dealings



with the world. Therefore, how can anyone write a treatise on



ethics and leave such matters out entirely? Shliach Sha'ul



didn't in his treatise on ethics called the Letter to the Romans



(Romans 9-11).







G-d is a land leaser and a leaser of harvests, according to



Leviticus 25:13-24. The Holy Land belongs to Him, and even the



Jewish people are aliens there resident with G-d. He will throw



unclean tenants out of his Holy Mishkan (dwelling, tabernacle)



and off of His Holy Land (Admat Hakodesh). Therefore, we must



repent of all our uncleanesses and tremble at His Word.



Against the rationalizing reductionism of the Midrash (Leviticus



Rabbah vii), Leviticus does not say the study of the Torah will



fulfill the imperatives of its commands. Leviticus 17:11 demands



divinely acceptable sacrificial blood, not mere Torah study.



Those who say that Leviticus gives no warrant for a Messianic



re-interpretation of its text should remember one important fact.



If a later canonical prophet of the Holy Tanakh points to the



Torah and gives it a typological Messianic meaning (as Isaiah



does by apocalyptically applying the word (asham) from Leviticus



to the Davidic Servant of the L-rd in Isaiah 53:10 and the word



NAZAH "sprinkle" from Leviticus to Isaiah 52:15), then a



Messianic re-interpretation of Leviticus is in fact implicit in



the Tanakh, and is not merely read in gratuitously by Messianic



believers. In the Torah, and especially in Leviticus, blood was



always associated with G-d's saving covenant and Holy Word, and



the Sovereign L-rd enthroned above the atonement cover over the



ark of testimony cannot be approached without biblically



prescribed blood acceptably mediated (note the Kohen Gadol on Yom



Kippur -- Lev. 16).







Since G-d is holy, there is no shadow or unclean thing in Him.



He is living; the unclean are dead. He must cover or remove or



atone for sin to stay in contact with unclean sinners seeking His



fellowship. We cannot experience His presence in congregational



worship unless we approach Him with acceptable sacrifice removing



our uncleanness. We bring the sacrifice he requires to his House



but not merely to the minister; we bring this sacrifice to the



L-rd Himself as the worshippers do in the book of



Leviticus. Meditating on Leviticus can help any believer



maintain a sacrifice of holiness: a clean mind, a clean body, a



clean house, clean clothes, and clean contacts (see Leviticus 15)



because we have been made clean and then holy or set apart for



exclusive service in Yehoshua, and every aspect of our lives must



reflect this. However, the dirty, the poor, the helpless are not



excluded from G-d's concern and neither should they be from ours



(19:14,32; 25:17,36,39-43).





Jewish feasts are Pesach and Chag HaMatzot, Shavuos (variously



called First Fruits or Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Harvest,



Rosh Hashanah (Trumpets) or the Jewish New Year, Day of Atonement



(Yom Kippur), Tabernacles or the Festival of Booths (Sukkot) (see



the reference to this festival's esrog and the lulav or palm



branch in Lev. 23:40), with its concluding day, technically a



holiday in itself, Shemini Atzaret, the Eighth Day of Assembly



referred to in Yochanan 7:37 and Lev. 23:39. (Purim is in Esther



and Channukah is predicted in Daniel 8:11 and mentioned in



Yochanan 10:22). The Jewish people rest on Shabbat (pronounced



Shabbos by Ashkenazic [European-origin] or Yeshiva-trained Jews).



Seven weeks after Pesach is Shavuos, the rest period for



harvesters, and this period is supposed to be literally counted



day by day from the waving of the sheaf (Hebrew Omer -- Lev.



23:10) by the kohen when the coming harvest is dedicated to the



L-rd until Shavu'os? when the harvest arrives. (In the Brit



Chadasha the Lamb of G-d was offered at Pesach and the Harvest



arrived seven weeks later at Shavu'os?). The nation itself rests



on the seventh month at Rosh Hashanah. Every seventh year is a



sabbatical when the land is to rest, and every seventh seven of



years everything is to rest, slaves are to be released, etc--this



is the year of Jubilee (see the 70 weeks of sevens in Daniel 9



when the Messianic Age brings in the final rest.) [On Shemittah



see Deut. 15:1f]







The Ner Tamid, or perpetual light above the synagogue ark and its



Torah scroll derives from Lev. 24:2.







Notice this key verse.







"You shall be holy because I am holy" (Lev. 19:2). The word



"holy" is a key word in Leviticus, appearing there more than any



other word. But Leviticus 19:15 is the "kingly law" of Yehoshua:



"You must love your neighbor as yourself." (Also see Deut.10:19.)



To love our neighbor there are times when we must with gentleness



and love, respecting his dignity as a creature in the divine



image, nevertheless rebuke him. G-d warns that we will incur



guilt ourselves if we don't rebuke him (Lev. 19:17). Sins of a



deliberate, willful, "high-handed" nature (remember Korah? --



Nu.16) could not be atoned for (Num. 15:30-31) and the book of



Hebrews uses this fact to warn the apostate against any



deliberate, willful renunciation of the L-rd. Deliberate



idolaters, Shabbos-breakers, blasphemers, murderers, adulterers,



false-witnesses and the like who disobeyed the Aseret HaDebrot



(the Ten Commandments) with a high hand were put to death in the



Sinai Covenant dispensation, and their sins were not atoned for



(see also Heb. 5:2; 6:4-6: 10:26-31; Deu. 17:12; Ps. 19:13).



This is why Shliach Sha'ul is quick to point out that his violent



crimes against the Messianic Jews were done in ignorance (I Tim.



1:13). The way some of the Pharisees are speaking against the



Ruach Hakodesh prompts Moshiach Yehoshua to warn them about



sinning beyond the reach of atonement and forgiveness.







Moses completed the building of the Mishkan (a type of portable



royal pavilion-palace for G-d to dwell in as His people traveled



with Him toward the Promised Land of new life) just as G-d showed



him on the holy mountain of Sinai, exactly one year after the



Exodus (Ex. 40:l7). But, just as G-d sometimes gives us



something first and only then shows us what to do with it, Moses



did not receive all these detailed instructions in Leviticus



until the month following the completion of the building of the



tabernacle. Lev. 27:34 tells us that these are the mitzvot? that



G-d gave Moses during the year that the people of Israel were at



Mount Sinai. These were given to insure the purity of the kohen



and the nation of kohanim, and to insure that G-d's House would



be kept clean enough for such a holy G-d to dwell there. The



decontamination process we see in Lev. 14:34 for houses infested



with dry-rot or fungus is necessary for these houses to be



inhabitable by a clean and holy people; similarly the Day of



Atonement provides a function to make it possible for G-d to



continue to dwell in His House in the midst of His people.



G-d made sure the book of Leviticus was included in the Bible so



that the people might be "no more dull of understanding" when it



comes to His Holy Covenant faith, His Holy presence, His



holiness, and His acceptable sacrifice.







I Yochanan 1:7 sees the death of the Moshiach as a sin offering.



Yochanan 1:29 sees it as a vicarious burnt offering, and Hebrews



sees it "outside the camp (Lev. 4:12; Heb. 13:13). The author of



Hebrews proves that Yehoshua was a kohen, for only kohanim could



offer the blood. As Ps. 110:4 and Isaiah 53 was fulfilled in our



Moshiach Kohen so this verse in Lev. 1:20 was fulfilled in Him:



V'Chiper Aleichem HaKohen V'Nislach Lahem. The kohen shall make



atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. The Kohen Gadol



was anointed with oil (Lev. 8:10-12) just as the coming Moshiach



("Anointed One") Kohen would be the king anointed by the Ruach



Hakodesh (Isa. 42:1; Ps. 110:4).







Everything starts when you are confronted by sin (Lev. 4:28).



Then there is the vicarious part (you must touch Moshiach



Yehoshua -- Lev. 4:29) and the mediatorial part (the kohen makes



the kill and offers the blood, which is what He did).







When the kohen changes clothes, this typifies our regeneration as



kohanim of the Brit Chadasha (Lev. 6:10; Rev. 1:6).







Notice Lev. 9:l-6 gives us the order of G-d's salvation in that



first there is sacrifice and suffering, then there is theophany



and glory. This is one of the passages Shliach Sha'ul is



referring to in I Cor. 15 when he says the Moshiach died, was



buried and appeared, according to the Scriptures. Which



Scriptures? Scriptures like these in Lev. 9:1-6. Lev. 14:34 says



that Israel has been given to the Jewish people as a homeland but



Lev. 26:32-39 makes the point that by no means will they have



unconditional security in Israel if they sin in their unbelief in



the Scriptures (see 18:24-25,29; 20:22-26). The land will cry



out as it did against Cain and vomit them out.







This is a summary of some of the Mitzvot or commandments and



other points of interest to us in the book of Leviticus.







The Mikveh is variously prescribed in Lev. 15.







The key purpose of much of Leviticus is given in Lev. 15:31,



"Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separated from their



uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by



defiling my mishkan that is in their midst. The law of kashrut?



(fit, proper foods) comes from Lev. 17:13 and 11:1-47.







Why many ultra-orthodox Jews wear the Pa'ot is given in Lev.



19:27.







Hebrews 10:25 was written with Lev. 19:30 in mind.







Astrology, New Age practitioners and every kind of occult lure is



rejected by Lev. 19:31; 20:6,27.







Sacrificing children (as in abortion) to the G-d Molech is



forbidden in Lev. 20:2-5.







Homosexuality is forbidden in 18:22 and 20:13.







Modern day Israeli jurisprudence needs to study Lev. 24:22 and



19:34 and look more kindly on Gentile believers? who want to live



in the Holy Land. Also see Ex. 12:49.







Lev. 27:30 mentions the tithe called Ma'aser meaning one-tenth.





LEVITICUS 16:14-17







14. And he (Aaron the Kohen Gadol) shall take of the blood of



the bull, and sprinkle (see Isa. 52:15, same word) it with his



finger on the front of the atonement cover; and before the



atonement cover shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger



seven times.



15. Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for



the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that



blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it upon



the atonement cover and before the atonement cover.



16. And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because



of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of



their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for



the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in



the midst of their uncleanness.



17. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the



congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy



place, until he come out, and have made en atonement for himself,



and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.



















BAMIDBAR (NUMBERS)















Numbers tells the story of a remnant going forward while most



people backslide or lose their way in rebellion and self-will.



Israel is on her way from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab on



the border of Canaan, where, through the temptations of the



Moabites and Midianites, many will succomb to "Balaam's error" of



idolatry and immorality (see Numbers 25; 31:16 and II Shliach



Kefa 2:15 and Jude II) and rebel against the L-rd and His leaders



and die in the wilderness. "Balaam's error" surely turned the



L-rd against Israel then and it will turn the L-rd against the



Brit Chadasha kehillah today, though many who are lukewarm in the



Brit Chadasha kehillah think such sins are not so serious. But



Phinehas was the zealous minister (he was a kohen and, as the



grandson of Aaron, he serves as a "military chaplain" in Num.



31:6) who put to death Cozbi the immoral Midianite woman and her



Israelite lover (25:1-15), because of this same kind of sin,



which precipitated the holy war against the Midianites. Num.



10-21 tells of the 38 years, almost 40 years (1447-1407 BCE) of



wandering that the rebellious Israelites were divinely



sentenced to, wandering not only in the Transjordan but



particularly in the five different wildernesses of the Sinai



Peninsula: the Wildernesses of Zin, Shur, Etham, Paran, and Sin.



In eleven days they traveled from Mt. Sinai (Horeb) to the hill



country of the Amorites, Kadesh-barnea, which is about 40 miles



south of Beersheba. G-d had given the Amorites over to them, but



this became the fateful turning point of unbelief, and it was not



till near the end of Moses' life, some thirty-eight years later,



that these Amorites (both Sihon and Og were Amorite kings--see



Deut. 3:8; 4:47) were defeated. The people of Israel were so



close and yet so far from the Promised Land, but it was at this



time that they rebelled and were defeated by the Amalekites (Num.



11:39-45). It says these latter defeated them because they



"presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, even



though the ark of the covenant of the L-rd, and Moses, had not



left the camp." If we run ahead of the leadership the L-rd has



assigned over us, we run the risk of spiritual defeat as



believers.







From the book of Numbers we can learn much about the function of



administration (Greek diakonia), meaning the spiritual authority



to rule or administer a ministry--see Romans 12:7). Those who say



they lack this gift (and can therefore excuse themselves) are



wrong, because the Parable of the Talents emphasizes that we all



will have to give an accounting for our stewardship of our



talents (Matt. 25:14-30; Rom. 14:10; II Cor 5:10) and this would



include the way we administer the ministries G-d entrusts with



us. The message of Numbers is that we must humbly learn to



administer our assigned duties, because unclean rebellion will



bring chaos and death in the wilderness.







Num. 1:2 says, "Take a census of the whole Israelite community."



A first principle of Brit Chadasha kehillah growth strategy is to



count what you've got, and then to count what you've had, and



then to see if you are growing, and if so, at what rate. Here it



is ominous statistics gathering indeed, because we know from



14:29 this is in reality a body count of those rebels who would



be put to death in the wilderness for failing to carry their



burden of obedience in order to see the Promised Land (see



26:63-65). Compare the army muster in chapter 1 with the army



muster in chapter 26. In the L-rd's march to victory, the rebels



fell out of step with their G-d and were "numbered" for death and



were not called out to be part of the victorious assembly (kahal



or ecclessia from the root meaning "called out," that is, a



congregation called out from a world alienated from G-d, the Brit



Chadasha kehillah, the community of the elect, the chosen



people). G-d "had their number." Moses makes the first count



with Aaron and then, a generation later, shortly before his own



death, makes the last count with Aaron's surviving son Eleazar



(Aaron's generation having died off) serving as kohen gadol.



When you look at the white hair of the aging Moses and when you



look at Joshua and Caleb, you see that only non-rebels live to



see the promise fulfilled. The rebels lose the vision and perish



in the wilderness (Prov. 29:18). This is an important theological



idea in the book. The Levites are numbered in chapters 3 and 4,



and they are literal stand-ins for the Firstborn of Israel who



were in turn given to the L-rd in exchange for the Firstborn of



Egypt (see 3:11-13). Chapter 2 shows the "decent and in order"



way the tribal camp was masterfully arranged and administered by



their true Leader, the L-rd of Glory.







Num. 1:16 speaks the chieftains elected by their tribes, so the



election of zekenim (elders) and leaders by ministers and



congregations is not the injection of unbiblical politics into



Brit Chadasha kehillah polity or government. Therefore, we are to



be members of a congregation, having been "enrolled" or "counted"



or "numbered" [PAKAD] for war (1:3). The idea here is of a group



of troops divinely summoned into assembly to be counted and



enlisted by means of a military roll call and we are not to sniff



at or run from congregational business meetings and elections as



beneath us, though the danger of overweening bureaucratic control



and politicking in the L-rd's body is real.







Num. 1:47-53 shows there has to be a set-apart leadership to



protect the purity of the faith from the distortions of the



ignorant and the unqualified. The ministers literally camp around



the Word (the Aseres Ha-Dibros or Ten Commandments are in the Ark



of the Covenant) to protect sound doctrine. Therefore, semicha or



ordination is G-d's will for those accountable for sound doctrine



and the care of souls. Aaron and his sons (the kohanim descended



from Levi through Kohath and Aaron--see Ex. 6:16-20; Num.



4:5,15,19; 18:1-20) are distinguised from the Levites, who do not



touch the holy things or enter the sacred areas, on pain of



death, but assist the kohanim (see 1:47-53; 3:5-37; 18:2-7),



which non-Levites are not permitted to do. This is important to



keep in mind to understand the sin of Korah because as a Levite



he tried to usurp the kohen's authority. This was also the sin of



Antiochus Epiphanes who allowed the kehunnah to be usurped. "He



has allowed you to approach him, and all your brother Levites



with you; yet you seek the kehunnah as well" (16:10). Every



minister-baiting rebellious layman, every false teacher and false



prophet commits the sin of Korah (see Jude 11).







Chapter 2 highlights the wisdom of G-d as an administrator with



each tribe given its own position, each person his own clan,



family, and tribal grouping, each tribe its own order of breaking



camp, its own assigned leadership hierarchy, its own identifying



banner, its own order of march, its own position relative to the



mobile central sanctuary, with the Levites in the middle



protecting the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and with the tribe of Judah



(the tribe of G-d's anointed leader, the Moshiach) leading out as



the vanguard and with the tribe of Dan coming last as the



rearguard. Here is a place where the Word of G-d and the Moshiach



are connected in the Tanakh, as in the Logos-Moshiach in Yochanan



chapter 1. Judah is the tribe of the Moshiach (Genesis 49:10)



and is therefore the first to break camp (Numbers 2:3,9) and



makes the first offering (7:12) and sets out first in the march



from Sinai (10:14). See Proverbs 8:23 where G-d's Wisdom, His



Word, is "first" as well as Judges 20:18, where the Moshiach's



tribe is likewise called "first."







Notice in 3:5-10 there is full delegation of the work of the



ministry throughout the tribe of Levi, just as there should be



today in the Body of the L-rd. 4:16 says, "Responsibility shall



rest with Eleazar son of Aaron the kohen for the lighting oil."



Each believer has a responsibilty in the ministry that should be



delegated to him. Shliach Sha'ul says, "See to it that you



fulfill (the responsibilities) of your ministry (Col. 4: 17)."







In 3:11-13 we see the Levites as a type of the elect, those



called to be G-d's own possession, those who are not their own,



but have been bought with a price (3:44-51). However, since they



have no land and receive the MA'ASER (tithe) in compensation



(18:21-24), there is a definite corollary between them and the



L-rd's ministers.



In chapter 5 we witness a trial by ordeal for an allegedly



unfaithful wife that points forward to a better kind of probe,



the word of knowledge, a spiritual gift that has replaced this



Sinai Covenant lie detector test and, moreover, has made it as



applicable to men as to women. (See I Cor. 12:8)







In chapter 6 we see an example of a vow of commitment that the



laity, men or women, could take, the ascetic NAZIR (Nazarite)



vow, where they set themselves apart for temporary withdrawal



from the world unto G-d and this included avoiding intoxicating



beverages, contact with the dead, and cutting the hair.





Chapter 7 emphasizes that when one initiates any type of new



ministry one should first dedicate it formally to the L-rd.



Moreover, every Sabbatical year (seventh year) the unfarmed land



rested (Lev. 25:1-7 on Shemittah, see also Deut. 15:1f) and the



children of Israel rededicated themselves by gathering on Sukkoth



(the Feast of Tabernacles) and publically reciting the covenant



provisions of the Torah to which Israel under Moses had committed



itself (see Deut. 31:10; 15:9-18.). Also at the end of seven



Shabbaths of years of seven times seven years, the so-called Year



of Jubilee [Yovel] the Hebrew slaves went free, debt was



forgiven, and land was returned to the original tribal occupants



(Lev. 25:8-54). The poor were liberated from the debts and the



enslavement to the rich into which they had fallen, and the rich,



who had accumulated vast land acquisitions, were divested of some



of their filthy lucre. All this happened on Yom Kippur every 49



years (Lev. 25:8-9) and such is the essential background for



understanding Isa. 61 as Moshiach Yehoshua quotes it in Luke



4:18. This was theoretically how the law worked, if it were



actually enforced, which would keep too much wealth from falling



into the hands of a few. Unfortuately evil rulers do not always



enforce just and merciful laws, and the period of the 70 years of



Exile was actually a punishment for violating this part of the



Torah, as G-d said in effect, "I am not mocked: if you will not



give me my Sabbaths and let the land rest every seven years, I



will take my Sabbaths anyway and you will sit in Exile waiting



for the land to rest until its appointed Sabbaths are completed"



(see Lev. 26:34-35; II Chron. 36:20-21).







Chapter 8:6,15,21,22 show that your ministry begins with your



water initiation, and therefore we need to create pre-tevilah



instructional materials and classes so that we give Moshiach's



tevilah only to serious people willing to became serious talmidim



and lay ministers, not double-minded people intent on



backsliding. This means we must have pre-tevilah as well as



post-tevilah classes.







Chapter 8:19 shows where Shliach Sha'ul gets his ecclesiology.



He sees ordained ministers as MATANOT (gifts) to the Brit



Chadasha kehillah in Ephes. 4:11.







Chapter 9:15-23 shows that we must stay deep in prayer in order



to discern when the L-rd is moving us out in a new venture and



when he is encamping us. Many prayerless grumblers, their



feelings or their pride hurt by some imagined slight, stay with a



congregation only until their patience runs out or they get bored



and then they drift to something else, which instead of another



congregation may be the world, because these malcontents often



backslide completely. They moved without looking for the cloud



ascending from the Mishkan, without watching for the place where



it settled down (9:15-23). Their ears were not attuned to the



sound of the two silver trumpets, one blowing to assemble the



leaders (which departing backslider cares if he is a leader?) and



both trumpets blowing to assemble the whole congregation to move



out together (10:1-10). See I Thes. 4:13-18 on how our ears are



to be tuned to the rapture's trumpet. Read Ps. 90 to see the



wrath of G-d being revealed from Shomayim (Rom. 1:18) against



Israel in the wilderness.







Chapter 10:8 says that the Israelites didn't make war without



music. This shows how important the ministers of music are in



the L-rd's body. From 10:11 to 14:45 we march with the



Israelites from Sinai to Kadesh-barnea, which takes us no more



than 2 months. The complaining started here in the wilderness of



Paran and the Israelites provoked G-d to anger (11:1-3,4-35; Psa.



78:26-31; 106:13-l5). But, when Moses is rebelled against, we are



told that Moses is greater than a prophet and in this sense a



unique mediator of revelation (12:6-8); it surely is in this



sense that the Moshiach will be "like me" (Deut. 18:15), but he



too will have his Shliach Kefa's and his Judas's rebel against



him.







Chapter 11:25b says of those set apart for ministry with the 15th



century BCE lawgiver Moses, "And when the Spirit that was on him



(Moses) rested upon them, they prophesied but did not continue."



Is this unfortunate situation also true of you? Yehuda 1:20 says



that we should continue to daven in the Spirit (meaning leshonot)



as we build ourselves up in the most holy faith, studying and



meditating on the Scriptures.







In chapter 12 Miriam the prophetess has to be physically healed



to cure her of a rebellious mouth. Her offense was that she



slandered G-d's leader. 13:32 says that 10 of the 12 spies



slandered the vision of G-d's prophet and so turned the people



away from it, refusing to urge the people to conquest. For that



crime a whole generation wandered in the wilderness under divine



wrath and a death sentence (14:21-23, 34-35). Let us not give an



evil report by saying, "It can't be done here, the giants are too



big!" Such an unbelieving leader will be doomed to become a mere



caretaker of wandering dead men walking in their own blind flesh.



Numbers is a book that shows the folly of wandering in the lusts



of one's flesh. Num. 15:1-21:20 tell the story of this wilderness



wandering. And, lest the backslider harden his heart and go all



the way and apostatize, Num. 15:22-31 warns (along with Heb.



10:26) that there is no kapporah for deliberate, defiant sin. The



wilderness period was remembered by some of the prophets as the



time of Israel's apostasy (Amos 5:25-26), when she did not keep



covenant faithfulness with her L-rd (see Josh. 5:2-9 and compare



Acts 21:21). The TSITSIT (Num. 15:38) were to be worn to remind



the Israelites not to forget the word and follow their own lusts.



But the final refutation to the folly of the old-timers who focus



on the "giants" and say "it can't be done" is that it in fact was



done, with 1,820 fewer people the second time around, when the



Israelites finally went in and possessed the Promised Land



(compare the census in 26:51 and 1:46).







Chapter 18:21-32 says that not just anyone is to receive the



MA'ASER [tithe] but only G-d's ordained leadership. Some love the



tithes but not the years of ministerial training and the



accountability of ordination that goes with them.







Chapter 19:1-10 shows that because of our uncleanness we must



have faith in the kaparrah of Moshiach and have a tevilah into



him, for he is the antitype of the red cow who died outside the



camp and became the tevilah that cleanses us from our sins



forever.







Chapter 20:12 gives the ominous warning that even Moses would die



outside the Promised Land like Miriam (20:1) and Aaron (20:22)



because, although he was beseiged by rebellion from his own



mishpochah and others, Moses did not trust G-d enough to keep his



head in all situations (II Tim. 4:5) and did not obediently honor



the L-rd who delivers us from all our critics and slanderers.



Moses did not honor G-d as holy before the people and so he too



lost a blessing (27:14) Moses should have known that no weapon



formed against us will prosper. Then he would have honored G-d



as holy before the people no matter how they taxed their leader's



patience. The disobedience of the people does not excuse the



disobedience of the leader.







Notice that bitterness against G-d's leaders is just a step



removed from bitterness toward G-d himself (21:5).







Chapter 21:8 points toward the One who, though He was the Ben



HaElohim and without sin, yet he took the form of the likeness of



sinful flesh (Romans 8:3), the flesh of the corrupt children of



the Serpent (Gen. 3:15; Yochanan 8:44), and was lifted up, so



that men might look on him and live. See Yochanan 3:14-15. The



snake Moses lifted up on a standard at the end of the wilderness



wanderings, before the the conquest of the Transjordan began,



points to the Ben HaAdam Moshiach being lifted up and drawing all



men unto himself (Yochanan 12:32).







Balaam's donkey speaks because "the L-rd opened its mouth"



(22:28). The Syrian prophet Balaam with his talking donkey



points toward Saul the persecutor, who, on his horse on the way



to Damascus, wanted to curse the people of G-d, the Messianic



Jews, but could only bless them (24:9). Like the talking snake in



Gen. 3, this talking donkey is placed at a cross-roads as far as



human destiny is concerned. Those who make the decision of faith



will be blessed (24:9; Gen. 12:3). Balak (bah-LAHk) is king of



Moab (his G-d is Chemosh--Num. 21:29). And he looks down from a



mountain and sees Israel camping tribe by tribe on his territory



as they are passing through on their way to the Promised Land.



He in league with the Midianites, whom Moses will defeat in Num.



31 and whom Gideon will have to fight later in the time of the



Judges. King Balak knew he needed divine help to oppose Israel,



so he looked for the type of professional preacher who is always



harshly denouncing everybody, so he could unleash such a maggid



on Moses and the Israelites and defeat them with curses. So



Balak begins by trying to tell Balaam what to preach and what to



prophesy and attempts to persuade this Gentile prophet Balaam



(beel-AHM) to curse the chosen people. Of course, we know that



Balaam will be killed later (31:8) and G-d knows that even his



donkey knows the fear of the L-rd better than Balaam, but for the



moment money does not corrupt his ministry (22:18). Later, even



illicit sex will become a source of corruption to the true faith



as well (25:1). The most important prophecy Balaam utters is



24:17 which is the KOKHAV (star) that shall come out of Jacob and



shall become the star of David, the Moshiach.







Notice how Korah starts a rebellion against Moses in chapter 16



even though Moses has taken nothing for himself (16:15). It is



important to note that the only thing that keeps the people from



going down to Sheol is that they do not rebel against G-d and his



leadership (16:26-34). Our muttering can be the death of us



(17:25). The battle cry of Brit Chadasha kehillah-splitting



rebels is Numbers 12:2-3.







Chapter 27 (also 36) speaks of the equal inheritance promised to



women, so the laws of inheritance included provisions for



daughters. This should be seen within the larger context of the



book as a whole, since Israel was herself nearly disinherited as



a nation on at least two occasions (see chapters 11 and 14).



Moses had married a non-Israelite (12:1) woman, a fact that might



have set a bad example for the people about the sanctity of their



inheritance, but this was actually just a pretext Aaron and



Miriam used to challenge the authority of Moses for the sake of



their own personal ambitions. We see that G-d grants us our



inheritance as a gift, but we still have to fight the good fight



and seek first the kingdom in order to enjoy it (note the tribes



of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph



received the Transjordan land as a gift but they still had to



fight with the other tribes first before, they could enjoy their



inheritance--see Num. 32).







Chapter 27:15-23 teaches that leaders should have assistants they



are equipping to take over their ministries (as Moses equipped



Joshua). The ministry can continue in a manner that is decent



and in order only when these transitions are anticipated and



prepared for.







See chapters 25 and 31:15-16 on the consequences of sexual sin.









Notice the Levites were given 48 towns but no land allotments.



Would it be a bad application of exegesis to say that the



Levitical towns and pastures (chapter 35) might be warrant for a



congregation providing its spiritual leader with a place to live



in?







In 35:13 we see there were six cities of refuge. Even today,



people who have disagreements in one congregation seek refuge in



another. But where there has been a case of unrepented sin and a



person flees one congregation to join another as a kind of "city



of refuge," spiritual leaders should co-operate in matters of



intra-congregational discipline.







Notice that the kohanim and Levites are responsible to Aaron



(18:3). A congregational board and its shammashim should be



responsible to the congregational leader. A "board-run"



congregation is not Scriptural, because they can make the



congregational leader a mere errand boy to do their bidding, and



he loses his prophetic voice in the body. However, leadership



must be shared, as Jethro emphasized to Moses.







Yehoshua (Joshua) (called Yeshua in Nehemiah 8:17) is called the



Servant of the L-rd in Numbers 27:18, "the man in whom is (the)



Spirit," making him a prophetic sign of the One who is to come,



the Servant of the L-rd filled with "My Spirit" (see Isaiah



42:1). See also Zechariah 3:8; 6:12 where another later



Yehoshua is similarly pointed to as a portent or ominous sign of



the Moshiach.







The Bible of the Jewish Diaspora from the third century B.C.E.



until the Messianic era of Moshiach Yehoshua was the Greek, the



Septuagint. In Greek the name of Joshua/Yeshua/Yehoshua in



Nehemiah 8:17 and in the Torah is IEsous or Moshiach Yehoshua.



G-d always has his two witnesses because Deuteronomy 19:15 says



that everything has to be supported by two witnesses. So at



crucial junctures, like at the transition from the wilderness



into the Promised Land or at the return from the Exile, G-d had



as his two witnesses one man from the tribe of the Moshiach and



one man bearing the personal name of the Moshiach: that is, Caleb



from the tribe of Judah and "Yehoshua" (Joshua) entering the



Promised Land; and Zerubbabel from the tribe of Judah with



"Yehoshua" (the Kohen Gadol Joshua) returning from the Exile (see



the book of Zechariah). One set of two witnesses were raised up



from the "tomb" of Egypt and the wilderness, and the other set



were raised up from the "tomb" of the Babylonian Exile. Wherever



at least two witnesses meet, there is the L-rd with his true Brit



Chadasha kehillah in their midst.







Notice the elaborate dedication of the altar HAMITZBE'ACH in



Numbers 7.







The Israelites leave Mt. Sinai and eventually arrive in Moab



(Num. 22-36), with major stops at Hazeroth (10:11-12:15), Paran



(12:16-19:22), and Kadesh (20:1-21:4). There are some 18



encampments from Kadesh-barnea to the wilderness and back to



Kadesh-barnea (33:18-36). It is in the wilderness of Zin, at the



end of the wanderings, that Moses and Aaron anger G-d and are



also sentenced to die in the wilderness. Moab is the last stop,



where Moses' last will and testament, the book of Deuteronomy,



will be delivered. G-d commanded Moses to keep this travel diary



(Luke kept one undoubtedly in writing the book of Acts), and you



may wish some day that you had kept a spiritual diary. How could



Wesley have benefited the Brit Chadasha kehillah as he did with



his writing gift if he had not kept his journals?







Notice the L-rd speaks from the Mishkan in Numbers 1:1 and not



from Mt. Sinai, so the Word emanates from the tabernacle where



the glory of G-d resides. The Word of G-d will likewise



"tabernacle" in the Moshiach (Yochanan 1:14) and emanate from



Him. The Heavenly L-rd is travelling from Egypt to Israel



embodied in the tabernacle. The people, by murmuring against



Him, are opting out of being His heavenly fellow travellers. So



this paradigm will speak its object lesson for all time to Ideal



Israel.







Kadesh-barnea, (kah-DESH bar-NAY-ah) an oasis at the southern



edge of Israel, is the area the Israelites used as a staging



arena for their conquest of Canaan (Numbers 13:26), encamping



there while their spies scouted the land (13-14; Deut. 1). It



was from there that Moses tries to have a successful "kehillah"



business meeting to vote to take the land, a vote that took 38



years to attain, because the rebels were wandering in the



wilderness until they returned to the same place nearly forty



years later (33:36-37). Aaron died there. It was also at this



place that the Israelites complained about the hardship of their



wanderings, so angering Moses that he struck the rock (Num.



20:1-13; Exod. 17:1-7) and forfeited his own marching privileges



with those who went in and possessed the land.







We can conclude our services with the Aaronic benediction



(6:24-26) remembering, if a woman lights the Shabbos candles,



that the Aaronic kohenim lit the seven-lamped menorah (8:1-4).



We need to approach the study of this book with "fear and



trembling" and with Rom. 15:4 and I Cor. 10:11-12 in mind.



Notice the death of the Kohen Gadol provides release for the



guilty (35:25) just as the death of the Moshiach-Kohen (Psalm



110; Isaiah 53) provides release for us.











"There was an order of march for the Israelites, company by



company, when they set out," (10:28) and so there is for us.



Know your leaders and loyally hang tough with them.







Important verses to meditate on: Num. 32:23. Are you qualified



for work relating to the OHEL MOED tent of meeting (see 4:35)?



You have been charged with a literal responsibility to carry



(4:47); do you know what it is, and are you doing it? The



Israelites all had people over them in the L-rd (7:2); do you



(Heb. 13:17)? They brought to the Lord's House talents and



valuable things that could be used in the service of the L-rd



(7:4-5); what are you bringing to the L-rd? Look at 10:10. Some



live in New York City, the largest Jewish city in the world, and



feel no obligation whatsoever to remember them with a messianic



congregation or a messianic calender. Hobab a relative of Moses



by marriage, is offered a blessing for continuing in Jewish



ministry (10:32): that blessing is offered to you. 10:33-34



speaks of seeking a resting place, and how G-d does this for



us--compare this theme in Heb. chps. 3 and 4. Compare Moses'



question in 11:13 to Moshiach Yehoshua's question to Philip in



Yochanan 6:5. Some get out of step with G-d because of a good



thing; but if we put a good thing before G-d, He may give us too



much of a good thing, until it becomes loathsome to us, even a



plague--11:20,33.







It says the Spirit rested upon them and they prophesied--11:25.



Compare Acts 19:6 and the tevilah in the Ruach Hakodesh. Meditate



on Num. 14. So often we have heard, "They will never be able to



start a messianic congregation. They are Gentiles. Jews will



never go for this. It's going to fall apart. There are two many



giants againt them!" See 16:13-14. Men blame leaders instead of



their own sins--16:14. Men make false accusations--16:15. Avoid



the waters of Meribah ("Quarreling")--20:13. We need a different



spirit, the spirit of Caleb -- 14:24. The rabbis say that the



Gentiles can be righteous by following the laws of Noah, but



15:15 says the same sacrifice is necessary for both Gentiles and



Jews.







See 18:16 where you see the words PIDYON HABEN (the redemption of



the son) a ceremony on the 31st day of the firstborn Jewish boy's



life when five shekels (or silver dollars) are given to a Jewish



person, a Kohen, who buys the boy back or redeems him from the



L-rd, since all firstborn males of Israel belong to the L-rd.



This ceremony is not performed on a Shabbos and/or to the



firstborn of parents who are Kohens.

























































DEVARIM (DEUTERONOMY)















Scientists search for natural laws and governments enact civil



laws, but the greatest body of divine law ever given to man is



summed up by Moses in this book. Moses underlines the seriousness



and importance of Deuteronomy several times. He says that all



the words in it are "no trifling matter for you, but rather your



very life" (32:47; 4:1,3-4; 4:40). Indeed, with this book Moses



confronts all with life and death, exhorting all to choose life



(30:15,19-20). The life-span of individual Jewish people and



their protection from deportation and exile, their physical



health, prosperity, the well-being of their children, the esteem



of their nation in the eyes of the world (4:6-8), and their good



fortune in every aspect of life, even longevity of life (11:21),



even life itself, all hinged on their attention and obedience to



the words of this book. But what is true of them is also true for



everyone else, even for us who read the Bible and look to the G-d



of Israel for our salvation.







Moses and the people are poised just outside the territorial



borders of Israel, encamped at Moab (29:1), an ancient kingdom



east of the Dead Sea in what is today the modern country of



Jordan. Visualize their position. Look at a map. They are across



from Jericho, on the opposite side of the Jordan River. Moses is



now near death, one hundred and twenty years old (34:7), writing



and teaching the people his last hymn, depositing with the



kohanim and zekenim his last writings (31:9), laying hands on his



successor to leadership, Joshua (3:28; 31:7-8; 34:9), preaching



his last sermon, expounding and reinterpreting the Law that G-d



gave at Mt. Sinai (Horeb) in the context of a renewal of the



contractual agreement (covenant) between Israel and G-d as a new



generation prepares to obey the Law in holiness and actually go



in and take the Holy Land. Deut. 4:l4-49 sets the scene for the



whole book which Moses delivered as a sermon in Moab. When



Moses led the people of Israel to the threshold of the Promised



Land, he encountered, near the point where the Jordan runs into



the Dead Sea, Sihon king of the Amorites. This is in territory



that today belongs to the country of Jordan. Also, to the north,



in the area of Bashan, which includes the famous (formerly,



before the 1967 Six Day War, Syrian) Golan Heights, the army of



Moses encountered another famous Amorite king, the king of



Bashan, the giant Og (see 3:11). G-d authorized Moses to conduct



a holy war against these wicked peoples and put them under CHEREM



("destruction" 7:26, that is, devoting them to G-d). This means



that their destruction was necessary at that



particular time because they stood in the way of G-d's plan to



save the world by means of a holy land and a holy nation of



kohanim. For if at this early period the Hebrew nation was



corrupted by the heathen peoples occupying the Holy Land, there



would be no hope of reaching the other nations through the Jewish



people. This process of a necessary and just war had been



waiting since Abraham's time (Gen. 15:16) and G-d had Moses



actually begin the process to give Joshua and the others "on the



job training" in how to continue it (see 3:21-22; 7:1-6,17-26;



12:2-5, 29-31; 20:1-20). Og and Sihon and what G-d does to them



are a preview of how the L-rd will fight for Joshua and the rest



of Israel's G-d-ordained leaders in the years ahead--3:21-22.



The same G-d who fights against Pharaoh and Og and Sihon will



fight against the heathen occupiers of the Holy Land--7:l8. (At



the Second Coming, Moshiach Adoneinu will fight against the



heathen occupiers of the whole world.)







Destroying idols (a task Moses knows they won't carry out



completely--31:27) in the Holy Land is on the top of the list of



statutes and ordinances that they must diligently observe in the



land. In Deut. 12 we have the laws that will become Israel's own



eviction notice when they don't obey them and have to go into the



Exile.







Almost the whole book is a sermon, and the fact that, 38 years



before, the previous generation had been commanded to go in and



take the Holy Land by force and had nevertheless rebelliously



(9:23) and faithlessly disobeyed G-d is the chilling reality



giving such a dramatic setting to Moses' sermon. All of these



rebellious parents are now dead, having eventually perished in



the wilderness wanderings, inspite of Moses' intercessions



(9:18-29; 10:10-11). The question for decision (30:19) is



whether their children, this new generation of adults alive at



the time of the end of Moses' ministry, will repeat the mistakes



of their parents and die, or whether they will obey the Torah and



in holiness take the Holy Land and live to worship the L-rd there



in His Holy Dwelling (12:11-26; 14:23-25; 15:20; 16:2-16;



17:8-10; 18:6; 26:2; 31:11).







"You shall not act as we are acting here today, all of us



according to our own desires, for you have not yet come into the



rest and the possession that the L-rd your G-d is giving you"



(12:8-9). Each generation has an opportunity to obey G-d and go



in and destroy idols and possess what G-d has prepared for it.



This is true of all omanim l'ma'an Yisroel (artists for Israel),



but we should also be warned that the only time the word



artisan/craftsman [CHARASH] is used in Deuteronomy, it is used of



one who prostituted his talent to make an idol for himself



(27:15). Maggidim, as they use the arts in ministry, should



remember that the Word is preeminent and that the prophet is one,



set apart from the people who remains before the L-rd to get His



Word for the L-rd's flock (5:27-28).







It is important to know who the Hittites were (see Gen. 23:3).



They were a people whose kings had written contracts and treaties



with the nations (like Syria) who became their vassals (dependent



states). We know from scholars like M.G. Kline that a vassal



state was granted certain rights in return for loyalty and



obedience to the Hittite king, just as the land-use rights to the



Holy Land were granted to the chosen people by their Holy King,



the L-rd G-d. The covenant that G-d gave Moses at Mt. Sinai is



similar in literary form to the sort of covenant or treaty that a



Hittite king made with his Syrian vassal, including: a preamble



in which the Sovereign identifies Himself (Deut. 1:1-5); a



historical prologue in which the Sovereign rehearses all His past



benefits (Deut. 1:6-4:49); a "stipulations" section listing the



covenant requirements imposed on the vassal (Deut. 5:1-26:19); a



"covenant ratification" section including a provision for treaty



renewal and specifically listing the covenant sanctions in terms



of the kinds of curses and blessings that will encourage



compliance (27:1-28:63); and, finally, succession arrangements



for continuance of the covenant (see 31:1-34:1 where



Joshua/Yehoshua is designated as Moses' successor and also see



18:15-19 where the Moshiach and the prophetic tradition leading



to Moshiach's coming point together to Moses' ultimate successor,



the New Yehoshua, the Moshiach--Isaiah 49:8). But it is



important to remember that the above, often alluded to by



scholars, is not the whole story. More than merely copying the



form of an existing treaty, G-d, as a free act of grace, set



Israel "in His love," and then He laid out certain commandments



by which Isael was warned to "keep yourselves in the love of God"



(Jude 21) and "continue in my covenant" (Heb. 8:9; Acts 2:42).



The specific divine directive was to go into the land and rid it



of all idols (Deut. 7:5-6) just as the Great Commission of the



Brit Chadasha was to go into all the world and preach the Besuras



Hageulah (Matt. 28:19-20).







Around the 13th or 14th centuries (during roughly the same



timespan as the life of Moses) these Hittite kings gave their



Syrian vassals written covenants similar to the kinds of treaties



we see in Exodus and Deuteronomy (notice the Aseret ha-Dibrot



[the Ten Commandments] 5:6-21). This is a powerful argument that



Moses is the primary author responsible for the writing of these



books of the Bible. Those who deny Mosaic authorship discount



the facticity of 5:3, which is like depriving I Cor. 15 of the



eye-witness testimony of Shliach Sha'ul and the other Shluchim



that undergirds the truth credentials of the Besuras Hageulah



(see 11:7).







The Babylonian Exile and the Exile of 70 C.E. and every



"holocaust" that Israel has endured can be understood only in



terms of the Deuteronomy sanctions. The repeated pattern of



national sin and rebellion against the prophetic preaching of the



Torah of Moses followed by the invasion of foreign armies, siege,



exile, deportation, repentance in the diaspora, divine favor, and



return to the Holy Land can only be understood in terms of the



covenant blessings and curses such as are listed in Deuteronomy.



(Against those who read Anti-Semitism into 28:37, Zechariah 1:15



is an important tempering Scripture here, for there is no



one-for-one relationship between Israel's sin and her punishment



at the hands of the nations.) However, like a tenant being



evicted from his apartment because he broke the rental contract



or covenant with the landlord, so Israel has definitely been



evicted more than once to show the nations that the G-d of Israel



is the true G-d and means business when He commands Israel and



all nations to repent and believe in Him. Also, as far as



believers are concerned, when Shliach Sha'ul read Deuteronomy, he



made spiritualized applications along these lines to the covenant



communities he set in order (see I Cor. 9:9 and Deut. 25:4;



1 Cor. 11:27-32 and Deut. 28:15f) and warned the members that



sinning might get them evicted by means of sickness and death



from the Moshiach's Tish. We need to understand the covenant



aspect of our faith so that our disobedience and faithlessness



does not get us evicted from the place of blessing G-d intends



for our lives.







Israel is described in this covenant as a divinely set apart



people intended to enjoy a privileged relationship to their L-rd



(see 1:31; 32:6,9), one that is permitted by G-d as fulfillment



of His promises to the patriarchs (7:8; 29:12-13; 4:21), but



requires obedience to all the covenant stipulations (from the



heart, not merely legalistically), including transmitting the



teaching to each generation's children. This trans-generational



holy requirement is accomplished by constant teaching, example,



and pedagogical aids designed to indelibly etch on the memory and



the heart of young and old alike, and, not only this but also



consciously quarantining the nation, the family, and



impressionable minds from the heathen world (6:4-7:6). But the



most important stipulation of the covenant is also a gift:



hitkhadeshut [regeneration] (10:16; 30:6; see also Lev. 26:40-41;



Jer. 4:4; 9:25; Rom. 2:29). (The Moshiach is surprised that



Nicodemus could be a ruler in Israel and not understand this--see



Yochanan 3:3-10-and that the Pharisees could turn the law into a



bewildering maze of legalisms and thereby lose love and justice



and compassion). Salvation and right standing before G-d,



according to the authoritative message of Moses, does not come



through herculean feats of legalistic observance (30:11-13) nor



through merit based on humanly-derived righteousness (7:7; 8:14;



9:4-7) but through loving, loyal, obedient faith in the word of



G-d (30:14,20; 6:4-5,13,16; 8:3; 10:12; 11:1,13,22; 30:20) which,



according to Moses, necessitated love of the neighbor as well



(10:19). As far as human merit before G-d is concerned, even



Moses fell short and needed G-d's unmerited favor and mercy



(32:48-52). Nevertheless, G-d's mitzvot must be obeyed



(28:1,58-59), and the antinomian who lawlessly ignores G-d's



commandments does not love G-d (19:9; 30:16). Moreover, how one



responds to false doctrine is a test of one's true love of G-d



(13:3). Yet ultimately, loving G-d is impossible without



hitkhadeshut [regeneration] (30:6).







Deut. 1:39 says "your children who do not yet know good from



bad." Luke chapter 2 shows Yehoshua as a boy who was ready to



reach the age of moral accountability called in Hebrew Bar



Mitzvah. If you think children's ministry is not especially



important, underline the word children everytime it occurs in



chapter 6.







Chapter 1:16 can be applied to the modern community of believers



in this way: don't have cronies or cliques or favorites or you



will destroy justice and equity in the house of the L-rd's



people.







Chapter 1:29-33 is the Besuras Hageulah according to Moses that



was rejected at Kadesh-barnea (that fateful turning point of



unbelief) when the 10 spies gave the evil report. Every



generation has an opportunity to obey the L-rd and to follow Him



and to gain new ground for the Kingdom of G-d, or else to



hesitate, shrink back, and be lost. Every generation is put to a



test and a trial--either to march ahead in faith and take some



ground, for G-d or to rebel and "grumble in your tents" (1:27)



and die with a faithless hardened heart in the wilderness. If



even Moses, great though he was, fell short of the L-rd's holy



expectations and was punitively replaced, how much more should we



be careful to obey G-d's Word (3:25-28).





We don't take away from G-d's Word (4:2). Scripture interprets



Scripture. We worship G-d only at the divinely acceptable



mitzbe'ach and before the appointed kohen that He promises to



show us (by His canonical prophets--see 12:4-7) and we know from



all the prophetic puzzle finally filled in that the ultimate



altar and kohen is Yehoshua on the aitz haGeulah. Beware of



syncretism caused by adding to the canon (1:2; 12:29-32; 13:1;



Prov. 30:6) syncretistic pseudo-Jewish religion, adding to and



subtracting from the Torah (Moshiach Yehoshua is subtracted and



an autonomous-from-Moshiach Yehoshua-the-tree-of-life



pseudo-wisdom is added and pursued as in Gen. 3:6).







Why we study through the Word every year is clear from 4:9; 5:1.



Not to do so is to adversely affect our children (5:29).



Example: a couple takes their children to religious services, but



do not personally study the Word with them and disciple them; the



children grow up and marry nominal believers and suffer the



tragedy of divorce. Note: the next generation of children are



consequently the victims of broken homes. Do you see from this



example how the sins of the grandparents affect their



grandchildren? Could this not have been avoided if each



generation had been taught the Torah in the power of the Ruach



Hakodesh? Live in the Word! Don't let the thoughts of the L-rd



out of your mind or out of your heart? (6:7)







The unregenerate man can only obey the Bible legalistically since



he lacks the Ruach Hakodesh's power to rise to the law's higher



moral challenges and since he does not have the prophet's insight



into higher obedience in holy love. However, those who do not



grapple with the Law (thoughtlessly setting up a too sharp



antithesis between Law and Grace), are those who may choose an



easy and cheap, lawless "grace" that is more antinomian ignorance



than holy reverence for G-d's Biblically defined will. We are



not under the Law's penalty but we are not free from the Law's



moral severity. "Under (the dispensation of) Grace" means under



an even more severe morality, not an amoral lawlessness (see Rom.



6:1-14). Moreover, as Jewish people put there faith in Moshiach



Yehoshua, G-d does not intend for them to turn traitor to the



Sinai Covenant and its mitzvot. That would be cheap grace indeed!





In 7:12f concrete physical blessings including healing are



promised to the obedient. G-d also promises He is going to get



His victory among the heathen (7:24). That is the basis on which



we can attempt great things for G-d.







One reason G-d doesn't always answer our prayers quickly is given



in 8:2-3.







Deut. 12:28 warns against following other gods who have not



proved themselves to you. How did the true G-d prove himself? By



two Exoduses, one from the first death with Moses as the leader



(see the magnificent description in Exodus 14:15-31); the other



from the second death with Yehoshua as the leader. Also, the



true G-d has proved Himself by power encounters such as in



Numbers 17 and I Kings 19. This is why the gifts of the Ruach



Hakodesh must not be neglected today: power encounter is still



needed to defeat the idols of the heathen and show that Yehoshua



alone is Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu.







What implications can you draw from 16:19-20 about Bible



believers going into politics and about social justice being part



of the Besuras Hageulah? (See also 24:19-22).







Look at Navi in 18:15. This section foretells the prophet like



Moses that G-d will raise up in the Promised Land. Isaiah



49:9-10 speaks apocalyptically of the Moshiach as a New Moses.



The immediate (not final) fulfillment of this Deut. 18:15



prophecy is Joshua (whose Aramaic/English name is Yeshua/Yehoshua



-- see Nehemiah 8:17 in the Hebrew Bible). Joshua is a type of



Moshiach because he is an agent of chesed to the Gentile Rahab



but of cherem damnation to the seven wicked nations trodding down



the Holy Land, the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites,



Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. The rabbis likened David to



Moses, and since David's house will bring Moshiach the Lawgiver



(Isaiah 42:4), we should not be surprised that Moses says another



prophet is coming "like me," and the first prophet to come after



Moses has the name of Moshiach Yehoshua or Yehoshua/Joshua the



son of Nun. (See also the notes on the book of Joshua.)



Look at 19:15. The people of G-d, the local kahal assembly



called out for eschatological salvation, is at least two



witnesses according to Matt. 18:20. Note Moses and Aaron going



before Pharaoh, Joshua and Caleb entering the Promised Land, the



Kohen Gadol Yehoshua/Joshua and Zerubbabel returning from the



Exile to build the Second Beis Hamikdash, Yochanan and Shliach



Kefa rushing into the empty tomb at the end of the Besuras



Hageulah of Yochanan, and the Brit Chadasha kehillah being



raptured before the final destruction of the world's destroyers



(see Rev. 11, especially 11:18). Yehoshua sent the 70 out in



two's, which meant that he sent out 35 tiny Brit Chadasha



kehillot, and Shliach Sha'ul and Barnabus were themselves a Brit



Chadasha kehillah as they together planted many house Brit



Chadasha kehillot in the first emissary journey of Moshiach's



shlichut. More Brit Chadasha kehillot could be planted if this



fact were appreciated and people did not "despise the day of



small things" (Zech. 4:l0) as they planted new works for the



L-rd.







Deut. 22:5 tells why we have to have a dress code.







Read 22:15. Modern parents are often promiscuously irresponsible



in the matter of protecting their children's sexual purity. See



7:3-6.







Grace brings a marvelous "exception to the rule" in Deut. 23:3



for Ruth the Moabitess.







Deut. 27:26 emphasizes that the Law does not justify or clear of



guilt but brings everyone condemned to Moshiach needing salvation



(Galatians 2:16; Romans 3:19), for indeed Moses testifies that



everyone whose actions "do not elevate the words of this law" is



pursued by the law's curses. So from this verse (27:26) we see



the universal need for salvation from the curse of the law (Gen.



6:5; I Kings 8:46; Eccles. 7:20; Prov.20:9; Ps. 53:3; 14:3;



130:3; Isa. 53:6; 64:6; Mic. 7:2; Rom. 3:23; Gal. 3:22;



I Yochanan 1:8; 5:19). Further, we see that the whole reason the



Moshiach was accounted cursed and struck down by G-d (Isa. 53:4;



Deut. 21:23) was in order to make kapporah for us and redeem us



from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). For the legal demands of



the Law entail curses (Deut. 27:l-26; 28:15-68) and these stand



against us and pursue us as part of the burning wrath of an



offended Holy G-d until the record is erased, the sin is expiated



(removed), and the penalty is set aside in the kapporah (Col.



2:14). And ultimately the curse on mankind is universal, not



limited to those who receive the Torah, but pursuing all the race



of Adam (see the curse section in Gen. 3:14-19) who forfeit



Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life) (Gen. 3:22-24) without regeneration



(Deut. 10:16; 30:6).







DEUTERONOMY







10:16



Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more



stiffnecked (stubborn).



30:6



And the L-rd thy G-d will circumcise thine heart, and the heart



of thy seed (descendants), to love the L-rd thy G-d with all



thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.



DEUTERONOMY 18:15-19



18:15



The L-rd thy G-d will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst



of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall listen;











18:16



According to all that thou desiredst of the L-rd thy G-d in Horeb



(Sinai) in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again



the voice of the L-rd my G-d, neither let me see this great fire



any more, that I die not.







18:17



And the L-rd said unto me, They have well spoken that which they



have spoken.







18:18



I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like



unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak



unto them all that I shall command him.







18:19



And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not listen unto my



words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.















YEHOSHUA (JOSHUA)















YEHOSHUA (JOSHUA, "the L-rd saves") was formerly named Hoshea



("salvation") until Moses changed his name (Num. 13:8,16). He



was from the tribe of Ephraim, meaning he was a descendent of



Yosef. The Greek Septuagint translates his name IEsous or



Yehoshua. He was Yehoshua the "son" of Joseph. Isa. 49:8 says



the Moshiach will be a new Joshua, "Thus says the L-rd; in a time



of favor I have answered you, on a day of yeshuah (Yehoshua =



"salvation" = also the name of Yeshua/Joshua--see Neh. 8:17 in



Hebrew Bible) I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as



a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the



desolate heritages." Zech. 6:12 says that Joshua/Yehoshua's name



(Ezra 3:8) is Tsemach (or "Branch" of David, that is, the



Moshiach). With all this in mind, we shouldn't be surprised if



we see Messianic typology in this book. Isaiah certainly did



when he read it (Isa. 49:8).







The book begins with Moses commissioning Joshua and telling him



over and over again to be courageous and strong in the Word. The



responsibility for a fierce military conquest is on his shoulders



and he must hear and heed the bold military plans of G-d and then



execute them with precision and fearlessness.







The Transjordan tribes (Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of



Manasseh) are told to seek first the kingdom of G-d and go over



to fight for the land of their brother tribes and then, they are



assured, G-d will grant them the enjoyment of their own



inheritance.







After the appearance to Joshua of the angelic commander of the



L-rd's army (5:13-15), Jericho is soon conquered. But sin in the



camp brings defeat when Ai is attacked, and only when the sinner



is dealt with does victory once again come to Joshua's forces.



Fulfilling Moses's command (Deut. 27:4-5), Joshua builds a



mitzbe'ach on Mt. Ebal and the people observe a covenant ceremony



there (Josh. 8:30-35). This is in central Canaan at the pass



between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. At the end of the book,



when hostilities have died down, Joshua assembles all Israel



again and charges them with a farewell address, and then gathers



them at Shechem for a ceremony of covenant renewal (24:1-28).



Loyalty to G-d is a theme of these sections and of the whole



book, and something Achan's sin showed that he lacked. When



Joshua copies the law (8:32) he is doing what the royal head of



Israel will one day be obligated to do (Deut. 17:18), adding to



the Messianic typology the Scriptures invest in him.







The first 11 chapters of the book of Joshua deal with the



invasion of Canaan under Joshua, the salvation of Rahab, and the



prayerless mistake with the deceiving Hivites of Gibeon. We see



that Joshua's base camp is at Gilgal, where G-d "rolled away" the



disgrace of Egypt when the Israelite men were circumcised



(compare GALOTI "I rolled away and GILGAL in 5:9). From this



place of spiritual cleanness and responsiveness to G-d (which is



what the BRIS MILAH symbolizes), G-d gives Joshua the bold plans



he needs to brilliantly take the whole land.







A good general knows that the point of initial attack has



strategic implications for every part of the total battle plan of



the war. Like a brilliant war strategist, G-d has Joshua take



Jericho and Ai first, then swoop south in a second campaign



against the cities there, and finally turn to the northern



campaign to secure the whole area in just three elegant moves.



We need to ask G-d to give us bold plans to take the whole area



where we're called for G-d. We need to become convicted by a



verse like 18:3, "How long will you be slack about going in and



taking possession of the land that the L-rd, the G-d of your



ancestors, has given you?" We need to pray for the strength of



Caleb (14:10-11) to do battle for the L-rd. Then we need to go



through the whole land and make a written description of what is



actually out there as we spy out the challenge of the field of



ministry G-d has given us (18:4). Then we need to ask G-d where



our "Shiloh" is, because that is where the tent of meeting is set



up, and that's where the people meet G-d (18:1) for edification,



prayer, and divine guidance (18:10) as G-d shows us our various



tasks and the ground he has already won for us. (Shiloh was where



the Mishkan was erected following Joshua's conquest of Canaan.)



As we execute the bold campaign plans that G-d gives us we can



rest assured that the victory is His and is on the way. Read the



major summary 11:18-20. Look at 13:6-7. We need to see the



"land" of our sphere of ministry as a target for spiritual



warfare to be claimed for the L-rd and to be apportioned out to



be conquered in revival. What is your apportionment? Where do



you live? Who are you ministering with? Does G-d want to move



you? (See 23:3-16.) Remember that your ministry is a sacred



trust given to you by the L-rd. Do not lightly leave one



fellowship and drift to another. G-d put you where you are and



only G-d should move you.







Chapter 12 lists the Israelite conquests. The occupation of the



land is described in chapters 13-31 with special emphasis on



Caleb of the tribe of Judah. The Transjordanian question of the



altar is settled in chapter 22. Deuteronomy forbade the disloyal



act of offering sacrifice anywhere except in the one central



sanctuary (Deut. 12:13-14). Those who believe that Jericho's



walls fell (Josh. 6) only in the imagination of this book's



author should read archeologist Dr. Bryant O. Wood's article in



the March-April 1990 issue of Biblical Archeology Review. A



study of ceramic remnants, carbon-14 dating, seismic activity in



the region and even some tumbled walls give impressive evidence



that the city was burned around 1400 B.C.E. Because Jericho is



in a rift valley, it is prone to earthquakes, geophysicists say,



that could cause the blockage of the Jordan River as well as the



destruction of the walls of the city. Earlier archeologists had



been digging in the wrong places and erroneously asserting that



there was no evidence that the city had been destroyed during the



period when the Bible indicates Joshua's conquest took place.



Review the notes in Deuteronomy and Numbers on the Messianic



typology in the book of Joshua. This is not a book on how to



have success in general but in particular, in particular



regarding the work of the great commission, which is to take the



whole world for G-d, Israel first and then the nations. This



whole book is prophecy in type, with Joshua the type of the



Warrior Word Yehoshua, and the book of Joshua a picture of the



whole body of Moshiach breaking out in the great commission march



to take the world for him.







The book is also a great teaching on the indispensable quality



that the L-rd's leader must have--strength! See 1:7-8 and



17:14-18. The strength comes from prayer and the Word. A



believer can go through the worst this world has to offer and be



as strong as a lion, if he meditates on every verse of the book



of Joshua. G-d has given us many promises from His Word to draw



strength from. Do you see from 17:14-18 why a leader has to be



strong? The people are only as strong corporately as their



leader. Leaders must be qualified and called, duly accountable



and under authority, and strong in the Word and in vision (29:18)



to serve the L-rd in purity and holiness with compassion for his



sheep.







Faith is a matter of heart knowledge given as a gift, even to



unworthy prostitutes like Rahab in Jericho (2:9,12). However,



faith is also a matter of the will, a matter of heart loyalty to



G-d which can affect a whole family if that family has one



loyal-to-G-d witness. Notice the recapitulation of the Passover



theme--Rahab's household will be passed over when G-d's holy



wrath rages and burns through Jericho, consuming the wicked. The



destroyer will see the red sign of covenant protection and pass



over all who are under its covering. With the Gentile Rahab's



"passover" she becomes a type of all the world's Nations coming



under the red sign of covenant protection in the Brit Chadasha



Pesach of the Moshiach's Tish. Rahab and Ruth lead the Gentiles



of the world into the Israel of G-d. Josh. 2:12 proves that G-d



blesses those who bless his people (Gen. 13:3), and Rahab, an



ancestor of David and Moshiach Yehoshua (Mt. 1:5), shows by her



life that it was always G-d's intention that "all the peoples on



earth will be blessed through you" (Gen. 12:3).





Note that Moshiach's tevilah (3:5) is to prepare for the battle



of serving G-d. It is also a symbol of covenant purificaiton



(5:2-3) as is circumcision (5:1-9; see Col. 2:11-13).







The ark of the covenant of the L-rd was where G-d's presence in



his Word dwelt. Josh. 4:7 says, "The waters of the Jordan were



cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the L-rd." In the



Brit Chadasha, the same eternal, saving Word who parted the seas



of chaos at creation and at the Sea of the Exodus and at the



water of the Jordan has triumphed over the sea of death itself,



bringing the order of the Olam HaBah into eschatological victory



over this world's present chaos.







The L-rd gives his mesharet a certain authority as a leader



(4:14) if he has a genuine place of recognized leadership in the



Brit Chadasha Kehillah. It is not necessary to get pushy to



establish this authority--it's there by the Ruach HaKodesh (Prv.



18:16).







The purpose of Biblical miracles and any true miracle that



happens today is to bring people to a point where they have a



saving fear of the L-rd and His inerrant Word (see Rahab's speech



in 2:9-13).







Then as now music and shouts of praise are important in breaking



the yoke of spiritual oppression in worship (See 6:5).







Josh. 6:18 is why we avoid worldly enticements and all the wicked



things the heathen covet. Whoever loves the world is an enemy of



G-d, and whoever covets what has been devoted to destruction may



become himself a thing devoted to destruction (7:12). This is



the crucial lesson that Achan can teach us, and it is the very



reason modern men need to get rid of their yoga and New Age books



and occult lore and extra-terrestial beliefs and any other



spiritual fixation that cannot be sanctified by the word of G-d.



Whoever defies G-d's ban on things like pornography and other



worldly things set apart for destruction and tries to hide such



things under his tent will find that G-d's anger has been aroused



and the blessing of G-d has been removed. Such sin can



contaminate others and destroy a whole ministry (see 7:2-5).



Chapter 6:21-24 is a picture of what actually happens when we



experience Yeshuat Eloheinu: people all around us go to Gehinnom



but we are spared, a fact that should bring fear rather than



conceit or arrogance (Romans 11:19-22).







Look at chapter 9. Can you discern when false brethren slip in



secretly among you? See Jude 4. You can't discern them if you



don't watch the people in your life in prayer (9:14-15). Are all



the people in your life really G-d's choice for you?







Chapter 14:6-15 is a case study to prove (through Caleb of Judah)



that the central theme of the Torah is true (l:8)--that loyalty



to the Word of G-d brings blessing. Look at the typological



preaching possibility in 15:16-17. Because He overcame the



world, the Elohim Avinu has given His Word the Bride of Moshiach.





To the extent that you don't dispossess HaSatan in your life, to



that same extent his children will clutter your life and "dwell"



with you "to this day." (See Josh. 15:63).







Chapter 18:1-6a gives us the kind of survey with bold plans that



congregation planters do before they plant a congregation.



Chapter 21:41-43 is a major summary. Read it. Chapter 22:1-6



says to seek first the kingdom of G-d and all these other things



shall be added to you as well.







Isaiah infers in Isaiah 49:8 that the Moshiach will be a new



Joshua. It is important to note that the immediate (not final)



fulfillment of the Deuteronomy 18:15-19 Messianic prophecy is



Joshua. Joshua is indeed both a prophet and like Moses because



it was to Joshua and not to Moses that G-d gave the revelation of



the exact boundaries of the tribal portions of Eretz Yisrael (the



land of Israel). Several times in the book Joshua proves he is a



prophet. "Thus says the L-rd," Joshua begins in 24:2, using the



formula of a prophet. Like Moses, Joshua has a burning bush



experience (compare Ex. 3:5 to Josh. 5:15). The Jordan river



parts like the Red Sea, and when Joshua stretches out his sword,



G-d gives him victory as when Moses stretched out his rod in the



book of Exodus. G-d says to him, "I will be with you as I was



with Moses" (Josh. 3:7). G-d hardens the hearts of the



indigenous Canaanite population just as G-d hardened Pharaoh's



heart (Josh. 11:20) and then G-d shows Joshua the brilliant



strategy he should use to defeat them. G-d says, "I will be with



you as I was with Moses" (3:7; 4:14). Moses died in the



wilderness because he angered G-d, but Joshua led the people



victoriously to the promised life in the Holy Land. Thus, Joshua



is a prophetic sign of the King Moshiach, the ruler from among



his brethren who, like Moses and Joseph the Moshi'a in Egypt,



would lead the true remnant Israel from the rebellious unbelief,



resulting in death, to the faith resulting in eternal salvation



and Messianic deliverance and inheritance foreshadowed in the



book of Joshua.







In the Torah there is the Aitz haChayim (the tree of Eternal



Life--Genesis 3:22) and the Aitz haKilelat Hashem (Tree of the



Curse of G-d--Devarim 21:23). The body of a man, even a King,



hanging executed in the open air was considered accursed by G-d



(that is, put under His judgment--see Joshua 8:29; 10:26).



Isaiah 53:4 says of the Moshiach, "We considered him stricken by



G-d." Isaiah 52:13-53:12 teaches that "My Servant," the Branch



of David, the Moshiach, had to become accursed as sin for us,



taking the punishment we deserve (Isaiah 53:5). All our sins and



rebellion had to be put on His head as the Yom Kippur scapegoat



(Lev. 16:21) and sin offering (Lev. 16:15) sprinkled on the



nations (Lev. 16:l5; Isaiah 52:15).







The book of Hebrews (Heb. 4:3,8,11) speaks of Joshua and the



promise of rest. The land of Israel was to be a place of rest



(Josh 1:13) from Israel's enemies (Josh. 21:43-45; 23:1). But



the reason for the Exile which came to Jerusalem roughly 800



years later is given in Josh. 24:20. However, Joshua says



clearly, "As for me and my household, we will serve the L-rd"



(24:15).







See Acts 7:45 in the Brit Chadasha which has )IEsou for Joshua,



but this is the same Greek word for our Messiah's name, this



means that his Hebrew name is Yehoshua or Joshua. Since the



Hebrew name of Moshiach Yehoshua was Joshua, we are reminded of



Moshiach Yehoshua when we read in Josh. 4:4 "Joshua summoned the



twelve men from the Israelites" (see Mark 3:14). Get out a map



of Israel. Notice that Moshiach Yehoshua had his headquarters



for his spiritual conquest of Israel in Capernaum. Joshua used



Shiloh (18:1-10) as headquarters for a time, but the covenant



renewal meetings of all the tribes were at Shechem (see Josh.



24). Shechem was especially revered because it was Abraham's



first campsite when he entered the Promised Land, and it was the



place where G-d appeared to him and where he built an altar after



the L-rd promised to give him the land (Gen. 12:6-7). For more



on this book, see HOW TO POINT TO MOSHIACH IN YOUR RABBI'S



BIBLE.







JOSHUA 24:29



And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of



Nun, the servant of the L-rd (Eved Hashem), died, being a hundred



and ten years old.















SHOFETIM (JUDGES)















II Thessalonians speaks of the Apostasy or religious rebellion of



the people of G-d in the last days, an event that ushers in the



revelation of the Anti-Moshiach, whom only the Second Coming of



Moshiach Nagid HaShofet (Moshiach Prince the Judge) can destroy.



But here in Judges we see the Apostasy of Israel. And we notice



that haMa'al (the treachery, defection, apostasy, revolt), each



time it occurs, receives a divine answer as G-d raises up another



Judge to effect Israel's deliverance from the bondage of idols



and foreigners with their foreign gods.







The period of the judges begins roughly around 1370 B.C.E. and



lasts about 300 years until the reign of King Saul. The judges



listed in this book are Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah/Barak,



Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson (we



will hear about two more judges when we read I Samuel--namely Eli



and Samuel). There is no monarchy during this period. One of



the sons of Gideon, Abimelech, makes an abortive attempt to set



up a dynastic kingship after the death of his father Gideon, but



this evil despot fails ingloriously and shares Sisera's shameful



fate (4:21) of being put to death by a woman (9:53). One of the



crimes of Abimelech was killing all his rivals, that is, the



seventy sons of Gideon. However, one escaped (Jotham) and on



Mount Gerizim delivered a withering diatribe satirizing the



monarchy (see 9:7-21), his curse (9:20) being fulfilled in 9:49.



All of this warns about evil kings ahead and also points to the



need for a "shepherd" king after G-d's own heart which was



idealized in David and in the Moshiach.







Judg. 21:25 states a theme of the book as well as a warning



against independent-minded religion: "in those days there was no



king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."



Judg. 18:30 shows how syncretistic heretical religion not



grounded in the inerrant Bible led to idolatry which would in



turn later lead to eventual exile and destruction. There are



those who trust their feelings in religion and don't care about



the rational-historical underpinnings of our faith. These are



the ones who waste no time on careful interpretation of the Bible



and do not discipline their feelings in careful submission to the



Scriptures. On this, see Judg. 18:20 where a religious man



experiences joy in the deadly doctrines he carelessly believes,



proving that feelings are an unreliable index of the truth. This



theme is noticeable in chp 17 as well: a rootless Levite, who is



completely independent from the larger religious body of Israel,



wanders around and eventually gets mixed up in heresy. In this



way a center of false religion was set up in the newly settled



city of Dan that rivaled the tabernacle at Shiloh. From this we



learn to beware of spiritual isolation: it says they "had no



relationship with anyone else" (18:7b). Many people today are



isolated in an independent congregation and loyal to a flock only



as long as it takes to get their needs met; then they break



fellowship and depart. Similarly, in this book we see that



Israel was willing to submit to its judges only long enough to



eliminate Israel's oppressors. Such wayward and temporary



submission amounted to no true accountability to G-d. Israel



during this period was constantly returning to her apostate



submission to the Canaanite g-ds, Baal and Astarte.







The people of Gibeah, which belonged to the tribe of Benjamin,



committed an unspeakable crime similar to those committed by



Sodom and Gomorrah. The Benjaminites refused to allow their city



to be punished, causing a civil war in which their population was



so depleted that the survival of the Benjaminite tribe was



threatened. Judg. chps 19-21 tells this story and how a new



source of marriage partners was provided for the tribe of



Benjamin.







Notice that one must inquire at the ark of the Word of G-d



(20:26-28). This means that everyone, even the finest maggid



needs to be sitting under preaching and needs to be submitted to



leadership (Heb. 13:17). The L-rd's kehillah in Judg. 20:2 is



presented as an eschatological war muster, and 21:9 shows that



G-d keeps attendance. Some are willing like Gideon to "put out a



fleece" before they make decisions, but are otherwise uncovered



and unaccountable in the major decisions of their lives. Pray



for the Spirit of G-d to come upon you when you minister (see



3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6,19; 15:14).







Look at the picture of second generation nominalism in 2:10. The



young people in the congregation pose this threat and this



challenge, and give the congregation the opportunity to know



spiritual warfare (3:2).







In 6:29-32 we see that the fertility, sex-cult g-d Baal is



impotent and can no more protect his own altar here than he can



when challenged by Elijah in I Kings 18. This point explains how



Gideon got his name "Jerubbaal" ("Let Baal contend with him").



Samson was from the tribe of Dan. In 14:12 we see Samson the sage



or wise man. This aspect of him typifies Moshiach the Hakham



(Sage) as does also Solomon and the book of Kohelet



(Ecclesiastes) and all the Wisdom Literature in the Bible



(Proverbs, Job, etc).







Samson and Samuel and Yochanan of the Tevilah of Teshuva were



under a vow for their whole lives, as is anyone called to the



ministry. In the case of Samson and Hosea, it was G-d's



permissive will for G-d's prophet to marry an unbeliever, but



don't you try it (14:4). Intermarriage with the heathen led to



idolatry and apostasy, which in turn triggered G-d's anger and



resulted in G-d allowing an invasion of enemies and plunderers



(Aramaeans, Moabites, Ammonites, Amalekites, Canaanites, and



Philistines), and these were punishments for Israel's faithless



disobedience to G-d's command to go in and subdue the land and



cleanse the land of idolators and idolatry (see Ex. 23:33;



34:12-16; Num. 33:55; Deut. 7:2,5,16; Josh. 23:7,12). See the



notes on Jude 5-7 in the Greek section, and notice in Genesis the



"sons of G-d" (Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Shem,



Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, etc) and you will see the weight of the



exhortation that Samson's parents are giving him in Judg. 14:2-4.





The secret of Samson's strength was in his uncompromised



commitment to G-d and His Word, symbolized by a secret vow. When



he lost that, the strength of G-d left him and he became an



ordinary man again, as every backslider knows. The tears from



the Ruach Hakodesh (Psalm 126:6) and the zeal for the Word of G-d



are all we as believers have. If we lose these, we are weak as



ordinary men and will be "ruled by the Philistines" (15:11).



Samson's weakness was impetuosity and lack of self-control in



regard to his flesh. The book of Proverbs was written to keep



others from making his mistakes.







Delilah betrays Samson for money. Moshiach Yehoshua was a judge,



the World Judge, who was also sold and betrayed for money by his



friend. Throughout this book we are told about each judge, that



he died, but Moshiach Yehoshua lives! Samson, like Moshiach



Yehoshua, is led off to judgment as weak as any man. There is a



Messianic paradox in the way this Judge's life ends: Samson is



mocked like Moshiach Yehoshua on the day of his death, a time



when he is ironically victorious in G-d (16:25). However, for



Samson as for Moshiach Yehoshua, there is weakness before



strength and humiliation before exaltation (16:21-22). Messianic



Psalm 110:3 says "from the womb of the dawn you will receive the



dew of your youth" (see also Isaiah 53:10-12).







In contrast to Delilah, Devorah is a role model for women in



spiritual leadership, an Em b'Yisroel (mother in Israel--5:7).







Look at Judg. 13:22. Notice that the Malach Hashem (the Angel of



the L-rd) was more than an angel. He was a theophany of G-d



himself (see Gen. 16:7,13), as the Word took on visible presence.



This was the Word of G-d before He came on the scene as Yehoshua



the man. His name is a mystery, an open secret that must be



disclosed in the knowledge of salvation by the Ruach Hakodesh to



the heart. "Yehoshua" (meaning "the L-rd is salvation" or "the



L-rd G-d of salvation") is revealed throughout the Bible. See



13:18 and the notes on Joshua and also Zechariah. Read the whole



Samson story starting at chapter 13. See Judg. 13:13, where the



Angel of the L-rd has the same name in Hebrew as the Moshiach



Himself in Isaiah 9:5-6, which is PAY SEGOL LAMMED SEGOL ALEF



("wonderful").







Notice Jephthah in chapter 11, even though he subdues the



Ammonites, makes a rash vow that is not grounded in the Word of



G-d and in G-d's will and it costs him dearly. This teaches us



to watch and pray in all our decisions.







In the book of Judges, whenever there is a crisis and the people



need to be rescued, G-d raises up a Moshi'a (Deliverer, Savior)



(from the verb YUD SHIN AYIN). However, the people seem to be



their own worst enemies. They fail to separate themselves from



the g-ds of the people of the land, which were a snare to them



(see 2:1-2). Since G-d himself is the Moshi'a (Deliverer) (He is



also the Judge--see 11:27), He allows the odds to be stacked



against those who are his servants, so that G-d himself will be



more obvious as the deliverer in the situation, that it is He



alone (Yachid) (11:34) who is the true Moshi'a. See the story of



Gideon starting in chapter 6.





Judg. 19:22. As in ancient Greece and in many modern cities,



homosexuality was common in Canaan.







Notice: Judah, because she is the tribe of the Moshiach of the



nations (Genesis 49:10) must go first (Judg. 20:18) and have



preeminence.







JUDGES 20:18



And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of



G-d, and asked counsel of G-d, and said, Which of us shall go up



first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the



L-rd said, Judah shall go up first.













RUTH















Neither Edgar Allan Poe nor any other modern writer formulated



the short story as we know it. It was invented by G-d long



before. Ruth is a short story, though of course, its material is



history and not fiction.







Judges and Ruth are so different in tone that it is amazing that



they take place during the same time period. In contrast to the



murder and lust of Judges, there is the wonder of how much Ruth



endeared herself to people who should have been strangers. A



miracle quietly transpires in this story, and people who might



have considered Ruth an enemy because of her Moabite ancestry,



were instead drawn to her by the cords of G-d's love. Love is a



wonderful thing. The story of Ruth is saying, look how G-d's



love binds people together, with a bond that even death cannot



sever, for G-d is the G-d of the living, and even the dead are



not beyond his protective, loving hand.







Look at Ruth's story. Ruth's husband Mahlon is dead, he left her



no son, Naomi he left no grandchildren. Mahlon's property is



languishing untilled in Bethlehem, and all seems hopelessly lost.



Who can help her? Who can reclaim the land and bring a harvest



of prosperity again? Who can redeem the dead? No one, it seems.



The land has seen famine, the dead are gone.







But is anything too hard for G-d? Read the story and watch G-d



go into action! Watch him redeem the lost property and put the



deed of ownership back into the name of the deceased. All right,



you say, G-d can redeem the land perhaps. But can G-d redeem the



dead? Can the dead live again? Can a corpse have a child?





Again we ask, is anything too hard for the L-rd? Look at this



true story, recorded in the annals of the history of King David!



In this true story, the dead man's widow even conceives the dead



man's child, giving us a foreglimpse of Isaiah's virgin in Isaiah



7:14! And what a child! The child that is on the way in this



story is the Davidic King of Judah, even the Moshiach! Now, the



story is saying, after all that, you, reader, should believe that



G-d is the G-d of the living, who can redeem the world and the



land and who can make alive even the dead.







Ruth had neither a Jewish mother nor a Jewish father! But she



has entered Ideal Israel (Y'shuron Yisroel, meaning "upright one



or "law-upholding one", a poetic name for the true Israel of G-d



--see Isaiah 44:2; Deut. 32:15; 33:26; 33:5) by faith alone (Gal.



2:15-21), by an individual choice to turn away from the former



heathenish direction she was going and by making a personal



decision to turn back and join the people of G-d and to take



their G-d as her God in true teshuva (1:16-17). (Moab symbolizes



for Naomi a heathenish neglect of G-d's people and G-d's House,



because Bethlehem means "House of Bread," and she has felt the



covenant curses of famine, death, and childlessness as a result



of her moving in a heathenish direction that neglects G-d's



House--Deut. 28:18, 21, 24). But Ruth has become a "supernatural



Jew" through the new birth and has entered "Upright" Israel by



what alone made her upright, that is, emunah (Hab. 2:4; Gen.



15:6; Psalm 106:31; Gal. 2:16), and Ruth has entered Upright



Israel ahead of those who say they are Jews but are still



spiritually uncircumcised, still heathen at heart, as Naomi seems



to be until she comes back to Bethlehem and begins to see G-d



bless one of the Gentiles, her daughter-in-law Ruth (contrast



Ruth 1:15 and Ruth 2:20). Ruth's regenerated, circumcised heart



made her part of the true circumcision, the true Israel of G-d,



and we who are regenerated in the Brit Chadasha kehillah have



also entered Israel with Ruth the Moabitess and with Rahab.



The point that the story is leading to is how great G-d's



blessing is on this Gentile woman--more than she could ever see



in her lifetime. (G-d has also similarly blessed us more than we



can see in our lifetime.) She became a direct ancestor of King



David and, through him, Ruth became a direct ancestor of the



promised Moshiach Himself! The irony of G-d's hand on Ruth's



life is a theme of the story. His providential care for her, the



way her footsteps are literally ordered by the L-rd (Psalm



37:23), the gracious way her faith is answered by his provision



--these are all highlighted by the fact that she is an outsider,



alone, a widow, a non-Jew, a foreigner, a member of the excluded,



(cursed by the Law--Deut. 23:3) Moabite people, a pagan who had



known only death and a false religion and was now poor and



helpless in a strange land.







G-d's special providential care toward those on their way to



salvation is a theme of Ruth. Everywhere this Gentile widow



turns, she is blessed, because she has been given a heart to



bless G-d's people (Gen. 12:2). Just as she does not forget her



mother-in-law, G-d does not abandon his chesed (covenant-keeping



loving kindness) with Ruth and with the living and the dead (Ruth



2:20). G-d makes everything work together for good for Ruth,



even a famine, even the death of her husband (Romans 8:28). G-d



uses the famine in Israel to get Ruth's future mother-in-law



Naomi to move from Bethlehem to where Ruth could meet her in



Moab. G-d uses the death of her husband to free Ruth to begin a



wonderful, spiritual pilgrimage. G-d, who withdraws the rain,



now brings the early rain and the later rain to end the famine



and bless the land with the harvest, which is a reward for



covenant-obedience (Deut 28:4). But, here is where the wonder



really begins. G-d leads the widows back to Bethlehem for a



harvest greater than they could ever imagine, a world harvest led



by the Moshiach Himself, the world Harvester "to whom the nations



belong (Gen.49:10)." (Notice carefully the Goel redeemer son of



Judah at the threshing floor in Ruth 3:2). The World Harvester,



the Moshiach will be born there in Bethlehem a thousand years



later (see Micah 5:2).







G-d gives Ruth a strange and marvelous love. G-d gives Ruth a



love for her mother-in-law and for the people of G-d. G-d gives



her the courage to say good-bye to her heathen sister and to go



to Israel with her mother-in-law. Then G-d brings her to a very



special man, a man of substance, a man of destiny, the most



wonderful husband she could ever have dreamed of, in fact a



husband far beyond her imagination, an absolutely unique man of



royal blood, the only man in the world who was Ruth's



contemporary and was at the same time destined to become a direct



ancestor of King David and of the Moshiach Yehoshua. And the



wonder is that G-d led this Gentile woman Ruth to find favor in



his sight and become related to him in holy covenant love. For



this man (Boaz) from the Messianic tribe of Judah become Ruth's



kinsman Go'el (redeemer), protecting the family, the dead as well



as the living. This man from the tribe of the Moshiach married



Ruth and redeemed (bought back) the land of Ruth's dead husband



and raised up an heir to carry the dead man's name. So the dead



man's inheritance was not wiped out. G-d is the G-d who saves



the living and the dead through a Redeemer from the tribe of



Judah. Here it is important to remember that APOLUTROSEOS or



HAPEDUT (redemption) as in Romans 3:24 means release on payment



of ransom. Had Moshiach Yehoshua not paid the ransom of his



blood as our Go'el (redeemer) we could never have been bought



back from sin and death and judgment. Our plight would have been



more hopeless than Ruth and Naomi, these two tragic ALMANOT



(widows).







In the Bible, G-d is also the protector of ALMANOT. In Bible



times, a woman without the covering of a husband was in danger of



exploitation or of sexual molestation or even being carried off.



Because of our sin nature and our sin practices, we were carried



off and on the slave market auction block of sin. We needed a



redeemer to buy us back. Moshiach Yehoshua is rich and can do



that because Moshiach Yehoshua is not in debt to HaSatan.



Moshiach Yehoshua has no sin nature and no sin practices. If we



humble ourselves like a poor widow and turn to him to redeem us,



he will put the wings of his garment over us and protect us from



all hurt and loss. Moshiach Yehoshua will be to us what Boaz was



to Ruth and Naomi. This book of the Bible is extremely important



because it shows the tribe of Judah and a coming redeemer of the



Jews and Gentiles, the Moshiach, who will fulfill Gen. 49:10.



The secret of Ruth's blessing was her faithfulness. She remained



where G-d placed her. She refused to leave her mother-in-law,



she remained with her in life and refused to leave her in death



(1:16-18). Ruth remained faithfully where G-d placed her. She



remained in Boaz's field. Boaz said, "Stay with my workers until



they finish harvesting all my grain" (2:21) and she obeyed him.



Ruth didn't go to the field of someone else where she might have



been harmed (2:22). The passage says "she stayed close to the



servant girls of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat



harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law"



Naomi (2:23). Ruth remained with the people of G-d, and she kept



her heart loyal to her L-rd and His people. She is a chayil



isha "noble woman" (see Ruth 3:11; compare same exact words in



Prov. 31:10).







Notice how G-d leads Ruth out of her heathen past into a future



place of blessing with G-d's people. G-d leads her to just the



right field, one that G-d can eternally redeem with new life and



an abundant harvest, a field that will become Ruth's own,



allotted for her before time ever was, her portion, signifying



eternal life (see Romans 9:6-11).







In the Bible, your land signifies your eternal inheritance in



G-d, your allotted portion forever. There are two kinds of



people in the world! Those who despise their birthright of



Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life) and neglect the House of G-d, and



those who love the people of G-d and the courts of G-d's Beis



Hamikdash. There's no redemption, no redeemer, no hope for the



land or the dead in "Moab."







Notice, on this field of the Redeemer of Judah, G-d gives Ruth



true Menucha (security--1:9; 3:1). He sustains Ruth with food



and a home and a husband and even makes her the great grandmother



of the great King (see Ruth 4:21-22). Judges 21:17 says that



marriage was given to get an heir to avoid extinction, to avoid



being wiped out. But the ultimate heir that Ruth will be given



is the Moshiach, the One that will burst out of the grave and



wipe out death itself.







Those with heathen hearts are still back in Moab. Ruth has come



to the Promised Land and she has had her heathen heart cleansed



and reborn in G-d's love, and she has come to hope in the G-d who



raises the dead. Her hope has cleansed her, too, as it says,



"every man who hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as



He is pure (I Yochanan 3:3)."







Then Ruth, who was humble enough to do any chore, any task, no



matter how menial--so great was her love for G-d's people--then



Ruth faithfully abides in G-d's love, and G-d makes Ruth's name



great. And in the story, all this providential blessing is



introduced so subtly that the reader barely see it as he reads.



Yet at the end of the story, G-d's grace becomes overwhelmingly



wonderful, just as when the believer reflects on the providential



care of the L-rd on his own life. Like Ruth, we find that G-d



was subtly blessing us all along, even before we knew him.



When going to the Jewish people, it is essential to identify with



them as Ruth did. When a Jewish person asks you about your



faith, if your deeds and your lips say, "My faith is Jewish.



These are my people," your sincere love and seriousness will get



a definite reaction from the Jewish people, as it did for Ruth.







The Go'el is introduced in the book of Ruth. Look at 3:9. The



Go'el is the kinsman-redeemer who shows kindness to the living



and to the dead, and redeems the inheritance of those who have



died. This is what the Moshiach does, and Boaz, the son of Judah



(Gen. 49:10) who takes the Gentile bride, is a picture of the



Go'el Moshiach Yehoshua, who rose from the dead to redeem the



Brit Chadasha kehillah.







Naomi had to be made empty in order that G-d could lead her back



to Him and fill her with blessing. There is a kind of chiasmus



in the fact that the land of Israel is empty when Naomi goes out



of it full, and the land is full when she comes back to it empty.



She had to leave a place called Beit-Lechem ("House of Bread")



and return marah ("bitter") to it. The name Naomi means



"pleasant", but life's blows make her bitter until G-d starts to



open her eyes as she sees a Gentile "daughter" blessing her and



being blessed by G-d with Israel's blessings, a Rom. 10:19;



11:13-14 fact which provokes Naomi to jealousy to come back to



G-d in her own heart. Only when things get as bad as they could



be in a heathen land, and all of her loved ones were dying, only



then did Naomi, bitter Naomi, turn around and repent of the



heathen direction of her life, and start heading back to G-d's



House and G-d's people. Then G-d blesses her through her return



to G-d's people. It's important to remember that the child in



the story, Obed, is called "Naomi's son." (See Ruth 4:17.)



Naomi's unredeemed property has to be purchased and it belongs to



her husband and her son Mahlon (both deceased) and the son Obed



also belongs to them and to Naomi. The child would be known as



Obed son of Mahlon son of Elimelech. The son would be Naomi's



protector and the heir of the land, insuring that it would stay



in the family. So G-d is making it evident to Naomi that He is



redeeming her life because she has returned to him. This is a



solemn warning to the backslider, but it has a loving expression



in this beautiful little book.







Ruth 3:12







Though it is true that I am a kinsman-redeemer, there is a



kinsman-redeemer nearer than I. [i.e. Moshiach]















SHMUEL ALEF (I SAMUEL)















This two-part work begins with the pollution of the religious



worship by Eli's apostate sons who were kohanim during the time



when the great prophet Shmuel (born ca. 1105 B.C.E.) was a child.



The two-part work ends with a foreshadowing of the purified Beis



Hamikdash worship which was the vision aof Moshiach of King Dovid



(died ca. 970 B.C.E.). A subtle indication of this is the linen



ephod (ephor) worn both by little Shmuel (1 Sm. 2:18) and many



years later by King Dovid (II Sm. 6:l4). The ephod of the Kohen



Gadol was an apron-like garment with an ornamented vest



containing the Urim and Thummim used to determine the will of G-d



(sacred lots that were cast to determine whether to go to war,



etc).







The kehunah (priesthood) we see being purified as the story of



I-II Shmuel unfolds looks forward to the perfect Moshiach-Kohen



who is coming (Ps. 110:4). A man of G-d comes to Eli and



prophesies to him about the kehunah (priesthood) of his ancestor



Aaron (see I Sm. 2:27f). Eli is told that he and his sons will



be replaced by another Aaronic family, which turns out to be the



family of Zadok. Eli's branch of the kehunah will be broken off



and "I will raise up for myself an "ne'eman (faithful) kohen"



(2:35), says the L-rd. Zadok and his sons will replace Eli and



his sons, just as Dovid the king after G-d's own heart will



replace Saul the unfaithful monarch and will take his crown (I



Sm. 28:17; Rev. 3:11). Yehoshua/Moshiach Yehoshua finally and



completely fulfills 2:35 through Psalm 110:4 and Zechariah 3:8



and Isaiah 53:10 (although Zadok was the immediate fulfillment).







One of the reasons King Saul angered G-d is because he usurped



the role of kohen (I Sm. 13:8-15), thus showing his lack of



respect for G-d's holy kehunah and for the king's covenant



obligation to keep the Law (see Deut. 17:11-20). When he



attacked and caused the death of the kohanim at Nob, that was the



last straw, though he had already been condemned for rebelliously



disobeying G-d in regard to the Amalakites (15:1-35; see Ex.



17:8-16; Deut. 25:17-19). The only kohen to survive the massacre



at Nob was Ahimelech's son Abiathar, who, because he later



supported David's son Adonijab instead of Solomon as David's heir



to the throne, was finally banished, leaving the Aaronic



kehunah to Zadok and his sons. Since Ahimelech and Abiathar are



descendents of Eli, we read the story of I-II Shmuel knowing



there is a curse on them and that their branch of the Aaronic



family tree will eventually lose the kehunah.







Eli should have feared G-d enough not to eat and drink judgment



on himself, especially in view of his unholy sons who were



kohanim (see Lev. 10:1,2,16-20). The backdrop of Eli's decadent



kehunah is the ominous military threat of the Philistines, who



are on the brink of subjugating the whole land and are already in



some sense holding sway (13:19-22), in spite of Shmuel's best



efforts (7:2-17). The sinful people discover that the ark will



not work as a good-luck charm or a magical weapon. Without



repentance and obedient holiness, Israel will be defeated, as



Samson found out in his own experience with the Philistines. But



the Philistine g-d Dagon cannot stand in the presence of the ark;



rather, it falls in broken obeisance. This means that if the



people of G-d through their sin lose the power of G-d, that does



not mean that G-d has lost his power. G-d is the true king of



Israel, and the people need to beware of the tyrannical



exploitation they may be asking for when they act like other



nations and demand a king. It turns out that King Saul, lacking



covenant loyalty to the Word of G-d, falls short of the



theocratic ideal, and his life becomes a foil against which to



view the description of the Moshiach in II Sm. 7:12-17, "But I



will not take my steadfast love from him (Dovid's Son, the



Moshiach), as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before



you (Dovid)."







In I Sm. 17 we see the killing by the youth Dovid of the



Philistine champion Goliath (10 feet tall and weighing in with a



150 lb. coat and a 19 lb. spear head) and thereafter the



beginning of Saul's jealousy and eventual unraveling (18:7-8).



Later Saul tries to kill David, but G-d puts a wonderful



brotherly love for Dovid in the heart of Saul's son Jonathan, who



rescues Dovid from Saul's murderous wrath and seems to know quite



unselfishly that Dovid and not he will inherit the throne



(20:13-15). David's wife Michal, Saul's younger daughter, also



helps Dovid escape (19:11-17). In the Philistine city of Gath



Dovid has to use his wits to save himself, pretending to be mad.



The Philistine king Achish later makes Dovid his mercenary and



gives him the village of Ziglag (though as his mercenary Dovid



outwits him and destroys non-Israelite villages in a holy war



rather than his own Jewish people). In any event, Achish is



convinced enough by Dovid's acting to let him do whatever he



wants (see 21:10-15) except fight side by side with the



Philistine (29:3-11), something Dovid doesn't want to do anyway,



especially against his own people. Up to this point Dovid with



his own private army seems to act like a sort of Jewish Robin



Hood, even hiring himself out as a private police force. When a



wealthy sheep owner Nabal (naval = "fool") rejects Dovid's help



and thereby proves himself a true "fool," his death opens the



door for his widow to become Dovid's wife. This woman, Abigail,



is carried off from Ziklag by Amalekites (30:2) along with "the



women and all who were in it" (it = Ziklag). In a foreshadow of



the coming rejected Moshiach, Dovid is almost stoned by his own



people, very much like Moses (Ex. 17:4; I Sm. 30:6), both of them



being the rejected "servant of the Lord" (Deut. 34:5; I Sm.



25:39; Isa. 53:11). Chapter 8:8 shows that G-d is a rejected G-d;



therefore, we should not be surprised that the Moshiach is a



rejected Moshiach (Isaiah 53). But notice that when Dovid the



King is rejected by the Jewish people, he is accepted by the



Gentiles, the Philistines (see Acts 28:28)! Then, after that,



the Jewish people accept him and crown him king,as we shall see



in II Shmuel. At the end of I Shmuel, signalling that the people



of Israel once again have no king and need Dovid their King to be



their deliverer, a horrible picture comes into view: Saul and



Jonathan and all Saul's sons are killed in battle by the



Philistines at Mount Gilboa.







The second chapter contains ominous warnings against those who



are dabbling in religion and have not had the new creation



experience of the new birth. What happens to the judge and kohen



Eli's materialistic and hedonistic minister sons happens to



Goliath and to Saul: G-d becomes their enemy! What a fearful



thing! Look at how the Eli kohen's household was replaced,



indeed how the Shiloh mishkan itself was replaced (Jeremiah 7:12,



14). Shiloh was destroyed by the Philistines and replaced as a



religious center by Gilgal in the Jordan Valley near Jericho.



The Jerusalem Beis Hamikdash itself became the replacement during



Shlomo's reign.







But the most poignant part of the early section in I Shmuel is



the story of Hannah and Shmuel. How important a mother is! Look



at the dividends received from making sure a child has good



training in the faith. Shmuel was the greatest man of his time,



but it was only because he had a great mother! If you can read



this section without tears in your eyes, there is something wrong



with your reading. Samuel was the last of the judges and a great



prophet, a Levite (I Chr. 6:26) who lived in Ramah in the



territory of Ephraim. Chapter 9:17 shows us a word of knowledge



in operation along with Samuel's prophetic gifts (I Cor. 12:8; I



Sm. 3:11-14; 9:16; 10:1-7). Notice that Ramah was his



headquarters but he had an annual preaching mission (I Sm. 7:16)



to various cities. He was rejected by the elders who wanted a



king (I Sm. 8:7). But no set-back ever stopped him from pushing



ahead for the L-rd. He was a man of prayer (I Sm. 12:23). He set



many things in order (I Chr. 9:17-26) in the House of the L-rd.



He left a valuable heritage in his writings (see I Chr. 29:29;



I Sm. 10:25). He organized an unforgettable Pesach (II Chr.



35:18). When he kisses (nashak) the anointed King (I Sm. 10:1),



he is acting out a Messianic prophecy (see Ps. 2:12). Notice



that the ruler Nagid (I Sm. 10:1), the coming Moshiach, is called



G-d's King, G-d's Anointed one Moshiach (see I Sm. 2:10; 10:1;



12:3,5; 16:6; 24:6; 26:9). See the doctrine of the resurrection



in I Sm. 2:6. The institution of the king came into being to



protect the people from their enemies. Since the greatest enemy



of man is death, this is the connection between the King Moshiach



and the resurrection of the dead (see I Sm. 10:1). Notice in



Hag. 2:5 it says, "the desired (Chemdat) of all nations will



come. This is a Messianic reference to I Sm. 9:20, "on whom is



all Israel's desire chemdat fixed, if not on you?" Micah 5:2, a



Messianic prophecy, may have come to Micah as he was meditating



on I Sm. 16:1, where G-d says to Samuel, "I will send you to



Jesse the Bethiehemite, for I have provided for myself a king



among his sons.







Notice chapter 3:7 shows that the living Word of G-d, the



Moshiach, must reveal himself to us and give us a new heart and a



new spirit or we have no knowledge of G-d. We must have "the



Word of G-d revealed" to us through a "spirit of wisdom and



illumination" (Eph. 1:17) or we may remain as ignorant of the



Bible as Eli's sons.







See I Sm. 6:4,l4, where the Word of the Covenant (in the Ark)



with the guilt (asham) offerings (Isaiah 53:10) returns to the



field of Moshiach Yehoshua. See Lev. 5:14-6:7; 7:1-6; 16:14-17;



Isaiah 52:15; Yochanan 6:53 on blood sacrifices and the Word.







Chapter 8:3 has Samuel repeating Eli's sin as nepotism



degenerates into second generation nominalism.







A minister must stay small in his own eyes (15:17) unless he



wants to be replaced. There is always a Dovid waiting to replace



you if you become a proud Saul.





When you go into the ministry, don't imitate anyone else. Find



what you do best and do that for the L-rd (17:39).







Look at 23:2-3. Israel's military strength is still a testimony



to the strength of G-d, even today.







But 20:31 shows the folly of building your own kingdom.







Chapter 21:4 points to the Dovidic kohenhood of the King



Moshiach, for only kohanim could eat this bread (see Psalm 110



and Zechariah 3:8). Only the nation of priests mamlechet kohanim



(Ex. 19:6; Rev. 1:6) of the Brit Chadasha can eat the bread that



Moshiach Yehoshua offers (Yochanan 6:53; Heb. 13:10).







Look at chapter 23:2 again. Do you inquire in the Word of the



L-rd every day about the day's proceedings and decisions? If you



do, your victories will increase.







Strongholds of En Gedi" (23:29) means in accessible places. Do



you have them? Have you learned to hide in the L-rd from Saul



and HaSatan? We need periods of quiet and rest every day in our



quiet time and daily devotions.







Look at chapter 24:6. Unlike Saul, Dovid would not allow himself



to become jealous of another minister or to attack (in envy) a



fellow minister. David feared the L-rd too much for that. Do



you?







Chapter 28 has an important lesson: after you expel sinners from



your place of authority or kingdom, make sure you don't get



carnal and go back and consult with them (see also Psalm 1).







Chapter 30:6 says to find your strength in the L-rd, not in how



well you are doing in relation to others or from the standpoint



of their expectations.







I Shmuel is an amazing character study of the tragedy of King



Saul. A slow breakdown in his character is carefully presented



to us as a warning. We too could become like him, jealous,



cracking under pressure, not obeying G-d with fearful care and



attention to detail, taking our eyes off G-d, laying down carnal



and arbitrary policies, getting out of step with the Spirit. If



we don't hate sin as much as G-d commands us to, He may lose



patience with us and replace us, if we abuse our privileges, G-d



doesn't want to be obeyed our way; He wants to be obeyed His way.



See chapter 15 and what happens if we rebel against this



teaching. Saul's personal Meribah/Massah experience took place



at Gilgal where his rebellion cost him his ministry (review I Sm.



13:8-l4; Ex. 17:l-7; Num. 20:1-13; Ps. 106:32; 95:8; Deut. 33:8;



Heb. 3:8), repeating in his kingly person the experience of the



children of Israel in the wilderness. Also he repeated the sins



Israel committed when she entered the Promised Land: Saul almost



caused the death of Jonathan (compare Jephthah's daughter Judg.



11:39 and I Sm. 14:28-30) and Saul committed the sin of Achan



(compare Josh. 7 and I Sm. 15:13-23).







Notice the importance of spiritual song in 16:14-23. Very often



in a service there is not enough liberty in the Spirit to preach



until, through singing, the demonic oppression in the room is



lifted (see I Sm. 18:10-12). I Sm. 16:17 says that the L-rd's



musician must be an artist who can play well.







The man of G-d is necessarily a refugee in a wicked and



G-d-hating world, but G-d gives Dovid favor and guides his steps



to safety. See chapter 19. In chapter 22 we see the wickedness



of Saul, who has no respect for G-d's ministers. This is called



anticlericalism. Increasingly the world is filling up with Sauls



and preparing for the Great Tribulation when the Brit Chadasha



kehillah will be under a final massive assault of



anticlericalism. See 23:14.







Notice the connection of the Spirit of G-d with the new birth--



I Sm. 10:6. Notice that when Dovid seemingly lost everything at



Ziklag, he "strenghened himself in the L-rd his G-d" (30:6).



I SHMUEL 3:7



Now Shmuel did not yet know the L-rd: The Word of the L-rd had



not yet been revealed to him.







I SHMUEL 10:6



And the Spirit of the L-rd will come upon thee, and thou shalt



prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into a different person.













SHMUEL BAIS (II SAMUEL)



















The first few chapters chronicle the power struggle between the



house of Saul and the house of Dovid, including the murder of



Abner, the commander of Saul's army, by Joab, Dovid's commander.



It's important to understand that both Abner and Absalom's acts



of sleeping with royal concubines were efforts to prove each had



acquired royal status (see II Sm. 3:7; 16:22). During this time,



Dovid has to consolidate the military behind his regime and



persuade Israel and those backing the dynasty of Saul to receive



him as their king. The restoration of Michal as his wife



reenforces Dovid's status as Saul's son-in-law and therefore the



legitimacy of his claim to Saul's throne. In the course of the



book, all of the potential claimants to the throne from the house



of Saul are eliminated, with the exception of Jonathan's lame son



Mephibosheth whom Dovid spares to sit at his table. Jerusalem is



taken from the Jebusites and established as the capital of the



united kingdom. But David reminds us of Moses. Just as Dovid



arrives at his zenith, having been anointed king of Judah and



then seven and a half years later having been anointed king of



all Israel (both times at Hebron), he sins. Calamity arises



against him out of (his) own household" (II Sm 12:11). Dovid's



sons struggle for his throne, Absalom eliminating the firstborn



heir and preeminent claimant Amnon and attempting to seize the



throne, then Shlomo purging the oldest surviving son Adonijah,



but this is part of the story of I Kings.







In chapter II Sm. 6 Dovid dances in a white linen kohen's garment



before the L-rd and bitter Michal the daughter of Saul is



destined to die childless as she hardens her heart against G-d



and His people. When Dovid brings the ark of G-d to Jerusalem



and purchases the property for the Beis Hamikdash's construction



(II Sm. 6:l5-16; 24:21-25), he is making it possible for the Son



of Dovid to build the House of G-d, an act that will become one



of the most important prophecies of Moshiach. Notice the Angel



of the L-rd, so important in relation to the promise of an heir



for Abraham (Gen. 18) and so decisive in the Exodus (Ex. 14:19),



is now in evidence once again at the site selection of the



Jerusalem Beis Hamikdash (II Sm. 21:16), pointing to Isaac's lamb



(Gen. 22:7-8) that will be provided, the Lamb of G-d, the



Moshiach.







See the Messianic title in II Sm. 6:21 Nagid Al-Yiroel "prince



over Israel." (Compare Moshiach Nagid Dan. 9:25.) Notice David



"distributed food among all the people" (II Sm. 6:19) as his



greater Son does in the miraculous feeding of the 3,000 and the



5,000 in the Brit Chadasha Scriptures.







Notice very carefully the prophecy that Moshiach would come from



Dovid in II Sm. 7. See the obvious Messianic interpretation



given to this prophesy as it is rendered in I Chr. 17:13. The



fulfillment of the all-important promise in II Sm. 7:16 ("your



house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne



will be established forever") necessitated the resurrection from



the dead of Dovid's "seed" (zera) King Moshiach Yehoshua which



was done to fulfill the Word of G-d (II Sm. 7:21). Notice in the



Bible "the servant of the Lord" is another appellation for Dovid



(II Sm. 3:18; 7:5,20,25-29) and "my servant Dovid" another



appellation for the Moshiach (Ezek. 34:23), making "the servant



of the Lord" a Messianic title Avdi Davod as it is in Isa. 52:13;



53:11.







II Sam. 11 shows that Dovid was safer when he was poor and



fighting giants than when he was rich away from G-d's Messianic



battlefield. Run from your Bathshebas and find divine safety



with your Goliaths?







Rav Sha'ul uses the metaphor of a battlefield and the command to



"endure hardship" like a good soldier when Shliach Sha'ul deals



with the subject of the ministry and of doing the work of a kiruv



outreach worker for Moshiach (II Timothy 4:5). Study Uriah in



chapter 11 and you will see an illustration Rav Sha'ul could have



used.







Note the cronyism between Joab and David and avoid it. G-d hates



overweening bureaucratic control and religious politicking in His



House. Here it leads to Uriah's murder, adultery, and the host



of evils described in the remainder of II Shmuel.







In chapter 12 a perfect crime is ruined by a prophet with a word



of knowledge.







Notice that the L-rd is not mocked. "With the crooked G-d shows



himself shrewd" (II Sm. 22:27). Whatsoever you sow even as a



believer, you may indeed reap even in this life. II Sm. 12:11-12



show all the reprisals that follow the Bathsheba sin (see



fulfilment 16:21-22). There is punishment even in this life for



sin.







II Sm. 12:20 indicates that, nevertheless, Dovid allowed no root



of bitterness to crop up between himself and the L-rd.







II Sm. 13:15 shows us the difference between real love and lust.







One reason we need to watch in prayer: to have divine wisdom



against the wicked counselors HaSatan will use to infiltrate our



ministry, but whose wisdom G-d can turn into foolishness as He



did with Bathsheba's grandfather Ahithophel (see II Sm. 15:31;



17:14,23; Rom. 1:22; I Cor. 1:20).







Dovid's anguished love for his rebellious son who usurped his



father's throne at Hebron, Absalom, (II Sm. 13:39; 18:33) is a



picture of "G-d so loved the world" (Yochanan 3:16) and also it



pictures the anguished love for apostate Israel felt by the heart



of G-d in verses like Luke 13:34 and Rom. 9:1-3. Ittai, the



faithful foreigner, a warrior among Dovid's mighty men, is a



picture of faithful Gentiles being grafted in while the



unfaithful natural branches are cut off (see II Sm. l5:21; 18:2).







Remember vain, ambitious Absalom's long hair and how it got him



caught in the end? Avoid carnal ambition in the ministry or,



like Absalom, you'll be caught and ensnared by your own vanity.



(See chapter 15:3-4 for the modus operandi of this expert Brit



Chadasha kehillah-splitter).







In chapter 15, Hushai, Dovid's adviser, hangs back to be his spy



in league with the descendents of Aaron, that is, Zadok and



Abiathar and their messenger sons.







II Sm. 17:23 shows Ahithophel as a type of Judas, the man who



thought he could outwit the Son of Dovid and ended up hanging



himself. This type of betrayal is referred to in places like



Psalm 41:9 and 55:12-14. Even Dovid's own son Absalom betrayed



him, and betrayal is part of the sufferings of Moshiach we must



all endure. Shliach Sha'ul says, "Demas in love with this



passing world has deserted me" (II Tim. 4:10). Family members



(Micah 7:6; Matt. 10:36) and ministry partners sometimes do this



to us, and we must not grow bitter when it happens.







In II Sm. 19:17 Joab is replaced by David as head of the army but



this changes in chapter 20. Along with Abonijah and Abiathar,



Joab will be purged by Shlomo in I Kings as a fulfillment of



Dovid's curse (II Sm. 3:26-29,39) upon him for his



insubordination.







II Sam. 22:31 ("the word of the L-rd is flawless") is an argument



for the inerrancy of the Bible.







Look at "Let your hand fall upon me and my family" in 24:17. Here



we have the vicarious suffering of the Davidic Moshiach, toward



which Ezekiel 4 is also pointing (as well as Zch. 13:7). The



Beis Hamikdash with its vicarious sacrifices by the kohanim (Lv.



10:17-18) are also in view in this II Sm. 24:17 context. Moshiach



Yehoshua is the new Beis Hamikdash and the sins of Israel fall on



David's family when they fall on Moshiach Yehoshua. II Shmuel



shows the fall of Dovid from his throne and his ascension to it



again after suffering. This foreshadows what will happen to the



Moshiach who has "nothing" (Dan. 9:26) and loses his throne when



He is "cut off" (Isa. 53:8,12b) but regains it when he is



resurrected from this death and ascends to the right hand of



supreme power (Psa. 110:1; Isa. 52:13-15; 53:12a). We assume



Moshiach Yehoshua deliberately chose the Mount of Olives for his



Gethsemane weeping because of II Sm. 15:30; at least the divine



choice was deliberate. Notice that Moshiach Yehoshua has Shliach



Kefa, Ya'akov and Yochanan just as Dovid has "the Three" (II Sm.



23:19). When Isaiah says that the Dovidic Moshiach will be"



oppressed and afflicted" but he will "not open his mouth" (Isa.



53:7), Isaiah may be thinking of II Sm. 16:9-13. Also in Isa.



42:l; 61:1 he may be thinking of II Sm. 23:2. Notice the



Messianic Dovidic covenant (Brit Olam) is "an everlasting



covenant" (II Sm. 23:5), language used of the Brit Chadasha (Jer.



31:31-34; 32:40; Ezek. 37:24-26). Gen. 19:10 is in view in



II Sm. 22:44-46.







It is important to correlate one's study of the Psalms with the



study of I-II Shmuel (see Psalms).







The area of Edom, which was spared during the conquest of the



land, was later conquered by Dovid (II Sm. 8:13-14) just as



Balaam prophesied (Num. 24:18). Dovid also defeated Moab (II Sm.



8:2,13-14) just as Balaam had prophesied (Num. 24:17). Dovid



eliminated the threat of the Philistines (II Sm. 5:17-25; 8:1)



and the Arameans (modern Syria)--see II Sm. 8:3-8; 10:6-19--as



well as the Ammonites (II Sm. 12:19-31) and Amalekites (I Sm.



30:11). Finishing the work of Joshua, Dovid extended Israel's



borders from Egypt to the Euphrates, fulfilling prophecy (Gen.



15:18; Josh. 1:4). It is therefore not surprising that Isaiah saw



Israel's ultimate deliverer as not only a new Joshua (Isa. 49:8)



but also a new Dovid, or a "Branch" (Tzemach) descended from



Dovid's line (Isa. 9:6-7; 4:2; 11:1-10; 53:2; 7:14).







The word for the "Besuras Hageulah" or "good news" is found in



II Sm. 18:27.







II SHMUEL 7:16



And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever



before thee: thy throne shell be enablished for ever.











MELACHIM ALEF (I KINGS)















With Jerusalem in ruins and the Dovidic throne seemingly



destroyed forever, the prophetic author of I-II Kings sets out to



vindicate the Word of G-d to the faithful. There's a reason why



this has happened. Prophecy has been fulfilled. Curses have



overtaken the covenant-breakers. And G-d's word is still true,



and the Son of Dovid, the King Moshiach, will yet come. Dovid's



throne will rise again. This is the message of faith from the



midst of the Exile.







Two key passages are II Kings 25:27-30 and I Kings 9:6-9. The



Messianic hope is still alive in the Exile in Babylon. A



descendent of Dovid (Jehoiachin) is alive and being favored by



the King of Babylon as the book reaches its hopeful conclusion at



the end of II Kings 25. This means the Messianic promise is



still realizable and is in fact in the process of being worked



out, that is, in the fullness of time. The reason for the



destruction of all the other thrones, other than that of the



Moshiach, is given in I Kings 9:6-9, where Shlomo is given this



solemn divine warning (which the book shows by exhaustive



historical documentation was no idle threat): if you turn aside



from following me, you or your sons, and do not keep my



commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go



and serve other g-ds and worship them, then I will cut Israel off



from the land that I have given them; and the house that I have



consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight; and Israel



will become a proverb and a taunt among all peoples. This house



will become a heap of ruins; everyone passing by it will be



astonished, and will hiss; and they will say, 'Why has the L-rd



done such a thing to this land and to this house?' They will



say, 'Because they have forsaken the L-rd their G-d who brought



their ancestors out of the land of Egypt and embraced other g-ds



worshiping them and serving them; therefore the L-rd ham brought



this disaster on them.'"



In chapter II of I Kings we see Shlomo himself turn aside from



following G-d, and his backsliding is described in 11:4, "For



when Shlomo was old, his (foreign) wives turned away his heart



after other g-ds; and his heart was not true to the L-rd his G-d



as was the heart of his father Dovid." This turning point in



Shlomo's life (begun in 3:1) presaged the downfall of all the



kings and kingdom in I-II Kings. Doomed is the usurper's throne



of the Northern tribes of Israel, an apostate throne that both



detracts from the Messianic hope of Dovid's throne in Judah and



also divides G-d's kingdom. In 733 B.C.E. we will see the demise



of this kingdom of the Northern tribes in the Assyrian dispersion



(II Kings 17:5-23). The ten tribes of Israel were destroyed



because they raised up rival g-ds and sacrificed to them on rival



altars in rival sanctuaries (preferring Dan and Bethel to



Jerusalem--see 12:28-29) with a rival kohenhood (12:31) and their



kings sat on rival thrones at Shechem, Penuel, Tirzah, and



Samaria. Generally speaking, the kings of the Northern tribes



continue the sins of apostasy of their first king Jeroboem (931-



910 B.C.E.), and even Jehu (841-814 B.C.E.), who ruled in Samaria



for 28 years and fathered a 100 year-old dynasty, was no



exception, even though G-d used him as a bloody nemesis against



evil tyranical rulers inthe Holy Land. With the exceptions of



Asa (22:33), Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah, the kings of



Sudah also generally amount to a sorry lot.







At the beginning of I Kings we find the throne of Dovid, with his



choice of successor Shlomo, threatened by certain enemies. These



receive G-d's vengeance: Adonijah (who plotted to seize the



throne), Joab (who supported Adonijah's treachery), and Shimei



(who cursed Dovid and disobeyed his son Shlomo), as well as



Abiathar the kohen (of the accursed house of Eli--see I Sm.



2:27-36). Like Moses speaking to Joshua, so Dovid, from his



deathbed, speaks to Shlomo (2:1-9) and gives him his solemn



charge. The Beis Hamikdash must be built; so must the king's



palace and throne room and the walls around the royal city of



Jerusalem. By this time Zadok is wearing the high kohen's



vestment, confirming the prophesy against Eli calling for a new



line in the kehunah (see I Kings 2:35). At Gibeon, we see a



divine wisdom that rules and reign in life which all believers



should pray for. King Solomon goes to Gibeon to sacrifice and to



beseech such wisdom from G-d. The L-rd gives it to him "to



execute justice" (3:28). Like the Son of David we see in the



Brit Chadasha, Shlomo also wisely appoints 12 officials over all



Israel (4:7,27) and with great wisdom administers the kingdom.



I Kings 4:20-21 summarizes this period in the life of Solomon.



And just as the Beis Hamikdash became one of the wonders of



world-wide pilgrimage, so people came from all the nations to



hear the wisdom of Solomon" (4:34), divine wisdom which is still



wondered at in the wisdom literature of the Bible like



Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. In this, although she was initally a



"doubting Thomas" (10:7), even the Queen of Sheba becomes a



believer and Messianic Gentile pilgrim (10:6) symbolic of the



Brit Chadasha kehillah.







The Beis Hamikdash of Solomon (which took seven years to build



and stood less than 400 years) was extensively decorated and



overlaid with gold, that "the whole house might be perfect"



(6:22). Of course we know that the perfect Beis Hamikdash of the



Spirit was yet to come in the Moshiach's body (see Yochanan



2:19-21; 20:22), and that the Beis Hamikdash of this Son of David



(Solomon), having begun in 960 B.C.E., would be torn down in 586



B.C.E. Nevertheless, its dimensions and furnishings preach



through architecture, sculptor, painting, and other arts of the



perfection that was to come in the Moshiach. For example, its



Holy of Holies was designed as a perfect cube, approximately 30



feet by 30 feet by 30 feet. It was divided into (Oolahm)



portico, main (Haychal) hall, inner (duh veer) sanctuary. In the



portico were the ornate cast bronze pillars supporting the



entrance; in the main hallwere the golden tables for (Lechem



HaPannim) the bread of the Presence, the gold lampstands, and the



altar of incense; in the inner sanctuary was the Aron Brit (ark



of the covenant). The hayom mutzak (molten sea [a hugh bowl or



tank for the ablutions of the kohanim]) and the altar of the



burnt offering were in front of the steps leading up to the



portico. The Beis Hamikdash was adjacent to the palace of the Son



of Dovid (see the great judgment throne of ivory 10:18), and the



total symbolism of the complex of the house of the Lord/house of



His Anointed King of Kings (10:23) says that G-d, the sovereign



master of the universe and the head of Israel, can only be



approached through a kapparah blood sacrifice acceptably



interposed for G-d's covenant people by Moshiach's kehunah and



its mediation.







In the synagogue today, the Ner Tamid (eternal lamp) suspended



above the ark is a symbol of the Moshiach, for I Kings 11:36 says



"Yet to his son I will give one tribe, so that my servant David



may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem," the lamp being a



symbol of the permanence of the Davidic dynasty through the



coming Moshiach.







In I Kings 5, unfortunately, Solomon becomes like Pharaoh to his



own people, resorting to forced labor to build the house of the



L-rd, his own house, the Millo (fortification), and the walls of



Jerusalem. He did not enslave the Jews (see I Kgs. 9:22) but



there was apparently enough oppression that the Northern Tribes



could say to Shlomo's son, Rehoboam, "Your father made our yoke



heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and



his heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we will serve you"



(12:4). This became one of the causes of the division of the



kingdom into the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel after



Solomon's death. As Solomon succombs to the idolatry of the



foreign g-ds of his foreign wives and as he abuses his G-d-given



wisdom to entangle himself with ties with Egypt (note the



accummulation of horses and women--see the warning of Deut. 17:16



-17), we see that he is no perfect king. Only the Moshiach will



bring the perfect king with the perfect house and the perfect



kingdom. But we are co-laborers with G-d and we, like Solomon's



Beis Hamikdash builders, must work reverently (see I Kines 6:7).



Notice that the Son of David needed an artist for Israel (I Kings



7:13-14) and He still does today.







Notice that Solomon dedicated the Beis Hamikdash during the



(Succot) Feast of Tabernacles (8:2). Look at 8:10-11 where we see



the first Azuza Street experience among the (K'hal Yisroel)



assembly of Israel. Notice the Beis Hamikdash was the place



where G-d's Spirit and Presence and Name might dwell and the



place where the Word of G-d in the ark of the covenant was to



"incarnate" itself, in a sense, for I Kings 8:21 says, "There I



have provided a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of



the L-rd that he made with our ancestors, when he brought them



out of the land of Egypt." As such, the Beis Hamikdash points



toward "your son who shall be born to you (Dovid)." He will



"build the house for my name." (see I Kings 8:19.). The Moshiach



would be the eternal successor of Dovid (see I Kings 8:25; 9:5).



The "Lord's Servant" is the Davidic king (I Kings 8:59; Isa.



52:13-53:12), for it says that the L-rd "maintains the cause of



his servant and the cause of his people Israel." Dovid's throne



chair, ironically, becomes a cruel Aitz, however, because the



monarchy itself is destroyed by the Exile. Indeed, Pilate sits



where the Son of David should reign, but does so only in the



Millennium. After Rehoboam loses the kingdom about 926 B.C.E.,



never again does a descendant of Dovid (other than Moshiach



Yehoshua the Moshiach) rule over Israel.







When Solomon backslides (mainly in his old age), G-d raises up



adversaries against him (see ch. 11). The conquered peoples



rebel and the Northern tribes rebel also. Hadad the Edomite,



Rezon of Syria (Aram), and Seraboam are all instruments of



Solomon's punishment. Ahijah of Shiloh prophesies the division



of the kingdom and the ascendency of Jeroboam to the throne of



the Northern tribes (see 11:35). This comes to a climax when



(R'chev'am) Rehoboam (930-913 B.C.E.) tries to be a tougher



"Pharaoh" than Solomon.







Note carefully the prophecy concerning the coming righteous king



(Yo'shiyahu) Josiah (610-609 B.C.E.) in 13:3, who is named by



name (as Moshiach Yehoshua is in Zech. 6:11-12 and as Cyrus is in



Isa. 44:28f) and who will destroy this pagan altar later during



the time of Jeremiah's revival preaching. In chapter 13 we hear



about "the man of G-d who disobeyed the word of the Lord"



(13:26), a major theme of the whole of the book of Kings. Ahijah



of Shiloh is an important prophet. He prophesies the Assyrian



dispersion of the Northern tribes (14:15-16) and the kind of



dynastic destruction that will characterize the kings of the



Nothern tribes. In what transpires we see that Ba'sha (Baasha)



(908-886 B.C.E.) kills off (fulfilling the prophesy of 15:27-30)



the dynasty of Yerovaam (Jeroboam) (930-909 B.C.E.), Zimri



(885-874 B.C.E.) the house of Zimri, and (Yehu) Jehu (841-814



B.C.E.) the house of Omri, each a nemesis of G-d, and each



pointing to the assassinations and coups and countercoups that



lead to the demise of this apostate throne of Israel in 722



B.C.E.







The apostate people of the Northern tribes are worshiping the



fertility gods Baal and his consort Asherah because Omri, after



he establishes Samaria as his capital, marries his son Ahab to a



foreign Phoenician wife named Jezebel (princess of Sidon), who



had converted Ahab to this pagan faith of Baal worship and then



initiated a persecution of the true prophets of G-d on a vast



scale. G-d confronts the people by bringing an a tribulation



drought and forcing Ahab to search for terms with Elijah, who,



after being miraclously sustained in the wilderness and through a



widow in Zarephath, demands a contest on Mount Carmel in which



the true G-d and the true prophet alone will live, the others,



losing the contest, will forfeit their lives along with their



worthless altar. When the prophets of Bael are slaughtered



because their G-d cannot light his own sacrificial fire, the



divinely imposed three and half year drought concludes in a



mighty torrent of rain (proving the L-rd, not Baal sends the



blessing of rain, fertility and life), Elijah runs ahead of Ahab



to his second place of residence (not Samaria but Jezreel near



Mount Gilboa). There the wrath of Jezebel drives Elijah back



into the wilderness to hide once again and to come like Moses



redivivus to Mount Sinai (Horeb) where G-d commands that a purge



of idolatry be set in motion as Elijah anoints Hazed of Syria,



Jehu of Israel and Elisha as prophetic successor to Elijah (19:15



-16), all called to be the divine nemesis of idolatry and



apostasy. See the prophecy (21:20-24) that Jehu will fulfill.



After Naboth's ancestral property is seized and his life is



taken, Elijah announces the L-rd's word against both Ahab and



Jezebel (21:17-24). As the book concludes, Ahab and Jehoshaphat



are going to war against Syria, and the godly king Jehoshaphat



wants a prophecy from a prophet of G-d. Micaiah foresees (22:17)



the coming devastation and defeat and, as prophesied (21:19),



Ahab is killed in spite of all his precautions in the ensuing



battle.







Notice that those who try to use their holy office to



commercialize and profiteer off of G-d's holy things will not



find true prosperity (22:48).







The kohen Azariah in I Kings 4:1 is the son of Zadok.







The miracle that happened for Elijah at Mt. Carmel points back to



Lev. 9:23-24.







I and II Kings tell how an entrepreneur (any of the "dreamers who



do") named Shlomo built a Beis Hamikdash, which unfortunately, as



we see at the end of this two-part book, is destroyed by sin, as



the author of I-II Kings writing in the Exile to Jewish people in



the Exile, explains to them the reason for the Exile and its



devastation. The Beis Hamikdash of the body of Moshiach Yehoshua



was also destroyed by sin, but His Beis Hamikdash was destroyed



for sin. But sin led to the destruction of Solomon's Beis



Hamikdash and the Exile. Nevertheless, we see how Solomon was



given divine wisdom (see 1:5:13...the Bible is not



anti-scientific) and also prosperity in order to accomplish his



assigned task.







We should notice that King Shlomo was given many artists and



co-laborers. Indeed, even the kingship itself belonged to G-d



but was entrusted provisionally to Shlomo (II Sm. 7:14) and was



not the perogative of self-promoting men (1:1:37; 2:15). He



prayed for and received from G-d the wisdom (1:3:9) most of the



other kings in this story lack. Shlomo is a type of the Chochma



Elohim (Wisdom of G-d), who became the Moshiach (1:10:24). G-d



surrounded Shlomo with people of quality to help him carry a



heavy burden with expertise. He with the twelve mentioned in



1:4:7 is a type of the peaceful Mashiakh Ben Dovid who will reign



in peace on earth during the Millenium, just as his warrior/king



father Dovid is a type of the Warrior Word (Revelation 19:13)



who will come to destroy the wicked at the end of history. In



1:7:7 we see Shlomo as the anointed King/Judge typological



Moshiach figure (1:10:18), along with Hiram as the artist for



Israel (1:7:14), and in this pairing we see something similar to



what Moses and Bezalel (Exodus 31:3) had been in the Torah.



The Beis Hamikdash is that meeting place between G-d and where



the Ruach Hakodesh comes down when the Word of G-d tabernacles



with G-d's people (1:8:10) and G-d's people can approach his



presence. Without a vision for this communion of G-d and man,



the people perish. But G-d is faithful, even if men are not



(1:9:4-9), and we see in 1:7:51-8:16 the milestone the whole



first quarter of the Bible has been driving toward: the



completion of the Beis Hamikdash with the glory of G-d filling



it. What was lost in Gen. 3:19-24 (the hope of the glory of G-d



which is Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life)) is now beginning to be



regained--do a concordance study of the word "glory" in the book



of Romans to get a fix on the Besuras Hageulah as the Besuras



Hageulah of Glory) is starting to be regained. The Beis



Hamikdash being filled with glory is a picture of the coming



Incarnation and outpouring of the Ruach Hakodesh on the people of



G-d. Of course the promise in 1:8:25 remained unfulfilled until



the line of Dovid is raised to reign forever in resurrection



glory on Passover 30 C.E. Whenever a foreigner looks toward His



torn down but gloriously raised up Beis Hamikdash (I:8:4lf--see



also Amos 9:11) the Brit Chadasha blessing goes forth to that



foreigner. This is why we have been set apart (1:8:53) as a



tabernacle on the Great Commission march and we offer our



sufferings and levitical sacrifices as the House of our Suffering



L-rd to carry the Good News to the ends of the earth. The



itinerate prophetic bands of Elijah and Elisha and Shliach Sha'ul



and modern kiruv outreach workers for Moshiach and emissaries of



Moshiach's shlichut are just as much "the Brit Chadasha kehillah"



as stationary congregational preaching points. The true Brit



Chadasha kehillah is wherever the elect are rightly disciplined



by the proper hearing and sharing of the Word.







Dovid's great son had wisdom. G-d's greater Son was Wisdom, as



Proverbs 30:4 makes clear. It will not do to try to bring Israel



into Proverbs 30:4 as the Son, since the context reflects back to



Proverbs 8 and especially 8:30. Israel is scarcely mentioned in



Proverbs. The figure of a son toiling by the side of his father



was a familiar one, and is an arresting metaphor for G-d's



primordial Wisdom toiling creatively in the beginning with G-d.



Likewise, Psalm 2:7, Psalm 89:27-28, and Isaiah 9:5-6 are



passages where the Moshiach is pictured as G-d's Son, G-d's



B'chor (firstborn) in the sense of his, heir coming in divine



glory as in Daniel 7:13-14, that is, on the clouds with G-d to



"divide the spoil with the strong (Isaiah 53:12) and to govern,



eternally (Isaiah 9:6-7).







In chapter 11:4 we see that Shlomo's G-d-given wisdom was



foolishly seduced by a muddle-headed ecumenicalism just as the



prostitute religious community apostatizes in II Thes. 2:3; Heb.



10:26; II Tim 4:4; I Tim 4:1. If we join this apostasy we can be



sure G-d will always raise up a way to judge us (1:11:15-17).



This is a dominant theme in Kings--that "You only have I known:



therefore, I will punish you for all your sins..." since



"judgment begins at the household of G-d." G-d is a just G-d and



he will remove the guilt of His House from the blood of the



innocent by punishing the culpable, for G-d is a great King



(1:2:31). Solomon, Elisha, Jehu, Joash, Josiah, Nebuchadnezzar



all represent G-d's prophesied holy nemesis against sinners.







Rehoboam is a warning against an authoritarian style that tries



to L-rd it over the sheep and splits the Brit Chadasha kehillah.









You should be able to insert the prophets and their approximate



dates into the dates of the rulers of Israel and Judah so as to



get a fix on who is preaching to whom.







The life-or-death struggle with Rabbinic Judaism's Baalism



(Kabbalah occultism, Talmudic gnosticism, Rabbinic clericalism,



etc.) that Elijah fought is still going on.







In the Elijah cycle G-d gives his guerrilla warrior-prophet a



free room (I Kings 17) and his office was in Zarephath so that he



could have a one-man show to pull down the strongholds of Satanic



lies destroying the house of Israel. This was near the Jordan



where Elijah had once hid to begin his Mount Carmel fight for the



true Jewish faith which Yochanan of the tevilah of teshuva would



continue.





Ya'akov 5:17 tells us that this time of tribulation in I Kings



17-19 lasted 3 and a half years. It was then that Jezebel and



her husband King Ahab tried to shut the door of revival on the



prophet Elijah. But what happened? G-d rained down tribulation



on Queen Jezebel and King Ahab. G-d rained down a life-quenching



drought an their evil, G-d-rejecting world, a real tribulation



that went on far three and a half years. But did Elijah get



raptured before the trouble started? No. Did Elijah escape



being persecuted by the spirit of Anti-Moshiach in Ahab and



Jezebel? No. Was rapturing Elijah before this time of trouble



the only way G-d had of keeping the prophet from that hour of



trial G-d was bringing on the world (Revelation 3:10)? No.



Not at all. How we like to limit G-d with our neat little



prophecy charts! G-d didn't rapture Elijah before that three and



a half year tribulation! G-d hid Elijah in the desert for



"times, time and half a time"--three and a half years! (See also



Rev. 12:6.) And the earth helped Elijah (See also Rev. 12:16.)



The brook quenched his thirst and he ate meals catered by



ravens!) Then when the tribulation had served its purpose and



the false prophets had came to their Anti-Moshiach destruction,



then G-d raptured Elijah! The true Brit Chadasha kehillah was



hidden "underground" during the time of trouble. The true Brit



Chadasha kehillah of "7000 who had not bowed their knee to Baal"



gave their witness and risked martyrdom for G-d during Elijah's



three and a half year tribulation. The true Brit Chadasha



kehillah was a guerrilla group of refugees pursued by an evil



world yet bravely serving the L-rd at all costs, whether that



involved a sacrificial life-style or martyrdom.







I Kings 3:28



And all Israel heard of the judgment which the King had judged;



and they feared the King: for they saw that the wisdom of G-d was



in him to do judgment.







I KINGS 8:43



Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all



that the foreigner asks of thee: that all people of the earth may



know thy name and fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that



they may know that this house, which I (Solomon) have built, is



called by thy name.







I KINGS 17:3



Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the



Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.















MELACHIM BAIS (II KINGS)















To the good kings of Judah (there are no good kings of Israel)



listed in I Kings (Sc.) a case could be made for possibly adding



Y'ho'ash (Joash) (835-796 B.C.E.), Amatz'yahu (Amaziah) (796-767



B.C.E.), Azarya (Azariah) (Uzziah) (792-740 B.C.E.) and Jotham



(750-735 B.C.E.). However it must be said of Joash that he



foresook the L-rd and served idols after the death of the kohen



Jehoiada (II Chron. 24:15-18); it must be said of Amaziah that he



backslid into the worship of Edomite idols (II Chr. 25:14-16); of



Azariah (during whose reign Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos began their



preaching ministries), that he tried to usurp the kohenhood and



was punished with leprosy (II Chr. 27:20); of Jotham, during



whose reign Micah was preaching, that he failed to cleanse the



Beis Hamikdash of its pagan influence which caused many to



continue their evil ways (II Chr. 27;2,6).







Fire comes down from heaven as at Mount Carmel to protect Elijah



in II Kings 1, and finally Ahaziah of Israel is told that he will



die and G-d's word is fulfilled (1:17). This means we are at the



year 852 and we will go all the way to 586 B.C.E. in this book.



The battle of Qarqar (853 B.C.E.) is not recorded in the Bible.



If it were, this might be the place for it. It was fought in



Syria and it held beck the Assyrian advance into the territories



of Syria, Israel, and Judah for a time.







The expression "company of prophets" (bnei hanevi'im) found



starting in 2:3 means "members of the prophetic order." These



were a confraternity of maggidim gifted with miraculous powers



and with the gift enabling them to prophecy. We hear of them in



Bethel and in Jericho.







That Elijah is Moses or even Joshua redivivus is shown by his



parting the Jordan River (II Kings 2). His rapture is also



described (II Kings 2) and Mal. 4:5-6 looks for just such a



prophet of repentance at the time of the Moshiach or the end of



days. Notice the Hebrew verse at the end of this section,



II Kings 2:10. Notice that Elijah's rapture, when it occurs, is



secret as far as the world is concerned, and, from Elijah's point



of view, according to II Kings 2:10, it is questionable as to



whether Elisha himself will see it. Also, see Heb. 11:5 which



says (quoting the Septuagint). As far as the people were



concerned it was a secret rapture like Enoch's because "he was



not found." Only Elisha saw him go up.







Elisha, having received a "double share of the Elijah's spirit,"



also parts the Jordan, purifies a poisonous spring of water



(2:22), curses small boys who jeer at maggidim with an attack by



mauling she-bears (2:23-25), prophesies the defeat of Moab and



calls forth water for a thirsty army which looked like blood to



their Moabite enemies (3:1-27), does multiplication miracles with



a jar of oil belonging to a destitute prophet's wife (4:1-7) and



twenty loaves of bread (4:42), cures infertility (4:8-17) and



raises the dead (4:18-37), neutralizes poison in some food



(4:38-41), cures leprosy (5:1-19), renders a judgment miracle



against Gehazi (5:19-27), retrieves a floating axe head from the



Jordan River (6:1-7), hears "in the Spirit" the military plans of



the king of Syria but is protected by horses and chariots of fire



(6:8-17), blinds these enemy soldiers of Syria (6:18-19), feeds



his enemies (6:20-23), foretells famine relief (6:24-7:20),



directs the Shunammite woman on how to survive a seven-year



famine in absentia (8:1-6), and prophecies the overthrow of the



Syrian king Ben-hadad by Hazael (8:7-15). In



9:4 we read about a "young prophet" who, at the command of



Elisha, anoints Jehu king of Israel and prophesies that he will



be the nemesis of G-d against Ahab and Jezebel, after which Jehu



kills Jezebel's son Joram (852-841 B.C.E.) king of Israel and



Ahaziah (841) king of Judah. Then Jehu killed Jezebel (9:30-37)



in Jezreel. (The wicked daughter of Ahab usurps the throne of



David and tries to slaughter her way to power as the queen of



Judah after this--her name, Athaliah queen of Judah, and she



rules Judah from 841-835 B.C.E. until little seven year old



Jehoash is restored to the throne by the godly kohen Jehoiada.)



The slaughter of wicked Ahab's dynastic heirs along with



adherents of Baal worship continues in ch. 10.







Jehoash of Judah repairs the Beis Hamikdash in II Kings 12, a



task that every Brit Chadasha kehillah has to do from time to



time. King Joash of Israel visited Elisha on his deathbed



(13:14) and received prophecies about coming wars with Syria.



When Elisha dies, a corpse resurrects after touching the bones in



Elisha's grave.







II Kings 15 gives us the gruesome story of how the various kings



of Israel kill each other off as the throne of Jeroboam moves



toward self-destruotion.







Notice the duplicated material (II Kings 18:13-20:19 = Isa.



36:1-39:8) not only in Isaiah but also in Jeremiah (II Kings



24:18-25:21 = Jer. 52:1-27).







In 734 B.C.E. the Assyrian threat has reemerged, Syria and Israel



are threatening King Ahaz (735-715 B.C.E.) of Judah for not



joining their alliance against Assyria. Ahaz trusts ruthless



King Tiglath-Pileser of Assyria more than either G-d or the



prophet Isaiah and calls in Assyria's aid against these two



Northern enemies of Judah. The Assyrians attack (Shalmaneser V



and Sargon II begin and end this campaign) and Israel is defeated



and destroyed in 722 B.C.E. as Amos (760-750 B.C.E.) predicted



(Amos 5:2). But trouble is in store for Judah, as Isaiah warned.



In 701 B.C.E. Sennacherib's Assyrian army surrounds Jerusalem and



a great tragedy would have ensued had not G-d intervened (see



II Kings 18:13-19:37). Then, the king of Judah reigning during



this time, Hezekiah (715-686 B.C.E.) son of Ahaz became ill,



almost died, was healed and received 15 years additional life



with the "sign" of Ahaz's "sundial" having its shadow reversed as



G-d "backs up the clock," as it were (20:1-11). However, at that



time Hezekiah imprudently showed his royal treasures to a



visiting Babylonian delegation, opens the door for the Babylonian



Exile a little over a hundred years later. Hezekiah's worst



legacy was his wicked son Manasseh, the worst king Judah ever



knew: a single-handed cause of the punishment of the Exile



(21:1-18).







In II Kings 22:1-23:30, Josiah (640-609 B.C.E.) king of Judah



becomes acquainted with a lost book of the law of Moses and such



fear falls on him that he removes a foreign and idolatrous cult



from the Beis Hamikdash (622 B.C.E.) during a unique time in the



history of the Jewish people, when Jeremiah, Nahum, and Zephaniah



were preaching in Jerusalem. Its important to study all these



last five chapters of II Kings to get the historical background



necessary to read the book of the prophet Jeremiah.







Notice that when the Word of G-d is rediscovered, revival follows



(II Kings 22).







But the Kingdom of Judah was doomed. In 605 B.C.E.



Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon carried off into Exile many including



Daniel; in 597 B.C.E. Ezekiel was among the deportees, and in 586



the final destruction of Judah's kingdom was complete. Except



for the brief 100 year (167-63 B.C.E.) Maccabean period there was



never again a kingdom of Judah. The Northern tribes and the



tribe of Judah both broke faith with G-d and consequently both



their kingdoms perished (see II Kings 17:7-18 and II Kings



17:19-20;24:1-4). This is a major theme of II Kings. A few



kings to think about. Omri established Samaria as his new



capital and the site of his palace. He also promoted cultural



relations with Phoenicia, sealed by the marriage of his son Ahab



(Ach'av) to Jezebel. Jezebel was responsible for corrupting the



Northern Kingdom and his daughter Athaliah greatly hurt the



Kingdom of Judah. Ahab's son Jehoram and Jezebel were killed by



Jehu (Yehu) (ending the dynasty of Omri). Jehoshaphat



(Y'hosphafat) king of Judah reigned during this time. He was the



son of a G-d-fearing king of Judah, the energetic and religious



Asa. It was Jehashaphat who sent the princes, Levites, and



kohanim out to the people to teach the Law of Moses. The



unfortunate marriage of his son Jehoram (Yehoram) (both



Jehoshaphat and Ahab had sons by the same name) to Ahab's



daughter Athaliah was a result of the peace-making efforts



between his kingdom and Ahab's, but much grief came of it,



including a futile commercial navy venture with Ahab's Ahaziah.



Jehoram (848-841 B.C.E.) son of Jehoshaphat paid for his



murderous apostasy (he killed several of his brothers) in the way



Judah's enemies were strengthened in the time of his reign



(especially the Edomites, Philistines, and Arabs). He died of a



horrible disease of the bowels. About a hundred and ten years



later the Northern Kingdom is in its death throes ready to be



destroyed by the Assyrian Empire (722 B.C.E.) and Ahaz is king of



Judah (732-715 B.C.E.). He is the father of Hezekiah and the son



of Jotham; he is also the grandson of the leprous king of Judah



Azariah (Uzziah) and the great-grandson of King Amaziah (796-767



B.C.E.). Ahaz descended from Ahaziah (853-852 B.C.E.) through



Joash. Ahaziah was killed at Jezreel by Jehu (see Hosea 1).



Unlike these more godly individuals, Ahaz sold out to the



Assyrians in order to buy assistance from the military threat of



the evil Pekah king of Israel and Rezin of Damascus. This cost



Ahaz his military and religious independence, obliging him to



import from the Assyrians their pagan religious practices



(worship of stars and sun, child sacrifice, occult consultation



with wizards and necromancers, etc.) His son Hezekiah tried to



counter all this by a reform movement that included repair of the



Beis Hamikdash, destruction of idols, a Pesach celebration



involving people from the Northern Kingdom, organizing the



kohanim and Levites for regular religious services, reinstituting



the tithe, preparing for Assyrian siege by building a water



tunnel and many other godly acts. 701 B.C.E. was the year



Sennecherib held Hezekiah captive behind his Jerusalem walls



"like a bird in a cage." This also may have been the year



Hezekiah almost died but was given a healing and a



life-extension. You should know something about each king so you



could identify them by name if given information about them on a



test. For example, which king lived an extra 15 years and gave



the Babylonians a tour that Judah would live to regret?



Notice the foreglimpse of the Incarnation in I Kings 3:28, where



it says that the Wisdom of G-d was inside the King of Israel. We



should not be that surprised that the ultimate Beis Hamikdash and



the Moshiach are one and the same, since they are both called by



"My Name" (see I Kings 8:43 and Isa. 9:6; Jer. 23:5-6).





II KINGS 2:10



He (Elijah) answered, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you



see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if



not, it will not."















DIVREY HAYAMIM ALEF (I CHRONICLES)



DIVREY HAYAMIM BAIS (II CHRONICLES)















Since II Chr. 36:22-23 is virtually identical with Ezra 1:1-3a,



a case can be made for common authorship. If so, the author, if



he wrote I-II Chronicles as well as Ezra-Nehemiah (incorporating



the memoirs written by Nehemiah), could not have written this



work before 445 B.C.E. when Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem. It



is certainly possible that Ezra is the author as the Talmud



attests. A later hand may have added a few touches, but the bulk



of the material may be the result of Ezra's ministry. If Ezra



were a young man in 458 B.C.E. when he embarked for Jerusalem, he



might still have been alive toward the year 400 B.C.E. which is



the approximate time when this corpus of literature reached its



final stage of editing.



Much of the Hebrew Bible was available to the Chronicler and many



other (now lost) writings as well. These he used to preach to



the post-exilic Jerusalem community his long sermon known to us



as I-II Chronicles.







Whereas the author of I-II Kings is writing from the Babylonian



Exile, the author of I-II Chronicles is a post-exilic Jerusalem



writer and one with a heightened Messianic expectation, who wants



to tell the whole story of G-d's electing love and providential



care, from Adam to Dovid's coming Son (this is the story the



genealogies are telling), viewing all of history from the point



of view of the Messianic covenant G-d made with Dovid (II Sm. 7).



In I Chronicles, chs. 1-10 lead to an idealized Dovid (in many



ways a typological portrait of the coming Mosiach); chs. 11-29



detail the events of Dovid's rule that have primarily Messianic



or eschatological significance. In II Chronicles, chs. 1-9 is



about Dovid's preeminent son Shlomo (also idealized into a



Messianic type--I Chr. 22:10--with a golden reign) and most of



this section is about the building of the Beis Hamikdash for the



G-d of Israel who is coming to dwell with His people forever;



chs. 10-36 are about Dovid's later sons, the kings of Judah, all



seen in a certain sense as foreshadows of the final "Dovid" who



would sit on "the throne of the L-rd." As Moses receives the



plans for the Tabernacle from G-d and hands on his ministry to



Joshua, so David receives instructions about the Beis Hamikdash



and hands on this divine legacy to Solomon (see I Chr. 22:13),



whose "peace" (shalom) points the people to Joshua's "rest"



(M'nucha) (see I Chr. 22:9). Everything divine emblem connected



with the planning of the Beis Hamikdash--the Levites, the



singers, the musicians, the gatekeepers, the orders of the holy



kohenhood, the Beis Hamikdash worship in the divinely chosen city



of Jerusalem--all these help the Babylonian returnees liberated



by the Persian Empire to see themselves not as merely in



Jerusalem worshipping at the Beis Hamikdash but as the



Exile-chastened remnant of Messianic salvation preparing the



ground for the coming of the long-awaited Messianic kingdom, as



it says in I Chr. 17:14, "I will set Him (the King Moshiach) over



My houseand My kingdom forever, His throne will be established



forever."







I Chronicles tells us much about leaders. The author of this



book was preaching at the beginning of a religious revival, and



he used the leaders of the distant past as models for those he



was exhorting to lead the spiritual awakening of his day.



According to I Chronicles, a leader is someone who offers goals



and honors those who reach them. "Whoever attacks the Jebusites



first will be the chief officer," David said (I Chr. 11:6).



A good leader is someone who gives something to every person who



follows him (I Chr. 16:3).







A leader is someone who has praise in his heart, more praise in



fact than those whom he leads, because one of his duties as a



leader is to exhort the people to praise (I Chr. 16:7).







A leader also fears G-d (I Chr. 16:30) more than those who follow



him, or else his followers have nothing to learn from him, for



what is wisdom but the fear of the L-rd? (Prov. 1:7)







A leader is a shepherd who counts the sheep and he knows when one



is missing. He is a keeper of the flock of G-d who knows that



G-d does not dwell in expensive religious edifices (I Chr. 17:5).



Therefore, a good leader would rather start a few home meetings



and have a dozen sheep counted in each one than wait (while



people perish) for the purchase of an expensive building to seat



the same amount.







A good leader has followers who know and do their duties (I Chr.



23:27-30). This means that every area of the ministry has



someone over it and accountable for it (I Chr. 27:25-34). A



leader is someone called by G-d to do something for G-d, and a



good leader is someone strong enough in the L-rd to do what G-d



has called him to do (I Chr. 28:10).





A good leader is someone who can uncover the skills of those he



serves, and can help them experience the honor of serving G-d



(I Chr. 28:21).







A leader can set a good example in giving and can the credibly



challenge others to give (I Chr. 29:5).







A leader in the Biblical context is a person "with a God-given



capacity and with a G-d-given responsibility to influence a



specific group of G-d's people toward G-d's purposes for the



group." Notice in this excellent definition these 4 ingredients



in a good leader: l)giftedness, 2)a sense of accountability to



G-d for those being influenced, 3)the group is limited and



definable and so defines the leader, 4)there is in the giftedness



the recurring ability to determine G-d's direction for the group



(this is why congregational leaders often resign--they sense they



have lost this ability for a particular Brit Chadasha kehillah).





Leaders love to rank themselves based on their supposed sphere of



influence: small group, community, intercommunity, regional,



inter-regional, national, international. A congregational leader



will tend to rank congregational leaders at the apex of his



leadership hierarchy. A researcher/strategist/theologian will



disagree and assert that researchers/strategists/theologians are



at the apex. The truth is that all are just little shepherds



tending to tiny (but important) aspects of G-d's vast master



plan.







Do you know your gift-mix? Is it expendable? Can you match your



leadership roles to your strengths?







What is your present role in the L-rd's body?







What are your personal goals?







What is your commitment to minions?







A good leader doesn't back away from challenges. Hebrew and



Greek may take a little work. But if J.W.'s are willing to do



the work to get out every day in a disciplined way and attempt to



use Hebrew and Greek to convince people that Moshiach Yehoshua



isn't divine, then how can a good leader do less than work as



hard?







I Chr. 10:13 tells why Saul died. This is a warning to us.



I Chr. 15:16 shows that the Word is to be brought forth in the



midst of joyful singing and wonderful music. If you have a great



pulpit ministry but neglect the ministry of music, the Word will



not be brought forth as it should be. There should be ministers



in charge of the music--see 15:27 and the worship service



depicted in II Chr. 29:20-30.







Study in Hebrew the clear Messianic prophecy at 17:10-14.



Study I Chr. 21:17. A rabbi might say, "We have no teaching about



King Dovid's Son, the Moshiach, which condones any Messianic



human sacrifice for sin." Oh, no? Look at I Chr. 21:17-where



Dovid makes a reference that would have to include the Moshiach



and the Moshiach's Beis Hamikdash when Dovid says, "O L-rd my



G-d, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let



this plague remain on your people." Meditate on the Messianic



"Son of Abraham" shown us in Isaac (Gen. 22) and Joseph and Jonah



(to say nothing of Isaiah 53) and you will see the Messianic



prophecy regarding human sacrifice and the Moshiach's person,



that is, His death and resurrection.







In chapter 28, notice how Dovid is a new Moses (the post-exilic



Chronicler is saying that the Moshiach who is coming now that we



are back from the Exile will be a new Dovid like Moses). Isaiah



says this explicitily in Isa. 42:4 and 49:9.







Do you make a sacrifice of thanksgiving every morning and every



evening (I Chr. 23:30)? If not, now you know why depression



sometimes attacks you.







Why the Song Service is important: When King Jehoshapat had to



fight a battle where he was horribly outnumbered, he appointed



"men to sing to the L-rd and to praise him for the splendor of



his holiness as they went out at the head of the army...(and)..



as they began to sing and praise, the L-rd set ambushes against



(their enemies)." (II Chr. 20:21-22)



Some will have itinerant teaching ministries (like that described



in II Chr. 17:8-9 though more will hopefully be teaching home



Bible studies and building them up until a congregation planting



can evolve).





Some of our students will become emissaries of Moshiach's



shlichut. What are the keys to becoming a kiruv outreach worker



for Moshiach? (Hint: they both have to do with spiritual renewal



and revival because without these, such



ministers are only entertainers performing an empty religious



charade.) One key is discovering and falling in love



with--almost as though for the first time--the Word of G-d. The



great revival under Josiah began when Hilkiah the kohen said, "I



have found the Book of the Law in the Beis Hamikdash of the L-rd"



(II Chr. 34:l5). A prophetess told Josiah the other key in



II Chr. 34:27--he humbled himself and was genuinely sorry for his



sins and wept.







One of the themes of II Chronicles has to do with what makes a



good leader. The author makes the point that what leaders need



is not necessarily "success" but revival. "Success" will destroy



some leaders: it says that after King Uzziah "became powerful,



his pride led to his down fall" (II Chr. 26:16). Again, it says



that "in those days (King) Hezekiah became ill and was at the



point of death. He prayed to the L-rd, who answered him and gave



him a miraculous sign. But Hezekiah's heart was proud and he did



not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the L-rd's wrath



was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem" (II Chr. 32:24-25).



Leaders tend to fluctuate between fear and discouragement on the



one hand and pride and arrogance on the other, because they



forget how unimportant they are in themselves, since, as G-d said



to King Jehoshaphat, "the battle is not yours, but the Lord's"



(II Chr. 20:15).







King Jehoshaphat "had some good in him," but he was always



getting himself in deep trouble by political alliances and



business partnerships with unbelievers (see II Chr. 19:2;



20:35-37). Do you have people entangled in your life who are not



God-fearing and regenerated? Ephesians 2:2 says that the spirit



of HaSatan is at work in them. How can light and darkness yoked



together expect to prosper and be blessed by the L-rd? We must



learn to keep the world at arm's length and show our unsaved



friends "mercy mixed with fear, hating even the clothing spotted



by corrupt flesh" (Jude 23).







If a nation yokes itself with a HaSatan-influenced (Ephesians



2:2) president, that nation will pay the consequences. Look at



II Chr. 28:19: "The L-rd had humbled Judah because of Ahaz king



of Israel, for he had promoted wickedness in Judah and had been



most unfaithful to the L-rd." Should believers care if an



unregenerate becomes president? Of course! One U.S. President's



favorite verse in the Bible was: "If my people, who are called by



my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and



turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and



will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (II Chr. 7:14).





But what does revival look like? One picture of it is given in



II Chr. 5:14 where it says of the kohanim in Shlomo's newly



constructed Beis Hamikdash in Jerusalem, that they "could not



perform their service because of the cloud (of the L-rd's



presence) for the glory of the L-rd filled the Beis Hamikdash of



G-d." What does it mean to say that a person is "walking in



revival"? And how important is this? King Shlomo answers that



question when he says that G-d steadfastly maintains the Covenant



with his servants who "walk before him with all their hearts"



(II Chr. 6:l4). Even many believers desperately need revival.







Some have neglected being faithful to a body of believers where



the L-rd wants them to be protected, like He protected little



seven year old King Joash. HaSatan was trying so hard to destroy



little King Joash that HaSatan even had his grandmother Athaliah



(daughter of Ahab, who usurped the Dovidic throne 841-835 B.C.E.)



trying to murder him. But the L-rd had him surrounded with



ministers and little Joash was hidden in the house of the L-rd



where HaSatan couldn't touch him. Do you have a Brit Chadasha



kehillah home where you are submitted under congregational leader



care? If not, you are like little Joash would have been had he



been wandering around on the streets with his demon-possessed



enemies looking for him.







It's so easy to neglect personal study of the Word and prayer and



let one's congregational leader do all that so we can be free to



give our heart to our careers and friends and relationships and



other things and just drop in for a few services or watch a few



religious television shows to convince ourselves that we are not



backsliding away from revival. But what does the Word say in



II Chronicles: "The L-rd is with you when you are with him. If



you seek him he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he



will forsake you" (15:2). Don't you realize you will dry up in



unfruitfulness unless you seek the L-rd in personal prayer and



Bible study and fellowship? People cannot he won to the L-rd by



you unless you are close to the L-rd. It ways this in II Chr.



15:9 about King Asa's personal revival, that "large numbers had



come over to him from Israel when they saw that the L-rd his G-d



was with him."







How does personal revival begin? It begins with the fear of the



L-rd, when you and I realize that we represent G-d to people and



therefore that we must fear the L-rd because He will hold us



accountable for how we live as his representatives. II Chr. 19:6



says it well. Here King Jehoshaphat is charging judges with



their responsibilities. However, he might as well be speaking to



us since believers will judge the world with Moshiach Yehoshua



and even angels (I Cor. 6:2-3). King Jehoshaphat says, "Consider



carefully what you do (in other words, how you live and speak),



because you are not judging for man but for G-d...Now let the



fear of the L-rd be upon you" (II Chr. 19:6-7). That's the



warning. Now here's the promise: King "Jotham grew powerful



because he walked steadfastly before the L-rd his G-d" (II Chr.



27:6).







Unfortunately, many of the wicked kings we study in this book and



in I and II Kings were willing to change their religious



commitments as light-heartedly as Catholics become Jews or



Protestants become Muslims today. Note what wicked King Ahaz



said when he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus, "'The g-ds of



the kings of Aram (Syria) help them; I shall sacrifice to them



and they will help me'; but they were his ruin and that of all



Israel" (II Chr. 28:23). We do not ask anyone to change their



religion in order to prosper. We ask people to have the courage



to believe the truth. Then we identify with them and work with



them so that their religious expression of their commitment to



the truth avoids as much cultural dislocation as possible.



That's why we want to see established messianic synagogues in



Jewish neighborhoods and messianic mosques in Arab neighborhoods.



That's why we are focussing on cross-cultural outreach and



congregation planting. (See the author's two books, Everything



You Need To Grow a Messianic Synagogue and The New Creation Book



for Muslims.)







Many Israelis and Jews do not believe in hell. The Holocaust has



led many Jewish people even to disbelieve in G-d. However,



various kinds of holocausts are predicted in II Chr. 7:19-22,



since judgment begins at the household of G-d. This should make



Gentiles and nominal backslidden believers fear as well, because



if G-d did not spare the Jews, "neither will he spare you



Gentiles." (Romans 11:21). Look at the warning of II Chr. 7:19:



"But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have



given you and go off to serve other g-ds (like the humanistic and



non-Biblical g-ds of Talmudic Judaism and Secular Humanism) and



worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land



(holocaust!), which I have given them, and will reject this Beis



Hamikdash I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a



byword and an object of ridicule (anti-Semitism!) among all



peoples." This is the negetive message, a severe warning not to



neglect receiving the Ruach Hakodesh and the circumcision of new



birth (Deut. 30:6) so that one desires to study the Word of G-d



and so that one can be taught by the Holy Spirit to interpret it



correctly and not with a carnal and unspiritual mind. However,



on the positive side, we can point to the feet that G-d blesses



those who honor G-d's Word, showing how that anti-Semitic "Haman"



Saddam Hussein was militarily defeated on Purim, 1991, and how



America was miraculously blessed with less than 100 casualties in



the Persian Gulf War because she protected G-d's people and



obeyed Gen. 12:3.





But there is a greater positive message to be seen in



II Chronicles. Since Yeshua (Moshiach Yehoshua) is risen with



those he has already spiritually resurrected unto Chayyei Olam



(Eternal Life), his Body (the whole house of true believers) is



the everlasting Beis Hamikdash that G-d has made for his Word and



his Spirit to inhabit. If we are filled with his Spirit, the



gifts of the Spirit can operate in our life. G-d says in II Chr.



7:16 "I have chosen and consecrated this Beis Hamikdash so that



my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always



be there." G-d's Name is his personal self-disclosure. The



personal Word of G-d, the Moshiach of Israel, is that



self-disclosure of the Father. When we are filled with the Ruach



Hakodesh various gifts can flow through us: preaching, inspired



utterance, ministry, teaching, encouraging, contributing,



leading, comfort, supernatural wisdom, supernatural knowledge,



miracles, supernatural faith, healing, discerning evil or other



spirits (see II Chr. 18:21 when a false prophet like Rev. Moon is



unmasked because God's prophet can discern that he has a lying



spirit), tongues and their interpretation, planting a



congregation, leading someone or many people to commit their



lives to Moshiach Yehoshua, caring for G-d's people, helping and



more. Through the gifts of the Spirit we can be the eyes and



heart of Moshiach, for his eyes and his heart always dwell in his



Beis Hamikdash which is the people of G-d.



II Chr. 16:12 says "In the thirty-ninth year of his reign (King)



Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease



was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the



L-rd, but only from the physicians." The Bible does not teach



that when you are sick you should not see a doctor. However,



even if you do see a doctor, you should look to the L-rd to give



the doctor wisdom and to be the ultimate healer in the situation.



G-d promises not only to heal our land but to touch us



individually if we have a change of heart and repent and confess



that we have done wrong and have acted wickedly and if we turn



from our old ways completely and turn back to G-d (6:37-38).



Will you make a commitment right now to start putting personal



prayer, personal Bible study, and personal ministry first in your



life and to make ministry preparation a priority so that G-d can



use you? Ask G-d to give you the wisdom of Shlomo and the



discernment you need to yield to G-d for a total healing.



The glory cloud that appears at the dedication of both the



wilderness Tabernacle and the Beis Hamikdash of the son of Dovid



(Shlomo) is a type of the incarnation. See II Chr. 5:7-14 and



also Ex. 40:34-35; II Chr. 7:1-3. Notice what happens in II Chr.



5 when the Word in the ark enters the Beis Hamikdash: "then the



Beis Hamikdash of the L-rd was filled with a cloud." See II Chr.



6:32-33: both the Servant of the L-rd and the Beis Hamikdash are



to be lights to the Gentiles (a related theme is found in



Isaiah). Both the Moshiach and the Beis Hamikdash bear the Name



of G-d (Jer. 23:5-6; Isaiah 9:6). Note also II Chr. 7:4 where



the L-rd's Word entered His House in order to trigger divinely



acceptable blood sacrifice--all this is a type of the



Incarnation. Note II Chr. 7:19-22. The sins of Israel's kings



brought the Exile of Israel and the destruction of the Beis



Hamikdash (events which are themselves a prophetic picture of the



death of the Incarnate Word).







The hope of Scripture (including II Chronicles and Ezekiel) is



that Dovid's great Son the King Moshiach would raise up a Beis



Hamikdash worthy of the new holy age. His resurrection body is



that Beis Hamikdash. Like Joshua, who brings the people of G-d



toward their promised rest, so Shlomo the son of Dovid raises up



the Beis Hamikdash and brings the people of G-d toward Messianic



rest (II Chr. 22:8-9; Josh. 11:23; 21:44).





Look in the Hebrew Bible at the mention of HaSatan in I Chr.



21:1.







One can see why the Persian King Cyrus is called "Moshiach" in



Isa. 45:1, since he undertakes to cause the Beis Hamikdash to be



rebuilt. He is also mentioned climactically at the end of



II Chronicles, showing G-d's sovereign hand in the affairs of the



people He is saving.







I CHRONICLES 17:13



I will be a Father to Him, and He shall be a Son to Me...



I CHRONICLES 21:17-18



17. And Dovid said unto G-d, Is it not I that commanded the



people to benumbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil



indeed: but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine



hand, I pray thee, O L-rd my G-d, be on me, and on my father's



house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.



18. Then the angel of the L-rd commended Gad to say to David,



that Dovid should go up, and set up an altar unto the L-rd in the



threshing floor of Oman the Jebusite.







II CHRONICLES 6:10



Now the L-rd has fulfilled his word that he promised; for I have



succeeded my father Dovid, and sit on the throne of Israel, as



the L-rd promised, and have built the house for the name of the



L-rd, the G-d of Israel.















EZRA NECHEMYAH (NEHEMIAH)















Look at Ezra 3:8. Like Ezra the kohen, the Kohen Gadol Yehoshua



(Aramaic; Hebrew: Joshua) son of Jehozadak (alternately Jozadak)



and his son Joiakim were descendents of the Aaron-Zadok family



line. This man is the one in Zech. 6:11-12 whose personal name



is the Moshiach, giving us an extremely important and impressive



prophecy that pinpoints exactly what the coming Moshiach would be



named, Rebbe Melech Moshiach Yehoshua.







CHRONOLOGY: 722 B.C.E. Samaria falls as the northern kingdom of



Israel begins the Assyrian deportation and dispersion. ca. 712



B.C.E. Isaiah predicts Cyrus will be the name of the one who will



rebuild the Beis Hamikdash (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1, 13). 605 B.C.E.



Jeremiah predicts there will be 70 years of Exile (Jeremiah



25:11; 29:10). 586 B.C.E. Beis Hamikdash destroyed. From



586-516 (70 years) there is no Beis Hamikdash until it was



finally completed ca. 516/515 B.C.E. after many delays, when



King Cyrus of Persia conquers Babylon in 539 B.C.E. and sends the



Jewish Persian governor Zerubbabel and the Kohen Gadol Yehoshua



back to Jerusalem in 538 B.C.E. (Esther's story took place around



483 B.C.E. and Malachi may have prophesied around 433 B.C.E.,



after Nehemiah returned to Persia. Haggai and Zechariah



prophesied in Jerusalem around 520 B.C.E.) Ezra returns to



Jerusalem in 458 B.C.E. and Nehemiah returns in 445 B.C.E.



This corpus called Ezra-Nehemiah tells the story of how G-d's



people struggled and were divinely aided in finally rebuilding



the Beis Hamikdash and refortifying Jerusalem so that its walls



could protect its people, the restored remnant of Zareel. When



we read the book of Nehemiah we will see that the restored Jewish



commonwealth (with a Jewish Persian governor, Nehemiah) faced



many problems. Nehemiah tells us about unfair interest (Neh.



12), Tobiah the Ammonite camped out in Beis Hamikdash quarters



(Neh. 13), Shabbos-breakers, stolen tithes (see also Mal.



3:8-l2), and heathenish infiltration into the people of G-d by



such means as intermarriage of the holy people with foreign



idol-worshippers. But Ezra had to bring the people back to the



Word of G-d and make their purified worship of G-d a first



priority. So the altar and the sanctuary were first, and this



was primarily Zerubbebel and Yehoshua's work from 538-515 B.C.E.



finally completed after Darius I (522-486 B.C.E.) gave his



official permission, though the foundation of the Beis Hamikdash



was laid as early as 536 B.C.E. Then came the reforming work of



Ezra in 458 B.C.E. during the reign of Artaxerxes I (465-424



B.C.E.). Finally came the rebuilding of the walls when Nehemiah



arrived in 445 B.C.E.







Ezra 2:62 speaks of certain people who could not prove they were



children of Abraham and were therefore disqualified for the



ordained ministry. Today if you lack the witness of the Holy



Spirit within you that G-d is your Abba father (Roman 8:15-16)



you lack the new birth relationship to Abraham and his Son the



Moshiach necessary for salvation and for a call to the ministry.







In Ezra 2 and Nehemiah we see that ecumenical unity with



unregenerate religious leaders is impossible and forbidden by



Scripture. It is in fact just this that creates the apostate



Prostitute riding on the Beast in Revelation 17. The "Samaritans"



in Ezra-Nehemich were Assyrian imports from Babylon and



elsewhere, who claimed to worship the G-d of Israel but had



grossly compromised the faith. What fellowship does darkness



have with light?





Furthermore, marriage with unregenerate spouses is absolutely



forbidden, since they have no part in the congregation of Israel.



Today we see that many religious Jews are endogamous (marry only



within their own people) and this they understand to be one of



the mitzvot (commandments) according to Nehemiah 10:30. It would



not be socially realistic for ministers to simply ignore this.



Those called to minister to these Jewish people may need to



enculture ethnically to a great extent and, like Ruth,



incorporate themselves fully, remembering the endogamous Jewish



social structure reflected in Ezra-Nehemiah. Unless there are



hundreds of messianic synagogues, messianic yeshivas, messianic



Jewish singles ministries and youth ministries, etc. (creating a



socially realistic messianic Jewish marriage market for messianic



Jews) the Jewish religious community may see the messianic



movement as a sacreligious attempt to ethnically destroy their



endogamous tribal identity as Jews. Instead our "Ruths" (even if



like her they lack Jewish parentage) may become just as Jewish as



Ruth became, identifying Biblically with the Moabitess, and



thinking of themselves as "grafted in," humble members of Ideal



Israel, the kingdom of G-d. Our "Ruths" should put the Bible



first, and at the same time like her they are free to eat as



Jews, worship as Jews, marry as Jews, bury as Jews, and give



their children to marry as Jews. To marry a woman whose ethnic



orientation remains "outside the tribe" may hurt a minister's



credibility in Jewish ministry (see Neh. 7:63-64). These people,



who are called to do this, however, must always humbly submit to



the Bible and never to mere rabbinic "human precept" (Matt.



15:8-9) when it comes to such ultimate concerns as the definition



of who is a member of the true congregation of Abraham.



Arrogant, Biblically illiterate "Ruths" who idolize all things



Jewish and have a patronizing condescension toward anything



non-Jewish are not what the Bible is calling for. And all



believers should have a love that reaches out to all the people



groups of the whole world, not merely the Jewish people. The



Good News is to the Jews first but also the Greek! The "Ruth"



who only wants to learn to read her Hebrew Tanakh so she can



witness in the Jewish Deli but doesn't care to learn to read her



Greek Brit Chadasha so she can witness in the Greek Diner is not



a Biblical believer in the truest sense of Rom. l:16. The rabbis



may love her but the Moshiach may one day rebuke her. Becoming a



child of Abraham requires faith that works itself out in love



(Gal. 3:26-29; 5:6).







Our unscriptural timidity in making this Ruth-like ethnic



incorporation of joining the tribe and identifying with the tribe



in order to win the tribe is one of the unscriptural hesitations



in the body of Moshiach that is holding back the end-time revival



among the Jews. Matthew 28:18-20 commands us to make messianic



learners of whole peoples and tribes, not to destroy their social



structure and threaten their tribal existance by socially naive



congregation-planting strategies. Question: If you feel you must



be married, does your prospective mate share your vision and feel



called to minister to the same cultural people group where G-d



has placed you?







Leadership pointers in Ezra/Nehemiah: when in fear, worship (Ezra



3:3). This reminds you of the most important thing to remember:



that the hand of the L-rd is on you (Ezra 7:28).







Fast and pray for direction before you embark (Ezra 8:21).



When unbelievers are sanctified by G-d to offer you anything,



never compromise your testimony to them in your relations with



them (Ezra 8:22). Remember, ministry is not a mere business



proposition but every project must be a testimony to the L-rd who



drives money changers out of his Beis Hamikdash. Never take down



your guard (Neh. 4:23). As Shliach Sha'ul told Timothy, "Always



keep your head." This means never "provide them a scandal" with



which to reproach you. (Neh. 6:13)(Never let yourself be found in



an embarrassing position that compromises your testimony, since



your whole ministry can be hurt for years with hundreds of people



by one indiscretion.) Don't confide in the people you minister



to, and be very very careful in whom you confide or what you



divulge to anyone (Neh. 6:19). Never bring crass commercialism



into the Lord's household, for we are all, rich and poor,



brothers (Neh. 5:7). As a kiruv outreach worker for Moshiach,



never give unbelievers an excuse to reproach us for materialism



or commercialism (Neh. 5:9). Always keep promises (Neh. 5:13).







Notice the financial accountability in Ezra 8:33 where the



kohanim had to reweigh the Lord's treasure to insure no



misappropriation of funds. Do you understand petty cash receipts,



purchase orders,the receipt/disbursement ledger of accounting,



two signatures on checks, annual trustee board meetings to review



books of the ministry organization, filing a 990 form with the



IRS, etc.? Notice that the tithe is for the ministry and should



be handled by duly ordered, accredited, and accountable



ministers. Much money is wasted today buying mansions and Swiss



villas for charlatans because gullible believers don't follow the



Word (see Neh. 10:39). (Note: a not-for-profit religious



organization can engage in any activity as long as the proceeds



do not contribute to the profit of its officers and boards of



directors and as long as the activity is in line with its



religious statement of purpose. See Neh. 13:8 for a violation of



this).







When planting a congregation or starting a new ministry of any



kind, let your first step be to ask G-d to show you who your



"Levites" are (deacons, board members, staff) and begin sharing



the vision and the responsibility of the ministry with others.



(See 3:8 and 3:24.) Choose as leaders (see Ezra 8:18) people who



are more trustworthy and G-d-fearing (Neh. 7:2) as well as people



who have a natural leadership charisma or acknowledged spiritual



position in the community (Neh. 7:70) and/or enculturative



flexibility that accompanies the gift of Shliach, because if



these "catalyst" people can be won to your cause, those families



interlocked in their group are more apt to follow their leader.



Nehemich 4:18 says "The trumpeter stood beside me." This means



that if you are the leader you should have staff meetings and



inform your people of policy so that they understand that the



"trumpeter" stands beside you. Then they will be less likely to



press the panic button (or blow the trumpet) or make any big



decisions without clearing it in conjunction with your



G-d-ordained leadership. You should have brief well-organized



staff meetings to deal with problems as they arise (Neh. 4:20);



you should work hard (Neh. 4:21), and you should stay under the



covering of the community where G-d has placed you (Neh. 4:23).



Don't neglect the prayer life of that community for this is where



the saints watch.







When you as a builder lay the foundation of a new ministry (Ezra



3:10) by starting that Bible study or fellowship or traveling



group, remember that you must first begin co-laboring with G-d to



woo and assemble the core people, prayerfully setting goals and



dates, visiting people, beginning mail (learn computers) and



telephone ministry, getting co-workers (see Ezra 6:18 for an



example of collaborative duty roster making) involved in direct



kiruv outreach for Moshiach, preparing Bible lessons, song



sheets, music, refreshments, etc. When you assemble your core



people, point out the need to them (Neh. 2:17) and share the



feasibility of your vision based on the planning and research you



have done (see Neh. 2:13, 17) and then share your testimony (Neh.



2:18) and build their faith until they are ready to make the



commitment. Avoid the prima donna: (Neh. 3:5) and those whose



spirits are not right (Neh. 2:20). When all is ready, have an



official kick-off night (Neh. 3:1) to dedicate the enterprise to



the L-rd. Help your co-workers develop a sense of ownership in



the enterprise, where they see they have a stake in its success



(Neh. 3:29). You may need to have a newsletter which lets all



the principal participants know what each other is doing (see



Neh. 3) and "render honor to whom honor is due" (Romans 13:7).



Ask the L-rd to give you the wisdom so that it can finally be



said, "the people's heart was in the work." (Neh. 4:6)





As a maggid, you seek the inspiration of the Ruach Hakodesh to



preach with this purpose: get the people to throw their weight



into the task of rebuilding the Household of G-d (Ezra 5:1-2).



Get the people to think about the legacy that they will leave to



posterity for the L-rd. By the beginning of Ezra 6, Cyrus had



long been dead but his legacy was not lost. What will your



legacy be? Zechariah and Haggai's preaching should be studied in



this context.







The people had the strength to make progress in building the



Kingdom of G-d through their ministry labors because they were



urged on by the expository preaching of the Word of G-d (see Ezra



6:14). Look at 7:6. As a scribe (Sofer), Ezra was not just a



calligrapher/copier; he was a trained teacher and interpreter and



prophetic expositor with a profound knowledge of G-d's laws and



commandments. All his studying finally paid off; someday so will



yours as a maggid through the arts who knows the Word and how to



rightly interpret it artistically and with spiritual power. When



are we going to make the "Ezra" commitment? It says, "For Ezra



had set his heart to study the teaching of the L-rd and to do it,



and to teach the laws and rules to Israel." (EZRA 7:10) Many have



had an opportunity to study, but because of their spiritual or



cultural myopia or immaturity have passed it by for various



superficial reasons and rationalizations. Now they don't have



the Ezra "study goods" and have only themselves to blame for



imminent ministry opportunities they are not ready to seize.



This is not a matter of the prestige of our teaching institution;



it is a matter having to do with the discipline of the learner.



Our goal is to get you to be expository maggidim through the



arts, to have a good theological library and to know how to use



it (see Neh. 8:8 for a definition Of expository preaching). This



is so you may go and establish new ministries throughout the



world and see many come to salvation.







A mesharet (minister) defined: someone who is "commissioned"...to



inquire or regulate Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of



your G-d, which is in your care (Ezra 7:14). Like an emissary of



Moshiach's shlichut speaking to his sending agency, Nehemiah



said, "Send me" (Neh. 2:5) and the Bible says the question came



back, "How long will you be gone and when will you return?" And



Nehemiah "gave him a date." So we see that Nehemiah did not go



drifting abroad indefinitely like many drifters I met in Israel



in 1981, but he had a project goal (to build a wall of



protection, spiritually and physically, in a particular place,



fortifying Jerusalem) and he had a time goal to finish his job



for the L-rd in a certain time frame. Furthermore, he did what



an emissary of Moshiach's shlichut must do with the spiritual



leaders and kiruv outreach workers for Moshiach that he is



training: he set a sacrificial example (Neh. 5:15).







An undisciplined person isn't fit to be a deacon, much less an



elder (I Tim. 3:8). Nehemiah trusted the L-rd and did not



succomb to intimidation and threats. He would not run or allow



himself to show fear in front of those he was leading (Neh.



6:11). However, the servant of the L-rd must not quarrel; he



must be kind to everyone, hoping that G-d will give his enemies



the grace to turn and to acknowledge the truth (II Tim. 2:24-26).







As an emissary of Moshiach's shlichut to Israel, Ezra had to



raise support, exempt ministry from taxes, and appoint



leaders! (Ezra 7:14-25). When your theological education has you



readied and you are found trustworthy by the L-rd and duly



approved and accredited, some of you will undoubtedly form



not-for-profit ministries, each with its own tax-exempt status,



tax deductible receipting legal capability, statement of purpose,



constitution and by-laws, name, board of directors or trustees



and officers. Then you will be doing the work of Ezra. This is



what your studies are meant to prepare you for. At the time of



Ezra, scribes were qualified to teach and preach. Unfortunately



very few Bible schools or seminaries today prepare real scribes



when they attempt to prepare people for the ministry. Knowing



Hebrew and Greek is not even a requirement in many schools.



Notice: when you do something for G-d, or even when it looks like



you might, many people under HaSatan's thumb are going to get



angry (see Nehemiah 3:10; 3:3f etc.). Therefore, don't tell the



wrong people or even the wrong believers what you intend to do



(Neh. 2:12), lest by casting your pearls before swine, they turn



a nd hurt you. Then later when things get off to their wobbly



start, don't let any tactless pessimist despise the day of small



things (Zeohariah 4:10). Do a secret and intensive survey of the



problem before you start grandly announcing to everybody that you



have found the solution (see Neh. 2:13--"I went by night"). If



you are going to start a congregation or new ministry, what kind,



with whom, where? Where is it needed? What is G-d's plan?



Where are G-d's co-workers?







To build a congregation, our objective is to win unbelievers to



the L-rd, leading them to confess him in prayer, before the



congregation, in the water, in the L-rd's Supper, and in



community commitment as members of the local body. Do you see



the sanctifying theme in the Pesach Seder and its discipling



tension in Ezra 6:21? We should keep records and lists each



month and totals each year of the exact number of people who



confessed the L-rd in the sinner's prayer, the number who



confessed him before the congregation, the number who confessed



him in the water, and in the L-rd's Supper, and in membership.



(Register your members--Neh. 7:5). We need the computer to help



us keep this hard data. (See member's pledge 9:38; 10:29;



10:39). Numbers are very important, and if we are not growing



something is desperately wrong and we need to keep changing our



methods until we find what touches hearts and wins countable



disciples. Half of our time needs to be spent "watching" in



prayer, not being ignorant of the Devil's devices, knowing that



HaSatan backs off when he knows you know what he's up to



(Nehemiah 4:9-10). We need to get new believers doing this so



that they are perfected and consolidated in their new faith by



learning to pray and then getting the leading of the L-rd in



where to go to witness for Yehoshua/Moshiach Yehoshua.



Notice that as an emissary of Moshiach's shlichut to Israel, Ezra



did more than organize a congregation; he also organized a school



or yeshiva--see Neh. 8:13 where he gathered the leaders to study



the Bible.







Questions: How could you use Ezra 1:2 in witnessing to Iranian



Muslims? How could you use Ezra 1:3-6 to raise your support as



an emissary of Moshiach's shlichut to Israel today? Could you



use Ezra 2:63 to make a case for the teaching that duly certified



mesharetim should be present when the ordinance of the L-rd's



Supper is served? When the tithe is collected (Neh. 10:38)?



What book of the Bible do you have to read to get more details on



Ezra 4:6? (Hint: see Esther 1:1.) How does G-d effect a



reversal in chapter 6 of Ezra? What might you ask the people to



do when you read the Word before you preach (hint: see Neh. 8:5)?







Ezra 1:8. Sheshbazzar may have been either the uncle of



Zerubbabel or his other name.







Ezra 4 begins telling how in 536 B.C.E. the work on the Beis



Hamikdash began but was delayed and interfered with. The author



then goes into a long digression after 4:4 in which he tells of



similar later opposition to rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.



Finally, 4:24 resumes the story from where 4:4 left off. To



follow the digression, note the dates of Xerxes (486-465 B.C.E.)



and Artaxerxes I (465-424 B.C.E.). The narrative regarding the



Beis Hamikdash begins again at 4:24 with the year 520/5l9 B.C.E.



under Darius I (521-486 B.C.E.), who is the father of Queen



Esther's husband, Xerxes (also called Ahasuerus. It is during



this crucial year that the resumption of the Beis Hamikdash



building begins (see Hag. 1:15).







Enemies to the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the Beis



Hamikdash used intimidation, lawyer harassment, attempted



infiltration, lying, accusations, spies and informers to the



Persian monarchy. But, from the standpoint of Daniel chapter 9,



these "delays" were actually measured by G-d, who had already



predicted the exact year in which the Moshiach would begin his



ministry, calculated from the year that the decree would go forth



to rebuild Jerusalem. Also, the Beis Hamikdash was calculated by



G-d not to be completed until Jeremiah's seventy years were up,



so G-d was letting Israel's enemies slow things down until 516



B.C.E., when the 70 years would be up. See notes on Daniel.







See Ezra 6:14. Under the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah,



Zerubbabel and Yehoshua resume work on the Beis Hamikdash in 519.



Darius I makes a march in the archives for their authorization to



do this given to them earlier by King Cyrus. When this



authorization is found, Darius I gives his decree. Delay is now



over, the Lord's work proceeds. The Beis Hamikdash is completed



March 12, 516 B.C.E. 70 years after its destruction. The Beis



Hamikdash is dedicated by sacrifice and the Pesach is



celebrated--see chapter 6. Notice how this points to Moshiach



Yehoshua, who on the night of his arrest, had a Pesach and the



next day made the sacrifice. Then on the third day, G-d raised



up the Beis Hamikdash of everlasting life.







See Ezra 7:11. 458 B.C.E. is possibly the count-down date of



Daniel's first 69 "sevens" (Daniel 9:24-27). It works out if a



solar calendar is used. The commission of Nehemiah (Neh.1:1, 11;



2:1-8) in 445 B.C.E. is another possible count-down date of



Daniel's 69 "sevens" if a lunar calendar is used.







Look at 8:15. The Levites were the deacons of the Old Testament,



in charge of gates, supply rooms, implements (but not making



incense).







EZRA 3:8 Now in the second year of their coming unto the house



of G-d at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the



son of Shealtiel, and Yehoshua (Moshiach Yehoshua) the son of



Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the kohanim and the



Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto



Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and



upward, to set forward the work of the house of the L-rd.



EZRA 7:12-16







12. Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the kohen, a scribe of



the Torah of the G-d of heaven, greetings:







13. Now I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel,



and of his kohanim and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of



their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. 14.



Foresmuch as thou art sent of the king, and of his seven



counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according



to the Torah of thy G-d which is in thine hand;







15. And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his



counselors have freely offered unto the G-d of Israel, whose



habitation is in Jerusalem.







16. And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the



province of Babylon, with the freewill offering of the people,



and of the kohanim, offering willingly for the Beis Hamikdash of



their G-d which is in Jerusalem:









(Some scholars use a lunar calender and compute from the time



(445) that Nehemiah received a commission from the same king.



However, in either case, Daniel's 69 "sevens" puts us in the time



frame of the ministry of Moshiach Yehoshua.)







NEHEMIAH 7:3







The kohanim: the descendants of Jedaiah (throuqh the house



[family] of Jeshua)...































ESTHER















Five books of the Hebrew Bible are known as the Five Scrolls



(Chamaish Miglot). Song of Songs is read on the Shabbos of



Passover week (Sepherdim read it on Seder night and Friday



afternoons). Ruth is read on Shavuos (Pentecost). Ecclesiastes



is read on the Shabbos of the week of Tabernacles (Succot).



Lamentations is read of the Ninth of Av, a fast commemorating the



destruction of the Beis Hamikdash. And, finally, the book we are



studying, the Scroll of Esther, is read on Purim.







Both Esther and Job could be produced as plays or musicals with a



high professional production level. In Aaron Frankel's Writing



the Broadway musical, he shows how to lay out the scenario for a



story by identifying the points in the play, visualized as a



series of scenes, where the conflicts in each scene rise to a



crescendo requiring song and/or choreography. Here are a few



ideas on how to organize the telling of Esther's story in this



way. A few possible lyric lines for songs have been put in



quotation marks. Why not think of how you could write an



original play or musical to be presented every Purim in your



ministry, and to be usable in Jewish outreach? (Try your own



creative hand--you can polish the ideas below or come up with



better ones): Scene: Persian city of Susa (modern Iran). Time:



483 B.C.E.





Possible ideas for a scenario with a few song lyric ideas: King



Ahasuerus and company (tipsy): "Queen Vashti, you're not acting



very pretty." Queen Vashti could sing a song to her maidens to



go tell the King she is now a "liberated" woman. The chorus made



up of King Ahasuerus's counsellors ("wise men (chachamim)"--



Esther 1:13) could lament the rebellious female population of the



country and how Queen Vashti will start an insurrection in every



home. A national domestic revolt is imminent, right in homes of



the nation! These wise men could sing, "It's a scandal! Things



are getting out of hand! Queen Vashti refuses to come at the



king's command! (see Esther 1:12)." On a serious note, Esther



1:22 can be taken as an allusion to the fall of mankind in Gen.



3.







Esther singing in front of the harem: "So if I'm Jewish, why



don't I come out of the closet?" (Make sure the diction fits the



character and is in good taste and in agreement with Scripture.



Does this work?)(Look at Esther 2:10-11.) A certain dramatic



license is acceptable sometimes. Esther could sing or recite



some of the great Messianic prophecies in her Hebrew Bible, and



she could dream of the Moshiach being a great King just as she,



by the providence of G-d, might become a great Queen. However,



rather than try to keep her life and her throne, in a later scene



she is urged by her uncle Mordecai and her conscience to decide



to lose her life and her throne for the sake of her people's



salvation. The play's ending tells us, however, that whoever



loses his life can get it back through faith (Luke 9:24; see



Esther 4:14). But the drama could hinge on Esther as she reaches



this crisis decision to lose everything and so matures through



suffering, finally saying (or singing), "If I perish, I perish



(Esther 4:16), I must proclaim the truth." (Rav Sha'ul said, "I



am ready to die in Jerusalem"--Acts 21:13). Her attention could



be drawn to the example of the suffering Messianic figure of



Joseph, who said, "G-d sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a



remnant (sh'airit) on earth and to save your lives by a great



deliverance (Gen. 45:7)."







Mordecai (after he overhears the assassination plot of Bigtha and



Teresh against King Ahasuerus): "I keep my ears open so I never



lose my head--but why does everyone want someone's head? Why



does everybody hate the Jews? Let my life be given me--that is



my petition" (see also Esther 7:3). These are possible working



song titles. He can refer to his ancestor Saul's battle against



that race of anti-Semites called the Amalekites and their king,



Agag (see 3:1). Unfortunately, like Joseph, Mordecai is



forgotten. Instead, Esther 3:1 tells us that King Ahasuerus



promotes Haman. But those who are exalted will be humbled, and



pride goes before the fall. Mordecai is even in more danger when



word leaks out that he is a Jew (Esther 3:4). A yellow star



could be pinned on Mordecai, and a tattoo could be slapped on his



arm to dramatize 3:3-5. The pogrom plot begins ironically in the



month of Pesach in Esther 3:6-7 (the people are "sold" as in



Egypt--see Esther 7:4) and the pogrom countdown will be 11 months



long, finally to be executed on the 13th day of the 12th month.







Haman and Ahasuerus possible duet (after Haman gives him the



money for the king's treasury to pay for the pogrom): "I'd like



to propose a toast (to the death of the people of the L-rd of



Hosts.)" Notice that the shameful and death-dealing results of



racial hatred are so terrible that great bewilderment at the



horror of it all seizes the population (see Esther 3:15). Notice



also that any demonic pleasure anti-Semites enjoy is short-lived,



for what follows is like a terrible hang-over from an extended



drinking bout. But, meanwhile, while the wicked drink and get



drunk, the g-dly fast and pray for deliverance (4:1-3). And



those who are truly sober and ready to stand in the battle will



not run from their Jewish uniform of sackcloth in order to hide



in "civilian" clothes (Esther 4:4). It should be clear in this



drama that "prayer changes things," (see also 4:26) but prayer



requires courage and fearless confession of the truth in order to



make its effect, since faith without works is dead.







Mordecai and Esther duet based on Esther 4:14: "For such a time



as this." Chapter 4 is where the crisis of decision takes place.



Everyone is in a position of some kind of influence and can plead



for the salvation of the Jewish people. Therefore, everyone



should be able to identify with Esther's crisis. All believers



come to the royal dignity for such a time as this (Rev. 1:6;



I Kefa 2:5,9), and have a Rom. 15:27 obligation regarding the



physical well-being of the Jewish people. And if we fail at our



obligation, G-d will raise up someone else to do kiruv outreach



work for Moshiach among the Jewish people (Esther 4:14). But



since G-d has called us to the kingdom for such a time as this,



we should look for his divine favor (Esther 5:2,8; 2:15,17; 7:3;



8:5) and enablement and open doors (5:3). Notice that in Esther



ch. 6 Mordecai gets the favor Esther already has received, and



finally that favor spills out on the entire people of G-d



throughout the land. On the other hand there is an omen of



disfavor over taking the accursed Human in Esther 6:13. If we



ask the L-rd and trust him, he will give us something



supernatural that will be attractive and will win favor for the



cause of the Lord's people and their Scriptures.







Haman (after the scene at the end of chapter 5): "I'm happy and



light-hearted without G-d, (and I'll be even happier without the



people of G-d.







Ahasuerus: "What honor has been given to this man of G-d



(Mordecai)?" Great villain's aside: "Whom would the king wish to



honor more than me?--Esther 6:6)







Haman: "In all modesty, who would the King desire to honor more



than Haman the Magnificent? Haman the Incomparable? Haman the



Sublime? Haman the Glorious etc.?"







Possible trio: Esther and Ahasuerus and Haman: "Who but a devil



would dare to try to destroy the Jews?" (Haman could pretend



innocence as he sings along in the trio.)







Esther solo on 8:17: "How does one become a Jew?" (The fear of



G-d comes on you and your heart is cut by the circumcision of the



Ruach Hakodesh unto conviction and faith in the Moshiach of the



Hebrew Scriptures. Esther could recall stories she had heard of



the coming of the Moshiach who would be like Dovid and Joseph and



suffer for his people as a victim like one of Human's victims.)







What are some of the themes of this story?



1. Getting drunk gets Ahasuerus into trouble twice, once with a



divorce and the other time by flirting with anti-Semitism and



genocide when he plots a pogrom with Haman.







2. Women's rights (Queen Vashti refusing to bow to this



woman-crazy husband of hers) and resisting idolatry (Mordecai the



Benjaminite refusing to bow to Haman the Agagite--see I Sm. 15;



Ex. 17:14-16; Deut. 25:17-19).







3. Ahasuerus and his gradual deliverance from anti-Semitism as he



meets one beautiful Jew and has his mind, that Haman and HaSatan



nearly poison, delivered. This gets us into the roots of



anti-Semitism: see Esther 3:8, hatred of a people who are



different belies hatred of a G-d who is different. Why do people



hate the Bible and pass laws that contradict it? Because people



are lawless by nature and need a new heart.







4. Ahasuerus is delivered from anti-Semitism by, of all people, a



woman. (G-d can use a woman to do anything, and this is another



theme: the most unlikely and the weakest vessels can be used by



G-d for great purposes). And G-d can use unlikely people in



Jewish ministry, too, to effect a "great deliverance" (Gen.



45:7)!







5. Another theme: drunken lust to exploit people for the sake of



fleeting worldly power versus true Biblical sacrificial service



to G-d's people.







6. Notes on Esther's character: the closet religious witness, who



is ashamed of her faith. A big dramatic question to which the



play should provide a suspenseful answer is: will she or will she



not come out of the closet and, whatever the possible loss, tell



people what she believes?







7. Another theme: luck versus providence, and how G-d controls



both ("What a divine coincidence!" could be a refrain in the



score). G-d uses all things to arrive at his own final goal of



protecting his people and keeping them alive until the King of



the Jews returns: feminism, beauty contests, insomnia,



8. The enemies of the true people of G-d will always fall into



the pit that they have dug-Proverbs 26:27.







9. The origin of the festival of Purim and the coming



eschatological event it points to, where all the enemies of



Israel, all the Hamans lacking G-d's heart, will be separated out



and destroyed. Daniel 12:2; 7:13-14.







COMIC POSSIBILITIES: the King's don't-call-us-we'll-call-you



extermination of drop-in visitors, which builds suspense when



Esther drops in unannounced, etc. Also, look at the chance for



Haman to make a great extended double take (a la Oliver Hardy)



at the end of 6:10.







IMPORTANT STAGE BUSINESS: dealing with the King's ring and the



reversal when Mordecal gets it from Haman in 8:2. Seriously, the



Moshiach (see "My Servant" = the Moshiach Zech. 3:8, Isa. 42:1;



Hag. 2:23) is called G-d's signet ring in Hag. 2:23. See Esther



8:10 and the reversal from Esther 8:2. Why do the nations rage



against the L-rd and his anointed, his signet ring, the Moshiach?



On other reversals, see Mordecal's reversal, Esther 6:3-6;



Human's reversal, Esther 7:10; 8:5; 9:24; the Jewish people's



reversal 9:1; etc.







Haman is a type of the Anti-Moshiach in the Bible (along with



Pharaoh, the king of Babylon, Antiochus Ephiphanes, Caligula,



Nero, Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and all anti-Semites. This book



makes the astounding statement that G-d is at war with all



anti-Semites, and G-d will curse those who curse the Jewish



people (Gen. 12:3). The Moshiach himself will return at the



final battle at the end of days (Armageddon), which will be the



last battle of G-d against anti-Semites. Esther 9:5 is a picture



of the Day of the L-rd in the Hebrew Bible (Amos 5:9-14; Zeph.



l:14-l8). See also Esther 9:2,16.







The whole show could be done in modern dress with Haman in a



fascist uniform. We need to create spectacles that will draw



outsiders to G-d's House, just as G-d did with the splendor of



the Beis Hamikdash and the annual pilgrimage festivals.



Typological exegesis of Esther. The Moshiach's bride will not be



ashamed of him, that he is from the tribe of Judah. The bride



that does not come to him (Vashti = apostate religion) forfeits



any privileged position and is replaced by the bride that "boldly



approaches the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and



find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16; Esther 5:2).







Notice, as in I Cor. 15:4, the turning-point day of deliverance



is "the third day" (Esther 5:1).







See 9:10. When we taste the dainties of the anti-Semites and



enjoy their fleeting pleasures, we lose our kingship and royal



power, as Mordecai might have (he didn't). However, Modecai's



ancestor learned this lesson the hard way when he seized the



plunder of Amalek (I Sm. 15:17-19), unlike Abraham who abstained



from the plunder (Gen. 14:22-24).







Notice Purim is to be a time of joy (simcha) and feasting and



gladness and a time to send gifts of food to one another and



presents to the poor (Esther 9:22). If this festival were



celebrated each year in the Brit Chadasha kehillah, less



anti-Semitism would befound there. A Purim play could help laugh



the HaSatan out of the sanctuary. Since, according to Romans



chs. 9-11 the Brit Chadasha kehillah "joins" Israel, Esther 9:27



applies to the Brit Chadasha kehillah, because the text says,"the



Jews accepted as a custom for themselves...and all who joined



them, that without fail they should continue to observe these two



days every year.







Mordecai's work in the last verse ("he sought the good of his



people and interceded for the welfare of all his (zar'o)



seed"--Esther 10:3) sounds like the Moshiach in Isaiah 53:12,10



("he made intercession for the transgressors...and he shall see



(zera) seed").







Important note: Saddam Hussein's army was destroyed on the very



day of Purim, 1991, proving any Haman who threatens to destroy



Israel can still be brought down by the G-d of Israel.





ESTHER 8:17







In every province and in every city, wherever the edict of the



king went, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with



feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities



became Jews because fear of the Jews had fallen on them.





















IYOV (JOB)



















The question for the sages of Israel that the book of Job (a



Gentile sage from Edom--see Job 1:1; Lam. 1:21) grapples with is:



in the face of the riddle of life's sufferings, what answer can



chachma (wisdom) bring to vindicate both G-d and suffering Man as



nevertheless righteous and worthy?







The divine answer comes in the form of a drama whose diction is a



long dialogue poem sandwiching its dialogical wisdom between a



prose prologue and a prose epilogue. It could be staged with Job



himself as the narrator who goes in and out of the story like the



protagonist in Arthur Miller's After The Fall or Tennessee



Williams' Glass Menagerie. Or it could have a Sherwood Anderson's



Our Town narrator, possibly using the Devil himself as the



narrator. Must reading for the art of writing a play is Sam



Smiley's playwriting: The Structure of Action (Prentice-Hall



Publishers.) Perhaps you could adapt this Bible drama for the



stage and use it as a community outreach project. If you got it



published, it could be used on stages throughout the world.







At the beginning of Job, a demonic wager puts both G-d (G-d's



worth in Himself) and Man (the worth of Man's love for G-d) to



the test. See 1:8-11; 2:3-5. Is G-d really worth anything (do



His people really believe so?), or is religion merely an opiate



of the people, as in Karl Marx's demonic challenge? Remember,



Job is a type of Moshiach, as we will show. Since Job's life is



exposed to Satanic attack as we see in these passages, this very



attack also points forward to the attacks of Satan against



Moshiach Yehoshua, both in the beginning of his ministry, at the



turning point after he shares with his Shluchim his coming death



on the Aitz, and at the L-rd's Supper (see Mark 1:13; 8:27-33;



Yochanan 13:2)







Chapter 1:21 offers the instinct of faith to answer life's



biggest riddle: why do we suffer? In fact, how can G-d be good



if He allows us to suffer? The answer of 1:21 must be probed in



depth as the protagonist (hero) is tested in depth, and this



probe necessitates a dramatic dialogical interrogation of both



G-d and Man, utilizing wise men or sages.







Chapter 3:1-31:40 offers the solution to the riddle given by



Job's three friends: you are suffering for sin; therefore, repent



and your sufferings will vanish!







In chapter 32:1-37:24, Elihu presents his solution to Job's



riddle: you are undergoing a divine discipline of love to deter



you from further sin; therefore, stop claiming innocence like the



wicked do before G-d, and stop calling G-d's justice into



question.







G-d's solution finally appears in chapter 38:-41:34. In brief,



G-d replies that to encounter G-d, whether in abasement or



abundance, is enough and is worth everything. Then, in the



epilogue G-d "restores what has been taken" (Yoel (Joel) 2:25;



Job 42:10f) and "all things work together (co-operate) for good



for those who love G-d and are called according to his purpose"



(Romans 8:28).







Have you ever had a Job experience? Our Moshiach did. Shliach



Sha'ul did. Shliach Sha'ul seems to be talking about all true



witnessing kaddoshim in II Corinthians chapter 4. Can you cast



your testimony in the form of a before-and-after Job experience



so that G-d gets the glory and is worth it all in the end? We



will overcome the devil by the word of our martiurias (Revelation



12:11).







There was once a minister who had a "Job" experience. He was



called on the carpet by his overseers, who accused him of heresy.



Then his family deserted him and he lost his home. Then his



friends came around and lectured him on not being a good family



man. Then all the religious people avoided him. He even lost



his ministry appointment and was left all alone. In all this he



had done nothing wrong, but he held on to his righteousness and



cried out to G-d for vindication.







This minister waited for G-d to vindicate his innocence and to



stop the mouths of his detractors. Satan was behind the whole



plot, because it was the ministry of the man of G-d that was



being unjustly discredited. After a long period of being put to



the test, the L-rd restored everything that He had allowed to be



taken from the man of G-d. In fact, the man of G-d received back



from the L-rd his ministry appointment, home, etc. Not only



that, the biggest publishing houses, colleges, Brit Chadasha



kehillot (even the President's Brit Chadasha kehillah) opened to



the man of G-d. Then he learned by experience what he had



believed already by faith: that G-d is worth everything and is



worth losing everything for. Do you see how Job could be done in



"modern dress?" Could you write a novel, a screenplay, a drama



on Job?







Have you had a Job experience of dying to self for our Moshiach



and coming back to life with "all these things added unto you as



well"? Could you write your personal testimony as a tract and



give it out in kiruv outreach for the Moshiach, using the theme



of Job in the way you tell your story of how G-d saved you and



proved Himself real to you at the end of your struggle of faith?





What is a theodicy? See chapter 36:2. What is the two-tier



structure of reality presented in Job? How is it like the



structure of reality presented in Revelation and the rest of



Scripture? What is a theophany? See 38:1-42:6.







Do you see how mesasretim who make outlandish salaries bring



HaSatan's accusation against them (1:9)?







Look at chapter 5. Eliphaz infers that Job is a fool (5:2) whom



G-d is correcting (5:17). He tries to comfort Job but wounds him



with false accusations. Job is pictured more and more as a



kicked-down sage, who is a type of Moshiach, and Job's wisdom is



that which comes from suffering in the flesh (I Shliach Kefa



4:1). Like our Moshiach, Job prays for his enemies in 42:8.



Look at 6:14. Shliach Sha'ul says, "All men forsook me."



Job's question in 9:2 is answered in Habakkuk 2:4.







Look at 9:33 and 16:18-21. Is not our Moshiach our defender,



paracletes meaning a friend of the accused person called to speak



in his favor) against Satan's accusations? See Job 31:35,



I Yochanan 2:1 (KJV). Job 33:23-26.







Job 14:14 is answered by Job 19:25-26. Remember the Go'el from



the book of Ruth? This word is found in Job 19:25.







Job 34:33 is a good point for Besuras Hageulah rejecters.



Chapter 38:33 is a good point for proud scientists who accept the



g-dless cosmogony of evolution instead of the book of Genesis



properly interpreted in the light of other Scripture. The whole



section starting from chapter 38 reveals the weakness, ignorance,



unworthiness and stupidity of puny man so prone to arrogance.







To sum up, in the book of Job the hero is presented by the



unknown author as the ideal man of wisdom literature, a sage,



prosperous, blessed of G-d and honored of men, one who is upright



in character and on no account can be tempted to curse G-d, so



great is his wise fear of the Almighty. A crisis occurs in Job's



life that leads him to seek G-d in a deeper way. So extreme is



Job's situation that nothing less than a personal encounter with



G-d will suffice. Job's despair brings him to the point of



discovering that philosophy and religion are amal m'nachamim,



"miserable comforters" (16:2). He needs to know G-d personally,



nothing less will satisfy the gnawing yearning within his soul.



He has many questions, many "whys" that only G-d Himself can



answer. Mere human wisdom and conventional piety, which the



other actors in this drama personify, are amazed and confounded



by Job's questions.







Only occasionally, and almost as an afterthought, do they ask



penetrating questions. For example, without appreciating the



profundity of the question, Bildad asks Job, "How can a man be



yitz'dak righteous before G-d?"







This is really the question of the whole book. If man serves G-d



and is blessed, how can it be proven that his service was not



mere unrighteous self-serving opportunism. On the other hand, if



man serves G-d and is not blessed but cursed, how can it be



proved that a) the righteous fare any better than the wicked



either in this life or in the next? b) that there is a



resurrection in any case? c) that there is a mediator in heaven



without whom no man can stand vindicated and redeemed as



righteous before a righteous G-d? Like Job, we must prove that



our suffering is not deserved but for the glory of G-d (I Kefa



1:12-17; Yochanan 9:3).







While Job stands rejected and forsaken with mockers around him



(17:2), he reminds the reader of the picture we have of the



suffering Servant of the L-rd in Isaiah 53 or the mocked Dovidic



King in Psalm 22 (compare Job 27:4 to Isa. 53:9). In the midst



of the false accusations Job "holds fast to his righteousness"



(27:6) and waits on the L-rd to confirm the innocence of his



cause (Job 42:7-8). So the mocked sage who becomes a fool that



the world curses and makes sport of is depicted here. We have



seen this picture before in that other sage, the judge of Israel,



Samson, being made sport of by the Philistines (Judg. 16:25) or



in the King of Israel, Dovid the sage, pretending to be mad



before a similar scoffing Philistine audience (I Sm. 21:13-15).



When sages like Moshe or Dovid are nearly stoned by the people



(Ex. 17:4; I Sm. 30:6) we see this reemerging picture of the



rejected, righteous Sage of Israel. Significantly, the Son of



Dovid is depicted as the sage par excellence in the life of



Shlomo in I Kings. Then II Chronicles intensifies this portrait



and gives Messianic prophetic significance to Dovid's Son as the



Moshiach Sage of Israel. Finally, Isaiah combines the two



portraits of the sage found in Job and Shlomo and depicts the



Dovidic Servant of the L-rd as the mocked and rejected sage



filled "with the spirit of wisdom" (Isaiah 11:2) who seems to



labor "in vain" but trusts his cause to the L-rd (Isa. 49:4) and,



after mockery and rejection (Isa. 53:2-4), is finally vindicated



by G-d as righteous (see Isa. 53:11-12). So the book of Job



gives us one of our most important glimpses of the coming



Moshiach.







This book does not merely pose the most pressing questions of



life. It also gives us some profound answers. We discover that



true faith has to be tested. The whole book is a test of Job's



faith, the integrity of which HaSatan throws into question in the



prologue. Job comments on this test by saying with the



affirmation of faith, "He knows the way that I take; when He has



tested me, I shall come out like gold." We also discover in this



book that faith is knowing G-d and being known by G-d, and mere



religious or philosophical assent is not faith nor can such



intellectualism substitute for a personal relationship where the



true G-d is personally known. "How can a man be yitz'dak



righteous before G-d?" The book of Job tells us that G-d



vindicates man's faith. Abraham the sage had faith in G-d and



G-d vindicated him as righteous (Gen. 15:6). The righteous shall



live before G-d by faith (Hab. 2:4).







But what difference does all this make if there is no



resurrection for the righteous? Is there a resurrection in any



case?







To get the answer of the book of Job we need Job 19:25-27, where



we also find the answer to the other question the book asks,



namely, is there a mediator in heaven without whom no man can



stand vindicated and redeemed as righteous before a righteous



G-d? The Job 19 passage should be studied with Job 16:18-21. In



these passages Job's faith affirm: the bodily resurrection of the



dead. He also affirms by faith the existence of a heavenly



mediator between G-d and man whom he called Edi (my witness) and



Sahadi (my advocate) (16:19) and mokhi'ach "my arbitrator" (9:33)



and go'eli "my redeemer" (19:25). And just as Job himself has to



make intercessor for his friends at the end of the book,



literally mediating between them and G-d (Job 12:7-8), so this



heavenly figure vouches for Job from on high (16:19) and at last



stands upon the earth when Job is bodily resurrected (19:25).



Like that other heavenly Messianic figure, the angel of the L-rd,



in Job 33:23 we see this heavenly Mal'ach (angel/messenger), this



Mailitz (Mediator) coming to Job's defense. However, he does



more. He provides a Kofer (ransom), redeems Job's soul from



going down into the Pit (Job 33:28), and makes it possible for



Job "to see the light of life" (compare the Messianic text of



Isa. 53:11 in the Dead Sea Scrolls to Job 33:28). But Isa. 59:20



says that the Go'el (Redeemer) coming to Zion is no mere angel



but the Moshiach. Therefore the word in Job 33:23 should more



properly be translated "messenger" than "angel" because the



Mal'ach (angel/mesienger) of the Lord" is no mere angel in Judg.



6:l4 (where he is called "the L-rd"), just as the Moshiach is no



mere Mal'ach (angel/messenger) of the Covenant" In Mal. 3:1



(where he is also called "the L-rd"). Therefore, seen from the



fuller perspective of the entire Hebrew Bible, Job is indeed



looking for the one the Jewish people called the Moshiach. Like



Job, Daniel also sees the coming resurrection and the resurrected



saints being given the kingdom at the end of days by a heavenly



Messianic figure (see Dan. 12:2; 7:13-14).









JOB 19:25







For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at



the latter day upon the earth.



















TEHILLIM (PSALMS)















No one has an excuse for not having a deep prayer life and



devotional walk with the L-rd! The software has already been



written for it! The L-rd has provided the most vigorous prayer



life you can imagine, and all you have to do is let the Ruach



Hakodesh put it into your mental computer. I'm referring to the



Psalms.







If the Moshiach, G-d's Word who is "the light that lightens every



man, is your "operating system" then you are not a religious



spectator but a Kingdom warrior like David and you are the target



of demons and hellish opposers of G-d. The Psalms have a



militant and embattled pressure, which, if they are the thoughts



of your prayer-life, will keep you in the race of the ministry.



They will also keep you on guard in the onslaught of demonic



battle as a victorious and rejoicing soul-winner.







Like the protagonist in Kafka's The Trial, the servant of G-d is



often hedged in on every side. Then he must fight his way out in



prayer as Dovid does in Psalm 35. Read Psalm 35:11-19. These



are the times when we are too weak to pray as we should (Romans



8:26). Then we can pray and sing in our heavenly prayer language



and in spiritual song, and we can also pray the Psalms, letting



G-d's Word to us become our word to G-d. There have been times



in my life when I was so weakened by HaSatan's plots that my



enfeebled prayerlife had to go on the "automatic pilot" of the



Psalms and all I could do was read the Psalms and sing them



antiphonally out loud to the L-rd days on end till I could



literally no longer speak. See Psalm 69:3. But thank G-d for



his Word which is a prayer warrior sword with which we can cut



our way free of every depressing confusion.







In short, the Psalms have been provided for us through Dovid and



other lyricists (these were originally lyrics used in worship



with musical accompaniment). Some of you may create melodies and



choruses to be used in worship utilizing the words of the Psalms



as your lyrics. A very important arts project to the body of



Moshiach right now would be to visit a Sufi meeting and do



research on how to develop messianic Muslim use of music with the



Psalms. Another research project could be to visit various



synagogues and do the same thing with a messianic Jewish use of



the Psalms.





Your familiarity with I and II Shmuel will help you not to ignore



the possible historical context of these Psalms, particularly the



ones ascribed to Dovid. For Example, Psalm 51 may refer to



II Shmuel 12, when Nathan exposed Dovid's sin with Bathsheba.



The 23rd Psalm may reflect the "valley of the shadow of death"



where Dovid fought Goliath or similar dangers he experienced.



For a full attempt at this kind of reconstruction of the Psalms



into their original historical setting, see the Reese



Chronological Bible, Bethany House Publishers.







Psalm 11 may be referring to Dovid's flight from Saul, when



HaSatan was trying to kill Dovid and Dovid was an innocent



refugee from HaSatan, who had in effect seized the throne by



possessing King Saul. (Look at Psalm 11:1-2.) All true believers



are refugees from the G-d who rules the kingdom of this world,



and take care when worldly spokesmen speak well of you, for if



they called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the



members of his household! (Matthew 10:25) And if they hanged on



the Aitz the head of the house, do you think HaSatan's government



will always let the members of the house reign already like



kings? (The Corinthians made this mistake--I Corinthians 4:8).



The Brit Chadasha makes clear that human government will



eventually become the Beast and the Brit Chadasha kehillah will



be persecuted by it. You must recognize that your existential



situation is the same as Dovid's. He was seated in heavenly



places with Moshiach Yehoshua just as we are (we are kohanim end



kings), but he was constantly embattled by the spirit of



anti-Moshiach in Saul and Absalom as a refugee king hiding in the



L-rd and always very weak in order to be strong in G-d. If this



is not true in your experience, it may be because you are sitting



around like Dovid's brothers when Saul's army was being



challenged by HaSatan's spokesman, Goliath. If all you have is a



comfortable Sunday morning religion, start witnessing and begin



some messianic ministry and watch your situation be instantly



transformed just as Dovid's was when he took Goliath's challenge



and got HaSatan's attention (see Psalm 69:9). Yet, like Dovid,



you will prevail in time because the battle is the L-rd's, and He



is the "savior of fugitives" (Psalm 17:7).







Psalm 110 proves that the Moshiach is HaAdon L-rd and will be a



kohen. When you put Ps. 110:1-4 together with Mal. 3:1; Zech.



4:14; 3:8; and Ezra 3:8 you get Yehoshua's sacrifice of Isa.



52:13-53:12.







Note Ps. 1:4 in the Jerusalem Bible: "It is nothing like this



with the wicked, nothing like this!" (lyric poetry expresses



passion).







Ps. 2:7-8 Today I have become your father-relationship, not



sexual concept. Moshiach Yehoshua is the only one, the unique



one of G-d, not the sexually (and therefore in the beginning



non-existant) begotten one of G-d. This is the heresy of Arius,



the first "J.W." Monogenes in Yochanan 1:14,18; 3:16 means



"unique one." Explain to Muslims that Moshiach Yehoshua is the



Son of G-d only in the sense that "like begets like," and the



Word is like the Father in his divine presence--not Son in the



sense that G-d got married and had a child who did not exist



until he was sexually procreated. The Word of G-d is his



personal Word uniquely of his own substance and perfectly



reflecting Him in fellowship, as a son does his father, but the



analogy breaks down on the human level since fathers pre-exist



their sons and the Father did not pre-exist his Word.





Another note on Psalm 2. Another reason it "has been given to



you not only to believe on him but also to suffer for him" (Phil.



1:29) is because there is a war going on and war always brings



suffering. Ps. 2 depicts the war going on between the Seed of



the Woman and His seed and the Seed of the Serpent and His



anti-Moshiach seed.







Psalms 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are individual prayers of entreaty.







5:3 Do you have a devotional life like this? Do you watch for



G-d in everything?







Read Psalm 8. The Word of G-d is called the Son of Man in



Yochanan 1:1,51 because He is the image of the invisible G-d



(Col. 1:15), and he is the light that enlightens every human



being created in the image of G-d (Yochanan 1:9). He is the



eternal Son of the Father who was destined to be incarnated as



the Son of Man and the "ruling heir" (Col. 1:15) into whom hands



all authority is given (Matthew 28:18).







Psalm 8:1-2 alludes to natural revelation, that G-d has made his



glory, majesty and power known to mankind in the stars and in



nature (Romans 1:19f), and even children are not ignorant of this



natural revelation, so men are without excuse. Dr. Allan R.



Sandage of the Carnegie Institution's observatories in Pasadena,



California, is a cosmologist and astronomer. Speaking of the



stars he says, "I find it quite improbable that such order came



out of chaos. There has to be some organizing principle. G-d to



me is a mystery, but is the explanation for the miracle of



existence why there is something instead of nothing."







Look at Psalm 13. Our entreaty is always in the context of



praise, for a double-minded man bitter in his lack of faith



should not think that he will get anything from the L-rd. In



Psalm 14 we see that no one is righteous before G-d, as Shliach



Sha'ul makes clear in Romans 3. Without faith it is impossible



to please G-d (Heb. 11:6), since no one but G-d is good (Mark



10:18). When Dovid speaks of Dovid's righteousness in Ps. 143:2;



18:20-24; 17:3; 7:8, he is speaking of the



righteousness of faith and faithfulness to G-d's covenant; he is



not contradicting Ps. 14:3. On the necessity of faith in regard



to righteousness, see Ps. 62:8; 78:21-22,37; 81:12; 116:8-10.



The type of guest the L-rd welcomes is seen in Psalm 15: one who



never uncharitably slanders someone else (15:3) and one who



stands by his commitments at any cost (15:4). Some of the



students who drop in at our school are so willing to drop out,



because they think G-d is as uncommitted to ministry preparation



as they are. "Demas in love with this passing world has forsaken



me and has departed," Shliach Sha'ul said, of one of his seminary



students.







Psalms 16:10-11 contains the hope of the resurrection of the King



of Israel. Shliach Kefa bases his first sermon on this in Acts 2.











Have you experienced not only the knowledge of salvation, but its



ground (what's behind it)--G-d's love for you? See Psalm 18:19:



"He rescued me, since he loved me. G-d loves even me! He saved



me because he loved me. Say it often to yourself. Use it often



in witnessing. Augustine used Psalm 18:25-26 to teach a rather



simplistic theory of double-predestination that Calvinists love



to espouse. However, to say that G-d has a "secret counsel"



whereby he has, irrespective of human response, condemned



arbitrarily to hell whomever He pleases is not Scriptural. To



claim one's election in this light can also lead to pharisaic



presumption, just as seeing reprobation in this light can lead to



Islamic fatalism and kiruv outreach and social irresponsibility.



Shliach Sha'ul warns about this pharisaic presumption in Romans



11 where, having assured us that all the people of G-d seen as a



corporate entity are once saved, always saved." But then Shliach



Sha'ul goes on and warns the believers in Rome that they should



not get presumptuous individually but rather fear that they could



be individually cut off. Moshiach Yehoshua also warned Messianic



maggidim in the strongest terms that they could be cut off



(Matthew 7:21-23). However, there is a doctrine of individual



assurance (II Shliach Kefa 1:10, see Psalm 37:23-24), just as



there is a doctrine of a universal call and unlimited kapporah



(I Tim. 2:4-6). The so-called "secret counsel" is not secret at



all, but the electing counsel of HaAv in His electing Word



publically reveal in the man Yehoshua the Moshiach (Matthew



11:27; Ephesians 1:3-7). However, this is not to say that



someone can, by sheer unaided human will, save himself. This is



the heresy of Pelagius, who rejected original sin (despite Psalm



51:5) and believed that man could choose salvation without any



help from G-d in circumcising the heart, which Pelagius said was



not desperately wicked. But Moshiach Yehoshua said, "You did not



choose me, but I chose you," meaning that G-d gives us a new



heart (Ezekiel 36:26), because with our own fallen heart of stone



we could never find G-d without G-d's help. However, if we will



to seek G-d (Yochanan 7:17), if we make ourselves a new heart



(Ezekiel 18:31), G-d will draw near to us (Ya'akov 1:8). So



human responsibility to respond to the Besuras Hageulah cannot be



minimized in the human responsibility for sin which is taught in



the so-called doctrine of total depravity. Having said all this,



it is nevertheless true, that our own choices, whether to accept



G-d's mercy in the Moshiach or reject it, even though these



choices are real and are our own, cannot overeach or dominate



G-d's choices, which are prior and decisive.



Psalm 19:7-10 and Ps. 119 deal with the inerrancy of the Bible,



which is the Book whose every word is authored by the Spirit of



the Word from the Father (see I Shliach Kefa 1:11, 3). This is



the doctrine of verbal, plenary inspiration of the original



autographs. These last two paragraphs will be covered in more



detail in the section on Historical Theology in this book. A



good setting for Psalm 22 is in II Shmuel 15:30 where Dovid



experienced something of the messianic rejection as the Moshiach



did on the Aitz.







See Psalm 27:1. If G-d is your strength, how strong are you?



Are you witnessing every day? See Psalm 10:10. Out of the



abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Above all, guard your



heart from growing slightly cold and your testimony from growing



slightly muted (Psalm 73:25-28).







See Psalm 49:7-9. Look at the Stephen-Saul debate in The Rabbi



From Tarsus monodrama for the significance of this verse. Only



a G-d-Man can save us. Therefore, any kind of Arianism that



loses the deity of the Word and any kind of gnosticism that loses



the fully human incarnation of the Divine Word leads to heresy



and to another "Yehoshua/Yeshua" and another (damnable) Besuras



Hageulah (Psalm 107:20; II Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:9). We are not



worshipping a human idol (Psalm 56:4).







Don't get idolatrous and become "star-struck" on religious



leaders (Psalm 62:9), but neither be arrogantly disrespectful so



as to presumptuously disregard the office of those who are



serving in the body of the L-rd.







Read Psalm 63 and ask yourself if you love G-d like Dovid loved



G-d, with a reckless abandonment. Dovid loved even his enemies



(Saul and Absalom) with a mad king's crazy kind of love (see the



picture of Dovid feigning madness with the King of the



Philistines Achish in I Shmuel 21:13.) This was why Dovid was a



man after G-d's own heart. Another "mad king" went to the Aitz



with this type of love, and Shliach Sha'ul said, "If we are out



of our minds, it is for the sake of G-d" (II Cor. 5:13). The



spirit of anti-Moshiach in Saul when he slaughtered the Kohen



Gadol Ahimelech (I Shmuel 21) was desperately trying to destroy



Dovid, but Dovid had faith to go right into the HaSatan's cave



with love so radical he would even let his rebellious son almost



destroy him, even as G-d so loved the rebelling world (Yochanan



3:16). David is a type of the Warrior Word who will return to



set up his victory over his enemies in the millenium.







Ps. 129:5 says of every Haman, every Hussein who hates Zion, "May



all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward."



However, soldiers who go into battle fighting for the L-rd's



people (if indeed it is the L-rd's people that they are



protecting) can look to a promise in Ps. 91:7, "A thousand may



fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it



(destruction) will not come near you. You will only look with



your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked." In 1948 when



Israel had to fight for her independence as a nation, in the 1956



Sinai campaign, in the Six-Day War in 1967 when Jerusalem was



reunited, and in the 1973 Yom Kippur war, we believers had grown



used to hearing about battlefield miracles being reported about



Israelis; but in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when Saddam Hussein's



anti-Israel troops were defeated on Purim, this time the miracles



we were hearing about were concerning American troops and, among



other things, the low number of casualties was truly



"miraculous," as top U.S. military officials readily admit. The



Bible says, "In Judah G-d is known" (Ps. 76:l; 147:19-20). It



also says that G-d will "rise up and have compassion on Zion



(Jerusalem), for it is time to favor it, the appointed time has



come (Ps. 102:13). Gen. 12:3 says that G-d will bless anyone who



blesses Israel. America defended Israel (remember the Patriot



missiles shooting down the Scud missiles fired at Israel?) and,



miraculously, had only 89 casualties in the Persian Gulf War and



the American economy is now starting to revive. So there is a



blessing for America now, and the same blessing that was on the



soldiers will be on you when you preach the Good News "to the Jew



first and also the Greek." "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May



they prosper who love you'" (Ps. 122:6). And when you go on the



street and begin street preaching you shall not be put to shame.



You shall have an answer for every objector (Ps. 119:42,46).







I was praying the Psalms to the L-rd today, and He showed me the



secret of how to be happy. "Happy are those who do not follow



the advice of the wicked (see Ps. 1:1; 26:4-5)." Happy are those



whose delight is in the torah (law) of the L-rd, and on his law



they meditate day and night (Ps. 1:2). Why are they happy?



Because "the law of their G-d is in their hearts; their steps do



not slip" (Ps. 37:31). "Happy is everyone who fears the L-rd, who



walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your



hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you" (Ps.



128:l-2). Happy are all those who choose the Derech HaChayyim



(the way of life)--Jer. 21:8. Such a person has found what



Ponce De Leon looked for in vain--the fountain of youth, because



Psalm 1:3 says he will be like a tree whose leaves do not wither!



That's us! And we yield our fruit in its season. The Bible says,



"The righteous flourish like the palm tree...they are planted in



the house of the L-rd. ..in old age they still produce fruit;



they are always green and full of sap" (Ps. 92:12-14).







What keeps us happy? Keeping G-d's precepts (Ps. 119:56). This



is just as true for the young as for the old. "How can young



people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your



Word" (Ps. 119:9). Taking our eyes off selfish gain and empty



vanities and instead treasuring G-d's word and delighting in its



counsel--this is how we avoid sinning (Ps. 119:11,24,36-37). And



in every misery of life the L-rd's Word is our great consolation,



a delight that makes us wiser, more understanding with every step



we take in its light. "Great peace have those who love your law;



nothing can make them stumble" (Ps. 119:165)







The wicked are not so. They have no true taste for the Word of



G-d. The Bible is one book they don't pour over! They have no



knowledge, their hearts always go astray, and they do not regard



G-d's ways (Ps. 95:10). They do not call upon the L-rd (Ps.



14:4). The wicked refuse to take refuge in G-d but seek refuge in



money (Ps. 52:7). Trusting in their own works, they do not regard



the works of the L-rd (Ps. 28:5). Their G-d is not the true G-d



but a worthless idol, and "those who make them (idols) are like



them" (Ps. 115:8). Ps. 36 says there is no fear of G-d before



their eyes, and they do not really reject evil either, though, as



far as G-d is concerned, they flatter themselves in their own



eyes that their own iniquity cannot be found out or despised by



the L-rd. The wicked say in their heart, "G-d, you will not call



us to account" (Ps. 10:13). The drunkard may go to Brit Chadasha



kehillah, the bigot may go to synagogue, but G-d is not fooled.



True faith repents. Yet their heart is not steadfast towards



Him. They are not true to His covenant (Ps. 78:37). G-d is not



in all their thoughts. "They did not keep in mind His power, or



the day when He redeemed them" (Ps. 78:42). So G-d gave them



over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own proud counsels



(Ps. 81:12), and the L-rd who sees and is close to the lowly



"perceives the haughty from far away (Ps. 138:6).





To the ungrateful wicked G-d says, "What right have you to recite



my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate



discipline, and you cast my words behind you." (Ps. 50:16) "Not



another Bible!" he says, as you offer it to him. But the L-rd



replies, "Mark this, then, you who forget G-d, or I will tear you



apart, and there will be no one to deliver. Those who bring



thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the



right way I will show the salvation of G-d" (Ps. 50:22-23).



On the other hand, the L-rd "Is near to all who call on Him, to



all who call on Him in truth." Those who fear the L-rd will find



their desires fulfilled (Ps. 145:18-19). But as far as the wicked



is concerned, suddenly you will look for him but you will not



find him, the wicked will die, and on that very day their plans



will perish.







Not so the righteous. "For the righteous will never be shaken;



they will be remembered forever. They are not afraid of evil



tidings (bad news); their hearts are firm, secure in the L-rd.



Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they



will look in triumph on their foes. They have distributed freely,



they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever;



their horn is exalted in honor. The wicked see it and are angry;



they gnash their teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked



comes to nothing" (Ps. 112:6-10).







What I have been giving you is some of the "wisdom" Psalms. These



have the wisdom theme that you get in the other wisdom literature



in the Hebrew Bible. The prophet has his contribution to G-d's



Word. The priest has his. The King of Israel has his. But this



kind of literature comes from the sage or wise man. You find



wisdom literature in the book of Job, in Proverbs, in Ecclesiates



and other places. What I'm talking about also relates to the



Messianic prophecies in the Psalms.





For example, while Job stands rejected and forsaken with mockers



around him (Job 17:2), he reminds the reader of the picture we



have of the suffering Servant of the L-rd in Isaiah 53 or the



mocked Dovidic King in Psalm 22 (compare Job 27:4 to Isa. 53:9).



In the midst of the false accusations Job "holds fast to his



righteousness" (Job 27:6) and waits on the L-rd to confirm the



innocence of his cause (Job 42:7-8). So the mocked sage who



becomes a fool that the world curses and makes sport of is



depicted here. We have seen this picture before in that other



sage, the judge of Israel, Samson, being made sport of by the



Philistines (Judg. 16:25) or in the King of Israel, Dovid the



sage, pretending to be mad before a similar scoffing Philistine



audience (I Sm. 21:13-15). When sages like Moshe or Dovid are



nearly stoned by the people (Ex. 17:4; I Sm. 30:6) we see this



reemerging picture of the rejected-yet-vindicated-as-righteous



Sage of Israel. Significantly, the Son of Dovid is depicted as



the sage par excellence in the life of Shlomo in I Kings. Then



II Chronicles intensifies this portrait and gives Messianic



prophetic significance to Dovid's Son as the Moshiach Sage of



Israel. Finally, Isaiah combines the two portraits of the sage



found in Job and Shlomo and depicts the Dovidic Servant of the



L-rd as the mocked and rejected sage filled "with the spirit of



wisdom" (Isa. 11:2) who seems to labor "in vain" but trusts his



cause to the L-rd (Isa. 49:4) and, after mockery and rejection



(Isa. 53:2-4), is finally vindicated by G-d as righteous (see



Isa. 53:11-12). So the book of Job gives us one of our most



important glimpses of the coming Moshiach.







Also notice particularly the following Messianic prophecies in



the Psalms. Ps. 2:2 and 20:6 which speaks about the L-rd and his



(Anointed, Moshiach), always with reference not merely to Dovid



but to Dovid and the Moshiach arising from his genealogy as it



says "to Dovid and his zera (his seed) forever" (Ps. 18:50;



II Sm. 7:12). I Chr. 17:11 explicitly states this as a prophecy



of the coming Moshiach, "I will raise up your zera (offspring)



after you (Dovid), one of your own sons, and I will establish His



kingdom. He will build a house for me, and I will establish His



throne forever. I will be his Father and He will be My Son (see



also Ps. 2:7; 89:26-27 the Son is called the B'chor) "the



Firstborn," the King of Kings). I will not take my steadfast



love from Him, as I took it from him who was before you (i.e.



King Saul). I will confirm Him in My House and in My kingdom



forever, and His throne shall be established forever." The



nations of the whole world will be His heritage and possession



belonging to Him (Ps. 2:8; Gen. 49:10; Ps. 144:2). Therefore



every king had better reverently "kiss the Son" (Ps. 2:12;



I Kings 19:18) and reverently bow to the coming Moshiach Ben



Dovid (see Ps. 18:43-45).







Dovid is prophesying about the eternal Moshiach-Kohen, the



eternal (cohen, kohen) that is coming (Ps. 110:4). Now by



definition a cohen must make a sacrifice. However, Dovid keeps



prophesying about violence being directed at his own person,



including himself and not only Dovid but also, more importantly,



the Moshiach arising from his genealogy. He says, Karu yadai



V'raglai "they have pierced/have bored/have dug holes in my hands



and feet" (Ps. 22:17; Zech. 12:10). However death is not the end.



"G-d will ransom my soul/life from the power of Sheol/the abode



of the dead, for He will receive me" (Ps. 49:l5). "Prolong the



life of the King; may His years endure to all generations! May He



be enthroned forever before G-d" (Ps. 61:6-7). "He asked you for



life; you gave it to Him--length of days forever and ever" (Ps.



21:4; 110:3-4). Although the necessary sacrifice is emphasized



in Ps. 50:5 ("Gather to Me My Chasdai My g-dly ones, who made a



covenant with me by sacrifice!"), the grave itself is defeated,



for G-d will not let His Chasid "G-dly One" (a title of the



Moshiach in Ps. 89:19, Chasid'cha "your G-dly One") see the Pit



of corruption (Ps. 16:10). Like the Pesach Lamb of G-d, he



"keeps all his bones" (Ex. 12:46; Ps. 34:20).







For further Messianic prophecies in the Psalms see Ps. 41:9;



55:12-15,20-21; 45:6-7; 69:7-10,19-21; 89:3-4,34-51; 118:22-23;



132:11,17-18; 145:13.







David was an ominous sign, a mofet (portent Ps. 71:7) of the



coming Moshiach just as the 520 B.C.E. Kohen Gadol



Yehoshua/Yeshua (Ezra 3:8) was a portent (Zech. 3:8) to many and



his name is the Moshiach's name (Zech. 6:11-12).







Notice both G-d and the Dovidic Moshiach are called Ro'eh Yisroel



"the Shepherd of Israel" (Ps. 78:71; 80:1) and the Moshiach is



addressed as G-d in Ps. 45:6 (see also Zech. 12:8 and Isa. 9:6).



The first objective of the Moshiach Ben Dovid was to provide a



dwelling place for G-d (Ps. 132:5). This was done only in one



Son of Dovid, Yehoshua, in whom came the Incarnation. Only here



did G-d raise up an eternal Tent for Himself, where His Spirit



and His Word could dwell with Him forever. Any other Beis



Hamikdash is fleeting (Ps. 39:4,12) and sinful (Ps. 51:5; 14:36;



53:2-3), fallen and dying. Only Moshiach Yehoshua was the



sinless kohen who rose from the dead and reigns forever as a



Tabernacle in which we may dwell with G-d with a clean heart and



a new and right spirit (Ps. 51:l0). Notice Avdi "My Servant" is



a Messianic title in Ps. 89:20 as it is in Isa. 52:13-53:12.



Read the Psalms through this month and sing to the L-rd a new



song (Ps. 149:1). Sing 27:1; 34:1-4; 68:19-30; 119:105; 125:2;



133:1; 134:1-2.







As you pray for your own and other ministries, be sure and read



the following: Ps. 20:1,4; 25:3-5,16-l8; 27:13-14; 30:5;



31:19-20; 32:8-9; 33:18-19; 34:18-19; 37:4-9,34; 51:1-19;



55:18,23; 56:11; 68:6; 73:25-26; 84:11; 86:16; 102:28; 103:8-18;



107:40-43; 112:6-10; 118:5-9; 121:1-8; 126:5-6; 127:1-2; 130:1-8;



138:3-6; 139:13-18; 141:3-4; 147:10-11.





"I cry to G-d Most High, to G-d who fulfills his purpose for me"



(Ps. 57:2). "Let me hear what G-d the L-rd will speak"(Ps.



85:8-9).







PSALM 16:9-11







9. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh



(body) also shall rest in hope.







10. For thou wilt not leave my soul is Sheol; neither wilt thou



suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.







11. Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is



fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for



evermore.







15(16) My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue



sticks to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of



death.







16(17) For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked



have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.







17(18) I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.



18(19) They part my garments among them, and cast lots (gamble)



for my clothing.







27(28) All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the



L-rd: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before



thee.







28.(29) For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor



among the nations.







29.(30) All they that be rich upon earth shall eat and worship:



all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none



can keep alive his own soul.







30.(31) Posterity shall serve him; future generations shall be



told about the L-rd.







31.(32) They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto



a people that shall he horn, that he bath done this.







PSALM 27:10



When my father and my mother forsake me, then the L-rd will take



me up.







PSALM 33:6



By the Word of the L-rd were the heavens made: and all the host



of them by the breath of his mouth.







PSALM 49:7(8)-9(10)



No man can by any means redeem the life of another, nor give to



G-d a ransom for him:







8(9) For the ransom of a life is precious (costly)--no payment is



ever sufficient:







9(10) That he should live on for ever, and not see corruption.

















MISHLE (PROVERBS)













The fear of the L-rd is the beginning of Wisdom (1:7,29; 9:10;



15:33) and "life indeed" (19:23). Moreover, whether to fear the



L-rd is a choice (1:29) with ethical implications (14:2; 16:6)



that are a matter of life and death (21:16). The aim of



acquiring wisdom is acquiring more trust in the L-rd (22:19) as



we seek Him (28:5). The waywardly complacent fool makes the



wrong choice (14:16,33; 15:17, 17:16), and the Book of Proverbs



strongly exhorts the pursuit of Biblical wisdom as something of



incomparable value (16:16; 23:23), asserting that whoever does



not tremble at the wise words of Scripture is a doomed fool



(19:16), even if he is outwardly religious (15:8; 21:27; 28:9)



and generally presumed righteous (20:9; 21:2; 30:12).









The Book of Proverbs deals with practical wisdom, with matters



like marrying well and finding a good spouse (see 18:22;



31:10-31). Also wisdom itself is something that is found. Wisdom



(chochma) is presented metaphorically as a lady street preacher



(1:20-33; 8:1-9:12) and is contrasted with the lethal allure of



Dame Folly (Aishet K'siloot "a woman of folly"), presented in



contrast as an adulterous street walker (2:16-19; 6:24-7:27;



9:13-18; 23:27-28; 30:20). Both women make strong appeals to the



passersby in front of their respective houses. The house of one



is blessed and the other is cursed (see also 14:1), and all who



enter the house of one or the other will share in either the



house's blessing or its curse. This poetic teaching against



sexual immorality falls within the larger theme of "bad company



destroys good morals" (I Cor. 15:33) which includes 1:10-19;



2:12-22; 3:31-35; 4:14-19; 14:7; 22:5,14,24-25; 28:7; 29:3; 31:3



and passages which deal with ethical qualities like envy, greed,



covetousness, violence, mercy, generosity, and kindness



(11:24-26; 15:27; 21:13,31,26; 22:9,16,22-23; 23:4-6,17; 24:1;



27:4; 28:20,22,25; 28:27; 29:7; 30:14-15).







Seen in a feminine image, Wisdom is the most desirable of women



and the tree of life (3:13-18; 4:22; 8:35-36--see also 11:30).



Seen in a masculine image, he is the Father's Son (Prov. 30:4),



working as a master worker, a carpenter's assistant used



instrumentally to create the world (3:19; 8:22-34).







PROVERBS 8:30 "Then I was by him (at his side), as an artisan



(craftsman). I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing



always before him."







(When the Word became flesh, he became the craftsman at Joseph's



side...Joseph the carpenter from Nazareth, Joseph the son of



Dovid; likewise, the Word in the beginning was the craftsman at



the side of G-d. The feminine metaphor with which this chapter



began has changed to a masculine one. Amon is a masculine noun



meaning artisan or craftsman. Another possible meaning is



foster-child. In any case, as Keil and Delitzsch have shown, at



this point in the chapter the feminine determination disappears.



See how the word is used in Jeremiah 52:15. To be filled with



the Spirit of G-d like Bezalel meant to be filled with wisdom to



build creatively as a craftsman--see Exodus 31:3. Thus Wisdom is



pictured as a craftsman with G-d, even as Yochanan 1:1 says, "In



the beginning was the Word and the Word was with G-d." In



Proverbs 30:4 more light is thrown on this passage: Wisdom is



like a Son, a Son working creatively at his Father's side.



However, Hosea 11:1-4 shows that the divine fatherhood is moral



and spiritual, in contrast to the sexual or physical ideas of the



Baal cults, or in contrast to the ignorant scoffers at the



Biblical doctrine of G-d the Father of His Word Yehoshua. These



critics show the same ignorant tendency to create a non-biblical



strawman "trinity" and then burn it down with ill-informed



polemics, like the ignorant railings of certain Muslims against



the Qur'anic version of the "trinity.")







PROVERBS 30:4 "Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?



Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the



waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the



earth? What is his name, and what is his Son's name, if thou



canst tell?"





(It will not do to try to bring Israel in here as the Son, since



the context reflects back to Proverbs 8 and especially 8:30.



Israel is scarcely mentioned or thought of in Proverbs. The



figure of a son toiling by the side of his father was a familiar



one, and is an arresting metaphor for G-d's primordial Wisdom



toiling creatively in the beginning with G-d. Likewise, Psalm



2:7, Psalm 89:27-28, and Isaiah 9:(5)6 are passages where the



Moshiach is pictured as G-d's Son, his firstborn in the sense of



his heir coming in divine glory (see Daniel 7:13-14 on the Son



who comes in the clouds with G-d) to "divide the spoil with the



strong" (Isaiah 53:12) and to govern eternally--Isaiah 9:7(6).)







The folly of the Fall (Gen. 3:1-24) itself is alluded to in Prov.



3:5-7,-Trust in the L-rd with all your heart, and do not rely on



your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will



make straight your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear



the L-rd, and turn away from evil" (see also 11:2; 12:9; 14:12;



15:25,33; 16:5,18-19; 18:12; 19:3; 21:4,24; 25:6-7,27; 26:12;



27:1-2; 28:26; 29:23, which also touch on the sin of pride and



presumption).







The book advocates honoring G-d with the tithe (3:9-10) and



remaining docile before Him to hear and obey His Scriptural



commands (3:11-12; 10:8,17; 12:1,15; 13:1,13; 15:5,10,12,31-32;



19:20,25; 20:18,30; 21:11; 24:6; 25:12; 27:5-6,17; 28:23; 29:1)



lest one backslide (26:11; 28:4). Obeying G-d requires hard



work, diligence, and shrewd planning for future needs (6:6-11;



10:4-5, 26; 12:11,24,27, 13:4; 14:4,23; 15:19; 16:26; 18:9;



19:15,24; 20:4,13; 21:5,17,25; 22:7,13; 24:27,30-34; 26:13-16;



27:18,25-27; 28:19), as well as self-control (16:32; 19:19; 20:1;



23:19-21, 29-35; 25:28; 29:11,22; 31:4-5), straightforwardness



and honesty of speech (4:24; 6:12; 10:10-11; 12:17,19,22;



14:5,25; 19:9,28; 21:6,28; 26:23-28; 30:8) and foreswearing all



treachery, dishonesty, and injustice (3:29; 10:2; 11:1,9,20;



13:5; 16:11; 17:23; 18:5; 20:17,23; 22:28; 24:10-12,24-25;



38:13), remembering that G-d hates the slanderer (10:18), the



gossip (11:13; 16:28; 18:8; 20:19; 26:20,22), the sower of



discord (6:12-19; 13:10; 26:21), and the one who gloats (24:17)



or belittles people (11:12) or is bitterly vengeful (24:29;



25:21-22) or is a mocker (30:17).







Part of the task of teaching shrewdness to the simple (1:4) is



warning him not to offer property as collateral for his



neighbor's debts or to similarly go into debt himself (6:1-5;



11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26-27; 27:13). Also he must be taught to



be sensitive to the reactions of others and how they are



perceiving him (25:17; 27:14,23).







"Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses" (10:12),



"whoever walks with the wise becomes wise" (13:20), meaning that



we should stay in fellowship with fellow believers and maintain a



loving relationship with them (see 17:9). But "the one who lives



alone is self-indulgent" (18:1a). "What is desirable in a person



is loyalty" (19:22a; 20:6; 25:19; 27:10).







Notice that the sage no less than the prophet preaches the Torah



and warns about its curses (see 2:22; 10:30; Deut. 28:63-67)



This book was written "for the wise" (1:5) but it also written



for young people (1:8,10; 19:27; 22:6), who will perish without



discipline (13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15,17). This book



reminds and we always need reminding, that "a good name is to be



chosen rather than great riches" (22:1).







This is a book concerning self-control and common sense in



matters of work, diligence, speech, honesty, and sex.







Prov. 1:22. The fool does not study the Word, does not tremble



at the Word, does not acknowledge it by his life though he may



always be "learning" it (II Tim. 3:6-7). He has not been "made



into a learner with a teacher" according to Matthew 28:19-20. A



disciple is a "learner with a teacher."







Prov. 1:33 Fearing no mischance means not fearing what Sartre



feared, the radical continguency of life, that "anything can



happen." (See 29:25; 28:1 and do a concordance study on "fear" in



the book of Proverbs.





Prov. 2:1-5 We study to know G-d, to please Him in all things,



and to enjoy him forever.







Prov. 3:11-12 Can you take correction from ministers?







Prov. 3:31 One year the New York Post headlines on April 16



"MARVELOUS!" and the picture was a prize fighter bleeding and



knocked senseless. Do you have any idea how angry this kind of



stupidity makes G-d?





Prov. 4:13 This matter of spiritual study is a life-or-death



matter.







Prov. 4:22 Have you learned to use your Bible as a therapy system



to bring inner healing (and consequent bodily healing) to



yourself?







Prov.4:23 Be very careful upon what you set your affections.







Prov.5:8 Flee from the lusts of youth and avoid even the



appearance of evil. Learn to run from disgrace and hide from



temptation in the L-rd.







Prov. 5:17 Polygamy is out, monogamy is in.







Prov. 6:6-11 Get a job, and don't be dumber than an ant.



Prov. 7:11 Don't let any spirit drive you, whether it be the



demon of gluttony, autoeroticism, gluttony, gambling, or



workaholicism.







Prov. 8:22 Creation's wisdom is created, but the rationality of



G-d in creation is uncreated, and it was this power in G-d that



came on the scene as the man Moshiach Yehoshua. Humanity has



wisdom the animals lack because, unlike animals, we are create in



the image of G-d. But G-d always imaged Himself by his



rationality in the Logos, the logic of G-d. The Moshiach is the



Chochmah Elohim (the Wisdom of G-d) who gave Moses the pattern



for the Tabernacle on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 25:40).







Prov. 9:13 We should strive to act on the prompting of the Ruach



Hakodesh rather than on impulse.





Prov. 10:8 Be aware of the worthless speech in your life.



Prov. 10:9 Secret sins will disgrace you.





Prov. 10:l7 Stay under Brit Chadasha kehillah discipline. Become



a disciple.







Prov. 10:28 If you are moving into maturity in the Spirit there



should be deep joy in your life.







Prov. 11:2 is a key theme.







Prov. 11:7 Put this together with Ps. 1 to define who the wicked



are and use it to lead people to Biblical discipleship.



Prov. 12:2-3 This typical proverb shows that deism is wrong. G-d



actively and morally intervenes in his world, though his hand is



veiled to the unwise.







Prov. 12:11 Be an entrepreneur for G-d, one of the dreamers who



do.







Prov. 12:15 Do you know the difference between servile



"submission" and Biblical accountability?





Prov. 13:2 The whole world is filled with political treachery and



military violence. Work only with sifted people you have tested



first.







Prov. 13:13 and 30:5-6 are reasons why we believe in the



inerrancy of the Bible.







Prov. 13:20 Can you avoid a sterile quarantine from your unsaved



friends and still witness to them without losing your testimony



with them?







Prov. 14:22 What is your arts project? Do you have a vision to



reach the lost through the talents G-d has given you?







Prov. 14:31 Think about the poor we pass daily on the sidewalk



and how we insult G-d by the way we treat them.







Prov. 15:1 Learn to be soft and humble and gentle in speech as a



minister.







Prov. 15:19 Your nightly prayer should be, "Make me industrious



tomorrow, L-rd, and give me strength and wisdom to know what to



do to serve you.







Prov. 15:32 When someone rejects the Besuras Hageulah ask why



they hate themselves.







Prov. 17:19 This is a pitfall in the ministry: a bitter sarcastic



tone in the voice.







Prov. 17:22 Never let HaSatan have your sense of humor.



Prov. 18:13 is the first rule of counselling.







Prov. 22:6 is why you should consider children's ministry. My



Sunday School teacher was Rav Sha'uline and G-d knew all the



potential little Shliach Sha'uls she was investing in. With the



L-rd now, her works still follow her.







Prov. 22:15 Traces of original sin.







Prov. 23:20 Avoid gluttony.







Prov. 24:7 Have you ever noticed that the unsaved have little to



oontribute to a spiritual discussion? By the fruit of their lips



you will know them.







Prov. 24:19-20 The problem of the prosperity of the wicked is



solved.







Prov. 25:21-22 Love your enemies.







Prov. 28:4 The unspiritually broadminded are carnallym



muddle-minded.







Prov. 28:9 Backslilders can't pray.







Prov. 23:13 Why we need to confess the L-rd before the



congregation.







Prov. 28:25 Envy is at the root of most quarrels, though it hides



under other pretexts.







Prov. 28:26 Get in touch with Moshiach Yehoshua and follow his



promptings.







Prov. 30:7-9 The two-way temptation of money.







Prov. 30:20 G-d, show us our moral blindness and wretchedness.





PROVERBS 3:19



The L-rd by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath



he established the heavens.







PROVERBS 8:23



I was appointed from everlasting, from the first (beginning), or



ever the earth was (begun).







PROVERBS 30:6



Add thou not unto his words, lest he rebuke thee, and thou be



found a liar.















KOHELET (ECCLESIASTES)















Shakespeare said, "We owe G-d a death...but death is a fearful



thing."







There is an unconscious terror of death in Man, who knows that



the significance of his life shrivels at the words "unto dust



shalt thou return." In the gruesome shadow of death, the whole



life of Man is made to seem as so much empty and lonely loitering



at the gates of an infinite abyss. There is a word for this



emptiness in Hebrew, the word havel which means empty,



unsubstantial, a passing elusive vapor. This is what life is



without a personal knowledge of G-d.







The author, who calls himself Kohelet "leader of the Assembly,"



Ben Dovid Melech Byrooshalam "son of Dovid, king in Jerusalem,"



finds that death has thrown a shroud of gloom and meaninglessness



over every kind of work that man does "under the sun." G-d's



work endures (3:14; 7:13), but man's does not. Death sees to



that. And therein is the riddle of life. What can dying, man



gain from all his work (1:3)? What can mortal man achieve from



all his labor, in view of his rapidly approaching demise (2:22)?



There is a time to die (3:2), but death is life's biggest riddle.



What possible gain can workers have from all their life-long toil



(3:9) since death causes them in the end to toil "for the wind



(5:16)?" A generation comes and goes to death and is forgotten



(1:4; 2:16). Death makes all toil "wearisome" and predictably



futile and, since everything dies, everything is deja vu



(disagreeably the same). People of long ago and people yet to



come will both alike be forgotten and all their labors will be



forgotten because of that great leveller called Death. Death is



what makes life at heart such an unhappy business, and there is



nothing man can do about this crooked state of dying affairs



(1:15). So this life in itself is found wanting, and death is



the reason. Many who claim to be Jewish claim that life is



wonderful as it is, but these people are not Biblical Jews, any



more than that Jewish man Karl Marx was a Biblical Jew with all



his philosophizing about the worker's existence "under the sun.







The French philosopher Pascal noticed how we habitually block out



the thought of our own coming demise. We do this in order to



maintain a fragile sense of mental happiness. Death is an end



too incomprehensibly ominous to contemplate. Yet our thoughts



keep returning to glower at its reality. And though we try to



divert ourselves with continuous activity and company and



"unhappy business," we know that each of us must ultimately die



and see everything we have done unravelled into nothingness.



Where can we then find pleasure in anything we do? What in the



world, what under the sun, are dying men to do with their



meaningless lives?







The author makes a test of various activities and pursuits:



wisdom, madness, folly, pleasure, laughter, wine, women, song,



great building projects, great "life works," great acquisitions,



possessions, treasure-collecting, and he finds only emptiness and



meaninglessness in all these. Whatever pleasures these things



brought him were fleeting indeed. The more wisdom he acquired,



the more sorrow he became aware of. The more money he acquired,



the more vexation came with it. Death robs all men, because



everyone goes to the grave naked and penniless. So what use is



money, in the face of death? And since the sage and the fool



must both go to the same all-consuming grave, what use is wisdom,



in the face of death?







The author acquired much wisdom and his wisdom remained with him



(2:9), although wisdom can be ephemeral even in this life, in



view of senility and the effects of aging, so grimly portrayed in



ch. 12. But since man cannot extend his life or control what



happens after his death, all that his wisdom attains for him may



fall into the hands of some foolish oblivion as soon as he dies,



so what good is wisdom, anyway, in the final analysis? The same



fate (death) befalls everyone. No man has an heir he can really



trust, since even one's posterity is also subject to death and



chance, which can, and eventually will, given sufficient time,



play havoc with anyone's legacy. So death destroys life's



meaning. Death makes one hate life (2:17). Death makes one hate



one's work (2:18). Wise men, for all the work of their minds,



are no better than mad men or fools because all alike die.



Indeed, man is no better than the beasts who are also subject to



the same fate. And man is ignorant! Man doesn't know what G-d



has done or will do (3:11). Man doesn't know what will take



place after his death. Men doesn't know if his human spirit



awaits a fate different than animal extinction (3:20-22). Man



needs G-d to give him some answers, because if death completely



swallows and obliterates man, then Mankind that G-d created to



work and till the ground and have dominion over the animals is



himself no better than an animal.







This is the problem. Death. What is the answer? Is there



anything that death cannot obliterate? Yes, the author of



Ecclesiastes says. The work of G-d. It endures and death has no



dominion over it (3:14). But what is the work of G-d? What does



G-d do, in the final analysis? G-d judges everyone, and he has



appointed a time to judge the world (3:17). G-d judges the sinner



by bringing all things he does into judgment (11:9). The sinner's



life is dispensed with not as the sinner pleases but as G-d



pleases, and the wages of sin that G-d pleases to dispense is a



meaningless death (2:26). But death cannot obliterate this



judgment that G-d metes out. Therein is where lies the hope of



the resurrection from the death, which this book questions but



does not negate. The author does not merely say, "Eat, drink and



be merry, for tomorrow we die." In fact he says just the



opposite. He says, "I've tried that, and I don't recommend it."



G-d will bring everything into judgment (11:9); therefore, fear



G-d (5:7). Do not live for this world because this world in



itself is meaningless and empty and fallen and dying. Live for



G-d and enjoy everything that he gives you as a gift from him.



Otherwise, there is no pleasure in this life. Death is man's



lot. To be able to accept this as a fact of life is itself a



gift from G-d. G-d is a mystery and creation was created good



but it is now fallen (7:29). Man has limits to his wisdom. There



is no power in man that will save him from the day of death.



All he can say is that death cannot take away the good that the



G-d-fearer has. "It will be well with those who fear G-d,



because they stand in fear before him." The author seems to be



questioning and looking for something new under the sun (1:9-10),



which was what the Moshiach is when he comes walking out of the



tomb in his glorious resurrection body. Otherwise, "there is no



work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol (the abode of the



dead), to which you are going" (9:10). The righteous and the



wise and their deeds are "in the hand of G-d" who endures and



whose judgment not even death can thwart. This is the assurance



of wisdom that makes the resurrection of the dead the vibrant



hope and the only answer to the riddle that death poses to the



author of this book.







Philosphers like David Hume may say that they are not afraid to



die, but put a pistol to their breasts, then threaten to kill



them, and see (with Boswell and Yochananson) how the wisest



philosopher will behave. The illusions of genteel philosophy



will not help us face the rude indignities of death when they



brutally rap at the door.







The problem of evil as it churns bitterly around in our minds



often tempts us to doubt the existence of G-d, especially a G-d



who is safely removed from both suffering and death and waits



austerely in heaven to judge us. If we think of death's



inescapableness and even of Moshiach Yehoshua as "a nice, dead



prophet," where do we have to go with the guilt of our moral



failures as our years quickly arraign us into the courts of the



inevitable graveyard?







Facing the evil of the human condition and the absurd,



meaningless, sniper fire of death picking off everyone around us,



we begin to feel a deep inner unhappiness and anxiety. We ask



ourselves, what is lurking at the bottom of all our fears--is it



not the fear of death? Many psychological researchers are now



saying that the fear of death has a central place in human life,



so much so that some believe a culture's very concept of reality,



its model for "the good life," and its moral codes are all



intended to protect people psychologically from the ubiquitous



terror of death. Of course, Freud disagreed that every fear is



ultimately the fear of death. Yet he dais admit that "the dread



of death, which dominates us oftener than we know, is...usually



the outcome of the sense of guilt."







We suspect that a certain amount of our present sufferings come



from our own faithless treacheries haunting us from the past. And



the dread of something worse possibly coming back to torment us



after death prevents us from ever being fully at ease with our



dwindling and frail mortality. In light of death's unknown



hellish judgments, as Hamlet says, "the conscience does make



cowards of us all." Death is truly an awesome "undiscovered



country" from whose dreadful domain no traveller can return.



Yet the English philosopher Hobbes once wrote, "G-d, that could



give life to a piece of clay, hath the same power to give life



again to a dead man, and renew his inanimate and rotten carcass



into a glorious, spiritual and immortal body." This very point



is what separates the religion of the Bible from that of Homer,



for the Greek g-ds could not revive the dead. They were not truly



omnipotent. But omnipotence is precisely the claim of the G-d of



the Bible whose Hebrew prophets even predicted the coming of the



Moshiach. Their promise was that through this coming King and



Redeemer, G-d would personally destroy death and bring



immortality and bodily resurrection to light at last.







However, the Torah teaches that the penalty of unintentional evil



that must be paid to redeem G-d's people from ultimate divine



judgment is the death of a sacrificial victim called an Asham,



"ah-sham" guilt offering, which had to be brought to the kohen



for slaughter (Leviticus 5:14-19). The prophets said that the



coming Moshiach would be an eternal kohen and his death would be



a momentous "ah-sham" guilt offering for sin (see Psalm 110:4;



Isaiah 53:10). The merciful purpose of such a blood sacrifice is



to purify humanity from its unpunished sin so that all who turn



from evil and have faith can be justly forgiven. How significant



it is, then, that hundreds of years before their words were



fulfilled, the prophets of the Hebrew Bible predicted that "My



Servant" the Moshiach would be named Yehoshua (or Moshiach



Yehoshua--see Jeremiah 23:5-6; Zechariah 3:8; 6:11-12; Ezra 3:8).



Further, these Hebrew prophets predicted that the Moshiach would



offer himself as a blood sacrifice and then afterwards see the



light of resurrection life (see Isaiah 52:13-53:12 in the Dead



Sea Scrolls). As it says in Hebrews 2:14-15, this was to release



those who throughout their life have been subject to servitude



and bondage through their fear of death (thanatophobia).



Would you like to be freed from that great fear behind all your



other fears? Would you like to be delivered from the fear of



death and the dread of punishment? Would you like to have true



peace with G-d? Isaiah 53:5 says of the Moshiach, "the



punishment that brought us peace was upon him." His blood and



"his wounds can heal you" from the fear of death and the dread



of punishment (Isaiah 53:5). But faith comes from exposure to



the Word of G-d as it is obediently taught and studied and



faithfully proclaimed. Why rely only on your own thoughts when



you can seek to know G-d's? Reach out to Moshiach Yehoshua by



faith. Trust him to forgive your sins and receive Him and obey



Him as L-rd as you worship among a body of believers where the



Bible is believed and faithfully taught.







People don't get saved unless they feel lost. Ecclesiastes



(Hebrew, Qohelet) depicts the utter emptiness and futility of



life that only the resurrection of the Moshiach can alter. Do



you remember those instant writing pads you played with as a



child? You raise the sheet and all your work vanishes...That's



what life is like. The only thing that gets preserved is what



G-d calls to judgment (12:14). All else in this life is chasing



after wind.







"There is nothing new under the sun," (1:9) yet what is old will



also be lost, and memory will not give it permanence, for it too



will be forgotten. Only the Word of the L-rd will stand forever



(I Shliach Kefa 1:25) and our labors for the L-rd (I Cor. 15:58).



All empty hedonism, worldly amusements, materialism, secular



education, secular art, workaholic personal kingdom-building



(with or without nepotism) will pass away. The world with all it



craves for is coming to an end (I Yochanan 2:17). G-d rewards



sage and fool alike--with death! (2:16). Therefore, worldly



wisdom is an empty mirage. G-d is the only one capable of



escaping or breaking the empty cycle of vanity described in



2:24-26. This G-d did in the new creation age that is already



dawning in the resurrection of His filial Word, our Savior and



L-rd, Moshiach Yehoshua the Moshiach.







Eccles. 3:21-22 shows that had the Moshiach not brought in the



dawn of the resurrection age, there would be nothing for us to do



but to be happy in the ministry of our vocational calling.



However, since the resurrection has occurred, we can be happy in



our "tent-making" means to effect the Great Commission ends of



the work the Moshiach has assigned us (II Thes. 3:7-12; I Thess.



4:11-12; Eph. 4:23). This means denuding ourselves of our own



cultural and "class consciousness" regarding educational and



vocational status, and to take the Bible and Shliach Sha'ul as



our model in using the gifts of vocation (and even possibly



celibacy) to the Lord's advantage in doing cross-cultural



outreach at home and abroad.







Society is wicked, oppressive, and evil and the life of this



world--in itself--is not worth living, arising as it does from



the futile envy and mutual jealousy and ambition of dying men



(4:4). A philosophical skepticism about yourself will also keep



you from bringing worldly ambition into the L-rd's work, and will



keep you from vain, restless, striving in the ministry. Cure:



take a walk in the out-of-doors and meditate on Ecclesiastes.



Dream dreams for G-d (without a vision you die), but strip off



the vainglory and pompous arrogance (5:6).





Ask G-d to give you the ability to enjoy life and to keep your



heart "occupied with joy" (5:19). If you are a congregational



leader you will have to marry and bury people. Use the Word! Use



Song of Songs to marry and Ecclesiastes 5:1a etc., to bury.



Worldly humor is as empty and sinister as the jestors in Nero's



Circus or at Hugh Heffner's Playboy Club (7:5), and every



philanderer knows that a woman's worldly laughter is a prelude to



the bedroom (Eph. 5:4-5). This kind of affair is far worse than



the deprivations of celibacy (Eccles. 7:26-27). 8:15 shows that



radical abstinence (health-breaking fasts, etc.) is unbiblical



because it impunes the goodness of G-d's creation. The preamble



to all kiruv outreach for Moshiach is 8:5-6: the hope of the



worldly dead is extinquished.







Learn to live in humble and careful fear of the L-rd, asking him



daily for a wise heart (10:1-2), since you can ruin your whole



life's good works and good name with a little folly.







"Slaves I see on horsebeck" (10:7) means that the celebrities and



stars and princes of this world are in reality mere garbege



supervisors since their world is actually a junk heap at the



mouth of hell and not Moshiach's Kingdom.







A warning for flakey students: "Fools find hard work irksome; he



who does not know the way cannot go to town" (10:15). Our school



is to show you the way to do cross-cultural ministry at home or



abroad--a task more complex than pursuing a diploma at a diploma



mill. You must do the ministry, plant a cross-cultural fellowship



among Jews or Muslims, etc., write and perform a performing arts



ministry vehicle before an audience. If you cannot do anything



for G-d here as an outgrowth of our school, how can you hope to



succeed overseas or anywhere else?







Be careful what you say: it will fly away and be heard afar



(10:20).







Become a good steward of your time (11:6). Also the time is now



to get your time-management act together.







Notice the Faulknerian As I Lay Dying poetic "death tableaux" in



the picture of old age in 12:3-5.







Eccles. 12:12 warns about too many books wearing you out. But



don't throw out books related to Hebrew, Tanakh (Old Testament),



Greek, Brit Chadasha Scriptures Survey, Messianic Yeshiva



studies, Messianic Prophecies and Rabbinic Literature,



Judaeo-Christian History and Philosophy, Historical Theology and



Doctrine, Cross-cultural communication and the Arts and ministry



formation. This is our curriculum at Artists For Israel Institute



and books related to these subjects you never have too many of in



the teaching and preaching minstry of the body of Moshiach.









ECCLESIASTES 7:29



G-d made Man upright, but they have devised many schemes.























SHIR HA-SHIRIM (SONG OF SONGS)

















A book that is traditionally read at Pesach is Shir HaShirim "The



Song of Songs" (meaning "the best of all possible songs").



There are several reasons why Shliach Sha'ul is correct when he



interprets the book as making reference to the Moshiach and his



wedding banquet with his people. In Eph. 5:25-27, Shliach Sha'ul



says, "Husbands, love your wives." The Song of Songs contains



love poems and refers to the son of Dovid's Chatunah "wedding")



in 3:11. King Shlomo here, the son of Dovid, is not the ultimate



One who brings peace. One greater than Shlomo is here, the rose



of Sharon, the lily of the Valley (2:1), the fairest of ten



thousand (5:10). And He does have a bride who is faithful to his



covenant with her. She is the people of G-d. He is her king



(1:2-4,12) and her shepherd (1:7-8). Shliach Sha'ul says,



"Husbands, love your wives, just as Moshiach loved his people and



gave himself up for her in order to make her holy by cleansing



her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present her



to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of



the kind--yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish." On



the same theme, Song of Songs says (4:7), "you are altogether



beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. And the son of



Dovid's covenant bride is called (tahm-mah-TEE) "my perfect one"



(5:2; 6:9). It says, Look! "Who is that coming up from the



wilderness...leaning upon her beloved" (8:5)? And the answer is,



the people of G-d, for they were married in the wilderness, they



became wedlock in covenant marriage with the L-rd at Mt. Sinai,



and the Pesach is the wedding banquet, celebrating the covenant.



I Cor. 10:4 says that the beloved Rock they leaned on in the



Exodus wilderness was Moshiach. For I Cor. 5:7 says, "Moshiach,



our Pesach Lamb, has been sacrificed."







But to keep the bridal garments clean, we need to clean out the



old yeast (I Cor. 5:7). We need to catch the proud little foxes



that spoil the vineyard of our love relationship with the



Moshiach (2:15). We need to seek him, while he may be found. Song



of Shl. 3:l says, "Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul



loves." "With great delight" He wants you to sit in his shadow



(2:3) today. He wants you to be faint with love for Him (2:5)



today. Look, it says, who is this making His appearance like the



dawn, terrible as an army with banners (6:10)? Look, He is



coming, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills



(2:8). Even tonight he is standing at the wall you have built to



shut him out. A garden locked is your soul (4:12). But tonight



He is gazing into the windows of your inner most being. I'm



talking about Ha'arye Y'huda the Lion of Judah, the One to whom



the nations belong, the harvester of the world. He is standing



even now on His threshing floor, and you are Ruth lying at his



feet. "Kiss the Son, (Nahsh-koo bar), lest He be angry and you



perish in the way. Happy are all who take refuge in Him (Ps.



2:12). He is the "desired of all nations" (Hag. 2:7). He is



altogether desirable (Song of Shl. 5:16). He is saying to you in



love tonight, "Arise and come. G-d wants to make a Spring visit



to your soul. "For now the winter is past, the rain is over and



gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has



come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The



fig tree puts forth its figs (are not the Jewish people beginning



to turn to Him?), and the vines are in blossom; they give forth



fragrance." The Moshiach is saying to your soul tonight, "Arise,



beloved, come." (See 2:10b-13.) By His death He paid the



bride-price and purchased us for Himself, for His very own



(8:12). Now He wants to set a seal on our hearts forever (3:6).



By His resurrection, He proved that his "love is as strong as



death" (8:6). Right now you are a wall. He wants you to become



a door he can enter. It's time to turn from self and yield to



Him. Holy Covenant love requires that. Any bride can tell you.



But a bride must be clean and dressed in white especially at



Pesach time. If we come to Him confessing our need to be cleansed



by Him, we will be able to say, 'I am my beloved's and he is



mine" (6:3). "He brought me to the banqueting table, and his



banner over me is love" (2:4).







The Ruach Hakodesh wants to awaken love in your heart for the



Moshiach of Israel tonight. You must open to him and let him



ravish your soul. Although editors have tried to format this



love song as a drama, their attempts have not been persuasive.



Therefore, ignore any dramatic personae supplied in your Bible.



These are not in the Hebrew. We must let the Bible interpret



itself. This is where G-d affirms erotic romantic love in



marriage. Because marriage itself is a mystery, it echoes on a



human level the relationship between the Moshiach and his people.



For just as the old humanity was made male and female, so the new



humanity is made Moshiach and his bride.







Chapter 2:7 is a refrain. See 3:5 and 8:4. The significance of



this refrain seems to be that love must be allowed to grow



naturally, in its own time. It is not to be rushed or forced or



given an artificial stimulus. Promiscuous modern "dating" is



unscriptural and dangerous, like quick-chicken hormones, discos,



raunchy rhythm music and low cut necklines. Look at 3:4. Being



married is belonging to someone more indissolubly (Matthew 19:6;



Genesis 2:18) than one's own parents. This is a mystery, beyond



all comprehension, the way of a man with a virgin, that a man



leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife and



they become one body





The Brit



Chadasha Scriptures stands for the equality of women (Gal.



3:28;p I Cor. 7:4; 11:11-12), although this doctrine does not



obviate the hierarchy of function in the body of the L-rd and in



the family, where women and children do not L-rd it over men,



though women can hold offices and can speak for the L-rd as



prophetesses.







Look at 6:8-9. Like election, erotic romantic marital love is



selective, unique, personal and mysterious (why this girl and no



other?) It is likely that this poetry was used in the context of



weddings. Look at 7:1-7. The poetic imagery is oriental and



culture-bound. Just as one man can't see what another man sees



in his wife, so it is with cultural divergences in language, ways



of perceiving, customs, etc. That's why the gift of Shliach is



important. Those who have the cross-cultural gift to go to a



particular people-group can see beauty and worth in that



culture, whereas those without this gift cannot see the same



beauty and worth in that particular culture.





Look at 8:1. Loved ones long to be together--they are one flesh



and erotic love is the glue to hold them together in holy



matrimony for the sake of the children. See Malachi 2:15. Song



of Shl. 8:10-11 is a polemic against polygamy and its barter



mentality where the shared spouse becomes an object for loan. See



8:6. G-d is a furious cuckold with tender reconcilling heavenly



love in the one hand and furious betrayed love in the other. (See



notes on Hosea).







See Isaiah 7:14 notes on Song of Sol. 6:8.





SONG OF SONGS 6:8



There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without



number.















YESHAYAH (ISAIAH)













The first six chapters of Isaiah summarize much of the rest of



the book. In his prophecy, Isaiah preaches against ethical



relativism (5:20), loitering drunks who disregard the L-rd and



his works (5:11,22), cut-throat land-grabbing nobility (5:8),



unjust murderers (1:15,21; 5:7), fortunetellers and fraternizers



with pagan mockers (2:6), idol worshippers (2:8), humanism



(2:22), blind guides leading the people into disaster (3:12), the



haughty rich who exploit in greed the penniless (3:15-16),



justice-subverting bribe-takers (5:23) and all those who reject



the Word of G-d (5:24). Invasion by foreign armies (5:26-30),



firey destruction, and exile (5:13,29) will cause a reversal of



fortune for these people, and the Day of the L-rd will cause the



haughty rich to be brought low (2:17) and the poor in spirit to



become purged in the fire and holy (1:25; 4:3).





Along with the survivors will come in the aftermath the Moshiach,



the Tzemach (Branch) of the L-rd (4:2) who is identified (in the



book of Isaiah itself, not merely in Jer. 23:5-6; 33:15 or Zech.



3:8) with the Tzemach T'zadik (Righteous Branch) of the L-rd and



of Dovid, the Tzadik Avdi the Righteous Servant of the L-rd



(53:11) and Dovid (37:35). This Moshiach-Servant is associated



with the L-rd in many ways: He too is "raised high and lifted up"



(compare 52:13; 6:1); He too is glorious, Jesse's glorious root



(compare 4:2 and 11:10 with 6:3, noticing also the word Shoresh



[root], linking 11:10 and 53:2); He too is the rallying



focal-point of the nations (compare 11:10 to 2:2-4 and see the



one "to whom the obedience of the nations belongs"--Genesis



49:10; see Ezekiel 21:27 [21:32 in the Hebrew Bible; Psalm 18:43;



Isaiah 42:1,4; 49:6); He too bears a divine name and governing



function (9:5-6); He too is Immanuel, (G-d-with-us), the



rightful owner of Israel's land (compare 8:8 and 7:14 to 5:5); He



too, this anointed Moshiach-Servant (11:2; 42:1), is righteous



(see 11:4-5 and 42:21; 51:5). The Moshiach-Servant, through the



Dovidic covenant, witnesses as a light to the Gentiles (9:6) to



those outside the covenant (Isaiah 55:3).







Job standing rejected and forsaken with mockers around him (Job



17:2) reminds the reader of the picture we have of the suffering



Servant of the L-rd in Isaiah 53 or the mocked Dovidic King in



Psalm 22 (compare Job 27:4 to Isa. 53:9). In the midst of the



false accusations Job "holds fast to his righteousness" (Job



27:6) and waits on the L-rd to confirm the innocence of his cause



(Job 42:7-8). So the mocked sage who becomes a fool that the



world curses and makes sport of is depicted in Isaiah 53. We have



seen this picture before in that other image, the judge of



Israel, Samson, being made sport of by the Philistines (Judg.



16:25) or in the King of Israel, Dovid the sage, pretending to be



mad before a similar scoffing Philistine audience (I Sm.



21:13-15). When sages like Moshe or Dovid are nearly stoned by



the people (Ex. 17:4; I Sm. 30:6) we see this reemerging picture



of the rejected-yet-vindicated-as-righteous Sage of Israel.



Significantly, the Son of Dovid is depicted as the sage par



excellence in the life of Shlomo in I Kings. Then II Chronicles



intensifies this portrait and gives Messianic prophetic



significance to Dovid's Son as the Moshiach Sage of Israel.



Finally, Isaiah combines the two portraits of the sage found in



Job and Shlomo and depicts the Dovidic Servant of the L-rd as the



mocked and rejected sage-counsellor (9:5-6) filled "with the



spirit of wisdom" (Isa. 11:2) who seems to labor "in vain" but



trusts his cause to the L-rd (Isa. 49:4) and, after mockery and



rejection (Isa. 53:2-4), is finally vindicated by G-d as



righteous (see Isa. 53:11-12).







The Moshiach is the eternal Kohen who sprinkles the nations with



a Cosmic Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) sacrifice. (Ps. 110:4;



Zechariah 6:11-13; Isaiah 52:15; Lev. 16:14-17).







The Moshiach is the Seh Elohim (the Lamb of G-d) provided from



heaven as the sacrifice in order that G-d's people might be



passed over and redeemed from divine judgment, as Isaac was and



as the nation of Israel was. G-d sent His Word and healed His



people from the plagues of judgment He poured out on the heathen.



G-d saved His people in order that they might make an exodus to



new abundant life in accordance with His gracious covenant



promise in the Moshiach (Gen. 32:8; Ps. 107:30; Isa. 53:5-6,10;



Deut. 7:15; Isaiah 42:1,6-7; 40:3; 42:16; 43:19; 49:5-26).



The words "son" and "child" are very important to Isaiah's



message. His own two sons are given portentous names (7:3;



8:1-3) and the conception of the second son in the womb of his



prophetess-wife is divinely timed. In chs. 7-9, Isaiah refers to



his own son and to Dovid's son, a son he calls "G-d with us" and



"Mighty G-d." Isaiah shows us a Deliverer who can rule the world



(9:5-6), and yet he marvels at this personage being born as a



humble child, just as a little child leads the rest of creation



in the future kingdom--Isaiah 11:6. The future kingdom is



described in passages which include 2:1-4; 4:2-6; 11:6-9; 25:6-8;



35:1-10; 60:1-22. The future king of this glorious kingdom is



described in passages which include 7:1-12:6; 32:1-20;



49:1-57:21; 61:1-11. The Moshiach is the Descendent of the Woman



who will battle that Ancient Serpent, Satan (Gen. 3:15), called



"Leviathan the twisting serpent" in Isa. 27:1.







The secondary, if not primary meaning of the word Ha'Almah in



Isaiah 7:14 is virgin because the same Hebrew word means virgins



in Song of Shlomo 6:8, since the king's female companions were



queens and either concubines or virgins (see Esther 2:13-14,17),



not mere unmarried maidens who may have previously cohabited with



another men--a capital offense in Israel and a disqualification



for the king's harem in the book of Esther. In Esther 2:13-14,17



there are two harems, one for the virgins, and one for the



concubines. Queen Vashti occupied another area, as did Esther



when she became queen. Many older Jewish Bibles admitted this by



translating its plural form as Almot "virgins" in Song of Shl.



6:8. In Isaiah 7:14, the prophet is referring to a "sign" for



the dynasty of Dovid, and the ultimate fulfillment of that



prophesy involves no one other than Yehoshua, G-d's Immanuel,



whose virgin mother was betrothed to a descendent of Ahaz's



Messianic Davidic dynasty--see Hebrews 7:14; Romans 1:3; Matthew



1:1,16; Luke 3:23,31. The legal right to the throne came through



the father--see Babylonian Talmud Baba Bathra 130a on Deut.



21:16. Also, see Ignatius' Epistle to the Ephesians, "Miryam of



the seed of David."







The Branch of the L-rd and of Dovid is called "the L-rd" in Mal.



3:1 and Ps. 110:1, since Adon refers to Hashem in Zechariah 4:14



and 6:5. Therefore, we shouldn't surprised if the name of G-d is



given to the Moshiach in Isa. 9:5-6. The Hebrew words Moshi'a



and Go'el found in the books of Judges and Ruth point to this



Savior/Redeemer figure, the Moshiach. See Isaiah 49:26. Three



kings serve as foils in Isaiah's depiction of the Moshiach: Ahaz



son of David, Hezekiah son of David (compare 7:4-17 and



27:1-7,21-35), and the Persian King Cyrus, called Moshiach



(45:1), because he saves the Jewish people from the Babylonian



Exile and sends them home to rebuild their land and Beis



Hamikdash. About 734 B.C.E. Rezin King of Damascus (Syria) and



Pekah King of Israel organized a coalition to rebel against



Assyria. When Ahaz refused to join them and they invaded Judah



(7:1), Ahaz apppealed directly to Assyria for help, beginning the



process of foreign invading armies and exile that would swallow



his throne in 586 B.C.E. Assyria captured Damascus (732 B.C.E.),



Samaria (722 B.C.E.) and Babylon (defeating Assyria) captured



Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. Isaiah warned Ahaz's son and successor,



Hezekiah about the coming Babylonian captivity (see 39:5-7 and



6:11-12). Isaiah also prophesied about the release from Exile



and the return to the land (48:20f).







For prophesies by Isaiah against the nations, see 13:1-14:23;



21:1-10; 43:14-15; chp. 46-47 (Babylon): 14:28-32 (Philistia see



ch. 20 on Ashdod); ch.15-16 (Moab); 17:1-11 (Damascus); chp.



19-20 (Egypt); 21:11-12 (Edom); 21:13-17 (Arabia); ch. 23 (Tyre);



23:4,12 (Sidon); 10:5-19; 14:24-27; 37:33-35 (Assyria); 18:1-7



(Cush, Nubia south of Egypt);







Isaiah was well aware of Deuteronomy 4:26-27 which says that sin



will cause the people to be "utterly destroyed...and...only a



small number of you will remain." Isaiah was also aware of the



covenant reprisals in Deuteronomy 28:32-33,36-37,41,45-62.



Therefore, when he begins to prophesy, he sees only a few



survivors left after G-d's scourge of judgment is finished (see



1:9; 10:22). Isaiah foresees that Assyria will be G-d's rod of



judgment (10:5) against Israel, though later G-d would destroy



the Assyrian hordes as He did the oppressive Midianites in Judges



7:22-25 (see Isaiah 9:4; 10:24-27). The fulfillment of these



very prophecies, as well as 30:31 and 31:8, about the destruction



of Assyria came in 701 B.C.E. (see 37:36-38) when the Assyrian



army was supernaturally defeated. Later, the capital of Assyria,



Nineveh, would be destroyed in 612 B.C.E., as Isaiah (31:8-9),



Nahum, and Jonah had predicted.







Isaiah also predicts the Babylonian captivity. (See Isaiah



39:5-7; 14:3-4) It is important to keep the historical facts in



mind: Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon brought down the



Assyrian Empire in 605 B.C.E. at the battle of Carchemish (see



Isaiah 10:9) in the Upper Euphrates in South Turkey,and Cyrus the



king of Persia brought down the Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C.E.,



when Cyrus took the city of Babylon and released the Jewish



people to return to Israel (see Ezra 1:1).







So Isaiah saw both the Assyrians and the Babylonians coming as



G-d's instruments of judgment on the unrepentant Israelites, and



he also foretold the great latter day exodus that would occur



when G-d would bring His people back from Exile and they would



stream into Zion with Messianic and Millennial fulfillment. In



fact, Isaiah foretold an end-time exodus which would eclipse the



Exodus from Egypt. It would be so great he says (Isaiah 43:18)



there will be "no need to think about what was done before." This



"streaming to Zion" theme is a recurring motif in Isaiah,



including the notion that G-d will make a supernatural causeway



(like the highway He made through the Red Sea) for the remnant of



repentant and humbled survivors to return to Him through the



wilderness. (See Isaiah 2:2; 4:5-6; 14:1-2; 27:12-13. See



especially 11:15-16, also ch. 35; 10:25-27; 40:3-11; 43:16-21;



46:3-4; 48:21; 51:10; 52:12; 56:6-8; 60:11-14; 63:9-13).



But Isaiah saw that the remnant would be pathetically few (1:9).



As we shall see in the second half of Isaiah, a remnant of one,



the Suffering Servant of the L-rd, will be sacrifically stricken



to death for the transgressions of the people as a whole (Isaiah



53:8,10). Over and over the recurring theme in Isaiah is that



the cataclysmic fires of judgment continually bring the ultimate



Day of the L-rd near, the Assyrian and Babylonian armies



functioning as divine proxies as the fires of their armies serve



to refine the wicked dross from the remnant (see Isaiah 1:25).







For all the rulers of the world are under the control of the G-d



of Israel. The theme of Proverbs 21:1 is seen in Isaiah 37:29



and in the passages about Cyrus. The "nations are but drops in a



bucket," but "the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord" and,



if invaders are allowed to punish G-d's wayward people, it is



G-d's method of refining out that faithless segment of the people



who refuse to fear G-d and repent. So, G-d, the refiner, has



this smelting process to remove waste products (dross) as he



tests the metal of His people's faith by means of foreign



military threats (see Isaiah 48:10).







Following each cycle of warning and judgment, there is a hopeful



promise of blessing, restoration, and the promise of the coming



of the Moshiach. Notice this judgment-restoration pattern in



relation to all the Messianic prophecies in Isaiah, esp. 1:2;



7:14; 9:6-7 (5-6, Hebrew); 11:1-5,10,12; 16:5; 22:22; 32:1;



33:17; 37:35; 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12; 55:3; 61:1-2;



63:1-6.







It is important to note that G-d uses military defeat and exile



to show His people that they are estranged from Him. He is "the



Holy One" and their sins have made Him hostile to them and have



placed them under His covenant ours. (Isa. 59:2). But the Good



News of Isaiah is the announcement of release from the exile of



sin (61:1-4) and from hellish divine estrangement through the



coming of the Moshiach, G-d's instrument of reconciliation (see



Isaiah 52:7-53:12). Through Him, those who repent will find



that, though their sins "are scarlet, they may yet be white as



snow (Isaiah 1:18).







See also Isaiah's teaching that hell is eternal torment in Isaiah



66:24; 14:11; 48:22; 50:11; 57:21; 1:31. Cf. also Dan. 12:2;



Matt. 25:46; Mark 9:48; Rev.20: 10.







The nation of Israel as servant (Isa. 41:8; 42:19; 44:1) is



restored from divine estrangement and exile (Isa. 42:1; 49:1;



52:13-53:12) by an individual, the Moshiach, the beautiful



"Branch of the L-rd," "David My Servant" (Isaiah 4:2; 33:17;



37:35: 52:13; 53:11) who restores the nation to a right



relationship to G-d (Isa. 49:5-6; 53:11).







Skeptics think Isaiah could not have foreseen the Exile (but see



5:13,29; 6:12; 27:8) and beyond so clearly (i.e. predicting Cyrus



King of Persia by name (Isaiah 45:3) and therefore postulate 2 or



3 or more other later unnamed prophets who suppoudly padded out



the more supernatural parts (i.e. 41:2,25; 44:28-45:5,13; 46:11),



cloaking themselves under Isaiah's name, as they wrate at various



times over 100 years after Isaiah's death. Some liberal scholars



believe "Second Isaiah" wrote chs. 40-55 from Babylon and "Third



Isaiah" wrote chs. 56-66 later still, from Israel after the end



of the Exile some 180 years after the death of Isaiah. Some



liberal scholars think they see the hand of even later "Isaiahs"



in chs. 56-66. But all this speculation does not build faith or



edify, nor is there any more exegetical warrant for these



theories than for the single author assertion, which the Brit



Chadasha Scriptures and Moshiach Yehoshua Himself affirms (see



Mark 7:6). We must remember that the writing prophets of the



Hebrew Bible were not ghost writers. It does not seem credible



that the Jewish people would know the names of the authors of



such tiny books as Obadiah and Yoel (Joel) but not have a clue as



to the identity of the author of Isaiah chapters 40-66, probably



the most magnificent section of prophecy in the entire Bible.



Furthermore, virtually every theme in chapters 40-66 of Isaiah



can be found, at least embryonically, in chapters 1-39, a fact



that makes multiple authorship an improbable hypothesis.



Also the many verbal parallels between chs. 1-39 and chs. 40-66



discredit this liberal theory. King Josiah is predicted by name



in I Kings 13:2 and Moshiach Yehoshua is predicted by name in



Zechariah 6:12 (cf. Ezra 3:8) nearly 300 years and 500 years



respectively before three sons of David were born. Since the last



of these predictions can be proven beyond all doubt, there seems



no excuse to doubt the other predictions or, for that matter,



Isaiah's authorship of the entire book bearing his name.



Isaiah's message is that, even though the nations will stream to



Jerusalem in the end (2:2-3), in the meantime in pride and



rebellion both Israel and the nations have exalted themselves



against the L-rd, and he will judge them in an awesome display of



power which will leave only a few survivors (1:9). Therefore, the



inference is, if G-d can "part the sea" for the Exile and the



Return, why can he not also use His right arm of power to raise



up eternally alive and victorious both the Moshiach and the dead



for the Millennium (2:4; 11:6-10; 24:23; 33:24) and the new



heavens and the new earth (65:17)?





ISAIAH 7:14



Therefore the L-rd himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a



virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name



Immanuel. [This word Ha'almah is translated "virgin" not only in



the rabbinically translated Septuagint but in older modern Jewish



translations of the same word in Song of Songs 6:8, so there is



no good reason not to trandate the verse as above.]



















YIRMEYAH (JEREMIAH)



















The g-dly king Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign



(640 B.C.E.) and forty years old when he was killed (609 B.C.E.).



Around Josiah's 21st year of life, the young prophet Jeremiah



began preaching. He was to have many years of preaching ministry,



during the following: the reign of the Josiah's 23 year-old son



Jehoahaz (609 B.C.E.) who ruled only three months in Judah and,



after being deposed and exiled by Pharaoh Neco, died in Egyptian



captivity (Jer. 22:11-12; II Kings 23:30-34); the reign of



Jehoiakim (609 B.C.E.), who was installed as king over Judah at



the age of 25 and ruled 11 years; the reign of Jehoiachin (598



B.C.E.), who was installed at age 18 and ruled little more than 3



months before he was taken prisoner to Babylon by King



Nebuchadnezzar; the reign of Zedekiah (597 B.C.E.) who was 21



years old when he began to reign and was blinded by



Nebuchadnezzar shortly before the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E.



The evil reigns of these miserable sons of Josiah were prophecied



by Isaiah who said, "I will make boys their princes, and babes



shall rule over them" (Isa. 3:4). Jer. ch. 36 shows Jehoiakim



burning the Bible.







Jeremiah objected to G-d at his call that he was too young to



preach, but G-d silenced him (1:2). G-d appointed him to be a



preacher who would "pluck up and pull down, destroy and



overthrow, build and plant" (1:10; 12:14-17). Jeremiah's



preaching would cause stumbling blocks (6:21), testing and



refining the people (6:27). Fire would come out of his mouth and



destroy kingdoms (see 5:14; 23:29). Just as Elijah said there



would be neither rain nor dew except at Elijah's word (I Kings



17:1), so Judah would be uprooted and taken into Exile and then



(70 years later-- 25:11) Judah would be planted back in Israel



(31:28), but these cataclysmic events would happen only at



Jeremiah's word.







Immediately in Jeremiah's ministry G-d shows him the coming



crisis, represented by a "boiling pot, tilted away from the



north" (1:13). This pot was going to boil over and pour its hot



lava of destruction as foreign soldiers came down on Jerusalem



from the north. This threat from the north (1:14; 4:6; 6:1,22;



10:22; 13:20; 16:15; 25:9,26; 31:8) became concrete in the



persons of King Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian soldiers. G-d is



telling Jeremiah to preach that there is no escape from these



soldiers. The people have broken G-d's Law and now G-d is sending



His divine marshalls to put the people under arrest and take them



off to Babylon to serve a 70 year prison sentence in Exile. Go



peaceably Jeremiah preaches, and you will live. If the nation



humbles itself and waits on the L-rd, the nation will return. But



whoever attempts to resist the divine arrest will be put to



death. They will be like bad figs (24:8), and because of their



disobedience G-d will not give them a heart to know Him (24:7).



This was Jeremiah's hard message, which cost him dearly, and



brought great persecution down on his head. But, ironically,



weak, isolated Jeremiah, the maggid with the dangerous and



wrath-provoking message, is in much safer hands than the



sonerous-voiced false prophets and power weilding political



leaders, who stir up violence against Jeremiah as a traitor. For



the L-rd promises to protect Jeremiah but to put to death these



enemies of his, both Jews and Gentiles, with judgment beginning



at the household of G-d (see 1:18-19; 25:8-9,29) and climaxing in



the Day of the L-rd (25:33; 46:10). "Flight shall fail the



shepherds" (25:35), a prophecy that proved true for fleeing King



Zedekiah, the last king of Judah (52:1-11). All the wicked must



drink the lethal cup of judgment that is coming (25:28), even



ultimately that anti-Moshiach the king of Babylon (Jer. 25:26).





The reason for the coming Babylonian Exile is given in 5:18-19,



the land of Israel was full of elilim (idols). See also 9:12-16;



10:5,18,21; 16:11-13. The sin of Manasseh (15:4; II Kings 21:6),



especially child sacrifice (Jer. 7:30-34) brought great national



disaster of Judah, just as the abortion holocaust will bring



great grief on America. Consequently, G-d's wrath burns against



her, and G-d is going to turn Jerusalem into an abortion and it



will be no place to marry or to bear children (16:3-4).



Jerusalem will be like a rejected prostitute (3:2-3; 4:29-31)



because she has stubbornly rejected the L-rd, her true husband,



and has given herself in spiritual adultery to false g-ds, the



Seals and all the worthless foreign idols that have taken over



her land. Nothing short of the Babylonian exile would cure her



of this sin of changing her g-ds (2:11). What is amazing is that



the kingdom of Judah does not learn her lesson by seeing the



idolatrous northern kingdom of Israel go off (722 B.C.E.) into



captivity because of this very sin (3:6-10); Judah has to undergo



a similar punishment herself to get cured of idolatry. But, to



put it simply, the main fault that brought all this punishment on



G-d's people was refusal to listen to the prophetic Word of the



Scriptures (25:4-7; 32:33-35; 35:15-17).







Jeremiah did not have a popular message to preach (look at it--



13:19; also 15:10), and many people opposed him. Who wanted to



hear someone prophesy massacre and national desolation (see, for



example 9:22)? But all Jeremiah was preaching was Deuteronomy 28



and its covenant curses (see Jer. 11:2-4; 34:18). Nevertheless,



some men from Jeremiah's home town (Anathoth near Jerusalem) were



so embarrassed and infuriated by his preaching that they started



a conspiracy to kill him (11:8-23). The political leaders were



stupid, because they did not inquire of the L-rd (10:21); also



the wise, because they had rejected the Word of G-d (8:9). And



the rest of the people either scoffed at all preaching (5:12-13)



or championed the false prophets who contradicted Jeremiah's



message predicting war and judgment. Jer. l4:16 says that people



who listen to false prophets will be destroyed with them (so take



heed, you in the cults, or you who love your rabbi or your



priest). The false prophets were incompetent to warn against



coming disaster because G-d had not sent them (14:14) and they



had no knowledge (14:18). These spiritually stupid false



shepherds assured the people of peace even while the flames of



war were ready to ignite (6:14; 8:11; 23:30-40; 27:9-22;



29:8-19). The human heart is devious above all else and perverse



beyond understanding (17:9). Other lying false prophets in



Jeremiah are Pashhur the false kohen? (20:1), Hananich the false



prophet (28:1-17), Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of



Maaseiah (see 29:21-23 which says that a sexually immoral



preacher is by definition a false prophet). And look what



happened to Shemaiah of Nehelam who wrote a scathing letter from



the Exile against Jeremiah (29:24-32). False teachers (scribes,



rabbis) nullified the Word of the L-rd by their lying pen with



which they banded down their own traditions (see Jer. 8:8). A



true scribe (like Baruch) does not seek great things for himself



in a



tribulation world that is on the brink of destruction (45:5).



Because of these false political and religious shepherds (23:1-2,



11-22), the situation in the land was beyond remedy. The people



refused to know G-d (9:6). The time of repentance and revival in



Israel had past (8:20); doom and judgment were inevitable on



king, kohen, prophet, and inhabitant of Jerusalem (13:13). But



Jeremiah saw beyond the Exile and the Return and he had in view



the Brit Chadasha (31:31-34; 11:10; 22:9) and the coming of the



Moshiach (23:5-6; 33:14-18) and the shepherds that G-d would



raise up at that time: "I will give you shepherds after my own



heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding (3:15;



see also 23:3-4)."







With the ominous look of a weeping undertaker (9:1) called to



preside over the funeral and burial (in Exile) of the whole



nation, Jeremiah comes on the scene and makes his doleful



appearance (see 15:17). Jerusalem and its neighboring towns are



under a death sentence (33:5; 34:2,22). Read 16:1-9. Commanded



to celibacy (since what is going to happen to Judah now will make



it no place to raise children), Jeremiah is also instructed by



G-d that his devastatingly sad message will close down wedding



chapels (7:34). He is to shake the dust or the mourner off his



feet (16:5), since deaths en masse will now be divine punishment.



Mourning is futile when death is judgment and is coming like an



epidemic on the entire population. However there will be a



she'erit Yisroel (remnant of Israel), because G-d will not make a



full end of His people (see 4:27; 5:18; 6:9). A wonderful



restoration is prophesied (32:37-41; 33:6-33; 46:27-28). A great



end-time Exodus from the north is predicted in Jer. 16:14-l5;



31:8, which is a prophecy that is not exhausted by the Return



from Babylon but must surely also include Soviet Jews returning



from the Soviet Union (due north of Israel) in the greatest



Exodus ever, one that will shortly double the population of



Israel in our own time. The prodigal nation will come home



(31:13--"I will turn their mourning into joy") and will be



ultimately reconciled to G-d and to His Moshiach (33:14-18; cf.



Zech. 6:12; Ezra 3:8 his name is Yehoshua), through individual



moral accountability (31:10-11, 18-20; 29-30) and "one way"



(32:39), the way of the new birth circumcision of the Brit



Chadasha (31:31-34; 4:4; 9:25-26; 32:40; Deut. 30:6).





Because of the pressure that was on him, Jeremiah was tempted to



wallow in self-pity and to speak bitterly. But G-d promises that



if he will "utter worthy words" G-d will protect him and make him



a "fortified wall of bronze" (15:19-20). But the true prophet



must speak G-d's word faithfully (23:28).







We see Jeremiah as a type of the Moshiach (compare Jer. 11:19 to



Isa. 53:7). Like that other Messianic type Boaz in Ruth 2:20,



Jeremiah is a kinsman-redeemer (32:7), showing that G-d will



ultimately redeem his exiled land, showing hope in the midst of



bitter tragedy (32:24-25). He prophesied Es-Tzarah (the "time of



Jacob's trouble"--30:7) and the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash



(7:14; 22:5; 26:4-6) and the Exile and the coming of the Moshiach



who will be "raised up" out of this tribulation (30:9), just as



Yehoshua prophesied the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and the



Roman Exile and the Second Coming (see Mark 13:1-27). We see



Jeremiah buried in mud but then raised to the right hand of power



(given favor with both King Zedekiah and King Nebuchadnezzar) in



Jer. ch.38. See also 39:11.





Jer. 42:18 shows the folly of relying on the deceptive "help" of



Egypt. Here we see that we must not look at events or people but



listen to the word of the L-rd and rely on Him. When it comes to



Egypt, even after the Exile, some people never learn (44:7-10).



See 44:17-19,25; 7:18 on "the queen of heaven" a Canaanitish



g-ddess of fertility, Ashtoreth (Judges 2:13), a heathenish title



shamefully imposed on Miryam by the Roman Catholic Brit Chadasha



kehillah.







39:8 shows Nehemiah's job now awaits him. See also 52:14.



One disciple of Jeremiah's came over 600 years later. Read Jer.



16 and Romans 11.







Today Jewish people have been restored to their land (30:18) and



are honored in every field of endeavor (30:19).







Saddam Hussein of "Babylon" (modern Iraq) should have believed



30:16: "all who prey on you I will make a prey." Also see 50:24;



51:14,41,44,49,58.









On Jeremiah's preaching against the nations, see the following



chapters: Babylon (chs. 50-51); Philistia (ch. 47); Moab



(ch. 48); Egypt (ch. 46); Edom (49:7-22); Tyre and Sidon (47:4);



Ammon (49:1-6); Kedar end Hazor (49:28-33); Elam (49:34-39).



Historical facts and dates: 640 B.C. King Josiah, an



eight-year-old child, begins his reign. He will only live to be



40 years old and will be killed in battle by the Egyptians, but



during his reign there will be a breath of both revival and



reform.





627 Jeremiah is called of G-d to be a prophet. Ashurbanipal, last



of the great Assyrian rulers, dies. Judah is under tribute to



Assyria whom power was beginning to wane.





626 Nabopolassar begins neo-Babylonian Empire, revolting against



Assyria and beginning his 21-year reign. His son Nebuohadrezzar



would destroy the Jerusalem Beis Hamikdash in 586 B.C. 621



Discovery of the book of the Law in the Beis Hamikdash (Jer.



15:16)





612 Ninevah, the capital of Assyria, is sacked by the Babylonians



and Medes as Nahum predicted.







609 King Josiah is killed at Megiddo by Neco of Egypt who was on



his way to fight to rescue Assyria from Babylon. This is believed



to be the famous site known as Armageddon, where Revelation says



the final battle will take place.







609 Jehoahaz (Shallum) ruled Judah for three months before being



deposed by Neco and taken to Egypt in chains as collateral to



assure high indemnity payments.





609-598 Jehoiakim reigns over Judah as Egyptian vassal enthroned



by Pharaoh Neco. He was an evil king (see Jer. 22:21). 605



is the year of the Battle of the Assyrian city of Carchemish



(the ruins of which are on the Euphrates in what is today Syria



and Turkey) which fell when the Assyrian Empire finally succumbed



in defeat. Nabopolassar sent his son Nebuchadnezzar to defeat the



Assyrian ally Pharoah Necho and the Egyptians there (the



Egyptians had occupied the city but lost the war--see Jer. 46)



and then Babylonian soldiers entered Israel, taking Daniel etc



hostage (II Kg. 24:1). Jehoiakim abandoned Egyptian suzerainty



and became a vassal of Babylon. Because the people of Judah had



seen a few temporary victories of the Egyptians, they refused to



believe Jeremiah's prophesies about Babylon destroying Judah and



this brought persecution on Jeremiah. But Jeremiah trusted in no



foreign alliances, especially with Egypt (44:26,27). Later the



Pharoah Hophra did prove useless in protecting Jerusalem from the



angry hand of Nebuchadnezzar when he began his siege in January



of 588.







604 King Jehoiakim burns the Word of G-d (36:22f) but Jeremiah is



inspired to write it again, this time with a judgment upon



Jehoiakim (36:24-31).





601 Beause of a temporary victory of Egypt against Babylonia, the



pro-Egyptian party in Jerusalem persuades Jehoiakim that Judah



should side with Egypt again in spite of Jeremiah's warning



(Jeremiah 22:13-19). This act of rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar



spelled Jeholakim's downfall, and he received the burial not of



an honored king but of a donkey (23:19), for Judah's enemies were



armed by Nebuchadnezzar to attack her (II Kings 24:2).



597 Jehoiakim dies. Eighteen-year-old Jehoiachin (Coniah), who



only reigned three months, is captured. Nebuchadnezzar captures



Jerusalem and deports King Jehojachin to Babylon with many



others, including Ezekiel. Nebuchadnezzar replaces Jehoiachin



with Zedekiah (II Kings 24:17). Zedekiah, a third son of Josiah



to come to the throne, soon after permits nationalistic minded



nobles to imprison Jeremiah.







539 Zedekiah's revolt begins.







586 Nebuchadnezzar again occupies Jerusalem because Zedekiah had



entered into negotiations with Egypt (II Kings 25:1-7).



586 Destruction of Jerusalem. Zedekiah tries to flee but is



captured and taken to Nebuchadnezzar's throne in Riblah (in



modern Syria) and Zedekiah's family is slain and he is blinded



and taken in chains to Babylon where he died (39:6-7). Jeremiah



is released from prison by the Babylonians and given to the care



of Gedaliah.





586 Gedaliah appointed governor of Judah and assassinated.



Jeremiah is taken to Egypt where he predicts the conquest of



Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar (43:8-l3), fulfilled 568-567. 585



Jeremiah in Egypt.







Jeremiah was "a man of strife and dissension for all the land"



(15:10), a prophet nailed by the driving, firey hammer of G-d's



Word, a lonely, weeping prophet of vision who stood out against



the shallow optimism and political expediency that would lull his



nation into the inevitable divine judgment of war and national



disaster. But like Moshiach Yehoshua, Jeremiah was without honor



in his own hometown (11:21), which was three miles northeast of



Jerusalem, a village called Anathoth. He belonged to the tribe of



Benjamin.





What does G-d require of you? To feed on his Book until you get



'My words into your mouth'--then preach them. We want the L-rd's



ministries to grow numerically and we want to do all we can to



see new people discipled, but we need to remember that Jeremiah's



message was so strident (judgment, defeat, impending death and



disaster) that only a small number of people were friendly with



him. Ahikam hid Jeremiah when he would otherwise probably have



been killed after his third Beis Hamikdash sermon (Jer. 26:24)



Nahum and Zephaniah and Habakkuk were contemporary preachers.



Hilkiah was the g-dly kohen who discovered the book of the Law



during the early part of Jeremiah's ministry, and Huldah was the



prophetess who helped to spark Josiah's reforms because she



prophesied disaster would overtake his nation (II Kings 22:16; II



Chr 35:1-25). But most people seemed to shy away from Jeremiah.



After Josiah died, real persecution was in store for this lonely



prophet of G-d.







A key theme verse is 1:10. G-d has the nations in his hands like



a potter (18:5-10) molding clay pottery and when they displease



him, he can squeeze them into destruction like he did Nazi



Germany. In the same way G-d has uprooted and then replanted the



nation of Israel (31:27). Here is his promise: Stay in G-d's will



and under his discipline and he "will build you and not



overthrow, plant you and not uproot." (42:10) But here is his



warning: "I am going to overthrow what I have built, and uproot



what I have planted--this applies to the whole land. And do you



expect great things for yourself? Don't expect them. For I am



going to bring disaster upon all flesh--declares the Lord--but I



will at least grant you your life in all the places where you may



go (45:4-5). See 1:13-16; 2:19; 4:5f where Jeremiah also preaches



disaster.







The maggid (preacher) is not ignorant of what G-d is doing in the



world, and as a co-worker with G-d, the maggid's (preacher's)



words are actually G-d's hammers and planting forks.





Jeremiah foresees G-d's nemesis, Babylon, coming (just as



Yochanan in Revelation saw eschatological Babylon coming). And he



sees that since Babylon is G-d's marshall, the only thing for the



Jews to do is to put their hands up and submit to the arrest of



exile; otherwise, they will be fighting G-d and will be



destroyed. His message sounded like treason to unregenerate ears,



and most people would not listen to him though he preached for 23



years. (See 25:3-14 for a sample of his main message.) How would



you like to preach 21:8-10? The seventy year exile was an awesome



punishment, a virtual life imprisonment away from one's homeland.









Today, Jeremiah would also be rejected in this world and he would



probably also find himself in prison or assassinated. He would



probably shout "Howl, you shepherds, and yell...for the day of



your slaughter draws near...the peaceful meadows will be wiped



out by the fierce wrath of G-d (25:34,37)." Howl, King Fahd of



Saudia Arabia with your personal yacht the size of an oceanliner!



Howl Qadhdhafi of Libya with your women bodyguards and



international murder unlimited! Howl, Mayor of New York, you



Herod who would make it a crime not to hire perverts as



money-changers in the Beis Hamikdash! You will not go unpunished!



"For I am summoning the sword against all the inhabitants of the



earth" (Jeremiah 25:29). Jeremiah preached to the g-dless that



you have rejected the Word of the L-rd, so your wisdom amounts to



nothing! (8:9)







(But can you say all this with tears? See 8:19-23.)







Unregenerate men are repulsed by a Jeremiah. Unregenerate men are



not interested in what G-d is doing, only what man is doing



(humanism). See 1:16. What does the unregenerate do? See 2:13. If



the unregenerate loves a G-d, he loves a strange one. He says,



"It's no use" and joins the vast millions involved in the cults.



The Jews in Egypt told Jeremiah, "I can't give up my cult because



I'm so blessed by it." (chapter 44) The unregenerate follows the



willfulness of his own evil heart. The unregenerate person is



described in 4:22. Even if he is wealthy and cultured, he is



still a low-life rebel (5:4-5). He is persistent in rebellion,



clings to deceit, and refuses to repent (8:5).







Unregenerates, whether Jewish or Gentile, don't believe the Word



of G-d when it says that a holocaust is coming. They didn't



believe the Babylonians were coming, they didn't believe the



Nazis were coming, they didn't believe Moses (Dt. 18, 28) so how



could they believe Moshiach Yehoshua? (Jer. 5:12-14) And Gentile



Christians become proud and arrogant, forgetting that the root



supports them, not they the root.







A heart circumcision is needed, opening the heart and cutting



away the thickness. But the irony is that those who think they



are spiritual Jews are not and those who ARE spiritual Jews don't



know they are. Moshiach Yehoshua is the living Torah who cuts the



Brit Chadasha (Jeremiah 31:31-34) and only he can cut us with the



new creation circumcision. A hellish reprisal awaits all those



who refuse to submit to his circumcision and believe on Moshiach



Yehoshua Moshiach and him hanged on the Aitz (11:6-8). 34:18



shows us what the sacrifice of G-d (climaxing at Moshiach's Aitz)



means: repent or this will happen to you!





G-d threatens to withdraw the rain (as he is doing in Africa)



because the people are like fowlers lying in wait, setting up a



trap to catch people: the pimps, the hookers, the bar-hopping



nymphomaniacs, the porno store owners, the lottery ticket



sellers, the drunken mothers on welfare, the rock-crazed teeny



boppers (see 5:26). And the liberal rabbis, the liberal kohens



and liberal ministers, the cultists--they all preach an easy soft



set of lies and the people who hear them love it (5:31).



Then there is the problem of clericalism. A prosperous



professional clergy casts revels in its gnostic knowledge and



cult of adoration and won't do street preaching and be spit upon



by irate Jewish people. (9:22-23)







Do you realize that you are being raised up as G-d's watchmen?



(6:17) You are to watch and pray until you have a word from the



L-rd. You are to stand in the council of the L-rd, and see and



hear his Word, and then you are to proclaim it and obey it



(23:18,22) and turn his people back from their wicked ways. A



true maggid (preacher) has a true burden from the L-rd; it is the



application of a text to the discerned needs of the people he is



addressing. A maggid (preacher) can pray and get a word from the



L-rd for the people (42:4).







You are to tell people, "Don't trust your religion. Don't say,



"I'm Catholic! I'm Jewish!" (7:3) "I attended mass! I went to



High Holy Day Services! (7:8-10). And don't say a word about 'The



Queen of Heaven!' (7:18). In Jeremiah's third Beis Hamikdash



speech (Jer.26) he warned that G-d was going to make the Beis



Hamikdash like Shiloh. From the time of Joshua until the time of



Eli, Shiloh had been the place of Jewish worship. But remember



Eli and his wicked sons (I Sam. 2:12) who ministered there?



Consequently, the L-rd allowed the Philistines to destroy Shiloh



and Jeremiah is pointing to another army coming to do the same



thing to Jerusalem if the people do not repent.







Jeremiah is an example of a prophet who is a virtual refugee from



the existing authorities, both religious and political. We learn



a lot about the ministry from him. 22:15-16 speaks about the



sacrificial lifestyle of a man of G-d. He is faithful and



fearless for the sake of the flock. Hasn't G-d given you a little



flock? Do you let them stray and scatter? Get a partner and pray



about your little flock, pray about specific people and then go



together and minister to that person together. If you can be



trusted with one, G-d will add to your flock.







Who will shepherd the Israelis? (See 23:1-4)







Jeremiah did prophetic "street theatre" mimes, interpreted



dramatic actions and he was not afraid of the "flesh" of his



hearers (20:10-11; 1:18). Note the acted parable of the soiled



loincloth in chapter 13 and the interpreted mime with the yoke in



chapter 27. Also see 51:63-64. (This one was interrupted by a



mime meddler, a false prophet.) Jeremiah 26:2 says that G-d



commanded him to stand out-of-doors and preach in the open air.



He could do it because he knew he was sent (26:15). Has G-d sent



you to New York?







Why can't we have a street dance company (with musicians)? See



30:19; 31:4; 31:13.





Jeremiah 30:7 calls the tribulation the "time of Jacob's



trouble", but see 31:7-9. During Hitler's Holocaust the ships



started arriving in Israel. G-d was providing a haven of refuge



even during such tribulation.







The Israel of G-d is eternal (31:36); we have been grafted in and



so also will the remnant of all peoples and the last days



remnant of the Jewish people. The Brit Chadasha kehillah is a



miraculous Jewish-Gentile fellowship. However, the Jewish nation



is an esohatologically significant people group--see 46:28.



Notable verses: Jeremiah predicts who will defeat Babylon



51:11,28. The Moshiach will be called the L-rd (Jer. 23:5-6)



Notable themes: The reversal of the imprisoned prophet who is



obedient to G-d and freed while the disobedient people go off in



chains to exile is a key picture here. Thinking of Jeremiah in



the dungeon of King Zedekiah must have comforted Shliach Sha'ul



in the dungeon of Nero in Rome.







Zedekiah had to be physically blinded to realize he was



spiritually blind, as was also true of Saul.







We see what Nietzsche, Sartre, Lenin, etc., would like to do to



the Bible when King Jehoiakim cuts it up and burns it without



fear in chapter 36.







The Brit Chadasha kehillah needs kiruv outreach associations,



shlichut agencies, and other Brit Chadasha kehillah



organizations. An example of such an organization is found in



chapter 35. It is a "second decision" organization, requiring



commitment to a certain "mandate" and membership involves one in



committed activity beyond normal religious life. The prophet



Jeremiah and Baruch constitute a sodality as well. A sodality is



a grouping together based on common purpose or interest. Rav



Sha'ul's company in Acts 13:13 is another example.







The local Brit Chadasha kehillah sometimes does not see this



structure in the Bible and tries to control and destroy the



autonomy and legitimacy of these sodalities, which also sometimes



abuse their autonomy and fall into disrepute because they do not



realize that they are servants of the local Brit Chadasha



kehillah and not beyond its correction.







Sodality members who have leaders with no ordination by a larger



body are following a potential independent rebel who is



unaccountable to anyone. This is how Jim Jones and all manner of



cults and scandalous failures begin and is not Scriptural.



Get a prayer partner and start doing visitation outreach together



with the people you pray for. Follow Jeremiah's model and prepare



to go on the street and do either a brief sermon or sketch or



song.





Notice the very important prophesy that the exile would last for



70 years (Jer. 25:11-12). Daniel refers to this prophecy in Dn.9



Jeremiah's real estate inheritance activities are his prophetic



verification that the word of G-d regarding the restoration of



Israel would come true (see 37:12; 29:10).







Jer. 21:8 says that there are two ways, the Derech HaChayim, the



way of life, the way of covenant blessing, and the Derech



Hamavet, the way of death, the way of the covenant curse. The



fool chooses the way of death. He knows about the rental covenant



he signed with the Landlord, but he says, "I don't have to read



it, or study the fine print, I can forget about the rent due



notices, I can lay around in filth and create a fire hazard, I



can have noisy parties all night long and walk the dog without



going outside (I once had a neighbor who did that--but he was



very clean, he always insisted on hosing down the floor once a



day, no matter what the tenant below him screamed as his



apartment was flooded)." He never worried about the rent



covenant. No covenant curses will ever cross my threshold! he



said, as he hosed down his dogs and his living room floor. But



G-d's Word shows us something different. The wrath of the Lamb,



the covenant reprisals of the Lamb, those curses that crossed the



threshold to destroy the Egyptians, will not pass over you unless



you come out from among them and stand under the blood mark of



the Lamb. (If you stand under your own opinion or your own whim



or the way that seems right to you, you will be destroyed.) And



there's no way to touch both the two doorposts and then the



lintel with blood, as it says in Ex. 12:7 without forming a



bloody tav: not a Ku Klux Klan cross: Not a Gentile anti-Semitic



cross: a Jewish cross commanded by the G-d of Israel through



Moses. A mezuzah full of good works and religion on the threshold



is Jewish but not Jewish enough. The bloody tav of Moses is



necessary. Those without it can expect none of the diseases of



Egypt to pass them by. All over the world the curse of lust and



uncleanness and AIDS is crawling across millions of thresholds.



Following close behind crawls the curse of racism and poverty and



drugs and homelessness and crime and murder and prostitution and



abortion and genocide and war and ecological disaster and,



ultimately, Armageddon and "the End" itself. Do not boast about



tomorrow. Do not say, "When the overwhelming scourge passes



through" it will not touch you (Is. 28:18).





When we celebrate Pesach, we need to also celebrate Jeremiah's



Brit Chadasha and our redemption from the plagues of Egypt by the



Moshiach-Lamb who took our plagues.







Notice that G-d gave Jeremiah a very important and shocking, even



enraging, message and then did not tell him to share it with



Baruch and a few kindly souls in a quiet, sympathetic, Brit



Chadasha kehillah audience. No, G-d commanded Jeremiah to go



into the "lion's den" and preach in the Beis Hamikdash area



itself where a riot was inevitable (read very, very carefully



Jer. 26:2). This is our model of what preaching is, not a Brit



Chadasha kehillah ritual performed tamely between the offering



and the benediction for the benefit of a few religious folk, but



a dangerous, life-or-death confrontation ordered by G-d at a



particular place where G-d's enemies are given one final warning



before G-d's judgment disastrously falls upon them. A street



preacher in front of a Roman Catholic cathedral to irate



Catholics as they come out of Mass is closer to what Jeremiah was



doing when he preached than what most American clerics



(especially those who are wealthy and liberal) do when they



preach, particularly those whose pulpits are privileged spaces



for pampered, smooth-talking Pharisees.





If we have any illusions that humanism is right when it says that



human nature is essentially good, Jer. 42:1-43:7 should convince



us otherwise. The heart of man is desperately wicked--who can



know it? (Jer. 17:9) If Man were good, surely these "good" people



would say, "Jeremiah, we know you are a true prophet. We've seen



all that you prophesied in the last nearly 40 years come true. As



you predicted, Judah is now in exile in Babylon. Therefore, we



will listen to G-d and respect and obey you as G-d's prophet."



Instead read Jer. 43:2 to find out what they did say. Here we



see that man needs a supernatural miracle in his heart to bring



him to the point where he can know G-d and stop rebelling against



G-d's word (Lam. 1:18).







JEREMIAH 23:5-6







5



Behold, the days come, saith the L-rd, that I will raise unto



Dovid a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper and



shall execute judgement and justice in the earth.







6



In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely:



and this is the name whereby he shall be called, The L-rd Our



Righteousness.







JEREMIAH 31:31-34





31



Behold (Look). the time is coming, saith the L-rd, that I will



make a Brit Chadasha with the house of Israel, and with the house



of Judah:







32



Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in



the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the 2



land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a



husband unto them, saith the L-rd:







33



But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of



Israel; After those days (after that time), saith the L-rd, I



will put my torah within them (in their thoughts and emotions)



and write it in their hearts; and will be their G-d, and they



shall be my people.





34



And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every



man his brother, saying. Know the L-rd: for they shall all know



me. from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the



L-rd: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember



their sin no more.











[Notice this passage is talking about an intimate, inward



knowledge of G-d, of a sense of relationship, even fellowship



with G-d, as well as the assurance of forgiveness of sins; in



short, regeneration. Jeremiah foresaw Brit Chadasha Jews and he



understood that the Word of G-d would somehow effect the miracle



of the Brit Chadasha "in their hearts." Have you become a Brit



Chadasha Jew? You can. Yehoshua the Word of G-d (sharper than



any sword, able to circumcise and consecrate the most heathen



heart) says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any one



hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to him, and



dine in devekut with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20)]



















EKHAH (LAMENTATIONS)













Lam. l:21; 2:21f speak of two phases of the Day of the L-rd, the



first already past in the fall of Jerusalem and the dissolution



of the people of Judah, and a second in store for the gloating



enemies of G-d's people. Therefore those who speak of "Israel's



Final Holocaust" had better be reminded that it will also be a



holocaust for all the nations of the world. Jeremiah is the



traditional author of Lamentations in the closing days of Judah's



conflict with Babylon around 586, the date of Jerusalem's final



capitulation to Nebuchadnezzar.







The ninth of Ab (August) is the Jewish commemoration of this



disaster, and on that day this scroll is read in the synagogue



following the evening services. The other minor fast days



associated in some way with this event are the Tenth of Tevet



(marking the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem), the



Seventeenth of Tammuz (which marks the first breach in the walls



of Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege), and the Fast of



Gedaliah (commemorating his assassination after he was appointed



Governor of the Jewish people by



Nebuchadnezzar).







In this book, Jerusalem is personified and she weeps bitterly



(1:2) because Judah has gone into the Galut (Exile)--see 1:3-5.



The prodigal city remembers the wonderful days of old when her



festivals brought rejoicing multitudes to her Beis Hamikdash



sanctuary. Now those days are gone, and she is mocked and



despised, and enemies have invaded her sanctuary (1:10). Like



the Moshiach, hanged on the aitz, the city is naked and



humiliated and left to be seen by passers-by. "Is it nothing to



you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow



like my sorrow which was brought upon me, which the L-rd



inflicted on the day of his fierce anger" (Lam. l:12). See Lam.



2:22.







Jerusalem remembers her false prophets with their false and



misleading visions (2:14) and her prophets who obtain no vision



from the L-rd (2:9) and she remembers her own rebellion against



G-d's word (1:18), and sees that all this desolation of altar and



sanctuary, all this abolition of festival and Shabbos, is just



punishment from the L-rd Himself. The Gentile enemies gloat over



her when they see Jerusalem's destruction in the Babylonian



Exile, but she calls on G-d to bring on the Day of the L-rd when



all the Gentile nations of the world will become as Jerusalem is



(1:21). Judgment only begins at the household of G-d. See 3:64



and Zech.l:l5; 2:8.







A terrible picture of gehinnom is seen in 3:7-8, for here we view



a people (pre-Exilic Jerusalem) who refused to know G-d and we



see them frozen in the gehinnom-like divine judgment. We are



reminded again of the pierced Moshiach surrounded by mockers when



we read 3:14. See also 3:30, 52-57.







The burden of proof today is still on Judah's religious leaders



as to whether or not they rebel against G-d's word (1:18), since



it was their sins which caused the destruction of Jerusalem



(4:13-16). They were as unreliable as that ally Egypt, a nation



that could not save" (4:17). Jewish religious leaders must prove



that they rightly interpret the word of G-d, because desolate



Jerusalem is still a rebuke and a challenge against them.



Note for street ministry: homelessness is mentioned in 3:19.



Jerusalem's survivors are homeless after G-d's judgment falls on



them. But see the song of hope in 3:22-23. We see that to be



thus humbled is good (3:27-29). There is hope in 3:31-32. If we



don't grow bitter toward G-d but instead test and examine our



ways and return to the L-rd, then there is indeed good in being



humbled by the L-rd (3:39-40).







The hope of Israel's ultimate return to G-d is stated in 4:22 and



5:21. This is still the great hope of all Biblically defined



believers.







LAMENTATIONS 5:12



Princes are strung up by their hands; elders are shown no



respect.

















YECHEZKEL (EZEKIEL)













Ezekiel was a poet and dramatist that G-d raised up to confront



the Jewish people with the ominous threat of His holy wrath in



the form of symbolic pantomimes (4; 5; 12:1-7; 24:1-14) acted in



accordance with intricate stage directions provided by the Divine



Director Himself. Ezekiel did his prophetic "turns" and his



eerie dumb show tableaux "before the eyes" of the Jewish people



with the feverish seriousness of an actor who had seen G-d



mounting the stage of history with imminent, awesome, desolating



judgment.







G-d was fed up with sinners who answered the truth of his



prophets only with hostility and hate (Jeremiah 5:13; 6:10;



15:10; Amos 5:10) and who listened even to Ezekiel more out of



esthetic appreciation for his artistry than from an attitude of



spiritual conviction (Ezekiel 33:30-33). Therefore, at the snap



of G-d's finger, out of nowhere, the Babylonian armies were



suddenly poised at the gates of Jerusalem, just as the terrible



divine (merkaVA, chariot) suddenly hovered over the Mount of



Olives east of Jerusalem (11:23), ready to strike and to "destroy



the city" (43:3).







With perfect mobility, G-d's throne chariot (arrayed with wings,



feet, and wheels) showed G-d's judgment in its sovereign freedom



and kaleidoscopic power ready to intervene quickly at any time or



place. And this overwhelming vision of G-d (3:15) seized Ezekiel



with such force that he was snatched up between heaven and earth



(8:3) and was inspired and spiritually fortified to preach with



audacious boldness to "a contrary and stubborn" house, the



rebellious sons of Israel. For the Word of the L-rd was with



Ezekiel and G-d's strong hand was upon him (his name means "G-d



makes hard") to make him harder than his hardest and most fearful



opponents. Ezekiel was lifted up and taken away by that divine



indignation (3:14), that righteous anger against sin (see also



Jeremiah 6:11; 15:17) that is so profound it will take great



public risks and endure every kind of suffering in order to



confront and provoke obstinate mankind with G-d's holy



ultimatums. His call was to be a reprover, an Ish Moshi'ach



(3:26) who must not be afraid to speak out to his own hurt and



warn both the wicked and the once-righteous backslider, both



those without and within, as a Tsofeh (a watchman, a sentinel) to



the house of Israel.







To play this role, Ezekiel would have to live out a painful



scenario of real-life suffering. Just as G-d cast Hosea as a



maggid (preacher) with a prostitute-wife in order that the



prophet could feel G-d's pain and communicate G-d's heart to the



Jewish people, so a scroll of mourning and lamentation was



scripted for Ezekiel (2:9-10) so that he too might experience the



sufferings of G-d. Part of being a watchman is to wind up being



the victim of a divine misunderstanding, a holy fracas where one



generally finishes by being disliked, where one may even be



considered crazy (Meshuga--Hosea 9:7-8) and where one constantly



provokes hostility (false prophets don't tend to make people



angry--Luke 6:26).





And Ezekiel's preaching exacts a terrible price on the maggid



(preacher), because his private experiences (like the death of



his beloved spouse--chapter 24) carry an omen of warning for the



spectator in the pew (24:19-27). For Ezekiel is an actor who must



not give a mere performance but must be made by personal



tragedies to actually know the pain in G-d's heart. And in these



things Ezekiel the maggid (preacher) seems to be saying to the



layman listening, "You'll never know what G-d has allowed me to



go through in order that I can preach His Word to you, sir; on



the other hand, you'd better know or else how will you know that



He also requires you to repent?"







As Shliach Sha'ul says, Ezekiel had to "fill up, in this frail



frame of mine, whatever may still be lacking in respect of



Moshiach's afflictions as yet to be endured for the sake of his



body" (Col. 1:24). G-d literally closed and opened Ezekiel's



mouth either to speak or to be silent by means of a strange kind



of vocal paralysis or aphasia, a kind of "thorn in the flesh"



with which G-d afflicted the prophet's speech (Ezekiel 3:26;



24:27; 33:22). And just as the kohen in the tabernacle had to



literally eat the sin offering and bear the iniquity (undergo



ritually the punishment) of the congregation (Lev. 10:17), so



Ezekiel had to "eat" a script calling for everything from



ingesting revolting stage props (see chapter 4) to enduring



protracted and spectacular marathons (see Ezekiel 4:5f) of



bearing Israel's iniquity (in a way that pointed toward the



Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53). So Ezekiel was an artist for



Israel.







Who is Gog Eretz Hamagog This is important to know, because if he



is the leader of Russia, then this means that, although the



Jewish people in Russia may have hopes for religious freedom and



social rights today, this will suddenly change and the Soviet



Jews will have to deal with a Soviet "Pharaoh" in the last days



who will persecute them and invade the land of Israel.







Also, if Gog is the last days Soviet "Pharaoh", then Russian is



the language of Gog and this means that Russian should be learned



by many Messianic believers in order to preach the Scriptures of



Ezekiel to Soviet Jews during this period of the final Exodus at



the end of history (see Jer. 16:14-l5).







In Genesis 10:2 we read B'nei Yefet Gomer Oomagog "sons of



YEH-feht (Japheth) (were) GOH-mer oo-mah-GOHG." Non-Biblical



sources place Gomer north of the Black Sea in what was once the



Soviet Union. Beth Togarmah is present day Armenia, which is also



a region in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Turkey and NW Iran.



Magog's land included the Caucasus mountains, located in the SW



part of the former Soviet Union between the Black and the Caspian



Seas. This is confirmed by the fact that both Jerome and Josephus



identifies with the ancient Scythian barbarian tribes associated



with the area North and East of the Black and Caspian Seas, the



ancient land of Scythia, now part of what was once the former



Soviet Union but is now Russia and other states.





The identity of (Meshech and Tubal)--see Ezek. 38:2--is generally



identified with Phrygia and Cappadocia in what is today the



modern nation bordering the Black Sea to the south, that is



Turkey.









What Ezekiel is saying here in Ezek. 38 is that, from the



prophet's point of view, from the uttermost parts of the earth



there will come an attack on Israel. Put (Poot) is Libya and Cush



(Coosh) is the classical Ethiopia of Africa (not modern Ethiopia



but rather the region south of Egypt: Nubia or North Sudan.)



The Sudan is Africa's largest country. In 1990 it faced its third



famine in 6 years. Its Islamic fundamentalist government of that



year, led by General al-Bashir, blockaded relief agencies from



getting food to its own starving people because of political



considerations, putting millions of people at risk of death by



starvation. Al-Bashir supports the policies of Saddam Hussein of



Iraq and Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya. Iraq, having signed a



peace treaty with Iran in 1990, brings into focus the prophecy of



Ezekiel 38:5 (4), which speaks about Libya (Put), Persia (Iran),



and Sudan (Cush) as allies against Israel. Micah 5:5 shows that



the Enemy of Israel is Iraq (Assyria/Babylonia). These countries



in Ezekiel 38:5 will be the allies of Gog and Ezekiel tells us



that this invasion will take place in the far distant future,



after Israel is back in the land. Israel will be prosperous when



this happen. (see 38:8, 11, 12, 14). Gog will be mustered "after



many days...in the future years" (38:8).







The destruction of hostile Gentile powers was predicted by



earlier prophets like Zephaniah, who said, "I the L-rd have



decided to gather nations and assemble kingdoms, in order to pour



my wrath on them, all my burning anger; the whole earth will be



consumed by the fire of my jealousy" (Zephaniah 3:8). Jeremiah



sees disaster coming out of the north in Jer. 4:6 (though in that



passage, he may be referring to the Scythians or the Babylonians



or both). Isaiah saw the Assyrian threat coming from that



direction in Isaiah 10:5-32 and 31:8f but Isaiah also saw an



end-time exodus which will eclipse the Exodus from Egypt. It will



be so great he says (Isaiah 43:18) "no need to think about what



was done before." Ezekiel 39:27 is a key verse: "When I have



brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from



the countries of their enemies. I will show myself holy through



them in the sight of many nations." Here Ezekiel seems to be



saying very specifically that when the L-rd gathers the Russian



Jews (and other Jewish people scattered throughout the Diaspora)



from their enemies, he will deal with Enemy Number One, the



Russian Pharaoh and G-d will show Himself holy by destroying him



with the plagues of a latter day New Exodus (Ezekiel 38:22) when



he and his Iranian and Libyan and other allies invade Israel.



Look at what the Bible says about the New Exodus. Isaiah 40:3 and



other prophecies are important. Just as Yochanan Hamatbil



prepared a way in the wilderness for Yehoshua to lead out a New



Exodus from sin and death at Jerusalem in which the tribulation



divine judgment plagues of 70 C.E. Roman fire fell on the "Egypt"



Jerusalem (Rev. 11.8) of the Caiaphas/Herod "Pharoah" of His day,



so another desert highway will be raised up in the last days to



"let My people go" (Isaiah 40:3). This is the divinely created



Red Sea "highway" by which the L-rd will lead the Russian Jews



and other Jews of the Diaspora in a New Exodus where He will



"resurrect" them from the "tomb" of Exile and from the unclean



"grave" of "Egypt" in the sight of the wondering eyes of the



whole world. Isaiah recalls the wonders of Moses' Exodus (Isaiah



10:25-27) as an "earnest" of how G-d will protect His returning



exiles in the last days and "carry" them to their "promised" new



life (Exodus 19:4; Isaiah 46:3-4; 63:9). G-d has a breath-taking



exodus in store for His people that will totally eclipse the



exodus of Moses (Jer. 16:14-15). Certainly once poor,



anti-Semitically persecuted, Russian Jews without social rights



or religious freedom in Russia, should indeed feel something of



G-d's "carrying" grace when they suddenly find themselves being



outfitted with free apartments and free education and all kinds



of Jewish philanthropic help as they make their exodus from



Russia.







This exodus trek is described as a "desert" (Jer. 31:2) but a



desert which is a place of favor and divine care and miraculous



provision (Micah 7:14-15). The miracles G-d did in the first



Exodus become type and also guarantee of the miracles coming in



the final eschatological exodus (see Isaiah 11:15-16; 43:16-21;



51:10; 63:11-13; 48:21; 52:12). The people will return to



Jerusalem and G-d will make the city his holy Mishkan (dwelling,



tabernacle) of protection and refuge for persecuted and



world-weary exiles (Isaiah 4:5-6). Even the "desert" approaches



to the Promised Land will blossom with miraculous blessing



because there will be an end-time rebirth of the lost ideal of



the early Israel who followed her Divine Husband faithfully, the



time when she was a child in Egypt (Hosea 11:1-9), when she was a



virgin bride of the L-rd and had not yet "known" other foreign



g-ds awaiting her in Canaan, and the marriage covenant rites will



be removed (see this theme in Hosea 2:14-23; Jeremiah 2:2-3).



The culmination of all this is that Israel will be saved because



she follows the L-rd as she did at first, she "follows the Lamb



wherever he goes" (Rev. 14:4), even into the desert, even into



the wilderness (Rev. 12:6).







But Ezekiel 39:27 says, "When I have brought them back from the



nations and have gathered them from the countries of their



enemies..." This refers to the Dispersion as does Luke 21:24:



"They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to



all the nations." Amos said the same thing, Israel will go into



the (gah-LOOT), Exile, Amos 7:11). The Jews will go into the



galut (Jer. 13:19), because Exile is one of the curses of



disobedience to the Covenant (Deut. 28:36) and is one of the



covenant judgments or reprisals for idolatry and unbelief in the



prophesied Moshiach (Deut. 18:19; Genesis 49:10; I Kgs 14:15;



Jer. 7:25-34). (On the Dispersion see Lev. 26:33; Neh 1:8;



Esther 3:8; Psalm 44:11; Ezek. 6:8; 36:19; Yochanan 7:35; James



1:1.) Please pray about these Scriptures until you see the



prophetic significance of the 100's of thousands of Soviet Jewish



settlers in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, New York City,



and in Israel and understand the need to preach these Scriptures



to them so that they will break the bonds of sin and death and



the bondage of atheism and materialism and turn away from evil



and believe in the Moshiach and come to new promised life in Him



as they return to G-d.







Notice chapter 5:5 where G-d gives Ezekiel the prophetic



explanation of the pantomime, "This is Jerusalem." Notice the



horror of the holocaust that is coming, worse than the Nazi



holocaust in one aspect at least, the cannibalism of 5:10, one of



the covenant reprisals of Lv. 26:29 and Dt. 28:54. Notice the



reason given: "because you have defiled my Mikdash (sanctuary)"



with idolatry.







So in chapters 5 and 6 we see "street theater" outreach using



impressive props and stage business (notice the sharp sword and



the hair cutting), using symbolic food, dramatic action (being



tied up) and extended performances. That is, Ezekiel goes on a



390 day marathon of performances and then a 40 day marathon, so



that the people will have time to ponder and repent, as in an



extended revival where the minister extends his services at the



congregation.







Notice that anti-Semitism is not just a terrible Gentile sin (for



which Gentiles will be judged and punished); it is also a



covenant reprisal for not heeding the Word of G-d (5:14-15).



Therefore, when Jewish people complain bitterly about



anti-Semitism, we must pray and ask G-d for wisdom as to how we



can lovingly and gently explain both of these aspects, the



Gentile culpability and also the Jewish guilt (believe it or not,



there are also Jewish anti-Semites! E.g., Karl Marx, etc.).



Notice that the Judaism of Ezekiel is apocolyptic and highly



eschatological, not merely ritual oriented and legalistic. 7:2



speaks of the "end" kaitz (i.e. the end of time, especially from



the aspect of unveiling the secret of the course of history). The



imminent coming of the Babylonian Exile is a sign of the imminent



end of the world. This is the key to Ezekiel's emphasis



regarding the coming of the Moshiach. I Cor. 7:30 picks up this



eschatological strain found in Ezekiel 7:12.







Notice there will be a "famine of hearing the word of the L-rd"



(Amos 8:11) and the people will turn in vain to the prophets,



priests and elders (Z'kanim Kohanim N'vi'im) to hear the word of



the L-rd. Notice how Ezekiel prophesies against the rabbis



(scribes) or spiritual leaders of his day in 8:11-12 and 34:10.



In chapter 8 there is an ecstatic levitation and rapture so that



Ezekiel sees the secret sin (not secret to G-d) of the spiritual



leaders that is the direct cause of the Exile holocaust



approaching where the land will be "filled with violence" (8:17).



It is the "idol of jealousy" (Samel Hakin'ah 8:5) that reminds us



of the later HaSkikoot M'shomaim (the abomination causing



desolation) of Daniel 11:31) of Antiochus Epiphanes and the



prophecies of Yehoshua. The former was probably a statue of



Asherah, the Canaanite g-ddess of fertility. The latter was a



statue of Zeus or Jupiter. Both caused the Temple's destruction



and the tribulation of Exile.







Chapter 9 shows G-d beginning to vacate the Temple, his glory



moving to the door, and the 7 guardian angels serving as



Ezekiel's guides who also interpret the situation. Only those



marked with a tav which in ancient times looked like a cross (x



or +) will be saved (see 9:4). This same mark was on the



doorposts at Pesach, because the top and the sides of the door



frame were dabbed with the blood of the Pesach Lamb. Those so



marked are marked for salvation. Notice the judgment begins



(9:6) with the household of G-d and with the leaders (I Peter



4:17; James 3:1).







Chapter 9:7 says "they went out and began killing troughout the



city," meaning that this is an apocolyptic vision that shows the



Babylonian killing coming is really a divine judgment of G-d



being carried out.







In chapter 10 the glory departs from the Temple, first to the



threshold of the Temple (10:4) and then to the East Gate (10:19).



This is to anticipate the destruction coming, since G-d will not



dwell with an unclean people and his protection He withdraws from



the wicked "rabble" who hypocritically attempt to dwell in His



Holy House, playing the charades of empty ceremonialism. We see



from what the angels are doing with the fire (10:2) that the



fires to be set by the Babylonian armies are really from G-d.



As in 5:11 where G-d withdraws His favor, chapter 11 shows that



G-d is the true Mikdash (sanctuary) of the elect (11:16) and now



his protective presence is travelling from the Jerusalem Temple



to the remnant in the Babylonian captivity. Yehoshua points to



his body as a sanctuary (Yochanan 2:19-21) because he alone is



the acceptable covenant, sacrifice and priest.







Chapter 11:19 begins Ezekiel's teaching on the need for personal



regeneration. See 36:26. This entails both a spiritual and a



moral transformation.







Chapter 12:3 begins again a series of symbolic pantomimes such as



we saw in chapters 4 and 5. This time the L-rd gives Ezekiel his



dramatic action in one word: "Pack!" G-d is going to make him an



ominous portent again (notice the word mofet in 12:6 and remember



what it means in Zechariah 3:8). Ezekiel is instructed by his



"Director" to perform this play "during the daytime, while they



watch," also "in the evening, while they are watching" (12:4).



We should gather from this that G-d wants prophetic street



theater during rush hour periods when many people are passing by.



We discover that Ezekiel is portraying Zedekiah's attempt to dig



through the wall of Jerusalem and escape Nebuchadnezzar, which



resulted in his being blinded (12:6,13; II Kings 25:4-7). Notice



how the L-rd serves as an acting coach in 12:18. In the second



half of this chapter we discover that our G-d is One who listens



and intends to answer back the false prophets and the false



optimism of the scoffers speaking among His people (see



12:22-28). On the words of the hecklers who challenge the Bible,



see Mic. 2:6; Amos 2:12, 7:12-13; Hos. 9:7; Isa. 30:10; Jer.



11:21; 20:7-10.







Chapter 13:2 is against preachers who preach "out of their



imagination" instead of under the leading of the Ruach Hakodesh,



who "follow their own spirit and have seen nothing" from G-d.



"The L-rd has not sent them" (13:6). They have not been shepherds



among the people. They have been mere predators, part of the



condemned general landscape, mere "jackals (wild dogs) among the



ruins (13:4)." A true prophet is supposed to preach repentance



and warn of judgment as a watchman who can see not only the



agents of G-d's wrath approaching, but also can sight the soft



places in a nation's wall of morality that sinners are creating



for the battering ram of G-d's judgment to pierce through



(22:30). G-d is looking for intercessors who will stand with



Moses in the breach between the people and G-d's wrath (Psalm



106:23). These intercessor/street preachers will wrestle with G-d



and buy time and get a message to go and turn sinners back from



certain destruction.







The names of the false prophets will not be found in the Sefer



HaCayim (Book of Life, Psalm 69:29), a point emphasized by saying



they will not "enter the land of Israel" which symbolizes



receiving Chayai Olam (eternal life: Daniel 12:2), according to



Ezekiel 13:9. What a terrible price to pay for not preaching the



true Good News B'sorah. Shalom V'ain Shalom ("Peace when there



is no peace.")







It is the temptation of the preacher not to rebuke sin or get



people angry or lose financial support. This is accomplished, so



the temptation goes, by saying "Peace" when there is no peace



between a G-d of righteous judment and sinners (see Micah. 3:5).



But woe to us if we preach not the Besuras HaGeulah." A movement



with secret sin and religious apathy led by lukewarm (and indoor)



preachers is a flimsy structure with only a little whitewash to



hide that it is going to come down when all its rottenness will



be exposed (13:10-16). Will the false prophets who ensnar the



lives of my people preserve their own lives? (13:18) By



preaching for a few filthy shekels of money, they have profaned



G-d, polluted his work, dishonored Him, treated Him as common



(all these ideas are in the idea of Chillul Hashem--see 13:19).



The false preachers (the liberal clergymen and rabbis) "lie to my



people, who listen to lies." False prophets can be killers



(13:19). They have an evil "grasp" on the gullible who listen to



them, and G-d has to save people from these false shepherd



enemies (13:23).







The Besuras HaGeulah is to Israel first but also it is to the Ger



(foreigner, resident alien, Gentile). See Ezekiel 14:7.







Notice that the "Moonies" are as guilty as "Rev". Moon (14:10).



The implication of Ezekiel 15:7 is that the Holocaust proves that



there is a G-d, not the opposite. (Many modern Jewish



philosophers use the Holocaust to make a case for atheism.) In



chapter 16, Jerusalem is G-d's adulterous queen who has gone



whoring after the nations and their idols. Therefore she will be



raped by them in the approaching Exile. Ezekiel is expounding on



the Hosea theme of the adulterous wife. Ezekiel alludes to the



Assyrian deportation of the Northern tribes of Israel that



climazed with the destruction of the capital of the Northern



Kingdom, Samaria, in 722 B.C.E. Ezekiel is saying that Jerusalem



will have a similar fate befall her as befell Samaria, the



capital of the last King of Israel, Hoshea, when the Assyrians



invaded Samaria as agents of divine judgment. But notice that



Ezekiel ends on a hopeful note, there there will be a New



Jerusalem with a Brit Olam (an eternal covenant 16:60). In



chapter 23, Ezekiel will continue prophesying this allegory



having Samaria, the prostitute raped by Assyria in 722 B.C.E. and



Jerusalem her prostitute sister raped by Babylonia 586 B.C.E. in



Ezekiel's day. In both cases G-d is a cuckold with an adulterous



wife (23:35).







Do not overlook the Messianic prophecy in 17:22 about Tzemach



Tzaddik (Righteous Branch), a code-word for Moshiach. In Isaiah



11:1; 53:2; Zechariah 3:8 and Jeremiah 23:5-6, we see this tender



shoot, this sprig that will shoot up from the stump of David, the



Messiah, to whom the nations belong" (Genesis 49:10), and in whom



all the nations ("birds of every kind" 17:23) nest and find



shelter. This Messianic Age will be the time when G-d



inaugurates the Great Reversal, and the exalted are humbled and



the humbled are exalted (17:24; 21:26).







In chapter 18, we find the doctrine of individual responsibiltiy



for sin, that each man dies for his own sins, not those of his



father. G-d is a fair judge, and doesn't gloat (18:23) but



judges according to this righteous principle: the soul who sins



is the one who will die ("hanefesh hachotet hi tamut"--18:20).



Cheap grace and antinomian unconditional election are denounced



in 18:24. Notice that the wicked religious people will perish



because of apostasy or unfaithfulness (ma'al) [18:24; see also II



Thessalonians 2:3).











Notice how Ezekiel tells the Jewish people to repent and get



regenerated (18:30-31). Shoo-voo! Repent! Get a lev chadash



(new heart) and a ruach chadasha (new spirit, a regenerated



spirit, a spiritual new birth). Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach was



surprised that a man could be a leading rabbi in Israel and not



know about this doctrine (see Yochanan 3:3,10). In chapter 20



the ziknei Yisrael come to inquire of Hashem through Ezekiel the



navi, and he rehearses the whole history of G-d's dealings with



His people according to his Holy Brit (Covenant), how He searched



out the most beautiful land on earth for them but purged out the



rebels, forbidding them to enter, bringing them into the "bond of



the covenant" masoret habrit (20:37, bond of covenant



reprisal). Then, after they have done their time in the Golus as



punishment for their idolatry, G-d will bring them back,



chastened and humbled, in a New Exodus (20:39-44).







In chapter 21 the Jewish people are shown that Babylon is



actually G-d's sword of judgment and that G-d "will hand you over



to brutal men, men skilled in destruction" (21:31).







Jerusalem will become a gigantic cooking pot when the king of



Babylonia begins his siege in chapter 24 and the people will be



cooked. But the survivors in Babylon are not to mourn the death



of their loved ones back in Jerusalem, because their destruciton



is G-d's righteous judgment. The survivors must act toward them



as Ezekiel is instructed to act as the survivor of his wife's



death. In his testimony, especially regarding his personal



tragedy, Ezekiel will be a "sign" to the other survivors in this



matter. Even his thorn in the flesh of vocal paralysis or



aphasia will come and go according ot the divine timeing of



momentous events in Jerusalem (24:2, 27 and 33:21-22).







In chapters 25-32 we see all the jugments G-d will also bring on



the nations including Libya (Put, 30:5) and Lebanon (31:15



fulfilled in our own day).







G-d's promise to the Jewish people to posses the land is not



unconditional (33:23-29), because only the man who obeys G-d's



commandments (20:11) shall live by them (in the land) [ya'aseh



otam haAdam vachai bahem] and therefore Israel today, without



faith in the Moshiach and obedience to the Messianic prophecies,



can expect Great Tribulation. But see Amos 9:15.







On the 614th commandment by Moses (Dt. 10:16) necessary to live a



Torah observant life-style, see the Brit Milah regeneration of



the heart needed to love G-d (Dt. 30:6) and to escape the world



(Rom. 2:29; Rev. 2:9) in order that one not be an enemy of G-d



[Jer. 9:25-26).







Like Zechariah (see Zch. 3:8) and Isaiah (Isaiah 37:35), Ezekiel



interprests the word Avdi ("My Servant") found in Isaiah 53 as a



Messianic Title. In Ezekiel 34:25 "My Servant" the Messiah is



promised along with a Brit Shalom (a covenant of peace"--Ezek.



34:25). Ezekiel is of course familiar with Jeremiah's prophecy



about the Brit Chadasha found in Jer. 31:31-34 as well as the



prophecy of Isaiah about the peace that "My Servant" the Moshiach



will bring (Isaiah 53:5). In Ezekiel chapter 34 Ezekiel seems to



be alluding to these previous



prophecies.







The prophets' preached the Word of G-d in continuity with



previous prophecies and also in continuity with the foundational



prophecies of Moses. When G-d tells Ezekiel that he must preach



"His Words" (Ezekiel 2:7), the primary reference is to the



Besuras HaGeulah according to Moshe Rabbeinu.







The Besuras HaGeulah according to Moses is found in Dt. 30:6 and



10:16, which commands that everyone be regenerated, using the



expression "circumcision (brit milah) of the lev (heart)."



Ezekiel preaches about this in Ezek 44:7,9; 11:19; 18:31; 36:26.



If one submits in repentant obedience by faith to this spiritual



brit milah, one is overtaken by all the blessings of Deuteronomy



28:1-14 (productivity, plenty, invincibility, providential care,



divine undergirding, fellowship with G-d, security from enemies,



vocaitonal success, posterity, prosperity, freedom from debt, and



blessings from heaven, as though G-d's rain (promised to the



faithful) were watering the tree of eternal life in the paradise



described in Genesis 3, and a foretaste of heaven may be given



even in this life to those who obey G-d's Word and get



regenerated and heed the Bible through careful study and



adherence to the faith. Such will be on top and not on the



bottom because G-d will exalt them and His blessing will overtake



them.







When one thinks of the Beis Hamikdash, it must be remembered that



there was more than one Temple constructed on the same site,



Mount Moriah, where Abraham brought his son Isaac to be



sacrificed (Genesis 22). It was also on this site that Dovid saw



the Angel of the L-rd and the vicarious "plague" coming on his



Messianic household (see Isaiah 53:8 "for the transgression of my



people the stroke of plague was on him." The Messianic Davidic



House must be struck down in order to save the people from plague



(I Chr. 21:17) Dovid received this revelation in relation to an



altar he was divinely ordered to build on the threshing floor he



purchased from Araunah the Jebusite. As we read in I Chr.



21:1-22:1, it was here that the first Temple would be built,



Solomon's Temple, around 960 B.C.E. Solomon's Temple was



demolished by the Babylonian army of King Nebuchadnezzar and not



rebuilt until 516 B.C.E. when the Jewish people returned from the



Babylonian Exile. This "Second Temple" was profaned by Antiochus



Epiphanes in 168 B.C.E. but left unharmed by Pompey the Roman



general in 63 B.C. when he captured Jerusalem. However, King



Herod the Great totally refurbished and expanded this "Second



Temple" starting in 20 B.C.E. It was open 10 years later,



totally finished in 64 C.E. and burned by the Roman General Titus



in 70 C.E.







When we think of the Beis Hamikdash, we generally thing of



Herod's Temple located in the Northeast corner of Jerusalem and



overlooking the Kedron Valley lying between the Temple and the



Mount of Olives. If you looked at Herod's Temple from an aerial



view you would see four long walls forming a rectangle which



encloses a compound with a large open level space. You would get



the impression of a lavish walled city, with, however, only one



residence--G-d's--for the Temple itself is the only house within



the walled "city." The Temple sits with its front door facing



east surrounded by empty courtyard and compound walls. However,



lest anyone believe that the Jewish G-d could rule through some



King Messiah other than Herod, Herod's architectural plans



provided his troops with the Fortress Antonia ominously



overlooking the compound wall from the northwest corner. The



southeast corner of the compound wall was known as the "pinnacle"



of the Temple because its 500 ft. tower dominated the Kidron



Valley. This surrounding wall protected the sanctity of the



Temple compound and was made up of beautiful column-lined



walkways. 268 columns, thirty-five feet high, bordered part of



the courtyard along the eastern compound wall. From that shady



spot called Solomon's "Porch," the early believers had a



magnificent view of the Temple as they met daily for open air



services (Acts 2:46).







There are two words for Temple in Greek, nao's, meaning the



sacred building itself, and (iero'n, the whole sacred precinct.



Only the kohanim could enter the nao's. In I Cor. 3:17, Rav



Sha'ul says that all believers in the Moshiach are the nao's of



Hashem and in II Thes. 2:4, Sha'ul says that the Anti-Moshiach



will usurp G-d's "seat" of authority and worship in the nao's of



G-d.







The sanctuary of the Beis Hamikdash itself was made up of three



chambers: the vestibule or ulam (oo-LAHM) at the entrance, the



main room or nave called hekhal (hey-KHAL) where the kohanim had



access, and the debir (duh-VEER) or inner sanctum called the Holy



of Holies, where only the Kohen Gadol had access and only on one



day of the Year, Yom Kippur. The nave contained the menorah, the



small golden altar of incense in front of the inaccessible third



room, and teh enigmatic bread of the presence (I Kings 7:48).



The inner sanctum contained the ark of the covenant. Outside the



front door of the Temple was the altar of the burnt offering



where the priests and the Levites attended to the sacrifices.



The Jewish men could approach the altar but could not proceed



beyond the court of Israel. The Jewish women could not even



approach this far; they had to stay back in the Court of Women.



And Gentiles could not approach even as far as Jewish women; in



fact, a Gentile had to stay out in the vast surrounding courtyard



called the Court of the Gentiles, and he or she would be put to



death if any attempt was made to enter the gates of the walled



inner court protecting the Temple, the altar, the Court of Israel



and the Court of the Women.







Chapter 34 is primarily referring to political shepherds or



leaders, but there is a definite application to spiritual leaders



as well. This chapter teaches the principle that privilege



entails responsibility. To whom much is given, much is required.



Those who greedily pursue the rights and blessings associated



with their leadership offices but neglect the responsibilities



will hear this terrifying announcement from the L-rd: "I am



against the shepherds and shall demand fromt hem an account of My



flock" (34:10). This threat has the ominous ring of Deuteronomy



18:19, "I Myself shall call that person to account." This means



that G-d will hold these shepherds responsible and bring them



under divine judgment. It is a fearful thing to fall into the



hands of an angry G-d, but that is what will happen to the



rapacious, self-serving shepherds who forget that it is G-d's



flock and He guards it jealously. Because these kings despise



the congregational leader responsibilities for the peple



submitted under their royal office, G-d will have to replace them



with the kingdom's true congregational leader/shepherd, the



Moshiach (34:23-25). This same theme is touched on in Jeremiah



22:22 and 23:4. See also Acts 20:18-35 and Hebrews 13:17.



Many aspire to be spiritual leaders because they see glory in the



limelight of the pulpit, or because they like the idea of being a



preacher and not having to do secular employment (though many



preachers are employed with tent-making professions).



Nevertheless, having to earn one's living working in the



rancorous atmosphere of unregenerates is not easy, and many



aspire to be preachers because they naively assume that preachers



always escape secular employment. (Did Amos? Did Sha'ul?)



However, many who aspire to the privileges of preaching are not



willing to shoulder the preacher's congregational leader



responsibilities (things like visitation, follow-up, and



dangerous door-to-door work and steet preaching) or make the



necessary sacrifices. Before a preacher can be entrusted with



the sherpherding office, he must be trained and tested first and



then show himself approved.







Ezekiel 34:4 says, "You have not restored the weak." How can one



do this unless he knows how to teach and preach the great



doctrines of the Bible? General revelation versus special



revelation; the inspiration, authority, and inerrancy of



Scripture; the attributes, qualities and aspects of G-d; creation



vis-a-vis evolution; providence; election; predestination; the



nature of man, sin and the Savior, atonement; the person and work



of the Ruach Hakodesh, salvation; the nature, role, government,



ordinances, and unity of the people of G-d; and eschatology--



these are some of the great doctrines of the Word of G-d given to



strengthen the weak, who would otherwise be in danger of being



whirled into confusion by faddish gusts of teaching from ignorant



but cunning religious merchandisers (Eph. 4:14). Not many should



aspire to be morim (teachers), especially if there is an



unwillingness to study and show oneself approved (Jam. 3:1; II



Tim. 2:15) as a disciple with a firm hold on the true doctrine



(Titus 1:9). The super-spiritual person who sniffs at



ministerial preparation and attempts to launch nto full-time



ministry without adequate training wants the privileges without



the responsibilites of the ministry. Like a doctor who skips



medial school, such a person should not expect to have a long and



successful professional practice. The preacher who knows little



about the great doctrines of the Bible will lack substance in his



preaching and teaching with which to feed, always with a word in



season, the flock, and to feed them with a healthy diet from the



Word of G-d.







Ezekiel 34:4 says, "You have not tended the sick or bandaged the



injured." A properly trained minister should have some



proficiency in Biblically counseling and exhorting the troubled



young person, the bereaved, the addicted, the engaged couple, the



person with family or marriage problems, the person in need of



healing from mental illness, the demonized person, the



hospitalized individual, the sexually deviant, the homeless, the



aged, the poor, the unemployed. Of course no one person can do



all of this service. This is why the gift of administration is



given through a local body of believers, with the different



members exercising their gifts and callings corporately to serve



the needy for the glory of Hashem.







The impulsive, independent-minded person who dashes off to "serve



G-d" in full-time ministry without learning practical



congregational leader theology is making a grave mistake. The



Shluchim were equipped with over three years of on-the-job



training and supervised experience with Moshiach Yehoshua before



their ministerial internship was completed, and even then the



L-rd did not send them out alone. Many isolated, lazy,



undiscipled mystics, puffed up with visions and stubborn with



conceit, wander off to serve G-d" without accountability or



ministerial recognition and wind up becoming counselees rather



than counselors, so great are their errors and so damaging is the



effect of their ministry on other people.







Ezekiel 34:4 says, "You have not recovered the straggler or



searched for the lost." Many assume that, because they have



prayed the sinner's prayer with a few people, they know all there



is to know about outreach. No need for them (they think!) to



study the history of "awakenings" and "revivals" or various



outreach movements in two thousand years of Brit Chadasha



kehillah History. No need to learn lessons from the lives of the



great pioneers, the Wesleys and Jonathan Edwards's of the past.



But how men and women of G-d have been seized by the Word is



important to know. The revelation they received from the



Scriptures and how the Word of G-d used them to affect their



generation is important to study. We need great tutors, not only



from our own day, but also from across the centuries and, as they



teach us through their books, we also will be able to pray and to



minister as they did, in the power of the Ruach Hakodesh. He



promises to give us a new heart and a new spirit and a new life



if we will read the Bible and follow the Word of G-d



(11:19-20). On regeneration, see 36:25f; 18:31; 47:5,12 also. See



Messianic prophecies 17:22; 21:27; 34:23-24; 37:24; 48:35 (since



the L-rd is the Beis Hamikdash and the bringer of the river of



life in chs 40-48 and the bringer of the final covenant in 16:60;



34:25f; 37:26).







At first, Ezek. 40-48 seems to be giving us straight-forward



architectural plans for the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash.



However, when we get to Ez. 47, the waters of life flowing out



from beneath G-d's throne (43:7) are no ordinary waters that one



could find in any stream (47:5 says that it is a "river that



could not be crossed!"), which leads us to suspect that this Beis



Hamikdash is no ordinary human structure that could be built by



human hands, but a picture of the Beis Hamikdash of coming



millennial glory in our Moshiach.







EZEKIEL 36:26-28





26



A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put



within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your



flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.



27



And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my



statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.



28



And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and



ye shall be my people, and I will be your G-d.







(The One G-d of Israel has already told us he wants to put his



living Word in us. (Jeremiah 31:33); now he tells us he wants to



put his Ruach Hakodesh in us. If we harden our heart and refuse



him, we are left with a stony heart; if we receive the new heart



and the new spirit, if we receive by faith his living Word and



his Spirit, what is this but Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life)!



















DANIEL













Daniel was a Jewish prophet in what is today southern Iraq in the



ancient city of Babylon. G-d gave him visions to interpret so



that he could see from the Exile to the end of time. He went into



exile almost 30 years before the main wave followed him later at



the time of the destruction of the Jerusalem Beis Hamikdash.



Along with three other youths, Daniel was trained as a court



aide. G-d rewarded Daniel for the way he dedicated himself to G-d



in what he ate and how he lived. G-d gave him wisdom to see the



Moshiach's coming kingdom. See Dn. 2:44, "The G-d of heaven will



set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its



sovereignty be left to another people." This is the Kingdom of



the coming Deliverer, the Moshiach, who is also glimpsed in the



fiery furnace.





A type of highly symbolic Jewish writing found in both the Old



and Brit Chadasha Scriptures is generally called apocalyptic



literature (Apokalepsis meaning "revelation"). The following



sections of Scripture should be studied to perceive different



aspects of the apocalyptic literary pattern: the book of Daniel;



the entire book of Revelation; Mt.24; Mark 13; and Luke 21. This



type of literature contains some or all of the these elements:



enigmatic dreams needing divine interpretation or visions with



angelic tour guide-interpreters, dualism where the world is



divided into two camps, either G-d's or Satan's allies, a sense



of history under divine sovereign control and moving toward an



imminent catastrophic end ushering in the new holy age, extensive



and complex symbolism including bizarre beasts, mysterious



numbers, and ominous portents, all with the underlying view that



G-d's purposes are actually at work in world history and that



Moshiach's Kingdom is coming in ultimate victory.









The conservative interpretation of Daniel is that Daniel himself



authored this book in the second half of the sixth century B.C.



around 530 (when he would have been about ninety years old, if he



were born ca. 620 B.C.E.) There is no conclusive linguistic or



historical argument to prove otherwise, and the manuscripts found



at Qumran in the Dead Sea Scrolls indicate conclusively that no



canonical material from the Tanakh was authored later than the



Persian period (450-330 B.C.E.), undermining the older liberal



view that Daniel was written about 165 B.C.E. by an unknown



author. Moshiach Yehoshua attests that Daniel the prophet wrote



this book (Mt. 24:15).



Some scholars propose that "Darius" (the Mede) is a throne name



of Cyrus (the Persian king who conquered Babylon in 539 B.C.E.)



and translate Dn. 6:28 "Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius,



even (that is) the reign of Cyrus the Persian." This translation



is possible. Compare I Chr. 5:26 Et' Ru'ach Pul Melech-V'et



Ru'ach Pilnesser Melech Ashoor with Dn. 6:28. But Gleason Archer



favors the hypothesis that Darius the Mede (Dn. 5:30-31) may well



have been the throne name of Gubaru, the known governor of



Babylon, whose reign would be understood as simultaneous with



that of Cyrus in Dn. 6:28 (history does not record how old Gubaru



was, so we cannot correlate his age with Dn. 5:31).





The whole of Biblical eschatology (the study of the last things)



is affected by one's interpretation of one verse in Daniel, that



is, Daniel 9:27. Of particular importance is how one construes



the ambiguous antecedent of the pronoun "he" in the clause, "he



will confirm a oovenent with many for one week." Is the "he"



Moshiach or Anti-Moshiach? Some scholars argue on one side, and



some on the other, and many scholars make their case also germane



to the question of whether the rapture will come before or after



the Tribulation.







Tangentially, as far as this question is concerned, the rapture



debate is largely settled by the two witnesses in Rev. ch.11.



First of all, two witnesses are the "minyon" of the minimal



constituency of a local kehillah of Moshiach (Matthew 18:20) in



the Brit Chadasha. Moshiach Yehoshua sent his disciples out in



two's. At critical junctures, there were always two remnant



witnesses: Aaron and Moses at the beginning of the Exodus, Joshua



and Caleb entering the Promised Land from Egypt, Zerubbabel and



Joshua the Kohen returning to the Promised Land from the Exile,



Yochanan and Shliach Kefa at the empty tomb, Shliach Sha'ul and



Barnabus on the first journey of Moshiach's shlichut. As in a



court of law or in historiography (principles of



historical research), "let everything be established at the mouth



of two witnesses" (Deuteronomy 19:15; I Timothy 5:19; Mat.



18:16). If the two witnesses constitute an apocalyptic picture of



the universal Brit Chadasha kehillah being raptured in Revelation



ch. 11, then the rapture is public, not secret (see Rev. 11:12;



1:7) and, if one includes a nuclear holocaust in the Tribulation,



the rapture is in that limited sense pre-tribulational, for the



text plainly says that the rapture of the two witnesses takes



place before the destruction of those "who destroy the earth"



(Rev. 11:18; see also II Shimon Kefa 3:7; Zech. 14:12; Zeph. 1:2)



However, returning now to Daniel 9:27, it is not as clear as



some believe that, according to this verse, Anti-Moshiach must



conclude a seven-year covenant with the Jewish people. The text



says, "He will confirm a covenant with many for one week, and for



half of the week he shall make sacrifice and offering cease; and



on a wing (kenaf) will be a desolating abomination: even until



the End, even one being decreed (by G-d), overwhelms the



desolator (that is, the Anti-Moshiach)." Popular Dispensational



scholars like John F. Walvoord use this text in an Armageddon



countdown which they believe begins with the founding of Israel



as a modern nation in 1948. The scenario goes something like



this: a leader of a 10-nation confederacy of Mediterranean and



European powers (the Anti-Moshiach) will impose a seven-year



peace treaty protecting Israel. For three and a half years, the



Anti-Moshiach will consolidate world power. Meanwile, the



U.S.S.R. (which is Magog of Ezek. 38) will attack Israel but be



supernaturally defeated. Then the new world dictator, claiming to



be G-d, will break the treaty (Dn. 9:27) and unleash the Great



Tribulation, a time of terrible persecution. Most



Dispensationalists put the rapture before this point (some at the



beginning of the seven-year period, others at the mid-point of



the seven-year period) because they make a distinction between



Israel and the Brit Chadasha kehillah that is so radical that



these teachers have the two groups meeting Moshiach at different



times, the Brit Chadasha kehillah in a secret rapture, Israel



publically at the end of the battle of Armageddon. At any rate,



after the plagues and earthquakes and epidemics and famines and



other terrors are poured out on the wicked world by the L-rd,



there is world (nuclear) war that climaxes near the Israeli town



of Megiddo with the result that three-quarters of the world's



population is destroyed. The return of the Moshiach occurs,



Israel is rescued, the wicked are punished, the Millennium reign



of Moshiach begins from Jerusalem and continues for a thousand



years, then the wicked are resurrected and thrown into hell, and



the new eternal state of existence begins with the new heavens



and the new earth.







But returning to Dn. 9:27, when the Bible is ambigious, the



translation should be ambigious. Otherwise, to render an



ambigious passage by means of an unambiguous translation is to



add to the Bible the opinions and traditions of men (Mark 7:9).



G-d warned Jeremiah that He Himself would make the sacrifices



cease (Jer. 7:14). Moreover, Biblical theology tells us that G-d



and His Moshiach are the first cause of everything, even the



destruction of the Beis Hamikdash (the Scriptures reject a



dualism where Satan or his Beast could be a prime-mover co-equal



with G-d), even if Satan and his Beast may be secondary causes



(notice Dn. 11:31). Also, the ministry of the Moshiach was 3 and



1/2 years in length, at which time he prepared the body of his



sinless Beis Hamikdash to replace the Beis Hamikdash of Herod,



the veil of which was torn making it obsolete at the moment of



Moshiach's death when the once-for-all divinely acceptable



sacrifice was offered in indestructible heikhal, the Moshiach's



body. This means that after his death on the Aitz, there is three



and a half years of the same still awaiting his body, the Brit



Chadasha kehillah, before the Second Coming. This period is



called the Great Tribulation. Tribulation, (Acts 14:22 I Thes.



3:3), not the wrath of G-d (I Thes. 5:9) is appointed for the



Brit Chadasha kehillah. This Tribulation period is called the "42



months" or the "1,260 days" in passages like Revelation 11:1-2



and 13:5. It is bad exegesis not to make a distinction between



the "wrath of G-d" and the "Tribulation" (the wrath of



Anti-Moshiach in Dn. 8:18 is not the wrath of G-d) just as it is



bad translation to remove the ambiguity in Dn. 9:27, where the



verse may contain an allusion to the Moshiach's "many" in Isaiah



53:11-12. There is one particular verse on the side of those who



say that the "he" in "he will confirm a covenant with many for



one 'seven' is not Moshiach (Dn. 9:25-26) but the



Anti-Moshiach (the ruler in "the troops/people of the ruler" of



Dn. 9:26). This verse is Dn. 8:11, "Even against the Prince of



the host (i.e. G-d) it acted arrogantly; it took the regular



burnt offering away from Him and overthrew the place of His



Sanctuary," a passage referring to Antiochus Epiphanes who



prefigures Anti-Moshiach. See also Dn. 11:31, a reference to the



pagan G-d Zeus Olympius, set up in 168 B.C.E. by Antiochus



Epiphanes and prefiguring the Anti-Moshiach's final sacrilege.



See also Dn. 12:11. If the covenant is confirmed by the "ruler"



in the "troops/people of the ruler" of Dn.9:26, then this



covenant is also referred to in I Maccabees 1:11.





In either view just described, the Bias HaMoshiach (the Parousia)



is imminent (i.e. it can happen anytime), because we do not know



where at any particular time we are in the three and a half year



period before the end. No man knows the day or the hour. Also, as



we well know in a push-button nuclear age, Armageddon and the



apocalyptic End could happen at anytime. This is important



because Dn. 12:7 says that the Great Tribulation (called the time



of Jacob's trouble-- Jer. 30:7; see also Mt. 24:21) will be for



three and a half years, and "when the power of G-d's holy people



has been finally broken, all them things will be completed."



II Thes. 2:4 could also be apocalyptic picture language since the



same word naos is used of the Brit Chadasha kehillah in I Cor.



3:16. That is, Hitler did not have to goose-step into a little



building in Jerusalem to qualify as the Anti-Moshiach for the



first half of the 20th century, and neither will the final



Anti-Moshiach (whose coming like the Moshiach's is also



imminent). So neither will the final "Hitler" need the Jerusalem



Beis Hamikdash rebuilt in order to usurp G-d's "seat" and so



fulfill II Thes. 2:4 as the final Anti-Moshiach.











Those who want to make a sharp distinction between the Moshiach's



coming for his saints (I Thes. 4:16-18) and with his saints (Jude



14-15, see notes in GREEK section) are hampered by the fact that



kedoshim can mean either earthly or heavenly "holy ones," i.e.



either saints (Dn. 8:24) or angels (see Ps. 89:5,7). All this



forces each of us to exercise humility in teaching eschatology.



It does seem that the Anitchrist will persecute the saints for



three and a half years (Dn. 7:21, 25 cf. 4:16).





If the decree mentioned in Dan. 9:25 took place in 457 B.C.E.



(Ezra 7:12-26) then the first 7 heptads (49 years) run from 457



to 408, within which time the rebuilding of the Jerusalem walls,



streets etc was completed. Then 62 heptads (7 X 62=434 years)



later brings us to C.E. 26 because 434-408 = 26 (actually C.E. 27



because we gained one year passing from 1 B.C.E. to C.E. 1, since



there is no year zero in between). This would take us to the time



of the coming of the Moshiach, and it would be after this time of



62 heptads, but while the second Beis Hamikdash was still



standing (a narrow corridor of time from C.E. 27 to C.E. 70) in



which the Moshiach must come and be killed in order to fulfill



this prophecy of Daniel 9:25-27. Moshiach Yehoshua did it, and



Zechariah predicted that the Moshiach's name would indeed be



Moshiach Yehoshua (Zch. 6:12; Ezra 3:8), just as Isaiah



predicted the Moshiach (called "David" or "the son of David" in



various Scriptures) would die and rise from the grave (II Kings



19:34; Isaiah 4:2: 11:1-4; 53:2,8-12). For more regarding Daniel,



the reader is referred to Gleason Archer's commentary on Daniel



in Frank E. Gaebelein's The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume



7, Zondervan Publishers, 1985.







Daniel teaches how to remain steadfast during times of



oppression, in the face of pressure to apostatize or to



compromise one's faith, even if it means having to exercise civil



disobedience against some anti-Moshiach law (Dn. 3:28). The



Moshiach who is with us to the end of the age (Mt. 28:20) will be



with us in the fiery furnace or in the lion's den, if we will



remain faithful to G-d. The Son of Man may be served as G-d but



not idols. See Dn 3:18 and 7:13-14 where the same Aramaic verb is



used for serve (G-d)" or "pay reverence to deity" as in serving



G-d. The word is p'lach with Nebuchadnezzar's



boanthropy, Daniel prophesies that the pride of the Beast (Dn.



4:16) of Babylon will be brought low (Dn. 4:37), his seed will be



cut off (Dn. 5:30 --Belshazzar was the "son" of



Nebuchadnezzar in the sense of "successor in office"), and the



handwriting on the wall will be seen that G-d's judgment cannot



be escaped and that the days of any anti-Moshiach kingdom arm



numbered (Dn. 5:26). The purpose of humbling Nebuchadnezzar is to



teach him that until G-d's sovereignty is acknowledged, man is



bestially stupid (Dn. 4:34-35); on the other hand, when the



L-rd's sovereignty is acknowledged, men's reason returns to him



(Dn. 4:36). We know from historical sources such as I Maccabees



and the writings of Josephus a great deal about another madman



named Antiochus Epiphanes who learned Nebuchadnezzar's lesson the



hard way.







Daniel teaches that history is going somewhere, and that G-d has



history under control. Daniel shows the movements in history of



major kingdoms or empires. The Babylonian empire of Dn. 2:38 is



depicted as the gold portion of an idolatrous statue in ch.2 and



as a lion in ch. 7. The Medo-Persian empire of Dn. 8:20 is



depicted as the silver portion of a statue in ch.2 end as that of



a bear in ch. 7 and as a ram in ch. 8. The Greek empire (the



male goat of 8:21) is the Greco-Macedonian Empire of Alexander



the Great which is indicated by the bronze part of the statue in



Daniel ch. 2 and a leopard in ch. 7. The iron/clay portion of the



statue of Daniel 2 and the beast with iron teeth in ch. 7



symbolize the Roman empire. The Moshiach's Kingdom is seen in the



supernatural stone in Dn. chp. 2 and in the Son of Man in the



clouds at G-d's judgment court in heaven in ch.7. The fate of



Anti-Moshiach (important because of his anti-G-d kingdom) is



stated in Dn 7:11,26; 11:45.





Study the word "kingdom" which is a key word in the book,



occurring well over 50 times, and which contreats the kingdoms of



this world with the eternal Messianic Kingdom of G-d (2:44,



7:14).







This book should be studied especially at the time of Chanukah



each year (the first Chanukah--celebrated 25 Chislev 164--being



predicted in Dn. 8:8, where it says that "the sanctuary shall be



restored to its rightful place." The coming of the Syrian King of



the Seleucid dynasty, Antlochus Epiphanes (175-163 B.C.E.), is



predicted by Daniel. This despot put pressure on the Jews to cash



in their Hebraic faith and their Kohen Gadol and Beis Hamikdash



sacrifices for Hellenistic (Greek-influenced) culture. A



rebellion began in 168 B.C.E. against Antiochus but his



desecration of the Beis Hamikdash became a symbol for the coming



of religious apostasy and of Anti-Moshiach in the last days. The



kohen line of Zadok was usurped when Antiochus Epiphanes sold the



kehunah to Menelaus (see II Maccabees 4:23-50), who lacked the



G-d-ordained Aaronic genealogical credentials.





The book of Daniel is about both the meaning of history, from



G-d's perspective and under his sovereign control, and about



end-time divine intervention in history, whether in a fiery



furnace or a lion's den or by the Son of Man, when history



reaches its goal at the end of days or, as Daniel says, "at the



time of the End." Daniel fasts and prays and watches as the



L-rd's seer from where he has been placed in the royal court of



the Babylonian and Persian empires. The first six chapters speak



of various miraculcus events and visions during the Babylonian



reigns of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, and the Persian reign of



Darius the Mede. The second half of the book speaks of the coming



of Antiochus Epiphenes, the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beis



Hamikdash, the coming of the Moshiach and his being cut off, a



subsequent second destruction of Jerusalem, the coming of the



Anti-Moshiach, the Moshiach's return as the glorious Son of Man



who receives the Kingdom from G-d, and the Techiyas HaMesim, some



to Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life) and some to the shame and



everlasting contempt of Gehinnom (Dn. 12:2).







Study Daniel's eating habits and fasting and prayer (Dn. 1:5-21)



which may have had something to do with Daniel's long life (605



B.C.E. = Dn.1:1; 539 B.C.E. = Dn.1:21). Also see 10:3. Study



Daniel's prayer (Dn. 9:4-19) and notice how prayer is struggling



against cosmic principalities or demons (Eph. 6:12; cf. Dn.



10:12-11:1).





Chapter 11 gives us predictions of the struggles between



Alexander the Great's successors, namely his four generals, the



most important of whom are Seleucus I taking his throne over



Syria and Ptolemy I over Egypt. But first, the three kings of Dn.



11:2 are Cambyses, Cyrus's elder son (529-523 B.C.E.), Gaumata or



Pseudo-Smerdis (522 B.C.E.) and Darius the First (522-486



B.C.E.). The "fourth" is Xerxes (486-465 B.C.E.), the husband of



Queen Esther. The coming of Alexander the Great is predicted,



starting in Dn. 11:3. After one of his drunken bouts, he died of



a fever in 323 B.C. in Babylon (see Dn. 11:4). His baby was



murdered. His seed was cut off, seemingly a divine punishment.



Dn. 11:5-20 describes the war between the Ptolemies and the



Seleucids, variously named king of the north or south. Dn.



11:21-35 (also Dn. 8:9-12, 23-26) have to do with the career of



Antiochus Epiphanes, whereas the eschatological Antichrist comes



on the scene starting at Dn. 11:36 and is referred to in 2:34;



7:8-26; 9:27 and 12:11.





Antiochus, the sinister little horn and despicable tyrant, as he



is called (Dn. 11:21), will suspend the worship of G-d in the



Beis Hamikdash, according to Daniel's prophecy. Not only did



Antiochus claim divine honors for himself on every major coin



that he had minted, but he had a second beast, Menelaus, who



bribed and murdered his way into the Kohen Gadol's office,



plotting the murder of the legitimate Kohen Gadol Onias III. Thus



Antiochus could lead the Jewish people in their apostasy of



"forsaking the holy covenant" (see Dn. 11:30; II Thes. 2:3; Rev.



13:11-17.) Together, Antiochus and Menelaus desecrated and



plundered the Beis Hamikdash. I Maccabees 1:21 says Antiochus



"arrogantly entered the sactuary" (II Thes. 2:4). The ominous



period in which the Beis Hamikdash was desecrated and during



which time there was great persecution and death was about three



years. Antiochus, who became totally mad at the end of his life,



did not die in the Holy Land but in Persia (Iran), looting



another temple.





The armies of the Maccabees versus the Seleucid armies of



Antiochus Epiphanies give us a picture of the armies of the



Moshiach who will destroy the Anti-Moshiach at Armageddon. See



also Mic. 4:12-13; Zech 9:13; 10:8-9 and also the end of Heb.



11:33-35 for possible references in the Bible to the Maccabees.



See especially "the people who know their G-d will firmly resist



him" (Dn. 11:32).





Only Dn. 2:4b-7:28 is in Aramaic; the rest is written in Hebrew.







In volume I of the Expositor's Bible Commentary, on p. 217 R.K.



Harrison comments on the Nabonidus Chronicle, an Akkadian account



discovered at Haran that refers to "King of the Medes" in the



tenth year of Nabonidus (516 B.C.E.), proving that "Darius the



Mede" was a real person and not a confused tradition erroneously



put in the text by any Maccabean ghost writer. Also, on p. 318,



R.K. Harrison says "the manuscript evidence from Qumran



absolutely precludes a date of composition in the Maccabean



period, but does indicate one in the Neo-Babylonian era (626-539



B.C.E.)."



DANIEL 9:26b







...Moshiach will be cut off (violently killed) and to him there



will be nothing, and the troops of the prince who is to come will



destroy the city and the holy sanctuary (the Beis Hamikdash). Its



(his?) end will come with a flood and to the end there shall be



war. Desolations are decreed.

















HOSHEA (HOSEA)













Read Hosea 14:9.





In Numbers 25:1-3 and Hosea 9:10 we see that the Israelites



turned in to the Baal prostitutes at Baal-Peor (Baal=L-rd; Peor=



the mountain on which he was worshipped) when they worshipped the



G-d of the Moabite women. Hosea 9:10 (RSV) says "they became



detestable like the thing they loved." We become good or bad



according to what we admire (see Phil. 4:8). Americans admire



violent, pornographic movies and are becoming increasingly



violent and pornography-tolerant.





Once a maggid (preacher) had to marry a prostitute in order to be



able to speak from the heart of G-d. Only a cuckold with a



covenant-breaking loose-living wife (who forgets him and thinks



only about her worthless boyfriends) can have any comprehension



of how G-d feels toward his people when they forget him and let



something else have first place in their hearts. Like a good and



faithful husband, G-d supplies all our needs and in Him we live



and move and have our being, yet we worship and serve our



prideful fancies and give ourselves over to other lords as if we



ourselves were religious prostitutes (worse than prostitutes



because we receive no real and lasting payment from our idols,



the "gigolos of the heart".)







A husband whose wife forgets him and is unfaithful has an



ambivalent reaction: on the one hand he has a tender broken heart



and an open hand seeking reconciliation (see 2:14-23); on the



other hand, he has a fist of hellish reprisal seeking justice and



punishment. He is like a sower with two kinds of seed in his



hands: seeds of mercy and seeds of vengence. Contrast the name of



Hosea's son (Jezreel meaning "G-d sows") in 1:5 and the urn of



the word in 3:23. G-d will sow vengence on the northern tribes



because they broke away from David, G-d's King. [Jehu threatened



the Lord's plan to raise up a Savior through the seed of David



not by killing the king of Israel, Joram (852-841 B.C.E.), but by



killing the king of Judah, Ahaziah, the grandson of Jehoshaphat



the descendent of David. Like Athaliah's sin of almost



liquidating the Davidic dynasty, this sin of Jehu was more than



bloodshed. It was an anti-Moshiach attack on the coming Davidic



Moshiach Himself. In this respect Athaliah was as evil as



Manasseh (697-642 B.C.E.), who has been called "the Ahab of



Judah." But Jehu's sin began at Jezreel, so the sin of Jezreel



was the rejection of David and David's coming Son the King



Moshiach. Whoever rejects him commits the sin of Jezreel.]



Furthermore, the treacherous and rebellious kings of the northern



kingdom wipe out each other's dynasties with violent abandon.



Therefore, in the same way that Hosea can't be sure that Jezreel



is his legitimate son, G-d also has a backsliding people who have



begotten "alien children (5:7). However, Hosea sees that G-d will



transform such tragic covenant-breaking and its results. What G-d



has sown will in the end come up as a marvelous multitude: first



Israel after the flesh, then spiritual Israel (Hosea 1:10-11;



Romans 9:25f; I Shliach Kefa 2:10) the reborn, regenerated



Israel of G-d--a Jewish-Gentile end-time miracle, the called out



people of G-d, then natural Israel at last herself grafted in



(see Rom. 11).









Hosea is a prophet to the nation, and his domestic upheavals help



him see what others cannot see. He sees that his nation has



broken its covenant with G-d, has turned from G-d-ordained



leaders and gone after worldly self-reliant ones who favor



military strength (1:7) and a foreign policy that plays off (see



8:10; 12:1) one enemy (Egypt) against another (Assyria), while



the common people applaud the g-ds of civic religion and



celebrate them by idolatrous sensual pursuits rather than seeking



the divine protection that a national revival might have brought.



To return to Egypt to appeal for help there (7:11) implied a



cancellation of G-d's electing choice, for G-d called his people



out of Egypt (11:1). Four of the kings of Israel were



assassinated in palace intrigues during this period because each



king trusted traitors (7:5).









Will America trust the P.L.O. or Iran (which are committed to the



destruction of Israel)? America plays off Red China against



Russia, relies on billions for the arms race, and yearns



nostalgically for the good ole days when liberal womanizing



sell-out-the-world-to-Stalin types like Franklin D. Roosevelt ran



the country. America's political covenants say that we are "one



nation under G-d" (which G-d, the G-d of deists like Thomas



Jefferson and Ben Franklin or the G-d of the Bible?) but we



covenant-breaking Americans give G-d little room to operate when



our laws give rights to sex perverts as though they were not sex



perverts but a victimized minority with their own gay crusaders,



"Brit Chadasha kehillot" end now even a Greenwich Village Gay



High School. (One of the school's aims is to help 15 and 16 year



olds to be comfortable with their homosexuality.) Do you see how



we need modern Hosea's to preach to America?











Remember the droughts that have come upon New York City? Look at



4:2-3 and 6:3 in Hosea. Hos. 4:2-3 shows that drought is a



penalty for rejecting G-d's Word, which the perverted



government of New York City has done: "Swearing, dishonesty, and



murder, and theft and adultery are rife; Crime follows upon



crime! For that, the earth is dried up: Everything that dwells on



it languishes-- beasts of the field and birds of the sky--even



the fish of the sea perish." Furthermore, just as drought is one



of the ways G-d withdraws from us, so rain is one of the ways he



comes to us: "Let us pursue obedience to the L-rd, and we shall



become obedient. His appearance is as sure as daybreak, and He



will come to us like rain, like latter rain that refreshes the



earth." (6:3)





Why are New York City's leaders (not all of them but many of



them) so corrupt? Their prosperity has corrupted them. Look at



13:6. "When they grazed, they were sated; when they were sated,



they grew haughty; and so they forgot Me." The very prosperity



G-d gave Israel in the land caused them to forget Him; yet they



grumbled at the lean wilderness experience, and as soon as their



husband provided more than enough, they forgot him like an



unfaithful wife. Thus Samaria (the capital of the northern



tribes) "must bear her guilt, for she has defied her G-d" (Hosea



13:16). This was tragically fulfilled (II Kings 17:6) in 722 B.C.



when the Assyrians took the northern tribes into exile. Samaria



is the unfaithful wife of G-d that must be driven out of his



house (9:15) in order for G-d's prodigal wife Israel (the true



remnant) to fear and return to her true provider and covenant



L-rd (see 2:23).











Therefore, we see that those who teach that prosperity is G-d's



will for every person are teaching error. Money can absolutely



ruin the person who cannot handle its temptations; therefore, G-d



often gives money to those he is angry with as a punishment they



deserve. Such fools are sealed in their sin by their assumption



that riches are the final proof of divine approval. See 12:8.



"And Ephraim (the northern Kingdom) thinks, 'Ah, I have become



rich; I have gotten power! All my gains do not amount to an



offense which is real guilt (in other words) none of my crimes



are going to catch up with me!)'" Like Israel, believers tend to



whitewash their own sins and overestimate their own spiritual



fortitude and ability to handle perfect financial and physical



security. Those "health and wealth" teachers have forgotten that



acquiring wealth can be the ruin of many. They have



simplistically reduced divine financial miracles performed at



G-d's wise discretion to a cause-and-effect "faith" formula which



ignores the wayward heart of man and the chastening, testing hand



of G-d.











In Hosea 11:9 we see the perseverance of G-d's mercy (unmerited



by us). In 11:8-11 we see the tension between his justice (his



righteous wrath against his covenant-breaking spouse) and his



love (his determination to justify or forgive his spouse). See



Romans 3:26. Hos. 11:1 and Matthew 2:15 show the solidarity of



Moshiach and people, just as the rejected son on the aitz and the



accepted son at the resurrection show the same two ideas of



justice for man and justification of man embodied in the man



Yehoshua. Deuteronomy 21:13-21 requires a father to deliver up a



rebellious son to the death penalty, but the Divine Father has



love that won't allow him to do it. A father might give his son



up to the death penalty, a husband might divorce his wife, but



G-d will never give up his chosen people (Isaiah 49:15; Hosea



11:9). Hosea ch. 3 shows G-d's love redeeming his people from her



sinful bondage just as Hosea in long-suffering love buys back his



wife from the slavery into which her adultery has sold her. But



Israel will not return to G-d just as Gomer will not return to



Hosea until the End (see 5:4; 7:10: 2:7; Rom. 11).









Traditional Islamic and heretical Christian misunderstandings of



the fatherhood of the G-d of the Bible stem from an ignorance of



Hosea. In 11:1-4 divine fatherhood is moral and spiritual, in



contrast to the physical ideas of the Baal cults and the Qur'anic



"Trinity".







One reason the body of Moshiach needs Shlichut Acts 13:13



modalities (a sodality is a brotherhood or association based on a



common purpose) is because of the nature of modalities (a



modality is a local Brit Chadasha kehillah the modal quality of



which is that it is a minimal decision group of people who may



agree to do no more than observe a day--usually Sunday--and honor



various liturgical forms and may grow in no more dramatic way



than biologically). Modalities might sometimes tend to settle



down to mediocre religious "business as usual" (note Hosea 6:6!),



with spineless leaders who put up with wicked board members and



big tithers because they love their salaries (note Hosea 4:8!)



just as the kohanim of Hosea's time preferred to prosper from



their share of sin offerings for willful sin rather than act to



dissuade the people from evil. Therefore, the sodality ministry



of the prophet and the outreach worker and the Shliach and the



teacher are needed by the local spiritual leader and his flock,



because "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (4:6).



The modalities must not be able to too completely control the



sodalities, any more than a patient should be able to control his



physician or dictate his own prescription for recovery. Just



as Israel attributed to a fertility sex-g-d the praise due to G-d



for the G-d-given fruits of the earth (thus making G-d jealous),



and just as Gomer forgot her maggid (preacher)-husband Hosea, and



just as America has forgotten the G-d on her coinage and goes



after her g-ds of youth, money, sex, exotic religions, corporate



and status power, etc so the Brit Chadasha kehillah as both



sodality and modality has a tendency to forget G-d and to abandon



the love she had at first--Rev. 2:4. What G-d wants is "hesed",



loyalty to one's covenant obligations and devotion to one's



covenant partner; that is, steadfast love. If we skip around New



York as spiritual prostitutes without commitment or staying power



or systematic study stick-to-it-ness, G-d vows to take all the



pleasure out of our unfaithful pursuits (2:7, 11). If we want to



be saved we must come out from among this harlot's brood in



Manhattan, this foul-mouthed and violence-loving brood of a



former generation of backslidden Americans. We muat became



faithful to the modality or sodality where G-d has placed us.



Otherwise, G-d threatens reprisal as he did with Israel--military



carnage, drought, spiritual exile and estrangement. Hoses



prophecied from 750 to 715 as a native of the northern part of



Israel in the period after Amos and contemporary with Isaiah and



Micah. Undoubtedly Shliach Sha'ul was heavily dependent on Hosea



for Ephesians 5:32 and Romans 11:25-26, just as Yochanan was for



Rev. 21:9f for his simile of marriage as a picture of G-d's



relationship to His covenant spouse, the people He will restore



to Himself in the end-times.





Looking at New York City's 42nd street we see prostitution, soft



and hard porn movies, video stores, pornographic literature,



massage parlors, transvestites, lesbians, homosexuals. Hosea



taught that there's a link between promiscuity and



forgetting/forsaking G-d. The spirit that led Gomer to forsake



her husband also led her to forsake her G-d (4:12).







The L-rd is saying in the book of Hosea that New York City is



like Samaria. Samaria was the apostate capital of the Northern



Kingdom of Israel. She was marked for judgment. She had helped



turn the holy faith of Israel into Baal worship, a fertility cult



which promised rains and harvests by means of a wicked religion



where devotees indulged in an orgy of drunkenness and religious



prostitution. Baal was a nature g-d or weather g-d associated



with thunderstorms as in I Kings 17:1-18:46 (notice I Kings 18:45



where the thunderstorm comes from the G-d of Israel, not Baal,



whose proponents have been defeated by Elijah). Baal was a



fertility g-d or sex cult g-d whose worship involved erotic acts



and public immorality. Baal worship was apparently based on



imitative magic: that is, magic that attempts to control the



universe by mimicking the desired event. If one wants Baal, the



prodigious lover and fertile bringer of rain and harvests, to



"ride the clouds" to his reigning wife-g-ddess Asherah (Jdg. 3:7)



so that one's barley harvest will be abundant, then one worships



Baal by visiting a cult prostitute, getting drunk, and engaging



in ritual fornication. This is the rationale of



imitative magic behind the demonic worship of Baal, and this is



also the background of the book of Hosea where a maggid



(preacher) is commanded to marry a cult prostitute of Baal named



Gomer.







G-d says, "Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have



children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by



forsaking the Lord" (Hos. 1:3). The land of America has certainly



"played the whore" (2:5), forsaking the L-rd. She has forgotten



her true Provider (2:13) and only G-d Himself can heal her



disloyalty to Him (14:4). She has lost the honeymoon love she had



for Him in the days of her youth, in her early wilderness period



(2:14). America has turned to other g-ds, and the L-rd has an



indictment against her. Her children are shameless. They have



rejected the knowledge of G-d and brazenly devote themselves to



immorality. Drugs have taken away the understanding, a stubborn



spirit of whoredom has taken away contrition, and the vile deeds



that even children are engaged in do not permit them to return to



their G-d. The glory of our youth is to know the true G-d and the



free destiny to which He has called us, but "when their drinking



is ended, they indulge in sexual orgies: they love lewdness more



than their glory" (4:18).







So drunkards leer and refuse to work and welfare mothers



proliferate illegitimate children and those who don't know G-d



dearly love their wanton ways. And "they do not consider that I



remember all their wickedness. Now their deeds surround them,



they are before my face" (7:2). When G-d glances He sees a



kaleidoscopic horror show of sexual depravity and decadence. Like



an aging overweight prostitute or a filthy homeless transvestite,



America staggers in her sin. Her wealth she puts into pockets



with holes in them and she does not know it. She turns "to that



which does not profit" (7:16). Americans elect politicians "but



not through Me" (8:4), and these unjust sycophants court the



muscle beach "gay lobby." With great wickedness and guilt comes



great hostility to the Word.











The L-rd has shown that He is soon going to send fire upon all



the world's sleasy cities (8:14), for they have played the whore,



departing from their G-d, deeply corrupting themselves. He will



remember their iniquity, He will punish their sins, as He did in



the time of Hosea. The homeless will grow like a vast herd, like



wanderers in a distant country. In them the heart of a wayward



people will be exposed, and a prodigal nation shall sift its



trash, eating the fruit of its lies. Because, merely talking



about G-d, this people is bent on turning away from Him. And, led



by cords of idolatry, this peaple trusts only in its power and in



the multitude of its police. Therefore, violence rages in their



cities, and G-d's hot anger hangs overhead like a vulture. Until



repentance is preached on the sidewalks, these who sleep there



will not know G-d, nor will He return them to their homes.



If you study the Book of Hosea, you will see that the true



Messianic religion of Moses had been bartered off at that time.



Jeroboam had split the kingdom and had led the people away from



the true expectation of the Moshiach through David (8:4; 3:4-5;



1:11; Amos 9:11; Mic. 5:2; Is. 11:1-5; Jer. 23:5-6; Ez. 37:24-38;



Zch. 12:7-8; II Sm. 7:12-13). The people build pagan sanctuaries



under "sacred" trees and the wicked kohanim lead them to get



drunk and to go into cult prostitutes under the alluring shade of



"oak and poplar" (4:13) and other kinds of trees. But G-d is a



jealous G-d. and He says, I am like an evergreen cypress" (14:8).



Yet the people refuse to live beneath His protecting shadow.



Therefore G-d threatens to make Israel a treeless desert (2:3),



sending the Assyrian exile (prophecy fulfilled 722 B.C.E.) whose



armies set fires that together with droughts turned Israel into a



"parched land." And today the L-rd again is going to take His



shadow away. The shade from the blazing sun over our country will



be removed. Every time an American prostitute brings a "client"



into her hotel room and turns on the air-conditioner, little does



she know that the chlorofluorocarbons, the chemicals in it used



to transfer the heat, are destroying the atmosphere's ozone



layer. When she sprays on deodorant, little does she know that



these same chemicals are removing the ozone shield and letting in



ultraviolet light causing skin cancer on her exposed body, eye



cataracts on her painted eyes, and a defective immune system in



her ulcerated body. G-d is removing His ozone shade from the



sun's harmful ultraviolet rays at a rising level of depletion



that atmospheric scientists called "disastrous" and irreversible.



Rev. l6:8 says, "The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun,



and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire."



The world's daughters have turned to prostitution (4:13), selling



their virginity for a little wine, worshipping idols at



rock-concerts. But G-d is removing the pleasant shade.





Soon everyone on the streets will wear hats and umbrellas,



looking like orthodox Jews on a rainy day. Soon the light outside



will be starkly white, like the flashpoint light of a nuclear



explosion. Soon to venture outside will be a project for fools,



like going unshielded into an x-ray room or strolling around



naked inside a nuclear reactor. The Day of the L-rd is coming



(called also the parousia in the Brit Chadasha Scriptures), that



time when G-d will decisively break into history, save His



people, and settle the score once and for all with His enemies,



both militarily and politically. The Day of the L-rd is a Gadol



"great" day (Yoel 2:11), a day that is karov ("threateningly



near" or "imminent"--Yoel 1:15; 2:1), a HaGorah "dreadful,



terrifying" day. The Sun shall be turned to darkness, and the



moon to the color of blood (Yoel 2:31), and the stars shall



withdraw their shining (Yoel 3:15). See Hosea 5:9-10 which



speaks of the Day that G-d's wrath will be poured out "like



water" which Ephraim (the Northern Kingdom of Israel) saw in 722



B.C.E. which is the time when the ultimate Day of the L-rd (still



future) drew near, overtaking evil Samaria, and Hosea's prophecy



was fulfilled. See 8:13; 3:4; 9:3,15-17; 11:5 for references to



the coming Exile.







If you are wondering whether the fig tree of Luke 21:29 is



Israel, see Hos. 9:10.







Since the word "sow" is a key word in Hosea, note also 8:7 and



10:12.







On the meaning of Hos. 4:l5, see Amos 5:5.











HOSEA 6:2



After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise



us up, and we shall live in his sight.





[Just as the Moshiach was raised from the dead through the glory



of the Father, we too may live a new life (Romans 6:4). The Word



of G-d took on flesh and died for all; therefore, all have died



(II Corinthians 5:14). The old humanity has already been put to



death, and he who does not believe is condemned already (Yochanan



3:18). This is why everyone has not yet been raised bodily from



the death: because, those who hear and believe must first be



raised spiritually from death to life. If we reject the Brit



Chadasha Scriptures interpretation of Hosea 6:2 in favor of our



own interpretation, there is a way that seems right to a man, but



that way leads to death (Prov. 14:12). The period when



decomposition of the body sets in is three days (see Yochanan



11:39) but G-d raised the Messiah on the third Day so that he



would not see corruption--Psalm 16:10; I Cor. 15:4. Hos. 6:2 says



that, even though the Exile will come, the netion will be brought



back to life and forgiven, and the Lord's "appearing" is as sure



as the dawn--Hos. 6:3.]



















YOEL (Joel)













Some scholars believe that Yoel (Joel)'s prophecy could be dated



in the 9th century or even before 701, when Assyria threatened



Jerusalem. The truth is, we don't know for sure when this great



prophet lived. So Yoel (Joel)'s writing constrains the scholar's



dogmatism with a measure of humility. One thing seems likely,



however: if Yoel (Joel) was written in the 9th century, he is



quoted or alluded to by many of the other writing prophets, and



his little book has had a great impact on preachers down through



the centuries, which is a true statement no matter when the book



was written. If Amos (760-750 B.C.E.) is aware of Yoel (Joel)'s



prophecy, this would help to explain the similarity of Amos



1:2=Yoel (Joel) 3:16 and Amos 5:20=Yoel (Joel) 2:2. If the



affinity between Yoel (Joel) 3:10 and Is. 2:4; Mic. 1:3 means



that Yoel (Joel) is aware of the preaching of Isaiah (710-681



B.C.E.) and Micah (750-686 B.C.E.), however, then Yoel (Joel)



must be later than Amos. For other possible connections like



these, see Amos 9:13=Yoel (Joel) 3:18; Obad. l5=Yoel (Joel) 1:15;



2:1; Obad. 17=Yoel (Joel) 2:32. It seems that, because of these



and many other cross-references in Yoel (Joel), perhaps either he



is aware of these other prophets or they are aware of him. But



this is not necessarily the case, even though very often the



words are exactly alike in the Hebrew, since the Ruach Hakodesh



is at liberty to duplicate his messages through different



prophets. For this reason we cannot completely rule out a later



date for Yoel (Joel), even if we prefer an earlier one. But his



message does not hinge on precise dating, so it is not fruitful



to endlessly examine this question of dates.







In the word of the L-rd that comes to Joel, the prophet witnesses



a locust plague, interpreting it as an act not of neutral



"Nature" but of the Creator who is active in nature to bless or



to judge His creation. Using imagery we also see in Revelation



ch. 9, Yoel (Joel) depicts this locust plague as an omen of the



Day of the L-rd (called also the Parousia in the Brit Chadasha



Scriptures), that time when G-d would decisively break into



history, save His people, and settle the score for once and for



all with His enemies, both militarily and politically. The Day of



the L-rd is a Gadol "great" day (Yoel (Joel) 2:11), a day that is



Karov ("threateningly near" or "imminent"--Yoel (Joel) 1:15;



2:1), a HaGorah "dreadful, terrifying" day. The sun shall be



turned to darkness, and the moon to the color of blood (2:31),



the stars shall withdraw their shining (3:15). Around Jerusalem



there will be a valley, the valley of (G-d's) HeCharootz



"verdict" because he will sit to judge the multitudes (3:14) on



that great and terrible "Day." Yoel (Joel) has a vision: he sees



hordes of marching locusts and they are terrifying harbingers of



not only the coming onslaught of an end-time invading foreign



army called "the northern one" HaTsfoni (see 2:20) but also a



heavenly army of the Lord's hosts on the Day of the L-rd (see



1:6; 2:4,11) when He will judge all nations in the environs of



Jerusalem (3:2, 12-21). With great alarm and urgency, Yoel (Joel)



calls upon the people to assemble for repentance and fasting end



prayer so that G-d might relent and not send His own end-time



army on a cosmic mopping up operation following the invasion of



the locust attackers.







Then in ch. 2:28-39 Yoel (Joel) uses the same word Shafach that



Isaiah uses when he talks about "pouring out" the wine on the



ground in a ritual called a drink offering (Is. 57:6). Yoel



(Joel) sees that just as G-d's wrath was poured out on the people



in a devastating outpouring of locusts, so G-d's mercy will be



"poured out" (2:38) on people in the Tevilah of the Ruach



Hakodesh. One of the effects of this merciful Spiritual effusion



or tevilah is that ordinary sons and daughters will become



prophetically gifted maggidim. According to Acts chs. l-2, one



hundred and twenty male and female Jewish street maggidim turned



the world upside-down on Shavuos C.E. 30 (Pentecost) when the



initial evidence of their prophesies spoken in tongues unknown to



them proved that Yoel (Joel)'s prophecy of the tevilah of the



Ruach Hakodesh was beginning to be realized.







Jeremiah 23:5-6 and Isaiah 4:2; 11:1-4; 63:2; Zecharich 3:8;



6:12; Ezra 3:8 tell us that the Moshiach, the Branch of the L-rd



and of David will be called L-rd and Yehoshua (Moshiach



Yehoshua). (The Moshiach is also called L-rd in Malachi 3:1 and



Psalm 110:1, since Adon refers to Adonai in Zecharich 4:14 and



6:5.) Yoel (Joel) 2:32 tells us that "everyone who calls on the



name of the L-rd will be delivered" on the great and dreadful day



of G-d's judgment that is coming.









Yoel (Joel) 2:28a (HEBREW 3:1)



Then afterward I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons



and your daughters shall prophesy...















AMOS













Amos preached around 760 B.C. (before Micah's ministry began,



though Isaiah, Hoses, Amos, and Micah are all prophets of the



same general time period). From Dan (the farthest point north) to



Beesheba (the farthest point south) there were pagan centers of



worship. Bethel and Gilgal had also become perverted into places



boasting of idol Beis Hamikdash sanctuaries, Bethel itself being



the royal sanctuary of King Jeroboam II (782-753 B.C.) with



Amazich his official kohen (see 7:10-13; 4:4; 8:14). The northern



kingdom was enjoying great military, political, and economic



prosperity and success at this time, and the idol shrines were



well supported and maintained with pride. G-d raised up a country



prophet, a raiser of sheep and a cultivator of figs from Tekoa, a



small town six miles south of Jerusalem. G-d called him to leave



Judah and to become a short-term emissary of Moshiach's shlichut



to the foreign kingdom of Israel. The burden of his message from



G-d was that the Exile was coming and that the people must repent



of sin, injustice, immorality, drunkenness, and idolatry or



perish in the coming conflagration. The people of the northern



kingdom of Israel had created and were exploiting an underclass



and G-d was angry and was on His way to bring judgment. Amos'



preaching got him into conflict with the religious authorities



and caused him to be thrown out of the national cult shrine of



their false religion (see Amos chp. 7).





Moshiach's S'micha or ordination does not necessarily mean one



earns one's living from the ministry. In fact, there are times



when G-d appoints (and the people of G-d acknowledge His



appointment) of an individual, but at the same time G-d wants the



person to keep economically independent of the ordained clergy.



Such a person has a secular income-earning vocation but also a



prophetic mission. Suoh a person was Amos. Amos was secularly



employed, a shepherd who had to hold down two jobs while



idolatrous kohanim (as immoral as bribe-taking judges) preached



bland messages in order not to lose their backslidden tithers and



lucrative positions. It often happens that backslidden



denominations and religious movements corrupt their dedicated



elite and then attempt to silence their true prophets (2:11-12;



5:10), since the prophets represent the true G-d of the



poor-in-spirit who are hungry for something more than empty



formalism. In Amos' day the kohanim' toleration of the immorality



of the population left everyone oblivious to the deteriorating



moral condition of society, making it like a basket of fruit,



ripe for G-d's destruction (8:1-3). And so it is today in those



countries where abortion stockyards make people worse than



cannibals (who it seems don't normally butcher their own flesh



and blood), and where the poor, although loved by G-d, are



treated like scum by the immoral rich, who are preoccupied with



materialistic and sensual goals. Fortunes are extracted from the



life-blood and sweat of the poor who must try to keep their heads



above water in a suffocating climate of greed and who barely get



a chance to breathe before the greedy landlords and unjust



merchants and employers and judges pull them under again (2:6-8;



4:1). The message of this book is that the indulgent life of the



wicked privileged will come to an end, as surely as it did for



Nazi Germany (see 3:15; 5:11; 6:4-6).







At the call of G-d Amos left his home in Judaea as a mere lay



maggid (preacher) without any ecolesieticel authorization or



status as a recognized prophet. He refused to be intimidated by



the apostate religious leader, Amaziah. Amos predicted Amaziah's



wife would become a prostitute when foreign armies invaded



Amaziah's "parish" and this corrupt kohen would see all that he



possessed taken from him as he was dragged off to the unclean



lands of the heathen (7:10-17). Amos in effect says to him, Fear,



G-d, maggid (preacher)! When G-d defrocks you, Amaziah, you will



know it! It is worth noting in passing that, in the tradition of



Amos, and to protect himself from his critics (who were quick to



challenge his motives), as well as to give himself travel and



monetary independence, Shliach Sha'ul refused to take a salary



for preaching the Besuras Hageulah (though he did, on occasion,



accept free-will offering support, especially when he was in



prison).







Amos broke from the tradition (I Sam. 9:7; Micah 3:11) that a



prophet should be remunerated in some way before being consulted.



Amos refused to let himself be cast in the role of "organization



man. Amos refused to be a spokesman for the evil political and



religious establishment, the type of spokesmen that preach for



pay or position and say only what their employers want to hear.



Rather, in the tradition of Micaiah ben Imlah (I Kg. 22:14), Amos



could speak only the word that the L-rd gave him, and took no



"professional remuneration" since G-d alone was his boss and



pay-master. This tent-making preacher model is



especially useful when the paying religious institutions are



wicked and Scripturally aberrant as they were in the northern



kingdom with its calf-idol cult of the renegade non-Davidic King



Jeroboam II and its Baal heresy. However, this is not the same as



wet-behind-the-ears charismatic "prophets" who disguise their



independent carnality and rebellious immaturity with an "I don't



listen to men but to G-d" attitude in defiance of Hebrews 13:17



which says, "Obey your leaders."





Amos was called to be a short term emissary of Moshiach's



shlichut (his ministry as it is recorded is only a single year's



work). He had to leave his native land and go to another nation



(for Israel was divided into two kingdoms at this time). He had a



very hard message to proclaim: that the dynasty and the



unbiblical religious shrine and the entire population of the king



(Jeroboam II) would be uprooted and destroyed (7:9,11).



Naturally, this was a dangerous message sure to cause Amos



resistance from the "establishment" political and religious



leaders of the land. One of the reasons Amos was listened to is



because he spoke of an earthquake (8:8) two years before it



happened (1:1), just as he spoke of the exile of the nothern



kingdom (760 B.C.) nearly 40 years before it happened (722-721



B.C.) at the hands of Assyria (which Amos does not name).





There are those who would reduce our faith to an observance of



days (Sundays), rituals (hymns and pew calisthenics), and



doctrines (dead orthodoxy), a purely religious Besuras Hageulah



as opposed to a "social Besuras Hageulah. Amos opposes them,



declaring that political and religious and social corruption must



not go unchallenged by true believers. The poor must be aided and



the legal corruption must be confronted, whether it be judges who



take bribes or land grabbing money grubbers who turn farmers into



serfs. Of course, liberal Brit Chadasha kehillah leaders have



used Amos as a retreat from the fundamental Besuras Hageulah of



salvation from hell through faith alone in the blood of Moshiach



Yehoshua, and have preached Amos as their key text for a works



righteousness universalist "social Besuras Hageulah." But the



true Besuras Hageulah is not an either/or religious/social



Besuras Hageulah, but a both/and religious/social Besuras



Hageulah (Moshiach Yehoshua reached out but he also fed and



healed the poor).







It has been said (Robert Hymers) that most evangelicals in



America have never experienced a true Biblical turn-around as far



as the world is concerned. There are those who think that because



they are religious, G-d will accept any kind of behavior from



them. They love any religion that doesn't require the new life of



G-d from them! (Therefore, their religion teaches them to



transgress--4:4-5--and at its center is rebellion against the G-d



of regenerated humanity.) They profess to be regenerated and that



once saved, they are always saved; therefore, they can get away



with high-handed (presumptuous) sin. Although they are bored with



G-d (8:5)1, they believe that religious observance safeguards



them so that they can eat, drink, do with their bodies anything,



go with their friends anywhere, do anything, and get away with it



because they are religious. Then, just when these religious



hypocrites are settling down to their antinomian "cheap grace"



and empty religious formalism, Amos steps in and says "You fat



cows of Bashan...All the sinners of My people shall perish by the



sword, who boast, 'Never shall the evil overtake us or come near



us.' Yes, you alone have I singled out and known of all the



peoples of the earth; therefore (instead of holding you



unaccountable to live anyway you like), I will call you to



account and punish you for all your sins!" (see 4:1; 9:10; 3:2).







The people of Amos's day had a popular theology that said nothing



bad could happen to them because they were religious. They



thought they would be the survivors, the remnant, no matter what



happened. The people had an eschatology that the day of the L-rd



would be "peaches and cream" for them and trouble for everyone



else besides the remnant. Amos said, in effect, "Remnant? O yes,



sweety pie, there will be a remnant--what's left of a finger



after the L-rd slams the car door on it!" (See 3:12.) "Behold,



the L-rd G-d has His eye upon the sinful kingdom: I will wipe it



off the face of the earth!" (9:8). With uncompromising radicalism



he meets the superficial religiousity of his contemporaries who



have grown self-sufficient and comfortable in their smug



ritualism and worldliness. He did not let the stubborn resistance



of his audience stop him. He criticized the shallow doctrines of



assurance and the last days in vogue in his day ("you who put far



away the evil Day (of the L-rd) and bring near the status quo



rule of violence"--6:3) and inverted them to point to the coming



judgment. He preached that mere outward religious practice could



not off-set their sinful lives, and that the End (HaKetz) was



coming, the day of the L-rd (8:2).







Since faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word, and since



the people Amos preached to had no taste for the Word of G-d but



wanted only to get their religion over so they could go home to



pursue their cut-throat materialism (8:5), Amos promises that G-d



will bring a famine of hearing the Word of G-d (8:11). That



famine, a judgment of G-d, has already descended on many places



in the world. Wherever the people are not open to a revival in



the Word they experience a famine of the withdrawal of the Word.







The people at this time were living in a society where the rich



were very rich and the poor were very poor and exploited. The



greed of the wealthy knew no bounds, drinking and adultery were



everywhere, and yet a hypocritical attempt was made to please G-d



by empty religious profession. But G-d knows the difference



between empty profession and a living faith at work in love to



help the poor (whether it be people who are poor in money or poor



in spirit).







OUTLINE OF THE BOOK: UTTERANCE AGAINST THE NATIONS,



ch. 1-2 Because of war crimes, G-d-angering deportations,



fratricidal conflicts, inhumane "overkill" kinds of outrages



against Israel, the nations living around Israel are ripe for



imminent judgment. But so is Judah for spurning the Word, and



Israel, for worshipping sex and money instead of G-d and for



social exploitation of the poor. ("For two transgressions and for



four" means "for an ample number of offenses.")





JUDGMENT AGAINST ISRAEL, ch. 3-6







Hunger, drought, crop failure, contagious disease, natural



calamity are all part of the judgment of G-d on these wicked



people.





Prepare to meet your G-d, America! I sent you herpes, and you



would not turn back to me! I sent you drought, and you would not



turn back to me! I sent you AIDS and you would not turn back to



me! I sent you bankruptcy and Wall Street crashes and debt and



deficit and unemployment and recession and you would not turn



back to me! Prepare to meet your G-d O New York (see 4:6-12)!



Look at 5:3 where G-d uses a military scourge as a punishment on



a wicked nation (America had the yawning mouth of a Viet Nam hell



opened once to swallow her youth; something worse is coming if



America does not repent!) When will we learn to stop seeking the



evil sanctuaries (6:5) of bars and discos and violent sex movies?



Seek the L-rd and you will live (5:6)! G-d will not fight for us



to defeat our enemies if we Americans live like G-d's enemies!



The rapture would not be a day of joy for the worldly idolatrous



Brit Chadasha kehillah of this generation (5:18-20)!





PROMISE OF RESTORATION AND BLESSING, chp. 9:11-15 In



chapter 5 Amos speaks to a group very similar to the people in



many lands today (especially South America where liberal marxist



Liberation Theology is impacting the Roman Catholic Brit Chadasha



kehillah). I am referring to the group who are steadily driving



the landed peasantry away from their earlier land-owning



independence into the condition of serfs. The smaller farmer no



longer owns his own land (a sacred trust!); he is a tenant of the



urban class which is corrupting with bribes the serf's last court



of appeals protecting widows and orphans, the court at the



village gate. For Amos the court in the village gate is the



central institution in Israel (and constitutes Yehoshua's picture



of the millenium, with disciples on thrones as a court of the



Messianic millennial kingdom). What G-d wants is righteousness in



the courts and marketplaces, not mere rituals in the shrine holy



buildings! Landless serfs did not exist as an economic class



much before the 8th century because prior to that time there were



fewer Ahabs and Jezebels to seize the land of the Naboths of



Israel (see I Kgs. 21). Land was a holy trust belonging to G-d



and leased by the families to be used to serve the L-rd. Small



landholders were now swallowed up by the large estates of the



commercial class, who had secularized their concept of land and



left G-d out of the picture entirely. G-dless capitalism can be



as vicious as g-dless communism in this respect.







However, the people of his day lived in pride and thought



themselves invulnerable. Chapter 6 shows they had confidence in



their country because of momentary peace and prosperity due to a



fleeting international situation where their national enemies



were preoccupied (momentarily) elsewhere. Americans think they



made it through the World Wars and Viet Nam and they can go on



making it no matter how they live. Did Nazi Germany make it? Are



we with our abortion clinics and porno industry that much better



than they with their anti-Semitic literature and their ovens?



American homes where once the Bible was taught by G-d-fearing



fathers are now overrun with TV pornography, and, now, who feels



discomfort? "They drink straight from the wine bowls and anoint



themselves with the choicest oils--but they are not concerned



about the ruin of Joseph (6:6)."







Being defeated and drained in the Viet Nam war was not enough to



make us have a national revival and send thousands of emissaries



of Moshiach's shlichut to Viet Nam! Therefore G-d has another



Viet Nam awaiting us! Go ahead! Don't preach the Besuras Hageulah



and help the poor! Don't raise your sons to be g-dly emissaries



of Moshiach's shlichut to places like South America! Then you can



pay the price of your wickedness by watching them die in the



battlefields and swamps of these places! Preach like this and it



will be said, "The country cannot endure to hear these things..."



(7:10) Amos had to fearlessly preach the revelation of G-d's



burning wrath against his people. Amos said, "I am not a



prophet" (7:14). He meant, that is, by profession! He meant he



was not a member of that economically sychophantic professional



clergy caste who attached themselves to a shrine or a political



leader and tamely prophesied disaster for national enemies and



prosperity for all their religious followers. When Amos said, "I



am not a prophet's son" (7:14), he meant he was not a trainee of



their devious theological schools!







Amos declared that you can't love G-d and money, no matter what



any maggid (preacher) tells you!





Amos today would preach on our streets. He would point at the



pimps and the drug dealers and the lurking muggers and criminals



and the brazen men who sexually assault women on the street with



their fiercely foul mouths. It is not Russia alone that is



pointing its nuclear missiles at this wicked city-- it is also



the G-d who hates wickedness!





The last four verses of Amos are quoted by James in Acts 15:16;



the book of Ya'akov is also highly indebted to Amos. But the



point James is making in Acts 15 is that wherever people turn to



Yehoshua ben David the fallen wilderness hut of David is being



resurrected again to prepare for the ultimate salvation of Israel



and the world.







In Amos 9:8 G-d promises to preserve a She'erit (remnant) through



the coming judgment and to "raise up" (Akim "I will raise to



stand up i.e. even from the dead") David's fallen Akim sukkah



(hut/booth/tent--9:11). This is a Messianic prophecy fulfilled



more literally and more gloriously than anyone ever expected.





AMOS 8:11



Behold, the days come, saith the L-rd G-d, that I will send a



famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for



water, but of hearing the words of the L-rd.



















OVADYAH (OBADIAH)













A key to the dating of this book is found in Ezek. 25:12-14;



35:1-15, and Lam. 4:18-22--all documents of the early exilic



period when Jewish fury raged at the Edomites for the way they



swooped in like vultures to take advantage of the 588-586 B.C.



Babylonian victory over Judah. The Edomites moved into southern



Judah and took over Israelite territory near Hebron. Psalm 137:7



preserves a memory of this.





Probably written shortly after 586 B.C., Obadiah's book refers to



the Galut (the Exile) in Obadiah 20. 586 B.C. was the fatal year



when the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed and the city of Jerusalem



sacked. Obadiah sees in the fall of Jerusalem an outworking of



the wrath of the Day of the L-rd upon his people, but He has left



a remnant (holy consecrated survivors) who have a right to the



capital and the country, while the merited lot of the nations who



attacked Jerusalem is to perish. Edom is the particular nation



Obadiah prophesies about, saying they will justly suffer at the



hands of G-d. Edom's annexing of Israelite territory is to be



reversed, despite Edom's natural impregnability, human wisdom,



manpower, and weaponry (see also Jer. 9, 16). The moral of this



briefest book in the Tanakh is that if any nation thinks it is



impregnable to G-d, it had better think again. We live in a



world where human rights mean nothing and where people are



programmed for violence by constant movie/tv/reading. G-d



denounces the heartless violence of Edom in verse 10. This



heartless murderous hatred of the Jewish people is what that



cunning "Edomite" Hitler did not repent of that brought about his



destruction.







But over against the day of disaster endured by Jerusalem in 586



B.C. (see verse 11) stands another day, a day of disaster for all



the nations of the world, the Day of the L-rd (see verse 15-16).



See verses 17-18 where it says that a few survivors will escape



the calamity befalling G-d's people, but total destruction will



befall those who don't know G-d (16, 18). This would include no



doubt all who, like Jacob's twin Esau, sell their birthright and



foresake the L-rd (Gen. 25:29-34). For G-d has not merely



summoned a sword against Israel; He has summoned a sword against



all the inhabitants of the earth (Jer. 25:29) and it is a lethal



cup of judgment they must drink (Jer. 25:28), for Israel will not



be the only nation to drink it. When the Babylonians set fire to



the Beis Hamikdash in 586 B.C. judgment is merely beginning at



the household of G-d. Therefore when the world looks at those



flames or the flames of the 1933-1945 Jewish Holocaust the world



should shudder, for such is only a preview and a foretaste of



what horror is coming on the inhabitants of the world and, unlike



the Jewish people, the heathen will have no survivors. All the



nations around Jerusalem shall drink of judgment just as the



Jewish people drank (Obadiah 16). This is the world-sobering



Chazon vision that Obadiah saw (1:1).





OBADIAH 16



Just as you drank on my holy hill so all the nations will drink



continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had



never been.



















YONAH (JONAH)













The point of the story is that G-d loves more people than know



it, and those that know it don't know the half of it. But the



problem is that His prophets and preachers tend to be



narrow-minded, touchy, selfish, racially biased vindictive little



prima dons and therefore G-d has to work miracles as fast as a



magician (out of his hat G-d pulls a wind, a lottery draw, a



submarine fish, a revival, a quick-growing castor-oil plant and a



worm) to get any use out of his hard-to-manage ministers.





In 1:3 we see that Jonah didn't want to preach to his people's



traditional enemies because he wanted G-d to judge them and he



knew a forgiving G-d like his would not judge them if they



believed Jonah's message and repented. This is so typical today



of the religious feelings of many Christians against Jews, Jews



against Christians, and Muslims against both and vice versa.



Whereas Jonah was a Jew with these kinds of feelings toward



non-Jews, today we are in a reverse situation: we know Jews are



guilty of rejecting the Moshiach so we don't preach to them



because we want prophecy to be fulfilled against them. We know



Muslims are guilty of rejecting the prophetic finality of



Moshiach Yehoshua's coming so we don't preach to them because we



want prophesy to be fulfilled against them. What petty little



religious Jonahs we all are! And no wonder this religious hatred



has desolated Lebanon in our generation and threatens to ignite



the Middle East into World War III. The book of Jonah shows that



G-d wants reconciliation and peace between G-d and man and



between man and his fellow men, and this little book shows the



folly of disobeying G-d and backsliding away from G-d's Matthew



28:19-20 Great Commission. What madness that Jonah would trust



his own opinion and a fragile little boat in a precarious sea



more than the wisdom of a compassionate omnicient G-d who



commends him to preach salvation to even Israel's enemies.



Shliach Sha'ul must have been thinking of what happened to Jonah



when he said, "Woe to me if I preach not the Besuras Hageulah!"



(I Cor. 9:16).







Joppa, where this story really sets sail, is also the scene in



Acts 10 and 15:6-11 where another maggid (preacher) named Simon



Shliach Kefa son of Jonah had to learn Jonah's lesson...a maggid



(preacher) not like Jonah, the man caught by a fish, but like the



other Shluchim, a fisher catching men. Shliach Kefa had to learn



that in this world's Jewish/non-Jewish confrontation, G-d is not



a respecter of persons but draws near to any who are willing to



repent. The author of the book of Jonah ironically emphasizes the



G-d-fearing quality of the pagan sailors and contrasts their fear



of G-d (and that of the Ninevites) with the brazen



presumptuousness of the disobedient and uncompassionate prophet



Jonah. Like the voyage narrative at the conclusion of the book of



Acts, the author is making the subtle point in chapter one of the



book of Jonah that we of the human race are all in this little



boat of life together, and that unless we listen to G-d's



prophecy we will all alike perish. However, we see that very



often G-d has to send a wind of tribulation to get His prophet to



spit out the saving message (just as He had to cause the big fish



to spit out the prophet!), and, since we all tend to be Jonahs



most of the time, we can understand why Shliach Sha'ul warned all



believers that we must go through much tribulation to enter the



Kingdom of G-d (Acts 14:22).





Look at 1:7. Have you ever noticed how the unbelievers who are



in the same existential boat with you always find out you are a



believer--even when, like Jonah, you try to hide it?







There are many unbelievers, even many among college-educated



Bible scholars. Unfortunately, Moshiach Yehoshua was not



college-educated, so he thought this "big fish" story was



historical, whereas our modern college-educated Bible scholars



assure both us and G-d that this "big fish" story did not really



happen. Like Jonah, our preachers trust their own notions more



than G-d's miraculous Word. However, there have been incidents



recorded of people survivng being swallowed by sperm whales,



which could be large enough to swallow a living man "if he



managed to negotiate the air-supply tract of the mammal and reach



the great laryngeal pouch" (R.K. Harrison, Introduction, p.907).









The story of Jonah has the literary density of meaning to provide



a parabolic moral lesson or an allegorical picture of a



disobedient chosen prophet of a disobedient chosen people who



must be chastened in death and resurrection in order to be a



witness to the rest of the world's remnant (which G-d has also



chosen to save). Thus the book provides a subtle rationale for



why the Exile had to happen: to move Israel from idolatry to a



more universal vision of their service to a world-embracing G-d.



Yet, there is no reason to eliminate the spiritual biography of



the historical Jonah, an anti-hero like Shliach Kefa in the



Besuras Hageulahs and Shliach Sha'ul in the early part of Acts.



Those who deny the story any veracity have an anti-supernatural



bias, that is not particularly modern or sophisticated.





On the contrary, what happened to Jonah is a key historical



"sign" of the central historical miracle of the Bible--the



sacrificial death and saving resurrection of the Messianic



prophet who is greater than Jonah (Moshiach Yehoshua), and the



men of Ninevah will stand up at the judgment and rebuke the



unbelievers of our generation as worse than them, far they



apparently repented when they believed Jonah's testimony of his



burial-tevilah and



resurrection from the sea, whereas "someone greater than Jonah



(Moshiach Yehoshua) is here" with a greater burial-tevilah and



resurrection (Matthew 12:38-41). The repentant Gentiles of



Ninevah will one day rebuke the Jewish rabbis of our day who say



that the Jewish Bible knows nothing of a buried and resurrected



prophet type of Moshiach; foregleamings of this type of prophet



are found not only in Psalms 16, 22, Isa. 53 and Gen. 37:24 but



also in Jer. 38:5-9, to say nothing of the motif of national



burial-exile and resurrection-return in the pre-exilic prophets



and in places like Ezekiel 37. The picture of death swallowing



and then vomiting up a prophet is the most graphic predictive



sign of the death and resurrection of the Moshiach that we could



expect in the Tanakh. The "three days and three nights" of Jon.



1:17 is the time period after which decomposition of the body



begins (see Yochanan 11:39 and Hos. 6:1-3). The fundamentals of



the Good News entail the fact that G-d raised the Moshiach on the



third day (I Cor. 15:4), since the Moshiach was to die but his



body was not to see corruption (Ps. 16:10). Notice that Jonah



gets to this extreme point of desperation before he even prays



about his condition of being stubbornly out of the will of G-d



(Jon. 2:1; compare 1:5-6).





Since Jonah is an important character in the Qur'an (37:139-148;



68:48f; etc.), here is an important point for witness to Muslims



as well. Actually Jonah, ministering ca. 800-750 B.C. did



prophesy that Jeroboam II (793-753 B.C.) would expand the



northern kingdom (II Kg. 14:25), but what happened to Jonah is as



important as anything he ever prophesied. This is also true of



Yehoshua. This is also true of each of us, and is why we should



never tire of giving our personal testimony of what happened to



us when Moshiach Yehoshua came into our lives.





But apparently Jonah was a small man (small enough to be



swallowed) and in 3:3 he apparently felt swallowed up by a vast



metropolis. He had a great testimony of a great personal



deliverance, but the city was so large how could he be equal to



the task? How many days would it take a street preacher to preach



across your city? How many days would it take a visitor to



minister to people house to house? Verse 4 says that "he started



out" and apparently he took it one day at a time in some



systematic fashion that G-d revealed to him, and G-d gave him an



audience with people who gave him a bigger audience until even



the king had heard and was his ally. Thus a great revival came to



a city because one man finally (end unheroically) obeyed G-d.







Look at 2:7. G-d used an instrument of certain death--a great



fish--to save both his prophet and the Ninevites out of the



primal waters of chaos and death, just as later G-d used another



instrument of certain death--the wood of Golgotha--to save us



"Ninevites."



Look at 4:10. The "Gardener" of Ninevah, the Creator of all men,



rebukes the self-centered and ethnically prejudiced mourner of a



castor bean plant for his lack of compassion and love for G-d's



planting, Ninevah. Jonah is so blind (he is a type of that blind



Servant of the L-rd Israel seen so clearly in the second half of



Isaiah) that he cannot even see his own great personal investment



in G-d's "Garden" Ninevah and all the many trials and tests that



constitute Jonah's personal stake in G-d's harvest. What blind



laborers we are! We cannot even see and properly weigh our own



struggles! So it is that many ministers, after pouring out vast



energy for many years, sometimes backslide at the end of their



ministry, like a rich man stupidly discarding his hard-earned



bank deposit book. The point is that we who have been called by



G-d have been called not as an end in itself but as a means to



call others. G-d wants us to know his heart for the lost and to



share it so that His promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:3) would be



fulfilled: that all the peoples of the earth would not be enemies



but would bless themselves in one another as fellow heirs of



Abraham's faith.





The Moshiach is the Prophet like Moses, the Prophet like Jonah,



whom Death swallows and then vomits up: Moshiach the Firstborn



from the dead, the King of Kings, who does not see death's



corruption. Instead He sees the light of resurrection light and



divides its booty with those He makes righteous by bearing away



the curse of their wicked depravity. See Deut. 18:15-18; Isa.



49:9-10; Hos. 11:1; Ps. 89:27; 16:10; 21:5; 61:7; 89:4; Isa.



53:5, 10-12; Gen. 22:4; Hos. 6:2; Amos 9:11.





Note well: Jon. 1:14. People are perishing because of disobedient



street preachers who don't go.





Jonah has to have reality splashed in his face to wake up. He has



to be reminded of G-d's having personally saved him (Jon. 2:6)



from the pit. He has to repent of stubborn disobedience and he



has to stop forsaking his true loyalty (Jon. 2:8). Read Jon.



chps. 2-3 again. Notice: the street preacher changes his mind,



the people hear and change their mind, and then G-d relents and



changes his mind, all as a result of forsaking stubbornness



regarding preaching on the street.







Notice: the street preacher is often angry, and G-d may put



righteous anger in his heart. However, he may be angry about the



wrong things. Jonah was (see Jon. 4:l-4). Does G-d not have a



right to be angry if his street preachers don't obey Him and



don't show His compassion for the work of his hands, his lost



sheep that he so urgently desires to be found? (See Jon.



4:10-11).





JONAH 1:17b (HEBREW 2:lb)



And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three



nights.



















MICHOH (MICAH)

















After the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq,



found himself short of cash. He had been extorting vast sums from



Kuwait by means of military intimidation, but when the Kuwaiti



government did not give him all that he demanded, he invaded and



annexed the country in 1990, an act that started the Persian Gulf



war. Similarly, in the 8th century, the Assyrian Empire (modern



Iraq) was extracting "tribute" from both Israel and Judah. In 724



B.C. Hoshea, the last king of the northern kingdom of Israel,



withheld tribute from Assyria and triggered an invasion. But II



Kings 17:1-41 gives us G-d's perspective of these events, telling



of the idolatry and stubborn g-dlessness of G-d's people and how



these led to this terrible war. Micah was one of the prophets



that G-d raised up to preach repentance to the people and to warn



of the imminent divine judgment that would make itself felt in



the Assyrian invasion. In fact, the 12 towns in southwest Judah



named in Mic. 1:10-16 (with word plays on their names expressing



their terrible fate) are in the path of the coming Assyrian



invader. Micah's prophesy is especially relevant to our day. Just



as in modern times, Assyria (modern Iraq) was Israel's primary



enemy Micah's day.







Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos. The L-rd



showed this 8th century prophet (he probably ministered sometime



roughly between 740 and 701 B.C.) what was going to happen to



Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, and



Jerusalem, Judah's southern capital. The L-rd warned Micah about



the enemy army approaching as G-d's agent of judgment. Damascus



was the capital of Aram (Syria). It fell to the Assyrians in 732



B.C. But G-d was already revealing to Micah that He "would make



Samaria a pile of ruins in the open country" (1:6-7). The



Assyrian invasion, which would threaten Jerusalem itself by 701



B.C., is seen in Mic.l:9 as an incurable wound spreading to "the



very gate of the people, even to Jerusalem itself." Samaria was



destroyed by the Assyrians in 722-721 B.C. Gath, a city of the



Philistines, fell to the Assyrians in 711 B.C. Sennacherib's



march from Lachish to Jerusalem in 701 B.C. is Micah's prophecy



in 1:10-16.





While Nancy Reagan used astrology to decide her husband's



schedule, U.S. President Ronald Reagan spent some of his



astrologically determined time making sure Iraq had American



government approval to purchase huge quantities of weapons from



other countries as well as secret arms sales to Iraq from the



U.S. But during the Iran-Iraq war, nations that sold weapons to



Iraq soon thereafter often found those same weapons being



directed toward their own soldiers in the Persian Gulf War. These



pro-Iraqi nations made the mistake of King Ahar. When faced with



enemies and in need of militarily strong allies, Ahar king of



Judah (735-715 B.C.), inspite of Isaiah's warnings in Isa. chs



7-8, looked to Assyria's military might for protection instead of



almighty G-d and followed a pro-Assyrian policy in his defense



against Syria and the Northern Kingdom. However, ultimately,



this faithless and entangling policy of Ahaz led not only to the



fall of Syria's capital Damascus (732 B.C.), but also to the



captivity, exile, assimilation and national extinction of the



northern kingdom of Israel. Worse yet, Judah itself never fully



recovered from the political and religious "Pandora's Box" she



opened when she refused the divine protection that comes with a



national revival and instead unlatched the door to her



treacherous ally Assyria.





From 705 to 681 B.C. the Assyrian king was Sennacherib



(pronounced in English "sen-AK-uhr-ib". This king is referred to



in places like Isaiah 8:7-8; 36:1-37:38 and II Kings.) He is a



type of the Anti-Moshiach, the final Enemy of Israel (see Micah



5:5, which says "the Assyrian will invade our land"). Not much



has changed in 2700 years: the modern occupier of the land of



Assyria is Iraq, still an enemy of Israel. In fact, both Assyria



and Babylon lay within the borders of modern Iraq. The Assyrian



Empire included, along with her other territories, what is today



Iran, Iraq, and Syria (all Israel's enemies today). A Syrian



(Antiochus Epiphanes) is seen as typical of the Anti-Moshiach in



Dan. ch 8 and 11; and as Daniel prays against this beast, one of



the demons wrestling against him is called the "prince of the



Persian kingdom (Dan. l0:13)." Iran is often referred to as



Persia in the Bible because the Assyrian Empire was defeated by



the Babylonian Empire which was in turn defeated by the Persian



Empire, and the Persian Empire was the former official name of



Iran. It is worth noting that important enemies of Israel today



are Shiite terrorists from Iran and Syrian-backed elements in



Lebanon as well as the Iraqis; so little has changed since Micah



and other of G-d's preachers prophesied the existence of these



coming adversaries. Also the Philistines (their principle cities



were Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath (Mic. 1:10), and Gaza all



located in the southern coastal area of Israel) are still the



enemies of Israel in the persons who carry their name today, the



Palestinians (Palaistinoi is a Greek name given to the



descendants of the Philistines).





Micah preached during the reign of Jotham king of Judah (750-732)



and Ahaz king of Judah (735-715) and during part of the reign of



Hezekiah (715-686). As a street preacher, Micah shocked his



audience by walking around barefoot in a loincloth "naked" as if



he were a slave (see 1:8) being taken hostage in warfare (see,



similarly, also Isa. 20:2-6). Micah wanted to act out for his



audience how their sins would soon cause them to be costumed. The



dramatic way he was dressed as he preached made him act not only



like a slave taken hostage but also like a mourner being dragged



off as a prisoner. He was warning his generation that they were



going to be bereaved of their children who would be going into



exile as prisoners (1:16) and that they themselves would soon be



defeated slaves and vassals and exiles. His lament is found in



1:8-16. Street preachers are needed now (with Micah's sorrow for



the fate of sinners) who can pray for a revival--like Micah prays



in 7:14-20. In the way they dress and act these modern day



"Micahs" can warn of exactly how the children of our generation



are being dragged off into destruction and into an exile of sin



leading to judgment. These street maggid



(preacher)s can call for repentance as they depict the "deadly



blow" G-d is preparing for our wicked nation (see 1:9 where Micah



speaks of Samaria's unhealable wound). Micah describes a degraded



nation: a land of muggers (2:8), villainous landlords (2:9),



clever urban land-grabbers stealing the farmers' property by



means of nefarious schemes (2:3-5), false prophets (they preach



for money and have no word from the Lord--contrast 3:5-7 with



3:8), bribe-taking judges and hireling kohanim (3:5-12) and



impoverished, exploited children (2:9). Look what Micah says



about dishonesty and cheating of any kind (6:11-16) In fact, any



murderous nation guilty of millions of abortions yet unjustly and



heartlessly refusing to "rescue those who are being taken away to



death" (Prov. 24:11) is under the warning of Mic.2:3, where G-d



says, "I am planning disaster for this natlon...you won't be able



to save yourselves." The wealthy wicked who, like feeble



innocuous preachers, had better stop resisting Micah's preaching



(2:1-11) or their wealth will be lost in the coming catastrophic



end of the nation. Just as the land-grabbing greedy businessmen



had evicted the widow and the poor children of Israel, so G-d



will now evict them and they will leave their rich estates and go



into destruction in the Exile (see Mic. 2:10). As for the



preachers who preach for money, the things that will safely keep



them on the payroll of their corrupt constituencies will also



lead to G-d not at all confirming their prophecies as true and



their preaching as worthy (Mic. 3:5-7).





Look at Mic. 5:12. Certainly, the occult and new age religion



will not save us from G-d's judgment on a thieving, violent



nation of heathen idolators and liars. The astrologers and



fortune tellers are a common sight today, even operating from



sidewalk tables. Micah preaches against both sorcerers and



soothsayers in 5:12, which will "be destroyed" on "that day"



(5:10). A soothsayer was a person who used occult powers to



foretell events. This is also called divination. (See Deut.



18:10-14.) Sorcery or witchcraft is the attempt to use the power



of the devil to curse or cast a spell on a person or do magic.



Necromancy is calling up the dead, or the occult belief in such,



especially as a means of fortune telling. The witch at Endor in



I Samuel 28 told Saul's fortune by means of a "familiar



spirit"--that is, a demon that served her and worked with her on



an on-going "familiar" basis. For a sample of how the Bible



opposes all this, see: Isa. 8:19; 44:25; 47:12-15; Acts 8:9-24;



13:6-11; 19:13-20; Rev. 21:8; 22:15. Fortune tellers are like the



false prophets and lying religious leaders that Micah refers to



in 3:5,11, because they also prostitute and pervert religion for



money.







Samaria was the apostate capital of the Northern Kingdom of



Israel. She was marked for destruction. She had helped turn the



holy faith of Israel into Baal worship, a fertility cult which



promised rains and harvests by means of an orgy of religious



prostitution. The money from religious brothels had been melted



down to make idols, and Mic. 1:7 seems to say that invading



soldiers will demolish Samaria's syncretistic religion and carry



away her filthy idols. Hosea and Micah are preaching against Baal



worship's fertility cult prostitution (see also Judg. 8:22; Ezek.



16). Baal was a nature g-d or weather g-d associated with



thunderstorms as in I Kings 17:1-18:46 (notice I Kings 18:45



where the thunderstorm comes from the G-d of Israel, not Baal,



whose proponents have been defeated by Elijah). Baal was a



fertility g-d or sex cult g-d whose worship involved erotic acts



and public immorality (much like today's prostitution, soft and



hard porn movies, video stores, pornographic literature, massage



parlors, gay bars and sex clubs, etc). Baal worship was



apparently based on imitative magic: that is, magic that attempts



to control the universe by mimicking the desired event. If one



wants Baal, the prodigious lover and fertile bringer of rain and



harvests, to "ride the clouds" to his consort Asherah (Judg. 3:7)



so that one's barley harvest will be abundant, then one worships



Baal by visiting a cult prostitute and engaging in ritual



fornication. This is the rationale of imitative magic behind the



demonic worship of Baal, and this is also the background of Micah



1:7, where Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom and a



fountainhead of this pagan religious wickedness, is marked out



for destruction. The Asherah poles in 5:14 are Asherah Idols.



But notice Micah's message in Mic.l:2-7, "The L-rd is coming?"



Why? Because of the sins of the people, because of the idolatry



of Samaria (1:5-7), and this explains the coming desolation and



devastation. The parousia comes down in an anticipatory way with



the arrival of Assyrian enemy troops at the gates of Jerusalem in



701 B.C. (see Mic. 1:12). If any nation thinks that pornography



will not be judged by the L-rd with violent judgment, that nation



should look at Samaria and heed the warning of Mic. 1:2-9.



Micah shows evidence of containing material that was preached on



many different occasions and over a number of years, but was



compiled by Micah and arranged in an artistic poetic book to be



preserved and published. Each of us should have a preaching



Bible and a journal or notebook to preserve the study notes and



insights that G-d gives us so that we can refine them and use



them in ministry at the proper time.





Notice how unpopular Micah's preaching was (2:6,11) in contrast



to the false prophets (3:11). Nevertheless, it is precisely



because of these lying preachers that Jerusalem will be destroyed



by the Babylonians (3:12; 4:10), and "you will go to Babylon.



But you will be saved from that place. The L-rd will go there and



take you back from your enemies" (4:10). Micah's words were



fulfilled in the first Babylonian deportation (605 B.C.), the



second Babylonian deportation (597 B.C.) and the Babylonian



destruction of Jerusalem (586 B.C.) and in the return of the Jews



from exile in 538 B.C. at the order of Cyrus King of Persia.



G-d's Spirit filled Micah with power to preach justice and an



uncompromised message (3:8), including the prophecy (5:2)



regarding the birth of the Moshiach, the ideal Moshel (ruler) of



Israel who will come forth "to Me," and whose "goings forth" are



from mikedem "olden time," even "from the days of eternity" mimei



olam (see Prov. 8:23 meOlam "from eternity;" Gen 3:22 l'Olam)



"and live forever;" Ps. 90:2 umeolame ad olam "from everlasting



to everlasting You are G-d;" therefore, since, according to Mal.



3:1, the Moshiach is the L-rd, we should hardly be surprised if



"His origin is from forever". Notice also that Mic. 5:1 says



that the Moshiach, like a helpless shopfet Judge, will be



insulted by a slap in the face (5:1). Although Assyria is said



to invade Israel (5:5-6), Israel will ultimately defeat this



enemy (see 5:6), just as the United States did on Purim, 1991,



for Israel's sake in a miraculous answer to prayer. This land of



Assyria/Babylon/Iraq is called the "land of Nimrod" because



Nimrod the warrior had his kingdom located in that area (Gen.



10:8-11). The remnant is scattered by G-d among the nations but



will overcome and prevail, though these survivors will in the



process be punished for their sins (5:8-15). Mic. 6:5 says to



remember the saving acts of the L-rd, in particular alluding to



Joshua 3:15 where the Jordan river parts like the Red Sea when it



is crossed as Joshua leads the children of Israel in to take the



promised land.







Memory verse: Micah 6:8 (see Deut. 10:12). Remember to be kind!



Study the great sermon found in 6:1-8.





Well over a century before his words were fulfilled in 586 B.C.,



Micah announced the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the



Jerusalem Beis Hamikdash (3:12). Notice that Jerusalem is to be



destroyed because of the sins of rulers, kohanim, and false



prophets (3:11-12). For this great prophecy Micah was still



remembered in the days of Jeremiah over a hundred years later



(see Jer.26:l-19). Then in Micah 4:1-4, we see the Good News go



forth and the nations destroy their war weapons and in faith



gloriously stream in as Zion (Jerusalem) is finally exalted in



triumph. Micah also predicted a time of tribulation is imminent



for this decadent world (7:1-6) in the coming days of judgment in



which a person's enemies will be members of his own family.



Israel will be severely chastened but will be saved in the end



(7:7-9) and her enemies will be destroyed (7:10).





A modern day miracle, the return of the Jewish people from the



dispersion is prophesied in 7:11-12. The message of hope in



2:12-15 is that a remnant will be restored. See also 4:1-5:15;



7:7-30. Everything that needs to be purged will be purged by the



L-rd (5:10-15).





The Moshiach will, according to Mic.5:3f, give up his people to



Exile until the time when Israel gives birth again and the



Moshiach's kindred return from Exile and sin to the people of



Israel. Then the Moshiach shall stand as a shepherd-king like



David, and shall feed His flock in the strength and majesty of



the Name of the L-rd, and a millennial security will abide with



Israel and the Moshiach shall be great to the ends of the earth



(Mic.5:4). The end-time Assyrian invader (the latter day Saddam



Hussein) shall find "seven shepherds and eight installed as



rulers" (meaning a more-than-sufficient deterrent) able to defeat



him and occupy his land and rescue Israel (Mic. 5:6), just as



America proved able to do during the Persian Gulf War. The rest



of chapter 5 seems to show the remnant of G-d ruling and reigning



with a rod of iron during the millennium.







MICAH 5:2 (1)



But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are insignificant among



the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be



Ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from days of



eternity.



















NACHUM (NAHUM)

















Nahum probably wrote his prophecy shortly before 612 B.C.E., near



the time of the reforms of King Josiah of Judah (see II Kgs.



32:8-23:25). Over 100 years before, the Ninevites, those citizens



of Ninevah (the city made the capital of Assyria by King



Sennacherib) had apparently turned to G-d in a great revival



under the preaching of Jonah. Now, however, that generation had



long been dead. Almost 100 years before Nahum prophesied,



Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, had been



destroyed (722 B.C.E.) by the spiritually untutored great



grandsons of the people in Assyria who heard Jonah preach, and



nearly 70 years before Nahum was written, Jerusalem itself had



been threatened by these Assyrians (701 B.C.E.). Nah. 1:9 (NIV)



proved true, however, because G-d did not give Ninevah a second



victory over His people. In 663 B.C.E. the Assyrians even



captured the Egyptian capital of Thebes (see Nah. 3:8). Now, near



the time of King Josiah's revival in Jerusalem, G-d gives Nahum a



dramatic you-are-there prophetic foreglimpse of the siege and



awesome destruction of Ninevah, Assyria's showplace capital.



Nahum's "vision" is written down a short time before the Medes



and the Chaldeans (from southern Babylon) and the Scythians



destroyed Ninevah in 612 B.C.E. and the Chaldeans or



neo-Babylonians triumphed over the Assyrian empire with the



destruction of this city. The Babylonian empire then lasted from



612 B.C.E. until 539 B.C.E., when Cyrus King of Persia conquered



the city of Babylon.







This prophecy is very important. It shows what G-d will do in the



end to every cruel militaristic nation--what He did to Assyria



and her capital Nineveh (see 1:8). Chapter 2 gives Nahum's vivid



description of the siege and sack of Ninevah. Nahum's little book



also gives a word of enocuragement (his name means "oomfort" in



Hebrew) to the oppressed remnant of G-d suffering under every



oppressive military power, whether it be Assyria or some modern



counterpart (1:12-13).





The key to the doctrine of justification is found in 1:3, which



says, "G-d will by no means leave the guilty unpunished." Here we



have the uncompromised character of G-d's justice, which must be



understood in order to grasp the cruciality of the death of the



Moshiach which satisfied that justice by providing an acceptable



vicarious punishment for the guilty (Isaiah 53:5). When we grasp



this doctrine, we realize the basis for our being acquited of our



quilt before G-d. We are no longer guilty under G-d's avenging



wrath (we have peace with G-d--see Isaiah 53:5). We have been



taken out of condemnation and are no longer culpably left



unpunished because the vicarious punishment of Moshiach and his



resurrection is accredited to us as a free gift through faith



--Romans 4:23-25. We also see the key to our sanctification is



in offering our bodies as dead-to-sin living sacrifices no longer



under the power of the old guilty nature, which was sin-prone and



culpable as far as punishment is concerned (see Romans 12:1-2).



Indeed, we can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory



because that old life is dead and gone and the life we now enjoy



is a new creation life far above the death-dealing sinful life



that once doomed us (I Shimon Kefa 1:8; Gal. 2:20; II Cor. 5:17;



Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1-3; Ro. 7:21-25).





G-d will indeed punish those who oppose his holy purposes (1:11;



2:1) for his people (1:12-13) and the nations (3:1-7). 2:8 seems



to refer to Thebes in Upper Egypt, which was sacked by the



Assyrians in 663, and Nahum is saying that just as that great



power fell, so will Assyria fall. For Assyria, which had been



G-d's instrument of punishment on the unrepentant northern



kingdom of Israel, must now receive its own punishment for all



its wicked, cruel deeds (1:14; 2:13-14; 3:1,4,19; see also Is.



37:10-13). "Who can stand before His wrath?" (1:6) so today every



barbaric power that unleashes cruelty on the innocent can expect



the same destruction from the avenging G-d of Abraham.







Saddam Hussein's latter-day "Assyrian" army, threatening Israel



with SCUD missiles, met destruction on Purim, 1991, in a modern



fulfillment of this prophecy. Nah. 1:11 and also Nah. 3:18 may



refer to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (669-627 B.C.E.). The



"you" in Nah. 1:12 refers to "Judah" (see Nah.1:15). The "you" in



Nah. 1:14 refers to Ninevah, whose end is imminent. Nah. 1:18



speaks of a proclaimer of Besorah (good news). When G-d defeats



his enemies (in this case the Ninevites/Assyrians), the people of



G-d publish "good news" (see also Is. 40:9; 52:7). Of course,



death is the greatest enemy of all, so in 1991, if there were



really a revival in the U.S.A., Americans would not only be



proclaiming the Good News of the defeat of the defiant modern



Assyrian threat (the Iraqis) in the Persian Gulf War; they would



also be proclaiming good news of the defeat of the greatest enemy



of all--death itself--through the death and reeurrection of



Yehoshua the Moshiach.











NAHUM 1:3



The L-rd is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at



all leave the guilty unpunished: the L-rd hath His way in the



whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His



feet.







[In the Torah, death is not merely the curse of sin--see Genesis



2:17; 3:17-19. Death is also the legal penalty of justice so



that G-d's honor is not impugned by allowing evil to go



unpunished--Nahum 1:3. Therefore, should we be surprised that



when the Word of G-d came in the Law of Moses he demanded death



for sin? Should we be surprised that when the Word of G-d came



in the Moshiach he satisfied his own demand by offering his own



death as justice and mercy for all transgressors? The Word that



promised life through Moses and the Prophets came to provide a



death that would allow no sins to go unpunished, a death that



would shield the redeemed from the curse of death and bring



divine justice and immortality to light. The Word of G-d became



our Moshiach, our Deliverer. By his death he turned aside his



Father's holy fury against all our ung-dliness. He took the



penalty of death for us. When he said, "My G-d, why have you



abandoned me?" He was G-d's righteous and merciful Word taking



our curse of abandonment from G-d--the curse of hell--upon



himself to rescue us from the punishment we all deserve--see



Isaiah 53:5. He did this so that all who believe can be raised to



a new spiritual existence with him.]



















CHABAKUK (HABAKKUK)













The g-dliest king that ruled the kingdom of Judah during this



time was killed in battle in 609 B.C.E. His name was Josiah and



it was under him that a spiritual revival occurred when part of



the Torah was rediscovered in the Beis Hamikdash and studied.



King Josiah tried to stop Pharoah Neco of Egypt from assisting



Assyria in its futile last stand against Babylon. Josiah was



killed in that battle fought with Neco at Megiddo (near modern



Haifa) just 4 years before the Babylonians defeated Neco at



Carchemish (605 B.C.E.), which tipped the balance of power toward



Nebuchadnezzar who was now free to subjugate Judah, starting in



605 B.C.E.







See 1:6. At around this time (in the decade 608-598 B.C.E.) in



the history of Judah, Habakkuk (probably a contemporary of



Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Obadiah, Nahum, Daniel and Ezekiel, roughly



speaking) was given the prophetic vision to see and inquire why



G-d was allowing the g-dless, ruthless Babylonians to pose a



greater and greater threat to the more righteous kingdom of Judah



(the northern kingdom having long ago gone into Assyrian



deportation --722 B.C.E.).







The worthless king of Judah (whom Jeremiah predicted would have



the burial of a donkey--Jeremiah 22:18) with the audacity to cut



up and throw into the fire the Word of G-d (Jeremiah 36:23) was



the murderous, idolatrous, oppressive Jehoickim (who was a vassal



of Egypt and took the Egyptian name Eliakim before he became a



rebellious vassal of Babylon end was put to death on the way to



captivity in 598 at the age of 36). Habakkuk seems to be asking



in 1:2-4 why G-d, who is a G-d of justice and a protector of the



righteous, is not acting to punish the evil establishment of this



villanous king's Judaean society?







The answer comes back in 1:5-11. G-d has a breath-taking answer



so astounding that few will even believe it when they are told



(see 1:5 and also Acts 13:41 to see how Shliach Sha'ul applied



this verse to the Besuras Hageulah). G-d is raising up the



Chaldeans (the Babylonians), who are an even more powerful and



more villanous army of cut-throats, and are more then adequate to



punish the righteous-persecuting rogues of Habakkuk's day. But



this answer from G-d gives rise to another question stated in



1:12-2:1. Habakkuk's "complaint" (2:1) is this: how can G-d



justify allowing a people (the Babylonians) more wicked than



another people (the Jews) to be His punitive agents and,



moreover, allow these g-dless "fishers of men" seemingly to have



"open season" (1:14-15) on the people of G-d? How can G-d be



silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they?



(1:13) This is the main question the book raises.





Surely it can be agreed that the Babylonians are unrighteous.



Their own might is their g-d (1:11) and the only "justice" they



acknowledge is what proceeds from themselves (1:7)







Habakkuk trusts the L-rd and patiently, confidently, waits for



the answer. The answer comes in 2:2-3:19. The dog-eat-dog manner



in which wicked nations weary themselves against each other will



not profit them (2:13), for "the earth will be filled with the



knowledge of the glory of the L-rd, as the waters cover the sea"



(2:14). In the midst of all this villainy, wicked men trust



themselves alone and die. Shliach Sha'ul says in Romans 1:24



that part of the penalty of sin is in the sin itself, for when



G-d gives a man over to his own ugly sin, he becomes an ugly



sinner. If a man or woman practices perversion, he or she



becomes a pervert. If one gives himself over to vanity, one



becomes a narcissistic bore; to gluttony, an obese glutton; to



liquor, a drunk; to violence, a heartless butcher. "The arrogant



do not endure" (2:5), they have forfeited their life (2:10). And



the enemies they are creating will eventually arise to settle the



score, and destroyers like the Babylonians will themselves be



destroyed (2:7-8). However, the righteous will live by personal



faithfulness to G-d (2:4), even by their personal trust and faith



in G-d, who is worthy (despite what Satan says in that other



theodicy, Job 1:9-11; 2:4-5) of exalted praise even if barbarous



invasion comes and everything in this brief life is taken away



and all hope outside of G-d Himself fails (3:16-19). The idols



of the barbarous invaders are not real, but the L-rd is in his



holy Beis Hamikdash; "let all the earth keep silence before Him"



(2:20).







Habakkuk's prayer is that, "In wrath may You remember mercy"



(3:2). Hab. 3:3-15 depicts the Lord's glorious coming from Sinai,



marching toward Edom as at the Exodus (Dt. 33:2), recalling the



history of Israel and His victorious march in the conquest of the



land for the salvation of his people. But G-d also came forth



triumphantly (3:13) to rescue his Mashiyach (Moshiach,



"Anointed").







Shliach Sha'ul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17 and Galatians



3:11. This verse sums up the key doctrine of the Bible, that



regeneration and its attendant peace with G-d that passes all



understanding (Phil. 4:7) does not come from ourselves or our



religious and ethical strivings but is a gracious gift from G-d,



the gift of saving faith in the infallible Word of G-d (Ephesians



2:8; Romans 10:13-14; II Tim. 3:16; Yochanan 10:35) who



inscripturated Himself in the Bible and incarnated Himself as the



Moshiach and now lives in those who are called by G-d to abundant



new life in the Ruach Hakodesh.







Habakkuk was both a theologian and an artist. The musical



notations in chapter 3 tell us that he may have been a Beis



Hamikdash prophet (a member of the Beis Hamikdash staff who



declared the Word of G-d especially in relation to various



assemblies and feast celebrations) who composed his oracle from



G-d in an artistic musical setting for use in the Beis Hamikdash



in Jerusalem.









HABAKKUK 2:4



Behold, as for the one that is lifted up, his soul is not right



within him: but the righteous shall live by his faith.

















ZEFANYAH (ZEPHANIAH)

















Zephaniah (640-622) prophesied between the time of Isaiah and



Jeremiah, roughly 626 B.C.E. near the time of Jeremiah's call to



the office of prophet. Zephaniah's preaching helped (with



Jeremiah's) to spark King Josiah's revival (621 B.C.E.--see II



Kings ch 23) after the wicked reigns of Manassah and his son Amon



had left the people of Judah in need of a spiritual awakening.



Zephaniah may have been a great, great grandson of Hezekiah King



of Judah (1:1). We know he prophesied before Ninevah was



destroyed in 612 B.C.E. (see 2:13).











Mankind is in danger of being swept off the face of the earth



(1:2-3). Backsliders, if they don't repent, will be destroyed



(see 1:6). For the great, dark, terrifying Day of the L-rd is



karov (near--1:7,l5-16) and hastening fast (1:14). The



superstitious (1:9) and those syncretists who try to mix the



faith with Canaanite, Ammonite, and Assyrian religion (1:4-5)



will be destroyed, as will the complacent, too indifferent to



trouble themselves making inquiry of the L-rd (see Zeph. 1:12 and



II Shimon Kefa 3:3-4). Money won't save anyone on that day, when



G-d will make a full and terrible end of sinners, and distress



will fall on all living (1:17-18).











In view of this Day of divine wrath so imminently approaching,



believers should repent of pride, humble themselves (2:3), seek



righteousness, seek the L-rd, through whom one may perhaps "be



hidden on the day of the L-rd's wrath" (2:3). A revival is shown



to be gathering together in one accord, in a spirit of humility,



to seek the L-rd (2:1-3). Notice that the L-rd will not be hidden



on the Day of the L-rd, but the believers may be hidden, hidden,



that is, from G-d's wrath. Elijah's rapture was almost hidden



from Elisha (II Kings 3:10). So G-d will in some way hide His



people when He reverses their fortune. (2:7) and puts their



oppressive enemies under their feet (2:9). The Nubians ("Cush")



mentioned in Ezekiel 38 will also be plundered (2:12).







The kohanim whose careless interpretation and teaching has "done



violence to the Law", the officials, the judges, the prophets --



all the leaders in Jerusalem are shamelessly unafraid of the Day



of the L-rd that is coming. Past destruction of evil cities like



Sodom and Gommorah (2:9) does not phase Jerusalem, who is all the



more eager to make all her deeds corrupt (3:1-7). Therefore, G-d



will gather all nations and the whole earth will be consumed in



fire (3:8). G-d is going to remove the proud and haughty and



leave a remnant of humble and lowly people (3:11-12).





Zephaniah was used to start a revival. What did he preach?



First, he attacked the false g-ds his people worshipped (1:4-5),



the sex-g-d (Baal) and the kohanim of their sex cult that the



people revered more than the L-rd's true servants. Zephaniah



also attacked the hypocrites who bowed publicly before the true



G-d but worshipped a false G-d in secret (1:5). 1:6 hits the



root evil--the unregenerate and desperately corrupt heart that



does not seek the true G-d and will not bother with Him (1:6).







Notice in 1:8-11 Zephaniah is not afraid to preach utter



destruction will befall the political and commercial



establishment of his day. This was a dangerous message for him.







The perils of complacency are depicted in 1:12-13. Zephaniah



rebuked a nation of indifferent nobodies who thought G-d



powerless to interfere with the ephemeral little lives they were



building for themselves through their brazenly sluggish



disinterest in the Word of G-d.







In 1:14-18 he graphically painted the horrors of the coming Day



of the L-rd. Then, having stirred their fear of the L-rd, he



called them to a spiritual change of heart in 2:1-3. Starting in



2:4, Zephaniah preached against the enemies of G-d in the west,



the Philistines (2:4-7); the east, Moab and Ammon (2:8-11); the



south, Nubia (2:12); the north, Assyria (2:13-15).







Then he turned on the leaders of Judah, her ruthlessly cunning



politicians, her bribe-hungry judges, her bragging preachers, her



theologians who "do violence to the Law." Zephaniah declared



that trouble is coming on the whole worthless brood (3:1-4)! G-d



laments that after all of His destruction of the g-dless pagans,



these religious people still haven't taken the hint and repented



(3:6-7). Therefore, judgment will have to begin with them(3:8).





The non-Jews will finally turn to the L-rd, according to 3:9-10,



and Shliach Sha'ul sees them joining the righteous Jewish remnant



in Romans 11. See 3:12. If G-d's judgment means destruction for



the wicked, it also means vindication of the righteous who,



refined by suffering, can render purer service (notice that a



small Jewish remnant would be restored to G-d after the



Babylonian capitivity--see 2:7).





Here we see what G-d is preparing to do to Israel: that is, pour



out his wrath on the non-remnant while He hides His remnant or



elect and spares them from his angry, righteous judgment (see



2:3). Notice the promise of a great Gentile revival, and even of



a "Pentecostal" transformation of a "deceitful tongue" of Judah



(3:12) into "a pure speech" of the Gentiles (3:9). This heavenly



"pure" speech was heard at Pentecost in Acts ch 2.







ZEPHANIAH 3:9







"Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may



call on the name of the L-rd and serve Him shoulder to shoulder."





































CHAGGAI (HAGGAI)

















Zeal for the house of G-d consumed the Moshiach. He never spared



himself in making disciples and preaching and teaching and



throwing out of the Beis Hamikdash the money-changing profiteers.



However, in 520 B.C.E. the people who had returned from the



Babylonian Exile were allowing the Beis Hamikdash in Jerusalem to



lie in ruins (II Kings 25:8-17) while they spent all their time



building lovely houses for themselves (Hg. 1:4). Seventeen long



years had dragged by since the altar of the Beis Hamikdash had



been built by the Kohen Gadol Yehoshua (Ezra 3:1). The building



of the Beis Hamikdash itself had been delayed because of



unbelieving Samaritans in the land. These men caused political



interference with the Persian authorities who had initially



approved the return of the Jews.







However, Haggai got a word from G-d and started to preach with



the result that three weeks later the people had started work on



the Beis Hamikdash. This shows the power of anointed preaching



when G-d's Spirit is ready to move. Haggai's sermon encouraged



the people by showing them the way to G-d's favor, that up till



now they had missed getting the blessing because the Kingdom of



G-d was not put first in their lives. Poverty and drought and



crop failure and dissatisfaction (2:17) are curses from Dt.



28:15f on the people because they are not building G-d's house



(the Beis Hamikdash) and are instead building their own houses.



Then the L-rd stirred up the spirit of the Jewish-Persian



governor Zerubbabel (grandson of one of the last kings of Judah,



Jehoiachin) and the spirit of the Persian-born Jewish Kohen Gadol



Yehoshua/Joshua (Ezra 3:8) and the spirit of the people. And they



began to work on the Beis Hamikdash!





Then, a month after his first sermon, Haggai got another message



from the L-rd. The people are not to fear, nor are they to



compare this Beis Hamikdash to Shlomo's Beis Hamikdash (some of



the elderly had seen Shlomo's Beis Hamikdash and were making the



negative comparison). They are not to see what they are doing by



comparison as "nothing" (2:3). They are to go to work and to know



that G-d is with them. Indeed, Haggai sees G-d's Spirit dwelling



in their midst as at the Exodus (2:5; Ex. 13:21-22; 14:19-20).



With great Messianic portent, Haggai prophesies that G-d is going



to shake the heavens and chemdat kol hagoyim "the Desired of all



nations" (i.e. the Moshiach; will come. Mal. 3:1 calls Him, "the



Messenger of the Covenant, whom you desire." When the Moshiach



comes, G-d will fill the Beis Hamikdash with greater splendor and



glory than Solomon did, because "one greater than Solomon" will



be coming to this Beis Hamikdash. Haggai's prophecy about the



silver and the gold (2:8) was also fulfilled because Herod did a



lavish refurbishing of the Beis Hamikdash a few hundred years



later.







The man in charge of rebuilding this "Second Beis Hamikdash" that



Haggai is prophecying over is a man named Joshua or Yehoshua



(Ezra 3:8). The anglicized form of this name is "Moshiach



Yehoshua" and, because he is building the Beis Hamikdash, he is a



prophetic type of the son of Dovid who would, in the last days,



gather a new remnant for a new Exodus and build the Beis



Hamikdash of the Ruach Hakodesh on Pentecost (Shavuos) C.E. 30 as



"one greater than Shlomo." (See also the prophecies of Zechariah



3:8 and 6:11-13). Notice 2:20-23, where, by building the Beis



Hamikdash, Zerubbabel of the Davidic line is himself a partial



fulfillment of the II Sm. 7:12-16 promise to Dovid about the



Moshiach, so Zerubbabel's very presence on the Beis Hamikdash



site is evidence of the Messianic stirring now in progress



(compare "I am about to shake the heavens and the earth" in



2:6,7,21). When the Moshiach comes there will be a new Exodus



(2:5,22) and the throne of the world's kingdoms will be



overthrown (2:22). The "signet ring" in the last verse of Haggai



Is a symbol of Messianic authority over Dovid's house.





Two months later Haggai is preaching again and has another word



from the L-rd. He rebukes the kohanim (raising a question --



compare Hg. 2:12 to Lv. 6:27--that causes them to rule against



themselves and the people) by proving that the evil all are



responsible for is much more infectious and pervading than any



holy consecration to the L-rd that they could claim (2:11-14).



Then Haggai gives them an encouraging word from the L-rd. From



the day that they laid the first stone and finished laying the



foundation of the Beis Hamikdash, G-d has begun to reverse the



blight of poverty that was on their lives and from this day on I



will bless you (2:15-19).







Haggai was a prophet consumed with G-d's cause. What was G-d's



cause, His goal? His goal was that the worshipping community be



posthaste set in G-d's order and the holy House be rebuilt



without further negligence, despite the danger or the sacrifice



required.





His preaching was aimed at getting the people spiritually



dissatisfied with the status quo, so that they would put their



hands to the task and go to work. The farmers needed to see that



G-d would not bless their crops if they put their crops above His



House (1:6); the wage-earners needed to see that G-d would not



plug the holes in their purses if they put their purses above



G-d's House; the kohanim needed to see that their offerings were



not acceptable if they found G-d's ruined House acceptable



(2:10-14).







Then, having stirred up (by the power of the Ruach Hakodesh) a



restless desire in the hearts of the leaders and the people



(1:14), the prophet's next task was to comfort and



encourage the flock so that no set-back would stop their forward



progress. "To work! I am with you!" says the L-rd. I will



prosper you. "Mine is the silver, mine the gold!(2:4-8). What a



magnificent promise! What congregation wouldn't roll up their



sleeves to attempt anything from G-d with a congregational leader



to preach messages to them like that! Haggai told them not to



focus an the negative in front of them (2:3) but the positive of



G-d's promise for the future (2:9). And once they cast off their



lethargy and set their hands to the task, look at the wonderful



promises "From today onward I intend to bless you" (2:19).



Remember, Haggai says, when you weren't involved in ministry or



zealously working as the L-rd showed you, nothing you touched was



blessed. But once you went to work, the blessing started and the



blight stopped. This is because you are laying the foundation of



the house of the L-rd (2:18)! Don't let such an important task



seem as "nothing" to you (2:3). Get to work! The Moshiach is



coming!







As it turned out, the Beis Hamikdash housing the Spirit that



Haggai promised (2:9) and that he saw in the Davidic loins of



Zerubbabel (2:23) was even more wonderful in its fulfillment than



Haggal could have ever dreamed possible. The Beis Hamikdash G-d



raised up from the ruins of death on the morning that Yehoshua



rose from the dead as G-d's eternal kohen in his indestructible



resurrection body is the greatest gift mankind could ever



receive. A Beis Hamikdash like that is prepared for all who



believe in Him and die to the defiling shanty of this passing



world. When the Exodus at Jerusalem began on Pentecost (Shavuos)



and the Moshiach gave his remnant people the tevilah with the



Ruach Hakodesh, a Beis Hamikdash of kohanim was raised up for all



eternity and no greater privilege is possible than to be called



to minister as a kohen to G-d at this Beis Hamikdash, for it is



the Beis Hamikdash of G-d's (salvation, Yehoshua).





When Shliach Sha'ul was planning the collection journey we will



study about in the Brit Chadasha Scriptures, Hg. 2:7 along with



Is. 40:14; 60:6; 61:6 must have been on his mind.





HAGGAI 2:9



The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former,



says the L-rd of Hosts; and in this place I will give shalom,



says the L-rd of hosts.



















ZECHARYAH (ZECHARIAH)













The Beis Hamikdash is under construction. The date is October 27,



520 B.C.E. The place is Jerusalem. It will take until the spring



of 516/515 B.C.E. for the Beis Hamikdash to be oompleted, and two



prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, are the key preachers G-d uses to



spur on the people to build. Zechariah begins by exhorting his



countrymen to repent and return to the L-rd. He reminds them of



how G-d had angrily taken their fathers into captivity (Jerusalem



and the Beis Hamikdash were destroyed by the Babylonians in 586



B.C.E.) because they refused to listen to earlier prophets like



Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Micah, Hosea and Zephaniah (1:2-4). "And



my words and my statutes, which I



commanded my servants the prophets, did they not overtake your



ancestors?" (1:6)







On February 15, 519 B.C.E. Zechariah has a vision at night (1:7).



He sees an angelic horse patrol reconnoitering the world for the



L-rd and reporting that the pagan world was secure (1:11). They



are apparently riding four horses and standing among some



evergreen shrubs in the Kidron valley outside Jerusalem. They



inquire of the L-rd and inform Zechariah that G-d's 70 year



period (586-516 B.C.E.--see Jer. 25:11; 29:10) of anger against



Jerusalem is over and the city and Beis Hamikdash will be rebuilt



(1:16).







A new vision begins at 1:18. The powerful pagan nations in



general (referred to in 1:15 as being guilty of "overkill" in



serving as G-d's chastening instruments against the Jews) is



symbolized by four animal "horns." These horns of strength are



being thrown down by "blacksmiths," the L-rd's workmen of



destruction. Nabatean Arabs also served as "blacksmiths" of the



L-rd when they threw down the Edomites (see Obadiah) in military



defeat (they drove the Edomites from their homeland in the 6th



and 5th centuries B.C.E.). Other "blacksmiths" had been the



Persian Empire armies who brought down the horn of strength of



the Babylonian Empire.







Zech. ch 2 shows the righteous survivors of both the nations and



the Jewish people flowing into the prophet's vision of end-time



Jerusalem, when true believers will experience the covenant of



G-d and his protection (2:5,11). Zech. 2:11 is very important



because it says "many nations/Gentiles will join themselves to



the L-rd on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in



your midst."





The Kohen Gadol Joshua mentioned in Zecheriah has his Aramaic



name given in Ezra 3:8, which is Yehoshua or Moshiach Yehoshua.



In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible,



this "Joshua," the first Kohen Gadol after the return, is called



)IEsous in Greek or Moshiach Yehoshua in English. Here we see the



Brit Chadasha Scriptures name of Moshiach Yehoshua prophetically



indicated in the Old Testament. The Kohen Gadol represented the



people before G-d, and together with the other kohanim, amounted



to a prophetic sign of "the Branch," the promised Moshiach (3:8),



whose name (over 500 years later) became Moshiach Yehoshua the



Moshiach, fulfilling Zech. 6:12. On the word "Branch" as a



euphemism of "King Moshiach" in the Hebrew Bible, see also Is.



4:2; 11:1; Jer. 33:15. According to Jeremiah 23:5-6, "the Branch"



(of David) was to be the King of the end-time and would be called



"The L-rd our Righteousness." The divine perfection of this



kohen-king "the Branch" (compare the Hebrew of Ps. 132:17 to Ps.



110:4) is symbolized by the perfect number, seven, in the



seven-eyed stone set before "Moshiach Yehoshua" the high kohen in



Zech. 3:9, where G-d vows to remove the iniquity of that land in



one day, a reference to the once-for-all work of the Moshiach,



who will in "one day" effect an eternal "Yom Kippur" for the



guilt of the land.







Alluding to Amos 4:11 in Zch. 3:3, this Kohen Gadol's filthy



clothes transformed in Zechariah's vision to clean turban and



apparel symbolizes the unclean people back from Exile in an



unclean land whom G-d is now going to purify in preparation for



the coming of the Branch, the Moshiach (3:3-8). Since the Davidic



monarchy was a casualty of the Exile, the Kohen Gadol will now



"rule my house" (3:7), but only to be a prophetic stand-in for



the coming Moshiach (3:8).







The Davidic prince who returned from the exile, Zerubbabel and



the Kohen Gadol of chapter 3 are together a prophetic sign of the



Davidic prince of the last days, the Moshiach, who will bring the



Ruach Hakodesh. This is symbolized by presenting these two



anointed men as olive trees supplying a seven-lamped



lampstand with oil through which the worshipping community could



light up the world. These two witnesses of chapter 4, Zerubbabel



and "Moshiach Yehoshua" or Joshua the kohen, symbolize not only



the Moshiach but also the worshipping community, which the two



witnesses of Revelation 11 apparently symbolize as well. The



point of the chapter is that everything that is done in building



a congregational "Beis Hamikdash" dwelling for the L-rd is done



by the power of the Ruach Hakodesh (4:6).







From Zch. 4:6, we see that the Ruach Hakodesh does everything and



this is why we only hurt the L-rd's work when we quench the Ruach



Hakodesh or forbid (tacitly or bluntly) speaking in tongues or



any spiritual gift. See I Thes. 5:19 and I Cor. 14:39. Sooner or



later, organizations that quench the Spirit will find



themselves at a loss for power. Numbers, money, or buildings



cannot replace the power, the raw power (that can make people



nervous or offended or sold-out) of the Ruach Hakodesh.







In this fourth chapter of Zechariah, we see the dual aspects of



Moshiach: prince and kohen. The prince lays the foundation and



also completes the building of the Beis Hamikdash (4:9) and the



kohen acquits the sinners and opens their access to the presence



of G-d. As the Son of Man of Daniel 7, Moshiach Yehoshua was the



world-judge with the power to acquit the quilty. Therefore we see



Him in the Besuras Hageulahs forgiving sins even before He made



His self-sacrifice. However, when the Son of Man stood up alive



from the dead, all was finished and, both His dual roles intact,



He could send the Ruach Hakodesh to erect a universal body that



would be a house of prayer for all peoples, the called-out people



of G-d of the Moshiach. Both the king and the high kohen were



anointed with oil. The Kohen Gadol is called Kohen Mashiyach (the



anointed kohen) in Lv. 4:3. See also Ps. 2:2 for the same word



used for the king. Since Zerubbabel has royal Davidic blood and



is the Jewish Persian governor, he represents the Moshiach coming



as does also Yehoshua the Kohen Gadol since Moshiach will himself



be a kohen forever (Ps. 110:4). This is the proper Messianic



interpretation of Zech. 4:14.





In chapter 5, the curse of the law and sin itself are personified



in a gigantic flying scroll thirty feet long and fifteen feet



wide and in a woman deported to Babylon (Shinar) in a six gallon



capacity basket, apparently just as sin is removed by the death



curse of the law.







Look at chapter 6. Nothing escapes the L-rd. Just as He had



angelic horsemen in the initial vision, so now chariots are added



(with power to execute judgment) and Moshiach Yehoshua's namesake



(the kohen Joshua) is crowned as a type of the Moshiach to come



and execute judgment concerning the whole world. Zech. 6:11-13



should be read in light of Zech. 3:8. "Moshiach Yehoshua" is



crowned and called Moshiach in an acted prophecy that is one of



the most astounding scriptures in the whole Hebrew Bible.



Liberal scholars, without any textual warrant whatsoever,



speculate that this text was probably originally about



Zerubbabel. Instead of humbly admitting that they don't



understand a text, they accuse it of being falsified by a later



scribe. This sin, committed by many Protestant and Catholic



commentators, is as grievous as sins of misinterpretation



committed by rabbis and other false teachers.











In chapter 7 (December 7, 518 B.C.E.) a delegation arrives from



Babylon to inquire about the fasts which for many years have



commemorated the fall of Jerusalem, the death of the murdered



governor Gedaliah (II Kgs. 25:25), the beginning of



Nebuchadnezzar's siege of the city of Jerusalem, and the day when



the city wall was breached Should these fasts continue once the



Beis Hamikdash is rebuilt, they ask. The answer that comes back



is a question and an appraisal of both the motives and the fruits



of fasting. This answer continues through chapter 3 and concludes



with 3:19-23 where a reversal is anticipated and the fasts become



a universal feast including Non-Jews with Jews (at a ratio of 10



to 1!). Other important Biblical references on fasting are Isaiah



58:3-7; Ezra 8:21-23; Ps. 35:13; Mt. 17:21; Yoel (Joel) 1:14;



2:12-13; Mt. 6:16-18; Acts 14:23.





In chapter 8:22-23 the nations come to Jerusalem to seek G-d and



to be blessed as was promised to Abraham (Gn. 12:3). In chapter 9



a new section begins. Here Zechariah sees G-d claiming all the



land promised to His people and coming to bring back to Himself



those who were alienated to Him. The Palestinians, whom some say



are related to the ancient Philistines, should take note of 9:7



as a hopeful promise for them if they humble themselves and turn



to the Moshiach.







In 9:9-10 we see a picture of the Prince of Peace entering



Jerusalem not on a war horse but on a donkey, as Moshiach



Yehoshua did on Palm Sunday. See Yochanan 12:12-19 and the other



Besuras Hageulahs. In 9:11-17 the victories of the faithful Jews



during the intertestamental period (the Maccabees against the



Syrian Greeks) are predicted.











Chapter 10 deals with the Lord's redemption of his people and his



compassionate determination to bring them home (10:8-12), despite



their false leaders (see 10:2-3 and the messianic prophecy 10:4).





Chapter 11 contrasts the foolish shepherds with the best of



shepherds whom the people reject (Is. 53) and sell for the



ironically "lordly" price (11:13) at thirty shekels (the price of



a slave--Ex. 21:32), a prophecy that the Moshiach would be seen



as no more valuable than a slave (fulfilled by Judas--see Mt. 26:



Is. 27:9). The Suffering Servant would become the Suffering Slave



(the ancient Hebrew word can mean both servant and slave. The



three shepherds in 11:8 who were cut off in one month could refer



to the prophets, priests and civil rulers who lost all authority



when they rejected the Moshiach (see Mic. 3:11-12 and Zech.



3:3-4).







Chapter 12 shows that the powder keg of the last days is



Jerusalem, as is clear in our time (12:2). "All the nations of



the earth shall come together against it" (12:3). 12:10 shows



that revival will finally come to the Jews when they look upon



Him whom they have pierced. Those who would rather put the Jews



to death by means of terrorism and war then tell them the saving



good news about the One whom they pierced should read their own



obituary notice in 12:9. Notice the Moshiach's "house" will be



"like G-d" (12:8). Notice when the Moshiach is pierced, G-d



("Me") is pierced, so close is the identity between them (12:10).



Malachi 3:1 calls the Moshiach "L-rd," meaning "L-rd G-d."



In chapter 13:1,6-9 we have a confirmation of Isaiah 53 and



Daniel 9:26. "What are these wounds between your hands?..The



wounds I received in the house of my friends" (13:6). These



Moshiach Yehoshua must have meditated on, as it became



increasingly clear to him that he must suffer and die and be



abandoned and rejected in order to fulfill the prophecies



regarding the Messiah. After the death of the Shepherd-Moshiach,



a remnant of his flock shall be saved and refined in the ensuing



tribulation (13:7-9).





In chapter 14 we have a picture of the last battle and the new



holy age dawning in the Millennium (14:16) as the Moshiach



asserts his Lordship over the whole world from Jerusalem, even as



Moshiach Yehoshua did by driving the money-changers out of the



Beis Hamikdash (14:21). Some see nuclear war in the description



given us in 14:12-15.











ZECHARIAH 6:12-13



12



And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the L-rd of hosts,



saying, Behold the man whose name is The Branch; and he shall



branch out from his place, and he shall build the Beis Hamikdash



of the L-rd: 13 Even he shall build the Beis Hamikdash of the



L-rd; and he shall bear the glory, and sit and rule upon his



throne; and he shall be a kohen upon his throne: and the counsel



of peace shall be between the two (that is, between the kohenhood



and the monarchy as these two offices are brought together in the



Moshiach's Ps. 110:4 ministry of king-kohen).





















MALACHI

















A mah-SAH is an "oracle," a word from the L-rd. It is also a



"burden," something that must be carried and delivered. Malachi,



many scholars believe, is preaching against the same sins



described in Nehemiah ch. 13, which can be dated in the last



third of the 5th century B.C.E. This would presumably make



Malachi the last of the minor prophets.







A modern Malachi might be burdened to preach against these same



sins today. In order to translate Malachi's 5th century B.C.E.



situation into our modern situation, use your imagination.



Suppose your congregational leader's salary could not be paid



because the people were not paying their tithes. Suppose they



treated the offering plate with contempt and gave begrudgingly to



the L-rd as though He were a despicable, unworthy street beggar,



giving Him a dime, perhaps, or nothing at all. Suppose the people



showed up at the Lord's House late or not at all. Suppose the



women dressed like they were going to the gym and the men like



they were at a rodeo, lounging around disrespectfully in the hair



styles and tight-fitting costumes and jewelry of the pagan world.



Suppose that the congregants, even some of the clergy, were



divorcing their believing spouses in order to marry worldly



people with no respect or concern for raising up g-dly children



in the House of the L-rd.







"What a nuisance all this is!" they say. "What a bother!" The



people can't wait to get out the door when the service is



concluded, and they jump at the smallest excuse to skip the



meetings, which they often do, sometimes weeks at a time. Any



opportunity to cheat or shirk their responsibilities is seized



greedily. Whereas once the congregants "turned many from



iniquity" by preaching on the street to large crowds every week,



now they have compromised the doctrine and allowed themselves to



come under the sway of unregenerated family members and friends,



who influence them to show partiality toward what is not in



accordance with Scripture. Suddenly, the blessings these



backsliders once knew in the House of G-d become curses, and the



joy of the L-rd eludes them.







If you were a modern Malachi and faced a congregation like this,



you would be agitated because, looking out over their faces, you



couldn't distinquish between those who really knew the L-rd and



those who did not (3:18). To correct this terrible situation, a



burden from the L-rd might come on you, and you would then feel



the obligation weighing on you to preach against this



faithlessness, this disrepect of G-d, this lack of interest in



the things of the L-rd, this cold-heartedness that makes G-d



furious. When congregants hear about spiritual things and sigh



with boredom, they arouse G-d's jealous anger. He then feels like



a husband whose worldly wife is bored with him and can't wait to



escape his hum-drum presence in order to pursue secret romantic



excitement elsewhere. Such a despised husband would want to take



any hypocritical gestures of marital devotion, any little



proffered gifts, and throw them into the face of such an



unfaithful wife! And this is how G-d feels: "I will smear offal



on your face, the offal of your festival (animal) morifim"



(Malachi 2:3)! When your wicked heart grows tired of G-d and



falls under the spell of the world, whatever you bring to G-d in



worship is just a lie, a hypocrisy, just feigning devotion that



is not there, just looking at your watch and going through the



motions of worship as fast as you can to get it over with. This



makes G-d furious. G-d threatens to excommunicate and expel from



His House the wicked hypocrites that do this. See Malachi 2:l2



"May the L-rd cut off the man who does this!" Also see Revelation



3:16 "Because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about



to spit you out of my mouth!"







Interestingly, a congregation can be super-spiritual,



hyper-charismatic, and hysterically emotional, and still be



luke-warm about G-d as far as obeying His commands is concerned.



But G-d is not fooled. He says, "And this you also do, you cover



the alter of the L-rd with tears, weeping and groaning."



Emotionalism or religious exhibitionism will not turn curses into



blessings, or cause prayers to be answered, if there is sloven,



dishonest, contemptuous religiosity such as Malachi saw in the



5th century post-exilic community of Judah. The people were



experiencing poverty, oppression, famine, discouragement,



disillusionment, treacherous interpersonal relationships,



drought, spiritual dryness and doubt. They were gripped by



terrible indifference and bitterness, because they had prayed for



relief and it wasn't coming. Malachi says that people like these



are dishonest sneaks in the world (3:5) and also cheats in the



House of G-d (3:8-10), and there is a curse overtaking these



faithless backsliders that will only be removed if they stop



blaming G-d, stop envying worldly people, and repent (2:2, 17;



3:6-12, 14). Malachi's exhortation to "guard yourself in your



spirit and do not be faithless" (2:16)! Only then will the



devouring curse be rebuked by the L-rd (3:11). G-d wants zealous



believers faithfully in fellowship and He is taking attendance



(3:16; cf. Hebrews 10:25)!











Malachi realizes that the people have lost hope in the coming of



the L-rd's Davidic "Branch," the Righteous Servant, the Moshiach,



inspite of the more recent feverish Messianic expectations of



Haggai and Zechariah. Therefore, Malachi sees the Moshiach



arising as "the sun of righteousness with healing in His wings."



He will come to burn away the dross and to put the wicked under



the feet of the refined remnant and to bring the joy of the



Messianic age (Malachi 4:2-3). A forerunner will precede the



Moshiach as an end-time Elijah redivivus figure, and if the



people don't turn back to Him in g-dly heart-felt repentance as



His true fathers and true sons, the L-rd will come and strike the



land with a curse (though not the curse of Edom, however, because



Edom's national salvation is hopeless, whereas there is hope for



Israel, according to Malachi 1:2-5).





All this was fulfilled when Yochanan of the tevilah of teshuva



(Malachi 3:1a; 4:5) began preaching, and when Moshiach Yehoshua



"suddenly" (Malachi 3:1b) came to purge the Beis Hamikdash and



refine the remnant and pronounce the curse of Canaan (Joshua



6:17-19) on the fig tree of the heathen Jerusalem of that day and



her Beis Hamikdash, who rejected Him and consequently received



the fiery curse (Mal. 4:6) of the destruction of 70 C.E.



Malachi 3:1 is extremely important because here is one place in



the Hebrew Bible that clearly states that the Moshiach will be



called Adon (the L-rd). (See also Romans 10:9-10.) David Kimhi



(Radak) in his commentary published in the Mikraot Gedolot



Rabbinic Bible explains Malachi 3:1's "the lord" (spelled with a



lower case "1") is King Moshiach, who will come suddenly--no one



knows when. He says that Moshiach is the Messenger of the



Covenant referred to in this verse. However, the lower case "l"



for "lord" will not do because in Zechariah 4:14 and 6:5 Adon kol



ha'Aretz ("the L-rd of all the earth) uses the same word for



L-rd and clearly the L-rd G-d is intended. So it is tendentious



Rabbinic exegesis to assert a lower case "l" in one place and a



capital "l" in the other.











A final word is in order about Malachi's situation. When Malachi



writes down his prophecy, probably around 433 B.C.E., it is



likely that Nehemiah, having arrived in Israel in 445 B.C.E., has



completed his first term as Governor and has temporarily returned



to Persia (modern Iran). Zechariah and Haggai are deceased.



Esther, the Jewish-Persian beauty queen, is now an old lady or



dead, Ezra the Scribe is aging because he has now been in the



Promised Land some 25 years (since his arrival in 458 B.C.E.). It



has been a long time since the Beis Hamikdash has been



resurrected (516 B.C.E.) from its 586 B.C.E. Babylonian



demolition. With the building of the new Beis Hamikdash amidst



Messianic expectations, disappointingly, nothing earth-shaking



(as prophets like Zechariah and Haggai and Ezekiel had promised)



has happened yet. The people are getting bored with religion and



doubtful of G-d's promises about the Moshiach's coming. To



encourage and rebuke them, Malachi points to Esau, the father of



the Edomites, and proves by the military defeats of the Edomites



at the hands of the Nabetean Arabs (who drove the Edomites from



their homeland in the 6th and 5th centuries B.C.E.) that G-d



loves Israel and has elected her for ultimate salvation. On the



other hand, nations, who are indifferent to G-d and despise Him,



will lose everything and be utterly wiped off the land of their



inheritance as had already happened to the Edomites (see Genesis



25:32-34). This was a very strong warning to the bored-with-G-d



backsliders of Malachi's day.





Edom had migrated into the Negev by 312 B.C.E. because in that



year the Nabatean Arabs were in control of Petra, a former



stronghold of Edom conquered by the Romans in C.E. 106. The



Edomites remained in the Negev and were known as Idumeans. King



Herod came from them. This area should not be confused with



Pella, the Transjordan mountains where Messianic Jews fled



shortly before the Roman 70 C.E. seige (see Mt. 24:16).











Like Esau and the Edomites, the people of Malachi's day doubted



G-d's love and were becoming careless in their walk, just as the



ministers were becoming indifferent in both their example and



their doctrinal position (see 2:6-9). Yet these backsliders



looked around and saw many prosper who were even farther from



G-d, and this they hypocritically threw in G-d's face (2:17).



Therefore, G-d answers that the Moshiach, the Messenger of the



Covenant Malach HaBrit (who is the L-rd Himself--3:l) is coming,



and He will be the fiery nemesis who will bring divine justice



and burn up impurity. Yochanan of the tevilah of teshuva



meditated on these words in the desert and preached them when he



appeared to his people (Matthew 3:12). For the Day of the L-rd



would burn up the wicked (See also II Thes. 1:8) but those who



repent and believe will be healed in the rays of G-d's Rising



Sun. The Day of the L-rd came "near" in an anticipatory way in



586 B.C.E. and C.E. 70, though the ultimate burning Day is still



in the future.











One of the impurities that needed to be burned away was not just



the bored unenthusiasm of their worship but also their



ingratitude to G-d reflected in their thieving from His tithes



(Malachi 3:7-10). The tithes provided for the upkeep of the Beis



Hamikdash and the support of the ministers and was to be a part



of their worship--one tenth returned to G-d.











"The lips of a kohen should guard knowledge" (2:7). Therefore,



the Moshiach, the Messenger of the Brit Chadasha, will refine the



Brit Chadasha kohenhood, which we are (3:3; I Shliach Kefa 2:5).



Therefore, we must make sure that we guard the doctrine that has



been entrusted to us, taking the time to learn Biblical languages



and to study to show ourselves approved by G-d as workmen who



rightly use the true teaching (II Tim. 2:15).











MALACHI 4:5(3:23)-6(3:24)







4:5(3:23).



Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of



the great and dreadful day of the L-rd:







4:6(3:24)



And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and



the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite



the earth with a curse.





















THREE: GREEK













Make sure you have a copy of the United Bible Society Greek NT



(hereafter abbreviated UBSGNT), the Fourth Revised Edition, (c)



1993 with Dictionary. Order it from United Bible Society 1865



Broadway, New York, New York 10023, if it is impossible for you



to obtain it any other way. Then turn to page 827. Look at the



text of MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH YEHUDA, THE BROTHER



OF THE



SHLIACH YA'AKOV, TO THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH in the



language of



Greek. We will call it just "Yehuda." Note the system of



paragraph divisions. "Salutation" and "Judgment on False Teachers



(2 Pe. 2:1-17)" are paragraph divisions put there by the editors



to help you clarify the structure of the book as a kind of



overlaid outline. If there is a parallel passage as here (II



Shliach Kefa 2:l-l7) it is included underneath the paragraph



divisions. Shliach Kefa says many similar things in the second



chapter of his second book. Notice that the "warnings and



exhortations" running from Yehuda verses 17 to 23 are warnings to



us in light of the terrible judgments (spelled out from verses 3



to 16) that will fall on sexually immoral ministers in the Brit



Chadasha kehillah. Just from the paragraph divisions, it becomes



obvious that Yehuda is saying, "Since all this happens to them,



don't be one of them, and make sure you aren't one of them by



heeding my warnings that I now am giving you." Of course, these



paragraph divisions are not part of what Yehuda wrote so they can



be wrong, but, nevertheless, they can be helpful in seeing the



over-all structure and message of the book at a glance. Before



we look at each word, it should be helpful to have the whole text



in front of us, using standard transliteration for the Greek



letters, which cannot be put into ASCII code for the Internet as



downloadable ASCII files. As you compare the transliteration



with the actual greek, you will see that * indicates the next



letter is a capital letter, / following a letter is an acute



accent above that letter, \ following a letter is a grave accent



above that letter, = following a letter is a circumflex accent, )



in front of a word is a smooth breating mark, ( in front of a



word is a rough breathing mark. However, we are using Modern



Greek pronounciation transliteration in parenthesis after each



word, so rough breathing is not as important. The word is



transliterated, then following the transliteration, there is a



parenthesis with the Modern Greek pronunciation transliterated



followed by an = sign showing the English definition. Example



)*Iou/das (ee-OO-dahs = Yehuda). Notice that the accented



syllable is placed in capital letters. ALPHA a BETA b GAMMA g



DELTA d EPSILON e ZETA z ETA E THETA Q IOTA i KAPPA k



LAMBDA l MU



m NU n XI c OMICRON o PI p RHO r SIGMA s TAU t UPSILON u



PHI f



CHI x PSI y OMEGA O diaeresis = +. above that letter Here's the



whole book. Look at each word (there are more than 450 words in



25 verses. We will take them apart one by one and hopefully we



will have more yirat Shomayim when we finish than we had when we



began.







Yehuda 1:1







[I] 1 )*Iou/das 2 )*IEsou= 3 *Xristou= 4 dou=los, 5 )adelfo\s 6



de\ 7 )*IakO/bou 8 toi=s 9 )en 10 QeO|= 11 patri\ 12



)EgapEme/nois 13 kai\ 14 )*Iesou= 15 *XristO|= 16



tetErEme/nois



17 klEtoi=s.







[II] 18 )e/leos 19 (umi=n 20 kai\ 21 )eirE/nE 22 kai\ 23



)aga/pE 24 plEQunQei/E







[III] 25 )*AgapEtoi/, 26 pa=san 27 spoudE\n 28 poiou/menos 29



gra/fein 30 (umi=n 31 peri\ 32 TE=s 33 koinE=s 34 (EmO=n 35



sOtEri/as 36 )ana/gkEn 37 )e/sxon 38 gra/yai 39 (umi=n 40



parakalO=n 41 )epagOni/zesQai 42 tE|= 43 (a/pac 44



paradoQei/sE| 45 toi=s 46(agi/ois 47 pi/stei.







[IV] 48 pareise/dusan 49 ga/r 50 tines 51 )a/nQrOpoi, 52 (oi



53 pa/lai 54 progegramme/noi 55 )eis 56 tou=to 57 to\ 58



kri/ma, 59 )asebei=s 60 tE\n 61 tou= 62 Qeou= 63 (EmO=n



64 xa/rita 65 metatiQe/ntes 66 )eis 67 )ase/lgeian 68 kai\



69 to\n 70 mo/non 71 despo/tEn 72 kai\ 73 ku/rion 74 (EmO=n



75 )*Iesou=n 76 Xristo\n 77 )arnou/menoi.







[V] 78 (*YromnE=sai 79 de\ 80 (uma=s 81 bou/lomai, 82



)eido/tas 83 (a/pac 84 pa/nta, 85 (o/ti 86 )*Iesou=s 87



lao\n 88 )ek 89 gE=s 90 )*Aigu/ptou 91 sO/sas 92 to\ 93



deu/teron 94 tou\s 95 mE\ 96 pisteu/santas 97 )apO/lesen,



[VI] 98 )agge/lous 99 to 100 tou\s 101 mE\ 102 tErE/santas



103 tE\n 104 (eautO=n 105 )arxE\n 106 )alla\ 107



)apolipo/ntas 108 to\ 1 09 )I/dion 110 )oikEtE/rion 111 )eis



112 kri/sin 113 mega/lEs 114 (Eme/ras 115 desmoi=s 116



)ai+di/ois 117 (upo\ 118 zo/fon 119 tetE/rEken.







[VII] 120 (Os 121 *So/doma 122 kai\ 123 *Go/morra 124 kai\



125(ai 126 peri\ 127 )auta\s 128 po/leis, 129 to\n 130



(o/moion 131 tro/pon 132 tou/tois 133 )ekporneu/sasai 134



kai\ 135 )apelQou=sai 136 )opi/sO 137 sarko\s 138 (ete/ras,



139 pro/keintai 140 dei=gma 141 puro\s 142 )aiOni/ou 143



di/kEn 144 (upe/xousai.







[VIII] 145 (*Omoi/Os 146 me/ntoi 147 kai\ 148 (ou=toi 149



)enupniazo/menoi 150 sa/rka 151 me\n 152 miai/nousin, 153



kurio/tEta 154 de\ 155 )aQetou=sin, 156 do/cas 157 de\ 158



blasfEmou=sin.







[IX] 159 (o 160 de\ 161 *MixaE\l 162 (o 163 )arxa/ggelos,



164 (o/te 165 tO|= 166 diabo/lO| 167 diakrino/menos 168



diele/geto 169 peri\ 170 tou= 171 *Mou+se/Os 172 sO/matos,



173 )ouk 174 )eto/lmEsen 175 kri/sin 176 )epenegkei=n 177



blasfEmi/as, 178 )alla\ 179)ei=pen, 180 )*EpitimE/sai 181 soi



182 ku/rios.







[X] 183 (ou=toi 184 de\ 185 (o/sa 186 me\n 187 )ouk 188



)oi/dasin 189 blasfEmou=sin, 190 (o/sa 191 de\ 192 fusikO=s



193 (Os 194 ta\ 195 )a/loga 196 zO|=a 197 )epi/stantai, 198



)en 199 tou/tois 200 fQei/rontai.











[XI] 201 )ouai\ 202 )autoi=s, 203 (o/ti 204 tE|= 205 (odO|=



206 tou= 207 *Ka/i+n 208 )eporeu/QEsan, 209 kai\ 210 tE|=



211 pla/nE| 212 tou= 213 *Balaa\m 214 misQou= 215



)ecexu/QEsan, 216 kai\ 217 tE|= 218 )antilogi/a 219 tou= 220



*Ko/re 221 )apO/lonto.







[XII] 222 (ou=toi/ 223 )eisin 224 (oi 225 )en 226 tai=s 227



)aga/pais 228 (umO=n 229 spila/des 230 suneuOxou/menoi 231



)afo/bOs, 232 (eatou\s 233 poimai/nontes, 234 nefe/lai 235



)a/nudroi 236 (upo\ 237 )ane/mOn 238 parafero/menai, 239



de/ndra 240 fQinopOrina\ 241)apoQano/nta 242 di\s 243



)apoQano/nta 244 )ekri=OQe/nta,







[XIII] 245 ku/mata 246 )a/gria 247 Qala/ssEs 248



)epafri/zonta 249 ta\s 250 (eautO=n 251 )aisxu/nas, 252



)astE/res 253 planE-tai 254 (oi=s 255 (o 256 zo/fos 257 tou=



258 sko/tous 259 )eis 260 )aiO=na 261 tetE/rEtai.







[XIV] 262 *ProefE/teusen 263 de\ 264 kai\ 265 tou/tois 266



)e/bdomos 267 )apo\ 268 )*Ada\m 269 (*EnO\x 270 le/gOn, 271



)*Idou\ 272 )E=lQen 273 ku/rios 274 )en 275 (agi/ais 276



muria/sin 277 )autou=,







[XV] 278 poiE=sai 279 kri/sin 280 kata\ 281 pa/ntOn 282 kai\



283 )ele/gcai 284 pa=san 285 yuxE\n 286 peri\ 287 pa/ntOn



288 tO=n 289 )e/tgOn 290 )asebei/as 291 )autOn 292 (O=n 293



)Ese/bEsan 294 kai\ 295 peri\ 296 pa/ntOn 297 tO=n 298



sklErO=n 299 (O=n 300 )ela/lEsan 301 kat' 302 )autou= 303



(amartOloi\ 304 )asebei=s







[XVI] 305 (*ou=toi/ 306 )eisin 307 goggustai/, 308



memyi/moiroi, 309 kata\ 310 ta\s 311 )epiQumi/as 312 (eautO=n



313 poreuo/menoi, 314 kai\ 315 to\ 316 sto/ma 317 )autO=n



318 lalei= 319 (upe/rogka, 320 Qauma/zontes 321 pro/sOpa 322



)Ofelei/as 323 xa/rin.







[XVII] 324 (*Umei=s 325 de/, 326 )agapEtoi/, 327 mnE/sQEte



328 tO=n 329 (rEma/tOn 330 tO=n 331 proeirEme/nOn 332 (upo\



333 tO=n 334 )aposto/lOn 335 tou= 336 kuri/ou 337 (EmO=n 338



)*Iesou= 339 Xristou=.







[XVIII] 340 (o/ti 341 )e/legon 342 (umi=n, 343 )*Ep' 344



)esxa/tou 345 [tou=] 346 xro/nou 347 )e/sontai 348 )empai=ktai



349 kata\ 350 ta\s 351 (eautO=n 352 )epiQumi/as 353



poreuo/menoi 354 tO=n 355 )asebeiO=n.







[IXX] 356 (*Ou=toi/ 357 )eisin 358 (oi 359 )apodiori/zones,



360 yuxikoi/, 361 pneu=ma 362 mE\ 363 )e/xontes.







[XX] 364 (umei=s 365 de/, 366 )agapEtoi/, 367



)epoikodomou=ntes 368 (eautou\s 369 tE|= 370 (agiOta/tE| 371



(umO=n 372 pi/stei, 373 )en 374 pneu/mati 375 (agi/O| 376



proseuxo/menoi,







[XXI] 377 (eautou\s 378 )en 379 )aga/pE| 380 Qeou= 381



tErE/sate, 382 prosdexo/menoi 383 to\ 384 )e/leos 385 tou=



386 kuri/ou 387 (EmO=n 388 )*Iesou= 389 Xristou= 390 )eis 391



zOE\n 392 )aiO/nion.







[XXII] 393 kai\ 394 (ou\s 395 me\n 396 )elea=te 397



diakrinome/nous







[XXIII] 398 (ou\s 399 de\ 400 sO|/zete 401 )ek 402 puro\s



403 (arpa/zontes, 404 (ou\s 405 de\ 406 )elea=te 407 )en 408



fo/bO|, 409 misou=ntes 410 kai\ 411 to\n 412 )apo\ 413 tE=s



414 sarko\s 415 )espilOme/non 416xitO=na.







[XXIV] 417 *TO|= 418 de\ 419 duvame/nO| 420 fula/cai 421



(uma=s 422 )aptai/stous 423 kai\ 424 stE=sai 425 katenO/pion



426 tE=s 427 do/cEs 428 )autou= 429 )amO/mous 430 )en 431



)agallia/sei,







[XXV] 432 mo/nO| 433 QeO|= 434 sOtE=ri 435 (EmO=n 436 dia\



437 )*Iesou= 438 Xristou= 439 tou= 440 kuri/ou 441 (EmO=n



442 do/ca 443 megalOsu/nE 444 kra/tos 445 kai\ 446 )ecousi/a



447 pro\ 448 panto\s 449 tou= 450 )aiO=nos 451 kai\ 452



nu=n 453 kai\ 454 )eis 455 pa/ntas 456 tou\s 457 )aiO=nas.



458 )amE/n.











Yehuda 1:1







*Iou/das (ee-OO-dahs = Yehuda, Hebrew)







This is the first word in the book of Yehuda. It is important



because the name appears elsewhere in Mark 6:3, where Yehoshua is



said to have brothers and sisters and his brothers are named



"Ya'akov," "Yosi," "Yehuda" and "Shimon." These are called the



)adelfoi/ (brothers) of Moshiach Yehoshua. They were not members



of the Twelve. Until the resurrection appearances brought them to



faith (I Cor. 15:7; see I Cor. 9:5 0adelfoi\ tou= kuri/ou, the



achim haAdon; Acts 1:14). Somewhat like Sha'ul of Tarsus, they



opposed Moshiach Yehoshua and did not accept his claims (Mark



3:21; Yochanan 7:5), nor were they impressed by his miracles, but



were like the other unbelievers in Nazareth (see Luke 4:16-30)



and Moshiach Yehoshua marvelled at such unbelief (Mark 6:6) in



the face of so many miracles and signs. For the people of



Nazareth took offense at Moshiach Yehoshua. Familiarity breeds



contempt, and his sisters were still living among them in



Nazareth (Mark 6:3), and the townspeople knew all his brothers



and his mother, remembering his deceased foster father Yosef



also, no doubt. Therefore, how could a common worker seemingly



like themselves, a mere carpenter, a manual laborer (with what



the Greeks considered a menial trade), a mere man whom they



remembered as a child, have Messianic pretensions? This is the



point of Mark 6:3, and explains why Moshiach Yehoshua as a



prophet with a Messianic aura was persona non grata in his own



hometown. Also in that Jewish culture, to call a man the son of



his mother (Mark 6:3), even when the woman had been widowed, had



an uncomplementary innuendo of illegitimacy (see Judges 11:1;



also see Yochanan 8:41; 9:29). However, such rumors help to



confirm the truth of G-d with us, Moshiach Ben haAlmah, since



only Miryam and Yosef had supernatural information regarding the



true nature of Miryam's first pregnancy, and outsiders, even



their other children, might very well suspect the worst, and what



but the Moshiach's resurrection itself could confirm Miryam's



indelicate testimony? Biblical evidence that many did suspect



the worst confirms that the circumstances of the birth of



Moshiach Yehoshua were not normal, and that the Brit Chadasha



scriptural witness to the Moshiach's supernatural entrance on the



human scene was not a mere fabrication superimposed on a normal



birth. Luke and Matthew had access to interview enough people to



ascertain the truth, if this miracle were a mere later tradition



of the Brit Chadasha kehillah without historical and early



attestation. G-d made sure that Rav Sha'ul had in his ministry



team a man with the education and expertise of a First Century



historian, so that before this generation of eye-witnesses had



died off, their eye-witnessed testimony could be pieced together



in what become Luke-Acts. Luke tells us he spoke to )auto/ptai



(eyewitnesses), Luke parEkolouQEko/ti (having investigated)



)a/nOQen (from [the] beginning) pa=sin (everything) )akri/bO=s



(carefully) kaQecE=s (in an orderly way)--see Luke 1:2-3. This



was done with a view to establishing )asfa/leian (certainty)--see



Luke 1:4. Oxford Classical scholar William Michell Ramsay had a



high regard for Luke as a historian, and his books should be



consulted by those with an open mind. This is all relevant to



the first verse of Yehuda, as we will see. Look at the first



Greek word again. )*Iou/das







#1. Only the last three syllables of a word may receive an



accent. These syllables are counted from right to left: ultima,



penult, antepenult. Notice the accent in Yehuda's name is on the



penult, which means that in this word the penult is the syllable



that is stressed in pronunciation. This accent mark is called the



acute accent and looks like this / above the letter. See



)*Iou/das (ee-OO-das) above. The transliterated circumflex looks



like this = and the grave accent looks like this \ above the



letter. Look at your copy of Yehuda and see the accent marks.



)*IEsou= (ee-ee-SOO = Yehoshua). Proof that this is the way the



Hebrew word Yehoshua (Joshua) was written is found in Acts 7:45.



Turn to p.433. *xristou= (khree-STOO = Moshiach) dou=los



(DOO-lohs = servant/slave).







Notice the difference in the endings. The first two words end in



-ou= and the last word ends in -os. These are called case



endings. Greek is an inflected language, meaning that words



show their relationship to one another by adding recognizable



components to the base form. These components are called case



endings.



Look at the following sentence in English and see how the Greek



case endings, when we add them, indicate which noun is the



subject of the verb's action, which noun is the object of the



verb's action, etc. A noun is the name of a person, place, or



thing.







"Listen, 0 Believer, Yehuda, the servant of Moshiach Yehoshua,



wrote a letter to the Called." (Fifteen words)







Now look how the Greek noun case endings would be added to the



same sentence. -e, -as, -ou=, -os, -En, -ois.







"Listen, Believere, Yehudaas servantos Yehoshuaou= Moshiachou=,



wrote letterEn Calledois." (Nine words. See why G-d chose Greek



rather than English, and this is only the first advantage,



economy.)







Each of these noun case endings has a name: vocative, nominative,



genitive, accusative, dative. The name indicates the kind of



meaning relationship the noun has with the other words in the



sentence.







#2. Nouns that are subjects of the verbs of a sentence are in the



nominative case and this -os ending on dou=los (the fourth word



in the book of Yehuda) indicates that the word is in the



nominative case. In this instance, however, dou=los is in



apposition to )*Iou/das, which is the subject. Apposition means



that the second expression identifies or supplements the first



expression. So the second noun, dou=los, is in the nominative



case because it identifies the first noun, )*Iou/das (the



subject) and is in apposition to it. Actually, )*Iou/das is



called an independent nominative because it is the greeting of a



letter, and the greeting is without normal subject-verb



grammatical relationship. That is, the standard form of ancient



letters of this period began, not "Dear Simon" but "Writer's name



to name of addressees, greetings."







#3. The genitive case is often translated with "of" in English



because it is the case that attributes some quality or



relationship to the noun modified. Yehuda is Yehoshua the



Moshiach's servant. This is called genitive of relationship,



because Jude's servitude as a servant is in relationship to



Yehoshua the Moshiach. Notice the literal translation of Yehuda



1:1 read:: "Jude, of-Yehoshua Moshiach servant." The inverted



order indicates emphasis falls on the last word, servant: "Jude,



SERVANT! of Moshiach Yehoshua"--possibly inferring that Yehuda,



in proper reverence toward the status accorded Moshiach Yehoshua



by virtue of his supernatural entrance and exit (Virgin Birth and



Resurrection), which Yehuda himself may at one time have



misinterpreted as illigetimacy, dare not call himself "BROTHER!



of Moshiach Yehoshua." This is true, in spite of the fact that



Yehuda was the half brother of Moshiach Yehoshua. To be a man's



half brother is to be a male offspring having only one parent in



common with another male offspring. Miryam was not a perpetual



virgin, according to the Biblical record, if we give the Biblical



account preeminence over human tradition. Look at Ya'akov 1:1



where Ya'akov also indicates a similar modesty and reverence by



calling himself the "servant" rather than the "brother" of the



Moshiach Adoneinu. The Shluchim themselves, however, do not



hesitate to call these men "the achim of HaAdon" (I Cor.9:5; Acts



1:14) and Yehuda and Ya'akov were considered "pillars" in the



Jerusalem messianic kehillah as well as travelling emissaries.



#4. In Greek, nouns show how they relate to other nouns by means



of case endings. Subjects are nominative. The genitive case



indicates some attribute or quality to the noun modified. Direct



objects have accusative noun case endings. Indirect objects are



indicated by the dative case endings. In English, we rely largely



on word order and other signals to convey these ideas, not word



endings. We might say in English, "Listen, 0 Believer: Yehuda,



the servant of Moshiach Yehoshua, wrote a letter to the Called."



#5. "Yehuda" is the subject of the verb "wrote." "Servant" is in



apposition to "Yehuda." "Letter" is the direct object of the verb



"wrote," receiving its action. "Called" is the indirect object



because it is more remote than the direct object or "catches" the



object of the verb.







#6. In the English sample sentence above, endings of words don't



show relationships between the nouns in a sentence. In Greek,



however, "Yehuda" would have a nominative ending to show it was



the subject, and "servant" would also have a nominative ending



because it is inapposition to (defines) "Yehuda." In Greek, an



appositive agrees in case with the word it describes; therefore,



"servant" and "Yehuda" are both nominative, indicating the



appositional relationship between these nouns. In Yehuda 1:1, the



-as ending in )*Iou/das and the -os ending in dou=los are both



nominative endings to show us that "servant" is in apposition to



"Yehuda."







#7. In our hypothetical sentence above, "Believer" would have a



vocative singular case ending (because we say a noun is vocative



if it is what is being addressed).







#8. "Moshiach Yehoshua" would have a genitive ending. As we just



explained, the genitive case is often translated with "of" in



English because it is the case that attributes some quality or



relationship to the noun modified. Yehuda is Moshiach's servant,



the servant of Moshiach Yehoshua."Letter" would have an



accusative case ending, because it is the direct object of the



verb "wrote." "Called" would have a dative ending, because it is



the indirect object indicating the "catcher" of the object of the



verb's action.







#9. Here are some of the Greek case endings: A. Some



nominative singular endings: -a -E -as -Es -os -on -s Some



nominative plural endings: -ai -oi -a -es







Some genitive singular endings: -as -Es -ou -os -eOs







Some genitive plural endings: -On







Some dative singular endings: -a| -E| -O| -i







Some dative plural endings: -ais -ois -si(n)







Some accusative singular endings: -an -En -on -a -s







Some accusative plural endings: -as -ous -a -as -eis



Some vocative endings: often the same as the nominative but



sometimes just -e is added to the noun stem







#10. As we saw in #1, the Greek noun case endings afford



extremely accurate and economical means to indicate the



relationship between one noun and the other words in a sentence.



For instance we know that the word "these" [tou/tois, word #132



in verse VII above] can refer to "certain men"[tines )a/nQrOpoi.



words #50-#51] in Yehuda 4, "a people" [lao\n, word #87] in



Yehuda 5, and "angels" or malachim [agge/lous, word #98] in



Yehuda 6 but can not refer to "Sodom and Gomorrah" in verse 7,



because Sodom and Gomorrah are treated as feminine nouns but the



nouns "certain men," "people." "angels," and the adjective



"these" are all masculine. Since "these" is an adjective and



adjectives agree in gender, number, and case with the nouns they



modify, this fact keeps one from construing Yehuda 7 in a way



that would make the Bible contradict itself and contain error, as



we will explain. First let's look at the exegetical problem.



Verse 7. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them,



since they in the similar manner to these...which these? certain



men?(v.4) angels? (v.6) people? (v.5) all of the above? what



precisely is "similar"? the exact physical nature of the sin? the



spiritual nature of the sin? the punishment?







Let's start again with verse 7: "Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and



the cities around them, since they in the similar manner to



these, the cities indulging in sexual immorality against the



course of nature and turning aside from the right way and going



after strange flesh, are set forth to lie in public view as an



example of undergoing the punishment of everlasting fire."



#11. The inerrancy of the Bible is at stake in the Greek case



endings here. For if Yehuda 4-7 teaches that reprobate angels



have sex like Sodomites or vice-versa, then Luke 20:35-36, which



says angels do not marry or procreate, is seemingly contradicted.



But the similarity is not necessarily in the physical nature of



the sin. Fornicators revolting from Moses and lusting to have an



orgy around a golden calf, fallen angels revolting from G-d and



lusting to demonically possess people (which are not their



domain), and similar lusting rebels like homosexual sinners in



Sodom and fornicating false teachers in Yehuda's Brit Chadasha



kehillot--all these do not have the precise sexual sin in common.



But Yehuda goes on to show his interest is not in the sexual



habits of sinful angels but in the similar way the wicked are



punished. See the connecting thread from destroyed (v.5, word



#97) to eternal chains (v.6, #115,#116) to an example by



undergoing a punishment of eternal fire (v.7, #141,#142). Yehuda



is setting forth a warning to the Brit Chadasha kehillot about



the fate of these false achim, these false morim (teachers), who



have crept into the meetings and brought their sexual immorality



with them. On the reoccurring theme of punishment, which in each



instance is hellish, see Yehuda 4,5,6,7,l0,ll,12 "twice dead",



13,l5). So the inerrancy of the Bible hangs on one little point



in the Greek, in this instance, the noun case endings of key



words to which we have just drawn your attention. This will all



be clearer to you when we actually deal with verses 5-7. After



you have gone over this material a few times, it will all be



clear to you. You did not learn your multiplication tables



without repetition and you will not learn Greek without



repetition either. So be patient with yourself. (Yehuda 1:1)



)adelfo\s (ah-del-FOHS = brother) de\ (deh = and) )*IakO/bou



(ee-ah-KOH-boo = Ya'akov)







#12. The -os ending on )adelfo\s tells us this noun is nominative



and is, like dou=los, in apposition to )*Iou/das. de\ is a



conjunction meaning "and." The -ou ending of )*IakO/bov tells us



that we have another genitive of relationship, with Yehuda being



Ya'akov's brother. So Yehuda, whose famous mother is "the Imma



of Adoni" (Luke 1:43; Mark 3:31), is reverently alluding to the



Mishkan of Immanuel Adoneinu, even as Yehuda directs the kavod of



the Mishkan of Immanuel in human flesh away from himself (and his



family and Mother, something that many religionists have failed



to do), saying only this: "As far as Rebbe HaMoshiach HaMoshiach



is concerned I am an eved (servant), as far as Ya'akov is



concerned I am an ach (brother)." Since the word "Ya'akov" is



given without further clarification, this can only be the leader



of the Jerusalem messianic kehillah (community), the Shliach



Ya'akov the ach HaAdon (see Moshiach's Letter Through the Shliach



Ya'akov to the Brit Chadasha Kehillah, also Acts 15, Gal.l:19;



2:9,12; I Cor.l5:7).







(Yehuda 1:1) toi=s (tees = to the [ones]) )en (en = in) QeO|=



(theh-OH = G-d, Elohim) patri\ (pah-TREE = Father, HaAv)



)EgapEme/nois (ee-ghah-pee-MEN-ees =having been loved)











#13. If you look at the bottom of the page 827 in your UBSGNT,



you will see a footnote on )EgapEme/nois, which is a reading



accepted with a "A" grade of certainty by the Bible Society



Committee and is attested by many ancient manuscripts including



p72 (which is a papyrus manuscript we know is dated around C.E.



275). In this "textual apparatus" we see that )EgapEme/nois is



preferred to (Egiasme/nois "having been set apart for use that is



kadosh," though the various manuscripts for this variant are also



given. Bruce Metzger's A Textual Commentary on the GNT (United



Bible Society) tells why the Committee chose one variant over



another. The New Revised Standard Version, the translation which



Bruce Metzger supervised helpfully translates these important



variants in italics at the bottom of each page. Also see the



book list at the end of this section, particularly the



Greek-English Interlinear information.







#14. )en is a preposition (relation word) and when it occurs with



its object in the dative case, )en means "in."







#15. "The" is the definite article in English. When the definite



article [toi=s in this case, see word #8] appears alone here, it



functions as a relative pronoun and is translated with the last



word in verse one, klEtoi=s, as "to the (ones) which are called."



A definite article actually goes with its noun or substantive (a



word used as a noun) and agrees with it in case, gender, and



number. In this instance both the lone definite article or



pronoun [toi=s] and the substantive with which it agrees



[klEtoi=s] are dative, masculine, plural, and the word order puts



the emphasis on the diving calling or summons. Learn this rule: A



definite article agrees with its substantive (noun or pronoun or



word used as a noun) in gender, number and case.







POSSIBLE TRANSLATION:







to the called ones having been loved in Elohim HaAv





Elohim HaAv loves us from all eternity and we are called or



invited or summoned not on the basis of merit or deserts or debt,



as though G-d owes us anything. Yehuda is writing "to the Called



ones, which in Elohim HaAv are loved." This participle



)EgapEme/nois is in the passive voice, meaning it is not



referring to our love of G-d but his love of us, of which we are



viewed here as the passive recipients. This participle is in the



perfect tense, which means his love for us before time began has



continuing effects on us even now. We will explain this more as



we go along. But we need to pause here and meditate on these



Greek words and savor the fact that Elohim HaAv has been loving



us and is still loving us from before the creation and in that



love we are called. And the love for us that He had back in the



primal past has continuing effects on us even now. What a



tremendous amount of meaning is packed into one word, word #12.



#16. An article makes a noun definite. Luke 18:13 says, "G-d, be



merciful to me tO|= (amartOlO|= [toh ah-mahr-toh-LOH = "the



sinner"], meaning not "sinner in general," but "THE sinner," in



other words, well-known as such, or more than all others. In



Greek, the article is used with pronouns, proper names,



participles, infinitives, prepositional phrases, and clauses, not



just nouns (as in English). Here in Yehuda 1:1 the article serves



a "bracketing" function, "to the [in Elohim HaAv having been



loved and for Rebbe HaMelech HaMoshiach Yehoshua having been



kept] Called ones." All of this tells us what kind of "Called



ones" we are, and that we have Elohim HaAv loving us and we have



a "Rebbe HaMelech HaMoshiach" and he is the one keeping or



preserving us. This makes our calling, our summons, very



exciting indeed. Notice the intensive way we can read the Brit



Chadasha now, in slow motion, clinging to the letters in prayer



(devekut beotiot). It makes one want to start speaking in



tongues.







Notice the way the definite article looks in Greek.



B. DEFINITE ARTICLE "THE"







SINGULAR







.............Masculine.....Feminine......Neuter



Nominative (o (E to/





Genitive tou= tE=s tou=





Dative tO|= tE| TO|=



Accusative to/n tE/n to/









PLURAL







.............Masculine.....Feminine......Neuter



Nominative (oi (ai ta/





Genitive tO=n tO=n tO=n







Dative toi=s tai=s toi=s







Accusative tou/s ta/s ta/







In English, the definite article "the" tells you nothing about



the way the noun it modifies is used in the sentence. Not so in



Greek.







#17. Also, the omission of the definite article where it would be



expected to appear may emphasize the noun's quality or character



or nature, as in Yochanan 1:1.







#18. Each part of a sentence containing a subject and a verb is



called a clause. In Yochanan 1:1 there are three clauses.



CLAUSE #1 "In the beginning was (o lo/gos"







CLAUSE #2 "and (o lo/gos was with to\n Qeo/n" [here the article



to\n before Qeo/n refers to Elohim HaAv as in II Cor.13:13 and



frequently in the Brit Chadasha. "G-d" should not, however, be



translated "the G-d" any more than Qeo\s in







CLAUSE #3 should be translated "a G-d."]







CLAUSE #3 "and Qeo\s (no article before "G-d" here, emphasizing



the noun's quality or nature--"G-d by nature" was (o lo/gos."



This is saying the Chochmah of Hashem had the very nature of G-d!



He was in the form of the mode of being of G-d! [Php.2:6, morfE|=



Qeou=] (Because Qeo\s comes first in the third clause, it is



emphasized. We would normally not expect to see "G-d by nature"



coming before "was the Word." Here is the reason. A sentence has



a subject and a predicate. The predicate is that which is stated



about the subject. If a noun in the predicate ("G-d") by means



of a linking verb merely renames the subject ("the Word"), we



call that noun the predicate noun or predicate nominative.



#19. The part of the sentence that further defines the subject



and follows a verb of being or a linking verb is called the



predicate nominative. In the sentence, "The Word was by nature



G-d," "G-d" is the predicate nominative because it further



defines the subject "the Word," which is linked to "G-d" by a



verb of being. But the predicate nominative in CLAUSE #3 above



is in a deliberately abnormal position. This means Yochanan



intended to emphasize the word G-d, and we should notice his



deliberately abnormal word order of the predicate nominative,



"G-d by nature" (putting it first instead of last) and therefore



translate CLAUSE #3 "and the Word was G-d by nature!" with an



exclamation point or italics or some other way to indicate



emphasis. Notice this does not say that the Word is all there is



to G-d (as in popular Sabellian heresies current today). This



says that what Elohim Avinu was by His very nature, the Chochmah



of Hashem was by nature.--namely G-d! And this Chochmah of



Hashem became Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach (see chp 1 of The



Besuras HaGeulah According to the Shliach Yochanan, verses 14 and



49.)







Here is the complete translation of Yochanan 1:1:







"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Hashem



(to\n Qeo/n), and the Word was by nature G-d!"







Not merely divine, for the word for divine or is Qei=os



(THEE-ohs) used in II Shimon Kefa 1:4. We will study that word



when we get to that book of the Brit Chadasha.







Philippians 2:6 says that, in contrast to Adam, the Second Adam,



Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach "though he was in the form of the mode



of being of G-d, did not look upon equality with G-d as something



to be grasped, but, no, he emptied himself, divesting himself of



what was his, and took on the form of the mode of being of a



servant--i.e. the suffering servant of Isaiah 53)." (Yehuda 1:1)



kai\ (keh = and) )*IEsou (ee-ee-SOO = for Yehoshua) *XristO|



(khree-STOH = Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach, see Yochanan 1:49)



tetErEme/nois (teh-tee-ree-MEN-ees = having been kept [safe from



harm] klEtoi=s (klee-TEES = Called ones).







Now let's translate the whole verse:







"Yehuda, a servant of Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach (Yochanan 1:49)



Yehoshua, an ach haYa'akov; to the ones Called, having been loved



in Elohim HaAv and having been guarded in Rebbe, HaMelech



HaMoshiach Yehoshua."







#20. Look at the last three letters of the last word in Yehuda 1,



oi=s in klEtoi=s and go back and look at word #8 above, toi=s.



toi=s is a definite article used here as a personal pronoun "the



(ones)" and it links with klEtoi=s ("the called" see Romans 1:6),



because both words are dative, masculine, plural (see definite



article chart above B). Even though klEtoi=s is an adjective,



it is used like a noun or substantive here, and is called a



pronominal adjective, "the Called (ones)."







#21. A substantive is the name of a noun or pronoun or any word



used like a noun. Notice the oi=s at the end of both of the two



participles (a participle is a verbal adjective): "having been



loved-oi=s and "having been kept-oi=s" which shows that these



words are also dative, masculine, plural and therefore link with



and describe the substantive klEtoi=s. We can now translate all



of Yehuda v.1.







TRANSLATION:







"Yehuda, (as far as) Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach Yehoshua (is



concerned) (I am) a servant, (as far as) Ya'akov (is concerned)



(I am) an ach (brother); to the called (ones), (the ones) having



been loved in Elohim HaAv and having been kept safe from harm for



Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach Yehoshua."







#22. Both the verbal adjectives (participles) "loved" and "kept"



are in the passive voice, meaning that the subject receives the



action. (Review #15 above.) The subject is not acting but is



being acted upon. So the "called" are being acted upon with



ahavah (love) and keeping security in Elohim HaAv and for Rebbe,



HaMelech HaMoshiach. Looking at the dative case ending on the



word *XristO|=, we term "for Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach Yehoshua



"dative of advantage," meaning his interest is affected and it is



for the advantage of him and his coming that the called ones are



preserved or kept safe.







#23. Also, both verbs are in the perfect tense, meaning that this



action in the past is a completed action with lasting effects



that are still going on in the present. Therefore, the called are



even now wrapped in this love and keeping security that



originates in Elohim HaAv and is sustained for his Rebbe,



HaMelech HaMoshiach Ben HaElohim.







#24. This verb "kept" tEre/O (tee-REH-oh) is very important. It



appears no less than 5 times in Yehuda's short little letter



containing only approximately 458 words. The word appears in v.



1, v.6 (twice), v.13 and v.21 in a book of the Bible that



contains only 25 verses. 1. Those who are called are the ones



"having been kept for Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach Yehoshua"



(Yehuda 1:1; see also Luke 22:32).



2. Malachim (angels) who did not keep their own position of



authority but deserted their proper domain G-d has kept bound for



hellish judgment (Yehuda 1:6).



3. Hellish black darkness has been kept forever for these



libertine, fornicating, authority-rejecting scoffers who have



slipped into the Brit Chadasha kehillah and whose presence



constitutes the crisis that has provoked Yehuda's



Gehinnom-fire-and-damnation letter (Yehuda 1:13; compare Yehuda



1:4).







4. Keep yourselves in the love of G-d (Yehuda 1:21) that you are



in according to Yehuda 1:1. Now we begin to be able to see the



real burden of Yehuda's message. He has a mitzvah (commandment)



of Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach for the Brit Chadasha kehillah. As



a servant of Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach, he must deliver this



mitzvah, which is not optional. As called ones, you have been



kept for Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach Yehoshua. Learn from the



malachim. Keep your position, which some of them didn't. Keep



yourselves in the holy love of G-d (the ahavas Hashem). Keep



building yourself up in the most holy doctrinal body of Emunah



(Faith, the Ani Ma'amin, what we believe). Keep davening in the



Ruach Hakodesh. Fear G-d when you see these authority-rejecting



scoffers kept forever for the punishment of the Sodomites, and



for the punishment of fornicators in the wilderness and for the



punishment of the evil malachim, etc.







Now you can begin to preach what Yehuda is preaching. Now you



get his point. This word study is more difficult with Strong's



Exhaustive Concordance, which lists only Yehuda verse 6 under



"kept". You need something like The Englishmen's Greek



Concordance, which lists all references under the listing tEre/O.







Now let's learn how to pronounce the Greek letters (modern Greek



pronounciation) and their sounds.





C







a (ah as in "car") alpha ahl-phah







b (v as in "van") beta (Modern Greeks call it vee-tah)







g (gh as in "gawdy" pronounced deep in the throat) gamma (Modern



Greeks say GHAH-mah)



d (soft "th" as "the") delta (dhehl-tah)







e ("eh" as in "bet") epsilon







z (z as in "zero") zeta (Modern Greeks call it ZEE-tah)







E (ee as in "see") eta (Modern Greeks say EE-tah)







Q (hard "th" as in "third") theta (Modern Greeks say THEE-tah) i



(ee as in "see") iota (Modern Greeks say YOH-tah)







k (k as in "keep") kappa (Modern Greeks say KAH-pah)







l (l as in "lamp") lambda (Modern Greeks say LAHM-dhah)







m (m as in "man") mu (Modern Greeks say mee)







n (n as in "now") nu (Modern Greeks say nee)







c ("ks" as in "excellent") xi (Modern Greeks say ksee)







o (oh as in "coke") omicron (Modern Greeks say OH-mee-krone) p



(p as in "part") pi (Modern Greeks say pee)







r (r as in "rose") rho (roll tongue like Scottish "r")







s (s as in "sun") sigma (SEEGH-mah, and look at the first letter



of word #27 in Yehuda and compare initial sigma to final sigma in



word #1) t (t as in "top") tau (pronounced "tahf" by Modern



Greeks) u (ee as in "see") upsilon (EEPS-ee-lone, Modern Greek)



f (f as in "fall") phi (pronounced fee)







x chi (Modern Greek khee) (kh as in Koch with strong gutteral



before consonants and "oh" and "ah" sounds; smoother gutter



before "eh" and "ee" sounds. practise: Xristo/s KHREES-tos =



Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach in the Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha



translation. y (ps as in lips") psi (psee, Modern Greek)







O (oh as in "coke") omega (oh-MEH-ghah, Modern Greek)





DIPHTHONS:







ai (eh as in "bet")







ou (oo as in "booty")







oi (ee like E as in "see")







ei (ee like E as in "see")







ui (ee like E as in "see")







au, eu, Eu (af, ef, eef) when followed by the consonants Q, k, c,



p, s, t, f, x. av, ev, eev when followed by a vowel or the



consonants g, d, l, m, n, r. Open your UBSGNT to word #171.



MO+usE=s is not a dipthong. The two letters are pronounced



separately. Moh-ee-SEES (Moshe Rabbeinu) is pronounced



"Moh-ee-SEES." because the two dots above the upsilon are



diaeresis, breaking what looks like a dipthong into two letters



pronounced separately.







(Yehuda 1:2) )e/leos (EH-leh-ohs = mercy) (umi=n (ee-MEEN = to



you, plural) kai\ (keh = and) )eirE/nE (ee-REE-nee = peace,



Shalom of Hashem) kai\ (keh =end) )aga/pE (ah-GHAH-pee = love,



agape, ahavah) plEQunQei/E (plee-theen-THEE-ee = may it be



multiplied).







Look at the very bottom of p. 827 at the cross reference note for



Yehuda v.2. 2 Pe 1:2 = II Shliach Kefa 1:2. This verse uses



almost the exact same expression. Look it up on page 799 in your



UBSGNT. As you will see, if you take the time to look up II



Shliach Kefa 1:2., looking up these Greek cross-references can be



a rewarding study to find allusions, parallels, quotes. In this



case it may mean that the letters were written at nearly the same



time or contained common source material.







#25. In Greek, there are four "moods." These tell us something



about the verb from the speaker's point of view, in terms of



whether the action is a fact, a command, a wish, a possibility or



exactly how "realistic" the action of the verb is. The verb above



is found in the dictionary at the back of your UBSGNT under



plEQu/nO on p.144 first word on the right hand column,



"plee-THEEN-oh", "increase, multiply, spread". Look closely at



the verb plEQunQei/E Yehuda v.2. As we can tell from the last



four letters of the verb (-Qei/E), it is in the optative mood,



expressing a wish conceived of by the speaker as attainable. In



other words, Yehuda's addressees are made to understand that not



only does Yehuda pray or wish that their mercy and peace and love



will be multiplied, but he is saying that this outcome is an



attainable outcome. The Brit Chadasha Scriptures are optimistic



about "the Called" no matter how many scandals there may be in



the Brit Chadasha kehillah! Yehuda is saying, "May there be



multiplied 'to you' [see the plural pronoun (umi=n, word #19



below] an abundance of mercy (needed in the midst of dangerous



false teaching) and peace (deliverance from the divine wrath that



pursues the unholy false teachers) and love (G-d's love will flow



through them to others who also flee from the false teachers).



#26. We say the verb is in the optative mood, because "mood"



expresses the relationship of the verb to reality from the



speaker's point of view. If he is stating a fact, he uses a verb



in the indicative mood. If he is making a command, he uses the



imperative mood (see imperatives Yehuda v.17,20-24). If he wishes



to indicate uncertain contingency or conditional possibility, he



uses the subjunctive mood. For example, notice the subjunctive



mood of the verb in this sentence: "If you continue (indefinite



predication is uncertain and contingent) in my Word, then you are



truly talmidim of mine." (Yochanan 8:31, p.350). There is



another verb in the optative mood (we know this from the -sai at



the end of )*epitimE/sai in Yehuda 9 (word #180), where the



archangel Michael says to the devil, "May the L-rd rebuke you!"



The optative mood tells us that not only does the archangel



Michael wish that the L-rd will rebuke the devil, but such an



outcome is attainable.







Back at B we looked at all the ways to write "the" (the



definite article) in Greek. Now, since we just read the personal



pronoun (umi=n, let's look at ways the personal pronoun



(I,you,he,she,it,they,etc) is written in the Brit Chadasha



Scriptures.



D. The Personal Pronoun







I. First Person (I, of me, to me, me, we, of us, to us, us)



Sing.................Plural







Nom )egO/ (Emei=s







Gen )emou=, mou (EmO=n







Dat )emoi/ moi (Emi=n







Acc )eme/, me (Ema=s







2. Second Person (you--sing. and pl.--to you, of you, etc)



Sing.................P1ural







Nom su/ (umei=s







Gen sou= (umO=n







Dat soi/ (umi=n *see above word #19, Yehuda 1:2)



Acc se/ (uma=s









3. Third Person (they, of them, to them, etc) Note: this is used



as an intensive pronoun. "David HIMSELF said" (Mark 12:36)...the



SAME Spirit (II Cor.4:13).



Singular







Masc Fem Neuter







Nom )auto/s )autE/ )auto/







Gen )autou= )autE=s )autou=







Dat )autO|= )autE|= )autO|=







Acc )auto/n )autE/n )auto/





Plural







Masc Fem Neuter







Nom )autoi/ )autai/ )auta/







Gen )autO=n )autO=n )autO=n







Dat )autoi=s )autai=s )autoi=s







Acc )autou/s )auta/s )auta/





Yehuda 3







(Yehuda 1:3) )*AgapEtoi/ (ah-gah-pee-TEE = Beloved p1.), pa=san



(PAH-sahn = all) spoudE\n (spoo-DEEM = haste, diligence)



poiou/menos (pee-OO-men-ohs = making) gra/fein (GRAH-feen = to



write) (umi=n (ee-MEEN = you p1.) peri\ (peh-REE = concerning)



tE=s (tees = the) koinE=s (kee-NEES = common) (EmO=n (ee-MOHN



=



of us) sOtEri/as (soh-tee-REE-ahs = salvation)







The first thing you need to do is to go back and review C until



you can figure out all the transliteration above, and can read



this verse through correctly, with Modern Greek pronounciation.



Find a native Greek-speaker and let him or her read aloud to you



or even make you a tape reading the book of Yehudah.







#27. )*AgapEtoi/ in Yehuda 1:3 is a plural noun and is in the



vocative case (review A and paragraph #7). Almost as if to



soften the blow of all his necessarily strident words about



Gehinnom, Yehuda calls his addressees "Beloved" no less than



three times (see also verses 17 and 20). He does not want to



throw in doubt their assurance of salvation even while he exhorts



them in order to put the fear of G-d into them.











#28. poiou/menos is a participle. Review paragraph #21,



paragraph #21 above). Whenever you see "men" embedded in a word



look for a possible participle. (poie/O "make,



do,etc"...see p.145 in your UBSGNT Dictionary.) This participle



is present in tense, which means that its action takes place at



the same time as the main verb )e/sxon ("I received") in the next



clause (review paragraph #18). Therefore, we translate "while I



was making such-and-such (first clause), I received such-and-such



(second clause)." The "I received" is called an epistolary



aorist, meaning a "point action" verb seen from the viewpoint of



the reader at the time he reads the epistle or letter.







#29. gra/fein is an infinitive. Infinitives are verbal nouns.



This infinitive "to write" expresses purpose and also is in the



present tense.







#30. For (umi=n (word #39) and EmO=n (word #34) see D. For tE=s



review B.







Translation:







Beloved, while I was hastily making (giving) all diligence for



the purpose to write (of writing) you (p1.) concerning our common



(in the sense of what all believers share) salvation...



)ana/gkEn (ah-NAHNGK-een = necessity) )e/sxon (ehs-KHOHN = I



received) gra/yai (GRAH-pseh = to write) (umi=n (ee-MEEM = to you



p1.) parakalO=n (pah-rah-kah-LOHN = exhorting, urging)



)epagOni/zesQai (eh-pah-goh-NEE-zehs-theh = to contend for, fight



for, agonize for) tE|= (tee = the) (a/pac (AH-pahx = once)



paradoQei/sE| (pah-rah-do-THEE-see = delivered or handed down



i.e. as authoritative and authorized) toi=s (tees = to the)



(agi/ois (ah-GHEE-ees = saints, kadoshim) pi/stei (PEES-teh =



faith, in the sense of a body of authoritative doctrinal belief).







Look at the very bottom of p.827 at the cross-reference note for



Yehuda v.3 where the reference I Tim. 1:18 is given. Here



Shliach Sha'ul likewise exhorts Timotiyos "to fight the good



fight."







#31. gra/yai (word #38, Yehuda 1:3) is another infinitive (see



paragraph #29). However, this infinitive is in the aorist tense,



which here suggests a precise point-in-time action. Yehuda was



going to write a sermon about what all believers have in common,



but a necessity fell on him at a precise point in time to write



about this specific emergency he is now going to describe. )e/xO



("I have") is here )e/sxon ("I received") in the aorist tense.



Yehuda received a necessity, which was to urge the Called to



fight for the faith. A question you and I should ask ourselves



is, "Have I received this same necessity to urge that the true



faith, the true orthodox Jewish emunah, be fought for, contended



for?" Notice: while Yehuda was preparing gra/fein (to write,



present tense, word #29), he had to gra/yai (to precisely at a



point in time--aorist tense--write). This subtle nuance indicates



the emergency situation that prompted his writing. Yehuda was



going to write a general sermon about "our common salvation," but



then a particular situation arose which threw Yehuda into great



urgency because this emergency (described in Yehuda v.4-16 with



recommendations on how to respond to it in Yehuda v.17-23) puts



the doctrinal definition of the faith in jeopardy in the sense



that the very identity of what the faith (that is,the Brit



Chadasha kehillah's doctrinal belief) is, must now be fought for.











#32. paradoQei/sE| (word #44, Yehuda 1:3) is an aorist passive



participle form of the verb paradi/dOmi, which means "deliver,



hand down, pass on, transmit as authoritative." Because the



participle is in the passive voice (review paragraph #22--see



also word #24 plEQunQei/E, Yehuda 1:2), we translate



paradoQei/sE| "having been transmitted or delivered." Because it



is an aorist tense participle the focus is on a precise point in



time (review #31), namely when Rebbe, HaMelech HaMoshiach (who is



the Word) "once and for all" delivered the transmitted "faith"



(as a body of doctrine) to the Shluchim and they in turn as his



authoritative emissaries handed it on in writing to be delivered



to us. As the half brother of Rebbe HaMelech HaMoshiach Yehoshua



and the brother of Ya'akov, and as a hearer of Shliach Kefa at



Shavuos (Acts 1:14), would not Yehuda be in a position to know



about this "once and for all" definitive transmission of



normative doctrine? parakalO=n is from parakale/O, which is the



kind of exhorting and urging that generals give their fearful



troops to send them courageously into battle. )epagOni/zomai (as



it appears in the Dictionary p.65 "struggle in behalf of" but



appears as word #42, )epagOni/zesQai, is the word for the



strenuous struggles and efforts of athletes in the Olympic games.



The normative body of doctrine for all faithful believers, which



is the inerrant Bible and its propositional revelation, was "once



for all" received from the Rebbe HaMelech HaMoshiach by the



Shluchim and handed down as authoritative from generation to



generation to us. But this chain of para/dosis (authoritative



teachings preserved and handed down) is now threatened by false



shepherds or ministers who pervert the whole religion, doctrine,



practice, ethics, everything--short-circuiting the Shluchim's



chain and creating monstrous pseudo-Brit Chadasha kehillot. How



do we know that the "certain men" referred to in Yehuda 4, 8,



10-16 are ministers and not just immoral laymen in the Brit



Chadasha kehillot? Look at Yehuda 12 (words #232 and #233),



where it says (eautou\s poimai/nontes ["themselves shepherding"],



a nearly direct quote from Ezekiel 34:8 in the Septuagint, which



says, poime/nes )eautou/s, where the reference is to false



shepherds or leaders who feed only themselves and refuse to feed



the flock of G-d (see Yochanan 21:15-17). Since the target of



Yehuda's attack, "certain men" (Yehudav. 4), "shepherd"



themselves and do not shepherd the sheep but, according to Yehuda



8, "reject authority" (presumedly including Yehuda's authority),



it follows that they are clearly immoral spiritual leaders or



ministers, and they must be resisted with all possible strength



because they have betrayed the para/dosis (authoritative



teachings preserved and handed down) and thus threaten the very



doctrine and practice that defined "once for all" what the



"faith" (as a body of doctrine) is. See Yehuda v.20 where



pi/stis also means a body of doctrine (on this, see p.143 in the



UBSGNT dictionary). Also see I Cor. 15:3 where Shliach Sha'ul



says he faithfully handed over the para/dosis he received. Also



see II Thes. 3:6. Also see II Tim. 2:2 where Shliach Sha'ul



commands Timothy to take the para/dosis Shliach Sha'ul



transmitted to him and faithfully transmit it to faithful men who



will be able to transmit it to others. Shliach Sha'ul made



provision for this perpetual transmission of para/dosis by means



of a two year school or yeshiva he conducted in Ephesus (Acts



19:9-10) with the result [the word (O/ste indicates result in



Acts 19:10) that many faithful ministers took the unadulterated



word throughout the whole area in an unbroken and



trans-generational chain of para/dosis. This is also the goal of



Omanim Lema'am Yisroel Messianic Yeshiva (Artists For Israel



Institute), a goal which can never be accomplished unless the



AFII students not only learn but learn to teach this Greek course



and can therefore accuratedly read and transmit to the next



generation the para/dosis inerrantly presented in the Brit



Chadasha Scriptures.







Yehuda 4







pareise/dusan (pah-ree-SEHD-ee-sahn = crept in, slip or sneak



instealthily) ga/r (ghahr = for) tines (tee-nehs = certain)



)a/nQrOpoi (AHN-throh-pee = men), (oi (ee = the [ones]) pa/lai



(PAH-leh = of old, i.e.long ago) progegramme/noi



(proh-gheh-ghrahm-MEN-ee = foretold/ordained in writing) )eis



(ees = for) tou=to (TOO-toh = this) to\ (toh = the) kri/ma



(KREE-mah = judgment)







E. SOME ADJECTIVE ENDINGS







tines (word #50) is an nominative masculine plural adjective



meaning "some" and it modifies the nominative masculine plural



noun )a/nQrOpoi ("men", word #51). The sexually immoral false



teachers are "men" (not women) and, as to how many of them there



are, Yehuda uses this indefinite adjective to indicate there are



"some." Here are the endings that tell us the gender and number



of an adjective. Do you see why the -es at the end of tines (word



#50) tells us this adjective is nominative, masculine, plural?



(Look for the **** below in the adjective endings.)



Singular







Masc Fem Neuter







Nom o/s, s E/,a o/n, n







Gen ou=, o/s E=s, as ou=, o/s







Dat O|=, i E|=, a| O|=,i







Acc o/n, a E/n, an o/n





Plural







Masc Fem Neuter







Nom oi/, es**** ai/ a/







Gen O=n O=n O=n







Dat oi=s ai=s oi=s







Acc ou/s as a/







#33. Yehuda is saying that the danger he is alarmed about is not



outside but inside the Brit Chadasha kehillah. In some ways it is



a subtle danger because of the sinister and secret entry made by



"certain men," probably itinerant teachers (II Yochanan 10), who



are actually able to pass themselves off as believers. But G-d



is not fooled because his prophets had designated them for



condemnation long ago (kri/sis--see the word in Yehuda 4, 6, and



15). (oi is a masculine singular plural definite article (see



B). However, here it is used alone as a personal pronoun.



(Review #15.) We would translate it "the (ones)."



progegramme/noi is a participle. See the -men- (review #28). A



participle is a verbal adjective. Participles can perform the



function of an adjective and describe nouns or pronouns, even



though participles have tense and voice like a verb. The verbal



adjective (participle) that describes the "ones" [oi/] in Yehuda



v. 4 is perfect in tense and passive in voice: "the



having-been-ordained-in-writing ones." As an adjective, this



participle progegramme/noi (review adjective endings above E)



is nominative in case, masculine in gender, and plural in number



and agrees in gender, number and case with the word (oi [word



#52]. progegramme/noi is a participle that is in the perfect



tense, like "having been loved" and "having been kept" in Yehuda



v.1. The perfect tense has to do with a completed action in the



past which has continuing effects even in the present. The thing



that signals the perfect tense to a Greek reader who sees the



word progegramme/noi (which is found in the Greek dictionary as



progra/fO is the way the gamma repeats itself. This is called



reduplication and indicates the perfect tense. The condemnation



of these false teachers was settled long ago but its effects are



continuing even in the present. Their very behavior, described



in Yehuda 12, 13, and 16, shows they are being kept for judgment



and even now are "storing up wrath for themselves" (Rom.2:5).



F. VERB ENDINGS







In English we have to indicate the subject separately from the



verb each time, because the English verb does not have endings



that indicate the person and number of the subject. I jump (1st



pers. sing.) you jump (2nd pers. sing.)







he, she, it jumps (third pers. sing.)







we jump (1st pers. plur.)







you (p1.) jump (2nd pers. plur.)







they jump (3rd. pers. plur.)







However, in Greek the ending of the verb automatically includes



the subject pronoun, so the pronoun doesn't have to be used as a



separate word each time, and when the pronoun is actually spelled



out as a separate word, it can then be used for emphasis and



other things, which is much more efficient than English. For



example, Yehuda didn't have to use the pronoun for "they"



[)autoi/--see D) when in Yehuda 11 he wrote "they went the way



of Cain" because the "they" is in the -san ending of the aorist



tense Greek verb for "they went" )eporeu/QEsan (see the



***below).







Present future and perfect tenses use these endings



I mi, O mai



you s sai



he/she/it si,ei tai



we men meQa



you (pl.) te sQe



they vsi, asi ntai











Imperfect aorist, and pluperfect tenses use these endings











I n,a mEn



you s so, ou



he/she/it -, e to



we men meQa



you (pl.) te sQe



they v, ***san nto







Imperative mood (review #26) forms do not use the first person



you (sing.) Qi, e so, ou



he/she/it tO sQO



you (pl.) te sQe



they tOsan sQOsan











#34. There are 6 tenses you need to be familiar with in your



Greek NT. Once you know to look for them, they will give your



reading of the Brit Chadasha Scriptures a brand new, exciting



vividness and "close-up" precision, like a motion picture with



all kinds of interesting slow-motion shots.







1. Present tense: one of the possible stresses of the present



tense is continuous action in the present as in Yehuda 8, "these



men are polluting [miai/nousin] their own bodies." This



infectuous, Brit Chadasha kehillah-destroying activity is going



on right now, even while Yehuda writes, which explains his



urgency in writing the letter. Ignorant, weak-willed congregants



(II Tim.3: 6-7) are being infected and defiled by false shepherds



as a continous action at the present time. miai/nousin comes from



miai/nO, meaning "to stain, to defile" with the idea of being



infectuous. The ousi(n) ending of the verb tells you it is 3rd



person plural and present tense in the indicative mood. As we go



along we are going to look at the verb lu/O "I loose, I untie, I



set free." See Mark 11:4 [page 165], "And they left and found a



colt having been tied to a door out on the street and lu/ousin



(they are untying) him."



lu/O



lu/eis



lu/ei (see Luke 13:15)



lu/omen



lu/ete



lu/ousi(n) (see Mark 11:4)







2. Imperfect tense: continuous action in the past can be stressed



as in Yehuda 18, "the Shluchim were saying [)e/legon, word #341]



to you, `In the last days there will be mockers...`. The



Shluchim gave a continuous warning in the past, (so whoever



follows these false teachers has no excuse). le/gO, meaning to



say, tell, declare, in the dictionary form becomes imperfect when



the augment (in this case epsilon) is affixed to the beginning of



the dictionary stem of the word, (e + leg = elegon). The



unadorned dictionary stem (without the augment e in front) is the



present tense (see #34.1 above) form of the word. With the



augment epsilon the present tense changes to the imperfect tense.



(Do not become overwhelmed. You add "ed" to change verb tenses



from "I jump" to "I jumped" and you don't think that is so hard



to understand. Neither is this. See F.) See Yochanan 5:18,



"...)e/luen [he was breaking] the Shabbos..."



)e/luon )e/lues



)e/lue(n) [see Yochanan 5:18]



)elu/omen



)elu/ete



)e/luon







3. Future tense: this tense is also found in Yehuda 18, "In the



last days there will be [)e/sontai, future of the verb of being,



)eimi/] mockers." The future is indicated by the sigma infix.



Let's look at lu/O again, this time in the future:



lu/sO



lu/seis



lu/sei



lu/somen



lu/sete



lusousi(n)







4. Aorist tense (see #31). The aorist tense views the action as



a point in time or else the action is viewed as a whole, with the



kind of action (continuous, completed, etc) left unspecified. At



a certain point, or looking at their action as a whole, "certain



men stole their way secretly into the Brit Chadasha kehillah"



(Yehuda 4). pareise/dusan (word #48) in Yehuda 4 is in the



aorist tense. The aorist form of pareisdu/nO is indicated by the



sigma alpha infix. This is called 2nd aorist; 1st aorist has an



augment in front of the stem, as below. See Acts 22:30,



"...)e/lusen [he released him] and ordered the chief kohanim to



be assembled ..." Let's look at lu/O again, this time in its



aorist form (all these are in the indicative mood): )e/lsa



)e/lusas )e/luse(n) [Acts 22:30]



)e/lusamen



)elu/sate



)e/lusan







5. Perfect tense: The angels that did not keep their



blessed position G-d "has kept in eternal bonds under darkness"



and the action G-d took has lingering effects because they are



even now kept for the Judgment Day! This verb tetE/rEken (word



#119) is the perfect form of tEre/O (notice the reduplicated t



when the verb is in the perfect tense and review #33). Let's look



at lu/O again, this time in the perfect tense: le/luka le/lukas



le/luke(n)



lelu/kamen



lelu/kate



lelu/kasi(n)







6. Pluperfect tense is like the perfect tense but the



resultant state is in the past time, as in Mark 16:9 where the



pluperfect verb says, "Miryam Magdalene, from whom (Moshiach



Yehoshua) had cast out seven demons." The action was completed



with on-going effects but the casting out occurred in the past



(many years before, from Mark's point of view). The pluperfect



verb there )ekbeblE/kei [from )ekba/llO, drive out, expel],



indicates its pluperfect tense by the -kei- and the reduplicated



beta (review #33). Let's look at lu/O again, this time in the



pluperfect tense:



lelu/kein



lelu/keis



lelu/kei



lelu/keimen



lelu/keite



lelu/keisan







Yehuda 4 (continued)







)asebei=s (ah-seh=VEES = ung-dly ones), tE\n (teen = the) tou=



(too = of the) Qeou= (theh-OO = of G-d) (EmO=n (ee-MOHN = of us)



xa/rita (KHAR-ree-tah = grace, Chen v'Chesed) metatiQe/ntes



(meh-tah-tee-THEHN-tehs = alter in the sense of perverting) )eis



(ees = for) )ase/lgeian (ah-SEHL-ghee-ahn = sexual



licentiousness, unrestrained sexual vice)



)asebei=s is an adjective, meaning "ung-dly, living without



religious scruples or morals or faith" and it modifies tines



)a/nQrOpoi "some men" at the beginning of Yehuda 4. Rom.5:6 says



that Moshiach Yehoshua died for the )asebei=s. And I Shliach



Kefa 1:10 infers that unmerited favor or grace (xa/rita) is



virtually a synonym for the Besuras Hageulah, that by grace we



are free from punishment, that by grace we are free from



self-efforts to be our own Savior, including salvation by means



of works of the Law of Moses. But these irreligious impostors



have perverted this freedom into freedom from the moral law. Look



at I Shliach Kefa 2:16 and II Shliach Kefa 2:19. tE\n is a



definite article (review B) modifying xa/rita, which is the



direct object of the verbal adjective or participle metatiQe/ntes



(review #4 and #5).







Look especially at II Shliach Kefa 2:2, which speaks of false



prophets and teachers in the last days and "many will follow



their )aselgei/ais and because of them the way of truth will be



maligned and in their greed they will exploit you" (II Shliach



Kefa 2:3). Here is a picture of rich ministers who are extremely



able fund-raisers but they don't avoid the appearance of evil or



evil itself and they bring reproach on the whole Messianic



movement. Yehuda 4 (continued)







kai\ (keh = and) to\n (tohn = the) mo/non (MOH-nohn =



only)despo/tEn (deh-SPOH-teen = Master) kai\ (keh = and) ku/rion



(KEE-ree-ohn = L-rd) (EmO=n (ee-MOHN = of us) )*IEsou=n



(ee-ee-SOON = Yehoshua) *Xristo\n (Khree-STOHN = Moshiach)



)arnou/menoi (ahr-NOO-meh-nee = denying).







Look at the very bottom of p.827 at the cross-reference note on



Yehuda 4, which speaks of Gal.2:4 and the false (Judaizing)



believers similarly secretly slipped in to spy in Jerusalem on



the Gentile freedom from circumcision. Look at the other



cross-reference on Yehuda 4, II Shliach Kefa 2:1 which also



contains the same exact Greek words "despo/tEn )arnou/menoi"



("Master denying"), where Shliach Kefa preaches that G-d's



punishment is falling on the same false prophets that Jude is



denouncing.











#35. There is a definite article in this part of Yehuda 4.



Review B. Since the endings of the article, the adjective and



the noun are generally the same, if you learn the endings of the



article, you will have learned many of the endings of the nouns



and adjectives as well.











#36. Look at participle above (word #77). It is based on



)arne/omai, "I deny, disown, repudiate." We have already



mentioned the passive voice (#15, #22, #32). This participle is



in the middle voice, as is indicated by the -men-. The middle



voice usually indicates that the subject performs the action on



himself, or for his own benefit (for himseIf), or in some way



involves self in the action beyond being the subject. The



meaning here is "ung-dly men denying for themselves the only



Master and Adoneinu Moshiach Yehoshua."







Active voice--the subject acts ["As I hear, kri/nO (I judge)"]



(Yochanan 5:30)







Passive voice--the subject is acted upon ["Judge not, lest



kriQE=te (you be judged)"] (Luke 6:37). The -QE- indicates



passive voice here.







Middle voice--the subject performs the action out of personal



interest or advantage or for his own benefit or acts with the



self in some way. [)apokri/nomai "I answer" (mai is a middle



ending) may have developed from "I draw a judgment for myself"



but is is translated as an active verb (here "I answer~)].





Yehuda 5







(*YpomnE=sai (eep-ohm-NEE-seh = to remind) de\ (deh = but) (uma=s



(ee-MAHS = you) bou/lomai (VOO-loh-meh = I intend),



)eido/tas(ee-DOH-tahs = knowing) (a/pac (AH-pahx = once for all



time) pa/nta (PAHN-tah = all things) (o/ti (0 H - t e e = t h a



t) (*IEsou=s = Yehoshua) lao\n (lah-OHN = a people) )ek (ehk =



out of) gE=s (ghees = land of) )*Aigu/ptou (eh-GHEEP-too = of



Egypt) sO/sas (SOH-sahs = having saved) to\ (toh = the) deu/teron



(DEHF-teh-rohn = afterwards, in the second place) tou\s (toos =



the [ones]) mE\ (mee = not) pisteu/santas (pees-TEHV-sahn-tahs



=believing) )arO/lesen, (ah-POH-leh-sehn = He destroyed), Notice



the superscript footnote 3 next to (a/pac in Yehuda 5 on p.828 in



the UBSGNT and then look at footnote 5 in the textual apparatus.



First you are given the textual attestation for the words used in



the text. The Hebrew letter ALEF (a symbol for the manuscript



[MSS] Sinaiticus) is one of the manuscripts containing the text



as it appears. On page 10* in your UBSGNT Introduction you can



see tha ALEF is kept in London and was copied in the 4th century



(actually around C.E.350). This manuscript is an uncial, meaning



it is written entirely in capital Greek letters. The Greek letter



PSI is also an uncial (see UBSGMT p. 11*), and it too contains



the text as it appears. However, the editorial committee gives



this reading only a "D" level of certainly, and,because there is



such a high degree of doubt for the reading they chose, they list



in the textual apparatus for the rest of footnote 5 other



variants that are also possible and the



manuscripts which support each variant: (a/pac pa/nta, (o/ti



)*IEsou=s (found in the middle of footnote 5 on p.828), "once for



all time all things, that Yehoshua" has some important MSS



attestation, attested by uncials A, B, and "Queen of the



Miniscules" 33, etc; This reading would mean that the



pre-existant Moshiach (his Hebrew name is Yehoshua--see UBSGNT



Acts 7:45, same as Joshua) delivered his people out of Egypt.







Translation: Now I wish to remind you, though fully informed



once for all, that Yehoshua, who saved a people out of the land



of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. Yehuda



is warning, "Not once saved, always saved," but "Once saved,



afterward destroyed."







The participle )eido/tas is concessive here: "although



knowing/informed." [ ] Square brackets [ ] around (uma=s and (o



in the text of Yehuda 5 are used to enclose words whose presence



or position in the text is regarded as disputed. If you ever see



double brackets as around Yochanan 7:53 - 8:11, these kinds of



brackets are used to enclose passages which are regarded as later



additions to the text, but which retained their position because



of their evident antiquity and importance.







A word needs to be said about textual criticism here. Textual



criticism is the business or removing unintentional copyist



errors and intentional scribal emendations in order to re-create



as closely as possible the (now lost) original "autograph"



documents of the inerrant and inspired writings of the authors of



the Bible. In order to do this, the editors of the UBSGNT study



hundreds of different kinds of extant ancient documents (papyri,



uncials, and miniscules) and manuscripts and compile the basic



Greek text, placing significant variants (those that affect the



meaning in an important way) along with their manuscript evidence



in the textual apparatus below the basic text. p72 (copied 3rd



century) is a papyrus document that preserves all of I and II



Shliach Kefa and Yehuda. p72 was found in Egypt in the middle of



the 20th century 1700 years after the scribe copied it. The dry



climate in Egypt kept it from decomposing. These variants should



be added to your English translation as a possible marginal



reading. Anytime you see a p with a number on the right of it



(as in p72), you know that this refers to a papyrus manuscript,



and papyri manuscripts, in many cases, represent the earliest



extant readings, so they usually cannot be ignored in



establishing the original text. (Remember that the United Bible



Society 4th edition of the Greek NT and the older Nestle-Aland



27th edition of the Novum Testamentum Greece have the same basic



Greek text, but different punctuation and a different textual



apparatus. In the past, many beginning Greek students preferred



the UBSGNT because the Greek letters are easier to read, although



the basic Greek text of Yehuda is exactly the same in both



editions.



It has been helpful to scholars to conceive of the vast number of



ancient NT manuscripts into various groups that contain many of



the same variant readings and other similar characteristics.



Since these groups have related kinds of readings, they are



conceived of as different "families" of manuscripts, and include



those manuscript families labelled "Alexandrian," "Western" (that



is, non-Alexandrian), "Byzantine," etc. Some scholars believe



the Byzantine family has a great deal of harmonization,



interpolation, and other kinds of scribal changes. These scholars



believe Erasmus uncritically used manuscripts in this "Byzantine"



family to publish his Greek NT (C.E. 1516) and this family of



manuscripts became the so-called "Textus Receptus" and the



received text of the Greek Orthodox as well as the basis for the



King James Version translation. However, the majority of Greek



scholars generally give more credence today to the Alexandrian



(named after Alexandria in Egypt) "family" of manuscripts



represented by manuscripts like Codex B, 325 C.E.), Codex



Sinaiticus, papyri p66 and p72. Note how often you see B and



Alef in the UBSGNT texual apparatus! Codex B is generally



considered to be the most valuable ancient manuscript in the



world, quite accurately reflecting the earlier Brit Chadasha text



from early in the 2nd century.







Yehuda 6







)agge/lous (ahng-EH-loos = angels) te (teh = and) tou\s (toos =



the) mE\ (mee = not) tErE/santas (tee-REE-sahn-tahs = having



kept) tE\n (teen = the) (eautO=n (eh-ahf-TOHN = of themselves)



)arxE\n (ahr-KHEEN = domain) )alla\ (ahl-LAH = but) )apolipo/ntas



(ah-poh-lee-POHN-tahs = having deserted, abandoned) to\ (toh =



the) )i/dion (EE-dee-ohn = own) )oikEtE/rion



(ee-kee-TEE-ree-ohn = habitation,dwelling, home))eis (ees = for)



kri/sin (KREE-seen = judgment, condemnation) mega/lEs



(meh-GHAH-lees = of [the] great) (Eme/ras (ee-MEH-rahs = Day)



desmoi=s (dehs-MEES = bonds, chains) )ai+di/ois (ah-ee-DEE-ees =



in everlasting, eternal) (upo\ (ee-POH = under) zo/fon (ZOH-fohn



= gloom, darkness) tetE/rEken (teh-TEE-ree-kehn = He has kept),



In anticipation of the next verse, remember that the antecedent



of the masculine pronoun tou/tois in Yehuda 7 cannot be Sodom and



Gomorrah which are treated as feminine. As we have already said



(review #10 and #11), we believe Yehuda is bringing in the angels



as a specimen of Gehinnom-fire punishment like burning Sodom and



not as a specimen of specific sexual sin. In verses 5 and 6 we



read about the fall from grace of certain people who were saved



but then afterwards did not believe and certain angels who left



their domain. Now in verse 7 we are going to look at the



punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah, and see how these other people



and angels met the same fate. However the sin of the angels is



more like Esau's in that they desert the ruling authority they've



been given by G-d (see Hebrews 12:16-17) and (possibly in



demon-possession?) go after strange flesh to assert their



authority over human bodies instead of their own assigned



heavenly dominion. The common sin of all the damned in Yehuda's



extended illustration here is tou\s mE\ pisteu/santas ("the ones



not believing") in verse 5, a phrase that is both masculine and



plural and could also be referred to by to\n (o/moion tro/pon



tou/tois ("in a similar manner to these-- "these" being masculine



and plural) in verse 7. Therefore, regardless of Yehuda's



personal opinion, the Ruach Hakodesh kept him from error in



breaking the analogy of Scripture in what he wrote. Satan did



not sin sexually when he left his home in heaven (Rev. 12:4) and



seduced Eve in Genesis 3 (see II Cor. 11:3). Since angels are



not like us, vessels of clay, their lust is of a spiritual



nature. They are also capable of disbelieving in the Biblical



sense of proudly, rebelliously, disobeying. In any event, the



fact that tou/tois ("these") in v.14 definitely refers back to



tines )a/nQrOpoi in v.4 means that the same word (tou/tois v.7)



cannot be excluded from referring to the very same tines



)a/nQrOpoi also, which means that the reference need not be to



angels after all. Review which words are definite articles (see



B). Review #34.5.







xYehuda 7







(Os (ohs = as) *So/doma (SOH-doh-mah = Sodom) kai\ (keh = and)



*Go/morra (GHOH-mohr-rah = Gomorrah) kai\ (keh = and) (ai (eh =



the) peri\ (peh-REE = round) )auta\s (ahf-TAHS = them) po/leis



(POH-lees = cities) to\n (tohn = in the) (o/moion (OH-mee-ohn =



like, similar) tro/pon (TROH-pohn = manner) tou/tois (TOO-tees =



to these) )ekporneu/sasai (ek-pohr-NEHV-sah-seh = indulging in



sexual immorality against the course of nature p .5 6) kai\



(keh = and) )apelQou=sai (ah-pehl-THOO-seh = turning aside from



the right way and going p.19) )opi/sO (oh-PEE-soh = after)



sarko\s (sahr-KOHS = flesh) (ete/ras (eh-TEH-rahs = different,



strange), pro/keintai (PROH-keen-teh = they are let forth p.151)



dei=gma (DEEG-mah = an example, sample) puro\s (pee-ROHS = fire)



)aiOni/ou (eh-oh-NEE-oo = of everlasting) di/kEn (DEE-keen =



punishment) (upe/xousai (eep-EHKH-oo-seh =



undergoing p.188).







TRANSLATION:







as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, in the similar



manner to these (that is, tines )a/nQrOpoi v.4,(cf. v.14), lao/s



people, v.5, tou\s mE\ pisteu/santas, the ones not believing, v.5



and )a/gge/lous, angels v.6), indulging in sexual immorality



against the course of nature and turning aside from the right way



and going after strange (different) flesh, are set forth to lie



in public view as an example of undergoing the punishment of



everlasting fire.







The different or strange "flesh" points to its forbidden aspect.



When a man and woman become one flesh, any other flesh is



different or strange or forbidden. The angels abandoned their



proper dwelling and entered a forbidden realm and these cities



referred to abandoned their proper flesh and went after strange



flesh. In the above translation, the "indulging in sexual



immorality" phrase refers back to Sodom and Gomorrah and not to



"these." What Sodom and Gomorrah do is done in a similar manner



as what is done by angels. However, Yehuda does not specifically



say that the angels do exactly the same wicked sexual act as



Sodom and Gomorrah and the lao/s (v.5), only that all meet a



similar punishment. Satan was unbelieving and rebellious and



left his appointed sphere and lusted after and seduced Eve but



not sexually and physically (II Cor.11:3). The Ruach Hakodesh



inerrantly protected both Moses in Genesis 6 and Yehuda in Yehuda



7 from introducing fantastic mythology into historically sober



Scripture. Mark 12:25 is the base point of the canonical



exegesis of this passage. Moshiach Yehoshua also said that lust



(even without physical consummation) is as evil as the actual



sexual deed (Mat.5:28). We go to all this trouble to show you the



care that is needed in exegesis of Scripture in the original



languages in order to avoid erroneous teaching.







Yehuda 8







Note: the page numbers given with each verb tell you where the



verb is found in the dictionery at the back of the UBSGNT. Look



them up and study the meanings.







(*Omoi/Os (oh-MEE-ohs = likewise) me/ntoi (MEN-tee =indeed) kai\



(keh = and) (ou=toi (00-tee = these) )enupniazo/menoi



(en-eep-nee-ahz-OH-men-ee = dreaming [ones] p.62) sa/rka



(SAHR-kah = flesh) me\n (men = on one hand) miai/nousin,



(mee-EH-noo-seen = defiling, staining) kurio/tEta



(kee-ree-OH-tee-tah = authority, lordship) de\ (deh = on the



other hand) )aQetou=sin (ah-theh-TOO-seen = they despise, reject,



do not recognize) do/cas (DOHX-ahs = glories, glorious heavenly



beings) de\ (deh = but) blasfEmou=sin (vlahs-fee-MOO-seen = rail



at, blaspheme, revile, commit chillul Hashem, assail with



contemptuous or opprobrious language, defame)







These "dreamers" prefer their sensual imaginings to the sober



reality of G-d's judgment on Sodomites, etc. These false



teachers live in an unreal world. Like the Sodomites, they



pervert their bodies even while they pervert the grace of G-d



into license. Like the angels, they abandon their proper office



of authority. Yehuda is urging the "called" to flee from such



teachers. Israelites in the wilderness were also "in the



kehillah" but were nevertheless destroyed. Angels also fell from



their place into Gehinnom. Sodomites were burned to show Gehinnom



is the penalty for sexual immorality. These lawless dreamers,



who are ready to fall from their teaching chair in the Brit



Chadasha kehillah directly into Gehinnom (at the parousi/a--see



Yehuda 14-15) show contempt and disrespect for both their own



bodies and for angels, whom they blaspheme as an impudent and



brazen display of "freedom" from authority and moral



accountability. Their perverted doctrine of "grace" has made them



throw off all restraints of moral law. If Yehuda has himself



tried to assert the authority of his own Brit Chadasha kehillah



office over them, they have obviously rejected his authority as



well. Because they despise authority, they share in the



)antilog/a (rebellion p.16) of Korah, and cannot discern the true



greatness of those who should be honored. Nor can they discern



the angelic orders whose glory points to the majesty of G-d whom



they have sinned against. The Sodomites were so disrespectful in



their total depravity that they would have raped angels if



possible (review Gen.19). These dreamers, in rejecting authority,



were tempting others into unbelief and into falling from the



place where they were kept. This is what Yehuda is trying to



stop. His concern is to give spiritual oversight, that of



guarding the flock from wolves.



Yehuda 9







(o (oh = the) de\ (deh = but) *MixaE\l (mee-khah-EEL -Michael)



(o (oh = the) )arxa/ggelos (ahr-KHAHNG-eh-lohs = archangel),



(o/te (OH-teh = when) tO|= (toh = with the) diabo/lO|



(dee-ah-VOH-loh = devil) diakrino/menos (dee-ah-kree-NOH-men-ohs



= contending, disputing, taking issue) diele/geto



(dee-eh-LEH-gheh-toh = he was discussing) peri\ (peh-REE = about)



tou= (too = the) *MOu+se/Os (Moh-ee-SEH-ohs = of Moses) sO/matos



(SOH-mah-tohs = body), )ouk (ook = not)



)eto/lmEsen(eh-TOHL-mee-sehn = dared) kri/sin (KREE-seen =



judgment) )epenegkei=n (eh-peh-nehngk-EEN = to bring upon,



pronounce)blasfEmi/as (vlahs-fee-MEE-ahs = of insulting, abusive



talk,blasphemy) )alla\ (ahl-LAH = but) )ei=pen (EE-pehn = he



said), )*EpitimE/sai (eh-pee-tee-MEE-seh = may He rebuke) soi



(see = you) ku/rios (KEE-ree-ohs = [the] L-rd).



The Brit Chadasha kehillah Fathers are the leaders of the faith



who lived in the early centuries after the death of the Shluchim.



They quote from early manuscripts of the NT, and these quotes are



important in establishing the original text. A list of Brit



Chadasha kehillah Fathers and the approximate death dates are



given in the UBSGNT 31*-36*. Three of these were familiar with a



text that Yehuda is apparently quoting from, a text which is



otherwise largely lost now, existing today only in fragments.



The cross-reference note at the bottom of UBSGNT p.829 says that



Yehuda may be quoting from an apocryphal work called The



Assumption of Moses, according to Brit Chadasha kehillah Fathers



Clement, Origen, and Didymus, whose death dates are given in



UBSGNT p.31*-36*. See also cross-references to Dan. 10:13, 21;



12:1 and Rev. 12:7 on Michael the Archangel (the word means



"prince of angels" and is found elsewhere only in I Thes.4:16) in



Scripture. Also see the cross-reference to II Shliach Kefa 2:10



and Zech.3:2 for possible allusions or quotes or similar language



in the Bible.







The Jewish people considered Michael to be the highest among the



angels and to be the representative of G-d.







The Pseudepigrapha -- a large group of Jewish writings outside



the Tanach and the Apocrypha in the Septuagint, written 200



B.C.E. to C.E. 200, which include apocalypses, legendary



histories, collections of psalms,and wisdom works written by



non-canonical "prophets" of the day. There is a version of this



story of Moses' death extant today but the one Yehuda refers to



is not available now, though known by Origen, Clement, and



Didymus. The two heavenly witnesses could be Moses and Elijah in



Rev. 11:3f, based on the idea that Moses' body was not recovered,



but G-d buried him (Deut. 34:6), and he appeared at the



Transfiguration and with Elijah went up into heaven. As such,



these two could also symbolize the Messianic kehillah (two or



more gathered in His Name) being raptured.







On diakri/nO, "to take issue, dispute," see Acts 11:2 and Ya'akov



1:6 to see how the word is used and to get the exact nuance of



Yehuda 9. diele/geto is in the imperfect tense (review #34.2),



indicating continuous action in the past.







The departures of Enoch (Gen. 5:24), Elijah (II Kings 2:16-17)



and Moses (Deut. 34:6) were all shrouded in mystery. Apparently,



in the text Yehuda is alluding to, Michael is commissioned to



bury Moses (Deut. 34:6 says G-d had him buried) but Satan opposes



Michael on the grounds apparently that Satan is the L-rd of this



world and that Moses was a murderer. The Bible says to leave



room for the wrath of G-d. "Vengeance is mine, and I shall repay,



says the L-rd." Shliach Sha'ul says to reprove severely (Titus



1:13) certain Jewish would-be teachers. But he cautions Timothy



not to sharply rebuke an older man (I Tim. 5:l). We are not to



revile or to rail at people, even if they revile and rail at us



(I Shimon Kefa 2:23). Rav Sha'ul's temper may have gotten the



best of him in Acts 23:3-5. However, the prophets did excoriate



(flay verbally) their opponents at times.







Michael, even though he is the highest among the angels, shows



restraint and waits for the L-rd's rebuke of Satan, which will be



infinitely worse than any he could administer. All this



highlights the brazenness and g-dless irreverence of the



fornicating false teachers who attempt to impress their (female?)



disciples by blaspheming angels.







Yehuda 10







(ou=toi (00-tee = these [men]) de\ (deh = but) (o/sa (OH-sah



=what things) me\n (men = on one hand) )ouk (ook = not) )oi/dasin



(EE-dah-seen = they know) blasfEmou=sin (vlahs-fee-MOO-seen =



they rail at, speak insultingly, blaspheme), (o/sa (OH-sah = what



things) de\ (deh= but) fusikO=s (fee-see-KOHS = naturally) (Os



(ohs = as) ta\ (tah - the) )a/loga (AH-loh-ghah = without reason)



zO|=a (ZOH-ah = animals) )epi/stantai (eh-PEE-stahn-teh = they



understand), )en (en = by) tou/tois (TOO-tees = these)



fQei/rontai (FTHEE-rohn-teh = they are corrupted,



ruined,destroyed).







Yehuda uses de/ and me/n to draw distinctions. Yehuda begins to



expose these people for what they are: carnal men without the



Ruach Hakodesh. They know only their own animal instincts (which



even irrational animals know) and they know just enough to get



themselves ruined and destroyed. The lost man is brainless



)asune/tous (Romans 1:31). Compare II Shliach Kefa 2:12,



"creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed." See also



Phil. 3:19, "whose glory is their shame." It is shameful to G-d



and even to the human race for a "liberated" human being to act



like an animal. fQei/rontai is a present passive indicative



verb, third person plural. Review #34.1, #36, #26.



Yehuda 11







)ouai\ (oo-EH = woe) )autoi=s (auf-TEES = to them), (o/ti (OH-tee



= because) tE|= (tee = in the) (odO|= (oh-DOH = way) tou= (too =



of the) *Ka/i+n (KAH-een = Cain) )eporeu/QEsan



(eh-poh-REHF-thee-sahn = they went) kai\ (keh = and) tE|= (tee =



to the) pla/nE| (PLAH-nee = error) tou= (too = of the) *Balaa\m



(vahl-ah-AHM = Balaam) misQou= (mees-THOO = of [for] reward)



)ecexu/QEsan (ehx-eh-KHEE-thee-sahn = gave themselves up) kai\



(keh = and) tE|= (tee = in the) )antilogi/a (ahn-tee-loh-GHEE-ah



= rebellion) tou= (too = of the) *Ko/re (KOH-reh = Korah)



)apO/lonto (ah-POH-lohn-toh = perished).







Covetousness was a common motive with false teachers. They love



money. See I Thes. 2:3-5. Balaam was a Non-Jewish prophet, Korah



was a rebellious Levite, Cain was a murderer and a religious



libertine. Like Cain these false teachers are devoid of love.



Like Balaam, they are prepared in return for money to teach



others that sin does not matter. Like Korah, they are



insubordinate to Brit Chadasha kehillah leaders and careless of



how they address G-d's dignitaries. When they give themselves up



to the motive of feeding themselves and caring for themselves and



looking after themselves, when they give themselves over to their



sensual and materialistic appetites, they defy the authorized



leaders of the Brit Chadasha kehillah and make themselves their



own zekenim (elders). See II Shliach Kefa 2:10, "and especially



those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise



authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they



revile angelic majesties."







Yehuda 12







(ou=toi/ (oo-TEE = these [men]) )eisin (ee-seen = are) (oi (ee =



the) )en (en = in) tai=s (tehs = the) )aga/pais (ah-GHAH-pehs =



love feasts) (umO=n (ee-MOHN = of you) spila/des (spee-LAH-dehs =



spots, stains, hidden rocks) suneuOxou/menoi



(see-nehv-oh-KHOO-men-ee = feasting together) )afo/bOs



(ah-FOH-vohs = without fear), (eatou\s (eh-ahf-TOOS = themselves)



poimai/nontes (pee-MEN-nohn-tehs = shepherding, looking after,



feeding), nefe/lai (neh-FEH-leh = clouds) )a/nudroi (AHN-ee-dree



= waterless) (upo\ (ee-POH = by) )ane/mOn (ah-NEH-mohn = winds)



parafero/menai (pah-rah-feh-ROH-men-eh = being carried away),



de/ndra (DEHN-drah = trees) fQinopOrina\ (fthee-noh-poh-ree-NAH =



autumn) )a/karpa (AH-kahr-pah = without fruit) di\s (dees =



twice) )apoQano/nta (ah-poh-thah-NOHN-tah = dying))ekrizOQe/nta



(ek-ree-zoh-THEHN-tah = having been uprooted),







For a possible allusion in Yehuda 12 to Ezek.34:8, see



cross-reference note at the bottom of UBSGNT p.829 for Yehuda



v.12 and also p.899 in "Index of Allusions and Verbal Parallels"



in the back of your Greek Brit Chadasha.







In the same way that hidden rocks in a harbor can sink a ship, so



these hidden "Korahs," defying the authority of their leaders,



are a peril that the addressees of this letter don't seem to be



aware of, a real danger to their souls. The ordinary congregant



has been slow to take action or to sound the alarm. Yehuda is



trying to wake up the Brit Chadasha kehillah to the magnitude of



this antinomian scourge so that these sham believers can be



expelled from the Moshiach's Tish.







These teachers are show without substance, rhetoric without



doctrine, posturing without pious example. They are twice dead,



dead before they professed the L-rd in trespasses and sins, and



dead again by their apostate and lawless rebellion after their



false profession. There is no spiritual life or benefit in their



ministry. Bare trees, no fruit, spiritually sterile. They did not



bring forth fruit in keeping with teshuvah (repentance) [Matthew



3:9].







Yehuda 13







ku/mata (KEE-mah-tah = waves) )a/gria (AH-gree-ah = fierce,



wild,stormy) Qala/ssEs (thah-LAHS-sees = of the sea)



)epafri/zonta(eh-pah-FREE-zohn-tah = foaming up) ta\s (tahs =



the) (eautO=n(eh-ahf-TOHN = of themselves) )aisxu/nas



(ehs-KHEE-nahs = shameful deeds), )astE/res (ah-STEH-rehs =



stars) planE=tai (plah-NEE-teh = wandering) (oi=s (ees = for



whom) (o (oh = the) zo/fos (ZOH-fohs = gloom) tou= (too = of the)



sko/tous (SKOH-toos = of darkness) )eis (ees = unto) )aiO=na



(eh-OH-nah = forever) tetE/rEtai (teh-TEE-ree-teh= it has been



reserved, kept).







Their glory is their shame (Phil. 3:19). They sin more that



perverted "grace" may abound (Rom. 6:1). They have not repented



(II Cor. 12:21) and could care less if they should wrong a



brother in their religious sexual intrigues (I Thes. 4:6). They



are savage wolves (Acts 20:29).







Stars are symbols of angels, so here again we have a reference to



the rebelling angels that left their habitation and came to earth



to enlist mankind in their rebellion. This is the meaning of



"wandering stars." On the metaphor of wild waves, see Isaiah



57:20.







Yehuda 14







*ProefE/teusen (proh-eh-FEE-thev-sehn = he prophesied) de\ (deh



=and) kai\ (keh = also) tou/tois (TOO-tees = to these)



)e/bdomos (EHV-doh-mohs = [the] seventh) )apo\ (ah-POH = from)



)*Ada\m (ah-DAHM = Adam) (*EnO\x (eh-NOHKH = Enoch) le/gOn



(LEH-gohn = saying),





The Book of Enoch is a long work sometimes called I Enoch or



Ethiopic Enoch (because until the Aramaic fragments were found in



the Dead Sea Scrolls we had the work only in Ethiopic translation



except for a Greek version covering only about one third of the



original Aramaic). Chapters 31-71 of I Enoch are not found in the



Qumran manuscript discoveries, suggesting they may have been



written later, that is, C.E. rather than earlier. Much of I Enoch



is so dated by most scholars. As far as Yehuda quoting from it



is concerned, Shliach Sha'ul also quoted from extra-canonical



sources to make his points on occasion. Yehuda's point could



have been made from Zechariah 14:5 or Daniel 7:13-14, but his



readers may have been more familiar with this other work.



Yehuda's quotation from Enoch does not mean that the Brit



Chadasha asserts that the book of Enoch must be inspired or equal



with Scripture or must be included in the canon of the Bible. An



inspired man might well use contemporary ideas which were not



contrary to revelation to make his argument, which is what Yehuda



obviously did in this instance.







Yehuda 14-15







)*Idou\ (ee-DOO = Behold, look!) )E=lQen (EEL-thehn = same)



ku/rios (KEE-ree-ohs = [the] L-rd) )en (en = with) (agi/ais



(ah-GHEE-ehs = holy ones, i.e. angels) muria/sin



(mee-ree-AH-seen = ten thousands) )autou= (ahf-TOO = of him)



poiE=sai (pee-EE-seh = to do) kri/sin (KREE-seen = judgment)



kata\ (kah-TAH = against) pa/ntOn (PAHN-tohn = all [men]) kai\



(keh = and) )ele/gcai (eh-LEHG-kseh = to rebuke or convict)



pa=san(PAHS-ahn = every) yuxE\n (psee-KHEEN = soul, person)



peri\(peh-REE = concerning) pa/ntOn (PAHN-tohn = all) tO=n (tohn



= of the) )e/rgOn (EHR-ghohn = deeds) )asebei=s (ah-seh-VEE-ahs =



ofung-dliness, g-dlessness, impiety) )autOn (ahf-TOHN = of them)



(O=n (ohn = which) )Ese/bEsan (ee-SEH-vee-sahn = they impiously



did, they acted in an ung-dly way) kai\ (keh = and) peri\



(peh-REE = concerning) pa/ntOn (PAHN-tohn = all) tO=n (tohn =



the) sklErO=n (sklee-ROHN = hard, rough, harsh, unpleasant



things) (O=n (ohn = which) )ela/lEsan (eh-LAH-lee-sahn = they



spoke) kat' (kaht = against) )autou= (ahf-too = of Him)



(amartOloi\ (ah-mahr-toh-LEE = sinners) )asebei=s (ah-seh-VEES =



ung-dly).







Look at the very bottom of p.829 in your UBSGNT. See the



cross-reference note for verse 14 showing a reference to Enoch,



chapter 60, verse 8 and also chapter 1, verse 9.



The reference in (agi/ais may be to angels (see also Matthew



25:31; II Thes. 1:7: Dan. 4:13-17), not kadoshim. Those who try



to create two comings for Moshiach, one with the kadoshim (the



pre-tribulation raptured Brit Chadasha kehillah--Rev. 19:11-16;



Yehuda 14-15) and one for the kadoshim (the nation of Israel



after the tribulation--Yochanan 14:3; I Thes. 4:16-18) have a



problem with the meaning of this word which may refer to either



heavenly or earthly beings (see notes on Daniel).







)el/gcai is an infinitive of the verb )ele/gxO (see p.57



dictionary UBSGNT). The infinitive is used to express purpose.



One purpose of the Bias Moshiach (Coming of Moshiach) is to



convict these people and bring them to judgment and proper



punishment for their sins, not the least of which are their harsh



words.







Yehuda 16







(*Ou=toi/ (oo-TEE = these [men]) )eisin (ee-seen = they



are)goggustai/ (ghohng-ee-STEH = habitual grumblers, malcontents)



memyi/moiroi (mehm-PSEE-mee-ree = fault finding,



complaining)kata\ (kah-TAH = according to) ta\s (tahs = the)



)epiQumi/as(eh-pee-thee-MEE-ahs = lusts, strong desires) (eautO=n



(eh-ahf-TOHN = of)poreuo/menoi (poh-rehv-OH-meh-nee = going),



kai\ (keh = and) to\ (toh= the) sto/ma (STOH-mah = mouth))autO=n



(ehf-TOHM = of them) lalei= (lah-LEE- it speaks) (upe/rogka



(ee-PEH-rohng-kah = insolent, pufted up, haughty things)



Qauma/zontes (thahf-MAH-zohn-tehs = admiring, do honor to)



pro/sOra (PROHS-oh-pah = faces p.155) )Ofelei/as (oh-feh-LEE-ahs



= advantage, benefit, gain) xa/rin (KHAH-reen = for the sake of).









The idea here is smouldering discontent which people are afraid



to speak out (I Cor. 10:10). Secrecy is the basic idea. The term



is appropriately applied to heretical leaders who had "secretly"



gained admission to the Brit Chadasha kehillah (verse 4) and then



had insidiously used Brit Chadasha kehillah membership as a



screen for their numerous deeds of ung-dliness (verse 15). These



false teachers had not been excommunicated up till now apparently



because of their adept manner of using stealth and secret



conspiracy. Perhaps they also grumbled about money and that



whatever they received from the Brit Chadasha kehillot was never



enough. See the word misQou= (word #214, "reward") in verse 11.



If so, Yehuda is attacking the covetousness of the false teachers



here and in verse 11. Qauma/zontes pro/sOpa (see word #321) is



an idiom meaning "flattering for the purpose of advantage." An



idiom is an expression like "kick the bucket" which cannot be



understood by taking each of its constituent parts and adding



them up.







These men are shrewd religious politicians, capable of courting



the rich or influential members of the community for the sake of



their own advantage. These boasting false teachers have the



same problem with the sto/ma as the little horn Anti-Moshiach in



Daniel 7:20, which says in the Septuagint sto/ma lalou=n mega/la



("a mouth speaking greatly"). Yochanan says, "It is the last



hour; and as you have heard that Anti-Moshiach is coming, so now



many Anti-moshiachs have come" (I Yochanan 2:18).









Yehuda 17







(*Umei=s (ee-MEES - you p1.) de/ (deh - but)



)agapEtoi/(ah-ghah-pee-TEE = beloved ones), mnE/sQEte



(MNEES-thee-teh = keep in mind) tO=n (tohn = the) (rEma/tOn



(ree-MAH-tohn = words) tO=n (tohn = of the) proeirEme/nOn



(proh-ee-ree-MEN-ohn = previously spoken) (upo\ (ee-POH = by)



tO=n (tohn = the) )aposto/lOn (ah-poh-STOH-lohn = Shluchim) tou=



(too = of the) kuri/ou (kee-REE-oo = of L-rd) (EmO-n (ee-MOHN =



of us, our) )*IEsou= (ee-ee-SOO = Yehoshua) Xristou= (khree-STOO



= of Moshiach) mnE/sQEte is in the imperative mood (review #26



and F). Watch for all the imperatives or commands that Yehuda



will soon be shouting out to the Brit Chadasha kehillah, in view



of the emergency caused by doomed, sexually immoral ministers



infiltrating the L-rd's holy people. Yehuda 21,22, and 23 all



contain commands.







(rE=ma means "word" but it is used of Scripture. prole/gO means



to foretell. Here it is a perfect participle, meaning spoken once



in the past but with on-going effects in the present. If a



participle is modified by an article (see the tO=n in front of



the participle proeirEme/nOn) it is attributive and modifies the



words with the same gender, number and case. (rEma/tOn is



genitive, neutral, plural and proeirEme/nOn is genitive, neutral,



plural. "Be mindful of the words which were previously spoken by



the Shluchim" or "be mindful of the previously spoken words of



the Shluchim." Remember that a participle is a verbal adjective,



and in this case is functioning like an adjective because it



modifies a noun. Yehuda is saying, "Keep in mind the predictions



spoken by the Shluchim." In other words, Yehuda is a hearer of



the Shluchim and so are the people he is writing to. This helps



us date the letter. We are still dealing with the generation that



heard the Besuras Hageulah first-hand from the eye-witnesses of



the resurrection of Moshiach Yehoshua. Yehuda's letter probably



should not be dated any later than the C.E. 60's. Also Yehuda



doesn't say "the words written (Yehuda says "spoken") by the



Shluchim" so it is possible that Yehuda is referring to the



preaching of Shliach Kefa and the oral tradition which was the



equivalent to the Brit Chadasha, before it was written down prior



to the death of the Shluchim. Yehuda does not call himself a



Shliach. At minimum he was an associate of an Shliach, his



brother Ya'akov.





The written condensation of these predictions are in passages



like I Tim. 4:1; II Tim. 3:1-5; Acts 20:29; II Shimon Kefa 3:3.



The Shluchim warned repeatedly that in the last time there would



arise mockers led away by their own carnal lusts.







Yehuda 18







(o/ti (OH-tee = because) )e/legon (EH-leh-ghon = they were



telling) (umi=n (ee-MEEN = you p1.) )*Ep' (ehp = at))esxa/tou



(ehs-KHAH-too = of last) [tou=] (too = of the) xro/nou (KHROH-noo



= time) )e/sontai (EH-sohn-teh = will be) )empai=ktai



(ehm-PEHK-teh = mockers, scoffers) kata\ (kah-TAH = according to)



ta\s (tahs = the) (eautO=n (eh-ahf-TOHN = of themselves)



)epiQumi/as (eh-pee-thee-MEE-ahs = lusts,strong desires)



poreuo/menoi (poh-rehv-OH-men-ee = going) tO=n(tohn = of the)



)asebeiO=n (ah-seh-vee-OHN = of g-dless things).







(e/legon is a customary imperfect, "they used to say (continuous



action in the past). )e/sontai is in the future tense,



focussing on the future occurrence of an action, which for Yehuda



is now the present because he is seeing the fulfillment of the



Moshiach's Shluchim's predictions about mockers and scoffers.



The mocker is the arrogant and g-dless libertine with an



unteachable, proud spirit and a shameless and unbridled libertine



lifestyle. Notice the peculiar word order of )epiQumi/as



)asebeiO=n ("the desires/lusts of ung-dliness"). This is putting



the stress on ung-dliness to show that this is what these mockers



are living for and pursuing, even while they strut around in the



Brit Chadasha kehillot trying to deceive people into thinking



that they are teachers of the religion of Moshiach Yehoshua. As



the half-brother of Moshiach Yehoshua, Yehuda is an emissary of



Moshiach's shlichut and he is a pioneer in a very good position,



from the point of view of history, to know that their religion is



by no means representative of Moshiach Yehoshua! We call this



kind of genitive an objective genitive, since ung-dly conduct is



the object of their desire. Or it could be a subjective



genitive, the lusts belonging to or arising from their



ung-dliness. It could also be a genitive of quality, "ung-dly



desires." Remember that the L-rd himself had predicted the rise



of impostors who would try to lead the faithful into confusion



and error and peril (see Mark 13:5f,21f).







Yehuda 19







Note: the page numbers given refer to the dictionary at the



back of the UBSGNT. Look them up and study the meanings.







(*Ou=toi (oo-TEE = these [men]) )eisin (ee-seen = they are) (oi



(ee = the [ones]) )apodiori/zones (ah-poh-dee-oh-REE-zohn-tehs =



setting up divisions), yuxikoi/ (psee-khee-KEE = natural,



worldly [minded] p.201), pneu=ma (PNEHV-mah = Ruach Hakodesh)



mE\ (mee = not) )e/xontes (EH-khohn-tehs = having).







(*ou=toi is repeated in Yehuda 10, 12, and 16. Notice that their



secret immorality has a divisive effect on the community,



splitting it into rival cliques or factions. Gal. 5:20 calls



"party spirit" a work of the flesh. It's possible that they



classify themselves as super-spiritual and that they view more



"straight-laced" folk as unspiritual, but Yehuda is saying that



just the reverse is true. The immoral people lack the Ruach



Hakodesh and therefore refuse to pay the price of kedusha in the



fields of Messianic witness and attendant suffering.



Everywhere Rav Sha'ul went he faced the peril of physical



violence and danger with one purpose, to leave new ministries



behind (see I Thes. 2:19; Gal. 4:19). Furthermore, he instructed



us to imitate him (I Cor. 11:1). Giving birth to Benjamin cost



Rachel her life, but whoever tries to keep his life rather than



lose it in labor for souls is in danger of worldly-minded



unspiritual sterility like the immoral men Yehuda is opposing.



Yehuda 20







(umei=s (ee-MEES - you p1.) de/ (deh = but),



)agapEtoi/(ah-ghah-pee-TEE = beloved ones p1.), )epoikodomou=ntes



(eh-pee-koh-doh-MOON-tehs = building up) (eautou\s (eh-ahf-TOOS =



yourselves) tE|= (tee = in the) (agiOta/tE| (ah-ghee-oh-TAH-tee =



most holy) (umO=n (ee-MOHN = of you p1., your p1.) pi/stei



(PEE-stee = faith, the body of doctrinic emunah of the shluchim



of Moshiach), )en (en = in) pneu/mati (PNEHV-mah-tae = Ruach)



(agi/O| (ah-GHEE-oh = [the] Holy Hakodesh) proseuxo/menoi



(proh-sehf-KHOH-men-ee = praying, davening),







Yehuda is talking to the Brit Chadasha kehillah as if it were a



building or a Beis Hamikdash, which it is (I Cor.3:16). A school



is important if it builds us up in the emunah of the doctrine of



the Moshiach's Shluchim (see p.143 in UBSGNT dictionary for this



word pi/stei, word #372). Why do we build ourselves up? In order



to pour ourselves out witnessing and starting new ministries! In



order to sustain oneself in the ministry over the long haul, one



needs to be able to build oneself up in the Moshiach's doctrine



(a task requiring some understanding of Greek, Hebrew, Brit



Chadasha Introduction, Tanakh Introduction, Religious History and



Historical Theology and Yeshiva Studies). pi/stei does not mean



our most holy subjective trust in G-d that Yehuda is talking



about here, but G-d's most holy objective body of doctrinal faith



with which we must be able to deeply nourish ourselves in order



to do the work of the L-rd. It is this and only this which



Artists For Israel Institute is setting out to systematically



present to the student. What is this "most holy body of faith" in



the Greek? In the Hebrew? In the Brit Chadasha? In the Tanakh?



How has it been lost and rediscovered and effectively propagated



in 2,000 years of Religious History? Where are traces of this



faith found in Rabbinic Literature, making a bridge to witness to



religious Jews? Our objective is to help students acquire the



tools to grasp this body of faith and to hang onto it to the end



and use their talents to launch into ministry where this body of



faith can then be shared for the birthing and building up of



others.







Notice it says, "Build yourselves up in your (p1.) most holy



faith." The Bible does not really belong to the world, only to



the regenerated. The Bible says that even what the world thinks



it has, it will lose (Luke 19:26). Eph. 6:18; Rom. 8:26-27; I



Cor. 14:l5 and this verse would tend to indicate that praying in



tongues is important in coming against dangerous false teachers.



It was not a coincidence that Shliach Kefa spoke in tongues



before he preached to Moshiach-rejecting false teachers in the



Beis Hamikdash area on Shavuos.







Yehuda 21







(eautou\s (eh-ahf-TOOS = yourselves) )en (en = in)



)aga/pE|(ah-GHAH-pee = [the] love, ahavah) Qeou= (theh-OO- of



G-d) tErE/sate (tee-REE-sah-teh = keep, preserve) prosdexo/menoi



(prohs-deh-KHOH-men-ee = awaiting, expecting) to\ (toh = the)



)e/leos (EH-leh-ohs = mercy) tou= (too = of the)



kuri/ou(kee-REE-oo - of L-rd) ) (EmO=n (ee-MOHM = of us, our)



)*IEsou= (ee-ee-SOO = Yehoshua) Xristou= (khree-STOO = Moshiach)



)eis (ees = unto) zOE\n (zoh-EEN = life, Chayyei) )aiO/nion



(eh-OH-nee-ohn = eternal, Olam).







Keep yourselves in G-d's love for you by not backsliding into



sensuality and greed with the false teachers and sexually immoral



ministers. We are to keep our conscience clear and stay



clear-headed and self-controlled. Then we can confidently await



the mercy of the L-rd, which will be multiplied to us (Yehuda



v.2). These false teachers have forfeited a priceless thing in



exchange for their sensual and materialistic and monetary



pleasures: the mercy of G-d.



Yehuda 22







kai\ (keh = and) (ou\s (oos = some) me\n (men = on the one



hand))elea=te (eh-leh-AH-teh = have mercy)



diakrinome/nous(dee-ah-kree-noh-MEN-oos = debating with oneself,



wavering, being of two minds),







Those who seem to be wavering under the spell of these false



teachers need to be shown mercy so they can be seized out of the



fire. If they've grown confused or disillusioned or cynical



because of these ministers who have been unmasked, or if they've



almost bought into their false antinomian "Good News", mercy



needs to be extended to them to give them an opportunity to stop



wavering and make a firm decision to follow the true holy Besuras



Hageulah.







Yehuda 23







(ou\s (oos = some) de\ (deh = on the other hand) sO|/zete



(SOH-zeh-teh = save) )ek (ek = out of) puro\s (pee-ROHS = fire)



(arpa/zontes (ahr-PAH-zohn-tehs = seizing), (ou\s (oos = some)



de\ (deh = on the other hand) )elea=te (eh-leh-AH-teh = have



mercy) )en (en = with) fo/bO| (FOH-boh = fear) misou=ntes



(mee-SOOM-tehs = hating) kai\ (keh = and) to\n (tohn = the)



)apo\ (ah-POH = from) tE=s (tees = of the) sarko\s (sahr-KOHS



=flesh, corrupt human nature) )espilOme/non (ehs-pee-loh-MEN-ohn



=having been stained/defiled) xitO=na (khee-TOH-nah =



undergarment, inner garment next to the body).







Some can be snatched from Gehinnom-fire like a brand plucked from



the burning(see Amos 4:1; Zech.3:2). Others must be approached



with fo/bO| (fear, word #408), lest you yourself be infected by



them. Corrupting immorality is contagious, even with fellow



believers of the opposite sex, even with those you are trying to



witness to. This is why a certain clinical, scrubbed down,



germ-free approach is needed in the warfare of outreach. Don't do



it alone, don't do it with people who tempt you or who could be



tempted by you, and avoid even the appearance of evil with the



achim b'Moshiach. Hate even the appearance of a stain on your



character or your good name, as far as the old unregenerate filth



is concerned. This is how you keep yourself in G-d's ahavah, for



without kedusha (holiness) no one will see G-d.









Yehuda 24







*TO|= (toh = to the [one]) de\ (deh = but)



duvame/nO|(dee-nah-MEN-oh = being able) fula/cai (fee-LAHX-eh =



to guard)(uma=s (ee-MAHS = you p1.) )aptai/stous (ahp-TEH-stoos =



withoutstumbling) kai\ (keh = and) stE=sai (STEE-seh = to set)



katenO/pion (kah-teh-NOH-pee-ahn = [you pl.] before) tE=s (tees =



of the) do/cEs (DOHX-ees = glory, kavod) )autou= (ahf-TOO = of



Him) )amO/mous (ah-MOH-moos = unblemished, without defect) )en



(en = with) )agallia/sei (ah-ghahl-lee-AH-see= exultation),



G-d is able to preserve you from ruin at the Judgment. This is



the doctrine of the perseverance of the kadoshim (I Cor. 1:8; I



Thes. 5:23). Also I Yochanan 5:18 is relevant here, which should



be translated, "We know that those who are born of G-d do not sin



(customary present tense "usually or customarily do not sin"). We



can trust in G-d's keeping power. See Yehuda 1 "the ones having



been kept by Moshiach Yehoshua Moshiach." G-d's glory will be



manifest at the end (Isaiah 40:5) and G-d will set us in the



presence of his glory with lev same'ach and also unblemished



(just as Moshiach Yehoshua was a lamb without blemish I Shimon



Kefa 1:19--that is, when we see him we shall be like him).





Yehuda 25





mo/nO| (MOH-noh = to [the] only) QeO|= (theh-OH = G-d) sOtE=ri



(soh-TEE-ree = Saviour, Moshi'a) (EmO=n (ee-MOHN = of us, our)



dia\ (dee-AH = through) )*IEsou= (ee-ee-SOO = Yehoshua)



Xristou=(khree-STOO = of Moshiach) tou= (too = of the) kuri/ou



(kee-REE-oo = of L-rd) (EmO=n (ee-MOHH = of us, our) do/ca



(DOHX-ah = glory, effulgent radiance) megalOsu/nE



(meh-ghah-loh-SEE-nee = greatness, majesty) kra/tos (KRAH-tohs



=dominion, might) kai\ (keh = and) )ecousi/a (ehx-oo-SEE-ah



=authority, power to rule) pro\ (proh = before) panto\s



(pahn-TOHS = all) tou= (too = of the) )aiO=nos (eh-OH-nohs = age,



time) kai\ (keh = and) nu=n (neen = now [this is Modern Greek



pronunciation, upsilon gets an "ee" sound]) kai\ (keh = and) )eis



(ees = unto) pa/ntas (PAHN-tahs = all) tou\s (toos = the)



)aiO=nas (eh-OH-nahs = ages, for ever), )amE/n (ah-MEEN = Amen).







No matter how religious you are, if you miss the only G-d, you



are g-dless. kra/tos is the absolute power of G-d which insures



his ultimate victory. If we truly believe in this aspect of G-d,



we will be fearless, even in the face of an increasingly



apostate, immoral rabble calling itself the Brit Chadasha



kehillah and in the face of a violent, heartless, anti-Moshiach



world. )ecousi/a is the sovereign power and right that G-d enjoys



as creator. It is also what, when we received Moshiach Yehoshua



(Yochanan 1:12), he has given us: the power and right to become



his yeladim.







Yehuda VERBS







1:3 plEQunQei/E, 3rd sg. aor. pass. opt. plEQu/nO, "to grow,



increase, multiply";







1:3 )e/sxon 1st sg. aar. act.Indic. )e/xO "to have" (aor.



received);







1:4 pareise/dusan 3rd p1. 2 aor. act. indic. pareisdu/nO, "to



slip in stealthily, sneak in";







1:5 bou/lomai 1st sg. pres. mid. dep. indic. bou/lomai, "to



wish, want, desire"; )apO/lesen 3rd. sg. aor. act.



indic. )apo/llumi "to ruin,destroy,lose";







1:6 tetE/rEken 3rd. sg. perf. act. indic. tEre/O "to keep,



guard";







1:7 pro/keintai 3rd. pl. pres. mid. dep. indic. pro/keimai "to



set before, be exposed to public view";







1:8 miai/nousin 3rd. p1. pres. act. indic. miai/nO, "to stain,



defile;" )aQetou=sin 3rd. p1. pres.act. indic.



)asQete/O, "to reject, do not recognize"; blasfEmou=sin



3rd. p1. pres. act. indic. blasfEme/O "to blaspheme, revile,



defame";







1:9 diele/geto 3rd. sg. impf. mid. dep.indic. diale/gomai, "to



discuss, converse"; )eto/lmEsen 3rd.sg. aor.act.indic.



tolma/O "to dare, presume"; )ei=pen 3rd. sg, aor. act.



indic. le/gO, "to say, tell"; epitimE/sai 3rd.sg. aor. act. opt.



)epitima/O "to rebuke, reprove, censure";







1:10 )oi/dasin 3rd p1. perf. act. indic. )oi=da, "to know";



blasfEmou=sin (see 1:8); )epi/stantai 3rd.p1. pres.



pass. dep. indic. epi/stamai, "to know"; fQei/rontai



3rd.p1. pres. pass. indic. fQei/rO, "to ruin, destroy";











1:11 )eporeu/QEsan 3rd. p1. aor. pass.dep. indic. poreu/omai, "to



go, proceed"; )ecexu/QEsan 3rd p1. aor. pass. indic.



)ekxe/O pass. to give up, abandon oneself; )apO/lonto,



3rd. p1. aor. mid. indic. )apo/llumi (see 1:5);







1:12 )eisin 3rd. p1. pres. act. indic. )eimi "I



am"







1:13 tetE/rEtai 3rd. sg. perf. pass. indic. tEre/O (see 1:6);



1:14 proefE/teusen 3rd sg. aor. indic. profEteu/O "to prophesy;"



)E=lQen sg. aor. act. indic. )e/rxomai "to come,



appear"











1:15 )Ese/bEsan 3rd p1. aor. act. indic. asebe/O "to live in an



ung-dly way" )ela/lEsan 3rd. p1. aor. act. indic. lale/O "to



speak;"







1:16 )eisin (see 1:12); lalei= 3rd sg. pres. act. indic. lale/O



"to speak, say, tell;"







1:17 mnE/sQEte 2nd p1. aor. pass. imper. mimvE|/skO "to



remember;"







1:18 )e/legon 3rd p1. impf. act. indic. le/gO (see 1:9);



)e/sontai 3rd.p1. fut. mid. dep. indic. )eimi (see 1:12);







1:19 )eisin (see 1:12)







1:21 tErE/sate 2nd.p1. aor. act. imper. tEre/O (see 1:6);



1:22 )elea=te 2nd p1. pres. act. imper. )elea/O "have mercy on;"







1:23 sO|/zete 2nd p1. pres. act. imper. sO|/zO "to save;"



)elea/O (see 1:22)









BIBLIOGRAPHY







United Bible Society Greek NT, Fourth Revised Edition, 1993.



Wesley S. Perschbacher, Refresh Your Greek: Practical Helps For



Reading the NT, Moody Press, 1989.







Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the



Greek NT, Second Edition, United Bible Societies, 1994.







Barbara and Timothy Friberg, Analytical Greek NT,Baker Book



House, 1981.







Cullen Story and J. Lyle Story, Greek To Me, Harper and Row,



1979. Fritz Rienecker/Cleon Rogers, Linguistic Key to the Greek



NT, Zondervan, 1982.







William 0. MacDonald, Greek Enchiridion: A Concise Handbook of



Grammar for Translation and Exegesis, Hendrickson Publishers,



1986.







The New Greek-English Interlinear NT, Translators Robert K.Brown



and Philip W. Comfort, Tyndale House Publishers, 1990.







Max Zerwick and Mary Grosvenor, A Grammatical Analysis of the



Greek NT, Biblical Institute Press, 1981.







Gary Hill, The Discovery Bible: New American Standard NT, Moody



Press, 1977.







Kurt and Barbara Aland, The Text of the NT, Eerdmans, 1987.



Clayton Harrop, History of the NT in Plain Language, Word, 1984.







Philip W. Comfort, Early Manuscripts And Modern Translations of



the NT, Tyndale House Publishers, 1990.







W. Harold Mare, Mastering New Teatament Greek, Baker Book



House,1975.







Bauer, Gingrich, and Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the NT,



University of Chicago Press, 1979.







The Englishman's Greek Concordance of the NT, Zondervan



Publishing House, 1970.







Alfred Schmoller, Pocket Concordance to the Greek NT, GBS, 1989.



Alfred Rahlf:, editor, Septuaginta, 1979.



































































FOUR: BRIT CHADASHA























THE BESURAS HAGEULAH ACCORDING TO MATTITYAHU











Liberals try to destroy the historical validity of the Besuras



Hageulah by asserting these documents were written by the second



and third generations of followers of our Moshiach rather than



eye-witnesses and first generation authors, even Moshiach's



Shluchim. They assert that Mattityahu didn't write Matthew,



Yochanan didn't write Yochanan, and Markos and Lukas were second



or third generation or even anonymous authors. In other words,the



Besuras Hageulah is based on late and unauthorized hear-say



tales, not eye-witnessed accounts, and, according to this view,



written 60 years or more after Moshiach Yehoshua died. And this



later Brit Chadasha kehillah, when it wrote the Brit Chadasha



Scriptures, acted like a ventriloquist, throwing its voice into



Moshiach Yehoshua, making him say all kinds of things he never



really said. This is what these liberals believe. They throw out



whatever they want, and try to find the true Moshiach Yehoshua of



history, but when they find him he looks suspiciously like



themselves, an ethical humanist, or a figure lower than



themselves, i.e an erroneous dead prophet who thought that the



world was coming to an end in his life-time, etc. These liberals



say that anyone with an open mind who follows their scholarly



approach will reach the same conclusion. What they forget is that



the mind is not open and the heart is desperately wicked, who can



know it? And unless you receive the Ruach Hakodesh of G-d you



cannot know either G-d or G-d's mind, nor can you understand



words taught by the Ruach Hakodesh--that is, spiritual words



explaining spiritual things (I Cor. 2:13f). A worldly person



cannot understand or judge spiritual matters correctly.







Of course there are Brit Chadasha Scriptures scholars who refute



liberalism and reconstruct the data differently. They show that



Moshiach Yehoshua died in C.E. 30 but only 30 years later,



Shliach Kefa, Luke, Shliach Sha'ul, and Mark are shown to be in



Rome (Col. 4:10, 14; I Pt. 5:13), and apparently they were all



writing away, with eye-witnessed materials and records in their



hands. Furthermore, as we shall see, when you're reading Mark,



you're really reading Shliach Kefa, because Mark basically has



arranged Shliach Kefa's sermons into an ordered form. That's why



Mattityahu and Luke use Mark's writing. Mattityahu and Luke want



to preach Shliach Kefa's Besuras Hageulah. Yochanan does not use



Shliach Kefa's material because it's already been used three



times. But Shliach Kefa was not the only one in the empty tomb.



Yochanan was with him (read Yochanan 20:1-9). So in the four



Besuras Hageulahs you have an exhaustive witness of both Yochanan



and Shliach Kefa, to say nothing of the Shliach Mattityahu and



all the eye-witnesses Luke was able to talk to when he was in



Judaea with Shliach Sha'ul in C.E. 57.











Liberals have their own religion, be it humanism, existentialism,



communism, etc, and they use Biblical G-d-talk to preach their



own message. Liberals preach another Moshiach Yehoshua, but we



preach the coming Son of Man, the Son of the living G-d, known



personally by Shliach Kefa and Yochanan and seen by them alive



from the dead and coming apocalyptically with his kingdom (Mat.



16:28-17:8).







We know when Moshiach Yehoshua lived, from about 6/5 B.C.E. to



30 C.E., preaching roughly 26 C.E. (tevilah) - 30 C.E.



(hanged on the Aitz). His historical existence is confirmed in



the writings of Pliny, Tacitus, Suetonius, Lucian, Josephus, and



other historians and written of antiquity. Those who say that



Moshiach Yehoshua is a mythical character who never existed are



ignoramuses on the order of someone saying that Julius Caesar or



Napoleon never existed.







We know the kind of world Moshiach Yehoshua lived in. Antiochus



Epiphanes, the Syrian-Greek, desecrated G-d's holy Beis Hamikdash



and the Maccabee brothers defeated him in 165 B.C.E., recapturing



the city of Jerusalem, and rededicating the Beis Hamikdash,



setting up an independent state until Pompey conquered Israel and



Roman rule began in 63 B.C.E. This was the beginning of the end



for Israel, because in 70 C.E. the Jerusalem Beis Hamikdash and



the Zealot insurrectionists holding it were destroyed, and in 135



C.E. another Jewish revolt against Rome ended with the final



razing of Jerusalem. Actually, the Jewish revolts are dated C.E.



66, 116, and 132-5.







Before we study the Besuras Hageulah, we need to look at a very



important quote written by a leader in the L-rd's work born



around 100 years after Moshiach Yehoshua rose from the dead:



Irenaeus, who flourished around C.E. 175-195. This man, who



preached the doctrine of the millennium, resided in what is today



France. As a youth, in Smyrna in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), his



teacher had been Polycarp, who may have been the last survivor



who had talked with the eyewitnesses of Moshiach Yehoshua and



surely had a firsthand knowledge of the Besuras Hageulah and its



inspired authors, being himself a disciple of the Shliach



Yochanan.







Since Irenaeus had been Polycarp's student, a certain weight of



credibility should be affixed to this quote, found in Irenaeus'



work known popularly as Against Heresies, Book III, I.1. He wrote



that Mattityahu also issued a written Besuras Hageulah among the



Hebrews in their own dialect, while Shliach Kefa and Shliach



Sha'ul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundation of the



Brit Chadasha kehillah. After their departure, Markos, the



disciple and interpreter of Shliach Kefa, did also hand down to



us in writing what had been preached by Shliach Kefa. Lukas,



also, the co-worker companion of Shliach Sha'ul, recorded in a



book the Besuras Hageulah preached by him. Afterwards, Yochanan,



the disciple of the L-rd, who had leaned upon his breast, did



indeed publish a Besuras Hageulah during his residence at Ephesus



in Asia. This is the solemn testimony of Irenaeus.







Mark was written after that Antiochus Epiphanes redivivus figure,



Caligula, had almost put his image or statue up in the Beis



Hamikdash area in C.E. 40. That's why Mark writes, "But when ye



shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the



prophet, standing where it ought not (let him that readeth



understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the



mountains" (Mark 13:14). If Matthew had written Matthew 22:7



(compare Luke 14:21,24) after 70 C.E., shouldn't we expect the



same "(let the reader understand)"? Since Moshiach Yehoshua was a



real navi and really predicted things that came true later, no



"after-the-fact" spurious prophecies were needed (called



prophecies ex eventu, a contradiction in terms). In his writing,



Matthew does not exploit the destruction of Jerusalem; neither



does Luke. Both Matthew and Luke seem almost unaware of it and



do not at all capitalize on the significance of this epochal



event for their Gentile readers. The burden of proof is on those



who assert that Moshiach Yehoshua could not have predicted Luke



21:20,24 or 19:43-44.







Because Ignatius of Antioch in his letter (written before 107) is



the earliest witness to Mattityahu's Besuras Hageulah, many



scholars believe Matthew wrote from Antioch or somewhere else in



Syria like Damascus. Matthew is writing to convince the



Greek-speaking Jewish people in the diaspora synagogues that



Moshiach Yehoshua is the promised Jewish Moshiach. But Matthew is



also speaking on behalf of the G-d-fearing Gentiles of the world



and, for that reason, he uses the word ethnos (non-Jewish or



Gentile, that is, foreign or pagan tribe) more than any other



Besuras Hageulah writer. This also would speak well for a



possible Syrian origin of this Besuras Hageulah, since the Brit



Chadasha kehillah at Antioch had Greek-speaking Jews and a great



burden to go to the Gentiles throughout the world (see Acts



11:19-22; 13:1). However, Mattityahu's Besuras Hageulah could



have been written in Israel, as well. The author is familiar with



Jerusalem and writes from that vantage point (see Matt.27:8;



28:15).







Certainly Luke's Besuras Hageulah was written before the book of



Acts (see Acts 1:1). Among other reasons, since Acts has a



surprisingly absolute lack of notice or interest that Jerusalem



has been destroyed, Luke/Acts seems likely to have been written



before C.E. 70. If Rav Sha'ul's trial has not taken piece yet at



the end of Acts, then Acts should be dated around C.E. 63, Luke's



Besuras Hageulah dated before that, and Mark's Besuras Hageulah



dated before Luke (since Luke uses Mark). These are all factors



that must be taken into consideration in deciding the date of



Matthew. However, there is, of course, another possibility: both



Luke and Matthew, as men who knew Mark personally, may have used



Mark's own unpublished material which only later, and with



additions, was published as the Besuras Hageulah of Mark during



the early 60's when Shliach Sha'ul, Mark, and Luke were all in



Rome together (see Col. 4:10; Philemon 24; I Shimon Kefa 5:13;



Col. 4:14; II Tim. 4:11).







It is also possible that Matthew wrote the so-called "Q material"



which Papias of Hierapolis in modern Turkey (quoted by Eusebius



the fourth century C.E. Brit Chadasha kehillah historian), may be



referring to when he says (probably around C.E. 110), "Matthew



compiled the logia (sayings) in the Hebrew (Aramaic?) dialect,



and each one translated/interpreted them as he was able." If



this is true, we see that Luke was dependent on both Matthew and



Mark for his Besuras Hageulah. If Matthew's Besuras Hageulah had



also been in Luke's hands, and if Luke/Acts had been written



before C.E. 63, then Matthew must have been written before C.E.



63, and Mark still earlier. This is as close to the date of



Matthew as we can firmly conclude.







Mattityahu, like the three other inerrant versions of the Besuras



Hageulah, is not mere biography because its interest is



kerygmatic (kerygma is a Greek word meaning "proclamation" or



"preaching" as well as "what is preached"). Matthew is sermon



material stitched together to tell a story. Since Matthew and



Luke are apparently dependent on Mark's words, and since much of



Mark's words are Shliach Kefa's sermon material and Shliach



Kefa's anointed words (the "rock" of Matthew 16:15-18), it



becomes obvious that the Besuras Hageulah Gospels contain



preaching that is intended to be ingested by the reader and then



not merely read but preached. Mat. 9:9 and 10:3 mention Matthew,



as if to signal his humility in acknowledging his own part of the



authorship (see also Matthew 13:52).







The Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5-7) gives us a taste of



Moshiach's Torah or law/teaching (I Cor. 9:21), for Moshiach



Yehoshua is presented apologetically to Jews as the New Moses



(see Isaiah 49:9; Matthew 12:1-8; 9:16-17). The Moshiach's law



is so stringent only the regenerate, repentant, law-abiding, true



disciples can follow his Torah in this wicked and adulterous



world. The lawless, false disciples cannot keep Moshiach's



Torah. These "scribes-and-pharisees kind of false talmidim and



maggidim" filling up the Brit Chadasha kehillah will be separated



at the final judgment (7:21-23; 13:36-43; 25:31-46). A rebuke to



them is found in chs. 23-25; this is not a mere external polemic



against outsiders in the synagogues and in the Jerusalem Beis



Hamikdash; this is also focussing on those within the Brit



Chadasha kehillot who love their reverential titles, offices,



power and perogatives, and who, in time of distress are "in love



with this present world," and desert the poor, persecuted, true



brethren of the Israel of G-d (II Tim. 4:10). They are the



lawless ones, the false disciples and false maggidim, without the



oil of the Ruach Hakodesh issuing in the kind of obedience that



keeps their torches lit and their light of sanctification and



holiness shining (25:8; 5:14-16).











At the time Matthew is writing (see above), the early Messianic



community has been in existence long enough to have had its share



of those cunning, opportunistic "organization men" who lack the



courageous zeal in witnessing of the charter members and have



settled down to try to assert political control over what was



once a revival movement and to shun the poor, itinerant, homeless



emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut as unwanted rivals. Possibly



for this reason, there is a great emphasis in Matthew's Besuras



Hageulah on the need to be on one's guard against the swelling



pride of the religious leaders (16:6) and to keep close to the



dangerous Aitz of persecution and lowly, compassionate sacrifice



and bold, open, proclamation (10:27). Only so armed can believers



avoid the pitfall of a worldly, false profession (24:37-44).



In Matthew's Besuras Hageulah the above ideas are exemplified by



two gates, two ways, two types of trees, two kinds of foundation,



two breeds of followers, the moral and the immoral. Entrance



into the Kingdom is obtained in the end only by those who have



the kind of faith that issues in exacting, overflowing



righteousness (5:20). The "crowds" want no part of this way to



righteousness. Only a few obtain this road. The vast majority



want the easy life if they can somehow find it in a religion that



pays lip-service to Moshiach Yehoshua (7:22) but avoids his hard,



restricting commands that prohibit sinful pleasures and produce



fearless preaching and persecution.







The pseudo-prophets want the limelight and the chief seats and



the flashy attention of the external show of their charismatic



activity (7:22), but they do not want to pay the private price of



doing and being a life of exacting holiness and purity. The



foundation of their ministries is wrong. They fail to base their



whole existence on the rock of the Torah of the Moshiach, and on



the true faith that obeys his sayings. Gehinnom awaits these



foolish maggidim of Moshiach Yehoshua (7:23), which is really



another "Moshiach Yehoshua", for the true Moshiach Yehoshua



disowns their Besuras Hageulah with its evil, antinomian ways and



wicked fruit (7:20). If they do not repent, these are bound for



Gehinnom, because they are guilty of faithlessly disobeying the



Moshiach's Torah given in Matthew chapters 5-7. Study the word



anomia (lawlessness), a key word regarding religious sin in



Matthew 7:23; 13:41; 23:28; 24:12.







Matthew tells believers how to recognize false prophets by their



eschatology. If they have immoral behavior they are false



prophets (7:13-23). If they preach anything other than an



imminent parousia they are false prophets(24:23-25:13). The word



tameion in Matthew 24:26 means a room without windows in the



interior of the house; that is, a hidden or even secret storage



room or private, secret chamber (the word is used that way in I



Clement 50), where one could pray in secret or in hiding as in



Mat. 6:6 or Isaiah 26:20 in the Septuagint. See Luke 12:3 where



the word must mean private room. Anyone who says, in spite of



Mat. 24:26, that the Moshiach will come secretly needs to bring



his doctrine into line with the Greek Brit Chadasha Scriptures



(see also Rev. 1:7). The public and open, non-secret aspect of



the Second Coming is taught in Luke 17:23-24; 21:26-28, 35 and



the doctrine of a private or secret, non-public parousia is



condemned as well in II Thes. 2:l-8. From Zechariah 14:5 and



Luke 17:37 we may surmise that the"corpse" in Matthew 24:28 is



Jerusalem (certainly Jerusalem was a corpse in 586 B.C.E.end even



leter, after Matthew wrote, in C.E. 70--see Luke 19:43-44; 21:32)



and the"vultures" are the angels and raptured saints with the Son



of Man at the Second Coming. The vultures signify divine



judgment (see 16:27). Those who insist on separating the rapture



of the saints and the Second Coming so that they become two



different events with a considerable time interval between them



have to grapple withthe fact that the word episunago "to gather



together" is used in Matt. 24:31; Mark 13:27; II Thes. 2:l and



appears to be a technical expression for the rapture as even



Dispensationalists admit (see Ryrie Study Bible note on II Thes.



2:1), just as parousia is a technical expression for the Second



Coming. But these two expected events, the "gathering together"



and the parousia, are seen as one and the same event in both II



Thes. 2:1 and Matt. 24:27-31. We must make our teaching line up



with the Greek Brit Chadasha Scriptures, not with some human



tradition of Dispensationalism taught as doctrine.







Mt. 16:16-19 views Shliach Kefa's anointed words as



representative of the Brit Chadasha kehillah's kerygma and



doctrine and shows, using rabbinic technical terms, by what



criteria conduct is permitted or prohibited (asur) by means of



shunning from fellowship or restoring to communion. If someone



in your congregation claims to be a believer in the L-rd but is a



fornicator or sexually unclean or guilty of any unrepentant



wickedness condemned by Scripture, you also share his guilt if



you do not obey Mat. 18:15-20, which speaks the same message as



Mat. 16:16-19; I Cor. 5:4-5, 9-13; Gal. 5:19-21 and II Thes.



3:14. Mat. 7:1-5 has to do with interpersonal judgmental



attitudes, not Brit Chadasha kehillah discipline of idlers and



fornicating hypocrites.







The word pornea in Matthew 19:9 generally means sexual



immorality, but in certain instances it may refer specifically to



incest (Acts 15:20), as in the sins of Lev. 18. The rabbis



called this kind of incestuous Lev. 18 forbidden marriage zehnut



which means prostitution in the sense of an illicit union. In



Mat.19:9 we see the Pharisees trying to tempt Moshiach Yehoshua



by making him take sides in the debate among the rabbis of two



schools regarding the correct interpretation of two words in



Deuteronomy 24:1: ervat davar, "something indecent" or "a matter



of nakedness." Moses granted grounds for divorce for the man



(not the woman) if the husband found "something indecent" in his



wife. According to Moses, all the husband had to do was give her



a bill of divorcement and she could then remarry if she chose,



which she had little choice but to do, because a single woman



living independently was practically an impossibility in the



society and culture of the day. Of course, the teaching of



Moshiach Yehoshua is more exacting on this point, and women



without families were in some cases cared for by the congregation



in the early days of the Brit Chadasha kehillah.







In the days of Moshiach Yehoshua the marriage laws of Deuteronomy



22:13-30 were strictly interpreted and a husbend had to divorce



an adulterous wife or a woman guilty of infidelity during the



engagement period (in which case immorality/deception in entering



the union would annul the marriage--Mat. 1:19; Deu 22:13-21).



The law provided no loop-hole for her to be forgiven as Hosea



graciously forgave his wife. However, Matthew 19:9 is translated,



"Any husband who sends his spouse away--the reason of fornication



being left out of account or excepted--and marries another woman



commits adultery (against the first woman)." This is the



exceptive clause: "except for porneia (sexual immorality,



unchastity, unlawful sexual intercourse)." The exception has a



purpose in a society governed by Torah. The man who follows the



Torah is being protected from going through life with a second



marriage but under the stigma of being called an adulterer



against his first wife, when in fact he was forced by the Torah



to put the first of two wives away. Yosef would have been



excepted by Mat. 19:9 from being an adulterer if he had in fact



found Miryam to be an immoral fiancee (Mat. 1:19) and if in fact



he had thereafter remarried subsequent to the annulment of the



first marriage. (An engagement in that day had the binding force



of a marriage and had to be broken by divorce.) Having said all



this to point out the ramifications of the Matthew 19:9 exceptive



clause, it should be added that this verse shows the higher moral



demands of Brit Chadasha Torah/teaching and destroys any



loop-hole lawless believers might try to use to contract serial



marriages under the screen of justifiable divorces, thus masking



lechery with legalism. Another exception is abandonment,



according to I Cor.7:15.











The Greek word matheteuo is very important in Mt. 28:19-20. It



means "make a disciple of, teach." "Go (a command to shlichut



and kiruv outreach), therefore, make learners with a teacher



(that's what a talmid is), make them talmidim of mine, all the



ethnic peoples, giving them a tevilah of teshuva in ha-Shem of



HaAv and HaBen and HaRuach HaKodesh, instructing them that they



must keep all the commandments that you have received from me.



And, look, surely I am with you always, to the Kets of the Olam



Hazeh."







How can you obey this command if you are not regularly sharing



and/or teaching with countable inquirers? How can you obey Mt.



28:19-20 if you are not attempting to bring these people to take



the required immersion and be incorporated into the shared life



of a community of believers? It is not hearers of the Word who



are true disciples, but doers of the Word (7:24).



Mat. 23:39; 24:32 make important points about the relationship



between eschatology and Jewish outreach.







Prayerlessness opens one to temptation, whereas watchfulness in



prayer guards against this very danger. See Mat. 24:42-44;



25:1-13 26:38-41. Moshiach Yehoshua lived in this real world.



Moshiach Yehoshua preached a message about heaven and the Kingdom



of heaven/G-d (Mat. 10:7). And the message he preached was rooted



in the message of the prophets, which is this: As surely as there



was an Abraham, as surely as there was a Moses and an Exodus, as



surely as there was a Joshua and a conquest of Israel, as surely



as there was a David and his coming Messianic Davidic Throne



imminently present in Moshiach Yehoshua and his words and deeds



and in his resurrection and ascension, so just as surely there



will be a Day of the L-rd, when the world will come to an end.



The Day of the L-rd is a day of massacre, darkness, tears, and



woe, when G-d's burning fury would fall on sinners and when the



righteous remnant will be saved. This day came near when



prophesied invading armies actually did come and destroy the Beis



Hamikdash and Jerusalem, as they did In 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E.



The fact that prophets were able to predict such an "imminent"



Day of the L-rd as these should convince people that the prophets



know what they're talking about when they prophesy the Day of the



L-rd and the end of the world. Certainly Yochanan of the Tevilah



of Teshuva and Moshiach Yehoshua saw the armies of Rome coming to



burn and destroy Jerusalem at least 40 years before they arrived.



Amos was one of the first prophets to preach about the Day of the



L-rd. He preached (Amos 5:20): "Will not the Day of the L-rd be



darkness, not light, totally dark, without a ray of light?" But



then Amos proclaims the Day of the L-rd in terms of the Moshiach



(Amos 9:11): "On that Day, I shall rebuild the tottering hut of



David, make good the gaps in it, restore its ruins and rebuild it



as it was in the days of old." In Matthew 24:3 we find Moshiach



Yehoshua's disciples, alert to these kinds of Scriptures,



quizzing Moshiach Yehoshua like this: "And while he was sitting



on the Mount of Olives the disciples came and asked him when they



were by themselves, 'Tell us, when is this going to happen, and



what sign will there be of your coming and of the end of the



world?" Then, in the discourse that followed, Moshiach Yehoshua



predicted the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and the



subsequent destruction of the world (allowing for enough of a



delay in the parousia for the Good News to be proclaimed



throughout the world Mat. 24:14).







The doctrine of the resurrection of the body is found in the



Psalms and in Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:2. Moshiach Yehoshua



even saw this doctrine in the book of Jonah and pointed to this



book to clarify the relationship between the doctrine of the



resurrection and his own ministry. Regarding this, in Mt. 16:1-4



he faulted wicked mankind for its evil and willful refusal to use



G-d given inductive powers of reasoning to gather from all the



available data the correct meaning or conclusion.







Both David and Malachi called the Moshiach "L-rd." When Malachi



3:1 says "the L-rd" whom you seek will suddenly come to His Beis



Hamikdash, he uses the same Hebrew word HaAdon, (the L-rd) as



Zechariah does when he says "the L-rd of all the earth"



(Zechariah 4:14). In Mt. 16:16 Shliach Kefa identifies



Moshiach Yehoshua as the person referred to in Mal. 3:l-4 (see



Mark 1:2; Mat. 1:16).







Yochanan of the Tevilah of Teshuva was an antiestablishment



preacher who infuriated the "religious establishment watchdog"



Pharisees because Yochanan turned the Moshiach's coming wrath



against them and undercut their confidence in being saved by



virtue of their self-righteous boast in being religious and



Jewish. There is no privilege before G-d by virtue of natural



birth in being Jewish (Mt. 3:9), because both Jew and non-Jew are



born under the power of sin (Rom. 3:9; Ps. 51:5), and G-d is no



respector of persons (Acts 10:34).







At the time of Moshiach Yehoshua's ministry, Pontius Pilate had



just started his tour of duty as prefect (26 C.E.) in Jerusalem.



He was the Roman governor of Judea, Samaria, and Idumaea. In the



northern town of Tiberias on Lake Galilee, Herod Antipas, (a



Roman vassal) ruled over Galilee and the trans-Jordan area. His



half-brother Philip (whose wife he had taken) ruled from the



extreme north of Israel in Caesarea-Philippi. The Roman



government acknowledged the legitimacy of these Herods (sons by



different women of Herod the Great), though they ruled as



subordinate leaders or tetrarchs. This is why Pilate sent



Moshiach Yehoshua before the Roman "puppet" king Herod Antipas



for judgment. Mobs could be hired, and the chief kohanim had



obviously hired people of little Jewish religion to cry out for



the death of a fellow Jew on a holy day. The chief kohanim were



Sadducees who did not believe in the supernatural and saw



Moshiach Yehoshua as an aspiring political claimant hailed as



"Ben Dovid" (and heir to the throne) when he entered Jerusalem



and then came (without their authorization!) and began taking



authority over the Beis Hamikdash, an act which they also saw as



political, necessitating Moshiach Yehoshua's death, since a



popular uprising in favor of making Moshiach Yehoshua King would



be suicidal, bringing down the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash



and Jerusalem by the Roman Empire. The act of driving the money



changers out of the Beis Hamikdash seems to have been a carefully



calculated move on the part of Moshiach Yehoshua. It challenged



the authority of the chief kohen with a higher authority which



they tried unsuccessfully to dethrone by putting him to death.



But the quick work of the chief kohanim against Moshiach Yehoshua



avoided a full hearing before the Sanhedrin (Jewish supreme



court). Instead a technically illegal "emergency" meeting, not in



the Beis Hamikdash chamber in the daytime but in the Kohen



Gadol's home at night, was hurriedly called, and a mob



subservient to the chief kohanim harrassed Pilate until he gave



in and allowed the hanging on the Aitz to placate the mob and the



chief kohanim. All of the above throws light on the way to



interpret Mat. 27:25 in light of Josh. 2:19, since it is the



kohen's mob and not all the people speaking.







The Hagbahah (Lifting up) of Moshiach took place Yom Shishi, ca.



April 7, 30 C.E. He was pierced and hanged (Devarim 21:23;



Isaiah 53:5) about midday and was dead before dusk. He arose in



the early morning light on Yom Rishon morning (Sifrat Haomer of



Bikkurim, 16 Nisan), ca. April 9, 30 C.E., the Jews reckoning any



part of a day as a whole day, making Yom Shishi, Shabbos and Yom



Rishon three days from the death to Moshiach's Techiyas HaMesim,



Moshiach's Tish and Betrayal being Thursday night. Note also this



chronology: Rav Sha'ul becomes a believer and an eye-witness of



the Moshiach's Techiyas HaMesim just a very few years later.



Like Ya'akov, he was an unbeliever until the resurrection



appearance.







Finally, before we read the Besuras Hageulah of Mattityahu, let's



look at the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14: "Behold a virgin (HA'ALMA,



the Virgin)." In the Hebrew Bible this word is never used of a



married woman, but always used of a sexually mature unmarried



maiden with virginity assumed and even demanded, since an almah



who was not a virgin would appear to be bearing an illegitimate



child since an almah was by definition unmarried. Such a



deflowered young unmarried woman in Israel would not be called an



almah but either a bad woman (a prostitute) or a pitiful victim



of rape or a deceiving fornicating fiancee to be stoned because



she entered into a marriage without proofs of virginity...and in



Deuteronomy chapter 22, the word almah is not used even once when



discussing women of this sort (unmarried women whose virginity is



destroyed by rape or immorality). The amazing way of a man with



a maid (almah) in Proverbs 30:19 has to do with the mystery of



sexual attraction. Certainly, no one can prove sexual purity is



implicitly excluded in the case of this Proverbs 30:19 almah. No



king would want a mere unmarried woman whose sexual purity had



been given to another man; therefore the word must be translated



"virgins" in Song of Songs 6:8 where it is given in the plural.



After the almah slept with the king she was no longer an almah



but a concubine or a queen (see the separate harem quarters for



virgin: and concubines in Esther 2:13-14.) In Hebrew there is a



technical word for the proofs of virginity B'TULIM (the blood



stained garment of the marriage night) and a related technical



word for the virgin B'TULAH, who at the same time may or may not



be married (i.e. legally belong to a man she has not as yet slept



with). But almah is the only word for an unmarried woman with



sexual purity or virginity assumed. (See Edward Young's The Book



of Isaiah, Vol 1 p.286f, Eerdmans, 1965). Mt. 1:23 quotes Isa.



7:14,"Look, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth



a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being



interpreted is, G-d with us."







Now this virgin from Galilee seems related to the tribe of Levi



on her mother's side (see Luke 1:5,36), but on her father's side



it seems certain that she was from the tribe of Judah and the



lineage of David. This is the sense of Romans 1:3 "who as to his



human nature was a descendent of David," II Timothy 2:8



"descended from David," and Hebrews 7:14 "it is clear that our



L-rd descended from Judah." As Edersheim has pointed out, kohanim



normally either married daughters of kohanim or nobility, so



Miryam's family on her father's side may shortly before have held



higher rank (presumedly royal kinship in the line of David). See



on this Edersheim's The Life and Times p. 149. Luke 2:5 seems to



indicate that Miryam too was of the house of David and was



probably required to enroll. In any case Yosef, a descendent of



the house of David, married Miryam and named the child, thus



taking it as his own and thereby legally conferring on it all the



Davidic hereditary rights. The legal right to the throne came



through the father and depended on whether the father reoognized



the child as his son, which Yosef did by naming him--see



Babylonian Talmud Baba Bathra 130a on Deuteronomy 21:16. Also,



see Ignatius' Epistle to the Ephesians," Miryam of the seed of



David." If "Heli" is Miryam's father (Luke 3:23) and if "Jacob"



is Yosef's father (Matt. 1:16), then Moshiach Yehoshua descended



naturally through the former and legally through the latter (see



Gleason Archer, Encyclopedia of Biblical Difficulties, p. 316)



and this would account for the alleged discrepancies between



Luke's and Mattityahu's genealogies. Incidently, genealogy was



not left to guesswork in pious Jewish families. An accurate



genealogical family tree was transmitted generation to generation



over hundreds of years by religious Jews, particularly those



related to the tribes of Judah and Levi, where kehunnah



(priesthood) rights and throne rights were involved. These



records were kept in Jerusalem. Both Luke and Matthew had the



opportunity to inquire into these records.







The Jewish gematria for the name David spells the numerical



equivalent of 14 in 1:17. You can see the play on words in the



Hebrew of "Nazareth" and "Nazorean" in 2:23 (compare Netzaret to



Natzri).







Some of the texts in Matthew that tell us that Matthew was



convinced (as were many others) that Yehoshua was divine are



1:23; 2:11; 7:22; 12:8; 14:33; 28:17-19. Notice the texts that



create major division markers in this Besuras Hageulah (see7:28;



11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1).







Note 10:22. From the time of the death of Shliach Kefa under



Nero in Rome the mere profession of the name of Moshiach, apart



from any other charges could lead to a martyr's death.







A clue to effective street preaching is found in 13:34 and in the



brilliant use of parables in the open-air preaching of Moshiach



Yehoshua. They forced the audience to reflect on what he was



saying and yet parables removed a basis for an argument as far as



hostile listeners were concerned. Parables can be very short:



see Mt. 13:33. Though not necessarily, they can be allegorical:



see Mt. 13:36-43. They sometimes state their point as a moral of



the story: see 20:16. Sometimes a type of human character is set



forth as a warning or an exemplar (see 7:24-27). Sometimes we are



told how G-d works or governs or sees human response (see



13:18-30). Parables generally have a challenge in them, even to



the opponents in the audience. Using Mt. 13:33 as a model, write



a short parable with no more than 50 words that is suitable for



street preaching. For example, "The new birth is like the



metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a pupa to a Monarch



butterfly. Old things have passed away. Look, all things have



become new." Mattityahu's Gospel is very Jewish. In 15:2 he



refers to nitilat yadayim "washing (lit. lifting) of the hands,"



a human precept taught as doctrine by the Pharisees. If Mark



9:37 gives us any clue as to who the "least of these" is in Matt.



25:45, it must mean "all people" (see Gal. 6:10).







A major theme of Mattityahu's Besuras Hageulah is that G-d



expects people to recognize His power and to trust Him, that He



cares about them. Without this kind of faith it is impossible to



please G-d (Heb. 11:6). See 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8. Acceptance



of the Good News entails an Aitz of self-denying discipleship



where in the old g-dless life is freely yielded up to destruction



by the believer (see 10:38).





Along with many of the insights above, Robert Gundry in his



commentary on Matthew (Eerdmans, 1982) shows that the important



question to which the whole book intends to bring its readership



to an affirmative answer is Mt. 12:23, "Can this be Ben Dovid,



the Son of David (i.e. the Jewish Moshiach)? For Matthew's



argument proving the answer to this question is "yes," see



9:27;12:23; 15:22; 21:9; 21:15 and all the quotations from the



Jewish Bible sprinkled throughout Mattityahu's Besuras Hageulah.

















THE BESURAS HAGEULAH ACCORDING TO MARKOS

















Whereas Mattityahu slanted his Besuras Hageulah to make it



especially appealing to Jewish people (presenting Yehoshua as the



royal Jewish Moshiach), Markos (Mark) is obviously talking to a



non-Jewish audience unfamiliar with Mark's own Jewish religious



background (see 7:3-4; 14:12; 15:42).







Mark wrote his Besuras Hageulah and published it in its final



form probably not much later than the Neronian persecution in



Rome in C.E. 64-65,and possibly much earlier, perhaps as early as



C.E. 55. Mark 13:14 (also II Thes. 2:3-12) seems to have Caligula



in recent memory. This mad Roman Caesar commanded his statue to



be set up in the Jerusalem Beis Hamikdash in C.E. 40, but was



assassinated before the order was carried out. All this happened



around 10 years after Moshiach Yehoshua concluded his ministry in



Israel around C.E. 30. Undoubtedly the writing of this Besuras



Hageulah is one of the things that prompted Shliach Sha'ul to say



of Mark, "He is helpful to me in my ministry" (II Tim. 4:11).



Certainly Mark's authorship of this Besuras Hageulah helps to



account for the frequent mention of Mark's name in the rest of



the Brit Chadasha Scriptures, since without such authorship his



importance in the early Brit Chadasha kehillah would not be



easily explained.







There is a possibility (though the evidence is divided) that the



fleeing young man in Mark 14:51-52 is Mark himself, humbly not



mentioning his own name along with the eleven Shluchim. If so,



then Mark was an eye witness of the events in Gethsemane. We do



know that Mark could have been because the disciples used as a



meeting place "the house of Miryam the mother of Yochanan Mark"



(Acts 12:12), and there is a tradition that the Last Supper was



celebrated there (close by Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives--see



Mark 14:26).







It is also possible that the reason Mark went on the first



emissary journey of Moshiach's shlichut (C.E. 46-48) may have



been because he possessed an early version of his Besuras



Hageulah or was an eye-witness of some of the key incidents he



writes about in his Besuras Hageulah, and that Luke, with a



working draft of his Besuras Hageulah, in effect took Mark's



place in Rav Sha'ul's team of emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut.



Mark dropped out from Rav Sha'ul's mission team around C.E. 46



and Luke came onboard with Shliach Sha'ul around C.E. 50 (Acts



16:10). It appears that both Matthew and Luke used Mark in



writing their Besuras Hageulah. If one asks why there is more



than one Besuras Hageulah in the Brit Chadasha, one reason is



that everything must be established as true by two or three



witnesses (Deut. 19:15). Behind each Besuras Hageulah stands a



different Shliach of Moshiach, Kefa behind Markos, Sha'ul behind



Lukas, Yochanan behind Yochanan, and Mattityahu behind Mattityah,



all eye-witnesses of the Moshiach's Techiyas HaMesim.







Mark's Besuras Hageulah seems to be slanted from Shliach Kefa's



point of view, giving Shliach Kefa's direct eye witness account



(see 1:40; 3:5; 5:4-6) such as only a maggid and navi like



Shliach Kefa could have provided. Also, significant portion of



the narrative is structured around Shliach Kefa's personal



testimony, which shows that under pressure of persecution (such



as in the Neronian persecution, perhaps) a disciple might deny



the L-rd and still be forgiven later, since fear is not the



unforgivable sin. Some scholars believe the events of Nero's



persecution of the Brit Chadasha kehillah may have helped to



shape the emphasis of Mark's material as it was finally published



around the time of Nero's persecution (64 C.E.) A crisis



occurred in Rome in the reign of Nero. Shliach Kefa and others



died al kiddush ha-Shem. (Compare Matthean and Lucan parallels to



Mark 10:30 and you will see that this Besuras Hageulah alone adds



the words "with persecutions"). Denying oneself and taking up the



Moshiach's Aitz was no metaphor but an all-consuming reality, "no



strange thing" but "like Master, like disciple." And just as the



Moshiach's death made the deity of the Moshiach apparent to the



Roman centurion at the Aitz (Mark 15:39), so too the brave, even



joyful (Ya'akov 1:2) suffering of believers made their holy



election manifest to many (Phil. 1:28). Our testimony is not



only in words; it may be in a martyr's deeds. Mark's Besuras



Hageulah preaches that in view of the imminent tribulation



overtaking the Moshiach and his people, the Son of Man must



suffer and so also must his kedoshim.







As William Lane has shown in his New International Commentary on



Mark (Eerdmans, 1974), a point of climax to the first half of



Mark's Besuras Hageulah is reached at Caesarea Philippi with the



confession of Shliach Kefa that Yehoshua is the Moshiach (see



8:29). Mark's aim is to get the reader/listener to make the same



recognition as Shliach Kefa and the Roman centurion at the Aitz



(15:39). Because Nero made the followers of our Moshiach his



scapegoats for setting fire to Rome, the Followers of our



Moshiach were subjected to the Moshiach's temptations "with the



wild beasts" (1:12-13) in the gladiatorial arena and found



themselves being betrayed to the authorities by many "Judases"



(3:19). The believers in Rome carried the same Aitz with the



Moshiach of being misrepresented and falsely labelled (3:21-30).



Mark's Besuras Hageulah shows how the Aitz of persecution sifts



the true believers from the pseudo-believers and apostates and



betrayers (4:17-23), since following Moshiach may cost a disciple



all that he possesses, even his life (10:17-30).







Notice how Moshiach Yehoshua's own disciples flee in 14:41-52,



66-72 and Shliach Kefa denies the L-rd as well. The message to



the Romans who had fled to save their lives was that, if they



repented, G-d would forgive the cowardly and give them another



chance to make their confession, if need be with their own blood



in martyrdom. The Roman persecution becomes a paradigm for the



"great tribulation" existential situation of the believer who



must confess Moshiach Yehoshua openly in a dangerous, evil



anti-Moshiach world. For the believer is promised "persecutions"



(10:30) as the response of the world to his witness to Moshiach



Yehoshua. Yet the believer is commanded to make a radical



abandonment of life in this world as his response to the Besuras



Hageulah (8:34-38).







Shliach Kefa says, "Whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased



from sin" (I Shimon Kefa 4:1)and Mark says similarly of the



believer's sacrifice for the L-rd in the midst of persecution and



trial, "everyone will be salted by fire" (9:49-50). Apparently,



the reason for the writing of Mark's Besuras Hageulah was both to



preserve the witness of Shliach Kefa after his death and also to



sustain "tribulation saints" exposed to Messianic sufferings and



martyrdom (see 8:36; 10:29-31,39; 13:9,13).



Just as Mattityahu emphasizes that Moshiach is Adoneinu (see how



Moshiach Yehoshua is born as the fulfilment of the Immanuel or



G-d-with-us prophecy in the first chapter of Matthew and then has



all authority in heaven and earth in the last chapter), so this



same Moshiach Adoneinu theme is preached in Mark. The authority



of G-d is seen in Moshiach Yehoshua in the way he commands demons



to be quiet, the storm at sea to be still, disease to be healed,



the ocean surface to hold his weight, loaves and fishes to



multiply, blind eyes to see, deaf ears to hear, a fig tree to



wither, and his own body to be anointed for burial--all with the



divine grace that only G-d in human form could manifest.







At this time there were mystery religions and various sects with



"in-the-know" initiates interested in secret religious knowledge,



divination or fortunetelling, exorcism, magic, demon-wonhip, and



other occult practices. Mark's Besuras Hageulah appeals to the



curiosity of such an audience with a bigger divine mystery,



namely the identity of the Moshiach, an undisclosed yet open



secret which only the redeemed are privy to (8:18; 1:25,34; 3:12;



8:30; 1:43-45; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26; 9:9). Mark's Besuras Hageulah



constitutes one long charismatic power encounter where Moshiach



Yehoshua and those he authorizes (3:15; 6:7) totally storm



Satan's kingdom (1:13; 3:26-27) and strike a lethal blow for G-d



and for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see the true



identity of Moshiach Yehoshua as the Son of G-d. (Note Mark 15:39



is not "Truly this man was a Son of G-d" but "the Son of G-d"



because predicate nouns that are definite nevertheless often lack



the definite article "the" when they precede the verb.) Also, the



title Bar Nosh Son of Man could mean both the Messianic figure in



Dn. 7:13-14 or a circumlocution for the first person singular



pronoun "I." Therefore, this added to the enigmatic aspect of



some of the L-rd's sayings in Mark, since it is only in the Son



of Man sayings after Mark 8:38 that the messianic secret" is



clearly revealed in Mark's Besuras Hageulah that Y'shua is the



Dn. 7:13 apocalyptic Judge appointed by the Father (see Mark



13:26).







This Besuras Hageulah shows the impotence of mere ritualistic



religion to remove the defilement of the unregenerate nature (see



7:1-23) and contains teaching which calls for total war against



one's sinful nature, a summons to nothing short of "a suicide of



the flesh" as far as the cowardly, selfish, proud, unregenerate



nature is concerned (see 9:42-50 where the salt that was used in



the preparation of some sacrifices is used to point to the



self-sacrifice in the face of persecution necessary to preserve



new life and kingdom holiness). The old evil nature must be



nailed to death in order that the new life in G-d can arise (Mark



8:35).







The importance of children's ministry is underlined in 10:13-16.



People in the Messianic community have the disciples' tendency to



hinder children's work, treating children as somehow less



important than adults. Moshiach Yehoshua, on the other hand,



sees them as closer to the kingdom and is all the more on the



alert that they not be lost. Any new congregation that has no



vision or time for children is itself immature.







The Romans were accustomed to authoritarian models for their



leadership,but Mark uses a story about the disciples (10:35-45)



to show that gentle servanthood is the better way. This message



is needed in many cultures today where leaders tend to assert



themselves with a high hand both in and out of a religious



situation.







A key idea in Mark is the reprehensibility of unbelief. Even the



demons believe (and shutter) that in Moshiach Yehoshua G-d is



powerfully among them, yet the religious authorities were



"delighted" (14:11) to hear that Moshiach Yehoshua could be



betrayed into their hands so that they could reassert their own



religious authority by killing him. Here we see a more-than-



demonic reprehensibility in unregenerate religious man" and we



understand why G-d's fury burns forever in hellish reprisal



against those in government or religion who assert their own



authority against G-d and defiantly refuse, even in the face of



overwhelming evidence, to believe that Yehoshua is the Ben



HaElohim.







Those involved in the deliverance of the demonized should study



the Besuras Hageulah of Mark and pray so that they will be able



to drive out evil spirits (see 9:17-29). Demons are angels who



have left their place of integrity, their proper domain in



heaven, and have placed themselves under the rule of the prince



of the demonic spirits (Matt. 12:24), Hasatan. Hasatan opposes



the work of the Moshiach by sending demons into people who for



their part open themselves to the rule of the Devil and become



demonized. In this Besuras Hageulah, Hasatan is using people to



make a last-ditch stand against the manifest in-breaking of the



Messianic Kingdom; however, those who are delivered from evil



spirits by the L-rd enter into the Kingdom with spiritual



violence (see Luke 16:16; Mt 11:12).







In the Besuras Hageulah, we see Hasatan try to annul Moshiach's



ministry by his temptations in the wilderness, the region where



demons prowled (Dt. 32:l7). After three unsuccessful



attempts, Hasatan then waits for an "opportune moment" (Luke



4:13) and sifts Shliach Kefa (Luke 22:31) and tries to tempt



Moshiach Yehoshua again, using Shliach Kefa (Matt. 16:23).



Finally Hasatan finds the opportunity he is looking for in the



person of Judas (Luke 22:3; Yochanan 6:70; 13:2). Hasatan puts



things into people's hearts, but we are not ignorant of his



devices and are alerted by a word of knowledge (Luke 22:21) or



other gifts of the Spirit. Satan can hinder us, however. He can



snatch the word(Luke 8:12) from the hearts of those who don't



belong to the L-rd, those who are ensnared by the Devil (II Tim.



2:25-26) because they don't resist his wiles (Eph. 6:11; 4:27; I



Shimon Kefa 5:8-9) or stand firm against his schemes (Eph.6:11).



A demoniac is a person controlled by demonic powers. When the



demonic spirits are cast out at the authority of the name of



Moshiach Yehoshua, this proves that the Satanic dominion will be



destroyed and is already in principle defeated (Luke 10:18;



11:20; Yochanan 12:31) and is being conquered by the Kingdom of



G-d.







An exorcism is a healing miracle (Luke 9:42). People are to be



delivered of the demonic and to be restored to their right mind



(Mark 5:15) and these signs are to accompany the preaching of the



Besuras Hageulah (Mark 16:17,20) because authority to do



exorcisms is granted to the preachers of the Besuras Hageulah



(Matt. 10:1;Mark 6:7). A person who wants to be delivered, who



wants to resist Satan, and who makes full use of the means of



grace to stay delivered is released from demonic powers by the



anointing of the Ruach Hakodesh (Matt. 12:28).







The exorcist sometimes feels tremendous heat in his hands when he



lays them on the head of the demoniac. This is the anointing of



the Ruach Hakodesh. The demons sometimes manifest by a terrible



odor and also rigidity in the person's body and other phenomena,



including assuming the voice of the demoniac.







When the demon manifested in Acts 16:18, Shliach Sha'ul addressed



the demon in these words, "I command you, in the name of Moshiach



Yehoshua, to come out of her." When Moshiach Yehoshua demands to



know the demon's name (Mark 5:9), he is exposing its essence, the



essential character of its nature, in order to take authority



over that area of the demoniac's life that the demon is



dominating. Is it a lying demon? A deceiving demon? A demon



generating false doctrine (I Tim. 4:1)? How has its essential



character become a Satanic stronghold in the demoniac? Unless



the cleansed demoniac becomes fully occupied with the Lord's



authority and means of grace (see for example Acts 2:42), the



person may actually fall into greater demonic bondage later



(Matt.12:43-45).







Now let us look at the tevilah of teshuva in the Besuras Hageulah



of Mark. The Jewish people practiced self-immersion in



ritual-baths when a man or woman had become ritually defiled as



after a nocturnal emission, a menstrual period, handling a



corpse, etc. The water became a kind of living metaphor of



purification, and all proselytes to Judaism were required to



enter the mikveh. When the navi Yochanan (Yochanan of the tevilah



of teshuva) appeared in the wilderness announcing the dawn of



universal Brit Chadasha Apocalyptic Messianic [i.e. Orthodox]



Judaism, all Israelites were commanded to make teshuva and



prepare to receive the Moshiach, the Moshiach of Israel. Many of



the proud P'rushim (Pharisees) and Tz'dukim (Sadducees) and



soferim (scribes, rabbis) refused to heed the prophet's warning,



and so excluded themselves from becoming proselytes to Brit



Chadasha Judaism. They lacked the circumcision of the Ruach



Hakodesh, the Spirit of the G-d of Israel, and were heathen at



heart because they refused to repent and obey the Word of the



L-rd.







In the beginning Shliach Kefa could only preach the raw glorious



facts of what the Shluchim "had seen with their eyes and touched



with their hands" (I Yochanan 1:1). The so-called Logos



Christology of Yochanan, though equally primitive and true, did



not form the main subject of Shliach Kefa's preaching as it has



been recorded for us in Mark and in Acts. Nevertheless, it is



true that the Torah of G-d is His Wisdom (chochmah) that was at



His Side in the beginning (Prov. 8:30 and 30:4). The Torah



demanded death for those who go their own way and refuse to



repent and go G-d's way. Then the Torah enfleshed himself as the



Moshiach, the Moshiach Yehoshua, and the Wisdom of G-d dwelled



among us (Mt. 12:42; Yochanan 1:14). The Word of G-d who demanded



the justice of death for evil-doers mercifully offered his own



death for our sins (I Cor. 1:23-24,30) in order that we might



repent and let him write himself into our hearts (Jer. 31:31-34;



Rev. 3:20). However, the Moshiach warns, "Unless you repent, you



shall all alike perish" (Luke 13:3,5). So true saving faith turns



from evil to G-d (I Thes. 1:9) and involves repentance.







The first proof of our repentant obedience through faith is that



we obey the L-rd by taking the tevilah of Brit Chadasha Biblical



Judaism in the name of Elohim HaAv (Isa. 63:16), and his living



Torah, the Moshiach (his Wisdom, the Ben HaElohim--Prov. 30:4),



as well as the Spirit of the Holy One, praised be He. The



prophet Yochanan immersed Jewish people as a witness to their



repentance. The Shluchim did likewise, using Moshiach's tevilah



as a witness that the new believers had turned from going their



own way and were now going to steadfastly and faithfufly follow



the L-rd in his Seder, the Brit Chadasha chavurah (table



fellowship), the Brit Chadasha torah (teaching) of the Shluchim,



and the corporate prayers (tefillos). (See Acts 2:42).







Is. 53:3 says that the Moshiach would be despised, lowest of men,



one for whom the people would have no regard. Ps. 22:6-7 says



that the people would sneer at him and scorn him, jeer him as a



worm, not a man. Some said that no good thing could come from



Nazareth (Yochanan 1:46) and that no prophet comes out of the



Galilee (Yochanan 7:52).







The unusual circumstances of Yehoshua'a virgin birth is alluded



to in Mark 6:3. To be born of a woman who got pregnant and had



her baby in less time than she was actually married to a man



looked like an illegitimate birth. The Pharisees seem to throw



this up at Moshiach Yehoshua in Yochanan 8:41 as though the



scandal of it had followed him from Nazareth to Jerusalem, "We



are not illegitimate children." Also see Yochanan 9:29, "As for



this fellow, we don't even know where he comes from." He was



known pejoratively as "the son of Miryam" (Mark 6:3). It was



contrary to Jewish accepted custom to call a man the son of his



mother, even when she was a widow. Jephthah was mockingly known



as the son of a prostitute (Jdg. 11:1). So Moshiach Yehoshua was



insulted as a mamzer (illegitimate child).







His legal father was poor, a humble workman. His mother was a



virgin from Galilee. No Jewish person would tend to get excited



about someone with those lowly credentials. Thus Is. 53:2-3 was



fulfilled.







Mark 15:47 shows that two Miryams, Moshiach Yehoshua's mother and



Miryam Magdalene, saw the tomb where Moshiach Yehoshua was laid,



the tomb that was soon to be empty. There was no confusion



regarding where the tomb was. Since women's testimony was not



valued in Jewish culture at this time, it is obvious that this



fact was not invented. If invention had been resorted to, male



witnesses would have been claimed.







At the end of this Besuras Hageulah, the women see the empty tomb



and have it explained by an angelic interpreter. The women do



not tell the authorities but, as we learn from Luke's research,



they instead tell the disciples who listened to the words of the



women but considered them an "idle tale" (leros Luke 24:11).



However, Yochanan tells us that Shliach Kefa and apparently



Yochanan himself ran to the tomb to confirm what the women were



saying. Shortly afterwards, the L-rd appeared to both Shliach



Kefa and Yochanan.







To summarize, it is possible that the fleeing naked boy in Mark



14:51-52 is Mark himself. Mark was not one of the 12 but he seems



to have been in their company from a very early period, and



Mark's Mother's home was used by the disciples as the meeting



place of the Jerusalem congregation (see Acts 12:12-17). If Mark



were 15 years old when Moshiach Yehoshua was arrested, he would



be 31 in C.E. 46 when he went with Shliach Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba



on the first leg of the first journey of Moshiach's shlichut, and



Mark would have been in his late forties when Shliach Kefa



mentions him at the end of I Shliach Kefa. Mark seems to be a



precocious child who was fortunate to be, from his earliest



years, in the very best company, knowing all the Shluchim and the



L-rd's brothers and Shliach Kefa, Shliach



Sha'ul, Luke, Timothy and most, if not all, of the other



principle people in the Brit Chadasha Jewish Scriptures. G-d



chose him to be Shliach Kefa's secretary, and to be a kiruv



outreach worker and a navi, and to make sure that Shliach Kefa's



Besuras Hageulah was properly recorded in writing. Certainly he



had an unusual anointing and a very privileged life experience to



fulfill his ministry, as Shliach Sha'ul later admitted (II Tim.



4:11). His failure during the first journey of Moshiach's



shlichut did not keep him from later acquitting his ministry in a



wonderful way.







On Yochanan Mark see Acts 12:25; 13:5,13; 15:37,39; Col. 4:10;



Philem. 24; II Tim. 4:11; I Shimon Kefa 5:13.







Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21) were famous believers known by



the original hearers of Mark's Besuras Hageulah. These two men



were famous because their very own father had actually helped



Moshiach Yehoshua carry his Aitz. (see also Rom. 16:13).



Moshiach Yehoshua was probably denied by Shliach Kefa around 3



A.M., but that Moshiach Yehoshua forgave him is implied by Mark



16:7. The night was divided into 9 P.M., 12 P.M. 3 A.M. (this was



called "cockcrow"--see 13:35) and 6 A.M (dawn).







We sing the Shema because of Mark 12:29.







MARK 13:13







And you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who



endures to the end will be saved.



















THE BESURAS HAGEULAH ACCORDING TO LUKAS



















By the grace of G-d, Lukas (Luke) may have been the greatest



emissary of Moshiach's shlichut, physician and kiruv outreach



minister of all time (as well as one of the greatest literary



artists and most important historians who ever lived). Some



scholars are now dating Luke's Besuras Hageulah earlier than once



thought--that is, before Rav Sha'ul's second imprisonment,



possibly even years earlier in the unpublished version used on



Moshiach's shlichut travels. Acts could have been written as



early as C.E. 63 (see notes on Acts), and the Besuras Hageulah of



Luke would have been written before Acts. Reliable tradition



says that Luke was a medical man from Antioch in Syria, where



Shliach Sha'ul began his first Moshiach's shlichut journey. Luke



went with Shliach Sha'ul and Silas at least from Troas to



Philippi (Acts 16:10-12) and rejoined Shliach Sha'ul later to



accompany him to Jerusalem (via Troas and Miletus), and to



witness Rav Sha'ul's imprisonment in Caesarea and Rome. It is



not improbable that Luke as we know it was fully written in the



early 60's and that Luke-Acts was published as early as C.E. 63,



only 33 years after the resurrection of Moshiach Yehoshua. As



Rav Sha'ul's co-worker in ministry as early as C.E. 50, Luke



probably had access to interview Miryam (see 2:19), Shliach Kefa,



Yochanan, Ya'akov the brother of the L-rd, Philip (the kiruv



outreach minister and one of the "seven") and many other early



disciples and eye-witnesses of the ministry of Moshiach Yehoshua,



eye-witnesses of the Resurrection, and eye-witnesses of the



events of Pentecost and thereafter. Since Titus is not mentioned



in Acts 20:4, it is possible that this reflects Luke's modesty



and that Titus is Luke's brother.







In the Besuras Hageulah of Luke we see a very human Moshiach



Yehoshua, capable of surprise, compassion, friendship, and love



of children. Here indeed with great vividness we see the people



(look at little Zacchaeus in 19:10), the press of the crowds, the



miracles, the rush of events, the long-awaited revival of the end



of the age. Here an anointed historian is apparently giving us



the fruit of actual interviews with eye-witnesses whose stories



he carefully recorded in polished, eloquent Greek.







And since Luke is not born Jewish, a key theme of undoubted



personal meaning to Luke is G-d's love for the outcast and the



idea of unworthiness (17:10; 18:9-14) and humility (3:8; 14:7-11;



17:10; 15:19; 18:9,14,17) with the balancing theme of praise (as



opposed to ingratitude--17:11-19) and joy to be made worthy to



join such a great host of Messianic witnesses. See 2:32 and



4:25-27; 7:9; 17:18 on the faith spreading beyond the boundaries



of Israel into the Gentiles. Or see 7:36-50 where the repentant



town prostitute is forgiven, but the cool, cunning, judgmental



religious prude Shimon is left out in the cold. Luke's model of



humility is Moshiach Yehoshua. Look at 8:56. What a divine



humility! Only G-d Himself could be humble enough to quench His



own praise to protect His own death on the Aitz!







Luke's primary motivation for watchful prayer is to intercede



that the unworthy "Shliach Kefa" within all of us won't be put to



the acid test (22:40,60-62) where apostasy leads to perdition.



In this case, one look from the L-rd is all it takes to know that



we are all unworthy servants. The prophetess Anna is a positive



model of watchful prayer, without which she might have missed



what was happening in the Spirit around her and would not have



been alert to witness the dedication of the baby Moshiach



Yehoshua in the Beis Hamikdash (2:36-38).







Those who say they don't see any place in the Bible where poverty



is a noble thing have not read Luke's account of the sacrifice of



the poor (2:24) and Yehoshua's foster father Yosef, a poor king's



son (a direct descendent of King Dovid, insuring that Moshiach



Yehoshua would be considered the same by Yosef's adopting him).



In Luke's Besuras Hageulah we see that only prophets and demons



knew who Moshiach Yehoshua really was, although even in childhood



a clue is given in the fact that when Moshiach Yehoshua



disappears he is discovered again "after three days" (Luke 2:46)



alive in Jerusalem. In 3:3 Yochanan of the tevilah of teshuva is



pictured as a prophet. Prophets are interpreters of G-d's



intentions. A real preacher must have this gift or otherwise he



is just a religious lecturer. Today spiritual leaders, rather



than full-time outreach ministers, generally are the ones who do



Yochanan's tevilah of teshuva ministry because a tevilah requires



a certain amount of pre- and post-tevilah instruction. Good



overseas Brit Chadasha kehillah-planting workers have follow-up



ministers in their teams whom they put together in classes with



the new believers so that local congregations with their own



spiritual leaders naturally spin off from itinerant outreach



campaigns.







Because 4:24 is true, the people in one's ministry team should be



alerted that they are appreciated and highly esteemed.







Dr. Luke studied Yehoshua's healing methods and so should we by



carefully reading and re-reading this Besuras Hageulah. Some



people are offended by Luke's picture of the Moshiach, saying



Luke depicts him as a "healing G-d on two feet"--but Moshiach



Yehoshua is the healing Word of G-d walking among us (Psalm



107:20; Yochanan 1:14).







Because Luke was himself an emissary of Moshiach's shlichut, we



should especially look at Luke 10, where Moshiach Yehoshua sends



out the seventy (seventy-two in some manuscripts). These



disciples had a mission to fulfill--do we? Luke 10:3 says that



the L-rd sent them. An emissary of Moshiach's shlichut is someone



whom the L-rd sends on His mission. Notice he sends them two by



two, not one by one (10:1). Who is your partner-in-mission to



give your testimony of what G-d has done for you binding



attestation on the journeys where G-d sends you? Look at 10:4. No



extensive fund-raising mandate is given and no vast sums need to



be stored up in order to set out. G-d himself is going to supply



on the way without begging or hoarding. Ch. 10:5 speaks of the



peace with G-d that comes with the knowledge of salvation from



eternal torment. This peace is a gift to be received and it comes



back to the one who gives it. How do we overcome Satan and live



in this peace? By continually giving the word of our testimony



in the holiness that comes with being under the blood of the Lamb



(Rev. 12:11). Notice, if there are those who want to walk in



this peace with you ("a son of peace"), you, if you are called to



be an itinerant emissary of Moshiach's shlichut, are to stay in



their house (10:7) and let it become G-d's house and your base of



operations, without flitting around in a double-minded way.



Because you eat or drink whatever they give you (10:7) their



hospitality is a provision of G-d. Do you tend to refuse the



kindness of others? Do you tend to be dissatisfied with what you



receive? Ch. 10:8 was a warning against seeking excessive



reward. However, with or without a tent-making secular



profession, you are in an excellent position from your G-d-given



base of operations to lead those you bring to discipleship



through Moshiach's tevilah into planting a financially



self-supporting congregation. This should be the goal of the



emissary of Moshiach's shlichut in all his itinerations.







Ch. 10:9 commands, "Heal the sick," If you have a ministry, it



has part of the curative treatment of the Kingdom of G-d in it.



The resurrection is the Kingdom of G-d--9:27. Ch. 11:20 shows



that a sign that the resurrection reign of the Kingdom of G-d is



breaking into this age is the healing ministry. This means we



should start with the felt needs and pains of the people and use



these to manifest the love and mercy of G-d. Then help the



people get "infected" against their unregenerate former life with



a real innoculation of the Word of G-d and of the power of the



Ruach Hakodesh. Then help them learn how to use the Bible as



their own therapy system and help them experience how to live in



the fruit and gifts of the Ruach Hakodesh. Moshiach Yehoshua had



to deal publicly like this with the multitudes like a social



worker and healer, presenting his dangerous message indirectly



through parables in order to get past Hasatan and the lynch mob



so he could sift out and train only 120 solid disciples and thus



plant his first congregation in Jerusalem. Healing can encompass



social, vocational, psychological, spiritual, marital and other



kinds of ills. In this Besuras Hageulah, physical and spiritual



healing is accompanied by preaching. Yet the word of G-d is also



healing in itself (Ps. 107:20).



Notice 10:10-12 says that we are to tell people the consequences



of rejecting the Besuras Hageulah once we have given them an



opportunity to receive the message and they reject it. Ch.l0:l6



says we are not to take rejection personally or be overly



concerned about it since it may not be rejection of us at all,



but rather of Moshiach Yehoshua himself.







Ch. 21:8 warns of false prophets who will come using Yehoshua's



name and yet making great claims for themselves. Notice that



Luke 24:27 says that it is in the name of Yehoshua and absolutely



no other that repentance for the forgiveness of sins is to be



preached throughout the world. Mark 13:6 says such prophets will



deceive many. Luke 21:8 says not to join the religionists of



these false prophets,but to reject them just as they reject the



true Yehoshua and the true Besuras Hageulah (see 11:23). Often



such religions are controlled by legalists who have no heart for



the living Word but rather reshape the faith into dead rules



whereby they and no one else qualify for control and privilege,



and those who have broken down under their hypocritical system



they lack compassion to rescue (11:46,52).







Look at 8:39 on witnessing. Start with people you know and tell



them what G-d has done for you. Never get far away from the task



of personal witness (12:8).







We need to break every impossible, large task down into smaller,



possible ones, as the L-rd demonstrates by his administrative



hand in 9:14. We need to likewise start with the resources we



have and then get others to help us, believing G-d to stretch



everything miraculously to meet the need. Such faith will not be



disappointed.







Look at 9:23. The Aitz was a shameful thing that offended the



onlookers and made them scornful. It was something that set one



apart from the crowd. It was a burden only the Aitz-bearer



himself could carry (Gal. 6:5). It was something that put the



self to death and showed redemptive concern for one's enemies,



interceding for their benefit. It was an act of love with a



universal, divine dimension. What is your Aitz today? Are you



staying in the race with it? Or have you set it aside? The



religious people lacking an Aitz (the Pharisees etc) did not



enter the Kingdom of G-d, but the sinners and religious outcasts,



by means of faith bearing an Aitz, are seen to be pressing into



the narrow door of true discipleship (Luke 16:16) in Luke's



Besuras Hageulah.







For an explanation of Miryam's mikveh after childbirth and then



her period of uncleanness as far as the Sanctuary is concerned,



see Lev.12:1f in Hertz's Pentateuch.







The Great Physician is Yehoshua, the "beloved physician" is Luke,



and the first and foremost shliach to be used in healing ministry



is Shliach Kefa. We need to study these three physicians to learn



about healing ministry. There are at least seven purposes for



healing ministry given in the Besuras Hageulah of Luke. According



to Luke (Col. 4:14) in his Besuras Hageulah, in the ministry of



the L-rd's Body, the purpose of healing diseases and ordering



demons to leave people is: 1) for a testimony to them" (the



unredeemed)--5:l4; 2) as credentials to convince Yochanan of the



tevilah of teshuva and others that Moshiach Yehoshua is Ercomenos



"The Coming One"--7:19,21; 3) for the purpose of spreading the



logos (word) and assembling many crowds, "many crowds were



assembling to listen and to be healed from their



sicknesses--5:15. Notice it says that the people came to hear



Moshiach Yehoshua but also to be cured from their diseases and to



be healed of the (unclean spirits or demons) troubling



them--6:l8; 4) for the purpose of making disciples and "in the



Father" drawing more workers into the harvest (10:2) of kiruv



outreach ministry: Besides the twelve, the itinerant ministry



team of Moshiach Yehoshua travelling with him from village to



village included "some women who had been healed from evil



spirits and diseases, including Miryam the one called Magdalene,



from whom seven demons had gone out"--8:2. Some of these women



were so filled with gratitude for the mercy the L-rd had shown



them in their healing that these women actually helped fund the



mission work so that the ministry could continue, "providing for



them (Moshiach Yehoshua and the 12) from the possessions



belonging to them"-- 8:3; 5) for the purpose of demonstrating



that the time is short and the Kingdom of G-d has arrived and



come dangerously, wonderfully near, in fact, it has come "upon



you"--10:9; 11:20. This is so that people can see the turning of



the ages, that the new wine" of the Ruach Hakodesh and His Gifts



to us from the Father through the Son of G-d will be poured out



in the dawning light of the New Holy Age: 6) so that people will



glorify G-d (13:13); 7) so that people can have more assurance



of the power and authority of the Son of Man to forgive our sins



(5:23).







The motive for healing people is compassion for lost, hurting,



sheep without a shepherd who have been bound for a long time by



Hasatan (13:16) and need to be loosed and set free. In order to



have a small share in G-d's healing ministry, we need to believe



G-d's word that we have been given dunamis (power) and exousia



(authority) over all the demons and to heal diseases (9:1-2) and



the ones having need of healing he (Moshiach Yehoshua) was



curing--9:11. We need to rebuke high fevers (4:38) and command



demons to come out (4:36) and look to G-d's mercy to cleanse the



unclean (5:13).







We need to pray with anaideia (persistence) (11:8) for at least



four things in regard to healing ministry: 1) for the empowerment



of the Holy Spirit (11:13); 2) and for "the power of the L-rd was



in him (Moshiach Yehoshua) to cure" (5:17); 3) and for "power



from him (Moshiach Yehoshua) was going out and it was healing



everyone" (6:19) who touched him; 4) for humility to rejoice not



in the power that has been given to us (which leads to pride and



presumption) but to rejoice that our names are written in heaven



(10:20) and to seek not the acclaim of the crowds but



"wilderness" solitude with the Heavenly Father for deeper prayer



and communion with G-d to know his will (5:16).







Moshiach Yehoshua says, "Your faith has healed/saved/rescued/



delivered you" sozo in the perfect tense, signifying completed



action in the past with continuing results in the present



(18:42). We are told of a G-dly centurion and his highly valued



slave that was sick and close to death and how Moshiach Yehoshua



healed him without even visiting him and the messengers returned



to find the slave "being in good health" (7:10). Then the same



word is used in III Yochanan 1:3: "Beloved, concerning all



things I wish you to do well and "to be in good health,"even as



it is well with your souls" We need to be willing to pray: O G-d,



have mercy on me the sinner" (18:13). G-d also wants to heal



this muteness we have, this lack of faith we have to speak in the



Spirit (1:20). The angel of the L-rd tells Yochanan's father,



"You will be silent and not able to speak because you did not



believe." At the proper time your faith will loose your tongue



and you will speak in the Spirit.







If G-d heals us and we live, this is fruitful service for us



(Phil. 1:25); but, if not, G-d works all things together for good



(Rom. 8:28) and we depart and be with Moshiach, which is far



better (Phil. 1:23).







LUKE 1:2







...the ones from (the) beginning (who were) eyewitnesses...

















THE BESURAS HAGEULAH ACCORDING TO YOCHANAN

















According to Irenaeus, a leader of the second century who was a



disciple of the Shliach Yochanan's disciple Polycarp, "Yochanan



the disciple of the L-rd, who leaned back on his breast,



published the Besuras Hageulah while he was resident at Ephesus



in Asia" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.1.2). Clement of



Alexandria (ca. C.E. 150-215), a very important Greek theologian



and writer, is quoted by the historian Eusebius as saying, "Last



of all Yochanan, perceiving that the bodily/physical facts had



been recorded in the Besuras Hageulahs, encouraged by his pupils,



and irresistibly moved/inspired by the Spirit, wrote a spiritual



gospel" (History of the Brit Chadasha kehillah 6.14.7). That



liberals of our day are sure that they know better than Irenaeus



and Clement of Alexandria that Yochanan did not write the Besuras



Hageulah of Yochanan is an awesome testimony to the proud



depravity of the human heart.







That this Besuras Hageulah is written by an eyewitness is obvious



in many places (see 1:14; 19:35). The author seems to assume our



knowledge of the other Besuras Hageulahs and does not appear



constrained to repeat their witness. Apparent contradictions



between Yochanan and the Synoptics are only that--apparent. They



can be resolved. But Yochanan's Besuras Hageulah complements our



knowledge derived from the other versions of the Besuras Hageulah



in many ways. For example, the political reason behind the



nailing of the Moshiach to the aitz is given for the historical



record in 11:48.







Ch. 21:18 seems to have the martyrdom of the Shliach Shliach Kefa



under Caesar Nero in recent memory, which could date the Besuras



Hageulah of Yochanan shortly after C.E. 64. If 21:23 is referring



to the death of the Shliach Yochanan, this would date the Besuras



Hageulah of Yochanan in its final published edition twenty-five



or more years later (ca. C.E. 90), which might explain why



passages like 16:2 and 9:22 were included in the Besuras Hageulah



of Yochanan as relevant to its later readers. These verses could



reflect the situation of the Brit Chadasha kehillah-synagogue



relations around C.E. 90 when a synagogue prayer was given an



anti-Messianic believers wording so as to force Messianic Jews to



exclude themselves from synagogue worship.







The end of the Besuras Hageulah of Yochanan seems to be



interested in the question of the eschatological significance of



why Yochanan lived to such a ripe old age while all the other



Shluchim did not. At any rate, 19:27 shows that Yochanan lived



for many years in Jerusalem. He was apparently from a wealthy



family (Mark 1:20). His mother was apparently Salome, who may



have been Miryam's sister, making Yochanan the cousin of Moshiach



Yehoshua (see Mt. 27:56; Mark 15:40; Yochanan 19:25). If Moshiach



Yehoshua and Yochanan were first cousins, in light of the fact



that at this time Moshiach Yehoshua's half-brothers did not



believe in him and that his home town rejected him, it is not



hard to see how Yochanan could have qualified as "the disciple



Moshiach Yehoshua loved" (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20). That



Yochanan was a relative would help to explain why Moshiach



Yehoshua gave him the charge to look after his mother. Also, it



is inexplicable that one so prominent as Yochanan should have his



name left out of the fourth Besuras Hageulah's narratives unless



Yochanan himself was the modest author. Also the expression "the



disciple Moshiach Yehoshua loved" emphasizes the fact that



Yochanan was not loved because he rose to prominence, but, just



the opposite, he rose to prominence because Moshiach Yehoshua



loved him.







The brothers Andrew and Simon Shliach Kefa were Yochanan's



business partners in a fishing business (Luke 5:10). Yochanan may



have had high-born or even Kohen Gadol connections in Jerusalem



(this was certainly true of Yehoshua's other cousin, Yochanan of



the tevilah of teshuva because, on the night of Moshiach



Yehoshua's arrest, the Shliach Yochanan apparently is known



personally by the Kohen Gadol and so Yochanan gains entrance to



the house of Caiaphas for himself and Shliach Kefa (Yochanan



18:15) and also knows the Kohen Gadol well enough to be able to



name his servants (see Yochanan 18:10 and compare the Synoptic



Besuras Hageulahs; also see 18:26).







Yochanan's connections also seem to have permitted him to



accompany the Kohen Gadol's party that ushered Moshiach Yehoshua



into the presence of Pilate, thus allowing Yochanan (and us) to



hear the conversations that followed (see 18:28-19:16). But it



was undoubtedly Yochanan's love for Moshiach Yehoshua that held



him to take the risk of standing by him at the Aitz, which none



of the other male disciples were willing to do.







Some time after the end of Rav Sha'ul's Ephesian ministry (C.E.



58), Yochanan left his home in Jerusalem (where the mother of



Moshiach Yehoshua had stayed and may have been interviewed by



Luke--Yochanan 19:27; Luke 1-2; Acts 21:17) and moved his base of



operations from Jerusalem to Ephesus in W. Asia Minor (modern



Turkey). It is probably from here that the Besuras Hageulah of



Yochanan was published somewhere between C.E. 64 and 90. But



since many conservative scholars believe Yochanan is not dead



when the appendix 21:23 was written (note that the word "vouches"



in 21:24 is in the present tense, martureo meaning testifies,



witnesses, vouches, as though Yochanan were still alive to make



his attestation), and since the Besuras Hageulah of Yochanan



seems to be unaware that the Beis Hamikdash has bean destroyed



and that Jerusalem has been devastated, it is not impossible that



much of this Besuras Hageulah was written toward the end of the



reign of Nero around C.E. 68. Shliach Kefa seems to have been



martyred already (Yochanan 13:36), and Yochanan seems to



understand Moshiach Yehoshua's true meaning in the saying of



Yochanan 13:36 that he would die similarly.







Liberal scholars at one time gained quite a following by



asserting that the (unlettered, uneducated in the yeshivas)



Shliach Yochanan (see Acts 4:13) did not write this Besuras



Hageulah. However, today their theory has fallen into disrepute.



They may have underestimated the humility of Yochanan who, in



order to avoid using "I" or his own personal name, eliminated all



but the importance of his own personal eye-witness status (see



especially 13:23; 19:26f; 20:2-10) at extremely important points



such as the Last Supper, the Moshiach's Aitz, and the empty tomb



by referring to himself in the third person as "the disciple whom



Moshiach Yehoshua loved" (see 21:24 for his attestation as the



Moshiach's Shliach authority vouching for the veracity and



accuracy of this Besuras Hageulah).







Reliable tradition has Yochanan living to a ripe old age in Asia



Minor (specifically Ephesus) where a heretical Jewish Gnostic



teacher named Cerinthus flourished at the end of the 1st century



(around C.E. 100). If Yochanan's Besuras Hageulah were written



around this time, it contains a polemic against a heresy



Cerinthus promoted. One of the ideas of the heresy that later



became known as Gnosticism was the notion that G-d cannot take on



a material body and suffer and die. But the Moshiach Yehoshua



Yochanan describes weeps (11:33,35), gets tired (4:6), thirsty



(19:28), and behaves in a very human manner.







The deity of the Son is indicated in 5:26 (equal to the Father in



fullness of life); 17:5 (the same divine glory) 1:1 (the same



divine essential nature or being). But the papyri p66 and p75



(C.E. 200) have Monogenes Theos? ("G-d the Unique-in-Kind or



Only-Begotten Son") for Yochanan 1:18. Here Moshiach Yehoshua is



specifically referred to as G-d. Moshiach Yehoshua is called "G-d



the Only Son." He has a special relationship to His Father that



is not shared with Him by any man (1:18 5:18; 20:17). Notice the



various "I am" = Yahweh allusions (6:30; 8:28,58; 10:31; 13:19).



The Bible has been transmitted by faithful scribes, and the



science of textual criticism together with the Ruach Hakodesh and



faithful translations help us retrieve a reliable facsimile of



the original inerrant autograph writings. The Masoretic Text of



the Tanakh favorably compares in accuracy with much of the newly



discovered ancient Dead Sea Scrolls, proving that the Bible has



not been lost over time in transcription. Why were the scribes so



meticulously careful in their work? Read 5:39 for the answer. As



far as the inerrancy of the Bible is concerned, remember that



Moshiach Yehoshua said, "The Scriptures cannot be broken" (luo,



meaning destroyed, torn down, broken to pieces--Yochanan 10:35.



This same Greek word is used regarding the middle wall of



partition in Eph. 2:l4 and Paul's ship wrecked at sea in Acts



27:41).







Ch. 3:34 shows that the Bible is G-d's own words communicated



through the Ruach Hakodesh by the Word Himself whom the Father



sent. No one else brings the canonical revelation of G-d, the



measuring standard of the truth of all prophecy and prophets.



Anyone who is content with another revelation or another religion



is a thief and a robber (10:1). G-d himself stands behind the



infallibility, inerrancy, and incorruptibility of his Word so



that the Scriptures cannot be broken (10:35). The Eternal



Paraclete (One who "stands by the side of" as Comforter,



Counselor, and Advocate) who has superintended the compilation



and transmission of the Bible is the Ruach Hakodesh (14:25-26;



16:5-15).







So Moshiach Yehoshua was G-d the Word (Yochanan 1:1) become



completely human (1:14). These passages reflect a polemic against



Cerinthus, who taught that the Moshiach did not die. To refute



proto-gnostic heresy, Yochanan begins by teaching that the cosmic



source of all life, the very light of G-d that enlightens



rationally all men--that is, the personal self-revelation of G-d



at the Father's side, His Word, came and was rejected by some and



received by others. Those who received Him became new creations



(1:12) born not of man but of G-d (1:13). The Eternal Word, G-d's



agent in creation, salvation, judgment, and revelation, took on



the frail and mortal being of man (1:14), whom human nature



screened the same glory that was veiled over in the Holy of



Holies in the Tent of the Tabernacle of Moses. G-d's glory is now



coming down and pitching his tent in the human life of the



Moshiach. As at the Transfiguration in the other Besuras



Hageulahs, so in the miraculous signs that Moshiach Yehoshua



performs in the Besuras Hageulah of Yochanan, this same glory



pierces the veil and shines out that we might and be saved



(20:30-31).







In ch. 2 the best wine is saved until last, for the Word



Incarnate is the fullest revelation of G-d (1:17). A wedding,



symbolizing the messianic age, is the setting for the "water" of



the old age being replaced by the "wine" of the abundant life



with G-d in the new holy age now breaking in. By this miraculous



sign, Moshiach Yehoshua let his glory as the pre-existent and



eternal Word be seen by his disciples, who as a result, believed



on him (see 2:11-12). Yochanan uses the feasts of the Jewish



religion and the signs Moshiach Yehoshua performed during these



feasts to make the point that the Moshiach is the all-important



core of the faith of Abraham, Moshiach Yehoshua is the living



Torah from the Father, and without him "you can do nothing"



(15:5).







In chapter 6, the sign that Moshiach Yehoshua performed shows



that he is the true manna in the wilderness on the way to the



promised new life. Ch. 7:37-38 presents Yehoshua as the living



water that replaces the water-pouring prayer for rain and he is



the true light of the world replacing the illumination in the



Jerusalem Beis Hamikdash court at Sukkot (the Feast of



Tabernacles). In ch. 10 Moshiach Yehoshua (not the altar) is



dedicated (see 10:36) on Chanukah (the Feast of Dedication) and



in ch. 12 Moshiach Yehoshua becomes the replacement lamb for



Pesach (Passover). Aspects of both Passover and Yom Kippur are



subtly alluded to in the Passion narrative in the references to



the bones not broken (19:36; Ex. 12:46; Nu. 9:12), the hyssop



plant (19:29; Ex. 12:22) and the two victims, one released



(Barabbas), one sacrificed (Yehoshua).







Ch. 2:l9 shows that the body of Yehoshua is the eternal sanctuary



of G-d where G-d is present with his people. Ch. 4:21-23 presents



Moshiach Yehoshua as the true Beis Hamikdash. The Ruach Hakodesh



and teaching men receive from him make pilgrimage to Jerusalem



for worship no longer necessary, for Moshiach is the resurrected



Word of G-d tabernacled among us (1:14). Ch. 8:56 shows that



Abraham believed in the Word of G-d and rejoiced in looking



forward to his day of fulfillment.







Look at 3:5. Those who have spiritually shared the mavet and



Techiyas HaMesim of Moshiach Yehoshua by means of the new birth



know the death they have experienced to their old life of the



flesh. They also know the birth in the new life of the Spirit



that they have experienced. As in Ez. 36:27, they have been



quickened from above by the Spirit of G-d. How did this happen?



By the obedience of faith those with new hearts and new spirits



were led to the tevilah waters to begin their life of



discipleship, though it is G-d, not tevilah regeneration, that



draws people into the new life of the Holy Spirit. Yochanan 1:12



says that one does not "believe" (an extremely frequent word in



this Besuras Hageulah) on His Name unto salvation unless one



receives him personally.







No one can tell mankind about heaven except the man who came from



heaven, Moshiach Yehoshua the Word of G-d (3:13). The ascension



(Luke 24:51) proves that the Son of Man (a title of the Moshiach)



came from heaven (Daniel 7:13-14) and returned there (Psalm



110:1). Yochanan 1:1, 49-51 proves that the Word of G-d is the



Moshiach, the Son of Man. Psalm 2:7 says that the Messsiah is the



Son of G-d. Proverbs 30:4 says that the divine Wisdom is Son of



G-d; therefore, the divine Wisdom is the Moshiach, as Yochanan



preaches.







Look at 4:2. People must go from us to Moshiach Yehoshua and get



his witness inside themselves (not just our witness alone) in



order to be saved (I Yochanan 5:10; Yochanan 7:17). People have



got to understand this warning: make disciples or die (15:2).



Faithlessness to Moshiach Yehoshua leads to spiritual impotence



and powerlessness (15:5). Brit Chadasha kehillah planting that



lasts and the formation of faithful ministers who endure is the



goal of everything (15:16).







G-d the Word is subordinate to Elohim HaAv (5:30), since the



Father articulates the Word and not vice-versa. However, the Word



is essentially equal with the Father and is very G-d (Yochanan



1:1,18; 10:30; 8:58; 14:9; 20:28). The Word of G-d was always



personal and was always G-d's image appointed from before all



time to be the Word of Judgment (5:26-27), and only he can



reflect the Father to us (6:46).







Ch. 6:39 shows that there is corporate eternal security for the



predestined remnant of G-d's people. However, individuals must



still make their individual calling and election sure by working



out individual salvation with fear and trembling (II Shimon Kefa



1:10; Phil. 2: 12). We can rest assured that the Bible does not



teach a doctrine of arbitrary secret double predestination.



However, Moshiach Yehoshua foreknew those who chose to disbelieve



(6:64) just as he foreknew that Judas was a devil (6:70). (The



Devil is always betraying G-d and if we are faithless we also can



become devils.) The predestinarian strain of passages in Yochanan



are verses like 6:44,65; 8:47; 18:37; 15:16. These are meant to



give comfort to the saints that it is a Mighty G-d who is doing



everything, and He planned it before the earth was created. The



Ruach Hakodesh is our friend and helper in court (Paraclete) and



everything we are and have and do is dependent on Him (1:32,33;



7:39; 3:5,8; 6:63; 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:3; 20:22,23). Look



at 12:6. Make sure you have a treasurer in your ministry so that



you are above suspicion (as Judas was not) with full



accountability of funds (see II Cor. 8:19-20).







Ch. 10:28-29 shows us that there is very definitely a doctrine of



assurance in Yochanan, so we need not doubt our salvation (see



5:24). However, 17:12 shows that there is also the human ability



to choose to leave the truth and refuse the light (was not Judas



as human as you or I?). So we must avoid the presumptuous error



that goes with the doctrine of unconditional election and



irresistible grace. Rather, we should fear G-d and live.



Ch.



8:42 shows that Moshiach Yehoshua and no one else is the final



Shliach of G-d (Hebrews 3:1). Not only that, he is the



fountainhead of the New Humanity, he is the Resurrection, the New



Adam of the New Holy Age (11:25). Notice that the whole world is



drawn to the person of Moshiach Yehoshua and, through him, to the



Father (12:32; 14:6). Moshiach Yehoshua alludes to the fall of



Adam in Yochanan 3, saying "you are children of your father the



devil," who has seduced humanity into an evil course that can



only be corrected in the new humanity birthed from above in the



Moshiach.







Ch. 14:12 makes clear that the miraculous deeds (such as are seen



in the gifts of the Ruach Hakodesh) are still for today.







Ch. 17:21-23 should lead us to want to transcend sectarian



differences between believers (though not compromise or betray



the truth in the process as in the easy relativism of the modern



age--see 18:38). Yochanan himself is the first witness of the 12



to look into the tomb and see that it is empty (20:5). Notice the



eyewitness detail from Shliach Kefa and Yochanan. The linen



cloths that had once been wrapped around the Moshiach's body were



lying on the ground and the kerchief which had been placed over



the Moshiach's face was not with the linen cloths but was rolled



up in a place by itself (20:7). The Holy One that was born of a



virgin (Luke 1:35) was called back alive from the dead as



Mashiakh HaAdohn (Moshiach the Lord), the Judge of all men.



Yochanan is giving us the benefit of his own eyewitness testimony



in his recounting of the Moshiach's resurrection appearances that



follow.







Notice that the object of this Besuras Hageulah is that the



reader/listener believe (20:30-31) and have life. To encourage



faith, to prove Moshiach Yehoshua is from G-d (9:31,33, 16), the



Shliach has included seven miraculous signs, which are meant to



also point beyond themselves symbolically and provide deep



spiritual edification and point to the significance of who



Moshiach Yehoshua is. These signs are the changing of the water



of Judaism into joyous wine of the new Messianic age (2:1-11),



the Brit Chadasha wine of grace and truth; the healing of the



nobleman's son (4:46-54); the healing of the impotent man (5:10;



the feeding of the five thousand (6:1-14) with the Bread of Life;



the walking on the water (6:16-21); the healing of the blind man



(9:1-12) by One who is the Light of the World, and the raising of



Lazarus (11:1-46) by the One who is the Resurrection and the Life



(11:25). By means of these signs, the reader/listener is



encouraged toward faith and new spiritual life so that a deep



communion is possible with the Savior by means of feeding on the



word in the chapters that follow, espcially in the long



discourses which predominate from 12:23-17:26. But even as early



as 1:49 the reader is encouraged along with Nathanael that he



will see greater signs in the chapters to follow to convince the



doubting Thomases in the reading audience that they should make



their profession of faith and receive the gift of the new birth



unto Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life).







We must live in the Word of G-d (8:31), who is the true light



that enlightens every man (1:9) and is the very image of G-d



(Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3; 1:14; 14:9). Unless we are rooted and



grounded in Scripture, finding our delight in the ceaseless study



and practise of G-d's Word (Yochanan 8:44; Luke 8:13; Psalm 1:2),



we may go to religious services but afterwards we will still



think and act like the Devil. Our aim should be to think and act



like G-d's Son (Phil. 2:5) and be used of G-d in doing his works



(14:12; 9:4) because these testify of Moshiach Yehoshua (5:36)



and of the Father (5:19,20; 14:10) and have their own intrinsic



irrefutable power in challenging people to believe in Moshiach



Yehoshua (10:38; 14:11). But we must be utterly dependent on the



Father for everything, as Moshiach Yehoshua was (3:27; 5:19,30;



26; 6:37; 4:34; 6:37,44; 17:6; 18:11; 17:2,24; 10:18) in prayer



(14:16; 16:26; 17:9,15,20), never forgetting that our minion



sender is Him (5:23,30; 6:37,39,44; 8:16,18,29; 17:18; 20:21).



The climax of the Moshiach's ministry is the raising of Lazarus



from the dead. The crowds were so large and enthusiastic at the



Triumphal Entry because news of this spectacular resurrection



miracle had spread everywhere (12:18). It prefigured the



infinitely greater resurrection that would occur shortly Yom



Rishon morning, April 9, C.E. 30.







Yochanan seems to have entered into the mind of Moshiach Yehoshua



more than any of the other Shliachs. It is interesting that



Yochanan 1:18 says the only begotten G-d is the one who is near



the kolpos (bosom, breast, chest, i.e. near the heart) of the



Father, and the disciple whom Moshiach Yehoshua loved is said to



be sitting at the Last Supper in the kolpos Moshiach Yehoshua



(13:23).







But Yochanan's spiritual insights also do not overlook the



ironic. For example, the first Gentile to unwittingly preach the



Besuras Hageulah (the Samaritan woman in chapter 4 is quite



deliberate in her preaching) is Pilate, who, as a kind of cruel



antiSemitic joke, writes on a sign to be displayed above Moshiach



Yehoshua's crown of thorns the words, "Moshiach Yehoshua of



Nazareth, the King of the Jews" and even beginning the business



of publishing this Good News in the various languages of the



world, starting with Aramaic, Latin and Greek. Moshiach Yehoshua



is the Anointed Moshiach (see Psalm 45:6-8; Isaiah 61:1,2;



Yochanan 1:41; 4:25-26; 3:28) and his first task is a Messianic



deed (Yochanan 3:13-22; Psalm 69:9; Zech. 14:21; Mal. 3:l-5). In



Yochanan's Besuras Hageulah the blind see, the lame leap, the



poor are fed and made glad at miraculous banquets and the Son of



Man comes as the eschatological judge of Daniel 7:13-14 who will



raise the dead (note there are two resurrections in Yochanan's



Besuras Hageulah just as there are in the book of Revelation--see



5:25-29 e.g. Rev.20:4-l5). Yet Yochanan beholds the glory of his



lowly obscurity and rejection and death in service to His Father



(1:14; 12:23; 13:31; 2:11; 11:4).







When Yochanan quotes Moshiach Yehoshua as saying to the



unbelieving, worldly Jews, "You are from below, I am from above;



you are of this world, I am not of this world" (8:23), this



sounds very much like the book of Revelation, where there are two



worlds, the world of heaven and holiness and a Holy G-d and His



Moshiach, and the world of the devil and His Anti-Moshiach where



men do evil. In Yochanan, Moshiach Yehoshua lifts men to G-d and



reveals G-d to man as a ladder to heaven (1:51).







In Yochanan's Besuras Hageulah, this world cannot fool Moshiach



Yehoshua (2:24-25; 6:64), does not know G-d (17:25) or His



Moshiach (1:10) or those whom G-d has chosen out of this world



(17:14, 6, 16; 15:18-19). The unregenerate world has already been



condemned (3:18), has the wrath of G-d remaining on it (3:36),



has not received the Ruach Hakodesh (20:22), the Father's Word



does not abide in them (5:38), they do not have the love of G-d



in themselves (5:42), they are open to the Anti-Moshiach (5:43),



they receive glory from men and do not seek glory from G-d



(5:44), they do not (even if they call themselves Jews) believe



the Torah (5:47); unlike the Word (5:37) they have never seen the



Father's form or heard His voice; the Father has not drawn them



(6:37, 44); they have not heard from the Father and learned from



Him (6:45); any time is right for the unregenerate because there



is no divine timetable giving tension to their lives (7:6), no



"night" (9:4) they are racing against; the hatred of the world is



unknown to them (7:7). The unregenerate, because of His depraved



will, cannot properly evaluate and weigh the teachings of



Scripture (7:17) nor can such a one keep the law (7:19 in spite



of 9:28-29). The unregenerate cannot come to where Moshiach



Yehoshua is in heaven (7:34), does not know G-d (8:19)--neither



Moshiach Yehoshua nor the Father, does not know where Moshiach



Yehoshua comes from or where he goes (8:14). The word of Moshiach



Yehoshua finds no room in the unregenerate heart (8:37), they are



children of the devil (8:44). Unregenerates are liars who do not



believe the truth because it is the truth and they have a lying



nature (8:45). They cannot understand or hear the words of



Moshiach Yehoshua (8:43) or continue in his word (8:31) because



they are not of G-d (8:47). They think they see but they are



blind (9:41). If they teach anything but leave out Moshiach



Yehoshua, they are thieves and robbers (10:1). They hold up a



false door to salvation because they are false teachers, the



blind leading the blind. They can't hear the Shepherd's voice to



go in and find pasture. The words of Moshiach Yehoshua bring



division to them (10:19). They are not his sheep (10:26) and this



explains their unbelief.







Yehoshua is the well of salvation in Yochanan 4. What does it



mean to be born of "water" and Spirit (3:5)? The living water of



Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life) is the truth into which one is



immersed to worship G-d (4:10,14,23).







The proper interpretative key to the Tanakh is given in 5:39,46.



For example, the manna in the wilderness is a foretaste of



Moshiach Yehoshua the Bread of Heaven, etc. See also 8:56.



Notice that Judaism's treatment of Messianic Jews is a



fulfillment of prophecy (Yochanan 16:2).















Yochanan 1:3







In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.























GEVUROT MEYRUACH HAKODESH (ACTS)

















Acts was probably written at the end of Rav Sha'ul's first Roman



imprisonment (C.E. 62/63). Nero's persecution had not yet started



(Rome burned in C.E. 64), and a window of breathing time was



available for the philanthropy of Theophilus, the Roman nobleman



who may have underwritten the cost of publishing the two-part



work of Luke-Acts. Theophilus may have been a believer in Rome--



see Luke 1:1--even a public official (possibly addressed



pseudonymously) to whom Luke-Acts is dedicated. The reason for



advocating this extremely early date is because of the shape of



the material in Acts. It is not about the acts of the Shluchim,



most of whom are hardly mentioned; it is an expansion of Rav



Sha'ul's legal brief in Rome (with supplemental material),



showing legal precedents in that whenever Shliach Sha'ul went



before a Roman government official, whether it was Sergio Rav



Sha'ulus or Galilo or the magistrates in Philippi or Governors



Felix or Festus in Caeserea or even King Agrippa in Israel,



Shliach Sha'ul was regarded as a Jew and his religion as Jewish



and therefore legal according to Roman law. Only the riot-causing



and unbelieving Jews, not the Romans, were declaring otherwise.



Ch. 26:32 is the key defense as far as Rav Sha'ul's legal brief



is concerned, the legal ramifications of which would affect the



safety of all believers throughout the Roman Empire. This idea



forms the spine of the narrative of Acts, which would otherwise



be like a loose miracle chronicle. It is very possible that



Theophilus was not only a catechist but a supporter of Shliach



Sha'ul at the time of his house arrest during his first Roman



imprisonment. While Shliach Sha'ul was writing Philippians,



Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon we can imagine that Luke was



not taking Roman saunas but, like a good historical journalist,



was "rushing to deadline" with the story that could save his



friend Rav Sha'ul's life, win many more "Theophiluses" to the



L-rd, and help protect other "Rav Sha'uls" from being persecuted



in the Roman courts by litigating Besuras Hageulah-offended Jews.







In short, the book of Acts is not a mere history of the



beginnings of Messianic Faith; it is an apologetic chronicling of



the true "way" of Messianic, apocalyptic Biblical Judaism--the



legally privileged religion of the Jews and the universal,



Spirit-endorsed faith of the true G-d of the whole world, if only



Roman government officials and Jewish religious dignitaries could



be given by G-d eyes to see and ears to hear and understand the



colossal fulfillment of Scriptural revelation!







Shliach Sha'ul is really the central Shliach in the book of Acts



from the very beginning. For example, in chapter 1 notice the



subtlety of the point Luke makes. Mere men use a "Jonah" lottery



draw to choose the "fisher of men" replacement for "Judas," but



Moshiach Yehoshua himself catches his choice not with a gigantic



fish but by means of the house of "Judas" on the street called



Straight in Damascus (compare 1:20 and 9:11). Matthias is chosen



in 1:26 but Shliach Sha'ul overshadows both him and all the other



Shluchim, because G-d, and not men, is writing the history of



salvation in this story of the world-conquering expansion (from



Jerusalem) of the Messianic remnant of Israel and the nations.



But Shliach Sha'ul is himself the most important witness for his



own defense. Like the Jewish establishment litigating against



him, Shliach Sha'ul was himself "fighting against G-d" (5:39),



and the risen L-rd himself won the fight on the road to Damascus.







Notice the first Brit Chadasha kehillah service is a 9:00 A.M.



Sunday morning, Pentecostal, dangerous, open-air, Jewish Beis



Hamikdash "street" meeting. The Great Commission was symbolically



and representatively fulfilled in the blink of an eye (in Zion),



for pilgrims had come from all over the world for the Feast of



Shavuot or Pentecost. But faith was necessary Miryam, and some



scoffers didn't have it, having a form of religion but denying



its power (2:13; II Tim. 3:5). Notice that the Brit Chadasha



kehillah was born and still thrives on aggressive, risky kiruv



outreach contact with unbelievers in the power of the



supernatural (2:41).







There is no rebuttal to a genuine power encounter (see 4:11). In



the book of Acts, as in the Elijah vs. prophets of Baal power



encounter in I Kings, the convicting, regenerating power of the



Besuras Hageulah itself and its accompanying healings and other



gifts of the Spirit differentiate who is G-d's spokesman and who



is merely a pretender to relgious authority. Spirit-filled



ministers are needed as Messianic leaders to turn the lost sheep



away from the false shepherds of this world. Mere rationalists,



apologists and scholars--though needed--are not enough. In 1:6-8,



the Shluchim ask the risen L-rd Yehoshua a doctrinal question



about the millennium, but he answers them with exhortation to



receive an empowerment for the purpose of world outreach and



Moshiach's shlichut keruv mission. Ch. 8:15-16 shows that people



who had believed the Besuras Hageulah and were given the



Moshiach's tevilah also expected a subsequent empowerment where



the Ruach Hakodesh fell on them. In Acts 1 the shluchim joined in



continuous prayer (1:11) and waited or "tarried" until what was



promised (1:5; Luke 21:49) happened (2:1) in the form of a



miracle of witness. Laity, both men and women, and clergy with



anointed tongues boldly, almost recklessly (In the Beis Hamikdash



area and on the streets in a dangerous city that hangs on an aitz



deviant religious personages) began preaching with miraculous,



heaven-empowered locution. The confusion of tongues at Babylon



(Gn. ch. 11) is also miraculously reversed as G-d is now



graciously leading his people out to bring the Gentiles to his



treasury (see Isaiah 66:18-21 and the collection journey of Acts



24:17-18). The fire of the burning bush and the fire on Mt. Sinai



appeared on the heads of the Shliachs in Acts 2:3 to signify that



the G-d who gave the Law to Moses and Israel was now giving the



Ruach Hakodesh to Israel. In fact, the one G-d was now giving one



message leading all nations to become one people. But 5:13 says



that even then none of the religious people dared to join these



"Pentecostal" Jews.







However, many Pentecostals err in seeing tongues as a sufficient



sign that one is now completely filled with the fulness of the



Holy Spirit (see I Cor. 13:1 as a corrective on this). Acts only



begins (but does not stop there) with tongues as physical



evidence of empowerment. Boldness in witness, praise, new sight



(scales removed), prophesying, having compassion for an "enemy"



from an alien culture, healing, communal generosity, and many



other signs confirm the experience that the Ruach Hakodesh has



indeed fallen on a person. So if a Pentecostal speaks in a



language he doesn't know and thinks he stands in the fulness of



the Ruach Hakodesh, he had better keep reading from Acts 2:4 and



make sure his walk as a believer is fully in step with the



aggressively preaching early Messianic community. We are now



seeing many tongues-speakers who do not win souls or dirty their



hands with aggressive, dangerous, open-air outreach but pride



themselves on being "Pentecostal." Nothing could be further from



the truth of the Book of Acts! These people should stop fighting



about tongues and start leading people to salvation.







On the other hand, there are others who are also ignorant of the



Scriptures: those who think they are ready for the ministry just



because they are glib and articulate like Shliach Kefa was in the



Besuras Hageulah narratives and yet also think they don't need



the empowerment and spiritual equipping Shliach Kefa received



(after he was humbled by near apostasy) at the beginning of the



book of Acts. What Shliach Kefa received was not just for Shliach



Kefa or just for back then. The promise is for today (2:39) and



for us; it is for our sons and our daughtars. (Who says women,



even laywomen, can't preach? Look at 2:17; 21:9. There is no



clericalism or hatred of women here.) Every modern day "Shliach



Kefa" should pray Acts 4:29-31 every day, just as every Brit



Chadasha kehillah should have a benevolence provision (4:34-35).







Note what you do (2:41) if you want to receive Moshiach Yehoshua.



You repent (which may involve some pre-tevilah teaching, testing



or counseling), and you get buried or immersed in water, which is



a covenant sign that obligates you to obey "all that Moshiach



Yehoshua commanded." This means you are obligated to become a



learner with a teacher (a talmid or disciple), and the teaching



you imbibe is the Moshiach's Shluchim's doctrinal understanding



of the Bible. You also join a chavurah of Achim B'Moshiach (not



a one-hour-a-week worship service--see 5:42), and you commit



yourself to the Moshiach's Tish and to corporate davening with



other talmidim (3:42). People should not mouth a sinner's prayer



and wander off on their own, thinking they have received the



Moshi'a and have Scripturally responded properly to His



invitation. They have not, unless they have an excuse like the



repentant thief dying next to Yehoshua. Unless they are making a



deathbed confession, becoming a believer involves attaching



oneself to at least one other person in a discipleship



relationship (see 17:34).







Look at 2:46. Note the combination of mass rally and small group



fellowship meetings. There were no Brit Chadasha kehillah



buildings. Only Solomon's Portico and private homes. The latter



undoubtedly allowed people to have intimate meetings with their



neighbors and relatives who were coming into salvation faith, and



also allowed unbelieves to be introduced into the faith among



people of similar ethnic and family ties. These homogeneous unit



meetings allowed for the kind of web movement we saw earlier in



passages like Mark 1:29-31, as whole families and segments of a



society flow into the faith together (see Donald McGavran's many



books). We are not wise to neglect either of these kinds of



meetings today. What Brit Chadasha kehillah in a metropolitan



area with a Jewish or Muslm population can't have a Muslim house



fellowship or a Jewish house fellowship? Without such small group



meetings it is unlikely that many Muslims and Jews and various



other ethnic segments will flow into weekend worship "rallies."



Ch. 5:12 shows that a 50-50 balance was reached in preaching to



believers (in house fellowships) and in preaching within the



hearing of unbelievers (in the Beis Hamikdash court). Most Brit



Chadasha kehillot fail miserably here, preaching 100% inside the



Brit Chadasha kehillah building (which itself finds no



endorsement in Scripture) with few, if any, unbelievers in



earshot.







Look at 3:23. Moses is quoted as suggesting that Moshiach



rejecters are not what they think they are. This means that Jews



are not really Jews in the fullest sense of the word (truly



circumcised, initiated members of G-d's covenant people of the



Ruach Hakodesh) if they have not received the Biblical Moshiach



their Scriptures point to.







In ch. 4 we see that the revival is going on outside the power



establishment, whose spokesmen deny the key doctrines even while



their leaders declare themselves literalist defenders of the



faith or fundamentalists (so it is today with the true revival,



with which politically minded "organization men" of religion



often are out of touch).







One of the themes in Acts is Romans 8:28. The book is filled with



reversals. Everything that men do that is bad G-d turns around



and makes into something good (see Acts 4:27-28). For example, in



ch. 6, G-d uses a Brit Chadasha kehillah squabble over money for



widows and turns it around to send Greek-speaking emissaries of



Moshiach's shlichut out to the Greek-speaking world to fulfill



the Great Commission. He also uses this "widow" problem to form a



women's sodality (I Tim. 5). Stephen and Philip were



Greek-speaking members of the "Seven" who were deacons authorized



to preach (see the requirement of being able to keep hold on the



"mysteries of the faith with a clear conscience" in I Tim. 3:9;



see also Acts 6:8-8:1; 8:5,26,40; Rom. 16:1; I Tim. 3:8-13) and



to distribute the L-rd's Supper and to do the work of



administration in the local Messianic community, particularly



caring for the poor and the sick. See diakoneoo (care for, take



care of, look after) in Acts 6:2 and diakonos (servant, minister,



deacon) in Philippians 6:1. I Tim. 3:13 shows that shamoshim who



have served well "gain an excellent standing," which may mean



that some of them will eventually become overseers or zekenim as



the L-rd sovereignly tests, trains, and places them in offices of



responsibilty in his kingdom. The office of shamosh seems to be a



much more important office in the Brit Chadasha Scriptures than



many believers view it. Any congregation with ten or fifteen



shamoshim preaching in the jails, nursing homes, and street



corners of its community would have to have some kind of impact.



But some Brit Chadasha kehillot are so dead they view the office



many times as a mere ritual or ceremonial dignity, like



pallbearers at a funeral.











The Romans 8:28 theme in Acts is seen in 15:36, where G-d



reverses a fight between Shliach Sha'ul and Barnabas to multiply



traveling, Greek-speaking, Brit Chadasha kehillah planting



confraternities or sodalities. The effect of this was to minimize



cultural differences between communicators and receptors, leaving



Aramaic-speaking Hebrew emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut to win



those like themselves in Jerusalem, and placing Greek-speaking



Hellenistic Jewish emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut among people



more like themselves outside Jerusalem. The Greek-speaking Jews



did not see it as a religious duty to shy away from secular



knowledge (7:22), and were therefore better equipped



philosophically to do outreach to the secular peoples of their



day.







Another reversal motif is the way things keep getting worse for



Shliach Sha'ul as the story unfolds, with more and more plots to



kill him or detain him or hinder him; but G-d works all these



things for good to protect Shliach Sha'ul and keeps opening



bigger and bigger doors for Shliach Sha'ul until his enemies



(ironically and unwittingly) have even driven him to the Imperial



Palace of Rome to witness to Nero himself!







Stephen emphasizes signs and wonders in the ministry of Moses



(7:36), just as these were emphasized in the ministries of



Moshiach Yehoshua, Stephen, Philip and all the leaders in the



book of Acts. The point Stephen is making is that his people were



called to be a pilgrim people on the move for G-d with the L-rd's



Tabernacle, but they have degenerated into a rebel brood, holding



Herod's Beis Hamikdash hostage and killing G-d's prophets.



Because Stephen was a Hellenist, other Hellenists like Saul



(later known as Rav Sha'ul) saw it as their duty to silence such



a traitor in Jerusalem who was quite embarrassingly one of their



own. So the Hellenists like Saul went after their own kind in the



persecution. The irony is in another reversal. Saul the



persecutor would become Stephen's Greek-speaking successor and



would finish the work Saul tried to stop Stephen from doing.







The fear of G-d must increase dramatically in a population in



order to have a great revival. One of the purposes of the



judgment miracles in 5:5-10; 12:23; 13:11 is to increase this



fear so that the revival would catch fire and the localized



objective could be achieved: to fill Jerusalem with the teaching



of the Moshiach (5:28). The moral of 5:1-11 is that it is



dangerous to one's health to "play the Believer" while really



trying only to "con" G-d and his people.







Notice that the Besuras Hageulah is not an attempt to get people



to change religious and cultural externals but to receive "new



life" (5:20). See 26:23 for an excellent summary of the Besuras



Hageulah. A notorious heretic at the time Luke was writing was a



man named Shimon the Magician. He was the first great cultist, a



kind of fountainhead for the later gnostic and other cults. He



believed that he himself was someone great and had been given



divine power. He was leading many astray with his self-serving



new religion. But in the power encounter that is described in



8:9-24, Shimon is shown to be a religious charlatan, because he



is unable to work the works of G-d, being a mere charmer of



crowds and trafficker in demon magic by means of the evil spirit



energizing him. All over the world vast numbers of people,



Muslims and Jews included, are under the spell of similar



personalities, who require not only an Oxford debate but also a



simple Shliach Kefa power encounter.







Philip the Kiruv outreach minister/Shammash exits at the end of



chapter 8 but will re-enter the drama in ch. 21.







Ch. 9:5 shows how Shliach Sha'ul got the notion that the



eschatological Messianic community is the body of Moshiach, each



member exercising gifts that are essential to the other members.



Ch. 9:15-16 shows why Shliach Sha'ul is the central Shliach and



human actor in the Book of Acts. We see Shliach Sha'ul the



Hellenist in Stephen's danger in the midst of his own Hellenist



Jewish people (9:29), just as later we will see Rav Sha'ul the



Pharisee versus the circumcising Pharisaic party of 15:5. Not



only that, continually, throughout the entire Empire, we will see



Shliach Sha'ul the Roman versus the Roman Government. But Shliach



Sha'ul is in a sense a nobody (I Cor. 15:9) without even



qualifications in his own life to be so much as a Brit Chadasha



kehillah officer (compare hubristes, meaning a violent, insolent



man in I Tim. 1:13 and Titus 1:7 orgilon, meaning not inclined to



anger and also plekten, meaning not pugnacious). This was to



show the grace of G-d, that behind Shliach Sha'ul ii the Risen



One who, by signs and wonders and "acts" of the Ruach Hakodesh,



is turning that political and cultural and religious world upside



down and graciously receiving sinners who don't deserve to be



received, much less used in the ministry.







Notice 9:32-35 where one healing sweeps in a whole people



movement.







It is ironic, yet sometimes the religious convictions of people



keep them from obeying G-d. The Aramaic-speaking Jews were even



slower than the Hellenists in obeying the Great Commission.



Perhaps they had so much accumulated traditional and theological



baggage and were so fixed in their own cultural location that



they could not change or adapt their strategy (as a sent-out



cross-cultural emissary of Moshiach's shlichut for people



culturally distant from themselves. To be fair, however, some



were called to stay within their own (Jewish) people group and



reach out to them (Gal. 2:7,9), and of these Shliach Kefa and



Yochanan eventually became emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut to



the Gentiles as well, because Yochanan later ministered in



Ephesus and Shliach Kefa in Rome.











Read 10:28-29 to see how G-d had to change the thinking of



monocultural emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut to make them



cross-cultural emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut. Because, under



the law of Moses, the Gentiles had to be circumcised to be clean,



Jews were not to visit



uncircumcised Gentiles (and thus cermonially defile themselves).



This was also a matter of religious pride, just as clergy would



not want to be seen visiting a house of prostitution for the



purpose of winning prostitutes to G-d, partly because of the way



it would look, that is, quite defiling to their reputation. But



in ch. 10 G-d convinces Shliach Kefa to obey him, and when the



Gentiles have the Ruach Hakodesh fall on them, Shliach Kefa makes



no qualitative differentiation between what happened to Jews in



Acts 2 and what happened to Gentiles in Acts 10 (see 10:44-48 and



11:15-17). In fact, for Shliach Kefa (and apparently for the



theologian Luke) tongues are the initial physical evidence



(notice the causal force of "gar" in Acts 10:46) for the tevilah



in the Ruach Hakodesh. (See Acts 15:8).











Ch. 11:19-26 is an important section for the light it might throw



on the identity of the author of Hebrews. Luke was, by reliable



tradition, from the Brit Chadasha kehillah in Antioch, Syria.



That would mean that he knew Barnabas personally. The kind things



he says about Barnabas here and in chapter 4 are probably



inserted lest Rav Sha'ul's split with him in ch. 15 cast an



aspersion on his character. "For he was a good man" in 11:24



leaves the impression that Barnabas may very well be dead by the



date Luke is writing. Since Barnabas and Apollos are two people



often asserted to be the author of Hebrews, by the process of



elimination Apollos becomes the more likely of the two. Luke is



very selective about whose names he mentions in the book of Acts.



The people he mentions are either authors of Scripture, key



prophets and pioneers in the early days of Messianic Judaism, or



associates of Shliach Sha'ul. Just being one of the 12 will not



get the history of your ministry included in Luke's book! The



main reason Apollos is mentioned in chs. 18 and 19 and at length



in I Cor. may very well be because he is an acknowledged prophet



and author of the book of Hebrews. We cannot be certain of this,



but it seems probable.







Ch. 12:24 gives a contributing factor in a revival: knowledge of



the Scriptures increases. Ch. 19:9-10 shows Shliach Sha'ul



starting a two-year school for active ministers, congregation



planters, kiruv outreach ministers, teachers, and emissaries of



Moshiach's shlichut. It was a Ruach Hakodesh Messianic Yeshivah



probably influenced by the type of education Shliach Sha'ul



himself received in Gamaliel's yeshiva (academy) in Jerusalem.



Very few institutions in the world today offer the type of



education that Shliach Sha'ul received, and yet the Bible says



that we are to follow Shliach Sha'ul as our example (I Cor. 11:1;



4:16; Phil. 3:17). Shliach Sha'ul studied with Gamaliel and



mastered the Hebrew text and the Messianic prophecies as a



trained scribe (copiest/technical Bible expert/teacher). When



Shliach Sha'ul completed his course of study under Gamaliel the



Elder (Acts 22:3), Shliach Sha'ul received s'micha or the laying



on of hands as authorization to teach and to transmit the rabbi's



traditions. Later, his technical learning gave him entree to



speak in every city where his travels took him. Shliach Sha'ul



was not merely a tent-maker. He was not only a man filled with



the Holy Spirit. He was a student of the Word who had a great



teacher. Apparently, Shliach Sha'ul gave s'micha to some of his



graduates because had they not been authorized by his ministry



school to preach as emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut and kiruv



outreach ministers and teachers, it is hard to understand how Rav



Sha'ul's activity in the school could have resulted in "all the



inhabitants of the province of Asia, both Jews and Gentiles"



being able to hear the Lord's message (notice the conjunction



"oste" introducing a result clause in Acts 19:10).







Look at 13:2-3. You must have a call to be a cross-cultural



minister of the Besuras Hageulah, and you should be sent or



acknowledged by a body of believers (see Rom. 10:15) who



recognize that you are equipped and properly trained. It was the



Holy Spirit who mt Shliach Sha'ul and Barnabas apart to be sent



out as ministers, but it was also a body of believers who



acknowledged this (see also I Tim. 4:14 for Timothy's s'micha).



Shliach Sha'ul and Barnabas were not merely self-appointed and



self-accountable and self-commissioned, but were under the



authority of a body of believers.







We must suit the style of our preaching to our audience, though



the basic content does not change. Compare 13:17f (a sermon



preached to a Jewish audience) and 17:23f (a sermon preached to a



Gentile audience).







Ch. 14:3 infers that G-d wants a few fearless preachers, and then



revival can break out in your area. Ch. 14:8-10 infers that we



should pray for the gifts of healing and then look for people who



have G-d-given faith to receive their healings. But, since G-d is



doing everything, and we are nothing, prayer is the key.







Notice ch. 14:23. The ministers who were sent out from Antioch



organized believers into groups and then returned and appointed



elders over them as G-d raised these up so that they could be



recognized within the local bodies. This is ordination. Then the



emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut went back and gave a report to



the sending body of believers (14:27-28).







Yeshu'at Eloheinu by the Chen v'Chesed Hashem (unmerited favor)



through emunah alone and not by works of the flesh or religion or



merit is the Besuras Hageulah that Shliach Sha'ul has to fight



for in ch. 15. Ch. 15:10-11 are key verses here against the



Galatians Judaizing heresy in 15:5-6.











Note how Timothy has to enculturate to win the target ethnic



population to which G-d has sent him--16:3.







Ch. 17:2 shows Shliach Sha'ul using his rabbinic education, his



talent and art as a rhetorician, and his knowledge of the



Scriptures. Elsewhere we see that he also used his secular



tent-making ability (18:3-4; 20:33-35) to earn a living, which



gave him capital to travel and economic independence, as well as



a traveling industry to pay his associates. These abilities,



plus his bilingual and writing gifts, as well as his Roman



citizenship, were all providential equipment from G-d, without



which he could not have done what he did in thirty years of



preaching, teaching, and writing: help to spread the Besuras



Hageulah throughout the entire Roman Empire.







Ch. 17:16-17 shows Shliach Sha'ul stirred up with indignation in



his heart against sin, which propelled him to preach. This



passage also shows Shliach Sha'ul experiencing what every foreign



emissary of Moshiach's shlichut experiences-- culture shock.



Notice the importance of debate in his ministry. Signs and



wonders are not all Shliach Sha'ul had to help him; he also



argued long and hard to win people to the Moshiach.





Notice that 20:7 indicates that they had Sunday meetings that



started on Saturday, because the Jews reckoned a day from dusk to



dusk. Thus both the Shabbos and the Lord's Day (I Cor. 16:2; Rev.



1:10) are on the primitive religious calendar. Indeed the



believers met daily (Acts 2:46). Messianic Muslims have the



liberty to meet on Friday because it is the Eternal Atonement



Day. Messianic Jews have the liberty to meet on Saturday (as is



the custom of all Messianic Jews in the book of Acts), for one



reason, because the Moshiach did not come to abolish the Law of



Moses (Mt. 5:17). Also Saturday evening is the beginning of



Sunday, the Eternal Resurrection Day. More than that, every day



is the day that the L-rd has made, and each person should be



convinced in his own mind, rather than be forced to submit to the



observance of days for their own sake (see Rom. 14:5-8).











Look at 20:24. Has G-d given you a mission, a shlichut such that



when you finish it you can die in peace?







Ch. 21:24 says that Shliach Sha'ul still regularly observed the



Law (see also 24:14). He did it not in order to be justified



before G-d on the basis of legalistic deserts. How could he have



avoided observing the Law if he desired to remain as a Jew to the



Jews, who by definition (at that time) observed the Law?







Ch. 22:21-22 is a key theme in Acts--the jealousy of the Jews,



their anger at the thought that G-d would choose the Gentiles to



share their religious privileges, and (to add injury to insult,



so to speak) give these religious privileges to the Gentiles free



as an act of unmerited favor, not on the proud basis of merit and



law-keeping deserts.







In ch. 27 G-d uses a hurricane and peril at sea to show that



Shliach Sha'ul is G-d's prophet (his obedient Jonah!), and,



ironically, that it is the Romans, and not his prophet Shliach



Sha'ul, who are on trial before the same bar of divine justice



that Pilate was ironically hauled in front of when he met



Moshiach Yehoshua at Pesach season C.E. 30.





Ch. 28:l4 says "And so we came to Rome." Luke has been driving



toward this sentence throughout his whole narrative. The maximum



length of protective custody was two years. Apparently Shliach



Sha'ul was released in 62/63 after two years of house arrest.



Luke stops the story there. He was rearrestd in 65-68, stood



trial again in Rome, and shortly after he wrote II Timothy, was



beheaded by order of Nero or his (supreme) court or delegated



authorities.











Solomon's Porch was probably on the east side of the Beis



Hamikdash, near the Beautiful Gate, where Shliach Kefa and



Yochanan ministered to the man lame from birth in Acts 3. The



Beautiful Gate led into the Women's Court, beyond which women



were not permitted. A shady area of roof supported by columns



surrounded the level courtyard. It was in this area, in the



portico called (King) Shlomo's that the first believers held



weekly open-air meetings within ear-shot of unbelievers. In this



regard, street preachers should remember that an



open-air preacher should not wear fine clothes (Mt. 11:7-8; Mark



1:6); every street sermon needs a baseline of humility. That is,



Yehoshua says (5:19), "Tell them how much the L-rd has done for



you, and what mercy He has shown you.

















ACTS 2:42









And they continued devotedly in the torah of the Moshiach's



Shluchim and the chavurah and the betzi'at halechem and the



davening of tevillos.



















MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL



TO THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH IN ROME

















It is C.E. 56/57 in Corinth, Greece. Shliach Sha'ul knows he may



be killed shortly in Jerusalem, but he feels compelled,



especially for the sake of the Jewish-Gentile world-wide body of



the L-rd's people, to risk the trip to Jerusalem anyway.



Therefore, if he may never make it to Rome personally, as had



been his ambition for many years, the next best thing to going



there is to send a complete summmary of his Besuras Hageulah. A



Greek-speaking deaconess from a nearby congregation named Phoebe,



was on hand and willing to make the perilous journey to deliver



the letter to the believers in Rome.











Because we know that Aquila and Priscilla were in Ephesus around



C.E. 55 (I Cor. 16:19) and in C.E. 65-68 (II Tim. 4:19), we do



not know for sure whether Rom. 16 is intended for them in Ephesus



(Phoebe stopping there along the way to Rome, delivering a copy



of Romans to the Ephesians) or in Rome, though many scholars,



perhaps lacking sufficient evidence, believe this couple is back



in Rome where they originated (Acts 18:2). In any case, Shliach



Sha'ul of course has no way of knowing that he himself will be in



Rome in less than three years and as a prisoner. This happens



just a little over four years before Nero has his famous fire set



in Rome (C.E. 64) and then blames the Roman believers for it and



starts his notorious persecution, in the course of which Shliach



Sha'ul and Shliach Kefa are eventually martyred according to



reliable tradition.







Some of the things Shliach Sha'ul says in the letter to the



Romans he has probably already said around eight or so years



before when he wrote Galatians (compare Gal. 3:6-9 to Rom.4).



However, when he wrote to the Galatians (probably from Antioch,



Syria around C.E. 48/49 just prior the Acts 15 Jerusalem



Council), Shliach Sha'ul was dealing with other matters.



Galatians was very likely the earliest of his canonical epistles,



and it had to be very polemical and self-defensive because



Judaizers were preaching a false Besuras Hageulah and were



calling Rav Sha'ul's status as a Shliach into question.



Therefore, a calmer exposition of the Besuras Hageulah itself was



needed, especially one that took a more comprehensive look at the



Jews and Gentiles as heirs of Abraham, in view of the fact that



Jews were already showing (in the more than twenty-five years



since the resurrection of the Moshiach) an amazing resistance to



the Besuras Hageulah, an unbelief that seemed to throw the



veracity of the Tanakh's promises to them into question. In fact,



their amazing unbelief seemed to throw doubt as well on the



credibility of Moshiach Yehoshua as the Moshiach of Israel and



even on the salvation of Israel itself. Shliach Sha'ul had to



explain all of this in terms of the Shluchim's authoritative



Besuras Hageulah he preached in all the Brit Chadasha kehillot.





Since some Gentiles were beginning to lose patience with the Jews



because of the persecutions caused by unbelieving Jews in the



synagogues, Rav Sha'ul needed to explain the fidelity of G-d, the



wrath of G-d, His righteousness as an unearnable gift, His



awesome election, and the need, therefore, to fear G-d in utter



humility rather than get proud and arrogant against those of the



Jewish people who were unbelieving.







For Rav Sha'ul's Besuras Hageulah proclaims that salvation is a



work that is G-d's work from first to last. The call of G-d's



unmerited favor, the mercy of his forgiving love, the gift of



aquittal and righteous status before his judgment throne, his



regenerating us by calling a new creation forth out of nothing



(see Rom. 4:17; 9:7-8), all this--in short, the Besuras Hageulah



--springs from G-d alone, disclosed to us in Abraham's faith (Gn.



15:6; Rom. 4:3,9,20-22), and revealed to us through saving faith



alone (Rom. 3:21-31). G-d's salvation is the work of G-d and not



of man and is altogether by emunah (faith) (Rom. 1:17; 3:28).



Romans 9:11-12 argues that G-d's salvation is a work solely of



G-d that leaves man with nothing to boast in. G-d's purpose in



alerting Rebecca that Jacob was chosen beforehand and selected as



a "vessel of mercy was to show that the basis of salvation is



unmerited favor rather than by "works of the law" (mitzvot or



ma'asim), which is a rabbinic expression. Works of the law were



not mere self-selected good deeds or acts of charity but were the



statutory works (supposedly 613 commandments by a later count),



the doing of which legalists among the Jews assumed would fulfill



the law and become the basis for justification and salvation (see



Rom. 9:31-33). Apparently this was Rav Sha'ul's "Besuras



Hageulah" when he was Saul the the persecutor (Phil. 3:2-9)



before he was regenerated on the Damascus Road and made into a



new creation as a gracious act of the One who was his enemy. Rav



Sha'ul's salvation and acquired righteous status before G-d's



judgment throne was completely apart from any priniciple of



deserts, wages, reward, debt, or obligation placed on G-d by



human effort (Rom. 3:28; 4:2-8) since Rav Sha'ul was a culpable



persecutor with a blind heart and a darkened understanding.



Legalistic religious merit-earning is impossible anyway, for no



one will be justified (acquited of guilt and pronounced



righteous) by deeds prescribed by the law (Rom. 3:20-21) for the



law only increases the knowledge of sin (3:20).







Romans 9:11-12 says that we are not saved by works but because of



Him who calls us. However, Col. 3:12 says, "As G-d's chosen ones,



clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness,



and patience." So G-d's call and election does require a human



response (II Shimon Kefa 1:10; Phil. 2:12), and man is



responsible before G-d for his own decisions. The Jacobs of the



world may have been chosen, but the Esaus of the world did sell



their birthright, "which is also what they were destined for" (I



Shimon Kefa 2:8). Therefore, Esau could not say to G-d, "Why have



you made me thus" (Rom. 9:20)? The Pharisees did "reject G-d's



purpose for themselves" (Luke 1:30) so G-d's gracious invitation



is not irresistible. Remember the rich young ruler? G-d desires



everyone to be saved (I Tim. 2:4) and takes no pleasure in the



death of the wicked (Ez. 33:11). Nevertheless, if anyone is



puffed up and thinks he is something because he has come to



salvation, through faith, let him be humbled in the fact that "as



many as had been destined or ordained (tasso meaning belong to,



be ordered among) for Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life) became



believers" (Acts 13:48). A man's salvation is not his own doing,



it is all of G-d (Yochanan 1:13; Rom. 8:29-30) and all of grace



(Eph. 2:8-9). Rom. 8:30 speaks of G-d's calling us, his summons



to us. It also speaks about his deciding beforehand (proorizo, to



meaning to predestine) which has to do with the eternal divine



determination of salvation. (See Ps. 139:16; Jer. 1:5; Gal. 1:15;



Eph. 1:4-5; I Th. 5:9; II Th. 2:13; Rev.l3:8; 17:8; Yochanan



6:44; Rom. 11:5). This doctrine should not lead us to boast



against those who lack faith, but rather to fear (Rom. 11:18-21)



and examine ourselves to see if our faith is real and alive and



active in love. True faith will compel us to witness, even if our



witnessing makes us suffer for the sake of the elect (Col. 1:24;



II Tim. 2:10), since how can they believe without a witness (Rom.



10:14)? This doctrine should not lead us into libertinism and



lethargy, since these very g-dless sins would themselves throw



our salvation into question (I Cor.6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-21; Mt.



24:42-51).





Shliach Sha'ul begins his Besuras Hageulah by placing everyone in



the world, Jews and Gentiles alike, guilty and condemned already



before the divine bar of justice--without excuse (anapologetous,



1:20; 2:1). Shliach Sha'ul declares that the Creator in his



creation is rationally knowable, capable of being known (gnoston



1:19) because his eternal power and divine nature shine forth to



the eye of reason (noeo to understand, 1:20) from His creation of



the cosmos (1:20). Moreover, man has an intuitive moral



awareness, not written down at the hand of Moses, but a nomos



agrafos, an unwritten law written on the heart. G-d has not left



himself without a witness of his will, because the existence of



this G-d-given moral law written on the heart is attested by the



law-regulated conduct of Gentile nations who don't possess the



law of Moses, and is also attested by the conscience, and by the



accusing or excusing thoughts of man (2:14-15). Therefore,



mankind knows he is worthy of death (1:32) when he refuses the



Creator the thanksgiving and service which is His due (1:21) and



instead knowingly (1:19,21, 28,32) affronts the divine majesty



with idolatrous acts of vileness (1:21-32) in the bondage of the



power of sin, even while he suppresses the truth in



unrighteousness (1:18).







The religious person is also under the power of sin (3:9). So



anyone, even a Jew knowledgeble enough to teach the ethics of



Torah, who condemns lesbians, homosexual offenders, and the whole



array of evil-doers in ch. 1, sure that these evil-doers, and not



he himself also, is lost--any religious person such as this--is



condemning himself as well (2:1), because knowing the good and



the proper thing to do is not enough. One must do the good (2:13,



25-27), something which is impossible for the aggregation of the



old humanity fallen from its original glory (3:23), also



impossible for anyone (3:9-23), Jew or Gentile, enslaved by the



law of sin (7:23) unless the effecting will (7:18) of the new



humanity in Moshiach Yehoshua the Moshiach is received from the



Father by means of the Ruach Hakodesh in a new birth (6:4) from



one humanity to the other (see chs. 5-7), with the result that



the power of sin is broken (6:1-7:25).







One must decide which cosmology to believe, Rav Sha'ul's or



modern evolutionists. Shliach Sha'ul says that sin entered the



world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way



death came to all men, because all sinned (Rom. 5:12).



Evolutionists say that the first hominids evolved over five



million years ago in Africa and that one branch of hominids,



called homo erectus, spread across the globe some time after 1.6



million years ago. Homo sapiens (the name given to the subspecies



we think of as modern humans) is said to have come from Africa



some time in the last 500,000 years. These scientists can't agree



as to whether the Neanderthal brutes are evolutionary



grandparents or only distant cousins of modern man. Of course,



these kinds of speculations are presented with more dogmatic



certainty than the evidence warrants. But the point is that in



such an unscriptural cosmology "Adam" didn't exist, much less sin



or introduce death. But if Shliach Sha'ul were wrong about the



first Adam, how can we trust what he says about the second Adam?



It is better to trust in the L-rd and not lean on one's own



understanding. None of the fossil remains of subhuman or hominid



species give infallible proof that these animals possessed a



complex culture or complex language or moral awareness or



awareness of G-d's glorious presence or any of the other



characeristics of Biblical mankind as depicted in Genesis 2-3.



And since the fossil record can by no means corroborate the



speculations of evolutionary theory (the fossil record lacks



transitional forms between the major kinds of living things), it



is folly to put one's trust in fantasies that try to pose as



scientific fact. However, since the Genesis account does not fix



the exact antiquity of either the universe or mankind, we cannot



be dogmatic about when the first man was created. However, we



must be dogmatic that there was a first man and that he did fall



from the goodness with which he was endowed at creation. Man did



not accidently come into existence nor is he gratuitously



evolving upward from the brute. Rather, in the Fall, man is



devolving inexorably downward toward the brute, and the number of



the Beast is 666 (Rev. 13:18).





The watery grave of Moshiach's tevilah is described in ch. 6.



Shliach Sha'ul says we must consider our old life of sin dead (a



deed man can't sin) and our new life risen in the newness of our



existence in the One who rose not only from the water but also



from the grave. Shliach Sha'ul emphasizes here that since it is



true that we are delivered from sin, we must act delivered (6:2).





The Besuras Hageulah is that G-d has provided a way for faith to



reach out and appropriate both release from condemnation (Rom.



8:l) and peace with G-d (Rom. 5:l). The law brings "knowledge of



sin," provides an occasion for disobedience, causes sin to be



"counted," and so results in death (3:20; 4:15; 5:12-14; 7:7-11)



but the free gift of G-d is Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life) through



Moshiach Yehoshua our L-rd (6:23).







No less a prestigious scholar than Ernst Kasemann (who is by no



means a Pentecostal) says in his exegetical commentary on Romans



that 8:26 is referring to speaking in tongues (see p. 240-242,



Commentary on Romans, Eerdmans, 1980).







In chs 9-11, Shliach Sha'ul deals with the problem of Israel's



unbelief, showing that a vast remnant of the Jewish people will



at last believe, and that it is only because of their unbelief



that G-d has dealt serverely with them. This should sober any



"believer" who thinks he has a privileged religious status and



can live any way he wants and "once saved always be saved." It



was precisely this presumptuousness that led to Israel's mining



out with G-d and Shliach Sha'ul specifically warns believers to



avoid this error (11:23). Shliach Sha'ul had learned only too



well that the proud religious Pharisee, certain of his election



to the point of presumption, had better not trifle with a G-d who



hardens or quickens whom He pleases according to His sovereign



choice (9:6-29).







The purpose of Moshiach's world shlichut is to provoke the



Gentiles to faith and the Jews to jealousy, so that by the



inclusion of the latter in the body of Moshiach will come the



resurrection of the dead and the fulness of the new age



(11:14-15). Therefore, a carnal hatred of Jews and Zionists



rather than a zeal for their salvation is the attitude of someone



so lost and in darkness that the very trigger of the new holy



age, the salvation of the Jews, is totally lost sight of.





Shliach Sha'ul concludes his letter by exhorting believers to



excel in the graces of a believer and to know and use the



spiritual gifts given, making real friends with the poor



(ch. 12), being obedient to duly constituted civil authority



(ch. 13), and showing mutual love and forbearance in regard to



disputed items like unkosher food, wine, etc (14:1-15:13) for the



sake of unity and the salvation of those for whom Moshiach



Yehoshua died. An important theme in Romans has to do with the



great peril of death threatening mankind, since death is not just



a natural phenomenon but the wages of sin and the wrath of G-d



that is revealed from heaven. It is impossible to preach with



power the deliverance of Moshiach Yehoshua who rescues us from



G-d's wrath/death sentence (I Thes. 1:10) unless one fully



understand this theme. See Rom. 5:12,15-19; Rom. 1:18,32; Rom



2:5,8; 3:5; 4:15,25; 5:9-10,14,21; 6:2-5, 9-10,13,16,21,23;



7:4-5,10-11,,13, 24; 8:1-2,6,13,36,38; 9:22; 12:19 13:4; 14:7. It



is the death of the Moshiach that absorbs the wrath against us



and reconciles us to G-d (5:10) so that death is gain and to



depart and be with Moshiach is far better (Phil. 1:21,23).















MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL



TO THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH IN CORINTH (I)

















Shliach Sha'ul writes I Corinthians roughly C.E. 55 from Ephesus.



While on his second emissary of Moshiach's shlichut journey (C.E.



50-52) Shliach Sha'ul had spent some time with Aquila and



Priscilla in Corinth. An important synagogue leader named Crispus



and his household had surprised the local Jewish congregation by



becoming believers. A rather substantial messianic congregation



came into existence during Rav Sha'ul's year and a half stay



there in Corinth starting around C.E. 50-51 (at which time he



wrote I and II Thessalonians).







We are told he set up a rival messianic synagogue in the house of



a regenerated G-d-fearer (formerly a Gentile follower of Judaism



but uncircumcised) named Titius Justus right next door to where



the unbelieving Jews were meeting in their synagogue (Acts 18:7).



Shliach Sha'ul was very weak and fearful at this time (I Cor.



2:3) but Silas and Timothy arrived with good news about the



Thessalonian congregation (I Thes. 3:6) and Shliach Sha'ul



received a vision assuring him of protection and of many souls



(Acts 18:9-11), so Shliach Sha'ul began to preach with great



power and an impressive revival began.







Then, after Aquila and Priscilla moved their base of operations



to Ephesus, the capital of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), Apollos



(the probable author of Hebrews) joined Aquila and Priscilla for



a time and then left for Corinth. Meanwhile, Shliach Sha'ul



arrived in Ephesus and established a Messianic yeshiva for



raising up new Messianic ministries all over the area. During



this two-year period (ca. C.E. 53-55), as he held his discussions



daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus, he sent a letter (now



lost) to the Brit Chadasha kehillah in Corinth by the hands of



Timothy urging the Corinthians not to associate with immoral men



(I Cor. 5:9-11). A reply to his letter was delivered to Rav



Sha'ul at Ephesus by a group from Corinth including Stephanas,



Fortunatus, and Achaicus. This letter apparently took exception



to Rav Sha'ul's teachings and posed certain questions to Shliach



Sha'ul regarding marriage and singleness, food sacrificed to



idols, spiritual gifts, and the special Moshiach's shlichut



offering (cf. Gal. 2:10) for the Messianic Jews in Israel that



Shliach Sha'ul was collecting. Shliach Sha'ul then dictated this



letter known as I Corinthians sometime between 54 and 56 C.E.



Shliach Sha'ul had been alerted from travellers (the household of



a woman named Chloe) between Corinth and Ephesus that there were



religious divisions or factions in the Brit Chadasha kehillah



based on the prideful tendency to make heroes of men. These



personality cults threatened to destroy the community itself



(chs. 1-4). One clique championed Apollos, another Shliach Kefa,



another Shliach Sha'ul, and one seemed to turn its nose up at any



preacher and place Moshiach (as they defined him) at the head of



their schismatic party. The Corinthians seemed to consider



themselves gifts to their teachers; they did not see that the



teachers were in fact gifts to them. Comparing teacher to



teacher, they did not realize that it is the Moshiach, not any



mere human, who is "wisdom from G-d" (and much else--see 1:30).



Shliach Sha'ul also heard something else that disturbed him--a



case of incest was going on unchallenged (ch. 5). Also there were



court cases between believers (6:1-8) bringing scandal on the



Brit Chadasha kehillah in the eyes of outsiders. Not only that,



certain libertines were abusing the freedom of believers by



indulging in fornication 6:9-20), and there was charismatic chaos



in the Brit Chadasha kehillah which had even disrupted the



reverent decorum demanded by the Moshiach's Tish (chs. 11-15).



Women were apparently at fault in this, too, manifesting



insubordination, and shouting out questions to their husbands and



lacking modesty and proper respect in their dress.







There were some who thought themselves prophets and therefore saw



no need to be concerned about whatever authority, as Shliach to



the Gentiles, that Shliach Sha'ul might try to assert. Some



wanted to speak in tongues all the time in the services and some



lacked all fear of G-d when they came to the Moshiach's Tish, not



bothering to make teshuva beforehand of sensual disobedience and



self-important rebellion. Some were only too quick to downgrade



Shliach Sha'ul and look with awe on certain "super-shluchim" from



Jerusalem who, unlike Shliach Sha'ul, made stiff financial



demands and didn't work with their hands but were "brilliant"



rhetoricians and seemed on the verge of taking advantage of Rav



Sha'ul's absence to "camp out" on his ministry and disconnect him



from the affections of the Corinthians (9:1-7 and see II Cor.



11:5-6).







Among this hodge-podge of rebels were some who taught an



over-realized eschatology where they were already reigning (not



suffering like Rav Sha'ul) as kings with immortal souls (4:8).



Therefore, such mundane and materialistic considerations as



poverty, illness, hardship, and tribulation were things not to be



reckoned with by such charismatic "kings" as themselves (nor a



future bodily resurrection either--15:12)! What mattered was the



charismatic now of ecstasy,and the rapturous escape from mundane



suffering, and the hype of awesome teachers who swept these



Corinthians off their hyper-charismatic feet. The foolish idea



(1:18) that true believers are suffering servants of the



Suffering Servant (if we suffer with him now we will reign with



him later--Phil. 1:29; II Tim. 2:11-12; II Cor. 1:5) seems to



have been unimpressive to these Corinthians, as was Shliach



Sha'ul himself. And the idea that we will be vindicated only at



the future resurrection of the dead was not a palatable idea for



preaching to Greek audiences. Much more attractive was the notion



that true believers were already transformed and even now living



in a new age which allows no place for suffering now and no need



for a future resurrection of the body later.







Notice, however, Shliach Sha'ul anticipated an overly



enthusiastic anti-charismatic backlash because he specifically



warns against forbidding (either tacitly or bluntly) speaking in



tongues and quenching the Spirit in the area of prophesying (I



Cor. 11:39-40). Therefore, Shliach Sha'ul is saying, you



rebellious super-charismatics and also you anti-charismatics,



both of you stay together in unity and make sure you find the



balance in heeding the authority of the Scriptures! Is the L-rd's



house nothing but giving a message in tongues? Is the L-rd's



house nothing but giving the interpretation? Is the L-rd's house



nothing but people getting healed? Allow diversity of the gifts,



Shliach Sha'ul is saying (see 12:29-31); he is not arguing that



these gifts are impossible for some to attain, as I Cor. 14:26



shows.







There seems to have been a large host of teachers (4:15) living



off the fat of this large congregation, including a few "sabra



snobs" (men whom Shliach Sha'ul sarcastically calls



"super-Shluchim" in II Cor. 11) who presumed on the fact that



they were ethnically Jewish, and were coming in to attempt to



mutineer Rav Sha'ul's mission field away from him in his absence,



making subtle and not so subtle innuendos undercutting Rav



Sha'ul's perogatives as a shliach and attempting to establish



their own (see I Cor. 9 and II Cor. 11).







There was a tendency toward intellectual pretension in Corinth,



though the people themselves were hardly philosophers. A certain



incipient Gnostic tendency to see salvation as something acquired



by knowledge was already in the Brit Chadasha kehillah. The



people were being puffed up by a merely human wisdom that was not



from the Spirit. The later Gnostics taught that matter was evil,



and this premise led some to a life of forced celibacy while



others became promiscuous sexually, seeing the body, as opposed



to the spirit, as an indifferent issue, the undefiled spirit



alone being considered important. Against such antinomian



amorality, Shliach Sha'ul warns if someone claims to be a



believer and is immoral or an idolater or greedy or drunken



(5:9-11), he or she must be expelled from the congregation (I



Cor. 5:2). Note the sins of 6:9-10 and the fearful wage they earn



and are paid: Gehinnom!







Some in Corinth reasoned that since an idol is "nothing" (I Cor.



8:4), believers have the freedom to join the heathen in using



pagan forms of idol worship with an easy conscience. But Shliach



Sha'ul warns about the brother who is ruined by watching such a



bad example (I Cor. 8:10-11). Shliach Sha'ul also views the body



as made for the L-rd and for the resurrection, and these twin



ideas lead to the Rav Sha'uline teaching on liberty and holiness.



The whole epistle of I Corinthians is a wonderful exposition of



divine wisdom on the difference between freedom and license as



these impinge on koinonia (fellowship) between brethren and the



Moshiach in all areas of life.







The advantage of celibacy--for those who need not marry to avoid



burning with inward desire (7:9)--is not in the superiority of



asceticism over marriage, but in the greater freedom the single



person has to please the L-rd (without the often conflicting



demand to please the spouse). Notice also that married people



will have trouble in this life (7:28) whereas the widow who does



not remarry is happier in Rav Sha'ul's opinion (7:40). He is



basing this assessment on eschatological reality: the new Adam is



already alive from the dead and in him the new humanity of the



new holy age (where ultimately people are neither married nor



given in marriage-Mk. 12:25) is already spiritually alive from



the dead and is ready to appear at any moment; therefore, since



the form of this age is passing away (7:31), even those who have



wives should come up to speed with reality and live as though



they had none (7:29), which means serving the L-rd with



singleminded passion, and not in denying conjugal rights (7:3-5).



The great crisis that is coming on the world, especially the



Great Tribulation, makes the unmarried person's lot seem



especially attractive to Shliach Sha'ul (7:26; see Mt. 24:19).







This book was written to correct the false doctrine of



super-charismatics and anti-charismatic reactionaries and also



those who are ignorantly overawed by anyone with the 1st century



equivalent of a Ph.D. in Philosophy or Rhetoric, especially a



philosopher who says "the dead are not raised" (see 15:12).



There was jealousy and strife and quarreling in the congregation



and schisms based on hero worship and the narrow-minded tendency



to divide into factions. There were puffed-up, arrogant "eloquent



teachers" who had a rebellious and independent attitude toward



Shliach Sha'ul (see end of chapter 4).







The eschatological perspective that colors the whole epistle is



10:11. Has "the end of the ages" dawned on your life? Does that



time perspective color all your thinking and priorities? If it



doesn't you are an "infant" in Moshiach, a carnal believer,



according to Shliach Sha'ul, and you will not agree with him when



he gets down to the touchy business of divorce and remarriage and



other matters--see I Cor. 7:11.







The charismatic "word" (1:5) and "knowledge" (1:5) gifts are part



of the way the testimony of Rav Sha'ul's Besuras Hageulah was



confirmed in the Corinthian congregation. Rav Sha'ul's preaching



was with the demonstration of the Ruach Hakodesh--2:4. Shliach



Sha'ul signals in 1:5, at the very beginning of the iggeret, that



the gifts of the Ruach Hakodesh have been an enrichment (1:5) to



the congregation and that Shliach Sha'ul is for and not again at



the charismatic gifts (1:7). We will see later that he insists on



intelligibility and order in the use of the gifts, but he



commands that they not be quenched or outlawed or despised by the



anti-charismatic reactionaries. Rav



Sha'ul's remarks on the Moshiach being the only ground of



boasting because He is the only true wisdom are based on the



Hebrew Bible. Proverbs 8:30 and 30:4 and Psalm 107:20 and 33:6



are important pictures of G-d's wisdom and its saving activity.



The saving, creative primordial Wisdom at G-d's side, Wisdom the



Ben HaElohim (Proverbs 30:4) of the Tanakh, the chochmah of the



Biblical Wisdom Literature (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ya'akov)



Shliach Sha'ul sees as none other than Moshiach Yehoshua. Shliach



Sha'ul is saying, "Stop the quarreling and boasting in mere human



rhetorical and worldly, carnal wisdom and stop forming schisms or



divisions (1:10,11:18) around these infantile considerations, and



consider this: that the so-called wisdom of Greek philosophers



and Jewish rabbis has been brought to nothing by the folly of



G-d's wisdom, which is the death and resurrection of the Moshiach



and the turning point of the ages at His Aitz and empty tomb,



where G-d decisively judges and brings to an end the present age



(see on this Gordon Fee's commentary on I Corinthians, Eerdmans



Publishers, 1987). In view of this act of G-d, everyone is in



one of two categories--the "perishing" or "those being saved."











The message may be a scandal or an offense to Jews ("What? Our



President executed in the electric chair by a foreign government



at the request of our wisest leaders?"). The message may be folly



or madness to Greeks ("What? a G-d who came to earth and



inadvertently got himself nailed up by his worshippers?") but you



have to be called to get the message, Shliach Sha'ul is saying in



1:23-24, and the message you get is the power of G-d confirmed



even by charismatic gifts in operation in the body (1:5-6; 12:8),



though all things must be done decently and in order, and in the



interest of intelligibility lest outsiders say "you are mad."



(Deliverance Brit Chadasha kehillot that want to turn the whole



worship service into an exorcism could also learn something from



I Cor. 14:23.)







G-d intends to make fools out of everyone on earth and even the



"fools" G-d chose for salvation have to become fools for Moshiach



in order to become wise, because Moshiach resurrected from a



foolish Aitz is the only real wisdom and righteousness and



sanctification and redemption. One spiritual gift in I



Corinthians is the gift of Shliach (12:28). The Shliach lays the



foundation of the new kehillah. The Shliach plants the



congregation (4:15), the navi waters the new planting, the



spiritual leader oversees or inspects its growth, the kiruv



outreach minister builds it up with new-born growth from the



world, and the teacher edifies the new planting in the Word.



Actually G-d does all these things but he uses his gifts to



accomplish his work.







Shliach Sha'ul believed in a millenium. See 6:2 and compare with



Rev. 20:4, Mt. 19:28; Lu 22:30.







The kohen-like "ritual eating" of the L-rd's Supper requires



teshuva (see Lv. 7:20-21). Relate this to "eating and



drinking condemnation of yourself" in I Cor. 11:29.







I Cor. 15 says that the Besuras Hageulah is that the Moshiach



died, was buried, and was raised on the third day, according to



the Scriptures. What Scriptures? Leviticus 9 promises the



glorious Presence of the L-rd will appear to you if the enjoined



sacrifice is accepted (9:1,5-7, 23); Yehoshua is the Word of



G-d's Presence appearing among us as Immanuel (G-d-with-us). This



promise pertains to "the eighth day," symbolizing the first day



of the B'ria Chadasha, the day after the Seventh Day or Shabbos.



For more specific references to the Third Day as the time of



eschatologlcal theophany, see Ex. 19:11,18 and eschatological



Techiyas HaMesim (see Hosea 6:2). There are according to the



Bible three types of people: a person who is not devoid of the



Holy Spirit and is therefore a believer, in fact a mature



believer--I Cor. 2:6--capable of assimilating holy wisdom); a



person devoid of the Holy Spirit who is a mere "natural man" and



therefore "does not receive the things of the Spirit"--I Cor.



2:14); a person who has the Holy Spirit but acts like a natural



man because he is stunted in growth and is a mere infant in the



L-rd and can only imbibe the milk of the Word.





There were some aberrant teachers in Corinth who tried to assert



another (inadmissible) category of person, the pneumatiki, the



Spiritual ones. These Greeks were among those causing, reproach



among outsiders by splitting the congregation into philosophical



factions and settling Brit Chadasha kehillah disputes in secular



courts and also creating disorder in the charismatic



congregational meetings. These Greek teachers were against Rav



Sha'ul's doctrines. They denied the future resurrection of the



body (I Cor. 15:12) and claimed on the basis of their Spiritual



gifts to have arrived at the Eschaton or Future Age already (I



Cor. 4:8), already to have possessed all wisdom (I Cor. 4:l0),



denigrating present physical existence, not becoming at all



perturbed by the presence of an incestuous man in their



membership (I Cor. 5), and including among their numbers certain



eschatological "women who refused relations with their



husbands...in effect sending them either to get a divorce or to



go to the prostitutes (I Cor. 6-7). Rav Sha'ul's letter is meant



to set these independent-minded and arrogant people straight and



to reassert Rav Sha'ul's authority as Moshiach's Shliach to build



up the Kehillah.









GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (I Cor.12:8-l0)







-word of wisdom: see Acts 16:7;



-word of knowledge: see Acts 5:1-10;



-faith: see Luke 7:7-9, for an example of mountain-moving



(Mt.17:20) faith; -gifts of healings: see Acts 3:6-16;



-workings of miraculous powers: see Yochanan 11:42-43;



-prophecy: see I Kings 17:1;



-discerning of spirits: see I Kings 22:22;



-gift of tongues: see I Cor. 14:6;



-interpretation of tongues: see I Cor. 14:13;























MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL



TO THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH IN CORINTH (II)















Shliach Sha'ul has just undergone horrendous tribulation and has



almost been killed in Ephesus. Apollos (the probably author of



Hebrews) was with Shliach Sha'ul in Ephesus when Shliach Sha'ul



wrote I Corinthians. The scholar Hugh Montefiore believes that



Apollos wrote the Book of Hebrews and sent it to Corinth from



Ephesus before Shliach Sha'ul wrote I Corinthians in the C.E. mid



50's. This is indeed possible. II Corinthians is written shortly



after I Corinthians, both epistles probably being written C.E.



55/56, I Corinthians written from Ephesus, II Corinthians



probably from Macedonia (see II Cor. 2:13; 7:5). Shliach Sha'ul



planted congregations in Macedonia in Philippi and Thessalonica.







In II Corinthians, carnal or worldly wisdom is still a focus of



his attack as it was in 1 Corinthians. See sofia sarkike in I



Corinthians 1:12.







As we will prove when we get to Galatians, it is the regenerate



community of the redeemed who are sealed (sphragisamenos--II Cor.



1:22) as are the 144,000 sealed before the Great Tribulation



(Rev. 7:4--see the same Greek word), because both are the



eschatological Israel of G-d of Galatians 6:16, a term of such



ultimate end-time magnitude that it will exclude neither national



Israel (Rom. 11:26-27) nor the Jewish remnant throughout the ages



nor the remnant of regenerated, righteous Gentiles.







3:14-18 and 4:1-6 describes the uncircumcised heart.







5:10 tells why we must be absolutely holy and blameless in the



body. Also we must always avoid the Greek tendency to separate



the spiritual side of our lives from the physical; and that means



we must be holy and blameless in spirit and in body.



Can you become an shliach? Not all the Shluchim saw the L-rd (see



8:23). There are still shluchim in that sense of



congregation-planters today. Have you been called and set apart



by a body to go out and collect at least 2 or more witnesses



together every week in His Name to celebrate the Word and make



talmidim? The seal of your Shlichut (to prove you are a shliach)



will be the congregation you establish (I Cor. 9:2).







Chapters 11 and 12 I use almost verbatim at times in The Rabbi



From Tarsus (VHS Home Video, Word, Inc, 1986).? In this passage



Shliach Sha'ul attacks the "super-shluchim" who come from



Jerusalem and try to undermine Rav Sha'ul's preaching.





Chapters 11 and 12 are the most autobiographical parts of Rav



Sha'ul's writings. Here as in Galatians we can see shades of



Jeremiah in Shliach Sha'ul, who consciously uses some of



Jeremiah's diction.







After sending the letter called I Corinthians from Ephesus,



Shliach Sha'ul felt the state of the Brit Chadasha kehillah was



so chaotic that sending Timothy was not enough (Timothy may have



been ill-treated during his visit) and that it was obligitory



that the shliach himself make a personal visit to Corinth.



Unfortunately, there he was opposed by someone who, it seems,



rejected Rav Sha'ul's authority as Moshiach's Shliach and caused



a great deal of pain (II Cor. 2:1,5) which necessitated Rav



Sha'ul's tactical retreat (he wanted to give them time to get



their house in order before more serious censure was necessary).



Shliach Sha'ul rebuked the congregation and withdrew to Ephesus



where he wrote a severe letter (now lost) to the Corinthians.



This lost letter of ultimatum Shliach Sha'ul sent by the hand of



Titus (who appears to have been less timid than Timothy). After a



trip to Troas (part of modern Turkey) and Macedonia (part of this



area is in modern Greece, ancient Macedonia being where the Brit



Chadasha kehillot at Philippi and Thessalanica were located),



Shliach Sha'ul finally located Titus, extremely anxious to hear



if the Corinthian congregation was reconciled to Shliach Sha'ul



as a result of his "sorrowful" letter. Relieved that the majority



were repentant but apparently also somewhat angered that a



stubborn nest of opposition to Rav Sha'ul's Shlichut still



remained as a minority in the congregation, Shliach Sha'ul wrote



this letter (our II Corinthians) and sent it by the hand of Titus



C.E. 55/56 in order that the rebels could be completely



neutralized and the Moshiach's Shlichut offering for the poor



Jewish Messianic Kedoshim in Israel could be raised and prepared



for Shliach Sha'ul when he arrived there on his way to Jerusalem



(see on this II Cor. chs. 8-9; Rom. 15:25-28; I Cor. 16:1-4; Gal.



2:6-10).







Apparently, though he was much relieved that the majority were



coming around to him, Shliach Sha'ul felt he should include in II



Corinthians more warnings comparable to what he said in I Cor.



4:18-21. The corps of liberal rebels in Corinth opposed Shliach



Sha'ul by criticizing his wisdom as inferior, his attitude as



despicably meek, his personal demeanor as weak, his rhetorical



ability as a speaker of no account, his planning as full of



vacillation, his demeanor too emotional, his fund-raiuing too



exacting, his letters too disturbing, his claims too boastful,



his demand for separation unto holiness too restrictive, and his



refusal to accept financial help too unprofessional and even



unloving. But Shliach Sha'ul reminded the Corinthians that those



who would criticize him lacked his endurance in suffering or his



charismatic power to do the signs and wonders that were the works



of an Shliach (see II Cor. 12:12). Notice how he repeats the



warning from I Cor. 4:18-21 in II Cor. 12:20-13:3,9-10. Ch.



13:l-10 states the purpose for the letter. Certain rebels had



been putting Shliach Sha'ul to the test, doubting that the risen



Moshiach was speaking through him (13:3), and now he commands



them to test themselves and repent, because when he comes he will



put anyone under the ban who is living immorally under a cloak of



critical arrogance (see also Yehuda 16 on sexually immoral "fault



finders").







Part of Rav Sha'ul's credentials as a real emissary from the



Moshiach and L-rd was the Moshiach-like suffering he had endured



(see 4:8-10; 6:4-10; 11:23-33; 12:10). The Corinthians had



interpreted this as weakness and had been more impressed with



certain "super-Shluchim" who demanded first class treatment and



were lording it over the Brit Chadasha kehillah in a



heavy-handed, yet rhetorically gifted, way. Shliach Sha'ul was



not impressed with mere ear-tickling words. If the Risen L-rd was



with these Jewish superstars from Jerusalem, where was their Aitz



of meekness and suffering and self-denial and where were their



charismatic signs and wonders? Apparently they acted in an



insolent way to Shliach Sha'ul and tried to steal the



congregation, poisoning the people against Shliach Sha'ul so they



could boast in another man's labor (10:15; 11:20). He was not



afraid of them and was ready to confront them and unmask their



false front. They were evil workmen and false Shluchim,



emissaries of Hasatan--that eloquent liar who is leading the



whole world into his seductive delusion and destruction. Like the



Snake in the Garden with his designs on that virgin Eve, these



insolent false Shluchim have a cunning plan to corrupt the



Corinthian congregation whom Shliach Sha'ul has wedded in



covenant freedom to G-d, by enslaving the Corinthians to



themselves and to another Moshiach Yehoshua, not the Moshiach



Yehoshua who sets us free from insolent money-grubbing and



ruthless Brit Chadasha kehillah political coups d'etat. No, these



super Jewish Shluchim preach another Moshiach Yehoshua (11:4)



which is a fraud of their own devising, one that is suitable to



their own lucrative (2:37) Besuras Hageulah, a different Besuras



Hageulah that offers a different spirit.







In another place (II Thes. 2:11) Shliach Sha'ul speaks of a



powerful delusion people receive who reject the sanctifying



Spirit of G-d and the love of the truth. This demonic and



deceiving spirit can be received when a false Besuras Hageulah



with a false Moshiach Yehoshua is believed in. These Shluchim



were false precisely because their "Yehoshua" was false, making



their basis of authority false. The Ruach Hakodesh of G-d leads a



true Shliach to declare that the true Moshiach Yehoshua, humbled



in mavet, exalted in his Techiyas HaMesim, is Adoneinu (I Cor.



12:3). Anyone preaching a different Moshiach Yehoshua in a



different spirit is not from G-d. Such a man is a false Shliach



sent not by G-d but by Hasatan. Shliach Sha'ul was determined to



confront these men who were taking advantage of the serious



rebellion in the Corinthian congregation to try to move in and



cut Shliach Sha'ul off, asserting their own different Besuras



Hageulah and spirit and "Moshiach Yehoshua" in order to



commandeer the congregation in a different direction away from



Rav Sha'ul's teaching. Shliach Sha'ul was determined that the



people he had won to the L-rd know how to judge a true Shliach



and how to judge whether they were walking in the faith.







What was the thorn in Rav Sha'ul's flesh of 12:6-7? We do not



know. But it was probably some physical weakness that was both



humiliating and demonically incited. G-d allowed it because it



kept Shliach Sha'ul from becoming conceited as a result of all



the revelations and heavenly wisdom he received from G-d, and



therefore G-d did not take this condition away from him. Gal.



4:15 speaks of an infirmity that may have had to do with Rav



Sha'ul's vision or problem with it (see also the possible vision



problem implied in Gal. 6:11). This certainly would have been



humbling, to go around the world claiming to have seen the L-rd



on the Damascus Road and to have had visions beyond any mortal



who ever lived, and yet be plagued with attacks where he had



trouble even seeing as well as a normal person. But this is



speculative, and we will never know the exact malady. The point



is G-d often gives a counter-balancing "thorn" along with



exultant privilege, and he does it for a reason that works



together for good for us (Rom. 3:21), because he loves us and



doesn't want us to become conceited or to get so strong in



ourselves that we forget our total dependence and competence is



from Him (3:4-6; 12:7-10).







A Messianic minister who must raise funds for the L-rd's work



should study carefully 8:1-9:15.





As Shliach Sha'ul writes this letter he has just had a brush with



death (probably nearly being killed in Ephesus) and is filled



with comfort and joy in the L-rd (see ch. 1) as he meditates on



the ministry, on the subject of death as it affects a believer,



and on the new creation and the Brit Chadasha. See chapters 3-5.



esp. 5:17.























MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL



TO THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH IN GALATIA

















The Brit Chadasha kehillot mentioned by Luke in Acts 13 and 14



lie within the Roman province of Galatia. If Shliach Sha'ul wrote



his letter to the Galatians from Antioch, Syria around 48/49



subsequent to his first emissary of Moshiach's shlichut journey



and just prior to the Jerusalem Council to resolve the Judaizing



question, then this letter is Rav Sha'ul's first epistle and the



following synchronization between Acts and Galatians is possible:



Gal. 1:18-24 - Acts 9:23-30; II Cor. 11:32 (ca.C.E.35/36); Gal.



2:1-10 = Acts 11:30; 12:25 (C.E. 46)







The reason, according to this chronology, that the extremely



relevant Jerusalem Council decisions of Acts 15 are not mentioned



in Rav Sha'ul's letter to the Galatians is that the Jerusalem



Council has not yet convened when Rav Sha'ul's letter was



written.



Beginning with Acts 13:14 we read of certain peoples that Shliach



Sha'ul and Barnabus reached out to in 47-48 C.E. in what is now



modern Turkey. Then in Acts 15:1 we hear of certain Pharisees who



were travelling around from Jerusalem and teaching that there was



no salvation from Gehinnom without circumcision. Now Shliach



Sha'ul was a Pharisee. He knew all about a legalistic religion



based on merit and the notion that religious ritual and good



works could lead one to salvation. Also he knew that to accept



the burden of circumcision meant to take on the obligation of all



the ceremonial and legal commands of Moses (Gal. 5:3).







But on the road to Damascus, Shliach Sha'ul had received a



different kind of circumcision. The downward pull of his old



nature had been cut free and a living Law, Yehoshua the Word of



G-d, had written himself on the tablets of Rav Sha'ul's heart by



the Spirit of G-d. Now it was no longer the old, stoney-hearted,



unregenerate Pharisee Saul who lives but the risen Moshiach



Yehoshua who lives and reigns in Shliach Sha'ul (on the new



creation, see Gal. 6:l4-l5; II Cor.3:18; 4:16; 5:17; 13:5). The



Shliach had seen on the Damascus Road that the dead letter of the



old legalistic religion could never create new spiritual life in



him as Ha'Av had done through the risen Moshiach and the Ruach



Hakodesh (see the formula for G-d as HaAv, HaBen, and HaRuach



HaKodesh in II Cor. 13:13; cf. Mt. 28:19). Only the living Word



Yehoshua the Moshiach could make Shliach Sha'ul into a new



creation. Therefore, the proud legalist was now dead, and, as a



new creation rabbi, could never preach mere legalisms again (Gal.



5:11) again. Now Shliach Sha'ul must preach only the Moshiach



alive and able to forgive our sins and give us new spiritual life



by his death and resurrection in our place.







The message of Galatians clarifies the authentic Besuras Hageulah



of the Moshiach. The ceremonies and specific legal rules G-d



imposed on the Jews during the era of Law under Moses were never



intended to eclipse the new Torah (teaching) meant to go into



effect when the Moshiach came. The purpose of the Law of Moses



was to be a pointer to sin and to the righteous way of Abraham:



faith. The Law was not meant to distract the Jewish people from



the teaching of the Moshiach when he came and ushered in the era



of the Spirit, when all nations, not just the Jewish nation, were



to be made students (disciples) of his Torah, his Messianic



teaching. Those who had ears to hear Deuteronomy 18:18-19, Isaiah



42:4, and Jeremiah 31:31-34 could understand this. Shliach



Sha'ul knew these Scripture: as a trained rabbi, but he had to be



regenerated to understand them (I Cor. 2:14). When he was filled



with the Holy Spirit and became a prophet, he was not ignorant of



the signs of the times or of the proper interpretation of the



Word of G-d. A new era had begun and the teaching of the



Moshiach through his Shluchim must not take a back seat to the



Law of Moses. If that happened, whatever



eclipsed the true Besuras Hageulah, whatever ceremonies or



religious rules were thrust forward to take preeminence over the



Moshiach's message, whatever teachings might be set forth in



competition to the Besuras Hageulah, would be the legalisms and



teachings of a different Besuras Hageulah and would therefore be



accursed, even if offered by an angel from heaven (1:8), even



Gabriel himself. (Muslims should take note here.).







Therefore, when certain Jewish legalists visited the Galatian



congregations and taught these Gentiles that they had to get



themselves circumcised and keep Jewish observances and rules to



be saved, this poisonous heresy demanded the strongest possible



antidote. Shliach Sha'ulis shocked, he writes, that they are so



quickly changing to another Besuras Hageulah, which isn't a



Besuras Hageulah at all and there will be hell to pay for its



perpetrators (1:6-10).







In 1:11-2:10 Shliach Sha'ul declares that G-d himself gave him



the true Besuras Hageulah of Chesed; no man gave this message to



him. Shliach Sha'ul persecuted the early preachers of Yehoshua



until the risen Moshiach, the death-conquering Word of G-d,



stopped Rav Sha'ul and gave him the true Besuras Hageulah to



preach, which the other Shluchim in Jerusalem approved as



correct.







So if anyone claims to be a prophet and wants to preach the



Besuras Hageulah, he ought to recognize that what Shliach Sha'ul



is telling the Galatians is from the L-rd. Unless he recognizes



this, his preaching should not be recognized (I Cor. 14:37-38).







The Shluchim in the early days had divided up the Shlichut under



the leading of Adonoi. Shliach Kefa and Yochanan and Ya'akov



agreed to preach to the Jews. Shliach Sha'ul and Barnabus agreed



to leave Israel and go to the Gentiles all over the world, and to



send an offering for the poor Messianic Jewish believers in the



Holy Land. However, since fellowship with Gentiles was thought to



be defiling to a Jew, Shliach Kefa was afraid of getting the



Jewish believers in Moshiach Yehoshua angry, so when he came to



Antioch in Syria, Shliach Sha'ul had to rebuke him for



withdrawing from table fellowship with his Gentile brothers in



the L-rd. Shliach Sha'ul tells this story (2:11-14) to prove that



his own status as a Shliach was in no way inferior to Shliach



Kefa's. The Galatians had better listen to him then and have



nothing to do with the Judaizing false prophets who have come to



them preaching a different Besuras Hageulah and apparently



disparaging Rav Sha'ul's credentials as a Shliach. What is the



true Besuras Hageulah? Can a man put his faith in keeping the



religious laws of any prophet, Moses or whomever, and be forgiven



and regarded as right with G-d? Or will G-d credit us as being



righteous if we forsake salvation through law-keeping and put our



faith in Moshiach Yehoshua the Moshiach?







Shliach Sha'ul explains the Besuras Hageulah in the first person



in Romans 7. But here it is also helpful. Moshiach Yehoshua



took the penalty of the law when he died for my sin, and since



G-d sees me as dead with Moshiach Yehoshua (law does not apply to



dead men) and alive in his new life of righteousness, I am free.



To try to keep laws to be saved would mean the Moshiach died for



nothing. In that case I would no longer be free but under the



law's condemnation. (See 2:17-21 and 3:10-14).







Stop being foolish, Shliach Sha'ul is saying! New life in the



Ruach Hakodesh and miracles do not come by endless legalisms but



by having faith (3:1-5)! Look at Abraham. The Law was not given



to Moses until 430 years after Abraham. And Law requires works,



but Abraham hadn't done any when G-d looked at his faith and



regarded him as righteous. Moshiach Yehoshua took the covenant



curse of the law's reprisal against us law-breakers, so if we



refuse to receive his mercy to us and try to save ourselves by



keeping laws, we will not succeed but the curse against us will,



and by our lack of faith we will condemn ourselves.







To paraphrase Galatians for Muslims: Don't have the nature of



Ishmael, the son of a slave woman! Don't be an unspiritual slave



of endless legalisms, like many orthodox Jews and Muslims. Be



free like new creation Muslims and like your father Abraham!



Any rudimentary notion in the world that keeps us under its



worldly sway is what Moshiach Yehoshua came to free us from. We



were called to freedom and good works prompted by faith working



through love (Gal. 5:6) and prompted by the presence of the Ruach



Hakodesh in our lives. Therefore, put to death your old life



without Moshiach Yehoshua at its center so you will really belong



to the L-rd. Don't use your freedom as an excuse to sin. If you



are truly guided by the Ruach Hakodesh, you will not live in the



wicked lusts of your old life. See 5:19-21 and the warning at the



end of 5:21. Pray every day as you meditate on G-d's Word for



the Ruach Hakodesh to cultivate the nine fruits of the Spirit in



your life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,



faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In Muslim lands, it is



only self-interest that makes some teachers try to get New



Creation Muslims to change the true Besuras Hageulah to a false



one. Some messianic Muslims, wanting to escape persecution



(6:12), try to force a false Besuras Hageulah on the ignorant.



But those who have died to the world know better. They know that



the only thing that matters is becoming a new creation (see



6:12-16).







Notice your obligation to your teacher (6:6).







We are not living under the epoch of Law but Chesed (Ro. 6:14)



because the law was not made for the righteous but for adulterers



(I Tim. 1:9). Yet we are not free from G-d's law but are under



Moshiach's law (I Cor. 9:21). We must put our old nature to



death. However, Moshiach's law is not dead. Today we have lawless



"scribes and Pharisees" in the Brit Chadasha kehillah who do not



obey Moshiach's radical laws. Moshiach Yehoshua says, "If you



even look with lust at a woman you are an adulterer," and



Moshiach Yehoshua says to the woman who has divorced the husband



of her youth, "Let her remain unmarried (I Cor.7:11)." But the



lawless "scribes and Pharisees" in the Brit Chadasha kehillah



look at the divorcee with lustful eyes and tell her to marry as



often as she likes. Lawless disciples should re-read Matthew



7:23--the word there is not "evildoers" or ye that work iniquity"



but "workers of lawlessness".







The Jews who were zealous for the Torah's Jewish lifestyle (not



as a way of salvation upstaging Moshiach Yehoshua) in Acts 21:20



are not rebuked by Shliach Sha'ul. Rav Sha'ul lived as an



observant Jew and the Jewish community of Messianic believer: in



Jerusalem lived this way as well. Not only that, Shliach Sha'ul



put himself as if he were under the epoch of law in order to win



those who were under the law (I Cor. 9:20). Shliach Sha'ul is not



fighting the Jewish lifestyle of Torah observance in his letter



to the Galatians. Shliach Sha'ul himself lived this lifestyle.



Shliach Sha'ul is not talking about of Moshiach's shlichut



identification with observant Jews. Shliach Sha'ul is fighting a



false Besuras Hageulah of salvation through endless Jewish



legalisms and works-righteousness merit that upstages the way of



faith that Abraham took, which is also the way of faith in the



death and Techiyas HaMesim of Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua



(Gen 15:6; Hab.2:4).







The role of Shliach is not well understood today. Galatians 2:9



says there are people set apart with a gift and calling to go to



a particular culture or country or ethnic or language group and



start a congregation (I Cor. 4:15) or ministry-training school



(Acts 19:9-10) among an unreached people. The passage in II Cor.



8:23 shows that these emissaries were not always eye-witnesses of



the resurrection of the Moshiach. See also Rom. 16:7; I Cor.



12:28; Eph. 2:20. Therefore, there are shluchim today.





A Kiruv outreach minister may assist in planting a congregation.



But a shliach does the work of an outreach minister among the



people where G-d has gifted him or her linguistically or



culturally to raise up a new congregation with its own native



spiritual leaders, teachers, prophets, and kiruv outreach



workers. The shliach is first on the scene and starts with



nothing but a vision and a resolution to start a prayer meeting



or a Bible study or a witnessing campaign or an outreach meeting



or some pioneer effort that will result in people taking the



Moshiach's tevilah and being incorporated into the new house Brit



Chadasha kehillah or body of believers. The shliach starts with



absolutely nothing--he or she does not build on anyone else's



foundation. The gift is that of a pioneer with a certain



adaptability of personality and a supernatural love for people



whose culture or color of skin or language is different. This man



(extremely Jewish) named Shliach Sha'ul loved these Greeks and



won great numbers to the L-rd. constantly going where no Brit



Chadasha kehillah existed among the Greeks and starting them from



nothing. Do you have the vision of a shliach to start a new



congregation in virgin territory? Are you a shliach?







One of the problems in American Brit Chadasha kehillot is that



everybody is too enamored with an American "melting pot" model of



the Brit Chadasha kehillah. The Brit Chadasha Scriptures are much



more socially realistic than that. People do not "melt" into a



pot. People are different. The Greeks in Corinth had a



drastically different culture than the Jews in Jerusalem. If the



Corinthian Brit Chadasha kehillah were simply imported to Israel



or the Jerusalem Brit Chadasha kehillah imported to Corinth



neither Brit Chadasha kehillah would grow. Shliach Sha'ul had a



different gift than Ya'akov. Shliach Sha'ul could relate to



Greeks better than Ya'akov could. Shliach Sha'ul did not win many



Jews to the L-rd. Ya'akov did. Most Followers of our Moshiach in



America don't see these nuances when they read Acts 21:20 or



Galatians 2:9. Most people do not understand that the Shluchim



were cultural



specialists. Shliach Sha'ul became like the Greeks to win the



Greeks and Paul started Hellenistic Greek Brit Chadasha kehillot.



Ya'akov became like the Jews to win the Jews and started



Messianic Jewish synagogues. Shliach Sha'ul did not see thousands



of Jews won into his Hellenistic Greek Brit Chadasha kehillot,



but Ya'akov did see thousands of Jews won into his Messianic



synagogues (see Acts 21:20). Now there were Jews like Aquilla and



Priscilla in Rav Sha'ul's Greek Brit Chadasha kehillot and there



were Greeks like Titus in Ya'akov's Messianic synagogue, so these



congregations were integrated and not segregated. However, the



style of the cultural flavor of the congregations in Corinth and



Jerusalem were not the same, and the Brit Chadasha kehillot were



culturally attuned to be more successful in one place than the



other.







Look at Gal. 6:15-16. Replacement theology is wrong when it



thinks that uncircumcision is anything. "Dual Covenant" liberals



are wrong when it thinks that circumcision is anything. Both are



wrong because a new creation is everything, even when national



Israel comes to salvation. Whoever separates from this teaching



will forfeit his crown and his citizenship in the Israel of G-d.



("Dual Covenant" theologians maintain that Jewish people do not



need to believe in Moshiach Yehoshua to be saved. They maintain



that Jewish people can be saved through another covenant, G-d's



promise to Abraham. Such liberals resent the Besuras Hageulah



being preached to Israel.) It is true that G-d warns the nations



that he will punish them if their anti-Semitism causes them to



curse and persecute the Jewish people. So true followers of the



Moshiach should always bless the Jewish people and pray for their



salvation. However, there is nothing more anti-Semitic than



refusing to tell a dying people the way of escape from eternal



destruction.







If "Israel after the flesh" does not receive the second



circumcision (the new birth of regeneration), they are children



of Hagar (Gal. 4:21f), those who say they are Jews and are not



(Rev. 2:9). Without the new birth, they are not the Israel of



G-d (Gal. 6:16), because not all Israel (who are descended from



Israel) is (eschatological redeemed) Israel (Rom. 9:6). How are



we going to provoke them to jealousy to get saved if you tell



them they already have an operative, saving, covenantal



relationship with the G-d of Israel and already have an



unconditional land lease to live in safety in Israel. Study



Jeremiah's book again. This is not his Besuras Hageulah. The



covenant was with Abraham and his seed (singular), which is



Moshiach, and whoever does not love the L-rd Yehoshua is



accursed. It is true that whoever tries to take the Promised



Land away from the Jewish people is also cursed by the Law and



the prophets, although, in Scripture, these same accursed



Babylonians etc are also the instruments of G-d to expel the Jews



from their land if the Jews continue in unbelief (but see Zech.



1:15). The L-rd is the owner of the land and the Jewish



expulsions and returns in Scripture are G-d's way of preaching to



the nations what's in store for them (expulsion from the presence



of G-d into hell) if they continue in unbelief like this blind



nation) Israel. On the other hand, the G-d who promises the



resurrection of the dead is to be believed precisely because he



is the G-d who has resurrected Israel from her national grave.



He guards her and curses her enemies and leads her according to



his purposes even in her blindness and unbelief. The Brit



Chadasha kehillah must not arrogantly steal her promises or her



status or her prerogatives, nor must she take a condescending or



hateful or proud attitude toward Israel (Rom. 11:18-20).



In the same way that Dispensationalism can lead to an inadequate



view of the Brit Chadasha kehillah, Covenant Theology can lead to



an in adequate view of national Israel. By separating the "Brit



Chadasha kehillah" from being in any sense part of "Israel," the



Dispensationalists make the same kind of unscriptural distinction



that Covenant theologians make when they equate "the Brit



Chadasha kehillah" and "Israel." Romans 11, as it is interpreted



in terms consistent with Rav Sha'ul's other writings, shows that



both the "Brit Chadasha kehillah" (or the true remnant from the



Jews and the Gentiles of the world) and also natural "Israel"



(genealogical "seed" of Abraham) must be grafted by faith into



ideal "Israel" (the Jerusalem above, the Israel of G-d, as



opposed to the Israel after the flesh--I Cor. 10:18). Not all



(natural) "Israel" is (ideal) "Israel", but the redeemed remnant



on earth (from the Jews and the Gentiles of the world) is the



true circumcision (Phil. 3:3). An ideal term for Israel may be



found in Isaiah 44:2, where the word (Yeshurun) is an honorific



title in contrast to Jacob whose name means deceiver/



overreacher. "The Upright One" is not the deceiver, it is a



nation of Israelites who are without deceit (Yochanan 1:47).



Shliach Sha'ul uses the word for olive tree (found in Jer. 11:16



and Hos. 14:6) for the symbol of Ideal Israel in Rom. 11:17.







Shliach Sha'ul did not make the collection journey just as an



individual Jew paying his respects to the Fatherland. Shliach



Sha'ul was reporting to the Sanhedrin-substitute, the council of



Zion's Zekenim of (pre-70 C.E. Holocaust) Brit Chadasha Judaism.



Shliach Sha'ul made this reporting lest he had run in vain,



because salvation is "of the Jews" and of Zion. As far as Gal.



4:10 is concerned, a word needs to be said about Shabbos



observance. There were Messianic jews in Rome who observed the



Shabbos and there were Gentiles who did not, and Shliach Sha'ul



does not denigrate the Shabbos or forbid Messianic services on



that day (see Romans 14:5). Although the Shabbos commandments are



not imposed on Gentiles by Shliach Sha'ul, the Brit Chadasha



Scriptures records services on both Motzei Shabbos and Yom Rishon



(Acts 20:7) on the Gentile field of ministry. Acts 20:7 records a



Motza'ei-Shabbat service. Motzei-Shabbos means "departure of the



Shabbos" and is the period beginning with sunset following the



Shabbos and extending to midnight. Since the Bible defines a day



from sundown to sundown (Gen. 1:5; Lev. 23:32) this is the end of



the Shabbos and the beginning of Yom Rishon, Yom HaAdon. This



means that Acts 20:7 shows the Brit Chadasha kehillah on the



Gentile field meeting on both Shabbos and Yom HaAdon. Rav



Sha'ul's normal routine, wherever he went, would have been to



have preached the Besuras Hageulah in a synagogue in the context



of a Shabbos Hebrew service, so Shliach Sha'ul himself observed



Shabbos and made it a day of Jewish ministry, even while he was



winning new believers and founding a Brit Chadasha kehillah. We



must also remember that Rav Sha'ul's Besuras Hageulah to the



Gentiles could not be effective in actual practice if his



commission as a shliach had not been acknowledged by a



law-observant Messianic Jewish remnant in Zion. The law of the



Moshiach (the Besuras Hageulah--I Cor. 9:21) did not originate



with Shliach Sha'ul; the law of the Moshiach had gone forth from



Zion, from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3; 42:4).







When Shliach Sha'ul submitted his message to the Shliach in



Jerusalem, they authorized him to continue his emphasis of a



circumcision-free message to Gentiles. However, there was no



such emphasis in the Besuras Hageulah that was preached in



Jerusalem to Jews who were already circumcised and were planning



on circumcising their eight-day-old male babies. Acts 21:20



proves that the Jerusalem form of pristine Brit Chadasha Judaism



(which is the canonical pattern for Jews) did not follow a



Besuras Hageulah which apostatized from the Sinai Covenant and



its mitzvot. Shliach Sha'ul himself observes the law by



preaching the Besuras Hageulah on Shabbos as a rabbi every week



when he is not in prison.







Gal. 4:8-10 is not an attack on Judaism (this was the religion of



the Shluchim) but on an abberant form of the saving message of



the Shluchim that tries to convince Gentiles that the Moshiach is



not enough to save them, because they must also depend on their



own legalistic works in order to be saved, especially the work of



circumcision. Shliach Sha'ul preached that a new creation, not a



new culture or a new legalism, is needed to turn around a sinner



bound for the destruction of G-d's judgment.





The message of Galatians is this warning: preach the true new



creation Besuras Hageulah or be accursed by G-d.







The stoixeia tou kosmou (4:3,9) are the elementary, rudimentary



principles or spirits (Col. 2:8) behind false religion (religion



not grounded in the inerrant new creation faith of the Kitvei



Hakodesh and the Brit Chadasha Scriptures).

























MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL TO THE



BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH IN EPHESUS



















The date is probably 60/61 C.E.; the place, probably Rome. It has



been several years since Shliach Sha'ul has visited the Gentiles



in the Brit Chadasha kehillot in Asia Minor spread out around its



capital Ephesus. Shliach Sha'ul was first there briefly in 51



C.E. and then again in 55-57 C.E. But at this later time, Shliach



Sha'ul was more of an urban seminary professor-yeshiva dean



training leaders, than a rural pioneer congregation planter in



direct contact with a local assembly. II Timothy 4:19 may



indicate that the people Rav Sha'ul greets in Romans 16 are



Ephesians (see Romans 16:3 and the notes on Romans). But he wrote



that letter to the Romans in 57 C.E. and so many new believers



and congregations have been added since then who have never met



Rav Sha'ul that he doesn't know the people in the Brit Chadasha



kehillot as intimately and therefore does not give this letter,



which is really a kind of written prayer, the personal quality



Shliach Sha'ul normally exhibits in his epistles.







In Ephesians Shliach Sha'ul contemplates a new human race, and he



marvels at the new birth through which G-d has created this



resurrected humanity (2:10).





Shliach Sha'ul thinks of the new birth in different ways. One way



is in 2:6 where he sees a spiritual ascension already in progress



with a heavenly residence already reserved (1:3) as we are being



raised and enthroned in the Spirit with the Moshiach (1:20). How



awesome is the new birth!





This epistle is so dense it is almost impossible to teach what is



in it by a dry listing of topics. A very loose paraphrase of what



Shliach Sha'ul is saying will be better, as follows: Oh to have



the dull heart circumcised so that he has eyes to see and a mind



of wisdom to know what is happening as one united, spiritually



quickened humanity is ascending from the spiritually moribund



other humanity! What riches are being inherited! What power (the



power that raised Moshiach Yehoshua from the dead) is being



manifested! What a hidden mystery is unveiled! You who are not



Jews--what a marvel!--you have been predestinated to this new



humanity before the world was formed! You who had no share in



what the Jews were promised have been made full partners with



them, receiving the pledge of the inheritance, the promised Ruach



Hakodesh (1:13-14). The hostility between you who are not Jews



and you who are has been abolished. The mechitzah (separation in



the Beis Hamikdash) has been broken down. (See JNTP, 1989, Eph.



2:14.) How? In the death of the Moshiach on the execution stake



where there came forth a peace for Jews and non-Jews spiritually



resurrected in one transcendent new humanity. (Eph. 2:12 speaks



of "the commonwealth of Israel" in a way inferring that Gentile



followers of our Moshiach are no longer aliens there, just as



Phil. 3:3 speaks of them with Messianic Jews as "the



circumcision" and Gal. 6:16; 4:26 speaks of "the Israel of G-d"



and "the Jerusalem above," all pictures of this marvelous



eschatological heavenly Israel which includes even Gentiles! Acts



21:20 shows that Jews who believed in Moshiach Yehoshua and



preached him and celebrated him in the context of the



Torah-observance of Jewish life-style were just as validly true



belevers as Gentiles who remained largely distant from Jewish



culture. They were both one body according to Eph. 2, one



commonwealth, one Israel of G-d, one Jerusalem above.)



Those who say that the Moshiach's Kehillah has nothing to do with



Israel should remember that such a doctrine could never have been



preached before C.E. 100. The doctrine assumes something never



assumed by the Brit Chadasha Scriptures: namely, a breach between



the remnant Israel of G-d of Jewish birth on the land of Israel



and the Gentile "G-d-fearers" admitted into fellowship with the



remnant of Israel by the Brit Chadasha gerousia or council



meeting in Israel in Acts 15. The Bible, while it predicts the



return of the nation of Israel to the land in the last days and



while it anticipates Jews becoming Messianic Jews in the last



days, nowhere treats these miracles as a separate and unrelated



development from His saving a remnant from the world. There is



only one L-rd and he has only one body and one Besuras Hageulah



and one redeemed remnant set apart for salvation and He is only



returning once to deliver them. He does not have two returns for



two different peoples nor does He have two ways to salvation or



two saving covenants.







If Shliach Sha'ul had been preaching a separate program of



salvation for the Gentiles, the persecution he encountered would



hardly have been of the intensity that it was. What enfuriated so



many people about Rav Sha'ul's Besuras Hageulah was that he was



admitting former Goyishe sinners into full membership into



redeemed eschatological Israel without circumcising them into



total submission to the Torah of Moshe. He said that he was not



doing this but that G-d was grafting in the wild olive branch!



Into what? Into Ideal Israel, the Israel above, eschatological



Israel. And "Israel after the flesh" also had to be grafted in



by G-d. Shliach Sha'ul was not leading the mission to create a



Brit Chadasha kehillah separate from Israel. Shliach Sha'ul



risked his life with his final trip to Jerusalem to prove that



this was precisely what he was not doing. Shliach Sha'ul was



admitting as full proselytes to Moshiach's Judaism everyone he



won to the L-rd. This is why so many people wanted to kill him



and were slandering him and discrediting him. Shliach Sha'ul was



making a shambles of Diaspora Judaism in the eyes of so many of



his enemies because he was admittting people as Moshiach's



talmidim according to the Acts 15 gerousia and the Besuras



Hageulah of remnant Israel preached by the Council of the Elders



of Israel rather than according to the Sanhedrin. It's true that



in Acts 21:28-29 he did not take his formerly heathen disciples



into the Beis Hamikdash area in Jerusalem (as he was falsely



accused); however, he does say in Eph. 2:11 that Gentiles were



alienated from the citizenship of Israel and were strangers of



the covenants of promise, indicating that this is no longer the



case as far as eschatological redeemed Israel is concerned. So



their uncircumcision is in the flesh only and not in the Spirit



or in the Messianic Age that is already dawning (compare Eph.



2:11 to Phil. 3:3).





Rav Sha'ul's martyrdom was caused by his zeal to prove (by that



last Jerusalem trip and the collection journey) that there is



only one eschatologlcal Israel and only one door into it. He was



a marked man (more in prison than out of prison) from this point



on in his ministry, but he risked everything anyway, because



there were those in Rav Sha'ul's lifetime that wanted to see a



separation between the Jews and Rav Sha'ul's Brit Chadasha



kehillah. There were unbelieving Jews and Jewish apostates in



Jerusalem whose theology also wanted to cut Rav Sha'ul's "Brit



Chadasha kehillah" off from "Israel" and see them as two and not



one. What made them murderously angry was when he said that "we



are the true circumcision" and "the Israel of G-d" and they knew



that he was referring first to Messianic Jews but also to Titus



and Luke and all the full (yet uncircumcised) proselytes along



with Messianic Jews as the only remnant of Israel. The resident



aliens who were regenerated in the Moshiach Yehoshua were no



longer aliens to the spiritual commonwealth of Israel even if



they were Gentile by birth. They were grafted in by rebirth, even



if the apostate political and religious leaders could not see



this.





Brit Chadasha Judaism is the true religion presented in the pages



of the Brit Chadasha. Gentile proselytes are allowed to come into



the faith (Acts 15) without circumcision of the flesh. But



circumcision of the heart (a spiritual new creation where the old



nature is cut away) is the sine qua non (indispensable condition)



of membership in the eschatological redeemed Israel of G-d.



Furthermore, only the Brit Chadasha Scriptures can define the



faith. When the Gentile clergy and their structures are allowed



to define the faith (instead of the Jewish Bible), then we have



things like the worship of the Queen of Heaven and other



non-Jewish heresies.





G-d has an ultimate purpose: it is to display us (2:7) raised up



and enthroned with Moshiach in the Heavenly realms. As far as the



sofia tou Theou is concerned, G-d is using our salvation and



ministry in the ekklesia to send a message to the demonic



strongholds who are watching us (3:10) and in spiritual conflict



with us (6:12). What is being revealed to them and the whole



cosmos is G-d's secret plan, never revealed before except in Rav



Sha'ul's ministry, which is the musterion tou Xristou which is



Moshiach in the Gentiles and the Jews in the Brit Chadasha



kehillah, (see Col. 1:27). See Eph. 1:9; 3:3; 5:32; 6:19; Col.



1:26; 4:3.



In Phil. 3:3 and Gal. 6:15-16 Shliach Sha'ul is talking to



would-be proselytes to Israel's Messianic religion/kingdom or



"heavenly realm" (Eph. 1:3,20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12) and Shliach



Sha'ul is assuring these Gentiles that they already have what the



Judaizers are offering them--they are already spiritually



enthroned in the redeemed eschatological Israel of G-d and the



free Jerusalem above (Gal. 4:26). See also Rev. 20:4; Eph.



2:11-13.





To have the faith to see this is a gift from G-d. You had nothing



to do with the origin of this faith. The faith didn't come from



you, because if it did you could boast about it (2:8-9).







Here's another way of seeing the new birth. The true people of



G-d are His household, which rises on the Beis Hamikdash



foundation of the inerrant canonical prophecy entrusted to the



Shluchim and prophets (3:20). The keystone which holds together



the standing structure of prophecy and people alike is Moshiach



Yehoshua himself. G-d clothes Himself in this growing



construction, this living Beis Hamikdash, like a Spirit putting



on a body, a body that is full of the peace of Him who died and



rose and ascended and fills everything.







All this was revealed to Shliach Sha'ul for the sake of those who



are not Jews, that they may become heirs with the Jews, and thus



grasp the unfathomable love of the Moshiach.







What then are the practical ramifications of these first three



chapters? Continuing to paraphrase, we could say the following:



Patiently bear with one another in love to maintain the unity of



the faith through the equipping process as all grows to maturity



in this new humanity. Who does the equipping? The shluchim and



nevi'im and kiruv outreach ministers and ro'im and morim. Who do



they equip? The kedoshim. For what purpose? For the work of the



ministry in the world until the perfect new humanity is built up



and is complete.







All of these gifts equip the for service to the world out of



which is growing a perfect new humanity, one that is expanding



qualitatively and quantitatively. The Moshiach himself is joining



this body together and enabling each part to love the other so



that all can grow.





Then Shliach Sha'ul exhorts that we are to avoid having the



futile mind of the Gentiles who love debauchery. Cut off,



circumcise away, the old man of lust and rottenness and get the



new mind G-d wants for you. Watch lying and gnawing anger and



stealing and foul talk and don't grieve your seal of salvation,



the Ruach Hakodesh. Cut out bawdy humor, drinking, and



fornication. Any filthy unclean person nursing idolatrous lust



makes G-d angry and will never see heaven. Live totally



transparent lives and have nothing to do with deeds done in



secret darkness. Wake up! If you desire to get high, let it be by



being filled with Ruach Hakodesh and not with wine! Fill your



life with G-dly music and not with whatever is a waste of time!







Stay in G-d's order and in his love, which means that husbands



are to love their wives (who are to respect their husbands) as



their own bodies (a wife is one body with her husband). This



means we must stop all carping, all incessant wrangling. And it



also means being tenderhearted and forgiving toward one another.







Children, take note of a special promise just for you. With



6:1-4, Rav Sha'ul pauses for a brief sermon to children and



includes their fathers in his audience as well.



The battle against demonic powers is described at the end of the



book in chapter 6 and the weapons are laid out, each with its



purpose, so that the believer will know how to resist the devil



and stand his ground against every temptation to sin and so



escape the defilement that leads to death and press on to the



upward call of Moshiach Yehoshua to abundant and holy Chayyei



Olam (Eternal Life).





The Greek word eklegomai means "I choose, I select, I pick out.



"Those so "picked out" are called the eklektos. "Many are



invited/summoned but few are picked out" (Matt. 22:14). As far as



the Jewish people are concerned, "there is a remnant (those that



are left as survivors after the divine wrath burns away the rest)



picked out by grace (Rom. 11:5). "What Israel sought so earnestly



it did not obtain, but the picked out ones did" (Rom. 11:7). We



endure all we endure for the sake of the picked out ones (who



will trust Moshiach but haven't yet), that they too may



obtain...salvation" (II Tim. 2:10). G-d's picked out ones are



"strangers in the world" (I Shimon Kefa 1:1).







G-d is free to pick out as He chooses. Rom. 9:16 says that G-d's



choice" does not...depend on man's desire or effort, but on G-d's



mercy" (Rom. 9:16; also Yochanan 1:13). There were two twins in



Rebecca's womb but only one was picked out. "Even before they had



been born or had done anything good or bad (so that G-d's eklogen



prothesis purpose of election might continue, not by works but



by His summons)" Rebecca was told that G-d's favor was on the



twin named Jacob (Rom. 9:11-13). Shliach Sha'ul was a proud



persecutor and did not merit G-d's mercy. He was the chief of



sinners (I Tim. 1:15). "But for that very reason I received



mercy, so that (purpose! ina) in me, as the foremost, Moshiach



Yehoshua might display the utmost patience, making me an example



to those who would come to believe in him for Chayyei Olam



(Eternal Life)" (I Tim. 1:16). G-d's free and undeserved choice



means that the one who is picked out is picked out for a purpose,



a divine purpose, and with a special responsibility to serve the



G-d who chose him. Eph. 1:4 says that the "picked out" ones are



chosen for the purpose of good works (Eph. 2:10) and for



citizenship as fellow-heirs with the saints in the household of



G-d (Eph.2:19). Also the picked out ones are chosen to become



servants of the Besuras Hageulah (Eph. 3:7) and for the purpose



of being holy and blameless in His sight and so that we "might



live for the praise of His glory" (Eph. 1:12); also so that we



might come to the "unity and to maturity, to the measure of the



full stature of Moshiach" (Eph. 4:13) and so that "in the ages to



come He might show the immeasurable riches of His unmerited



favor/grace in kindness toward us in Moshiach Yehoshua" (Eph.



2:7). Another purpose of our election is that we be no longer



children and that we get our doctrine straight (Eph. 4:14) and



that we find our fruitful place in the Body of G-d's people (Eph.



4:16).





Charis is the action of One who volunteers to do something, to



which He is not bound. No human act or attitude influences G-d to



act as he does. When G-d chooses to provide salvation, he does so



freely as a gift (Eph. 2:8) and for no other reason than "out of



the great love with which He loved us" (Eph. 2:4).







Therefore, we must be kind to one another, "tenderhearted,



forgiving one another, as G-d in Moshiach has forgiven you" (Eph.



4:32).





G-d has given us not only the gift of salvation but a commission



(Eph. 3:2). Is it for Greek ministry? Jewish ministry? What? For



Shliach Sha'ul it was to "bring to the Gentiles the news of the



boundless riches of Moshiach" (Eph. 3:8).





PREDESTINATION







Acts 4:28 (Everything that happened to Moshiach Yehoshua was



predestined) Rom. 8:29,30, I Cor. 2:7, Eph.1:5, Eph. 1:11,



Ephesians 4:11.





















MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL TO THE



BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH IN PHILIPPI

















The place is probably Rome around C.E. 61. Here is a prisoner in



a possible "death row" situation with the nerve-racking



possibility that the Roman executioner will come bursting in and



drag him off to his death by beheading at any moment. His



co-worker has recently almost died as well (2:27). And yet,



despite the precarious nature of this uncertain life-or-death



situation, Rav Sha'ul is so filled with joy that he is bursting



with it as he writes a "thank you note" for a love offering the



Brit Chadasha kehillah at Philippi has sent him. Who but



Yehoshua can give this kind of peace to us? It is not mere human



bravery but the peace of G-d that transcends all understanding



(4:7)







Every cross-cultural minister has to send thank you notes from



time to time. Often a fund-raising letter must be written as



well. II Corinthians 8 and 9 should be studied as an excellent



example of how to write a letter soliciting funds, while



Philippians should be seen as a model of a thank you letter



(which is also a powerful stimulus to further giving).







Shliach Sha'ul had received regular support from this



congregation (see 4:15 and II Cor. 11:8). One of the Philippians,



Epaphroditus, had carried an offering to Rav Sha'ul from the Brit



Chadasha kehillah and in the process had become ill and almost



died, but was now recovered. From him Shliach Sha'ul learns about



the divisions in the congregation focussing around two women who



can't see eye to eye (4:2-3). 1:17-2:18 are aimed at that



problem, since if the Philippians will contemplate the self-



emptying humility of G-d the Word in the Incarnation, each will



surely be able to empty his or her own self and work for



Moshiach-minded unity in the congregation. The critique of "envy



and rivalry in 1:15 may be an indirect message to the ladies as



well. Shliach Sha'ul writes this letter to deal with that



potential "Brit Chadasha kehillah-split" situation and to warn



about the Judaizing legalists whom he calls the "mutilation"



party, because they were the Jews who went about Rav Sha'ul's



field of ministry insisting on circumcision and legalistic ritual



and rule-keeping as the condition for one's being saved (see



3:2-11).







What is the immediate source of Rav Sha'ul's joy as he writes



this letter? He is filled with awe at how G-d has taken his



adversities and his chains and made them a spotlight to get more



and more of the palace guard and everyone else around the city to



begin to see and notice the dying and suffering yet risen



Moshiach that Shliach Sha'ul preaches! Also, Rav Sha'ul's



fellow preachers in the city are starting to preach with more



boldness, too, though some with a spirit of rivalry (possibly



distancing themselves from Shliach Sha'ul as preachers outside of



jail sometimes do toward preachers inside of jail). These latter



anti-Rav Sha'ul preachers are operating from an angry and



contentious and malevolent motivation, which usually happens when



a few preachers in one city notice that one preacher (in this



case Rav Sha'ul) is getting all the attention and they aren't.



But Shliach Sha'ul doesn't care that these people want to hurt



him with their attitude and thus add to his afflictions. He isn't



thinking about himself (he's like Timothy--2:20-21). He is



rejoicing that the Besuras Hageulah is going out in greater



power. Shliach Sha'ul is looking on the good side of the picture



instead of the bad (4:8). And he is not focussing on the human



righteousness through religious works (3:9) of any preacher,



including himself. Shliach Sha'ul is looking at the righteousness



of the Moshiach. As far as his witness is concerned, Shliach



Sha'ul knows that only by dying to self can he be in fellowship



with the sufferings of Yehoshua. For Moshiach Yehoshua makes the



power of his resurrection known only to those who are conformed



to his righteous witness in death (3:10), to those who work out



their salvation with fear and trembling (3:11; 2:12).











Now Shliach Sha'ul turns a wrathful eye toward a scourge in the



early Brit Chadasha kehillah that we will hear more about from II



Shliach Kefa and Yehuda and Revelation. These are the libertines,



those "followers of our Moshiach" who refuse any suffering or any



denial of their sensual appetites and gross indulgences (which



they think are their due as the liberty of a true believer).



These are the drunkards and fornicators and wife-swappers and



homosexuals and swindlers and thieves and adulterers and greedy



businessmen and hate-filled causers of discord who claim to be



"followers of our Moshiach" but are, as far as the Brit Chadasha



kehillah is concerned, causing trouble within and a bad testimony



without. Shliach Sha'ul has warned in several places that these



people, if they don't repent of living this way, are going to



hell (see Gal. 5:19-21; I Cor. 6:9-11; see also II Cor. 5:10;



Gal. 6:7-9 about being judged according to deeds done "in the



body."). Now Shliach Sha'ul deals with antinomians (lawless



disciples) again in Phil. 3:17-21. They are enemies of the



suffering of the Aitz of Moshiach that all believers must



maintain a share in. Their true G-d is their appetite and this



they serve religiously while making a false profession at



Messianic worship services. Their destiny is destruction (3:19),



because G-d, increasingly furious, isn't fooled by them.



Those who aspire to leadership in G-d's house had better live



like Rav Sha'ul (3:17) and make very certain that there is no



libertine tendency in their lives. This is why one's G-d-given



ability to control sexual appetite and abstain from liquor and



materialism and greed and thievery and slander and immorality or



unfaithfulness are all key qualities that a minister must have



(see I Tim.3:2), and--if he doesn't--he'd better roll up his



sleeves and go look for another profession. If G-d graciously



calls you to his work, he will graciously give you the



qualifications for the job. If he hasn't given them to you, don't



apply. Not many should be teachers (Ya'akov 3:1). When Shliach



Sha'ul speaks of Timothy as a son who faithfully serves his



father in the Besuras Hageulah, he may be alluding to the kohen's



father-son ministry formation we see in places like Lv. 8 where



father and son are both ordained as kohanim and the son continues



the ministry after the father's death.







Philippians at a glance: Shliach Sha'ul exhorts the believers at



Philippi and especially two feuding women members of the Brit



Chadasha kehillah, Euodias and Syntyche, to become like Moshiach



Yehoshua. These ladies must avoid being blameworthy on the Day



of Moshiach (1:10). They must learn to agree in the L-rd (1:27)



and to think the same thing in all humility (4:2; 1:27; 2:3,20)



and peace (1:2; 4:7,9) without eris (strife, discord, contention)



or eriteia (selfish ambition or rivalry--1:15-17; 2:3) or



grumblings and arguments (2:14) and so preach the Besuras



Hageulah purely, with pure motives (agnos 1:17). Look at



Moshiach Yehoshua. He humbled himself and became obedient unto



death. So must we become conformed (take on the same form,



summorfizo) conformed to his death, as far as pride or



self-seeking is concerned (2:6; compare 2:3), like Timothy



(2:21-22) or "your shliach" Epaphroditus who risked his life and



nearly died (2:27-30) or Shliach Sha'ul himself whose life is



presently hanging in the balance (2:23) in a life or death



struggle for the defense of Besuras Hageulah (1:12-13, 16,



29-30). By turning their back on their life in this world and by



risking death for the Besuras Hageulah, these men are being



conformed to Moshiach in his death. These are models (3:17) of



what a minister or a ministry is (2:17,25,30; 4:18) and what all



of us must press on to become (3:12-16) as we all do the same



thing, which is to contend for and defend the Besuras Hageulah



(1:7,16,27) with deep affection, compassion, high esteem, and



sympathy for all who share or participate or become ministry



partners in this same struggle and affliction (1:5,7-9, 16,



30:2:1,10; 4:14), including the necessary matter of giving and



receiving (4:15,16-17) and the (spiritual) profit accumulating in



one's (heavenly) account (4:17-18).







In the face of all the sorrow of this dying, persecuting,



anti-G-d world (2:27), let us take our minds off of earthly



things (3:19)and let us look on the bright side (1:18; 3:20;



4:5,8,13) and rejoice (1:4,25; 2:17-l9,28-29; 3:1; 4:1,4,9). This



is our safeguard (3:1). What is the bright side? Even the worst



that can happen to Shliach Sha'ul is actually getting people in



Nero's household saved! (See 4:22; 1:12-13.) And what else is the



bright side? Think of it! Whatever happens turns out for our



deliverance (1:19) since living is Moshiach and dying is gain



(1:21), since what we've lost in this life for His sake is



kenodocia vainglory (2:3) and profasis pretense (1:18) and



skubalon refuse (3:8) but what we gain is far better, to go and



be with Moshiach (1:23). Only let us live this life In a manner



worthy of Moshiach, being courageous and fearless no matter what



happens (1:14,20,28; 2:12; 4:6).





















MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL TO



THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH IN COLOSSAE

















The target of Rav Sha'ul's letter (written probably ca. C.E.60/61



during the early part of Rav Sha'ul's house arrest in Rome and



during the same period Shliach Sha'ul wrote Ephesians) to the



believers at Colossee, a town not too far from Ephesus in modern



Turkey, is "philosophy" (2:8). A philosophy is a teaching from



man, a purely human speculation not grounded in sound exegesis of



the inerrant Scriptures. There is a Pharisaic temptation in every



congregation or denomination to begin to stir in human



philosophies and serve them up as part of Scriptural "orthodoxy."







It is a great shame that no one took the trouble to teach



Colossians to the Arabs in Mecca and Medina at the time of the



birth of Islam. Let's go back and look at the "philosophy" that



Shliach Sha'ul was attacking in Colossae when he wrote this



letter from Rome. There is nothing more dangerous than a



Biblically ungrounded mystic who is ignorant of the Word of G-d



(the closed canon of the inerrant measuring standard for all



extra-Biblical "prophecy"). Such a person does not bother to



bring every visionary's thought captive to obey G-d's Word (II



Cor. 10:5), but instead takes his stand on visions he has



received from angels (heedless of the warning of Gal. 1:8) and



goes into great detail about what he has seen (Col. 2:18).



There were some people like this endangering the Brit Chadasha



kehillah at Colossae. They were trying to take believers captive



with their philosophy (2:8). These heretics remind us of a



curious blend of Islamic mysticism and Rabbinic legalism, just as



the guise of the rabbi with his gnostic love of lore and



casuistry is discernible underneath the turban of a Sufi sheikh.



The heretics Shliach Sha'ul warned the Colossians about were



mystical and legalistic. At the same time they had gnostic



tendencies, which meant that they offered their "knowledge" (the



Greek word for knowledge is gnosis) as a way of salvation.



Apparently they were more impressed with the agency of an angel



than they were with a Moshiach like Yehoshua, as far as the



mediation of revelation was concerned.











Since a mystic could take his stand on what an angel had told him



(hadn't angels brought Moses the Torah--Acts 7:53?), and since an



angel could supposedly administer reprisals for breaking the



rules of Torah, these Colossian heretics seemingly advocated



strict adherence to legal observances, rituals, food laws,



festivals, and other religious legalisms in order to placate



these angels and ward off their demon-like displeasure. These



Colossian heretics appeared in the vicinity of the Brit Chadasha



kehillah of Colossae with their learned air of gnostic



superiority and, turning their nose up at the "elementary"



teachings that Epaphras (who lacked their educational "gnosis")



had communicated to the believers, they attempted to take the



congregation captive with their hollow and deceptive philosophy.











The Pharisees had a fine way of setting aside the Bible in order



to observe their humanly concocted philosophical traditions (Mark



7:9). The great danger for them in their exercise of human



arrogance was that they thought they knew as much about G-d apart



from his Word as they could learn in His Word, for they put their



traditions and interpretations right alongside the Bible and held



them in just as high authority and awe as the Bible.



Consequently, when the Moshiach came they were not ready for his



coming. Their eyes were on their own "signs" in their own



Philosphia (Col. 2:8) philosophical traditions and teachings and



supposedly great teachers and not on the inerrant Bible.



Consequently, they were not able to "get real" and they missed



G-d's purpose for their lives (Luke 7:30).







The Colossian false teachers had more than Pharisaic pride. As



mystics they may have attempted to short-circuit the Moshiach as



mediator and attain an immediate knowledge of G-d without the



mediation of the eikon tou Theos the "image" of G-d (1:15), the



enfleshed Word, Moshiach Yehoshua. However, Shliach Sha'ul



countered this teaching: the pleroma "fullness" the false



teachers offered the Colossians did not reside in their mystical



knowledge of G-d but in Moshiach himself (2:9). Rav Sha'ul's



watch-word is Chritos en umin E elpis tes doxa ("Moshiach in you



the hope of glory"--1:27). All the fullness of Theotetos (deity)



lives in bodily form and is mediated for our saving benefit



through Moshiach, Shliach Sha'ul argues.







The stoixeia of the cosmos are possibly the spiritual forces



behind false religions (see I Cor. 10:20-21), especially angelic,



that is demonic forces, which bring unregenerate man into



religious bondage (see Gal. 4:3,9). Our old nature and old self



that lived bound in that old world has died with Moshiach (2:20).



Angels or demons or so-called "astral powers" (who supposedly



directed the course of the stars and the calendar) or heavenly



hosts (such as in "saint" veneration--see the word threskeia in



2:18) do not have to be placated (as these heretics taught) by



various religious and ascetic practices. We have been rescued



from the power of darkness (1:12) and transferred to a different



world where Moshiach alone is preeminent. Although visions per se



should not be despised (Acts 2:17), we do not take our stand on



visions (3:18), or let anyone judge us or disqualify us because



of some self-imposed religious observance (2:16,18). See



ethelothreskia in 2:23. The L-rd Moshiach Yehoshua, who makes



men new creations, will never take a back seat to legalisms or



religious philosophy or angels bringing visions and laws



(2:13-15)! This religious excess baggage can be discarded because



we already have full assurance and certainty of salvation,



pleroforia (2:2).











There is a circumcision we have that makes us supernaturally



grafted into G-d's people. It is Moshiach who has cut away the



heathen heart's downward pull, the akrobustia tes sarkos (2:13).



It is Moshiach who has circumcised our innerman with the



purifying and covenant sealing experience of the new birth,



Shliach Sha'ul declares, and no other circumcision is needed, nor



any legalism! Our conversion "covenant cut" was made by the hand



of G-d (2:11) and like old skin our old life has been cut away



and lies on the floor like surgical waste products. Therefore, we



are to know no man after the "flesh" (3:22). We need to keep our



thoughts on the things above where we have, spiritually speaking,



died (3:3) and been raised (3:1). We need to live in that and let



G-d cut away idolatrous pleonexia (covetousness) and other



vestiges of the old nature and the old self.







Our purpose, if we "get real" is found in Col. 1:25,28-29. But



getting "real" requires first that we get a new self (3:10), a



new creation existence where the self is renewed in the image of



G-d, Moshiach Himself (1:15-16). Everything else is shadow, He is



the substance. There is no hidden, invisible, esoteric realm



that He is not manifest L-rd and Victor over (2:15). Therefore,



we must put away the alienated, estranged mind that is at enmity



with G-d (1:21). The old self and its works of darkness must



die. We must not be puffed up by the mind of the flesh (2:18) or



taken captive by those things which have only the appearance of



wisdom (2:23). Instead we must come to true wisdom in the



knowledge of G-d's will (1:9), thereby bearing fruit and growing



(1:6,10).







In preaching all of this, the L-rd wants us to be gracious and to



make our words palatable (4:6). Then we will be a faithful



brother and minister (1:2,7) not moving away from our hope (1:23)



and therefore we will have love for all the saints (1:4-5).



Looking again at what this letter teaches about Moshiach, we ask



ourselves, who is this Word of G-d named Moshiach Yehoshua? He is



the image of the invisible G-d, the ruling heir of all creation



(1:15) and it is only through him that we inherit anything



(1:18). He is G-d's agent in creation (what liar would say G-d



does not use His Word in creation?) and all creation holds



together and is sustained from collapsing into nothingness by Him



(1:16,17). He is uncreated (He is "before all things"--1:17). He



is G-d's agent of reconciliation and judgment as the head of the



called out redeemed assembly of the people of G-d (1:18,20). In



fact, putting true believers under legalisms (an endless list of



can't do's and must do's) will provide no safeguard against the



old nature (sarks) arousing itself in us. Put to death this old



worldly nature daily, Shliach Sha'ul commands, and set your mind



on heavenly concerns. Devote yourself to prayer and



spiritual music and Bible study and thankful service (4:2,12;



3:16-17). Remember: a poisonous snake in the baby's crib must be



killed, not merely toyed with by means of gamey rules, which have



no power in restraining the coiling venomous flesh, the sensual



indulgence, of the unregenerate and devilish creature, the old



man unrenewed in Moshiach Yehoshua Moshiach. (See chapter



2:20-3:11; 4:12). We need not fear demons or angels because by



regenerating us, G-d has rescued us from the dominion of demonic



darkness (1:13) and brought us into the kingdom of His Word



(Moshiach Yehoshua), His Ben HaElohim He loves, in whom we have



redemption and acquittal, the forgiveness of sins.











This is a very important section of the Bible for viewing Judaism



and Islam correctly. Such teachings should be used with



Colossians 4:5 very definitely in mind. But visions per se should



not be despised (Acts 2:17), and when philosophers or poets agree



with the Besuras Hageulah, it may not hurt to quote them (see



Acts 17:28; I Cor. 15:32-33; Titus 1:12 where Shliach Sha'ul



quotes Epimenides of Cnossos, Menander, and Callimachus of



Alexandria).











Notice that according to this letter we must preach not merely



"the Aitz." We must preach "the blood of His Aitz, the



kapparah."



































MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL TO THE



BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH IN THESSALONIKA(I)



















In only one month's time in C.E. 50, amidst great persecution



both in Philippi and in Thessalonica, Shliach Sha'ul, Silas, and



Timothy had started a new congregation in Thessalonica in



Macedonia (north of ancient Greece)! Then this city was the



capital of Macedonia, a Roman province, on the main highway to



Rome. Like New York and London today, it was in G-d's plan a



strategic target for kiruv outreach. The area is the northern



part of modern Greece today.











These two letters to the Brit Chadasha kehillah at Thessalonica



were probably written rather close together, one after the other,



from Corinth during the second of Rav Sha'ul's three



congregation-planting journeys. By studying Acts 17-18 and I and



II Thessalonians we see the rapid way Shliach Sha'ul worked as he



moved around the world with a couple of associates.











Knowing where to find a captive audience of his easiest potential



people to be won (the Gentile G-d-fearers in the Hellenistic



Jewish synagogues), Shliach Sha'ul would preach as a rabbi for a



few Shabbos and thus become known to many people quickly. Those



who were convicted or interested he undoubtedly spent many hours



meeting with in their homes, not wasting a single precious day



nor losing any time seeing the potential leaders immersed into



discipleship so that these in turn could later immerse the rest



in the absence of the Shliach and his associates, and a



congregation could then form in one of the leaders' homes.



Then, even if Shliach Sha'ul would have wanted to be the



congregational leader of the new believers for a time, usually



persecution prevented him and he had to make a quick exit to the



next virgin territory where another congregation-planting



challenge awaited him. However, here is where his two assistants



were so crucial. One shliach's assistant could return to the



newly planted congregation as a letter carrier, follow-up



preacher, and messenger, reporting back to Shliach Sha'ul so that



a second letter could be dispatched to answer doctrinal questions



or deal with potential problems developing. The other assistant



could work with Shliach Sha'ul or, when a new



congregation in the next area began appearing, could be freed



from staying with Shliach Sha'ul to do the same thing the other



assistant was doing but in the newly planted congregation Shliach



Sha'ul was already exiting!







The King James Version of Acts 13:13 calls this shliach's



congregation-planting kiruv outreach team a "company." What a



brilliant methodology G-d had developed for it! Dealing with



three new Brit Chadasha kehillah plantings at a time, Shliach



Sha'ul and his company of only three or so men could hop like a



three-leqged spider across the world, leaving new Brit Chadasha



kehillot behind everywhere they went, some in just a few weeks,



yet with excellent communications and follow-up, even in a day



without modern telephones, planes, and automobiles!







Rav Sha'ul's tent-making secular profession was critical to him



in being able to move fast without having to constantly take time



off to do fund-raising. He could arrive at a new area, set up



shop and integrate into the local economy with enough prosperity



in his vocational pursuit to have instant credibility as an



honest businessman who was at the same time an itinerate



religious speaker without pecuniary motives. Then, with this



secular respectability as a bottom line, the local towns people



perceived Shliach Sha'ul as a worshipper worth listening to,



especially since he was a trained scribe who knew the Hebrew



Scriptures as an educated rabbi. Not only did his preaching with



tears let the love of G-d shine through, but also his power-



encounters with sickness and the demonic, as well as his



debating skills held forth the W-rd of G-d with such authority



that really there was no competition or incentive to follow



anyone else, as far as those who were hungry for G-d were



concerned.











Therefore, since his secular work was critical to his credibility



and conservation of time as well as independence and mobility,



Shliach Sha'ul was extremely concerned with some of the attitudes



toward work of the immature believers at Thessalonica. In their



ignorance they seemed to feel that, since the L-rd's Coming was



near at hand, and since menial, mundane manual labor was



perceived by them to be spiritually trivial, irrelevant, and



beneath the status of their newly acquired religious dignity



(pride was entering the picture!), they had quit their jobs,



weren't really looking for work, but were lying around like



religious bums. Some may even have thought that, just because



they were new believers, perhaps someone owed them a living or



should support them (see II Thes. 3:10).











Being unemployed was probably unwittingly getting them depressed.



Also, the Thessalonians had been persecuted and may have had a



few narrow escapes with death. Then too there may have been a few



funerals in their community of believers, and consolation was



needed because, though many had hoped that Moshiach Yehoshua the



King would arrive without delay, someone may have died and



seemingly missed the L-rd's parousia or Coming. Shliach Sha'ul



assures them, however, that the dead will rise first at the time



the living are changed when the L-rd comes, and therefore there



will be no disadvantage to a believer's "falling asleep" as far



as receiving a resurrection body at the rapture is concerned (see



I Thes. 4:13-18). But there was a need to stay alert and to keep



the heart's hope based squarely on nothing but I Thes. 1:10, "to



wait for his Ben HaElohim from heaven, whom He raised from the



dead-- Moshiach Yehoshua, who rescues us from the wrath that is



coming... the wrath to which we have not been appointed" (I



Thes.5:9).







There also may have been a tendency by some to overdo the "holy



kissing" (I Thes. 5:26), because a spouse may have changed



partners in the congregation and Shliach Sha'ul promises G-d's



vengence (I Thes. 4:5-6) for this Judas-like act of betraying a



brother and destroying his home by stealing his wife.







Notice there also may have been some heathenish rebellion against



Rav Sha'ul's "theology" connected with this adulterous sexual



affair in the Brit Chadasha kehillah (4:7-8). Rebellion against



authority goes hand in hand with sexual immorality (see also II



Shimon Kefa 2:10; Yehuda 8), so whenever a rebel appears on the



scene with a new theology and an arrogant attitude toward those



over him in the L-rd, it often happens that all this is nothing



more than a cover for an undercover and illicit sexual liaison.











Notice 5:1-2. Shliach Sha'ul was reluctant to give us a neat



dispensational chart of exactly how things end.









To "live a life worthy of G-d" is the key to ethics (2:12). To



stay alert means to keep our hope squarely on nothing but I Thes.



1:10, which means that we are obeying chapter 5.











The characteristics of a true servant of the Besuras Hageulah are



found in 2:3-7.











Those who think that Satan doesn't exit or can't hinder or that



believers don't suffer should read 2:18 and 3:1-5.







On the rapture, see NIV Study Bible note on I Thes. 4:17, which



says, "Some hold that this (the rapture) will be secret, but



Shliach Sha'ul seems to be describing something open and public,



with loud voices and a trumpet blast."







In I Thes. 2:9 we find Shliach Sha'ul working "night and



day," and, of course, Hasatan and his co-workers are also working



(2:16, 18; 3:5). Shliach Sha'ul knew that all believers are



appointed to suffer persecution (3:3) and this was part of his



own calling when he saw the risen L-rd (Acts 9:16). See the key



word thlipsis (affliction, tribulation, persecution, oppression,



distress that is brought about by outward circumstances) is



repeated in I Thes. 1:6; 3:3,7; II Thes. 1:4,6. Moshiach



Yehoshua warns that a day of universal and climactic thlipsis is



coming on the world (Mark 13:19-20) so terrible, that unless the



L-rd shortens those days no one could be saved. However, for the



sake of the elect, who apparently see some of those days, the



time of distress is cut short. When Shliach Sha'ul is writing,



Claudius Caesar is already persecuting Jews in Rome, expelling



them from the city. Nero is then a mad teenager waiting for his



murderous opportunity (he will kill both Shliach Sha'ul and



Shliach Kefa in only 14-17 years in an initial fulfillment of the



Mark 13:19-20 prophecy). Then, only 10 years before, the Roman



Emperor Caligula raised the specter of Antiochus Epiphanes



redivivus, likewise threatening to erect an "abomination that



causes desolation," namely his own heathen idol in the Beis



Hamikdash in C.E. 40 as a narrowly averted replay of 167 B.C.E.



But, it is interesting that later, as all these horrors are



rapidly approaching, Shliach Sha'ul is more focussed on the



coming of the L-rd and divine deliverance than he is on Satan's



expanding, intimidating activities (see Phil. 1:19; II Tim. 4:8,



17-18).











Why is doing the work of G-d so important? See 1:3, 2:9, 2:13



(Satan is also working, hindering the Besuras Hageulah through



those who are blinded by him,--see 2:16 and 2:18.)











3:5 We need to make sure our labor is not in vain because of



Satanic temptation.











3:13 What is our work? It is the Father's work? What is our



fatherly work? See 2:11-12





















MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL TO THE



BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH IN THESSALONIKA (II)

















This letter was written shortly after I Thessalonians in C.E. 50.



The believers have been persecuted severely, so much so that they



seem to think that the Day of the L-rd has arrived. Shliach



Sha'ul says, no, the Anti-Moshiach is not here yet and is being



restrained from coming on the scene. When Moshiach Yehoshua



returns he will destroy the Anti-Moshiach, who must be revealed



first.





This whole scenario of end-time events is an imminent possibility



so that the coming of the L-rd is at hand. Yet this gives no



warrant for anyone to live in idleness and sponge off the



wealthier believers. Those who refuse to obey Rav Sha'ul's



instructions to get busy and stop being "busy bodies" (3:11) are



to be admonished as brothers (not enemies) and then withdrawn



from until they repent (3:14). No one is allowed to make himself



a burden on others (3:8). Everyone is to follow the example



Shliach Sha'ul and his associates set when they worked night and



day, with secular jobs and in the ministry (3:7-10).











It should be noted that the end-time scenario of events that



Shliach Sha'ul gives in II Thessalonians is given in that ever



evocative, always contemporary, language of apocalyptic prophecy



and not in language to be interpreted too prosaically. Those who



fasten on a humdrum, vapid reading of the language of Revelation



or Daniel or Mark 13 or II Thessalonians 2 usually declare that



the European Common Market is this or Mussolini is that and are



proven as wrong as a person is who reads a cryptogram as though



it were a simple shopping list.







There is a literal rapture and there is and will be literal



tribulation and there have been, are, and will be manifestations



of Satan, including a climatic figure called the "man of



lawlessness" (2:3). But, in Scripture, what happens in these



events is not prosaically described in the clinical detail or the



journalistic realism with which a scientist or a television



newsman would speak today, but in the ceaselessly evocative



language of Biblical allusion, motif, symbol, etc. To use a



ridiculous illustration, the "son of perdition" (2:3) does not of



course mean that the Anti-Moshiach's father will be named Mr.



Perdition. This is a Hebraism and a poetic way of saying his



characteristic nature and destiny is ruin and destruction or



hell. Ch. 2:8 says Moshiach Yehoshua will destroy the



Anti-Moshiach with the breath of his mouth. That will literally



happen, the Anti-Moshiach will be destroyed, but that is a poetic



and not a literal picture of how it will happen. To read that



with prosaic and graphic literalness, as though one man, by



means of a kind of lethal halitosis, kills another man, is as



silly as it is blasphemous Ch. 2:8 is meant to evoke, in a signal



stroke, all the density of Isaiah 11:4, Exodus 15:8; Job 4:9, and



other allusions. Those who knew the Scriptures like true prophets



could understand this kind of language. Those who didn't had to



study the Word until they could follow the cryptic, telegraphic



symbolism of Apocalyptic language.











By the same token, those who say that the Beis Hamikdash must be



literally rebuilt and the Anti-Moshiach must literally sit in it



may not at all be assured that they are right. The Lord's



destruction of Anti-Moshiach might be much closer to us than any



Beis Hamikdash rebuilding project in Jerusalem might lead us to



believe. "He takes his seat in the Beis Hamikdash of G-d,



proclaiming himself to be G-d" (2:4) could be Apocalyptic



language evoking poetic passages like Ezekiel 28:2 and could be



an allusion to Caligula and Antiochus Epiphenes and the



presumptuous evil with which the Anti-Moshiach will try to seize



and steal G-d's worship and central authority. With a handful



of words, Shliach Sha'ul communicates all this and more.



Dispensationalists may have an over-literal way of misreading



apocalyptic imagery and liberals have an over-symbolic way, one



that faithlessly dispenses with all literal fulfillment. The



Anti-Moshiach will definitely come and will definitely attempt to



"steal G-d's seat" but whether that involves the literal



construction of the Beis Hamikdash in Jerusalem is speculative



and may not be at issue doctrinally.











When the Anti-Moshiach appears and the fiery Word of G-d fills



the sky from horizon to horizon to destroy him, that will be the



end. It hasn't happened yet, though it is at hand, and could



happen imminently. What or who is holding the Anti-Moshiach back



from appearing before his appointed time? What or who must first



be removed before the Anti-Moshiach appears openly? This is the



interpretive problem of 2:5-7 and many answers have been offered



to solve it: the Brit Chadasha kehillah, the Ruach Hakodesh, etc.



The mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but someone or



something (the Greek uses both a neuter phrase and a masculine



form to refer to it/him) is holding back the man of lawlessness.



When whatever this is finally is removed, the man of lawlessness



will appear, the "son of perdition" will come on the scene and be



destroyed.











Whatever we say that "restrainer" is, we must do so with humility



and the desire to be no more dogmatic than the Bible. In the



story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 we



have a typological picture or historical parable about the Brit



Chadasha kehillah (the called-out family of Abraham) in a G-dless



Anti-Moshiach world doomed to destruction, experiencing



"terrible times" (II Tim. 3:1). The people are so wicked they are



murderous perverts and homosexuals who would rape angels, if



possible, and Abraham's family is caught in the lethal



cross-fire between the sons of Satan and the angels of G-d. But



G-d himself is using his angels to hold back or restrain the



wicked until the message has gone forth and the elect are



delivered. Until the truth is received by those who love it,



those who hate the truth are not destroyed. The Anti-Moshiach



will be held back from appearing and being destroyed to end the



world until this Besuras Hageulah has been preached to the whole



world, to all the Sodom and Gomorrahs of the earth, and then the



end will come (Matthew 24:14). Similarly G-d will restrain that



fallen and wicked angel until the end of the Millennium (Rev.



20:1-3) and then his wrath will come and the Millennium will end



to usher in the Judgment and the New Heavens and the New Earth.



Another possible interpretation (and one that better fits Rav



Sha'ul's cryptic way of speaking about these matters) is that the



reference is to the Emperor and the same Roman government of the



Empire.











So what does this mean to us? It means that, while the



restraining hand of G-d and his angels is on this wicked age,



while it is still "day," we must preach the Besuras Hageulah.



Night is coming when no man can work. Let us redeem the time



because the days are evil and getting increasingly so. (See



Yochanan 9:4; Eph. 5:16). Let us be busy and do something useful



so we can pay our own way and not be a burden while we preach the



Besuras Hageulah and watch in prayer, ready at any time to meet



our L-rd or to take our stand against Satan or his "son" the



Anti-Moshiach.







Diogmos (persecution) caused two problems for the Thessalonian



believers: some apparently believed the persecution they



experienced meant that the "Day of the L-rd is present has come



already (II Thes. 2:2); secondly, the persecution they



experienced was causing some to despair and lose hope for



brethren who had departed in the L-rd before the



parousian tou Kupiou (I Thes. 4:15).







In these two letters to the Thessalonians, Shliach Sha'ul, in



order to encourage this persecuted Brit Chadasha kehillah in the



upomonen tou Xristou (the perseverance of Moshiach--II Thes.3:5,



see upomone steadfast endurance I Thes. 1:3; II Thes. 1:4),



straightens out their sequential understanding of an event which



he calls variously parousia tou kurio (I Thes. 4:15) and emera



tou kuriou (I Thes. 5:2). The two terms are also used



interchangeably in II Thes.2:1-2 for the same event! This



event will be a time of wrath, anger for persecutors and others



who do not obey the Besuras Hageulah of our L-rd Moshiach



Yehoshua (II Thes. 1:8) and they will not escape either wrath or



destruction (I Thes. 5:3). Because these unbelievers refused to



love the truth and took pleasure in unrighteousness and were



wickedly deluded by an anti-Moshiach lie (II Thes.2:10-12), they



will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the



presence of the L-rd and glory of His might (II Thes. 1:9)



because they by their unbelief in the truth (II Thes.2:12)



participated in the general anti-Moshiach apostasia or rebellion



of the world at the end of the age (II Thes. 2:3). Like those who



persecuted the Messianic Jews in Jerusalem, those who are



persecuting the Messianic Greeks in Thessalonica (I Thes.



2:14-16) are liable to the wrath that is coming, the wrath from



which Yehoshua will rescue us believers at His Coming (see I



Thes. 1:10).











Although the Day of the L-rd itself comes unexpectedly like a



thief in the night, a certain rough sequence is knowable by



believers: The apostasia or rebellion of the world comes proton



(first -- II Thes. 2:3) and at the same time there is an



apokalupsis (revelation) and a parousia (coming) of (the Lawless



one, the anti-Moshiach) who usurps G-d's earthly throne (see II



Thes. 2:3-12) and lures unbelievers to participate in not only



his worship but also his annihilation and the wrath that is



coming on him and them at the time of the epifaneia (appearance)



of the parousia tou Kuriou (II Thes .2:8). At that time the



sequence will be like this: the dead in Moshiach will rise proton



(first), then we who are alive and remain until the parousia tou



Kuriou will see these who have departed in Moshiach being caught



up from their graves to a meeting with the L-rd and we will see



the ones having fallen asleep in Moshiach Yehoshua coming with



Moshiach Yehoshua and with his angels in flaming fire (I Thes.



4:14; 5:10; II Thes. 1:7-8); then we ourselves will be caught up



to be with the L-rd. This is called our episunagoge (our



assemblying, our gathering together II Thes. 2:1; Matt. 24:31) at



the parousia tou Kuriou (II Thes. 2:1; Matt. 24:30-31; Mark



13:26-27). This event is imminently expected. It could happen at



any time.











When Shliach Sha'ul wrote this it had been only 20 years since



Moshiach Yehoshua had arisen from the grave, only 10 years since



Caligula had been narrowly restrained from becoming an Antiochus



Epiphanes redivivus figure attempting to have his image



worshipped in the Jerusalem Beis Hamikdash, and less than 1 year



since Claudius had begun persecuting the Jews in Rome by



expelling them from the city. When Claudius himself or his sane,



lawful, world-wide Government itself was removed or taken out of



the way, then the lawless world could rebel, then the world's



G-d, the "lawless one," the end-time son of Satan "Nero" of the



last days could reveal himself, and the time for fleeing great



persecution would begin (Matt.24:15-17). So the End could come at



any time, Shliach Sha'ul is saying. In fact in less than 17 years



Shliach Sha'ul himself would see a partial fulfillment of these



prophecies as the Roman Brit Chadasha kehillah became suddenly



engulfed in the persecution to which it was appointed (I Thes.



3:3) and Rav Sha'ul himself was lawlessly martyred there by the



man who was only a teenager when I Thessalonians was written,



that is, Caesar Nero whose name (NUN, RESH, AYIN, FINAL NUN AND



KOF, SAMECH, RESH) in Jewish gematria spells 666. The above



Hebrew letters in Caesar Nero (nun = 50, resh = 200, vav = 6,



nun = 50, kof = 100, samech = 60, resh = 200 = (50 + 200 + 6 + 50



+ 100 + 60 +200) = 666, which is Nero Caesar transliterated into



Hebrew script and then added up as Jewish gematria from the



Hebrew equivalent of Neron Kaisar. Rev. 17:10-11, that is, that



"there are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is,



the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain only



a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an



eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to perdition."









1. Nero (C.E. 54-68)



2. Galba (C.E. 68)



3. Otho (C.E. 69)



4. Vitellius



5. Vespasian (C.E. 69-70)



6. Titus (C.E. 79-81)



7. Domitian (C.E. 81-96)



8. Nero Redivivus Anti-Moshiach







The five that have fallen are Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian



and Titus. Domitian, the emperor at the time of the writing of



Rev., now "is." The "beast that was and is not" is Nero, beast



#1. As Nero redivivus, this beast has "not yet come, and when he



comes he must remain only a little while." He becomes #8 but he



is really one of the seven, because he is #1 redivivus, the



"head" of Rev. 12:3, whose "mortal wound was healed." All



of this is possibly alluded to in the simple phrase in Rev.



13:11, "And I saw a beast...with seven heads..."







Notice that everything is imminent (about to happen), both agony



and ecstasy, rapture and tribulation, threat and deliverance. The



worst and the best that can happen are both at hand! Notice there



is no time allowance before the coming of the L-rd for a literal



Beis Hamikdash to be constructed in Jerusalem or a literal seat



be built on which the Anti-Moshiach can literally sit.



Everything can happen imminently! Be ready! Be strong if there



is trouble! Be prepared if there is judgment! And notice that



through everything there is the hope of heavenly, rapturous,



deliverance with Satanic trials mercifully cut short to



manageable proportions!







Our digression into the book of Revelation is necessary to deal



with this bussiness of wrath, which does not fall on the elect in



Moshiach but on those in Anti-Moshiach. What ensues after Rev. 4



is an unfolding picture of suffering that is humanly, demonically



generated. G-d the judge sends plagues like he did on Pharaoh



as the world heads inexorably toward Armageddon, the Millenium,



the Final Judgment, and the creation of the New Heavens and the



New Earth. But in the midst of the suffering there is also



various divinely provided protection on earth and ultimately



rapturous deliverance in heaven. The seven seals (6:1-17; 8:1),



the seven trumpets (8:2-9:21; 11:14-19),and the seven bowls



(16:1 -21) give us this unfolding picture of ever increasing



retribution and catastrophe leading to climactic ruin as a



prophetic picture of the birthpangs (chevlei Moshiach the



pre-Messianic era birthpangs) leading to the Messianic Kingdom



realized on earth followed by the New Creation. Rev. 15:1 says of



the final seven plagues, "with them the wrath (thumos) of G-d is



ended." We have not been appointed to wrath (orge --I Thes. 5:9).



The Brit Chadasha kehillah will be raptured before those who



destroy the earth are themselves destroyed (Rev. 11:12,18).



We handle persecution by standing fast in the perseverance of



Moshiach" (II Thes. 3:5), remembering Mark 13:13 "he who endures



to the End will be saved." Also we remember 1) to receive the



Lord's peace which he gives at all times and in all ways (II



Thes. 3:6). 2) that persecution is the very racetrack whereby



the Besuras Hageulah is relayed by persecuted runners whose very



example encourages one another in the rapid spread of the Besuras



Hageulah (I Thes. 1:7-8; II Thes. 3:1). 3) So stand firm in the



L-rd (I Thes. 3:8) in order to counter Satan's temptation for you



to fallaway (I Thes.3:5). 4) Pray according to II Thes. 3:1-5,



remembering that the prayer of I Thes. 3:11 counters Satan's



hindrance of our witness in I Thes. 2:18. 5) Above a11, hold



fast to your Bible. 6) Use persecution as a pointer to



sincerity, certitude, and credibility, not only in your case,



but, more importantly, in the case of the Shluchim and in



certifying their credibility since they did not profit materially



in their office nor please evil men nor seek human vainglory (I



Thes. 2:4-9) but boldly preached the Besuras Hageulah of G-d "in



spite of great (persecution) conflict/agony" (I Thes. 2:2),



proving their message was not the word of man but the Word of G-d



(I Thes. 2:13).











Here in II Thes. 2 we see Shliach Sha'ul standing in the true



prophetic tradition of the nevi'im of the Tanakh, who gained



credibility in predicting an ultimate Day of the L-rd (or end of



the world) because they accurately predicted an imminent Day of



the L-rd (destruction of Jerusalem/time of great distress and



world-wide persecution). We believe Ezekiel's and Jeremiah's



ultimate prophecies because of their reliable, fulfilled,



imminent prophecies. Similarly with Shliach Sha'ul, when this



shliach wrote I-II Thessalonians, the Emperor Claudius and the



Roman Empire were in fact restraining the Anti-Moshiach



persecution of Nero, which, when Claudius (Roman Emperor C.E.



41-54) was later removed or taken out of the way (see II Thes.



2:2-12), the rebellion of Rome and the revelation of Nero's



Satanic persecution engulfed the Brit Chadasha kehillah in great



tribulation. Since Rav Sha'ul correctly predicted these events



leading to his own martyrdom in Rome, we can rely on Rav Sha'ul's



words as divinely inspired and as pointers to the shape of world



events at the End of Days, even our own day.











Compare episunagoges gathering together in II Thes. 2:1 and



similar Greek words in Luke 3:17 and Matt. 24:31 and you will see



that, according to these Greek texts, the wheat (believers) and



the chaff (unbelievers) have to be separated and gathered by the



L-rd's angels when He comes and that II Thes. 2:1 makes it clear



that His coming and this gathering are all of a piece, all one



and the same event, not two separate events, as in Dispensational



teaching.























MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL TO



TIMOTIYOS (I)













One of the worst heresies of all time is called clericalism, the



lie that only paid clergy behind professional pulpits can preach.



The Biblical prophet Yoel (Joel) said that in the end-times your



ordinary sons and daughters would preach and prophecy (Yoel



(Joel) 2:28). However, another (and wholly opposite) heresy is



anticlericalism, the opposition to clerical authority, the total



revolt of the laity or the secular spokespeople that says, in



effect, there is no valid authority invested in ordained



minsters. The Epistles (I and II Timothy and Titus) are a



canonical handbook to guard against various expressions of



anticlericalism and other heresies. Shliach Sha'ul wrote these



letters to strengthen the authority of those who must preserve



the purity of the teaching of the Shluchim as it is committed to



"faithful men who can teach others also" (II Tim. 2:2). There



must be an ordained ministry and the I-II Tim-Tit Epistles lets



us make no mistake about that.





However, liberal scholars have used a circular argument to try to



prove that these letters aren't genuine and that Shliach Sha'ul



didn't write them. Their argument goes in this circle: the real



Shliach Sha'ul wrote Romans and Galatians and a few other



letters; the I-II Tim-Tit Epistles don't sound like Romans and



Galatians; the author of the I-II Tim-Tit Epistles can't be the



real Shliach Sha'ul.







There is close agreement of wording between Acts 20:17-38 and II



Timothy 4:6-8 and 3:11. So Shliach Sha'ul, as Luke records him,



can in fact sound like he sounds in the I-II Tim-Tit Epistles.



The notes on Acts already have made the points for dating the



book of Acts extremely close to the time II Timothy was written,



if not the same time. Shliach Sha'ul might have said in II Tim.



4:11, "Only Luke is with me (writing the book of Acts)." The



notes on Acts show that Acts is an expansion of Rav Sha'ul's



legal brief built around the legal precedents of Rav Sha'ul's



encounters with Roman officials throughout the Empire. Acts



attempts to make the case (while it fleshes out the story of the



acts of the Ruach Hakodesh in fulfilling the Great Comminion)



that Rav Sha'ul's faith was not a calculated attempt to undermine



or threaten the government of Rome. Rather, what Shliach Sha'ul



taught from Jerusalem to Rome is the true, legal (according to



Roman law) religion of the Jews embracing the whole world, and



unbelieving Jews should not be listened to by the Romans judging



Shliach Sha'ul. So there is ample proof in Acts and the epistles



themselves to prove that Shliach Sha'ul is the author or the I-II



Tim-Tit Epistles.





The difference in Rav Sha'ul's vocabulary in the I-II Tim-Tit



Epistles is due to the fact the Shliach Sha'ul is now an old man.



He is not babying carnal new believers with a mother's gentleness



but rather, with time running out on his ministry, Shliach Sha'ul



is giving blunt orders to those who will have to continue



preaching "the Besuras Hageulah that was entrusted" to this man



marked for martyrdom, Shliach Sha'ul (1:11). The year is probably



about 63 C.E. Shliach Sha'ul has just been released from his



first Roman imprisonment. Timothy is a man in his middle thirties



and Shliach Sha'ul is in his sixties. In the letter to the



Philippians (Phil. 1:26), a letter Shliach Sha'ul wrote during



his first Roman imprisonment, Shliach Sha'ul indicated he would



visit the Philippian congregation again if he were released. This



is apparently the vicinity where he is now, in Macedonia (modern



nothern Greece), and has sent this letter called I Timothy to



Timothy in Ephesus. Timothy is to be Rav Sha'ul's senior emissary



of Moshiach's shlichut on the field of Asia Minor (what is today



modern Turkey) and Shliach Sha'ul has delegated to him the



responsibility of overseeing the planting of new congregations



and the appointing of new congregational leaders in the area.





I Tim. 1:3 warns Timothy, as Rav Sha'ul's associate, to stay in



Ephesus and insist that the Brit Chadasha kehillah leaders not



teach any strange or different doctrine. Today there are those



who teach all manner of novel doctrines virtually unknown in the



history of Brit Chadasha kehillah dogma or in sound exegesis



(partial-rapture theory, secret coming of Moshiach theory, etc)



and demand that everyone agree with them (despite I Thes



4:16-17 etc.) or be branded as heterodox or liberal. Shliach



Sha'ul warned Timothy not to tolerate this kind of thing. All



teaching must be exegetically controlled by the inerrant Bible.



Sound teachers are to scrupluously avoid empty speculations and



theories (1:4,6) of this kind and to stick to the sober Word of



G-d and not go beyond what is written (I Cor. 4:6). The Besuras



Hageulah must be preserved in its Biblical purity and without the



accumulated oral tradition (Mark 7:9) that denominations tend to



generate more profusely the older they get.





The law was never intended for those who are led by the Ruach



Hakodesh in the age of the Ruach Hakodesh at the time of the



Moshiach's inauguration of the Brit Chadasha (Gal. 5:18; Titus



1:15; Heb. 8:13). The law was intended for those who live



according to the old sinful nature, and need to be convicted of



sin and brought to the Moshiach to receive a new nature and the



gift of the Ruach Hakodesh. But the ignorant, who presume to be



doctors of the law but don't know whet they are talking about,



don't understand this and put people under all kinds of legalisms



instead of teaching them about the new birth (see I Tim. 1:6-11



and Galatians 4 and Romans 7 and 8).





Shliach Sha'ul knows that his life as a Brit Chadasha



kehillah-murdering blasphemer (made into a world-famous Shliach



and prophet) shows the grace of G-d in Moshiach Yehoshua the



Moshiach "exceedingly" (1:14). Yet Shliach Sha'ul also knows that



he did these things in ignorance (see I Tim. 1:13 and Luke



23:34), and not as a knowing Esau (who knew what he was denying



but thought incorrectly that he could get it back in easier times



--Hebrews 12:16-17) or a knowing Judas (who actually shared the



L-rd's ministry--Acts 1:17). The Scripture warns that if anyone



tastes of the knowledge of heaven and yet knowingly becomes an



apostate, for such a person it is impossible to lead him or her



to be renewed a second time (Hebrews 6:4-8). Let this be a



warning to any in the faith who think they can do what Judas did



in bringing the police against the brethren and yet be forgiven



like Shliach Sha'ul, who also brought the police against the



brethren. There very definitely is something called apostasy.



This doctrine of apostasy must be taught to all who claim to be



believers. The cowardly apostates who try to gain their lives



instead of enduring to the end will lose their lives and not



inherit the Kingdom of G-d (Rev. 21:8; Mark 8:35; Mat. 24:13).



Shliach Kefa was tempted in this area but repented. Apostasy is a



dangerous possibility not to be dismissed by any antinomian



doctrine of eternal security, though warnings about apostasy (see



Heb. 6:4-12) should not exclude the doctrine of assurance (see



I Yochanan 5:13). Note: the doctrine of assurance should not be



contaminated with any Pelagian notion that man, by his own sheer



will power and without the help of G-d, can save himself from



apostasy or Gehinnom or anything else.







Chapter 2 (see also 4:13) tells Timothy how to conduct public



services. Shliach Sha'ul of course intends the missions



congregational leaders to study this and not just Timothy. Notice



public prayer meeting, proper attire, and proper order between



the sexes with the husband being respected by his wife are all



emphasized. Shliach Sha'ul knew that prayerlessness, scorn,



disrepect, and Edenic revolt were always shimmering just below



the surface, ready to erupt in human hearts.









Ch. 2:5 is very important. Only the Word of G-d mediates



salvation, and the Word of G-d incarnated himself only once and



only in one man, Moshiach Yehoshua. There is absolutely no other



man or no other name or no other way to G-d but by him.







I Tim. 4:1 speaks of the apostasy Shliach Sha'ul earlier alluded



to in II Thes. 2:3. This is the great repudiation of the inerrant



Bible both inside and outside the Brit Chadasha kehillah at the



end of the age to set the stage for the appearing of the



Anti-Moshiach.



Shliach Sha'ul tells Timothy to watch both what he preaches and



how he practices it (4:16).





Ch. 5:19 should be taken (along with Matthew 18:15-18) as an



important guide for Brit Chadasha kehillah discipline. If someone



aspires to have authority over believers to build them up in the



faith, that person should be accountable for his teaching and be



subject to Scripturally defined discipline for way wardness in



the faith (5:19). The gift of prophecy is needed in the Brit



Chadasha kehillah. This entails recognizing G-d's appointment



(s'micha) to ordained ministry of certain persons (see 4:14).



The warnings (3:6 and 5:22) about giving too much authority too



quickly to novices are well taken in Brit Chadasha kehillah



planting. Because novices are so inexperienced and spiritually



immature, it is unwise for them to allow themselves to be thrust



forward so much. There are plenty of warnings in the Scripture



about laying hands too suddenly on youthful and ambitious men who



are prone to be pushy, double-tongued, and clique-creating



politicians. The more mature men must walk a line between



discouraging them and keeping them in check. However, many



plodding emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut err in the opposite



direction, taking far too long to end their paternalism.





If this letter is read again carefully, it is very obvious that



the strident and unspiritual kind of irreverent "intellectualism"



in many religious colleges and seminaries is forbidden and sinful



in ministry formation and causes people to err concerning the



faith (6:21). This is also true of those empty babblers who pride



themselves in their "gnosis" (knowledge) about law and oral



tradition and various merely human teachings and speculations.





G-d wills that all men should be saved (I Tim. 1:16, 2:4; II Tim.



2:25-26; 4:17). Having said all this about the ordained ministry,



something more needs to be said about the ministry of all



believers. Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 61:6; I Shliach Kefa 2:5; Rev.



1:6; 20:6 proclaim that we are all ministers and II Cor.5:10 says



we will all be quickly called to account for our ministries. Col.



4:17 says. "See to it that you fulfill your ministry." There is a



functional distinction in the Bible between laity and ordained



leadership, but nothing like the elitist Protestant and



sacerdotal Roman Catholic views. The overseer is "G-d's



inspector" and such a person is himself subject to inspection,



which means Brit Chadasha kehillah-recognized appointment



(s'micha). However, it should be remembered that the ministry of



Moshiach Yehoshua began at his tevilah. So, in the kehunah of all



believers, at least some pre-tevilah Bible instruction before



Moshiach's tevilah is as essential for the believer as some sort



of Bible training is for overseers.





Concerning the place of women in the L-rd's house, let the



following apply to men and women equally. Beware of mixing any



male-female sensuality in your service to the Holy One, for such



indulgence is in reality a syncretistic Baalish cult inveighed



against in II Shliach Kefa and Yehuda in the Brit Chadasha



Scriptures and in Hosea and elsewhere in the Tanakh. This means



you can't serve G-d and the sex g-d Baal. You may be able to



excuse yourself with an easy conscience but G-d won't.



Therefore, never "minister" to a person of the opposite sex



alone, unless you want a sterile ministry with no one coming to



salvation, the reproach of the brethren and outsiders, and the



pangs of inevitable divine retribution (if you want to think up



evil to do, G-d can and will out-think you and bring it back on



your head--see Micah 2:2-3). Yehoshua sent people out 2 by 2, and



Shliach Sha'ul wanted spiritually mature women to minister to



women--see Titus 2:3-4. He would not permit a female individual



to teach or have authority over a male individual (I Tim. 2:12),



or a single man to teach a single woman alone, and in the name of



the L-rd he demanded that a man and a woman avoid the appearance



of evil (I Thes. 5:22), which means not being alone together, and



men treating women like sisters in absolute purity (I Tim. 5:2).



We are to watch our life and doctrine closely (I Tim. 4:16) if we



desire to save ourselves and others. We are to walk carefully



with our G-d (Micah 6:8).







One reason why single men and women are not sent alone to the



foreign mission field by many foreign mission boards is precisely



this problem, for loneliness in a strange land and romantic



temptations with the nationals can destroy ministry and invite



scandal. Single foreign emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut need



the gift of celibacy which includes the emotional strength to



cope with loneliness and the wisdom to minister to people in



appropriate settings (that is, with the help of additional



disciples and married couples, etc).





One thing we are seeing a lot of in this wicked world is engaged



couples taking many appearance liberties because they are almost



married. This also is very dangerous and can throw a stain on a



marriage even before it begins. Flee (run for your life) from the



lusts of youth (II Tim. 2:22)! Expressing physical affection for



the opposite sex (even your spouse) in the house of G-d is not



appropriate.









ON THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN







Read II Chron. 34:22. Shliach Sha'ul would not contradict the



Tanakh and must not be interpreted in such a way that makes him



do so. I Tim. 2:12 can not be interpreted in such a way as to



contradict II Chr. 34:22. Neither should be the case with I Tim.



3 and Titus 1. A piece of paper is worthless if the person, male



or female, doesn't have the gift that Huldah was given by G-d;



and their must be some way to authorize and de-authorize or



defrock those who prove unworthy of messianic ministry.







Satan has more than half (there are more women than men and women



live longer) of the L-rd's work force lolling on Brit Chadasha



kehillah pews because of the twin lies that only professionals



(clericalism) and men (male chauvinism) can preach and all



preaching must supposedly be done (by men) in the sacred shrine



called the Brit Chadasha kehillah building. The Brit Chadasha



Scriptures knows nothing about any such thing as a Brit Chadasha



kehillah building and women are some of the most effective



workers in the Brit Chadasha Scriptures.







Why are not the Huldahs, the prophetesses (look at Yoel 2:28



"your sons and daughters will prophesy"), the lady preachers



preaching everywhere? Everywhere there are people waiting to hear



a preacher: the hospital rooms where the dying are going to



Gehinnom without a witness, the nursing homes, the school yards



(with young girls and others loitering with the devil), the



business world. Lady, why are you not preaching? Why are you



yourself loitering when you could be prophesying? Do you think



Moshiach Yehoshua will accept your excuse that you listened to



men and not to G-d when he tells you to preach and they tell you



not to?







Why are you not preaching to the conscience with one goal for all



the people that you preach to: a permanent g-dly turn-around in



their lives!





ON THE DUTIES OF A MASHGIACH RUCHANI





In summary, leading a congregation is done by many types of



mesharetim (messianic ministers). Some are more



administrator-teachers, some are more outreach



minister-counsellors, etc. G-d can use any combination of



gift-mix in the congregational leader he calls.







A local congregational leader must never see calling on



first-time visitors as so much busy work to be farmed out to



somebody else. He may have others help him but if the visitor



cards are a drag on his time, then we can expect paper shuffling



and pulpiteering from such a man, but not a growing Brit Chadasha



kehillah. This is true in the same way that the following example



is true. A preacher who brings in people to help him serve the



preaching needs of the Brit Chadasha kehillah is one thing;



someone who thinks preaching is a drag on his time and hires out



the pulpit speakers because he would rather be doing something



else than preaching is no congregational leader. Likewise a man



who doesn't go after sheep and potential sheep is no



congregational leader. This sheep-searching heart-occupation of a



congregational leader cannot be hired out. Also the one who does



it is the one who receives a congregational leader's salary,



though laymen may assist him.





Shliach Sha'ul told congregational leader Timothy, "Do the work



of an kiruv outreach minister." Moshiach Yehoshua told



congregational leader Shliach Kefa to go and seek his sheep and



feed them. Congregational leading is not standing on a stage and



giving a homily and shuffling paper in one's office. The work of



going after the sheep is the thing the congregational leader must



lead the flock in and this means taking them and doing it, not



merely exhorting them. Laymen know when the congregational



leader's heart is not in something, and you cannot get anyone to



do what you do not want to do as a congregational leader.





G-d calls congregational leaders and they feed his sheep and go



and find the lost sheep and the L-rd provides their salaries



through the sheep. Their work cannot be hired out or farmed out



for hire.























MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHA'UL TO



TIMOTIYOS (II)













This is Rav Sha'ul's last will and testament, wrtten shortly



before his martyrdom during his second imprisonment in Rome. It



is written to Timothy in Ephesus, with greetings to Aquila and



Priscilla (4:19) who are still there apparently as they have been



since Acts 18:19 many years before (the time is now around 65-68



C.E.).





Candidates for messianic ministry should be trained and tested



(see 1:13-14) and should have regular times devoted to their



strengthening and revival and personal renewal (1:6).





A messianic minister is someone who is willing to bear the



hardships of a sacrificial life style or whatever may be



necessary for the sake of the Besuras Hageulah (1:8; 4:5). Notice



why we suffer-- see 2:10,12. A messianic minister is commanded



to make sure that the work of a kiruv outreach minister gets done



(4:5), which means pioneer outreach among unreached peoples as



well as Brit Chadasha kehillah growth and new Brit Chadasha



kehillah planting.





What is our long-range goal? See 2:15.







Look at 2:19. Since we are delivered, we must act delivered.





All Scripture is inspired by G-d. Therefore, all Scripture is



inerrant. See 3:16. If you don't see that, it's because you are



in error, not G-d.





Ch. 4:1 says that, welcome or unwelcome, we insist on the truth



of G-d's Word, and we don't give up and stop communicating it



because it seems to be unpopular or unreceived.









See The Rabbi From Tarsus, which is a dramatization of this



epistle (VHS Home Video, Word, Inc, 1986). Also see the play



itself in the next section.







Read I Tim 4:13-16; II Tim. 1:6-15. Timothy is reminded that he



is a preacher, a herald (the king's messenger and representative



announcing his coming), a kiruv outreach minister who must face



hostile crowds and dangerous public preaching opportunities, and



this will require a certain amount of suffering. But he has



received a special endowment of the Ruach Hakodesh to fulfill his



ministry, and therefore he must overcome cowardice, resume



preaching, and he must rely on the power of G-d. If he does this,



he will save not only many who hear him, but also himself (I Tim.



4:16). This is not the same doctrine as is believed by many, who



view street ministry as either a neglible option or an esoteric



capacity given only to a few with the calling. For them, a school



which mobilizes people into this function and actually puts them



on the street is either unheard of or nothing to take seriously.



Someday this sin will either be repented of or answered for.





The work of a kiruv outreach minister requires suffering (II Tim.



4:5).







Shliach Sha'ul reminds Timothy in II Tim. 2:3-7 of the special



berucha G-d will bestow on the ministry of a suffering (see II



Tim. 2:9), street-jostled, hard-working, faithful outreach



minister, especially one who trains others to do what he is doing



(i.e. Titus 1:9) and to do it with powerful prophetic preaching



and sound, deep teaching (II Tim. 2:2), which should be the goal



of any Bible School.





Are you doing the work? (See II Tim. 2:6.) There are some people



only you can preach to. You can't hire it done. You can't farm



them out to others. You must get over the shame of the Besuras



Hageulah and get their blood off your hands or you will be



responsible. Look at II Tim. 2:4. The proclamation is a sacred



trust (Titus 1:3) because the Besuras Hageulah can be distorted



or garbled or lost in transmission (II Tim. 1:12)





I and II Timothy can be read as a charge or commission to a kiruv



outreach minister if you see II Tim. 4:5 as the key (see I Tim



4:10; II Tim. 1:12; 2:9,12; 3:12 on suffering as a kiruv outreach



minister plus all the verses on being ashamed of the Besuras



Hageulah or of Rav Sha'ul).





When we preach on the street, we need to keep in mind Titus



3:1-7,9; also Titus 2:5-8; also II Tim. 2:24-26; and beware of



pride--II Tim. 2:26; I Tim 2:6).





Those who preach on the street have to be rescued from the lion's



mouth (II Tim 4:17).







Street preachers need systematic and historical theology because



of Titus 1:9; II Tim. 2:2; I Tim. 5:22; 4:6,16; 6:3-4; II



Tim.2:15,23; Titus 2:1.









Although Shliach Sha'ul knows that the time of his death is



imminent ("the time of my departure has come" 4:6), he is



comforted as he thinks about the the promise of life in Moshiach



Yehoshua (1:1) and the the crown of righteousness (4:8), which



the L-rd will give to him on the Day of His Appearing. II Tim.



1:12 implies that Shliach Sha'ul has entrusted himself, his body,



soul, and spirit, to the safe-keeping of G-d for the day of the



parousia (see also I Thes. 5:23). He has entrusted his work at



Ephesus to G-d and to Timothy, whom Shliach Sha'ul has solemnly



dedicated to G-d's work by the laying on of hands in the sign and



seal of ordination or s'micha (see II Tim. 1:6). This was not



something Shliach Sha'ul had done impetuously or thoughtlessly (I



Tim. 5:22) but rather something that came after Timothy had been



trained (II Tim. 2:15) and properly tested (test them first I



Tim. 3:10) out on the mission field itself, where Timothy did his



apprenticeship (Phil. 2:20-22).









Study the Greek text of II Tim. 2:15. Diligent effort to properly



interpret the inspired Scriptures, "cutting a straight path" and



fitting inerrant texts into proper doctrine (both ideas reside in



orthotomeo) are tasks that require persistent, studious zeal



(spoudazo) and dokimos (approval after examination and testing).



Anyone who does not want to be zealous in study or to bother



getting approval after study and examination should not presume



that they have "s'micha." The maaser is for the properly



consecrated ministers of the mitzbe'ach. We have today people who



want the tithes but don't want the work of getting properly



consecrated. They are too intelligent and spiritually gifted to



study. They don't have time (their very very gifted personages do



not have time for studying Greek grammar) to prepare for an exam,



or they don't know of anyone brilliant enough to examine such a



specimen of giftedness as themselves. Shliach Sha'ul was not



willing to entrust the ministry to such prima donnas. Shliach



Sha'ul himself had studied and been trained to the teeth! He told



Timothy to look for trustworthy believers, not just believers,



who could be entrusted to take what Shliach Sha'ul give Timothy



and hand it on to others also (II Tim. 2:2). Someone who thinks



he or she is too gifted to study and get approval is not



trustworthy. (A medical worker who is too gifted in healing to



graduate from medical school is not a licensed doctor but a witch



doctor. Do we consult witch doctors? Do we pay them?).





On the other hand, anyone who thinks he is studied, approved,



matriculated, graduated, and has s'micha and thinks he is ikanos



(possessing qualifiation II Tim. 2:2) had better examine himself



to see what kind of spirit he has received and what kinds of



pursuits or distractions he may have succumbed to. Study II Tim.



2:1-7 very carefully and prayerfully (Ps. 119:18), reading this



text in a mood of supplication, asking G-d for illumination by



the Ruach Hakodesh (I Cor. 2:12-16) and cleansing (1 Yochanan



1:9). Some have all credentials but none of the Ruach Hakodesh.



Some have the credentials but are more interested in making and



spending money than in doing the work.





The work of properly interpreting the Bible entails entering into



the mind of the author, the historical context of the author's



writing, the context of the passage, and the grammar and



vocabulary of his language, an ancient foreign tongue. Proper



intrepretaion of the Scriptures takes work. To preach correct



doctrine in the right spirit takes prayer, and without



understanding the spirit of the text, one indulges in mere



wrangling about words (II Tim. 2:14). Then to proclaim the word



"in season" takes a prophetic touch. To proclaim the word



fearlessly in situations that bring suffering or danger requires



boldness and courage. To go or remain where G-d commands requires



a sacrificial lifestyle, and that means covetousness disqualifies



any aspiring minister, especially one who is a lover of self



(II Tim. 3:2). The gift of G-d that makes all this possible must



be constantly, repeatedly kindled afresh (anazopureo is a present



infinitive--II Tim. 1:6). This is all part of the messianic



ministry, which is based on anupokritou pisteos, sincere, genuine



faith, which many liberal, lazy, neo-orthodox, double-talking



pharisees do not have, for all their ministerial credentials. One



must be called with a holy calling (II Tim. 1:9). One must be a



clean vessel (II Tim. 2:21), fleeing from youthful lusts (2:22).





















MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH



SHA'UL TO TITOS



















This letter was probably written very close to the same time I



Timothy was written (though C.E. 63 may be too early).



Apparently Shliach Sha'ul has visited Crete and left Titus there



just as he left Timothy in Ephesus. Shortly before Shliach Sha'ul



was arrested again for the final time, and while he was still on



the mission field (some scholars believe Corinth, others Ephesus,



others Philippi in northern Greece, that is, Macedonia), he wrote



this letter to Titus, his long-time associate, an uncircumcised



Greek so helpful in Rav Sha'ul's dealings with the Corinthians



and as a test case against the circumcising party in the early



days in Jerusalem. In this letter we learn that Zenas and Apollos



are coming to Titus and that Shliach Sha'ul hopes to meet Titus



in Nicopolis in Epirus on the western shore of Greece.





Notice that appointing zekenim is something that an emissary of



Moshiach's shlichut does when planting new Brit Chadasha kehillot



in an area (1:5). This is not always left to a local Brit



Chadasha kehillah's pulpit selection committee or membership vote



as in congregationalism. G-d wants to plant new Brit Chadasha



kehillot and appoint new messianic ministers much faster than



that. On the other hand, there is nothing in Scripture to warrant



a leader coming in and domineering over a congregation and



dictating all the internal decisions for the believers. A certain



Spirit-led tension between congregationalism and episcopalism



exists, as far as polity is concerned, since both congregational



and episcopal forms of polity each have dangers and weaknesses



but also strengths and advantages.







Notice we are to take no notice of certain religious myths that



people adhere to who are not regenerated and therefore have no



taste for the authority and sufficiency of the inerrant Word of



G-d (1:11). The Bible is not composed of myths or etiological



folktales, but sober salvation history predicted and fulfilled



through inerrant prophets, and there is no other book under the



sun suitable for faith and practice. Here we see Shliach Sha'ul



pointing to the embryonic but growing stronghold of rabbinic



authority and the intoxicating influence of Jewish legalism and



mythologizing similar to what is later found in the Talmud and



the Midrashim (see 1:10-16; 3:8-11). Apparently the movement of



believers in Crete was tainted by the influence of certain



morally perverse Judaizers and this weak corrupt mission field



needed a reforming outreach messianic minister and preacher like



Titus.





By their fruit you will know the true knowers of G-d (1:16;



Matthew 7:20).





Watch vulgarisms in your speech, from the pulpit or in public



anywhere. Why should such be there privately either? (see 2:3).





Ch. 2:10 demands no petty thieving but complete and utter honesty



at all times. Ch. 2:12 means that G-d wants you to give up



everything that does not lead to him.







We are not to have a tendency to go picking quarrels or to



slander others or to walk in touchy bitterness, but we are to be



polite and courteous to people, remembering that if they do not



treat us the same way we treat them, we too were once in their



darkness See 3:2-3. Titus 3:3 says some of the things found in



Eph. 2:11-13 and II Tim. 2:24-26.





There are those who only want to waste our time, however. We must



not allow them. See 3:9-11. See 3:10 on what to do with a



divisive person.





Although salvation cannot be earned by good works (3:5), 3:14



shows that we are to live productive lives, meaning not just that



we are to learn how to pay our bills and not be in debt, but that



we are to avoid being unproductive or lax in good deeds for those



in need, good works accomplished for the glory of our Savior.



Notice that good works are emphasized in Titus 1:16; 2:7,14;



3:1,8,14. The problem is that such are not often enough



emphasized in our lives as believers.





This book gives a balance between the need to refute false



teachers (1:10-16) and at the same time not to allow them to



waste one's time.





Look at the formulated creeds (or something very close to such)



in 2:11-14 and 3:4-7. This could be placed on a membership



application.













































MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH



SHA'UL TO PHILEMON

















This letter was probably written fairly early in Rav Sha'ul's



first Roman imprisonment) probably C.E. 60-6l, from the little



Roman house Brit Chadasha kehillah whose members he names in



23-24, some of whom shared his incarceration for a time. It was



delivered by Paul's co-worker Tychicus and Onesimus to Philemon



in Colossae in what is today modern Turkey. It concerns a slave



boy Onesimus, whose name means "useful" or "beneficial." See the



play on words in 10-11 below between onesimos (Onesimus,



"useful") and axrestos ("useless" here with the idea of



unreliable or unfaithful) and euxrestos ("useful") and in v. 20



onaimen ("benefit"). It is no accident that Shliach Sha'ul



commends the slave master Philemon for the love and faithfulness



(pistis) he has for the L-rd and for all his saints, since the



thieving, run-away slave Onesimus is now born-again and has



therefore just become one of the saints. This new turn of events



means that Philemon is now going to have to be put to the test to



see if he will be loving and faithful to this apprehended slave



who has wronged him but has now become his brother in the L-rd.









Every believer is undergoing a similar test of faithfulness to



the brethren. Heb. 10:25 says, "not neglecting to meet together,



as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the



more as you see the Day approaching." The question is, will you



and I be useful and beneficial and loving and faithful to one



another in our local assembly? Or will we neglect meeting



together? Or, worst of all, will we desert one another in time of



need (II Tim. 4:10) as, on the night of his betrayal, the



Shluchim all "neglected to meet together" and deserted our L-rd,



all of them committing the sin of Demus in II Tim. 4:10? It is



ironic that, although the slave Onesimus once deserted the



slavemaster Philemon, Philemon is now in danger of deserting his



duty to Onesimus as a brother in the L-rd, for the L-rd is



requiring something of Philemon--love and faithfulness to a



brother. Shliach Sha'ul models this for Philemon in v. 10-11. And



Philemon must pass the test. There is also irony in the list



given in vs. 23-24 of Rav Sha'ul's fellow-workers: Epaphras,



Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, since Demas will not pass the



test of faithfulness, but prove to be a devil as far as Rav



Sha'ul's tiny Roman house Brit Chadasha kehillah is concerned



(see II Tim. 4:10).





What the L-rd is requiring is that Philemon have the attitude of



Shliach Sha'ul toward Onesimus and not the attitude of an angry,



vengence-seeking slave master. Philemon must understand that as



brothers in the L-rd we are bound to one another? and there is a



chain of love and commitment more unbreakable between us than the



bands of the institution of slavery. In this letter Shliach



Sha'ul points to the chains of love in Moshiach that hold



Onesimus, Philemon, and himself bound to one another (see v.



12). Onesimus may be a slave in the flesh but he is a brother in



the L-rd, and Shliach Sha'ul is appealing that Philemon not



punish the boy. Indeed, v. 21 ("knowing that you will do even



more than I ask") seems to be a veiled plea for Onesimus' release



from slavery and, by implication, even for the abolition of



slavery as a sub-Biblical institution. See also v.16, "receive



him back no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved



brother."





Shliach Sha'ul has, of course, already finished dealing with



Onesimus by the time Shliach Sha'ul pens this letter. Shliach



Sha'ul has led the boy to the L-rd (v.10)and has persuaded him to



stop living the life of a run-away slave and return to his master



Philemon. Now Shliach Sha'ul must deal with Philemon, from whose



household and house Brit Chadasha kehillah in Colossae (a city in



modern Turkey 110 miles east of Ephesus) Onesimus has run away.





The penalty for this (Onesimus also stole from Philemon) was



severe. The slave's forehead could be branded with a hot iron. If



he is returned, Philemon will have the power of life or death



over the boy. Therefore, Shliach Sha'ul has to remind Philemon



that Philemon owes Shliach Sha'ul his very life, since Shliach



Sha'ul was also responsible as the Shliach to the Gentiles for



not only bringing the Besuras Hageulah to the slave Onesimus (v.



10), but also for the reaching out to that general part of the



world, where the slave master Philemon himself lived and was



saved (see v.19).











When the path of the run-away slave crossed Rav Sha'ul's in Rome,



Rav Sha'ul not only led the boy to the L-rd, but also wrote this



letter to Philemon and sent back to Philemon both the boy and



Tychicus. Tychicus was an Ephesian who joined Shliach Sha'ul on



his final trip to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4-5) and was an associate



like Timothy and Titus. Tychicus was also the one who carried Rav



Sha'ul's letters to the Ephesians (Eph. 6:21-22), Colossians



(Col. 4:7-9), Philemon and possibly II Timothy (II Tim. 4:12) to



their destinations.



Rav Sha'ul's letter to Philemon is a perfect example of how G-d



rewards faith and unselfishness. How often in the ministry we



need to read it! How often a messianic minister is tempted to



operate without faith and according "to the natural" and keep a



staff person, who really belongs in the ministry of someone else.



Shliach Sha'ul could have done this. He could have said, "I won



this boy Onesimus to the L-rd; Philemon didn't win him to the



L-rd. Therefore, he belongs to my ministry, not Philemon's. And I



need him here in Rome more than Philemon needs him in his house



Brit Chadasha kehillah. I'll just insist on having things my way.









But Shliach Sha'ul knew that this was not the will of G-d. So he



did the right thing, though it was against his own best



interests. And look how G-d rewarded Shliach Sha'ul: the letter



has become part of the Holy Scriptures!





Notice how Shliach Sha'ul uses his authority with Philemon, not



like a religious overlord or slave master commanding obedience to



G-d, but gently, appealing for freely decided, totally voluntary



commitment to Moshiach Yehoshua, recognizing the equality of



brothers in the L-rd, even though Shliach Sha'ul does have



authority in his office which he could use (v.8). Shliach Sha'ul



is making his appeal with Philemon's wife (Apphia?) and Archippus



(exhorted as an emissary of Moshiach's shlichut) soldier" in Col



4:17 to fulfill the ministry calling G-d has given him and the



work unfinished he must complete) as witnesses. Rav Sha'ul's



appeal is to Philemon's noble duty as a believer and as a "slave"



of Moshiach Yehoshua Moshiach (see v. 13 where Rav Sha'ul says of



Onesimus, "I wanted to keep him with me so that he might be of



service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the



Besuras Hageulah").









Onesimus learned a valuable lesson too: once one becomes a



believer, and begins the walk of faith, there is no turning back.



One must make restitution and do the right thing, even if it is



risky. Apparently Onesimus was rewarded by G-d, too, because



reliable tradition seems to place him in the ministry and over



the Brit Chadasha kehillot in Ephesus at a later date.









Philemon had to learn a lesson, too. It is a hard lesson for many



believers to learn--how to be graciously charitable to others who



have sinned against you. Because this slave owner and his slave



learned through Moshiach Yehoshua how to be brothers, slavery was



doomed and could not carry on with its former strength. On this



matter of slavery and true brotherhood, there is no other



religious book in the world to compare with the Brit Chadasha.























MOSHIACH'S LETTER TO THE MA'AMINIM MESHICHI FROM



AMONG THE YEHUDIM



















The author cannot be Shliach Sha'ul because of 2:3-4. However,



the letter probably has Rav Sha'ul's personal endorsement, and



that's why, since Shliach Sha'ul was martyred 65-68 C.E., the



best date for its composition is around 52-54 C.E. in Ephesus,



when Apollos may have written it to the Brit Chadasha kehillah



there and then sent a copy to Corinth (see Hugh Montefiore, The



Epistle to the Hebrews, Harper and Row, 1964).





Although assumptions are always risky, there are a number of



reasons for assuming that Apollos is the author of this



sermon-letter. Hebrews is a sermon, probably preached in Ephesus



initially to an Ephesian congregation, and then sent (with a



postscript sort of letter added as an appendix) probably to



Corinth (Heb. 13:19; cf. I Cor. 16:12) with greetings from Aquila



and Priscilla (Acts 18:2; Heb. 13:24; I Cor. 16:19). Compare Heb.



5:12 to I Cor. 3:2. Alexander the coppersmith was a Jewish man



who persecuted Shliach Sha'ul and caused him a great deal of



trouble in Ephesus (II Tim. 4:14-15), possibly causing Rav



Sha'ul's imprisonment there, referred to metaphorically in I Cor.



15:32 and also in II Cor. 1:8-10. It is possible that this same



Alexander is referred to in Acts 19:33f and that he is later (58



C.E.) also one of the "Jews from Asia" in Acts 21:27, in which



case he may have been one of the riotous ringleaders whose



trouble-making helped to convince the Ephesian idol-making



Gentiles and later the Jerusalem Jews that Jewish followers of



this "Moshiach" were no longer Jews and not to be afforded the



Roman protection of religious freedom (religiolicita--see notes



on the book of Acts) reserved for Jews since the time of Julius



Caesar (c. 100-44 B.C.E.).











If all this was fermenting in Ephesus in the early C.E. 50's,



many of the Jews in the Ephesian congregation would be afraid of



both Alexander the Jew and the Ephesian lynch mob that had a



vested interest in the idol-making business (see Acts 19:23-41).



These Messianic Jews would need for Apollos to preach a message



to them like the one we find in Hebrews. If Apollos didn't write



Hebrews, it is hard to understand why he is given so much



attention in I Corinthians and especially in the book of Acts.



Luke deals mainly with major figures. Mark would certainly not



have been a major figure if he had not written one of the



versions of the Besuras Hageulah, nor does it seem that Apollos



would have been so important to mention in Acts if he hadn't



written Hebrews, especially since he does not figure that closely



as an of Rav Sha'ul in the Acts narrative. The fact that the



strong influence of Shliach Sha'ul is evident on Luke's writing



of the book of Acts makes Apollos' mention in the Acts narrative



an endorsement of him by Shluchim. See also I Cor.16:12,19; 1:12;



3:5,21-23 and remember that I Cor. is written from Ephesus where



Apollos is ministering with Shliach Sha'ul in the home of



Priscilla and Aquila (I Cor. 16:12,19). Keep in mind that at this



point Rav Sha'ul's past writings include only I and II



Thessalonians and possibly Galatians, so the author of the book



of Hebrews would certainly be exalted if his writing were



compared with Rav Sha'ul's, and that seems to be what is



happening with Apollos, who is put on the same level with Shliach



Kefa in the Corinthian congregation (I Cor. 1:12). All this makes



for weighty, even if circumstantial, evidence for the authorship



of Apollos.











If the Beis Hamikdash had already been destroyed by the Romans,



Hebrews 10:18 would have been the perfect place to infer it. The



present tense force of the verbs in 8:4 and 10:11 (the verb in



10:11 is in the perfect tense but has a present meaning) strongly



indicate that we are in a time period before 70 C.E. and the Beis



Hamikdash sacrifices are still in progress. The author seems to



use the verb tense to make a contemporary reference to Herod's



Beis Hamikdash, though his idealistic and Mosaic reference is to



the Tabernacle of the wilderness.









Timothy has been in prison (13:23), and since Timothy is



associated with the Brit Chadasha kehillah at Ephesus, and since



the Beis Hamikdash seems to be still standing in Jerusalem (8:4),



the date could be in the C.E. 50's, when Shliach Sha'ul and



Timothy were apparently both in and out of prison in Ephesus



(II Cor. 1:1-9) and certainly before 70 C.E., when the Beis



Hamikdash was destroyed in Jerusalem. Because Acts could have



been written as early as 63 C.E., and because Apollos gets such



attention in Acts (more than most of the Shluchim), it is



probable that Hebrews was written before that time and amounts to



his "claim to fame" if we can use that expression in an



impersonal sense, for Hebrews is anonymous and the humble author



draws absolutely no attention to himself. Also, the fact that



even Shliach Sha'ul gives Apollos almost a shliach's dignity of



reference when he mentions his name in I Corinthians, written



about C.E. 55, may be an indication of the early date of this



letter.





Hebrews is a book that G-d seems to have made sure was included



in the Brit Chadasha for the sake of all those who have already



been in one faith, though they have been exposed to the true



Messianic Jewish faith in Yehoshua, are nevertheless tempted,



because of persecution or other pressure, to devalue and give up



their Messianic faith and go back to the easier and older



religious beliefs they once held. Don't do it! Don't do it! This



is the message of Hebrews.







The Ephesian hearers of Hebrews, if they are the sermon's initial



audience (before the sermon is sent as a letter to Corinth), are



in danger of "drifting away" (2:1). They are becoming



encumbered with a too high view of Moses and angels and the Kohen



Gadol in Jerusalem and the Beis Hamikdash levitical kohanim and



the blood of bulls and goats. The levitical kehunah was not



perfect (5:11)! The law made nothing perfect (7:19; 10:1)! Its



sacrifices could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper



(9:9)! The law is only a shadow of the good things to come and



not the true form of these realities (10:1; 11:39-40). But these



messianic Jews Apollos is preaching to are becoming entangled in



a too high view of the covenant made with Moses, forgetting that



a better covenant and a better kohen were promised, and that



"when the kohenhood is changed, of necessity there takes place a



change of law also" (7:13), meaning that the covenant with Moses



(together with its kohenhood and sacrifices) is obsolete as far



as Messianic personal salvation is concerned (8:13).





The people being exhorted have taken their eyes off of the



Moshiach cohen Yehoshua (12:2), and they have forgotten about



"the true tabernacle which the L-rd pitched in the heavens"



(8:1-2), where Yehoshua's kohenhood is greater than Aaron's



(7:1-28). They have grown sluggish, and their lack of diligence



in the things of G-d has hurt their assurance (6:11-12) and has



tempted them to throw away their confidence (10:35). They are



backslidden and "wavering in faith" (10:23) and have become



"dull of hearing" (4:11) and are unable to absorb the meat of the



Word and need to go back to the ABC's of the Besuras Hageulah and



relearn the fundamentals. One old lesson they need to relearn is



that looking with dead Jewish works of Torah toward a merely



earthly sanctuary will not make one alive in the living



G-d--6:1; 9:14. Their eyes are tempted to look to the earthly



Kohen Gadol as their authority and the earthly Jerusalem as their



lasting city (13:14). They are neglecting things like attendance



at the Messianic assemblies (10:25), giving (13:16), and



submission to their elders, whom their conduct is grieving



(13:17). They are standing between perfection (6:1) and apostasy



("falling away"--6:6) and are drifting back (2:1) toward the



brink of destruction. The author exhorts them, "let us go on



toward perfection" and points them toward the heavenly sanctuary



(9:11) and toward the Messiah Kohen Yehoshua, made perfect by



what he suffered in perfect obedience, made perfect as a kohen by



an indestructible life, and having made perfect by a single



sacrifice and for all time those who are sanctified. Only through



Him can we go with full assurance before the throne of grace



(4:16).











All this drifting back has made the back-sliders discouraged



(3:13). They are starting to lose confidence and assurance (3:14)



and hope (3:6) and are in danger of succumbing to an evil,



unbelieving, disobedient heart which would lead them to fall away



(3:12; 4:11) not only from the true Messianic movement but from



the living G-d who is a consuming fire (12:29; 10:31; 3:12). They



are in danger of "shrinking back" from the suffering of loss,



from the suffering of persecution, and from the suffering of



bearing the reproach of their confession of faith. They have



forgotten the lessons of perfecting that come as we learn



obedience not in the Torah's school of dead works (6:2; 7:19;



9:9; 10:1) but in the Moshiach's better tabernacle (9:11) and his



discipleship school of hard knocks (2:10; 5:8-9; 12:4-14). On



"dead works" in Heb. 6:l, see Mat. 15:3, 9 and Mat. 6:22-23. Even



G-d rested from His labors (4:10), the author is saying;



therefore, why don't these people "rest" from depending on "dead



works" and resolutely turn away from the old "works-righteous



Judaism" that had been their old faith and stay with Brit



Chadasha Messianic Judaism, which is the true faith. (Messianic



Faith is a post-Biblical term for transcultural Judaism.)





These people are not crying out to G-d in prayer (5:7) in the



midst of their testing nor are they reverently submissive (5:7).



They don't seem to understand that the Kohen Gadol "in charge"



(5:1) is not the current holder of Kohen Gadol Caiaphas' office



but Moshiach Yehoshua. And these people are on the verge of



rebelling against Moshiach Yehoshua just as Korah rebelled



against Aaron and Moses (see Num. 16). There is something truly



perilous about their spiritual condition: they have "become dull



in understanding" (5:11) and spiritually "sluggish" (6:12).



Notice how Deut. 4:9,25 is very much in view, where the people



are in danger of becoming complacent and letting the Word slip



from their mind. They are immature babes who are unskilled in the



word (5:12-14) and unskilled in distinquishing good from evil.



They have been in the teaching long enough to be teachers but



they are drifting toward evil, toward an obsolete covenant



(8:13). The author feels he must rehearse for them the lessons



found in Numbers and Deuteronomy, lest they also "not continue in



my covenant" (Jer. 8:9). Not only do they need to know about true



perfection (2:10; 5:9; 6:1; 7:11,19; 9:9,11; 10:1,14; 11:40;



12:23; 13:21) but they need to understand the nature of their



covenant faith lest they too perish in a wilderness of rebellion



(3:15), unbelief (3:19; 4:3), and disobedience (4:6,11). To



preach to them, the author sweeps through the entire Law and the



prophets, summarizing covenant faith and the terms of salvation,



lest anyone fail to attain it. His key Tanakh texts are passages



such as Ps. 110, Ps. 95:7-11; Jer. 31:31-34; Ex. 25:40; and



Messianic prophecies like Ps. 2. His primary thesis is that these



people are in danger of neglecting the great salvation they have



been offered (2:3) by giving up what is superior for what is



inferior (1:4; 3:3) and by evoking G-d's covenant anger and



curse. They need to wake up to the "wilderness test" they are



currently undergoing, and (to use an idea found in the book of



Numbers) they need to "step away from Korah" and make that



commitment without which there is no salvation, only the "fury of



fire that will consume the adversaries" (10:27).





These backsliders, who are flirting with going back into



Caiaphas' Second Beis Hamikdash Judaism under the authority of



the current ruling High Kohen in Jerusalem (Ananias son of



Nebedeus C.E. 48-58), need to be reminded that if they keep



backsliding in that direction, they may reach a point of no



return (6:6) like the unbelieving apostates who hardened their



hearts against Moses and died in the wilderness (3:5-19) or like



immoral, G-dless Esau who forfeited salvation's privileges



(12:16-17). The author of Hebrews uses Exodus 25:40 and Ps. 110



and Jer. 31:31-34 to point to a "heavenly Jerusalem" (12:22) and



to a heavenly sanctuary and heavenly sprinkled blood "which



speaks better than the blood of Abel" (12:24). If these



backsliders revile and apostatize and spit the Lord's Supper out



of their mouthes and go back into Caiaphas' Second Beis Hamikdash



Judiasm via their local Besuras Hageulah-rejecting synagogues



(that hold Yehoshua up to contempt--6:6), they will find there



that they have not joined the exclusive community of G-d but are



in fact excluded from such, forfeiting all rights and privileges



apperteining to salvation (13:10). Because they too have become



ashamed of Moshiach Yehoshua, He will become ashamed of them.



Caiaphas, of course, has been out of office since A.D. 36/37, but



his successors did not change his policies toward Messianic



believers, policies which rejected Yehoshua as Moshiach and as



the true way of Judaism's salvation.





These backsliders don't really know who Yehoshua is. He is far



superior to any angel or to Moses or anything or anyone in the



world. In fact, he is the Wisdom of G-d. Yehoshua is actually the



Wisdom G-d used when He created the world. Scientists who believe



in the Big Bang Theory of the origin at the universe believe that



the universe is expanding. Some believe the universe could



eventually stop expanding, turn on itself and collapse. Heb. 1:3



says that the Word of G-d (the Moshiach our Lord) is what is



preventing precisely that from happening for he upholds or



sustains (feron) the universe from collapsing.











Here the author seems to be combining Prov. 30:4 and Prov. 8:30



which together assert that the Wisdom of G-d is G-d's Son, and to



these (Heb. 1:2) the author quotes in Heb. 1:5 that the Moshiach



is the Son of G-d, using Ps. 2:7 as a prooftext. Therefore the



Moshiach is the creative Wisdom of the Father, the builder of



the house (Heb. 3:3). The substance is in Him, everything else is



a foreshadow, and nothing can compare with the Eternal One, the



Moshiach (Heb. 1:12). Moshiach Yehoshua is the Word G-d has



spoken to us, the last Word, the creative Word of G-d, who is His



light and His exact representation. His perfect copy and the one



who holds the universe together (1:1-3). He is the Word who is



G-d (1:1,2,5-14) not a mere angel or a merely human creature.





If the law brought swift punishment when it was rejected, do you



think it a light thing for you if you backsliding drifters reject



obedience to the Besuras Hageulah? (2:2-3). You had better stay



in fellowship (10:25) under constant exhortation and preaching



(3:13 says daily!) and not harden your heart in evil unbelief but



rather build up your faith in the Word and in fellowship, because



you will not be saved unless you keep your grasp on saving faith



right to the end (3:14).





No secret sin is possible with the Word whose burning eyes see



everywhere, that is, the eyes of the One with whom we have to do.



Read 4:12-13.









What is better in this world than fellowship with Moshiach



Yehoshua in the Lord's body of believers? He experienced



everything that we have, yet without sin (4:15). So He is both



compassionate and able to make



intercession for you based on His better sacrifice and life



(7:24-25). Don't you understand that what you have in Him is



better than anything else that any man or woman can offer you?



Who else is the enfleshed sinless Word and eternal priet?





What other man did David ever call L-rd? See Psalm 110 and



Hebrews 5:1-10 and Genesis 14:17-20. The Moshiach's eternal



mediatorial role was known to Abraham and to King David-- why



don't you know it?



In



ch. 6 the author explains his purpose. Those who apostatize after



knowing the truth cannot be renewed a second time. See also



Hebrews 10:26-31 and 3:12. It seems the would-be apostates who



are tempted to join Alexander the coppersmith (II Tim. 4:14; Acts



19:33-34) are being warned. It seems that those who are tempted



to drift back with the persecutors of the Ephesian congregation,



that is, the persecutors from the local Gentile idol-making



industry as well as some from the local synagogue (see Acts 19:9,



23-41)--it seems the book of Hebrews is a solemn warning to these



drifters: do so and burn in hell forever with them!





Then in Hebrews 10:32 the author reminds them of what it has cost



them already to believe. Will they throw all that away and betray



themselves now? Apollos has been in touch with believers both in



Corinth and Ephesus for some time. Those in Ephesus have seen



Shliach Sha'ul and even Timothy (II Cor. 1:11-10) go to priaon.



(Heb. 13:23 oould refer to this).





In ch. 11 the author is saying with illustrations that build one



on top of the other: "You people flirting with apostasy and with



going back to old religious beliefs, have faith (which is the



assurance of not something yet seen but something hoped for) 'Get



tough and don't draw back--be like the real heroes unequivocally



referred to in the Bible and not like the heroes of men and mere



human tradition! Without the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham,



Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Yosef, Moses, and Rahab it is impossible to



please G-d.





In ch. 12 he says, in effect: "Count the cost!" Suffering is part



of your training! Share the rejection and degradation of Moshiach



Yehoshua (13:13)!





In ch. 13 he says, in effect: "Don't let yourself be led astray



with all kinds of doctrines about food laws, etc." We have a



better way to salvation that none of those people trusting in an



obsolete covenant and rejecting Moshiach Yehoshua have a right to



share in."



Don't you understand that Yehoshua is the perfect mediatorial



Word who is at the same time the perfect sacrifice offering?



Don't you realize that no other man or mediator has an



indestructible life able to destroy death and bring immortality



to light? Can you not see the higher life of Yehoshua that



Melchizedek's life was a type of? Read ch. 7. Yehoshua is the



perfect Word who was made perfect through suffering, even as, in



fellowship with his sufferings, we are made perfect in him.







Don't you understand that there is no other assurance of



salvation, no better covenant assurance anywhere than in



Yehoshua? He mediates a greater covenant to us then any other



covenant before him. Any worship, any pilgrimage to a house of



G-d or a sanctuary, any covenant outside of him or any other



revelation mediated except through him is passing away. Only what



is true to him will last, for he is G-d's Word. Only he destroyed



the death that tried to annihilate him, the death that does in



fact destroy everything outside of him.





Look at ch. 6:1; 9:14. This verse shows that mere religion and



ritual and legalistic good works are dead in themselves and



cannot bring spiritually dead religionists to life. Such mere



memorized prayers and washings and bowings cannot purify the



defiled soul that is religious but still without life in the



Spirit of G-d, without regeneration in the living knowledge of



G-d.





In chapter 9, the author seems to be saying, "Don't you realize



what the death of the Word of G-d means? Everyone knows that a



will cannot go into effect without the death of the one who made



it. Therefore the Word had to die to put His promises into effect



for us who inherit them." (See 1:14; 6:12,17; 9:15; 11:8-9;



12:16-17.) The people can remain faithful and keep moving toward



their heavenly inheritance like Abraham or they can fall back and



lose their inheritance like that apostate Esau; it is their



choice.









Through Moses and the prophets, the Word of G-d pointed out man's



separation from the life of G-d and man's sin not just in what



man does but in what he is, a rebellious G-d-alienated and



Satanically blinded being headed for death (2:14). But, then,



this same Word of G-d, who left His imprint on the Scriptures,



appeared once for all in a real body like ours to offer a perfect



sacrifice to take man out of the bondage of human alienation and



death. How did the Word of G-d accomplish this? By paying an



infinite price with his infinite life poured out for our guilty



offenses against G-d and by rising from death to live in our



hearts and make us alive by faith. Any Word that lacks testimony



to his blood is no true gospel. Read ch. 10.









A disciple is a learner with a teacher. He should be a member of



a congregation faithful in G-d's house and Biblically submitted



to G-d by means of tevilah and accountability to the body and its



elders (13:17). Whoever is not faithfully planted in a kehillah



where G-d has placed him is backslidden, and some in this



condition may even be apostate or lost (10:25-29).































MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH YA'AKOV TO



THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH



















Like Shliach Sha'ul, Ya'akov did not believe that Yehoshua was



the Moshiach until Yehoshua rose from the dead and appeared to



him personally, calling him to be a Shliach (I Cor. 15:7; Mark



6:3; Yochanan 7:5). Ya'akov "the Just," as he was called, was one



of the childen born naturally to Miryam through Yosef after the



virgin gave birth to Moshiach Yehoshua. Reliable tradition says



that Ya'akov was stoned to death in Jerusalem when Ananias, the



newly appointed Jewish Kohen Gadol, apparently was so envious and



felt so threatened by the vast authority of Ya'akov (whose high



position as a leader of the Israel of G-d rivalled that of



Ananias in the eyes of those Jewish people coming to faith in the



Moshiach) that the Kohen Gadol convened the Sanhedrin or Jewish



Supreme Court and brought Ya'akov before it on charges that led



to his death in C.E. 62 (near the time Shliach Sha'ul was writing



his prison epistles). This means that by the time Acts is



written, Ya'akov is already a martyr.











It is possible that Ya'akov is the first Brit Chadasha book



published. C.E. 45 is a possible date for the writing of Ya'akov



(the letter doesn't seem aware of the reception of the Gentiles



by act of the Jerusalem Council, a burning issue after C.E. 50).



Two prominent leaders have already been martyred, Stephen and the



brother of Yochanan the Shliach, whose name was also Ya'akov (see



Acts 7:59-60 and 12:1-2). The Jewish believers in Jerusalem are



greatly impoverished by persecution and tribulation caused by



ostracism from employment and harassment by the wealthy Jewish



religious establishment, who had apparently tried to make it



impossible for them to live in Jerusalem. In the early days of



this Messianic Jewish community, many of the believers had given



away everything they owned for the cause of the L-rd's work (Acts



4:32-37). However, a famine had recently struck them (see Acts



11:27-29) and added greatly to their suffering for the sake of



the Besuras Hageulah. These early believers, then, were the



"tribulation poor;" that is, those made poor by economic



sanctions under an Anti-Moshiach type of government as opposed to



the "slipshod poor" Shliach Sha'ul chastises in his epistles to



the Brit Chadasha kehillah at Thessalonica.





A law-abiding loyal Jew of the synagogue, whose teaching is



grounded in the authority of his L-rd and Moshiach Yehoshu,



Ya'akov saw that the self-imposed poverty of the Moshiach had



made all the more pernicious the exclusivistic snobbery of the



rich (Ya'akov 2:1-9)





The new communities of believers springing up in Syrian Antioch



and elsewhere would give Ya'akov a reason to send his sermon on



to them in written form.





One of the items that affects the dating of Ya'akov is the



interpretation of Ya'akov 2:14-26. Is Ya'akov polemicizing



against a garbled and misunderstood Rav Sha'ulinism (some such



garbled Rav Sha'ulinism as is in Romans 3:8)? That is, is he not



attacking Rav Sha'ul but a false teaching preached by others who



slanderously attribute their doctrine to Shliach Sha'ul? Or is



there a real doctrinal disagreement between Shliach Sha'ul and



Ya'akov, with Galatians something of a reaction to the epistle of



Ya'akov, both letters being published before the Jerusalem



Council of C.E. 49/50? The former rather than the latter option



seems to be true, as will become clear.











There are at least two crucial passages to interpret in the book



of Ya'akov. What does Ya'akov mean by "the perfect law of



freedom" (1:25; 2:13)? The other crux interpretum (difficult



passage in a text) is Ya'akov 2:24 and whether this is a



contradiction of Rom. 3:28-29; Gal. 2:16; Titus 3:5.





To answer the first question, we must ask whether Ya'akov means



by "the perfect law of freedom" what Shliach Sha'ul means by "the



torah of Moshiach" in Gal. 6:2 and I Cor. 9:21. In the royal



(Messianic) law of love (Ya'akov 2:8; Mark 12:29-31; Deut. 6:4-5;



Lev. 19:18), the "old commandment" of the Law of Moses, esp. the



Ten Commandments, is divinely confirmed by Moshiach Yehoshua



(Mark 10:17-22). It becomes a "new commandment" which, Yochanan



says (I Yochanan 5:7-8), "is true in Him and in you. "With the



life and teaching of the Moshiach as not only the Torah's



fulfillment but also as its interpretative key, the Law of Moses



becomes in Moshiach Yehoshua "the perfect, complete, fully



developed (teleios) law of freedom," the Law of Moshiach (1:25).



The Messianic Jews preached to by Ya'akov have more than the Ten



Commandments; they have the Sermon on the Mount interpretation of



these commandments, making the Torah the law of freedom (see



Matt. 5:21-22, 27 etc). That is, these laws are taught in light



of the Moshiach's new humanity and the Father's true intention



toward humanity from the beginning, revealed in the Brit Chadasha



by the Ruach Hakodesh.





Now to return to the question of a contradiction between Ya'akov



and Shliach Sha'ul. First of all, Ya'akov wrote his letter before



Rav Sha'ul's letters, in fact before C.E. 49. Secondly, Ya'akov



is not dealing with the issue of Gentiles entering the Messianic



Jewish community; neither is Ya'akov dealing with the issue of



Gentiles keeping works of the law in order to enter the Messianic



Jewish faith. Rather, Ya'akov is talking about works of faith



(see Ya'akov 2:21-26; I Thes. 1:3). Furthermore, Ya'akov is



dealing with Jews (1:1; 2:2,19) who claim to follow the Moshiach



but think they can do so by mere verbal, intellectual assent.



These Jewish people want to define the Messianic faith in such a



way that they need not feed the hungry or visit the oppressed or



actualize their faith by any good deeds whatsoever. They believe



in passive quietism and dead orthodoxy and empty confessionism.



Ya'akov says this is no more true saving faith than that which is



possessed by demons (2:19). Just as there is a demonic wisdom



(3:15), so there is a demonic faith, mere quietistic



head-nodding, a loveless parody of true faith, an impotent



pseudo-trust that refuses to come truly alive and get active and



go to work (2:20). This is not an outstanding problem that



Shliach Sha'ul focuses on in his letters and therefore there is



no disagreement in the writings of Shliach Sha'ul and Ya'akov.



Ya'akov does not advocate salvation by works of the law. On the



contrary, he says that the law exposes men as transgressors.



There is agreement between Gal. 5:3 and Ya'akov 2:10 in the



"all-or-nothing" demand of the law as the law acts as G-d's



prosecutor of mankind, indicting Man as a transgressor. Only in



Moshiach Yehoshua can it be said of the Law that mercy triumphs



over judgment (2:12-13).











There can be no doubt that Ya'akov preaches the same Besuras



Hageulah as Shliach Sha'ul, for in Ya'akov 1:21, Ya'akov speaks



of the implanted word that is able to save your soul, a reference



to the Brit Chadasha Torah implant of Jeremiah 31:33. Ya'akov's



allusion to the law of Lev. 19:18 as the "kingly law" must



include a reference to the King Moshiach, which for Ya'akov is



Yehoshua (Jas. 1:1).





Like Shliach Sha'ul, Ya'akov knows that saving faith is not empty



lip service or dead orthodoxy or confessionalism or quietism



devoid of concrete acts of obedience but is active in love (see



Ya'akov 2:14 and Gal. 5:6). Both Ya'akov and Shliach Sha'ul gain



a hearing from unbelievers by displaying the fruit of the Spirit



(see Ya'akov 3:l7-18 and Gal. 5:22-25), though Ya'akov and



Shliach Sha'ul used different cultural strategies, Shliach Sha'ul



putting himself outside the law though not outside the law of the



Moshiach to win Gentiles, Ya'akov putting himself as if he were



under the law to win law-observant Jews (I Cor. 9:19-23; Acts



21:20)!, though in fact he is under the kingly law of love



(Ya'akov 2:8). Shliach Sha'ul would not dispute Ya'akov that we



are set right with G-d and forgiven and considered just and



righteous by works and not by faith alone (see Rom. 2:13 and



Ya'akov 2:21) unless it can be shown that Ya'akov means by



"works" not "faith active in love" (Gal 5:6) but meritorious



works of the law--that is, works meritorious and salvific in



themselves, apart from the death of Moshiach. For the latter to



be true, Acts 15:19 would have to be judged a Lucan fiction since



here Ya'akov is represented as acceding to Gentile liberation



from the full yoke of the Torah, which obviously then is not



necessary for salvation. Both Shliach Sha'ul and Ya'akov refer



to the "work of faith," however. Compare (I Thes. 1:3) and



(Ya'akov 2:18).









Neither Shliach Sha'ul nor Ya'akov minimize the saving death of



Moshiach by offering the law in itself as a means to salvation



(Ya'akov 2:10; Gal. 3:10). Both men speak of the "torah of



freedom" (Ya'akov 1:25; 2:12; I Cor. 9:21) in a way that implies



the Moshiach (Ya'akov 2:1; Rom. 8:2), and Ya'akov, no less than



Rav Sha'ul, emphasizes the need for faith (Ya'akov 1:3.6; 5:15),



for love toward G-d (Ya'akov 1:12),and being born again (Ya'akov



1:21).



Ya'akov begins his letter by exhorting the messianic Jewish



brethren in the various "synagogues" (Ya'akov2:2) scattered



abroad to remain joyful in their sufferings. Why? Because a mere



intellectual faith (one that is not active in works of love) will



not save them, nor will it endure (Ya'akov 2:14-26; 5:7-11). It



is untested and based on an evil-minded self-confidence such as



that shared by the rich (4:13-17), whose worldly, double-minded



greed is dragging them down to hell (5:1-6). Mere intellectual



faith is nothing more than evil-tongued lip service (2:26;



3:1-12) based on mere worldly wisdom (3:13-18) and indicates



worldly class values imported into the Messianic community



(2:1-13) which violate the commands of the Torah (and therefore



the whole Torah --2:10-13). For the commands of the Torah favor



the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, the Levite, and the



righteous-but-oppressed (by the rich) poor. Will this kind of



faith save you? No!





True emunah (faith) must be tested by the fruit of its loving



works and by endurance in the midst of sufferingas it is



nourished through prayer by divine wisdom and through submission



to G-d and His Word, and through the strengthening and healing of



fellowship accountable to the body and its elders (see 1:5-8;



3:13-18; 5:13-20). This means resisting the Devil (4:7) and the



evil impulse (1:14) yetzer ha-rah, that worldly desire within us



which, if not put to death, can lead to bitterness toward G-d



(1:13) and death (1:15).





There is no wavering in G-d! The wavering is in us, in our



succumbing to wrong desires, and in our tendency in religion



toward empty confessionalism and prideful class discrimination.



True faith serves the needy (1:27) instead of one's own greed for



a better life (soon gone, anyway, like a mist), since the Lord's



coming (as Judge!) is so close, he is at the very door.





Biblical criticism (although textual criticism is indispensable)



is largely condemned by Ya'akov 4:11, since in Biblical criticism



scholars make it their business to judge the Word rather than be



judged by it. In these introductory notes, we will not be



stressing novel theories of authorship, editorial hands,



proported errors, etc. The Word judges us, and not vice versa.





Ya'akov 5:17 gives us the length of Elijah's tribulation which is



a paradigm or model in Revelation for the length of the Great



Tribulation. Since Elijah is raptured after this period, we



should hesitate when people dogmatically assert that the rapture



will precede the three and a half year period of the Great



Tribulation.





The more you read this epistle or letter, the more you get the



picture of the poverty and persecution of early Messianic



Judaism, which was Jewish through and through and, with a fervent



love for the Torah, lacked the antinomian libertinism so



prevalent in Gentile circles outside of Jerusalem. The close



association with the themes of Matthew leads us to see both



Matthew and Ya'akov as early and Jewish writings radiating from



Jerusalem, though it is also possible Matthew wrote his Besuras



Hageulah from Syrian Antioch.





Ya'akov attacks the evil delusion of trusting in or boasting in



riches (1:10-11) and irreligiously not bridling the tongue (1:26;



3:2-6), but instead being too quick to speak (1:19) and too quick



also to try to seize the status of teacher (Jam. 3:1; Matt.



23:8). Ya'akov also exposes unsanctifled believers (4:8) and



others who are double-mindedly faithless and untrustworthily



double-tongued. Only the new birth (1:18) issuing in real



sancitification (1:27) can tame the wildly evil tongue of the old



nature (3:7-12). G-d is looking for a meekness from us (1:21;



3:13) which, leading to regeneration/spiritual conversion, is the



only antidote against the poisonous tongue (3:8) of bitter



jealousy and selfishness (3:14) and boasting and lying. Proud



believers with unbridled tongues who are worldly and carnal get



jealous of each other and fight each other with murderous hatred



(4:1-6).





Do not speak against one another, brothers (4:11). Do not murmur



against one another (5:9) lest you be judged. Do not judge your



neighbor (4:12) or take G-d's perogetive (4:12). Do not be so



presumptuous (4:12-17).





True faith must be tested in trials and temptations to sin



(1:2-3), but G-d tempts no one to sin; rather each person is



tempted to sin by his own lusts (1:13-15). True faith must "work"



and produce endurance under trial (1:3-4; see also 2:14-18). True



faith must work through acts of love (2:14-18; Gal. 5:6). The



anger of man is not faith and does not "work" or produce the



righteousness of G-d. One cannot really "do" the Word unless one



has received the "implanted word" of the gospel (1:21-22) in the



new birth--1:18. True faith works by showing real love to all.



That is, true faith must abhor showing partiality (2:9) and



favoritism toward the rich and against the poor, remembering the



persecutions and blasphemies of the wicked rich (2:6-7) and



their ironic poverty (1:10-11) as well as their ultimate



eternally impoverished destiny (5:1-6). True faith works by going



after the wandering sheep drifting off toward sin (5:19-20). True



faith must be the basis of all prayer petitions for wisdom (1:6).



True faith must be in the immutability of G-d (His



changelessness) who gives all good gifts (1:16-17), including the



gift of true wisdom (3:15-18) and the gift of the new birth



(1:18,21; see also Eph. 1:5; Rom.12:2; I Cor. 4:15; Tit.3:5; I



Shimon Kefa 1:3,23; Yochanan 1:13; 3:3-8; I Yochanan 3:9; 4:10).



True faith must "work" in visitation ministry and "rescue work"



for the poor and helpless. Religion and religious faith is



worthless (2:14) if it does not issue in sanctification (see



1:27). The prayer of true faith will deliver the sick person



(5:15).





What is the source of joy in Ya'akov? See 1:1,2,12 in the Greek,



remembering chairein means not just "greetings" but "be glad!"







Ya'akov exhorts to be patient until the coming of the L-rd



(5:7-8), remembering the out come of the patient endurance of Job



and the prophets (5:10-11).





Ya'akov, an explemplary Jew, nevertheless found it necessary to



"come out from among" (II Cor.6:17) the rich, corrupt Jewish



religious establishment of his day. Today, many modern Greeks,



even though they are exemplary Greeks, may find it necessary to



"come out from among" the Greek Orthodox Church. Many Greek



Orthodox adherents ask departed saints to pray for them and they



in turn pray for the departed saints. They actually pray for the



dead. Miryam is venerated and preached and prayed to as Theotokos



(Mother of G-d), Aeiparthenos (Ever-Virgin), and Panayia



(All-Holy) and the Roman Catholic unbiblical dogma of her bodily



assumption to heaven is also believed by the Greek Orthodox. The



saints are venerated through icons. Infants are baptized and



baptism is seen as some sort of regeneration, giving the



impression to many adults who were baptized as infants that they



are reborn when in fact many are not. One cannot be in good



standing with this community unless it has blessed one's



marriage, so right here is its powerful hold over the whole



modern Greek society. Women cannot be ordained. The Bible is



said to be a record of the truth but not truth itself, and the



Greek Orthodox stand against Pentecostals and puts its own



traditions and its own "apostolic succession" and "authoritative"



interpretations and clerical offices above historical-grammatical



exegesis and adherence to sola Scriptura.





Notice that the trials Ya'akov refers to may be those caused by



Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12). In any event these trials require



patience (5:7-11) and meditation on the divine purpose of trials



(1:1-4,12). Ironically, it is the rich who are engaged in this



persecution of the brethren and blaspheming of the Lord's Name



(see 2:6-7). No wonder the brethren are rebuked by Ya'akov for



their sychophantic attitude toward the rich and their love of



filthy lucre (see 4:13-5:6; 2:1-13). Ya'akov will not tolerate



either their partiality or their argumentative nature or their



hypocritical workless faith (3:1-18; 1:22-27; 2:14-26).



































MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHIMON KEFA



TO THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH(I)















I Shliach Kefa was probably written around C.E. 64 in Rome



(referred to by the "underground" euphemism of "Babylon" in



5:13), near the time when Shliach Kefa was probably martyred in



Nero's pogrom.





According to the generally accepted reconstruction of events,



Shliach Sha'ul would not have been in Rome at this time, not



arriving back for his second imprisonment probably until the next



year or so, when he too, according to reliable tradition, would



be martyred. Mark, the author of Shliach Kefa's Besuras Hageulah



(which bears Mark's name) and Silas, Rav Sha'ul's one-time



fellow emissary of Moshiach's shlichut, are now with Shliach



Kefa.







The occasion which prompts the writing of the letter is the



widespread persecution presaged by the author (see 4:12). Shliach



Kefa is writing, with the capable help of Silas his secretary, to



the believers in the four Roman provinces which occupy the land



known today as modern Turkey. It seems the believers everywhere



were being libelled because they refused to join the pagans in



heathen debauchery( 4:4). Shliach Kefa warns those in attendance



in the various Messianic congregations to make sure these pagan



libels are groundless and therefore that their suffering will



prove they have broken with the domination of sin (4:1), and



having fought that good fight, are worthy of the good pleasure



of G-d.





One of the obscure teachings in this letter is found in 3:19.



Since there is no second chance to repent after death but only



judgment to face, 3:19 should be correctly interpreted so that it



does not contradict Heb. 9:27. It is likely that the "spirits in



prison" are all those to whom the Word (once dead but now alive)



was preached even at the time of Noah and are now in death's



prison. The water of Noah's flood is a type of Moshiach's tevilah



and salvation coming by means of the Techiyas HaMesim of Yehoshua



the Moshiach and the victory of his ascension to manifest



authority over all spirits everywhere. Ch. 4:6, on the other



hand, probably refers to those who heard the word and afterwards



died in the L-rd, so that, even though they have been judged in



the flesh (they did die), they are alive in the spirit in the



L-rd. Ch. 3:19 is a passage referred to in the Apostle's Creed,



which states that Moshiach Yehoshua descended into hell, so that



the Besuras Hageulah has already been preached among the dead as



well as the living. There is, however, no idea of a second chance



after death involved in this teaching about the Besuras Hageulah;



only the teaching of its sovereign ubiquity.









Notice, the text says that for those who are truly raised in



their spirits by faith in the Techiyas HaMesim of Moshiach



Yehoshua, their tevilah is their "answer" of teshuva to G-d's



Besuras Hageulah and it brings with it a good conscience. In I



Timothy Shliach Sha'ul spends a great deal of time emphasizing



the need to keep a good conscience (1:5,19; 3:9; 4:2). This



entails a transparent life before G-d and the brethren. However,



here in 3:19 Shliach Kefa also says that a good conscience is



given as a pledge to those who in faith obey the L-rd in



Moshiach's tevilah.











Believers need to read I Shliach Kefa often enough to remind



themselves of who they are: "elect strangers" and "aliens" in the



world (1:1; 2:11) as well as a "chosen race" (2:9), a "royal



kohenhood" (which infers the ministry to which all believers are



called, laity and clergy alike), a "consecrated nation or people"



set apart for G-d. Does this mean thet only professional



outreach ministers are to look for opportunities to proclaim the



excellencies of our L-rd the Moshiach and that witness is not the



duty of all believers? See 2:9-10.



By applying Tanakh names generally reserved for Israel to Brit



Chadasha Scriptures believers, Shliach Kefa imparts a sense of



identity in continuity with the covenanted people of G-d of old,



and, more than that, a sense of destiny which every child and



every adult needs in order to have courage and perseverance in a



dangerous world, a world where ridicule and slander can lead to



the loss of everything and even martyrdom without warning. The



parent who spends time imparting to the child this sense of



identity and destiny in the L-rd will be repaid later on, and,



negatively, so may the parent who neglects this duty.





Notice the personal decision of those predestined to destruction



is involved and not a mere secret decision of G-d before time



began. Ch. 2:8 describes this personal decision: "they stumble



because they are disobedient to the word."





On the other hand, 2:11-25 describes a submissive quality of



purity without rancor as characteristic of those who are born



again (1:3). Citizens to government, servants to masters, spouses



to their mates--all manifest this G-dly submissiveness. On the



other hand, G-d alone is to be feared (2:17), Satan is to be



resisted (5:8-9), and Acts 5:29 is an important commentary on I



Shimon Kefa 2:11-3:7.





Though evil men did put Moshiach Yehoshua to death, G-d brought



him to life in the spirit. Those who truly believe that about



Moshiach Yehoshua can believe that about themselves and not fear



their persecution, who are in infinitely more danger than those



they persecute. Shliach Kefa calls all believers to realize that



suffering may befall them (3:17), that it is through suffering



that their faith is tested and found to be real (1:7), and that,



though many false teachers today teach otherwise, suffering to



get the Besuras Hageulah out to a dangerous Besuras



Hageulah-rejecting world is no small part of their vocation as



believers (see 4:12-13), for such tribulation is to be expected



as the lot of a believer (4:12). The Lord's people are not immune



from tribulation and suffering and distress; in fact, it begins



with them (4:17). To face this suffering, our hope is placed in



one thing: read 1:13 to see what it is.





A holy abstinence from former lusts (1:13-16), a fear of G-d



permeating all conduct (1:17-21), and a pure and fervent love of



the brethren from the heart (1:22) are all part of the next



world's counterforce with which the reborn face this world's



sufferings. Notice, in all this that befalls you, both good and



bad, you are protected (1:5). If you really are a believer and in



fact doing the work of witness believers are called to do, you



really will suffer in an increasingly wicked society that will



hate ever more bitterly the Name you stand for (4:14,16,19).



However, the promise of 5:10 should be enough for us.





Shliach Kefa concludes with a word to elders and leaders in the



Lord's house. Money-mindedness is not to characterize the



servant of G-d. We are not climbing some kind of economic ladder



in the Lord's vocation (5:2) and we are not to be overlords of



the flock, pressuring them to obey our dictates (5:3). This last



verse says we are to set examples for them, but the flock must



follow freely. Mutual humility among brethren will shield us all



from the L-rd's opposition (5:5). Look at the wonderful promise



to those who take the harder humble road (5:6). Ch. 5:7 tells you



what the real focus of your prayer life needs to be.







The word zao (to live) is very important in I Shliach Kefa



(1:3,33; 2:4,5,24; 4:5). Shliach Kefa writes like an awe-struck



zoologist observing a wonderful new-born colony of living beings



multiplying all over the world, regenerated to a living hope



(1:3) from the living Word of G-d (1:23), who is the living Stone



(2:4) and who makes us living stones of a spiritual Beis



Hamikdash (2:5) so that we might live to righteousness (2:24)



before the One who will judge the living and the dead (4:5).





Here is a phrase we can preach: (1:3). This idea of being



regenerated by G-d or reborn is repeated in 1:23 and 2:2. This



teaching is also found in Yochanan 3:3. Shliach Sha'ul refers to



the new birth as being saved (Titus 3:5). Ya'akov 1:13 also



refers to this idea. This is a Jewish idea, as it says in the



Babylonian Talmud, Yebamoth 22a, One who has become a proselyte



is like a child newly born.





A key idea for reborn people in I Shliach Kefa is upakoe,



obedience. 1:2 says that G-d's foreknowledge of us results in our



upakoen, obedience (1:2). We are to be tekna upakoes children of



obedience (1:14) not conforming ourselves to the passions of our



former ignorance but instead living holy lives with holy conduct



Anastrofe (1:15,18; 2:12; 3:1) like the Holy One who called us



(1:15). This means we must live in reverent fear (1:17) of our



impartial Judge, purifying our souls by the obedience to the



truth resulting in unhypocritical brotherly love (1:22). This



means that wherever there is lovelessness in the Lord's Body



there is disobedience and hearts that are impure (1:22)!



According to 2:1-2, this obedience is very specific: new-born



babes are obedient children who put away all dolos (deceit,



cunning, treachery, guile), all hupokrisis (hypocrisy, pretense,



outward show), all fthonos (envy, jealousy), and all katalalia



(evil speech, slander, defamation). These things are part of the



darkness out of which we have been called (2:9). To put these



things to death is part of our "acceptable sacrifices" as



obedient kohanim or ministers of G-d (2:5). Disobedient



unbelievers (2:7-8,20; 3:1,20) do not enter the spiritual Beis



Hamikdash we are building but instead stumble over the



Cornerstone we must obey (2:7-8). This obedience is



comprehensive: because of the L-rd, we must submit to



government (2:13). In this we are not slaves of men but free



because we are Theos doulos, G-d's slaves (2:16). However,



submission in the L-rd to employers (2:18) is commendable (2:20),



even if they are harsh, and even if submission to them entails



unjust suffering for us (2:18-19). This is the upogrammos (model,



pattern) the Moshiach gave us to follow. In I Cor. 9:19, Shliach



Sha'ul says, "Though I am free with respect to all men, I made



myself as slave to all men so that I may win more of them." In



Phil. 2:5-13, Shliach Sha'ul exhorts believers to have this same



kind of free and willing "slave" mentality that Moshiach Yehoshua



had. Nietzsche (German philosopher 1844-1900) would



misunderstand this slave morality as herd morality



(Herren-Moral), whereas he glorified Herren-Moral (the morality



of slavemasters). According to I Shimon Kefa 2:25, obedience to



G-d is part of the radical turn-around of repentance. Wives must



be obedient to their husbands (3:1-6) to win over such men who



are disobedient to the Word. Obedience is involved in the clothes



we put on and the way we dress and groom ourselves (3:3) and in



our attitudes (3:4). A by-product of this obedience is lack of



fear of intimidation, which comes from the L-rd (3:6), and having



G-d's "ears open to our prayers (3:7,12). Obedience means



"seeking peace (3:11). Messianic ministry itself is willing



obedience, not under compulsion (5:2) and not by lording it over"



those to whom we minister (5:3).





Submission in G-d's house to spiritual "elders" is commanded also



(5:5). Compare presbuteros in 5:1 and 5:5. Even anxiety and worry



must be submitted to the L-rd (5:7). Satan is the one we cannot



submit to, the devil is the one we must oppose (5:8).





The Second Coming is never far from Shliach Kefa's view. It is



called the emera episkopus the Day of Visitation (2:12). It is



called the apokaluyei Iesou Xristou (1:7) the Revelation of



Moshiach Yehoshua.



















MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH SHIMON



KEFA TO THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH (II)

















Since Shliach Kefa was martyred under Nero, and Nero died in C.E.



68, this letter was probably written between A.D. 65-68, for it



mentions I Shliach Kefa which must have been written C.E. 64-68.



The notes on Yehuda should be read prior to reading these notes.



Those who flatly deny that Shliach Kefa could have written this



letter of fervarious spurious objections. For example, it is



asserted that Shliach Kefa would never quote a lesser figure like



Yehuda, as some argue II Shliach Kefa 2 does in its supposed



dependence on almost the whole letter of Yehuda. This kind of



argument is that of a modern scholar reading his own scholarly



conventions and attitudes back into the first century. If Shliach



Kefa were convinced that the Spirit of the Risen Moshiach



Yehoshua were speaking in Yehuda, why should the humble fisherman



refuse to quote the Spirit of the Risen Moshiach Yehoshua?



Certainly Shliach Kefa knew that, though it was his own sermons



and testimony that comprised the Besuras Hageulah of Mark (which



Matthew and Luke quote extensively in their Besuras Hageulahs),



no one was quoting him per se but the Ruach Hakodesh who authored



this material through him. Therefore, if the Shliach Matthew



quoted the non-apostle Mark, why could not the Shliach Shliach



Kefa quote Yehuda? If



Shliach Kefa used a secretary (Silas) to make sure his Greek were



polished in I Shliach Kefa but did not have the same



secretary when he wrote II Shliach Kefa, this would account for



any stylistic differences between the two letters. It does not



take any creativity to envision a situation around C.E. 64, when



Shliach Kefa's life was nearly over in Nero's pogrom, and,



possibly with Yehuda's circular letter before him (yet Yehuda and



II Shliach Kefa ch. 2 may not be as dependent on each other as



many believe, and both may be quoting from a common source) and



the horror of this antinomian heresy weighing on his thoughts,



that Shliach Kefa decided to add the weight of his own authority



against the immoral plague that Yehuda is attacking. (On the



other hand, it is also possible that Yehuda is quoting Shliach



Kefa.) Furthermore, it would seem strange if Shliach Kefa had not



read and collected at least a few of Rav Sha'ul's major epistles



by this date, so 3:15 poses no threat to Petrine authorship.



Michael Greene adequately documents the early attestation that II



Shliach Kefa is a genuine letter of the Shliach.











Shliach Kefa condemns the antinomian false teachers for enticing



new and immature believers "who are just escaping from those who



live in error" (2:18). Ch. 1:4 describes this escape as from the



slavery of the domination of the evil desires of this depraved



world. The one who is in union with G-d and has received the new



birth from His Ruach Hakodesh has a new nature, one with glory



and immortality like the divine life of G-d (see 1:4). These



false teachers who promise "freedom" from the constraints of the



moral law are in fact slaves of the corruption of this decaying



and condemned creation (2:19) which will be ignited by fire and



destroyed in the end (3:10). These corrupt religious people,



lacking the holiness that grows with a genuine new birth, are



doomed to the same destructive fire (2:9-10) as the rest of the



depraved world.





Notice that mere profession of the new life of holiness in the



Moshiach is not enough for salvation (2:20). The new life of



Moshiach Yehoshua must actually reside in the person and



disentangle him from his former defilements and give him the



victory that overcomes the world, holiness-generating, true,



saving faith (See I Yochanan 5:4). This is a true Biblical



teshuva and a change of heart and many have not experienced it.



To only make profession of faith but lack the power to live a new



life makes the person worse off than if he had never heard the



Besuras Hageulah because his greater love of depravity is now



common knowledge, like a dog that loves to return to its vomit



(2:31-23). Shliach Sha'ul says these kinds of men will not get



very far because their folly will be clear to everyone (II Tim.



3:9). Ultimately, only those who are as depraved as they are will



be fooled by them.





In counselling new believers who have just escaped the



corruptions of the world and are still very much tempted by



Satan, it is of utmost importance for messianic ministers to be



wise enough to know when to minister "at arm's length, "snatching



them from the fire by showing mercy toward them mixed with the



fear of G-d (see Yehuda 23). In this way the ministers themselves



can flee temptation and keep their own testimony.









The Day of the L-rd (3:10) can come at any time, like a thief,



catching all but the G-dly unprepared. This Day is looked at in



its destructive effect on the present wicked and depraved human



empire and is seen at a single glance, without pausing to



describe the Millennium (but see 3:8). Those who say that nothing



has changed and that the L-rd is not coming back but that life



will go on unchanged are blind to the changes that have already



occurred: the flood of death on all corrupt flesh, the fulfilled



(586 B.C.E. and C.E. 70) prophesies of the fiery flood of



destruction overtaking Jerusalem in both her predicted exiles,



the millions and millions who have been changed by the new birth,



and the imminent prospect of change with the coming cosmic



conflagration and world destruction by nuclear fire. Read chapter



3.





A final note on "prophecy" teachers with speculative and strange



teachings. Ch. 1:20 says that Scripture cannot be



individualistically exploited to support novel doctrines which



are in error because they are a matter of one's own



interpretation (as though one could interpret a verse any way he



wanted). Each text must be interpreted in line with its immediate



context as well as the greater context of Scripture, which has



one author, the Ruach Hakodesh, who doesn't contradict himself.



This means that all Scripture must be interpreted with the help



of the same Ruach Hakodesh, who alone can remove the scales from



our eyes so that we can understand what we read in the Bible. To



the person without hitkhadeshut the Bible is unfathomable and



foolish (I Cor. 1:18).





Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E. student of Plato and tutor of Alexander



the Great) said, "Of things constituted by nature, some are



ungenerated, imperishable, and stung.." (On the Parts of Animals,



644b). So Aristotle said that the universe is eternal. But the



Second Law of Thermodynamics states that a closed system (such as



the universe) declines toward a state of maximum entropy or



degeneration. So modern science proves Aristotle wrong. The



universe is not eternal but is winding down to an end. This is



also a powerful scientific argument against evolution, since,



according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, we would expect



species to tend to decline downward toward extinction (which they



in fact do) rather than evolve upward.



But like Aristotle, the libertine, skeptical Greek false teachers



being refuted in II Shliach Kefa are also wrong when they say, af



es gar oi pateras (see Heb.1:1 on pateras) Ekoimethesan panta



outos diamenei ap arxes kriseos (II Shimon Kefa 3:4). On this



kind of scoffing in the Jewish Bible, see Amos 9:10; Mal. 2:17;



Ezek. 12:22; Zeph. 1:12; Isa. 5:18-24; Jer. 17:15. As surely as



the Day of the L-rd came near in the 586 B.C.E. and C.E. 70



destructions of the Beis Hamikdash, vindicating the predictions



of the prophets and destroying the scoffers, so, just as surely



the e epaggelia tes parousias autou (II Shimon Kefa 3:4) will be



kept and fulfilled by G-d. "A star shall rise out of Jacob" LXX



anatelei astron eks Iakob--Num. 24:17, interpreted of the



Moshiach's coming, Jerusalem Talmud Ta'amit 68d). The morning



star (Venus) will rise and the new Day of Eternity will dawn at



the parousia of the Second Coming (II Shimon Kefa 1:19).









The second century Irenasus, who through Polycarp had a knowledge



of the early Brit Chadasha kehillah going back to the Shliach



Yochanan, seems to allude to II Shimon Kefa 1:15 (Against



Heresies 3.1.1). An even stronger attestation of the authenticity



of II Shliach Kefa is the fact that Yehuda may in fact be quoting



from II Shliach Kefa and Yehuda's whole letter seems to be a



reference to II Shimon Kefa 3:3 (see Yehuda 17-18) as well as a



series of references to II Shimon Kefa 1:12-3:18. Those scoffers



who say that Shliach Kefa did not write II Shliach Kefa stand



under the judgment of G-d's Word.







A key word continually repeated in II Shliach is epignosis



(1:2,3,8; 2:20). It is more than gnosis which has to do with



spiritual discernment. It means the knowledge or recognition one



has of Moshiach Yehoshua when one comes to repentance and



conversion.







Compare II Shimon Kefa 3:3 and Yehuda 18







As you can see, II Shimon Kefa 3:3 appears to he Yehuda's proof



text in Yehuda 18 and Yehuda's whole letter may in fact to be



written with the aid of II Shliach Kefa. Compare below:





II Shimon Kefa 1:5 and Yehuda 3



II Shimon Kefa 1:12 and Yehuda 5



II Shimon Kefa 2:1 and Yehuda 4



II Shimon Kefa 2:4 and Yehuda 6



II Peter 2:6 and Yehuda 7



II Shimon Kefa 2:10 and Yehuda 8



II Shimon Kefa 2:10 and Yehuda 8



II Shimon Kefa2:11 and Yehuda 9



II Shimon Kefa 2:12 and Yehuda 10



II Shimon Kefa 2:l2 and Yehuda 10



II Shimon Kefa 2:13 and Yehuda 12



II Shimon Kefa 2:14-15 and Yehuda 11



II Shimon Kefa 2:17 and Yehuda 8,10,12,16,l9



II Shimon Kefa 2:17 and Yehuda 12



II Shimon Kefa 2:17 and Yehuda 13



II Shimon Kefa 2:18 and Yehuda 16



II Shimon Kefa 2:21 and Yehuda 3



II Shimon Kefa 3:14 and Yehuda 24



II Shimon Kefa 3:18 and Yehuda 25























MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH YOCHANAN TO



THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH (I)













It is possible to date the Besuras Hageulah of Yochanan as early



as C.E. 65-66 (another possible date is around C.E. 85 or a



little later). Scholars have dated I, II, and III Yochanan at



roughly the same time as the final publication of Yochanan's



Besuras Hageulah.







If one assumes that Yochanan's Besuras Hageulah and Epistles were



written toward the end of the first century (when Yochanan would



have been advanced in age), I Yochanan may have as one of its



targets a heretic named Cerinthus, who was then active in the



western part of what is today modern Turkey. In any case, many



scholars believe that the target of Yochanan's pen in this



general letter is the "pseudo-believer" who is actually a



gnostic.











Cerinthus was an early heretic who taught that Moshiach Yehoshua



was not G-d the Word incarnate but a mere created being. In



Gnosticism G-d is good and matter is evil, so G-d has a series



of "aeons" who radiate out from himself, each containing less



deity than the one before, until at last G-d can in this way



dirty his hands with evil matter by creating the world. Cerinthus



seems to have taught the demonic doctrine that the Moshiach as



such, since he was a quasi-divine spiritual being called an aeon,



was incapable of becoming truly incarnate in matter or of



suffering and dying on an Aitz. Cerinthus taught that the



Moshiach did not die. Docetic Gnostics (the word "docetic" coming



from a Greek word dokeo meaning "seem") taught that it only



seemed that he died, but that he did not in fact shed his blood.



These heresies were of the greatest seriousness and had to be



answered. Heretical teachers were stressing that they



transmitted a "knowledge" that went beyond the Messianic faith or



Judaism (see I Yochanan 2:20-21; II Yochanan 9), and that the



initiates who entered their system would receive more knowledge



the higher they rose in the understanding of their special



"gnostic" philosophy and mysteries.















How did Cerinthus acquire this saving "knowledge," since he was



not a Shliach and did not witness the death of Moshiach or the



Techiyas HaMesim and therefore had not the slightest idea of what



he was talking about? It seems he considered himself a prophet, a



Shliach from G-d, and he was more impressed with his own mystical



"knowledge" than with the testimony of Yochanan the Shliach and



other eye-witnesses of the historical facts of the Brit Chadasha



Besuras Hageulah. Consequently, Cerinthus led many astray from



the truth, like that later Iranian heretic Mani (C.E. 216-277)



who had the audacity to contend that he was the "apostle of



Moshiach Yehoshua."











Ch. 5:13 tells us Yochanan's purpose. The crisis that may have



evoked the writing of I Yochanan is found in ch. 2:19. Those who



refused to love the truth were believing a lie and being deceived



by a powerful spiritual delusion. Many false teachers had gone



out from the Brit Chadasha kehillot and were teaching a different



Besuras Hageulah because they had received a different spirit,



had believed in a different Moshiach Yehoshua, and had proclaimed



a different message. The same anti-Moshiach spirit that energized



Cerinthus and brought him success in winning disciples was



energizing many other false teachers and their converts. They



denied G-d's filial Word Moshiach Yehoshua, and thus revealed



that they lacked the eternal Spirit of G-d and His testimony



within themselves (5:10). Because these false teachers denied the



true Moshiach Yehoshua (4:3), it was impossible to teach them



(2:18-27). They also denied the sacrificial blood of G-d's filial



Word Moshiach Yehoshua (5:6), they denied that the divine and



eternal Word came in human form (4:2-3). They seemed to believe



that the Moshiach descended on the man Moshiach Yehoshua at his



tevilah but departed from him before Golgotha's blood (6:6-12).



Therefore, they proved that they had not the Chayyei Olam



(Eternal Life) of Moshiach Yehoshua the Word of G-d within



themselves, for they had called G-d Himself a liar (5:9-12).





Look at 1:6; 2:4,16. Because of certain pre-Gnostic antinomian



and ascetic tendencies Shliach Sha'ul is already combatting in



his I Corinthians correspondence (C.E. 55) from Ephesus (I Cor.



1:20; 2:6-7; 4:8-16; 15:12; 10:1-10; 13:1-3; 5:1-2; 6:13-7:1), it



is possible that the Shliach Yochanan could be writing I Yochanan



from the area of Ephesus also and much earlier than the end of



the first century, when Cerinthus was influencial.









One highly respected scholar, even among liberals who do not



believe in the claims of Moshiach Yehoshua, J.A.T. Robinson in



his book, Redating The Brit Chadasha Scriptures, (Westminster,



1976) dates I Yochanan roughly C.E. 60-65. Robinson points to the



heresy I Yochanan is refuting, that these false teachers claimed



to give esoteric knowledge and initiation to their gullible



devotees, but that the true knowledge was in the Moshiach alone



through the Ruach Hakodesh and in the teach of the Shluchim (see



I Yochanan 4:6; 5:7-10; 2:20-23,26-27; 5:20).







Apparently some of these gnostic heretics claimed that they were



above sin, that since they were prophets of a higher "knowledge"



they were sinless. G-d speaks through Yochanan to condemn their



heresy: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and



the truth is not in us" (1:8). Apparently some of these



"prophets" engage in multiple sexual relationships, take as many



lovers as their lust requires, and indulge themselves in many



forms of wickedness and yet claim that they were walking in their



prophetic "light." G-d again speaks: "G-d is light; in him there



is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him



yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth"



(1:5-6). These false teachers were of the devil and loved the



world (2:15-17), the source of their "wisdom" (Ya'akov 3:15). "Do



not let anyone lead you astray...he who does what is sinful is of



the devil" (3:7-8).











No mere prophet is sinless. Only the Word who was with G-d and



was G-d is sinless. He took on human form as a prophet and his



glory was seen among men (Yochanan 1:1,14). He alone is sinless



(Heb. 4:15), in him there is no darkness at all. Who but G-d's



perfect Word can supply flawless mediation between G-d and man?



See 1:1 and 2:1-2. Whoever says they know G-d but does not keep



the Biblical commandments of his Word Moshiach Yehoshua is a liar



(2:3-4). No one who is born of G-d and lives in Him has the habit



of sinning (2:29; see 3:6 where the verb for sin is in the



customary present tense).





Teaching is either from G-d or from the Devil. There is a way to



know the spirit behind the doctrine, a way to test the spirit to



see if it is from G-d. Read 4:1-6. False teachers lack the right



spirit, and there is no witness of the Ruach Hakodesh in them or



in their teaching. They also lack the love of G-d from the Ruach



Hakodesh (see 4:7-21) and the faith that only comes from the Holy



Spirit (5:1-12) as well as the assurance of eternal



life (5:13-21).







Yochanan refers to the unpardonable sin in 5:16. Some Pharisees



had so persisted in their false teaching that they had seared



their consciences and knowingly insulted the Ruach Hakodesh,



calling the Ruach Hakodesh a demon spirit. There was no longer



any forgiveness possible for such a reprobate mind, their sin was



unto death. Yochanan is warning these gnostic false teachers that



they are toying with sealing their fate forever, tempting G-d too



far, committing the unpardonable sin, persisting in their



opposition to the truth until there is no hope for them, until



intercession for their salvation is a waste of time. If anyone



worries that he has committed this sin, his very concern is



evidence that he has not, since those who have committed it are



beyond caring even for their own souls.





How can we have assurance of anything? of salvation? How can we



have certainty? Life is so uncertain; is not our future salvation



also uncertain? How can we know we have the Ruach Hakodesh within



us? How can we know we have the Savior with us? How can we not



only possess deliverance from G-d's righteous fury and possess



salvation from the coming judgment, but also know that we are



saved here and now? I'm talking about having a heart with



pleroforia pisteos (full assurance of faith), as it says in



Hebrews 10:22.





Thomas Aquinas said, "..of himself...no one can know that he has



grace." (Article 5, "Whether Man Can Know That He Has Grace" I



IIae, cxii. 5. Aquinas (1225-74), a Dominican theologian, in his



Summa Theologica defends such false Roman Catholic dogmas as



purgatory, prayer to the saints, and the veneration of Miryam.



Shortly before he died, however, he said of this work, "I can do



no more; such things have been revealed to me that all I have



written seems as straw , and I now await the end of my life."



Generally the so-called Schoolmen (the masters of the



universities of the Middle Ages) knew only a conjectural



knowledge of assurance based on good works, which is true of many



Muslims and Jews today.







But the Bible says of the One, the Moshiach, who is the Word of



G-d, that "in Him was life" (Yochanan 1:4). He is "the



resurrection and the life" (Yochanan 11:25), having the power to



give eternal life and to raise up the dead on the last day



(Yochanan 6:40). I Yochanan 5:12-13 says that he who has the



Moshiach "has life." And he who does not have Him "does not have



life." Then Yochanan says that he is writing so that believers



might not only believe but have assurance. He is writing "so that



you may know that you have Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life)."









So the Bible teaches that saving faith is faith with full



assurance, even as Abraham in his faith was plerophoreo having



been fully assured (Rom. 4:21). Saving faith is sure of what it



hopes for (Heb.11:1). Our salvation is secured (phroureo) in



heaven (I Shimon Kefa 1:5). And about this Yochanan keeps



insisting, we know (ginosko), we know, we can know we are saved



(see I Yochanan 2:3, 5, 29; 3:14, 16, 19, 24; 4:13, 16; 5:15,



18-20).







Those who have received the spirit of error (I Yochanan 4:6) by



imbibing the doctrines of demons (I Tim. 4:1) of false



religions have the spirit of the world (I Cor. 2:12) and the



spirit of Anti-Moshiach (I Yochanan 4:3) and not the Spirit of



G-d. That spirit is often confronted when people in various cults



and false religions hear the Besuras Hageualah.





But I Cor. 2:12 says, "We have received not the spirit of this



world, but the Spirit that is from G-d." And we know we are born



of G-d because we are led by the Spirit of G-d (Rom. 8:14). In



fact, "The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are



children of G-d" (Rom. 8:16). So the Ruach Hakodesh provides an



internal, subjective witness to our salvation corresponding to



the external, objective witness of the Scripture, which also



itself assures us. But this is the point: we can sense the Spirit



in us because He dwells in us (Rom. 8:11) and helps us and



intercedes for us with groanings, as it says (Rom. 8:26). So the



person who has the new birth because he has received the Spirit



of G-d knows that this has happened to him. Yochanan 14:17 says,



"The Spirit of Truth, which the world is not able to receive,



because it does not perceive Him nor know Him, you know Him,



because He remains with you and in you."







Without the Spirit of G-d, the natural man is incapable of faith.



"The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of G-d:



for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,



because they are spiritually discerned" (I Cor. 2:14). The



"things of the Spirit of G-d" referred to are the words of



Scripture, which "the Ruach Hakodesh teaches interpreting



spiritual things with spiritual words (1 Cor. 2:13)." The



natural man scoffs and mocks because, not having the Ruach



Hakodesh, the things of the Ruach Hakodesh are foolishness to



him. Believers have the Moshiach Himself abiding or dwelling in



them (I Yochanan 3:24). This is utter nonsense to the natural



man.







So there is no assurance of salvation in Scripture to the natural



man, whatever his boast. A specific faith and confession is



necessary for this assurance (I Yochanan 5:13; 4:15; 5:l,5). If



we reject His commandments we also reject assurance (see I



Yochanan 2:3-5; 3:24; 5:2; Yochanan 8:31,51; 14:21-24; 15:9-14;



Heb. 5:9). We reject assurance if we love the evil, G-d-rejecting



world (I Yochanan 2:15; 4:4-6; 5:4). We reject assurance if we



habitually practice wickedness (I Yochanan 2:29; 3:7-10). We



reject assurance if we have hardened hearts that are loveless as



far as believers are concerned (I Yochanan 3:14,19; 2:9-l1; 3:23;



4:8,11-12,16,20; 5:1; Yochanan 13:34-35). We reject assurance if



we refuse to live as the Holy Moshiach lived in this evil world



(I Yochanan 2:6; Yochanan 8:12; 13:15). We reject assurance if



we reject the original message of salvation given to the Jewish



prophets and Shluchim (I Yochanan 2:24; 1:1-5; 4:6). We reject



assurance if we reject the Biblical hope of the return of the



Moshiach (I Yochanan 3:2-3; Yochanan 14:1-3).







But, most important, I Yochanan 3:24 says, "by this we know that



He dwells in us, by the Spirit whom to us He gave". Moreover, I



Yochanan 4:13 says, "In this we know that in Him we dwell and He



in us, because of His Spirit He has given to us." This is an



extension of Yochanan 14:17 which says, "the Spirit of Truth,



whom the world is not able to receive, because it does not see



nor know Him. You know Him, because He dwells with you and in



you").







I Yochanan 2:26, "these things I wrote you concerning the ones



deceiving you" (these are the Anti-Moshiach unanointed liars and



children of the devil, who walk in darkness and are part of the



passing-away world, offer you their sectarian fellowship and



require you to accept their worldly teaching, but are unrighteous



and worldly sinners who say they have no sin and who, rejecting



the witness and fellowship of the Shluchim, teach such lies as



that the Moshiach did not come in the flesh, was not Moshiach



Yehoshua, was not the Son of G-d, did not come "in the blood,"



and is not G-d).



















MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH YOCHANAN TO



THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH(II)

















The term "elect Lady" is probably a euphemism for the bride of



Moshiach in an "underground Brit Chadasha kehillah" context



during persecution such as was experienced under Nero or



Domitian. It is similar to "she who is in Babylon" at the end of



I Shliach Kefa, used in that letter as a guarded euphemism for



the elect lady or sister congregation in Rome.







Who says studying doctrine isn't important? Read II Yochanan



9-10 and compare I Tim. 4:l6.







The planoi ("deceivers") in verse 7 are Gnostics,



pseudo-believers who denied that the Son of G-d had actually



taken on human flesh.







Both students and faculty in a Bible school or people in a



congregation should be denied membership unless they sign a



doctrinal statement and are examined by the leadership to see if



they really are believers and are really walking in the holy



faith.







II Yochanan 9; everyone going ahead and not remaining in the



teaching of Moshiach G-d does not have the one remaining in the



teaching, this one both the Father and the Son has. If anyone



comes to you and this teaching does not bring, do not receive him



into house (meaning house Brit Chadasha kehillah), and greetings



to him do not speak.























MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH THE SHLIACH YOCHANAN TO



THE BRIT CHADASHA KEHILLAH (III)













This letter is written to Gaius with the prayer that as he



prospers spiritually he will prosper in every other way with



health and a balanced life pleasing to G-d (see verse 2).



Yochanan had in some way helped to lead him to the L-rd (see



verses 3-4) and Gaius in turn had shown kindness and hospitality



to travelling emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut (verse 5) who had



reported Gaius' generosity (verse 6) before the Brit Chadasha



kehillah where Yochanan is presently, probably the same Brit



Chadasha kehillah as in I and II Yochanan, in Asia Minor.







The purpose of the letter is to commend an itinerant emissary of



Moshiach's shlichut named Demetrius (verse 12). When planting a



new congregation or doing any form of outreach, the nonbelievers



are not to be asked for money (verse 7). Therefore, the



congregations and their elders are to offer hospitality and



material help to travelling messianic ministers and



servants of the L-rd such as Demetrius (see vs. 5-8). Gaius is



warned to beware of the example of Diotrephes, who enjoys too



much being the person in charge. This man is a malicious gossip,



a person who thinks nothing of excluding people from his



ministry, or putting a ban on ministers by lording it over others



and telling them who they can or cannot have fellowship with.



This kind of behavior almost throws the salvation of this man in



question (see vs. 9-11).







III Yochanan 9 I wrote something to the Brit Chadasha kehillah;



but the one loving to be first (among) them, Diotrephes, does not



receive us.























MOSHIACH'S LETTER THROUGH YEHUDA, THE BROTHER OF



THE SHLIACH YA'AKOV, TO THE BRIT CHADASH AKEHILLAH











Antinomianism (the false doctrine that lawless "Followers of our



Moshiach" may indulge in immorality because they are set free



from moral law by virtue of their "faith") was already present in



the early Brit Chadasha kehillah by the C.E. mid-50's when



Shliach Sha'ul wrote I Cor. Also read Phil 3:18-19 where Shliach



Sha'ul talks about libertines who refuse to nail to death their



old lustful natures (and were thus living as enemies of the



Moshiach's Aitz). Shliach Sha'ul warned about the destruction



coming to them and all who follow them. They were false brethren,



they were idolaters (their G-d was their appetite), and they



gloried in the shame of their "freedom" (in reality they were



slaves of corruption and possessed by seducing spirits and



doctrines of demons--I Tim. 4:1). Sometimes the so-called



"knowledge" (I Tim. 6:20-21) of gnostic heresy, which presented



an unscripturally negative view of the human body in favor of the



human spirit, took an ascetic view of sex and forbade marriage (I



Tim. 4:3), or it took an indifferent view of the body, and



allowed debauchery of every kind. In any case, it was a demonic



plague attacking the Brit Chadasha kehillah, not a mere human



aberration.





Therefore, this letter by Yehuda, the brother of Ya'akov and



younger half-brother of Moshiach Yehoshua, could have been very



early. There is no reason to date it after C.E. 70, when the Beis



Hamikdash was destroyed. Therefore, it is naive to suppose that



the small circle of intimately acquainted writers of the Brit



Chadasha Scriptures (Mark, Shliach Kefa, Luke, Mattityahu,



Shliach Sha'ul, Yochanan, Yehuda, Ya'akov and probably Apollos)



did not really know what was "the faith once for all delivered to



the saints" (Yehuda 3). Most of these write neither ministered



together in the same few Brit Chadasha kehillot or met in



Jerusalem or shared the same associates.







Therefore, Yehuda could have written Yehuda 3 in the early 60's,



before the death of Shliach Kefa. And, even by that early time,



the canonical faith could have been nearly all written, even as



it was set in oral tradition from the beginning. It is not



hazardous to assume that the following were all written by the



time Yehuda writes his letter: Mark, Ya'akov, Mattityahu, Luke,



Acts, most if not all of Rav Sha'ul's letters, the letter to the



Hebrews, and I Shliach Kefa.







Yehuda is an emissary of Moshiach's shlichut. His labors as an



emissary of Moshiach's shlichut are referred to in I Cor. 9:5. We



do not know where he is or exactly to whom he is writing. Some



assume he is writing from Israel, since Yehuda is a Messianic



Jew. If Yehuda's brother Ya'akov (the half brother of Moshiach



Yehoshua and the leader of the Jerusalem community) had been



martyred in C.E. 62 in Jerusalem, Yehuda might have immediately



become a very important successor of Ya'akov in the early



Jerusalem Messianic community, and may have written this letter



when he took office. Therefore, we should not consider it strange



that Yehuda writes this sermon-like tract intended for believers



everywhere. Nor should we consider it strange that Shliach Kefa



might see the divine inspiration of the letter and allude to it



himself in adding the weight of his own correspondence (II



Shliach Kefa) to the same problem of antinomianism. (On the other



hand, Yehuda may bequoting II Shliach Kefa.





Yehuda is alarmed about an emergency situation that has occurred



on the mission field. Gross immorality is invading some of the



Brit Chadasha kehillott! Sexually permissive and exploitative



religious leaders are cropping up like choking weeds in the



Lord's garden. They are like that rebellious murderer Cain, or



that money-hungry preacher Balaam who was killed for causing the



Israelites to lapse into sexual immorality and idolatry (see Num.



chs 25 and 31). Or they are like Korah (Num. 16), who led a



rebellion against Moses and his holy law and perished as a result



(see Yehuda 11).







Anyone who has ever witnessed the mesmerizing power that a



handsome religious speaker or spiritual leader can have over a



congregation can see the danger of mixing sensuality and



spirituality. II Tim. 3:6 (written C.E. 65-68) speaks about men



who "creep" into households and exploit weak-willed women both



sexually and financially in their unscrupulous religious vocation



as charismatic Casanovas.





Lest anyone be deceived into thinking that sexual immorality of



any kind is permitted in the household of G-d, Yehuda offers



three examples to the contrary, each pointing offenders toward



destruction and hell. Yehuda does this in order to clarify what



the Biblical faith is that we are to struggle to maintain



undefiled.



















MOSHIACH'S GILLUY SHECHINAH

















That the authorship of Revelation is attributed to the Shliach



Yochanan has attestation as early as C.E. 150 by Justin Martyr



and C.E. 200 by Irenaeus, who had lived at one time in Asia Minor



(Modern Turkey) and there sat under the ministry of Polycarp of



Smyrna. Polycarp was a disciple of the Shliach Yochanan himself.



Some scholars point to the polished Greek of the Besuras Hageulah



of Yochanan and the rough Hebraic Greek of the book of Revelation



and doubt that one man wrote both books. But the use of a



secretary for the Besuras Hageulah (unavailable on the rocky



island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea) would explain this



difference, as could also be the case in explaining the different



styles in I and II Shliach Kefa.





This book is not just an epistole (letter, 1:4). It is that, of



course, with ch. 1 giving us a picture of its divine author and



the heavenly nature of the communique. The letter, however,



claims to be an apokalupsis (apocalypse, 1:1). This is a word



that has to do with G-d's disclosure of what He is doing in the



last days, which otherwise would have remained hidden, but now,



via various visions, He is Himself unveiling (notice that



Moshiach Yehoshua the Word of G-d is the author, the chain of



transmission being G-d --- Moshiach Yehoshua the Word of G-d ---



angel --- Yochanan --- seven Brit Chadasha kehillot --- all



believers for all time, 1:1, 19:13).





The infinitive deiksai (1:1) expresses purpose, which is to show



the servants of Moshiach Yehoshua what must soon take place (see



22:6-7) including especially the Coming of the L-rd. The word



deinumi ("show, point out") is a favorite word of both



Yochanan's Besuras Hageulah and Revelation, suggesting common



authorship.





But the book of Revelation is also called a profeteia (prophecy,



1:3 19; 4:1; 22:7). So we are cued in from the beginning of the



book that it is going to contain warnings and also exhortations



to be strong and to hold on to the L-rd Yehoshua in faith even in



the misery and despair of persecution and even amidst



earth-shaking cataclysms. However, because the work is an



apocalypse and therefore comes to us wrapped in some of the



conventions of a particular genre of literature, we can expect



its prophetic truth served up to us in complex imagery and



strange symbols and visions about supernatural beings, and about



powers (angelic and demonic), as well as eschatological figures



and events whose imminent appearance are part of the divinely



predetermined, yet catastrophic, end of history. Blessed are



those who obey what is written in this book (1:3: 12:17).





It is the Revelation of Moshiach Yehoshua Moshiach (1:1),whom



deity is suggested in many ways. Among other things, He is called



L-rd (22:20), "the first and last" (1:17; 2:8; 22:13), "the Holy



One"(3:7) and is worshipped (5:8). The Apocalypse of Yochanan is



also the revelation of G-d the creator (Rev. 4:11; 10:6), as well



as the revelation of Moshiach the Saviour and Redeemer (notice



Moshiach Yehoshua is referred to as the redemptive, sacrificial



"Lamb" throughout 5:7-10 etc), and the revelation of G-d the



Judge (note the various seals, trumpets and plagues are all the



various judgments coming upon the earth and the sea and the



Anti-Moshiach world as a preparation for the coming of the



Kingdom of G-d--see 8:7; 16:3; 18:8 etc).



Many people want to read Revelation looking for clues as to



whether the rapture will be 3 1/2 years before or after this or



that eschatological event. The warning is spelled out at the



beginning of the book, however: "I will come like a thief and you



will not know at what time I will come for you" (3:3). Apparently



G-d would perfer, perhaps for our own good, that we be held in



enough suspense not to presume on His patience. It would be easy



for us, if we had too much knowledge of the exact timetable of



G-d's end-time scenario, not to walk in the dependent fear of the



L-rd and in the daily vigil of faith.





The visions of the Apocalypse (Greek for "unveiling" of what is



hidden or previously unknown) of the Shliach Yochanan are written



in the poetically pictorial, enigmatically obscure language of



"tracts for hard times." Like the parables Moshiach Yehoshua



publically uttered in the hearing of dangerous persecutors,



Revelation is prophecy put in code language designed to go "over



the heads" of the wrong readers, but be understood nonetheless



because of the indwelling Ruach Hakodesh by every ensuing



generation of believers in their vocation as Yoel (Joel) 2:28



prophets.





However, understanding the language of Revelation with its rich



density of Biblical allusions, symbolic pictures, and portentous



numbers and code language requires readers willing to ponder and



pray before they attempt to preach its message. That message is



spelled out first in a more prosaic and straightforward way in



the first three chapters in the form of letters to seven



representative Brit Chadasha kehillot. Then the message is



rendered in a more pictorial way in the visions that follow.



Therefore, we must make sure that when we finish reading chs.



4-22, we have not lost or blunted the message of chs. 1-3.





What is the message of chs. 1-3? In two words, it is "Get ready!"



Get ready to be raptured into the presence of the Judge of all



men, the Moshiach who is the Word of G-d (1:9-20; 19:11-16). Get



ready to test the spirits of false Shluchim and anti-moshiachs



(see Rev. 2:2 and I Yochanan 2:18-19)! Get ready in love to do



the things you did at first! Get ready to suffer, possibly even



to the point of death! Get ready to be martyred like Antipas! Get



ready to resist temptations to sexual immorality imported by the



heathen into the Lord's Body! (See also 18:4.) It is those who



have not thrown away holiness who will be found written in the



book of life (3:4-5). Get ready to discipline those who say they



are believers but refuse to repent of wickedness! Get ready to



expel false teachers who mistake license for liberty! Get ready



to come alive in new power to conquer through the indwelling



Moshiach (3:20)! Get ready to go through open doors! Get ready to



hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown! Get



ready for the Lord's soon coming! Get ready to renounce



self-righteous and self-dependent lukewarmness and to receive the



L-rd afresh and to know the fellowship of His overcoming victory



amidst persecution and suffering.







With each exhortation there is a prophetic appraisal of the



situation of the believers, a command which sometimes entails a



warning, then a promise and a final appeal. Notice that



everything is imminent (about to happen), both agony and ecstasy,



rapture and tribulation, threat and deliverance. The worst and



the best that can happen are both at hand! Notice there is no



time allowance before the coming of the L-rd for a literal Beis



Hamikdash to be constructed in Jerusalem or a literal seat be



built on which the Anti-Moshiach can literally sit. Everything



can happen imminently! Be ready! Be strong if there is trouble!



Be prepared if there is judgment! And notice that through



everything there is the hope of heavenly, rapturous, deliverance



with Satanic trials mercifully cut short to manageable



proportions!





Chs. 5-6 make it clear that the Lamb of G-d (the Moshiach



Yehoshua) has all of history in his hands, including (as we will



see) all the plagues of judgment that will be divinely unleashed



on the anti-Moshiach world. Only Moshiach Yehoshua through his



angel can unveil the prophetic significance of what is destined



to occur in history and the Lamb who is the L-rd is the only one



who is worthy to open the scroll of destiny. He alone is



appointed to unseal the judgments of G-d and unleash covenant



reprisals on those who have wickedly refused redemption. These



wicked have persecuted the saints, who are themselves not



appointed to wrath (I Thes. 5:9) but "sealed" for safety from the



wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 7). All exousia authority and power are



in Moshiach's hands (see Matthew 28:18), but the authority to eat



of the tree of life and to enter the redeemed New Jerusalem is



given by him to the Moshiach's true disciples (Rev. 22:14).





What ensues after ch. 4 is an unfolding picture of suffering that



is humanly, but also demonically generated. G-d the Judge sends



plagues like He did on Pharaoh. As we reed we see the world



heeding inexorably toward Armageddon, the Millenium, the Final



Judgment, and the creation of the New Heavens and the New Earth.



But in the midst of the suffering there is also various divinely



provided protection on earth and ultimately rapturous deliverance



in heaven. The seven seals (6:1-17; 8:1), the seven trumpets



(8:2-9:21; 11:14-19), and the seven bowls (16:1-21) give us this



unfolding picture of ever increasing retribution and catastrophe



leading to climactic ruin as a prophetic picture of the birth



pangs (chevlei Moshiach the pre-Messianic era birthpangs) leading



to the Messianic Kingdom realized on earth followed by the New



Creation. Rev. 15:1 says ofthe final seven plagues, "with them



the wrath of G-d is ended."





In the drama that continues we see two cities in conflict, the



latter day "Babylon," the "Rome" of the last days with its false



religion celebrating the false deity of an end-time "Nero" by the



"drinking the blood" (killing) of the economically and



politically persecuted saints, and the other city, the New



Jerusalem, whose citizens are the true heirs of the promises of



G-d. Nero, then, comes to symbolize all the Hitlers to come,



including the final one. The mark charagma (Rev. 13:16) was the



seal of the Emperor, bearing his image and showing loyal devotion



to him in commercial transactions, which were stamped with his



name. The Jews wore the tephillin on the forehead and the



forearm to show devotion to the true G-d rather than any latter



day Antiochus Ephiphanes. The final Hitler, will recover from a



mortal wound (remember Hitler's near assassination escape from



death?), will have a false prophet "Kohen Gadol," and he will



lead the world to marvel at his miraculous idol, causing those



who do not worship to be put to death, thus causing the great



apostasy (Rev. 13:12-18; II Thes. 2:3; 14:9-12).





Nero committed suicide with his own sword in June C.E. 68. Yet a



rumor persisted that he was still alive and would return to



ravage the world again. A similar phenomenon occurred for a time



after Adolf Hitler's death. Rumors circulated that he was alive



in South America and would be back to terrorize the earth again.



The Shliach Yochanan speaks of the Anti-Moshiach in this way in



ch. 17 and infers that this latter-day man of lawlessness will be



a new "Nero" or (Nero redivivus, pronounced "RED-uh-VY-vus" and



meaning "revived, living again") when he reappears in his final



historical manifestation, a new "Antiochus Epiphanes" with a



"prostitute" religion riding a world government "beast" city, a



new "Rome" that will extend in Satanic world empire so that the



ancient "Dragon" the devil can once again battle against the



"seed" of the Elect Woman (Gen. 3:15; Rev. 12), the Ideal Israel



of G-d. Rev. 17 and 18 show the judgment that is coming on this



"Babylon," this "Rome" of the last days, this cruel and



blasphemous world government (chs. 17-19). Its religious,



commercial, and materialistic pride will be brought low.



Those who study these passages to try to find datable or



chronological signs of when the Brit Chadasha kehillah will be



raptured will be frustrated by the fact that such is not the



message the author intended to convey. The numbers that are



continually reappearing have symbolic meaning, but those who



press them too literally will have the same trouble with



consistency if they try to see in 1:4 the Ruach Hakodesh as seven



spirits instead of a perfect Spirit (the number seven means



perfect, and is the number of G-d; 6 as in 666 means the number



of man).







The number 1000 is also a number symbolizing the completeness of



the Moshiach's earthly triumph as He reigns with His people in



the world a thousand years before the final judgment comes



(20:4-6), the wicked are raised to life and condemned, Satan is



finally hurled with the wicked in the lake of eternal fire, and



the New Heavens and the New Earth replace the existing cosmos.





The structure of the Book contains an overlapping spiralling



movement of recapitulation where similar themes are returned to



again and again and are viewed from a differenct angle each time.



The redeemed citizens of the Kingdom of G-d are symbolized



variously: 1) by the twenty-four elders seated on twenty-four



thrones (4:24); by the part of the Beis Hamikdash measured for



preservation in ch 11; by the two witnesses of ch. 11; by the



144,000 in chs. 7 and 14. The theme of the Rapture and the Second



Coming is likewise recapitulated several times (see 1:7; 2:25;



14:14-20; 22:12, 20). Likewise, notice the theme of the Beis



Hamikdash and communion with G-d (11:19; 15:5 see skenoo "dwell"



~tabernacle" in 21:3 and no Beis Hamikdash but the L-rd and his



Lamb in 21:22.)





Ch.6: It seems to show the universal Besuras Hageulah and various



scourges of war, scarcity or famine accompanied by inequities



between rich and poor, scourges of death and demonic mental



illness and torment worse than death and catacylismic plagues



(6:8 says one fourth of mankind will thus perish) all racing like



horses to the ends of the earth to show the fulfillment of divine



decrees of judgement. Next comes martyrdom and the Second Coming



(6:12-17), which is recapitulated again later in 11:12-18 and



19:11-21. The theme of the Great Tribulation is repeated in



7:13-17; 11:7-12 and 17:6.







Ch.7:3 shows the servants of the L-rd being sealed for safety to



make it clear that they do not share with the impenitent in the



divine wrath even while they do share in the Satanically incited



tribulation of Anti-Moshiach. See 3:10; 14:1; 21:12 on this



theme of safety for kedoshim (saints) who are freed from wrath.





Ch. 8 begins the "woe to the earth and the sea" theme of 13:12



and 16:3, with the incremental ruin being emphasized by



contrasting verses like 8:9 and 16:3, as Yochanan predicts



ecological and cataclymic destruction of the environment (earth,



trees, seas, rivers, streams). Ch.



11:4,7 shows that we battle not flesh and blood but demonic



spiritual powers (12:17) and the 3 1/2 year period of tribulation



(11:2-3: 12:6,14; 13:5-7) is also a period of G-d's keeping



protection (12:6,16).





We do not want to confuse the "elect" and the nation of Israel in



any way that would imply that G-d's covenant promises for



Israel's salvation are cancelled. However, that is Rav Sha'ul's



teaching in Rom. 9-11, and we need to let this book speak on its



own terms. Yochanan sees all the elect pouring into the New



Jerusalem that comes down to earth from heaven. And it is highly



unlikely, inspite of dispensational teaching to the contrary,



that chs. 7 and 14 are only referring to national Israel. Look at



21:12-13 where the twelve tribes of the nation and the twelve



Shluchim of the Brit Chadasha kehillah have their names



decorating the very same city. And it is one city! It is not two,



not earthly Jerusalem for the nation of Israel and the New



Jerusalem for the Brit Chadasha kehillah.





By chapter 16 it is clear that men who oppose the preaching of



the Jewish Bible are going to be left with a sun that gives skin



cancer (16:8 on ozone depletion and ultraviolet light), polluted



seas full of death (16:3), and rivers like Chernobyl. Yochanan is



saying that there is a new Exodus in progress as G-d brings our



Jewish people to himself. At the same time G-d smites the



anti-Semitic world with plagues of Pharaoh (not only ecological



disasters but war-mongering demons leading to the final world war



called Armageddon--16:16). Many, including many who claim to be



Jews and are not, will be like Pharaoah and refuse to repent



(16:10-11). Yochanan is saying that the Nazi civilization of this



world is going to drink the wrath of G-d (16:19-18:10), and her



"Nero" himself will burn her (17:16; 18:18). Morever, it will be



G-d's judgment (18:20) and his vengence on her for her vile



cruelty against the believers (18:20; 19:2), for she was drunk



with the blood of the saints and the martyrs (17:6). This harlot



Babylon, this Nazi world civilization, is contrasted with the



Bride, the New Jerusalem (19:1-7; 21:1-2, 9-10, 18).





REVELATION 20:6







Blessed and holy (is) the one having part in the resurrection,



the first; on these ones the second death does not have



authority, but they will be kohanim of G-d and of Moshiach and



they will reign with Him a thousand years.



















FIVE: YOUR TALENT, HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, FAITH,



AND MINISTRY FORMATION CERTIFICATION FROM THE FIRST



VIRTUAL MESSIANIC YESHIVA ON THE INTERNET













By this time in your study, you should have downloaded every



single one of the available files at our web site at



http://www.afii.org From my earliest childhood I was always



aware of a call to a high vocation in the service of G-d. I



wanted to be an actor and a writer. In 1971, when I had a



powerful experience of teshuva and hitkhadeshut (regeneration) in



Hollywood, California, I was immediately impressed that a major



part of my life's work was to portray and film the life of the



Shliach Sha'ul. I felt impressed by the L-rd to call the drama,



The Rabbi From Tarsus. Writing this work necessitated learning



Greek, Hebrew, and all of the disciplines in this book. The



first version of the Rabbi From Tarsus was a musical performed in



an auditorium seating 1,000 Jewish people. However, this acting



company folded quite tragically and I found myself suddenly out



on a highway, utterly depressed and despondent, with only 23



cents in my pocket. But, suddenly the L-rd gave me a word of



knowledge based on I Kings 17 and immediately I was mysteriously



checked into a free motel called "The Wishing Well Motel." There



in that motel room, having nothing and everything, the L-rd



assured me that he would provide for the project. Eight years



later, when I needed $23,000 to film my screenplay for Word, Inc.



to produce the VHS Home Video of The Rabbi From Tarsus, the L-rd



impressed me to contact a certain man who lived near "The Wishing



Well Motel," and $23,000 was instantly forth coming, as



miraculously as the free motel room had been provided eight years



before. This testimony of faith I printed here to show how G-d



can take someone who is neither worthy nor qualified and,



nevertheless, help him fulfill the high vocation he had always



felt himself called to perform. By now this play has been



performed by many actors in many foreign countries before large



numbers of people. The full text of the play, which took many



years to write, is printed here.







But, first, let's glance at the work of a few believers down



through the centuries who have also felt a call to not bury their



valuable talent but use it to bring glory to the G-d of Israel



and His Moshiach (see Matt.25:l1-30; Luke 19:11-27). We are



going to look also at various art forms, from the art of rhetoric



to the novel, from music to painting, from the satirical essay to



the epic poem.





John Bunyan (1628-1688), English preacher. The Pilgrim's



Progress, I "As I walked through the wilderness of this world,



I lighted on a certain place where was a Den, and I laid me down



in that place to sleep; and, as I slept, I dreamed a dream. I



dreamed, and behold I saw a man clothed with rags, standing in a



certain place, with his face from his own house, a book in his



hand, and a great burden upon his back....I looked and saw him



open the book and read therein; and, as he read, he wept, and



trembled; and not being able longer to contain, he broke out with



a lamentable cry, saying, "What shall I do?"..."







"Now I saw, upon a time, when he was walking in the fields, that



he was (as he was wont) reading in this book, and greatly



distressed in his mind; and as he read, he burst out, as he had



done before, crying."What shall I do to be saved?"







Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), American clergyman and theologian,



"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry G-d"







"The G-d that holds you over the pit of hell much as one holds a



spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is



dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he



looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the



fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight;



you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes as the most



hateful and venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him



infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and



yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into



the fire every moment...."















John Milton (1608-1674), English poet. Paradise Lost, written



when he had become blind, fulfilled a calling in the service of



G-d, which he had known from his earliest youth.







"Who first seduced them to that fowl revolt?







Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile



Stird up with Enyy and Revenge, deceiv'd



The Mother of Mankinde, what time his Pride



Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host..."







Thomas Gray (1716-1771). English poet. "Elegy" last stanza No



farther seek his merits to disclose,



Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,



There they alike in trembling hope repose)



The bosom of his Father and his G-d.







Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), British satirist and minister, "For



it is confidently reported, that two young Gentlemen of great



Hopes, bright Wit, and profound Judgment, who upon a thorough



Examination of Causes and Effects, and by the mere Force of



natural Abilities, without the least Tincture of Learning; having



made a Discovery, that there was no G-d, and generously



communicating their Thoughts for the Good of the Public.... In



Answer to all which, with Deference to wiser Judgments; I think



this rather shows the Necessity of a nominal Religion among us.



Great Wits love to be free with the highest Objects; and if they



cannot be allowed a G-d to revile or renounce; they will speak



Evil of Dignities (II Shliach Kefa 2:10)," abuse the Government,



and reflect upon the Ministry...."







Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), organist and composer who



inscribed Jesu Juva and Soli Deo ("to the glory of G-d") at the



top of many of his compositions. The student should listen to St.



Matthew Passion. He is called the greatest composer of all time



for the organ. His last composition at the close of his life was



"Before Thy Throne I Now Appear. "Not sufficiently appreciated in



his own day, an interest in Bach's work was revived by a



Messianic Jewish composer named Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) in



1829. Handel (1685-1759), who wrote the most performed major



choral work in history, Handel's Messiah, was a contemporary.



Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881). Russian novelist. The Brothers



Karamazov, Part II, Book V. Chapter 5. (Note: the following is



said by the Grand Inquisitor to Moshiach:)





"I turned back and joined the ranks of those who have corrected



Thy work. I left the proud and went back to the humble, for the



happiness of the humble. What I say to Thee will come to pass,



and our dominion will be built up. I repeat, to-morrow Thou



shalt see that obedient flock who at a sign from me will hasten



to heap up the hot cinders about the pile on which I shall burn



Thee for coming to hinder us. For if anyone has ever deserved



our fires, it is Thou. To-morrow I shall burn Thee. Dixi. '"



(Note: Dixi is Latin meaning "I have spoken.")











Rembrandt (1606-1669), Dutch painter, who after suffering the



loss of his wife's early death, began to paint the meaning of the



Bible.



















SIX: HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, THEOLOGY















What's in a name? Many things. Destiny, for one. People are



destined for an everlasting home because they've been destined to



have an everlasting name written down in heaven (Isaiah



56:5).







One's earthly destiny can also be inscribed in one's name. So



"Nabal" means "fool" and like many other fools today, Abigail's



husband refused to serve the coming King (I Sam. 25:2- 13).





Or take my name. I was destined to preach in England every year



as a short-term foreign emissary of Moshiach's shlichut being



sent by an organization called Artists For Israel



International (founded 1981). You say, what has that got to do



with the name "Goble"? Let me tell you. And while I'm doing so,



let's ) glance also at some key dates in the history of the



Jewish people and the people of G-d.







Four hundred years ago, when Shakespeare was in his heyday, a man



named Thomas Goble was born in Sussex, England. This is an



English name, "Goble," an Anglo-Saxon name, not a German name,



and the name comes from this British ancestor who came to America



in the 17th Century.







The name of Goble is believed to have been a variant on the



ancient Anglo-Saxon personal name of G-dbold. Records of the



English family of G-dbold show that it is from here that the



American family of Goble is descended. All of the Gobles below



in America are descended from the before-mentioned British lines.





The first of the family in America was Thomas Goble, who settled



at Charlestown, Mass. (now Boston), in 1634 and immediately



joined a congregation there, but later removed to Concord, in the



same colony, the Massachusetts Bay Colony (founded by the English



Puritan Winthrop) where a preacher's college named Harvard was



founded a couple of years later. Thomas Goble by his wife Alice



was the father of six children, John, Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary,



Sarah, and Daniel. His son Daniel also had a son named Daniel,



whose son Jonas died in Morristown, New Jersy in 1791. Jonas'



son Henry Goble, who served in the Revolutionary War, had



children by his wife Lydia: Jacob, Enoch, Sarah, Daniel, and



Benoni. Benoni, son of Henry Goble of New Jersey, finally



settled in Indiana. Benoni married a woman named Sarah and their



son Stephen had a son named James, born in 1849. James married



my great-grandmother Amanda Baker Goble, whose son Nicholas



Steven Goble is my grandfather and his son Earl is my father.



Thus, you see, I am a direct descendent of a British man named



Thomas who was born in 1599. Although not greatly distinguished



in public affairs, the Gobles have been, for the most part,



believers in the Word of G-d, and there have been a good many



ministers in the family.







Although Henry Goble served in the Revolutionary War, what is



important about this history to me is that most, if not all, of



these men were g-dly and served in the L-rd's army of the



faithful, from Thomas Goble in a congregation in Charlestown,



Massachusetts, to my grandfather Nicholas Goble in a congregation



on Reel Ave in Vincennes, Indiana. Their names were written in



the Lamb's Book of Life. Not only that, Dr. Donald McGavran (as



advisor to Billy Graham and the pioneer of the modern movement



specializing in the growth of congregations throughout the world



and the founder of a scholarly research center and graduate



school for that purpose which became part of Fuller Seminary in



Pasadena California, where McGavran, my teacher and the advisor



behind all my books on Jewish and Muslim outreach, taught) was



associated as a foreign emissary of Moshiach with my grandfather



Goble's congregation, which was how, in the centuries' long sweep



of the providence of G-d, I became his student and began my



ministry when the L-rd called me to the ministry in 1971. But as



I look back on it, I can see that G-d had his eye of destiny on



us, Donald McGavran and myself his student, when Thomas Goble was



born in England at the time Shakespeare was writing his plays.



For, the Puritans sought to escape a despotic king of England



(Charles I) and to found a "wilderness Zion" in America, and



Thomas Goble was in that stream of history, and Donald McGavran



wanted to reach unreached peoples like Jews and Muslims and bring



them to "Zion." But the G-d who calls us is looking over the



centuries like a Gardener looking over rows of flowers, and so



from Thomas Goble to Donald McGavran, whatever good thing springs



up in the course of his Divine Election is the L-rd's planting.



As I can see from my vista, we individuals have a very small part



to play, but it is G-d who is doing the awesome things. Whenever



I get discouraged in Jewish or Muslim or any other ministry I'm



involved in, I think of G-d's eye on Donald McGavran even as



Thomas Goble was getting on that ancient ship to sail for



America, and I get encouraged. If G-d can aim from Thomas Goble



to Donald McGavran and make his arrow of election hit the target



in my life in 1971 when I was raised from spiritual death and



regenerated, if G-d can raise the nation of Israel from her



national tomb in the Diaspora in 1948, then surely we can see his



hand and rejoice in that G-d is doing in your life and in mine



and in the larger arena of world history down through the



centuries. Let's look at a few dates.







This study will help us keep our sense of roots and direction as



we become more aware of those who have walked before us. Perhaps



we can learn from some of their mistakes, or be inspired by some



of their triumphs.







3100 the Sumerians (southern Iraq area) invent the first system



of writing in the world







2800 Sumerian flood







2650 B.C.E. the Step Pyramid, the tint large stone structure ever



built, is raised up in Egypt







2166 B.C.E. the birth of Abraham







1877 B.C.E. Jacob's entrance into Egypt







1728 B.C.E. Hammurabi became king in Babylon and later wrote his



law code







1560 B.C.E. Moses is born







1447 B.C.E. the Exodus (Thutmose 111 is probably the Pharaoh of



the Oppression end Amenhotep II is the Pharaoh of the Exodus.



Scholars have differing ideas about this)







1406 B.C.E. the crossing of the Jordan







1375-1050 B.C.E. the period of the Judges







1100 B.C.E. Jephthah is a judge in the period of the Judges



1026 B.C.E. the anointing of King Saul







1010-970 B.C.E. David







970-930 B.C.E. Solomon







922 B.C.E. the division of the kingdom into Israel (the Northern



Tribes) and Judah, with Solomon's Son Rehoboam ruling Judah for



17 years and Jerobam ruling the Northern kingdom for 22 years



913 B.C.E. Abijam succeeds Rehoboam as king of Judah







911 B.C.E. Asa succeeds Rehoboam as king of Judah







885 B.C.E. Omri begins his evil dynasty in the Northern Kingdom,



thereafter establishing Samaria as his capital, marrying off his



successor son Ahab to the wicked Jezebel whose prophets of Baal



lead the people into apostasy. (Ahab rules for 22 years starting



in 874, Ahab's son Ahaziah in 853, Ahab's other son J(eh)oram in



852)







875-848 Elijah







873 B.C.E. good king of Judak, Jehashaphat son of Asa, begins his



25 year reign





848-797 Elisha







841 B.C.E. wicked Athalia is queen of Judah; Jehu becomes king of



Israel after he assassinates in Jezreel J(eh)oram (ending Ahab's



dynasty) and Ahaziah king of Judah





835 B.C.E. J(eh)oash is king of Judah







830 Yoel (Joel) written?







796 B.C.E. Amaziah is king of Judah







785-775 Jonah







768 B.C.E. Uzziah (Azariah) the leper king of Judah begins his



reign







760-750 Amos







750 B.C.E. Jotham king of Judah begins his reign







750-715 Hosea







740-681 B.C.E. Isaiah (Micah also in this time frame)



735 B.C.E. Syro-Ephraimite War of Isaiah 7:1 (King Ahaz of Judah



begins his 16 year reign)







732 B.C.E. Damascus, capital of Syria, crushed by Assyria







729 B.C.E. Hezekiah king of Judah, begin. his reign







722 B.C.E. the fall of Samaria, the capital of the Northern



Tribes, at the hands of the Assyrians





701 B.C.E. The Assyrian Sennacherib seals up Hezekiah in



Jerusalem like a bird in a cage





687 B.C.E. Manasseh begins his 55 year reign as the king of Judah



663 B.C.E. Thebes, a city in Egypt, destroyed by the Assyrians



650 B.C.E. Nahum







640 B.C.E. Josiah, at the age of 8, begins his reforming reign



630 B.C.E. Zephaniah







626-585 B.C.E. Jeremiah







622 B.C.E. the Law discovered in the Beis Hamikdash during King



Josiah's reign







612 B.C.E. the fall of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, at the



hands of Medes, Babylonian: and Scythians.







609 B.C.E. Josiah killed at Megiddo by the Egyptians; Jehoahaz



reigns for three months; Jehoiakim, the evil king who burned



Jeremiah's scroll, begins his reign in 609 (see Jeremiah 36)



608-605 B.C.E. Habakkuk







605-586 B.C.E. Obadiah







605-530 B.C.E. Daniel (Daniel deported to Babylon 605 B.C.E.)



605 B.C.E. Egyptians defeated by Babylonians at Carchemish (South



Turkey), setting the stage for Babylon's unincumbered assault on



Jerusalem.







598 B.C.E. Jehoiachin, king of Judah reigns for three months 597



B.C.E. Second deportation to Babylon; Zedekiah, the last king of



Judah, begins his reign







593-571 B.C.E. Ezekiel (Ezekiel deported to Babylon 597 B.C.E.)



586 B.C.E. the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians







539 B.C.E. Cyrus the Persian King conquers Babylon, an event that



opens the door for the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem and



then, after many delays, rebuild the Beis Hamikdash in



516/515 B.C.E.







538 B.C.E. the Persian King Cyrus's Decree for the Return from



the Exile







520-480 B.C.E. Zechariah







520 B.C.E. Haggai







516/515 B.C.E. the completion of the Second Beis Hamikdash under



the descendant of David, Zerubbabel (appointed governor by the



Persians), and the High Priest Yehoshua/Joshua/Yeshua (the man



who is by Zechariah's prophecy (3:8; 6:11-12) the name sake of



our Moshiach







479 B.C.E. Esther becomes queen of Persia







474 B.C.E. Haman's plot







470/469 B.C.E. Socrates, one of the most influential philosophers



who ever lived, is born in Greece. He is executed in 399 B.C.E.







458 B.C.E. Ezra returns from the Exile







445 B.C.E. Nehemiah, the Persian appointed Governor, returns to



rebuild the wall of Jerusalem







432-425 B.C.E. Malachi







Socrates' pupil was Plato, the teacher of Aristotle. Aristotle



(384-322 B.C.E.) was one of the greatest of the ancient



philosophers. He produced encyclopedic writings and founded



the"Lyceum," - a famous school which preserved his work.



Aristotle became the tutor of Alexander the Great, whose empire



included the old Persian empire plus Greece.







330-328 B.C.E. Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C), having



conquered the Persian Empire, becomes the new power over the



Jewish people







320 B.C.E. Alexander's general Ptolemy I defeats Jerusalem, as



the Jewish people come under the domination of the Ptolemies of



Egypt till 200 B.C.E., thereafter by the Seleucids of Syria and



Mesopotamia (another general of Alexander's was Seleucus I



Nicator).







It was during the early part of the 3rd century B.C.E.that



scholars (probably Alexandrian Jews) began translating the Hebrew



Bible into Greek. This was one of the most important events in



this period (sometime after 285 B.C.E.) because the Septuagint



became the Bible of Diaspora Judaism and is often quoted in the



Brit Chadasha. (Some scholars believe that the Septuagint was



translated considerably later than this, but some 150 years



before Moshiach is probably the latest date possible.)







168 B.C.E. Antiochus Epiphanes, one of the kings of the Seleucid



dynasty of Syria, sets up his pagan altar, defiling the Beis



Hamikdash, as the Jewish people suffer under this anti-Moshiach



predicted in Daniel 8 and 11 and are not able to rededicate the



Beis Hamikdash until 165 B.C.E. This is the origin of the



Festival of Channukah.







143-63 Israel has a brief period of independence ruled by the



Maccabees







Julius Caesar (100-63 B.C.E.) recognized the Jewish religion as a



legal religion in the Roman Empire. (This will help Rav Sha'ul,



as we know, in the book of Acts)







63 B.C.E. Pompey invades Israel, Roman rule begin.







37 B.C.E. Rule of the Herods begins







27 B.C.E. Augustus become Emperor







19 B.C.E. Herod the Great begins refurbishing the Beis Hamikdash



13 B.C.E. Philo of Alexandria is born (d. A.D.48). He tries to



reconcile Judaism with Greek thought. It is important to realize



that at this time Alexandria has the greatest library in the



world and it became the intellectual center of that era. Apollos,



who may have written the book of Hebrews, originated from



Alexandria.







6/5 B.C.E. (no later then 4 B.C.E.) Moshiach Yehoshua is born



(His historical existence is confirmed in the writings of Pliny,



Tacitus, Suetonius, Lucian, Josephus, and other historians and



writers of antiquity).







14 C.E. Tiberius becomes Emperor of Rome







C.E. 26 Moshiach Yehoshua is given his tevilah of teshuva



C.E. 30 Moshiach Yehoshua is hanged on the Aitz and seen alive by



his Shluchim







C.E. 33 Stephen is martyred and thereafter Philip's Samaritan new



believers are regularized by Shliach Kefa and Yochanan as



Pentecostals (see Acts 8:16 epipipto and compare Acts 10:44-46;



see also Acts 11:15; 2:4; 4:31; 19:6).







C.E. 35 Rav Sha'ul has his Damascus Road experience and becomes a



Shliach of Moshiach





C.E. 38 Shliach Sha'ul makes 2 week visit to Jerusalem







40 the Roman Emperor Caligula plans to erect a statue of himself



in the Beis Hamikdash (Mark 13:14) but is assassinated (C.E.41)



and Claudius becomes Emperor, later expelling the Jewish people



from Rome because of rioting (Acts 18:3). Nero succeeds Claudlus



in 54.







44 Shliach Sha'ul and Barnabus to Jerusalem on famine relief



visit at the time Herod Agrippa is perseouting the early



believers in Jerusalem (see Acts 12)







46-48 Rav Sha'ul's first Moshiach's shlichut journey (Ya'akov may



have been written in this period)







48/49 Galatians probably written from Antioch at this point



49/50 Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 to resolve Gentile



circumcision issue







ca. 50-52 Rav Sha'ul's second Moshiach's shlichut journey (I-II



Thessalonians written 50)







53-57 Rav Sha'ul's third Moshiach's shlichut journey and



collection journey (Apollos may have written Hebrews ca. 54



I-II Corinthians written by Shliach Sha'ul C.E. 55 Romans



written C.E. 57



59-61 Shliach Sha'ul imprisoned in Rome (wrote Ephesian,



Colossians, Philemon, Philippian:)







61/62 I Shliach Kefa written, Mark and then Matthew probably



already written by this time







62-68 Rav Sha'ul's final ministry (I Timothy and Titus written



63/65 from Philippi, Luke/Act. written 63, II Timothy written



from Rome, Rav Sha'ul martyred.







The Great Fire of Rome July 64: Nero begins his Roman persecution



of followers of our Moshiach (Jude written roughly at this time?



II Shliach Kefa?)





66 The Great Revolt of the Jewish people against Rome begins







69 Vespasian (69-79) Emperor of Rome







70 Beis Hamikdash and Jerusalem destroyed by Vespasian's son



Titus (Matt. 24:28). Roman soldiers worship their standards (with



eagles) in the Beis Hamikdash area.







73 the Roman army takes Masada, the last stand against the



Romans, as 960 Jewish people commit suicide. Those whose library



comprised The Dead Sea Scrolls also met their end. Indeed, the



terrible fire predicted by Yochanan of the tevilah of teshuva



(Matt. 3:11) and Moshiach Yehoshua (Mark 13:2) fell on the



unbelieving







75-79 Josephus writes Jewish Wars from Rome







81-96 Domitian Emperor; renewed persecution at end of reign



84 excommunication of Messianic Jews and believers from Jewish



synagogues







The shape of the Hebrew Bible was a matter for questioning by the



rabbis (probably around 90) under Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai at



Yavneh (at the coast west of Jerusalem near Jaffa). This rabbinic



council debated the canonicity of various books. It was about



this time that the unbiblical idea of a Judaism without a



kapparah began, a Judaism dependent not on the Beis Hamikdash



(Beis Hamikdash destroyed C.E.70) and its sacrifices pointing to



Moshiach's sacrifice, but on a religious life of teshuva and



mitzvot which were proffered by the rabbis in place of kapparah.





85-95 Besuras Hageulah of Yochanan and I-II-III Yochanan written.



This was the period of the heresy of the proto-gnostic Cerinthus,



who taught that the Moshiach did not die but descended on



Yehoshua at his tevilah and departed from Yehoshua before he died



on the Aitz. This heresy is refuted in I Yochanan 2:22, 20, 27;



4:1-6, 15 (cf.1:1-3); 5:5-12. Those who claim to be believers



but follow false prophets or do not stay in step with the true



faith are liars (2:4, 19; II Yochanan 7-11).







93 Josephus writes Antiquities







95 Revelation written (possibly written well before this);



100 it is probable that Yochanan, the last of the Shluchim, died



at Ephesus around this time







130 Papias of Hierapolis in Phrygia (Turkey) died, being a hearer



of the Shliach Yochanan and attests to faith in the millennium



(Rev. 20:4), which was an accepted doctrine by influential



leaders as late as Irenacus (c. l85) Papias wrote, according to



Eusebius, this statement: "Matthew arranged the oracles in Hebrew



dialect and each interpreted them as he was able," which is an



important attestation to Matthew's authorship of his Besuras



Hageulah.







132-135 Second Jewish Revolt with Rabbi Akiva heralding false



Moshiach Simon bar Kakhba, causing a holocaust in which hundreds



of thousands of Jewish people were killed. The Jewish revolts of



AD 66, 116, and 132-135 bring about the destruction of the Jewish



state which was not restored until 1948







135 Simon bar Kakhba's Jewish uprising ends after 3 years of



turmoil in which his followers had conducted pogroms even against



Messianic communities. The Roman Emperor Hadrian turns ruined



Jerusalem into a Greek Polis (city) called Aelia Capitolina.



Greek speakers were moved in to populate it and Jews were



forbidden to enter it on pain of death.







140 Arrival of Marcion in Rome. Marcion, like



dispensationalists, stressed a total discontinuity between Israel



and the Brit Chadasha kehillah. Marcion was clearly a Gnostic,



though a somewhat atypical one (he was guilty of a docetic notion



of the person of Messiah and a number of other gnostic heresies).



Any Brit Chadasha Scriptures book that seemed to favor Jewish



believers (like Matthew) the anti-Semitic Marcion cut out of his



Scriptures. His heretical canon encouraged the Brit Chadasha



kehillah to hurry up and formally ratify what had been



acknowledged by many from the beginning, namely the orthodox NT



Canon of 27 books and Tanakh canon of the Hebrew Bible (39 books,



66 in all). In 144 Marcion was excommunicated for heresy and he



died ca.l60.







155 Justin Martyr writes Apology







160 Valentinian spreads Gnostic heresy in Rome. This false



teacher and many others taught that people were lost because they



were ignorant and could be saved through Gnosis (secret



knowledge). See I Tim. 6:20. All Gnostics viewed the material



creation as evil (in contradiction of Gen. 1:4,12,18,etc).



("Christian" Science, a modern cult, teaches that materiality is



evil and rejects the idea that G-d's Moshiach could enrobe



himself in "evil" materiality.) Valentinian and the gnostic



heretics hatched the evil idea that the resurrection was not a



physical event, that Moshiach was not a material being and only



appeared or seemed (Dokeo "seem" docetism) to be a man. Anyone



who rejects either the doctrine of the resurrection of the body



or of the real death and bodily resurrection of Moshiach Yehoshua



is a Gnostic in the strict sense of the word. Rejecting the



incarnation is also Gnosticism, loosely defined. If the body is



viewed as evil, some gnostics taught that asceticism, forbidding



marriage, fasting, etc (I Tim. 4:3-4) was necessary for spiritual



persons while others taught that the evil body would be discarded



and therefore adultery and fornication were perfectly acceptable



because the Gnostic participants were elect "pearls" who could



not be stained spiritually by any external mud. The cults today



thrive on the Gnostic heresy of "knowledge," that modern cultists



are the proud possessors of some secret knowledge revealed to the



founder of their cult.







161 Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius begins his 19 year reign



as Roman Emperor and many thousands of followers of our Moshiach



are beheaded or thrown to the wild beasts in the arena (including



Justin Martyr). Aurelius' Meditations are still revered by



unbelievers.







166 Justin Martyr, a former philosopher turned apologist for the



Messiah martyred in Rome. His Dialogue with Trypho (a cultured



Jew) was one of his writings, which he used to proclaim his faith



far and wide. Indeed, through his teaching and writing ministry,



his testimony still stands to this day! Unlike some of his



students, he maintained a tolerant and courteous attitude rather



than one of mockery and contempt in dealing with his Jewish or



pagan opponents (see II Timothy 2:24-26; Col. 4:5-6).







170-217 Yehudah (Judah) ha-Nasi (the Prince) supervises the



codification of the Mishnah or Oral Law into writing shortly



after 200 (this is the core document of the Talmud and contains



rabbinic teachings about the Bible supposedly derived in a chain



of oral tradition from the mouth of Moses himself, and supposedly



having the virtual authority of Scripture, and dealing with the



whole range of topics touched on in the Bible: agricultural laws,



the feasts and festivals of the Sacred calendar, matrimonial law,



cival and criminal law, ritual slaughter and the Beis Hamikdash,



ritual, purity and impurity, and other concerns. (I have not



thrown away my copy of this valuable document, and neither must



Orthodox Jews when they become followers of our Moshiach.) As the



Brit Chadasha was the foundation document of the Brit Chadasha



kehillah, so this became the foundation document of Rabbinic



Judaism. And Rabbinic Judaism becomes a dynastic cathedocracy



ruled by the teacher's chair in a hereditary line of revered



rabbis with the great yeshivas taking the place of authority once



exercised by the kohen-dominated Sanhedrin.





178-200 Irenaeus of Lyons in Gaul (France), died a martyr. Had



heard Polycarp of Smyrna (marytred C.E.l55), who was a disciple



of the Shliach Yochanan, and so Irenacus and his writings give us



a link to the era of Moshiach's Shluchim and Irenaeus word's can



be given considerable credence regarding the authorship of the



Besuras Hageulah, etc.







202 Roman Emperor Septimius Severus begins a fierce persecution



of the believers which lasts until his death in 211.





203 Perpetua of Carthage (near Tunis in North Africa) is



martyred after being tossed by wild beasts in the arena but not



before she encouraged others: "You must all stand fast in the



faith and love one another and do not be weakened by what we have



gone through."







250 Roman Emperor Decius persecutes the followers of our



Moshiach







303 Great Persecution begins. Roman Emperor Diocletian and his



successors unwitting attempt to succeed where Jehoiakim failed



(see Jer. 36) and a wide-spread attempt is made to confiscate and



burn copies of the Bible.







312 Constantine the Great sees a vision and goes on to win the



military victory whereby he becomes the Roman Emperor





313 Edict of Milan. Constantine the Great puts an end to the



persecution of followers of our Moshiach (edicts of toleration



from 311-313) and thereafter begins to turn the Roman Empire into



an empire nominally dedicated to the Biblical faith, but with



much wanting.







In 325 Constantine called the Council of Nicea to beheld near



there (Mince is modern Isnik, Turkey). Due to Athanasius and his



defense of the Bible, Arius the heretic was defeated. Then in 330



Constantine established Constantinople (modern Istanbul In NW



Turkey) as his new capital. This city in its long history became



in turn the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and of the



Ottoman Empire.







296-373 Athanasius was the great opponent of the forerunners of



today's J,W.'s and extreme Unitarians: the ancient Arians.



Athanasius was was a leader of faith in Alexandria, Egypt. Arius



(died ca. 336) was a presbyter at Alexandria, and he taught an



ancient version of J.W. doctrine which attacked the person of



Moshiach. Like the Judaizing Ebionites, who also denied the



preexistence of Moshiach, Arius taught that there was a time when



Moshiach "was not" (didn't exist). But Athanasius preached that



only the One through whom the world was made could restore it.



Only true G-d from true G-d could redeem the cosmos and be



adequate for the Moshiach's task. Yochanan 1:1 says Kai Theos en



O Logos. The word Theos does not have a definite article. It is



the anarthrous (without the definite article) predicate which



emphasizes quality. As far as its nature was concerned, the



Logos has the very same quality as G-d. What G-d was, the Word



was. This is the idea. Since G-d is eternally preexistent, so is



the Word. The Word was always with G-d and the Word always shared



the same nature as G-d. In C.E. 367 we see in Athanasius'



"Festal Letter" a list of the modern Brit Chadasha canon of 27



books.







325 Council of Nicea, called by Constantine, is the first of the



great councils, out of which came creeds of basic dogma: Nicea



(325), Constantinople (381), Ephesus (431), Chalcedon (451).





337 Constantine dies.







386 Jerome, translator of the Bible into the Latin Vulgate,



settles into a monastery at Bethlehem







410 Sack of Rome by the Goths. Fall of Rome as Alaric I, a



Visigothic king, invaded Italy and Rome, beginning a period of



"barbarian" dominance of the Roman Empire in the West.







416 Doctrine of Pelagius condemned in Council of Carthage.



Pelegius (died ca. 424) was a British monk opposed by Augustine



as a heretic. Pelagianism is an unscriptural view of human



nature that underestimates the need for grace in salvation,



because Pelagianism rejects the notion of original sin operating



in people as a vestige of the fall. His idea of sin is not a



basic depravity universally manifesting itself but rather



isolated individual acts of willful evil. Anyone who has the



idea that man is basically good at heart and has no bias in favor



of choosing evil instead of good is a Pelagian. This rosy view



of human nature would almost make the will of man and human



choice a ground to boast before G-d, but Moshiach Yehoshua taught



that men were sinners who did not choose him so much as he chose



them (Yochanan 15:16), and his Father revealed him to those who



received a new heart to follow him (Mat. 16:17; Ezek. 36:26). We



do choose, but because we are sinners choosing, divine grace is



needed for our salvation. Scriptures that teach the doctrine that



even fallen man has a will with which he can choose are Mat.



23:37; Yochanan 7:17; Rom. 7:18; I Cor. 9:17; I Shimon Kefa 5:2;



Philem. 14. The enabling grace to choose the good comes from the



L-rd (Roman: 7:18-25), who receives all the glory when anyone



responds to the invitation of "whosoever will."





430 Augustine of Hippo dies. I like paraphrasing something he



wrote "...the Jews shall believe; Anti-Moshiach shall persecute;



Moshiach shall judge; the dead shall rise; the good and the



wicked shall be separated; the world shall be burned and



renewed." I say "Amen." And we should learn from the heretics,



too, making sure that we ourselves don't become one of them. The



Ebionites denied the deity of the Moshiach, while the Gnostics



denied his humanity. The Arians taught he was a created being.



The Apollinarians taught that Moshiach Yehoshua was not



completely human because his spirit and source of



initiative--the rational soul--was not that of a human being but



that of G-d. This was condemned as heresy, and the dogma was



proclaimed that G-d in Moshiach became fully man with a rational



soul and a body. Monophysitism (or Eutychianism) obliterated the



distinction between the two natures, divine and human, in one



person and taught that Moshiach had only a single "hybrid"



natured person. Another heresy attributed to Nestorius dealt



with at the Council of Ephesus in 431, was the teaching that the



divine did not have a part in the sufferings of the human nature



of Moshiach, which would mean that only the human part of



Moshiach Yehoshua suffered and that humanity is redeemed by



merely human sufferings in the man Moshiach Yehoshua.



Nestorianism was rejected.







451 Council of Chalcedon (an ancient city near Constantinople or



modern Istanbul, Turkey).







452 Leo I succeeds in persuading Attila the Hun and his nomadic



hordes not to detroy the city of Rome. In 455 Leo had to



similarly negotiate with the Vandals.







476 Romulus Augustus deposed and the de facto end of the Western



Roman Empire





570-632 Muhammad and the rise of Islam





June 15, 622 Muhammad in Arabia was forced to flee from Mecca to



Medina, where he gathered "those who submitted" (Muslims). By



the time he died in 632, he was in control of all of Arabia, and



the stage was set for the first military expansions of Islam to



begin, conquering Persia, Syria, and Egypt etc, under Muhammad's



Caliphs ("successors").







638 Arab conquest of Jerusalem







673 Muslims put Constantinople itself under siege. By 677



however, the Muslims were turned back. This date is of similar



historic significance as 732.







732 Charles Martel, the ruler of the Germanic tribes called the



Franks and the grandfather af Charlemagne, wins a victory over



the Muslims at the Battle of Tours (in west central France) that



marked a turning point in the struggle against Islam.





December 25, 800 Leo III crowns Charlemagne Emperor.







1000-1200 The Renaissance







1066 French-speaking William of Normandy ("William the



Conqueror") invades England and the Old English phase of the



British tongue begins to come to an end. Middle English, the



language of Chaucer (1340?-1400), will now evolve. This



evolution is significant because 1.5 billion people today speak



English, the lingua franca of the modern world. For some one



thousand years the English lay people had not possessed the Bible



in their own tongue. This situation would change with the advent



of Wycliffe (1330-1384), an Oxford theologian who completed a



translation from the Latin Vulgate into Middle English. For this



many were burned at the stake with their translation tied around



their necks, though Wycliffe himself died of natural causes. It



was incredibly dangerous at that time to read the Bible, if



indeed one were fortunate enough to have learned how to read.





1098 Anselm (1033-1109) of Canterbury, England, writes Cur Deus



Homo. He taught that the existence of G-d is logically



self-evident, and is important, among other reasons, because of



his relation to the history of the doctrine of Atonement.



Anselm taught that sin was a violation of the honor of G-d



requiring satisfaction (see Isaiah 53:10 "after the suffering of



his soul he will see the the light of life and he will be



satisfied"). Only a life of infinite worth could render



satisfaction for the sin of all humanity. Rev. 5:9 says that only



the eternal Lamb is worthy, because you were slain and by your



blood you bought for G-d people of every tribe and language,



nation end race," and this means that for the Lamb to be of



infinite worth, he must be "G-d-with-us" without original sin



because born of a virgin in the incarnation (Isaiah 7:14). As the



new Adam and the refounder of humanity he recapitulated the test



of the first Adam, endured temptation, did not see equality with



G-d as a thing to be proudly exploited or the image of G-d as



something to misuse and was obedient unto death. Therefore, the



law of sin and death had no power to thwart him, he could be our



substitute, and live and die for us vicariously. Then, after his



soul was made an offering for sin, making it justifiable for us



to be born from above, he could see his offspring in the light of



resurrection life and be exalted as World-Judge and L-rd (Phil.



2:6-11; Isa.33:5, 10-12; Rom. 5:12-21; I Co. 15:22-49; Eph. 2:15;



Heb. 4:15; 5:5-9).





1095-1291 The Crusades were various tragic wars fought with the



Muslims in an unsuccessful effort to recover the Holy Land from



the Muslims. In 1244 Jerusalem fell to the Egyptians and remained



in Muslim hands until General Allenby and the British captured



the Holy City from the Turks in 1917.







1187 Capture of Jerusalem by Saladin







1215 Magna Carta signed.





1220-1292 Roger Bacon upholds the principle of experimental



science.







1227 Genghis Khan dies, having founded the vast Mongol Empire,



conquering northern China and Western Asia





1224-1274 Thomas Aquinas. Natural theology is what can be known



about G-d apart from Scriptural revelation, and Romans 1:20-21



seems to present the basis for the cosmological argument (how



could the universe we see have started without a First Cause,



i.e. G-d?) and teleological argument (does not the design and



purpose in the universe require a purposeful Designer, i.e. G-d?)



made famous by Aquinas. Romans 2:15 seems to present the Moral



Argument for the existence of G-d made famous by the German



philosopher Immanuel Kant (1721-1804), who taught that the



existence of G-d is rationally required by morality, for who else



but G-d could establish the highest virtue which morality



requires? In other words, you cannot have the highest derived



good (a holy world, the Kingdom of G-d, the best world, etc.)



without postulating or assuming the highest original good (that



is a holy G-d). Kant wrote, It is morally necessary to assume



the existence of G-d. Critique of Practical Reason, I, 11, 2.



So the universal and innate sense of ethical duty presupposes



both a universal Supreme Judge (G-d) and an occasion of judgment



(i.e. immortality). In Romans 2:15 Shliach Sha'ul seems to be



offering the natural moral law as a proof of G-d, since even here



and also before the conscience G-d has not left himself without a



witness against us. The heathenish homosexuals demonstrate their



total depravity in that, even though in their heart of hearts



they know they are violating the natural moral law within them,



they nevertheless do so with devilish abandon (Roman: 1:32).





1244 Jerusalem falls to the Muslims



1281 Ottoman Empire (Turkey etc) begins, collapsing after World



War I. The Ottoman Turks conquered the land of Israel in 1516.



During World War I the British captured this area. The British



Mandate of the League of Nations came in 1922 and Jewish people



began immigration. For a continuation of this history, see 1948.





1298 Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant, writes a book about his



travels and adventures in the court Kublai Khan, grandson of



Genghis Khan, and the Mongol Dynasty in China and the wonders of



that strange land, the seat of such technological marvels as



gunpowder, etc.





1321 Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) completes The Divine Comedy



and, at roughly this time, the so-called "Renaissance" (French



for "rebirth") begins in the revival of learning in the arts and



sciences.







1330-1400 Englishman William Langland writes "Piers Plowman" at



roughly the same time as his British contemporary Geoffrey



Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales.





1337 the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) begins between Britain



and France at roughly the same time that a terrible plague called



"the Black Death" began to kill up to a third of the population



of Europe (1348-1349).







In 1429 Jeanne D'Arc ("Joan of Arc"), believing that G-d had sent



her to save France, appeared before the French king's eldest son



and played a part in the Hundred Years War, though she was



captured by the British and burned at the stake as a witch in



1431.







1329-84 John Wycliffe believes the Bible should be available to



everyone in his own language, and he instigated an English



translation. He believed the Bible was the only authoritative



guide for faith and practice.







1373-1415 Jan Hus, another early reformer, who expressed similar



views in Bohemia (Czechoslovakia) was not as fortunate as



Wycliffe. Wycliffe died in bed of a stroke. Hus was burned at



the stake.







In 1454 the invention of printing by movable type was an epochal



technological innovation. It was also a prodigious labor and a



gift to the world. Johann Gutenberg of Mainz (Germany)



introduced this great advance. Suddenly the world's reading



audience exploded in size and books became reasonably priced, two



earth-shaking changes that greatly aided the cause of the Besuras



Hageulah. This was the hand of G-d stirring to prepare the world



for the Reformation and its teaching from the pens of the great



Reformers. History books tell us that by 1500 there were over



two hundred presses established throughout Europe. The first



large book printed was the Gutenberg Bible (in Latin)!







1487 Tomas de Torquemada (1420-1498), a Dominican monk, is



appointed as Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition. During



this period this evil man caused the Jewish people to be expelled



from Spain.







In 1492 after reading Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus embarked



on a voyage from Spain that brought him to one of the islands of



the Bahamas and to the Americas. This is also the year of tragic



expulsions from Spain







1508 Michelangelo paints the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in



Rome







1516 Erasmus publishes the first printed Greek Brit Chadasha.



October 31, 1517 Luther (1483-1546) posts the 95 theses at



Wittenberg.







1525 William Tyndale (ca.1494-1536) published his English



translation of the Brit Chadasha at Cologne and Worms, Germany.



He is called "the Father of the English Bible" because the King



James Version is greatly dependent on his work (KJV uses 90% of



Tyndale's words). While hiding in Antwerp, Belgium, Tyndale was



betrayed by a fellow Englishman, kidnapped, and taken to



Brussels, Belgium, where he was strangled and then burned as a



martyr, saying "L-rd, open the King of England's eyes." His only



crime was making the Hebrew and Greek available in the English



language for the first time in history.





1536 Calvin (1509-1564) first publishes the systematic theology



of the Reformation called, The Institutes of the Christian



Religion, in Geneva, Switzerland. "We cannot aspire to him in



earnest until we have begun to be displeased with ourselves."



Institutes 1:1:1-2. Calvin also founded the Academy, later to be



the University of Geneva.







1611 King James Bible is completed end published as a peak of



English literature and the most used Bible in the West.





1620 British philosopher Francis Bacon wrote Novum Organon, in



which he pleaded for experimentation and induction. That same



year, the Mayflower sails to America.







1634 (this date may not mean anything to you, but if the British



man of whom I am a direct descendent had not left England and



sailed to America at roughly this time, I would not be writing



this and you would not be reading it. His name was Thomas



Goble.) Perhaps you would like to fill in some of your own



favorite dates as we go along. We will deal with Israel's dates



and some key dates for Messianic Judaism along the way as well.



1648 Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years War in central



Europe.





1654 Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), French philosopher and



mathematician, becomes a believer. He wrote that it is not only



impossible but useless to know G-d without Moshiach. Pensees



191. In 1656-57 in his Provincial Letters he attacks the



Jesuits.







1667 Milton completes his masterpiece, Paradise Lost.





1678 Bunyan, a preacher imprisoned for the cause of the Besuras



Hageulah (like Shliach Sha'ul he did some of his best writing in



jail), publishes Pilgrim's Progress.



1687 Isaac Newton, became a believer as a student at Cambridge



and having given testimony that every scientific discovery he



made was communicated to him by the Ruach Hakodesh, publishes



perhaps the greatest scientific book ever written, Mathematical



Principles of Natural Philosophy.







1685-1750 Bach, called by Francis Schaeffer "the zenith of



Reformation composers"







1707-1788 Charles Wesley, considered probably the greatest



English hymn-writer ever, supplied the music for the Wesleyan



revival.







1726 the Irish clergyman Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), considered



one of the greatest satirists who ever lived, satirizes human



depravity in Gulliver's Travels







1726-1760 the Great Awakening in the American colonies, a great



spiritual revival, led by men like George Whitefield and Jonathan



Edwards. Princeton, Rutgers, Brown, and Dartmouth were part of



the fruit of the Great Awakening, though these schools have



largely forgotten their original spiritual raison d'etre.





1738 Wesley (1703-1791) is regenerated. Since he knew himself



called to preach to the whole nation of England, tirelessly



exhausted himself for over 50 years at "field preaching." Since



he did not intend to break with those who ordained him he called



the gathered assemblies of believers he founded "religious



societies." People who were received were admitted on a trial



basis, and had to be examined and, only then, were admitted as



full members by being given a "society ticket." These tickets



were renewable on a quarterly basis and furnished a ready means



of sifting the society and graphically informing backsliders of



their backsliding. Wesley also used cell groups of 12 persons



called "classes" each with a layman as a class leader, to assist



in the problem of spiritual oversight since in the early days the



assistants to Wesley were circuit riders preaching to many groups



who did not have their own congregational leader.





1742 Handel (1685-1759), one of the world's greatest composers,



completes Handel's Messiah (written 1741, first performed 1742,



the most performed major choral work of all time), which draws



entirely upon direct Biblical texts. Haydn, Mozart, and



Beethoven all drew inspiration from Handel's music.





1769 James Watt's steam engine inaugurates the Industrial



Revolution.







1787-1825 Second Great Awakening (second national revival in the



United States, also touching Britain and the Continent of



Europe). Charles Finney began his ministry just as this revival



was starting to wane.







1792 William Carey, publishes an 87 page book of great importance



which presented the case for global world outreach, winning



every tribe to follow our Moshiach. That same year (at the age



of 31) Carey preached a sermon on Isaiah 54:2-3 in which he



proclaimed, "Expect great things from G-d; attempt great things



for G-d." Then he helped to organize a new world outreach



organization, and departed his native England for India (1793),



where he toiled to raise up native preachers who had the Bible in



their own tongue and where he died in 1834 at the age of 73.





1804 the British and Foreign Bible Society is founded by a Welsh



minister named Thomas Charles to make the Scriptures available at



low cost throughout the world in foreign languages. Notice Acts



2:8 where, when the Besuras Hageulah was first preached, each



person heard it "in our own language (in which we were reared)."



Thus, the importance of Bible translation and indigenous language



congregation planting, both of which the Bible Societies aid.



Today the United Bible Societies consultants are assisting local



translators in more than 550 languages.





1840 David Livingstone (1813-1873), a Scottish explorer and



medical emissary of Moshiach's shlichut, arrives in Africa,



risking the deadly African fever and the cannibals and other



terrors. Livingstone helps by his exploratory expeditions to open



Africa, making history as an explorer yet not abandoning outreach



for the Messiah. He used an early version of the slide projector



to depict Biblical scenes as he told the Besuras Hageulah story



of salvation to the natives.







1821 - 1881 Russian novelist Feodor Dostoevski wrote,"Totally



without hope one cannot live. To live without hope is to cease



to live. Hell is hopelessness. It is no accident that above the



entrance to Dante's, hell is the inscription: 'Leave behind all



hope, you who enter here."'





1843 Kierkegaard publishes in Danish his Either-Or existential



interpretation of Messianic Faith.







A Jewish believer in Moshiach Yehoshua, Felix Mendelssohn



(1809-1847), composes the great oratorio Elijah and presents it



in 1846.







1850 Julius Emmanuel Clausius works out the "second law of



thermodynamics,"demonstrating that the universe is "running



down."







1859 Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, theorizing



that species originate by descent, with chance variation, from



parent forms, through the natural selection of those individuals



best adapted for the reproductive success of their kind. Philip



B. Yochananson in his book Darwin on Trial enumerates such



problems as the lack of transitionals in the fossil record and



the difficulty of explaining the origin of the genetic code to



prove that Darwinism is just that, a theory. Other books argue



that such "transitinal forms" as the archacopteryx (offering



proof of a reptile-to-bird species transition) are not that at



all but mosaic forms like the contemporary duck-billed platypus.





1861 Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), an eloquent preacher, moved



into Metropolitan Tabernacle in London and then opened a minister



training college, which had already trained about nine hundred



preachers by the time Spurgeon died.







1865 in London's East End William Booth (1829-1912) founds what



later became known as The Salvation Army. "While women weep, as



they do now, I'll fight; while little children go hungry, I'll



fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do



now, I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a



poor lost girl upon the streets, where there remains one dark



soul without the light of G-d--I'll fight! I'll fight to the



very end!" This was the end of his very last sermon, and he died



shortly after he preached it.









Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), introduce



the bloody Communistic era of modern mass murder with their



publication of The Communist Manifesto, the errors of which are



manifestly proven by the crumbling economy of the U.S.S.R.







1861 - 1865 American Civil War





1865 Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) founds the interdenominational



China Inland Mission. Although he stressed native Chinese dress



for his emissaries of Moshiach's shlichut in order to identify



with the people, he did not attempt to raise up indigenous



congregations but rather to create a large organization of



outreach ministers who could be the "shock troops" to get the



Besuras Hageulah known throughout all of China. In 1900 comes



the famous "Boxer Rebellion" and Peking orders the death of many



martyrs.





1881 Westcott and Hort Greek Brit Chadasha Scriptures published







1896 a Hungarian-born Jew Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) writes a



pamphlet, The Jewish State, and organized the first Zionist



Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in August, 1897, laying the



groundwork for the birth of the modern State of Israel.





1898 Guglielmo Marconi invents radio.



1903 the Wright brothers invent the airplane.







1909 Henry Ford begins mass production of the automobile. These



events in 1903 and 1909 together with the new possibility of



mass-marketing televisions in the 1940's and personal



computers in the 1980's begin an epochal technological advance in



the work of fulfilling the Great Commission.







1906 the Azusa Street Pentecostal Revival begin: in Los Angeles,



California.







1914 The "Assemblies of G-d," organized in Hot Springs, Arkansas.





1911-1918 World War I







1933-1945 Holocaust







1939-45 World War II







1945 German congregational leader and theologian Dietrich



Bonhoeffer, after being arrested in 1943 for helping to smuggle



Jewish people into Switzerland, is imprisoned and then finally



martyred by the Nazis.







1942 William Cameron Townsend (1896-1982) formerly organizes the



Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of



Linguistics.







May 15, 1948 the State of Israel is established. Egypt, Jordan,



Iraq, Syria end Lebanon declare war and attack. Hostilities



continue till 1949.





1949 Billy Graham begins his world outreach tours







October, 1956 Nasser's Egypt and Israel engage in war over the



Suez Canal with French and British troops also attacking Egypt.





1964 The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) is formed in



Cairo at an Arab League meeting







1966 Charismatic renewal movement begins to be seen in mainline



congregations. Also this is the year that Billy Graham leads the



World Congress on world outreach in West Berlin







June 5-10, 1967 "Six Day War" where Israel destroys the Egyptian



Air Force in a preemptive strike. Syria and Jordan were also



losers in this war, with Israel occupying not only the Sinai



Peninsula and Gaza Strip, but also Arab East Jerusalem, the West



Bank, and the Golan Heights. Israel absorbed East Jerusalem in



1967. [This caused a revived interest in the Moshiach among the



Jewish people world-wide, because Jerusalem was no longer trodden



down by Gentiles (see also Luke 21:24) and the stage was being



set for the Moshiach's coming. A revival began among the Jews,



especially in Los Angeles (1972), out of which (through the help



of Fuller Seminary's Peter Wagner and Donald McGavran) came my



book (two years in the writing), Everything You Need To Grow A



Messianic Synagogue. (For the history of "Messianic Judaism" and



my involvement in it, see Burgess and McGee's Dictionary of



Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, Zondervan, 1988). Forgive



me for that personal aside. I was a minor player (the L-rd is



ALWAYS the major player). But my eye-witness view point of a



historic revival is worth preserving. What was important about



the Six Day War and the ensuing Messianic Jewish revival was



that, for the first time in over two thousand years, Jewish



people were ruling over the Biblically authorized borders of



Israel and, at the same time, Jewish people were starting to turn



to the Moshiach Yehoshua in considerable numbers. Not only in



America, but all over the world, the fig tree was starting to



blossom (Luke 21:29-21) and the coming of the Moshiach was near.





1970 New English Bible is published and shortly after that I



begin reading it and become regenerated in early 1971. (If you



have become reborn, you should pencil into this chronology the



year this monumental and historic event happened in your life.)



The publication of this beautiful translation, which took 24



years to prepare, was the first major new translation of the



Bible into English since Tyndale, and has been called a high



water mark in the history of Bible translation. It certainly was



a high water mark in my life, especially since I was subsequently



led to study under Donald McGavran, Ralph Winter, Peter Wagner,



J. Edwin Orr (read his books on the history of revivals), George



Eldon Ladd (notice, for example, my endebtedness to Ladd in the



notes on Revelation p. 966-976), William S. LaSor, and many



world-class scholars at Fuller Theological Seminary. Without



these teachers I might never have been able to have founded



Artists for Israel International Institute in 1981.







October 1973 "Yom Kippur War," Egyptian and Syrian forces attack



on the highest Holy Day of the Jewish calendar





1974 Lausanne Congress, Lausanne, Switzerland, at which my



teacher Donald McGavran gave the plenary address. More than 2,700



million people, which is more than two-thirds of mankind, have



yet to be reached out to with the Good News of Moshiach. We are



ashamed that so many have been neglected. It is a standing rebuke



to us and to the whole Brit Chadasha kehillah.



1975 the Communist Khmer Rouge movement headed by Pol Pot seizes



power in Cambodia and killed well over a million people. It was



ousted in 1978 by Vietnamese troops but by the early 90's was



once again sad to say, gaining respectability as part of the



governing picture of Cambodia. Jean-Rav Sha'ul Sartre



(1905-1980), who defended various forms of totalitarian violence,



can be known by his fruits (Matt. 7:20), since the professional



political intellectuals responsible for the Cambodian Holocaust



absorded Sartre's doctrines on necessary violence as university



students in France in the 1950s. "They were Sartre's children,"



says Paul Johnson, Modern Times: the World from the Twenties to



the Eighties, p.655.







1981-1982 Israel annexes the Golan Heights and attacks PLO in



Lebanon. The Syrians lost the Golan Heights to Israel in the



1967 Middle East war. They won back a third of it in



negotiations after the 1973 war and have tried to regain the rest



of it ever since then. But Israel annexed the mountains



overlooking Lake Galilee, and becauae of its strategic



importance, refuse to give up the area.







1987 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza begin an uprising



against Israeli occupation, using strikes, boycotts,and other



methods (called intifada Arabic "shaking off").







1991 In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf war against Iraq,



President Bush and Secretary of State James Baker begin



diplomatic moves leading to the Madrid Peace Talks







BIBLIOGRAPHY







Alexander, Philip S., Textual Resources for the Study of Judaism.



Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1984







Balentine, Samuel E., Prayer in the Hebrew Bible, Minneapolis,



MN: Fortress, 1993







Bronstein, Dr. David, Siddur for Messianic Jews. Palm Harbor,Fl:



An Adventure in Faith Inc, 1984







Bruce, F. F., NT Hisory. Garden City, NY: Doubleday-Galilee, 1980







Buksbazen, Victor, The Gospel in the Feasts of Israel.



Philadelpha, PA: Spearhead Press, 1954







Cahn-Lipman, Rabbi David E, The Jewish Book of Knowledge.



Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1994







Chill, Abraham, The Mitzvot. Jerusalem, Israel: Keter, 1974



Edersheim, Alfred, The Life and Times Peabody, Mass.:



Hendrickson







Greeberg, Blu, How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household, NY, NY:



Simon & Schuster, 1983







Gribetz, Judah, The Timetables of Jewish History. NY, NY:



Simon & Schuster, 1993







Heilman, Samuel C., The People of the Book. Chicago, Ill.,



Chicago University, 1987







Kasdan, Barney, G-d's Appointed Times. Baltimore, MD: Lederer



Messianic Pub.







Latourette, Kenneth Scott, A History of Christianity Vol. 1&2;.



NY, NY: Harper & Row, 1975







Lutske, Harvey, The Book of Jewish Customs. Northvale, NJ: Jason



Aronson, 1986







Markowitz, Rabbi Sidney L., Jewish Religion, History, Ethics, and



Culture. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel, 1955







Sanders, E. P., Paul and Palestinian Judaism. Philadelphia, PA,



Fortress, 1977







The Complete Metsudah Siddur. NY, NY: Ziontalis, 1990







Yellin, Burt, Messiah, a Rabbinical and Scriptual Viewpoint.



Denver, Co.: Congregation Roeh Israel, 1984









It is important not to overlook the uses of Philosophy



for the Besuras HaGeulah (Good News of Redemption). Col. 2:8-10



warns of FILOSOFI/A and the danger of getting carried away into



the bondage of its empty deceit and its man-made



pseudo-wisdom and groundless speculative theories about G-d and



the world and the meaning of life. Nevertheless, Shliach Sha'ul



does at times establish a common ground by agreeing with Greek



philosophers when what they say agrees with the Kitvei Hakodesh.



Epimenides of Cnossus (pronounced NOHS-us) in Crete was a



religious teacher and poet whom Shliach Sha'ul calls "one of



their (Cretan) prophets." He quotes this philosopher in Tit.



1:12 and then, referring to the quotation, says, "That testimony



is true." The same philosopher is quoted in Acts 17:28,"In Him we



live and move and have our being." Also Shliach Sha'ul quotes



Cleanthes the Stoic (3rd century B.C.E.E.) or possibly the Stoic



poet Aratus of Cilicia in Acts 17:28 "We are His offspring." On



the subject of Philosophy see, Norman L. Geisler and Paul D.



Feinberg, Introduction To Philosophy, Baker Book House, 1980. The



following are some books, some on philosophy, some on other



subjects, that are of importance to the field of study of this



book, and that you should know about and should consult as the



need arises.









Stephen McKenna, translator, Augustine, THE TRINITY, CUOAP, 1963.







David Winston, tanslator, PHILO OF ALEXANDRIA, Paulist Press,



1981 (see especially p.87-95 on the Logos/Sophia Heavenly



Chochman of Hashem)







C.D. Yonge, translator, THE WORKS OF PHILO, COMPLETE AND



UNABRIDGED, Hendrickson Publishers, 1993.











Sanhedrin 98b is a tractate of the Talmud that deals with the



issue of the Moshiach's personal name.







"What is the Moshiach's name? The School of Rabbi Shila said,



`His name is Shee-LOH (Gen. 49:10), for it is written, until



Shiloh come.







The School of Rabbi Yannai said: 'His name is yeen-NOHN "may he



continue") (Psalm 72:17), His name shall endure forever; e'er the



sun was his name (is) Yinnon.







The School of R. KHaninah maintained: 'His name is (chah-nee-NAH



"favor") (Jeremiah 16:13), as it written, Where I will not give



you Chaninah.



















SEVEN: YOUR MESSIANIC S'MICHAH FROM A MESSIANIC



YESHIVA















Omanim Lema'an Yisroel Yeshiva (Artist for Israel



Yeshiva/Institute) is a virtual Messianic Yeshiva on the



Internet. It is a post-high school or advanced Messianic



Yeshiva, a messianic yeshiva gedola (advanced yeshiva). Our beis



medrash (house of study) is located in cyberspace.



Structurally and administratively, messianic yeshivas are only



superfically like universities. True, both have libraries,



classrooms, professors, administrative offices, curriculums, and



students. And our messianic yeshiva has all of these, as well.



However, there is a fundamental difference. One does not spend a



fixed number of years in a yeshiva. Some students spend one



year, some two, some ten or more. Universities require their



students to take a specific number of courses leading to a



degree, whereas the primary aim of an Orthodox yeshiva is not



that, not even is it to ordain Jewish clergy; rather, the yeshiva



exists in order that G-d-fearing individuals might learn, quite



for its own sake (the concept of Torah lishmo), how to apprehend



and communicate the pure Jewish faith of the Kitvei HaKodesh and



the Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha.







Therefore, it is not the purpose of AFI Yeshiva to turn out



yeshiva bochorim (students) who are mere intellectuals



(maskilim), mere gnostic dandies puffed up by the status symbols



of the academic titles and degrees we've given them. Our purpose



at AFI Yeshiva is, furthermore, not the mere mastery of the



Talmud. Our purpose, rather, is to use rabbinic literature and



the arts as a bridge over which to lead rabbis and others into



the Tanakh and into the Hebraic milieu of the entire Bible. Our



purpose is to fight heresy (apikorsus), to develop ethical



behavior (middos), and to produce not mere scholars (talmidei



chachomim), but cross-cultural communicators, able to go in the



power of the Ruach Hakodesh into Jewish neighborhoods and win



uncommitted Jews to their Moshiach and to the planting of the



Ruach HaKodesh-filled Synagogues of Biblical Judaism. We are



trusting that HaShem will be our learning partner (chavrusa) to



help us in this task for His Glory.





Truly He is our only real accreditation and seal of approval



(hechsher). Like many yeshivas, our messianic yeshiva takes



nothing from governments, no money, no aid, no endorsement. Our



students don't need government money to learn, thank you. We



will not tolerate accrediting agencies or the State Department of



Education telling us to change our curriculum or admission



policies or faculty hiring policies. We can provide a quality



education without consulting with mockers and unbelievers. We



take nothing from organized religion. We are an independent



institution; we offer our students and faculty only the great



honor of suffering with us as we proclaim the pure Jewish



Scriptures for the sake of the redemption of Israel (a task



accrediting agencies and government employees are not interested



in evaluating). Truly it was HaShem who resolved to establish



our AFI Messianic Yeshiva in cyberspace where the self-appointed



religious monitors and censors cannot violate our constitutional



rights of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of



assembly, and where the hypocrits cannot bring Kristallnacht upon



Messianic Jews or upon any person of any creed or ethnicity by



terrorizing our building or our students as if it were 1938 and



they were the "tough guys" this time around. The Internet was



made to withstand a nuclear attack; surely it can withstand a



Fascist of any description or ethnicity. We are American



citizens, and we have the freedom to believe in anything we want,



and you, sir, had better believe that we will take a Fascist such



as yourself to court if you try with any Kristallnacht tactics



to take away our constitutional rights of freedom of speech and



freedom of religion. Too many people shed their blood fighting



for our freedom of religion for us to give it up because you



don't happen to like what we believe. Maybe we don't like what



you believe, but we are Americans, so we are duty-bound to



respect your right to believe that Mickey Mouse is g-d if that's



your religion. If you don't agree with this principle, you don't



agree with the Constitution. Some Jewish people say,



threateningly, "Do not mention your faith to us." Some Muslims



say even more threateningly, "Do not mention your faith to us."



My Messiah says, "Tell them, lest they perish." Should we obey



them because of their threats or should we obey the Messiah?



Could the fact that we have been hypocritically attacked by



people who would never tolerate such treatment against their



synagogues or mosques have anything to do with Hashem's resolve



to establish this Messianic beis medrash on the Internet? We



believe so, and we believe that many others will soon say, Amen.



And we will not charge anyone whom we accept as a student to



study with us. And, unlike many, we will not profiteer off of



the Word of G-d or off of a student's sincere desire to study the



Kitvei Hakodesh, and no one will be able to accuse us of this, or



of being paid to "destroy souls." It's all as free as the



Internet. Messiah says, "Freely you received, freely give." The



prototype of our messianic yeshiva is the one that a certain



rabbi established nearly two thousand years ago in the lecture



hall of Tyrannus. Shliach Sha'ul may have been influenced in



some ways by the yeshiva he himself attended under Gamliel. In



starting yeshivas, we should remember that this rabbi encouraged



our imitating him; he said,"Follow me as I follow the Moshiach."



This would include also the way he received messianic s'michah.



Also we note that there are at least five things about this rabbi



that we must imitate in the hall of study or beis medrash that we



have been given. First, we must note that this rabbi was a rabbi



upon whom the Shekhinah had bestowed the power of the Ruach



Hakodesh. He could cast out demons, he knew how to follow Hashem



in praying for the sick, in prophesying and in preaching with



prophetic power because he was filled with the Ruach Hakodesh and



spoke in leshonot. Secondly, he knew and taught the correct



doctrines of the other Shluchim--he had something far beyond what



we would call today a superior scribal or "seminary" education.



Thirdly, he had artistic skills and was a literary artist as well



as a rhetorician and hymnist. Fourthly, he used his parnoseh



(livelihood) and his tent-making business skills to give him the



financial ability he needed to travel and to cross cultural



barriers and to do ministry on the street in Athens and from



house to house in Ephesus in order to help finance the planting



of new congregations. And, finally, he used his own specialized



yeshiva training, his Jewish education (chinuch), to help him



give vision to the blind synagogue community, which had trouble



seeing the Gentile Shlichut of Moshiach, and to the blind Brit



Chadasha kehillah community, which had trouble seeing the



observance of the Torah and its mitzvot as part of the Jewish



G-d-given trust at Sinai. This rabbi went around the world



turning everything upside down for Hashem, and our vision is that



we might send many students to follow him in the same holy



vocation. If this is threatening to you, talk to your therapist.



Past students of Artists For Israel Institute are now in media



ministries, planting congregations in foreign countries or here



in America, doing short-term overseas ministry in various foreign



lands, touring as artist-ministers, writing, using foreign



languages to minister bi-lingually, creating works of art to



glorify the L-rd and reach the unreached within their own



cultural context, leading congregations, involved in



cross-cultural ministry with Muslims and other unreached



peoples,and being used in many innovative ways to fulfill the



Great Commission of the Moshiach of Israel. We do want to



certify each student as having completed the course of study.



This requires taking the entrance exam, and e-mailing it in to us



along with recommendations, three letters of recommendation on



official stationery from people with known ministry who can vouch



for the sincerety and competence of the candidate in pursuing



ministerial training. Since we do not charge tuition and donate



our time, we are very selective about who in the world is



admitted to our school. Only students who are serious and have



letters of recommendation and have truly worked on the exam need



apply. Once the student is admitted to this messianic yeshiva, a



thesis and/or project will also be required. After they have



completed the entrance exam, had letters of recommendation sent



in to us, and are officially accepted into the messianic yeshiva,



interested students should write a proposal letter with a



statement of their faith and the thesis and/or project they would



like to do and they should ask those who are the three



recommending them to write Artists For Israel Institute P.O. Box



2056, New York NY 10163 stating 1) how long they have known the



candidate, 2) in what capacity, 3) what are the candidate's



strengths in presenting himself/herself for ministry, 4) what are



the candidate's weaknesses, 5) what ministry is the candidate



engaged in presently and in what capacity in that ministry. All



this will have to be accomplished and checked out before the



student's proposal letter can be processed. A letter of



acceptance will be sent, if the student is accepted.





ENTRANCE EXAM: For each of the following questions, choose the



best answer and place the letter of that answer on the answer



sheet at the end of the test and email it to office@afii.com



1. beh-ray-SHEET bah-rah Eh-loh-HEEM et (es) hash-shah-MY-yeem



vuh-et ha-AH-rets





A. The meaning is "In the beginning G-d created the earth.



B. The last word (reading from right to left) has a dot in its



second letter. This means that the letter is tripled.



C. The second word from the end is the sign of the direct object.



D. There is no preposition anywhere in this Hebrew sentence.



The best answer is ------.







2. v'ha-AH-rets ha-yeh-TAH TOH-hoo vah-VOH-hoo vuh-KHOH-shekh ahl



p'NAY teh-HOHM







A. The translation is "And the earth was formless and empty and



darkness (was) upon the faces (literally) of the sea.



B. The first two words literally mean "And the earth she was."



C. The word for "faces" is in construct with the word that



appears at the beginning of the verse.



D. The construct state does not imply an "of" relationship. The



best answer is -----.







3. vuh-ROO-ahkh Eh-loh-HEEM m'rah-KHEH-feht ahl-p'NAY



hahm-MY-yeem



A. The first word does not contain a conjuction.



B. The last word means "days."



C. The last word does not contain the article "the" in it.



D. The word with "m" is a participle or verbal-adjective.



The best answer is _______.







4. vahy-YOH-mer Eh-loh-HEEM yeh-HEE ohr vah-yeh-HEE ohr



A. All the verbs in this sentence are in the perfect tense, which



means they all have to do with completed action.



B. The vav-conversive is a conjunction that changes the tense.



C. The imperfect tense means that the action is completed.



D. The word for darkness appears twice in this sentence.



The best answer is -----.







5. vahy-YAHR Eh-loh-HEEM et(es) ha-ohr kee tohv



A. There is no vav-conversive in this sentence.



B. The sign of the direct object has to be translated in this



sentence. C. The subject follows the verb in this sentence.



D. The root of the verb means "to be."



The best answer is -----.







6. vahy-yahv-DAYL Eh-loh-HEEM bayn ha-ohr oo-VAYN



ha-KHOH-shehkh



A. The verb here means "and he caused a division."



B. Throughout Scripture G-d causes a division.



C. This is the meaning of what Moshiach Yehoshua said when he



told his disciples that he came not to bring peace but a sword.



D. All of the above are true.



The best answer is -----.







7. vahy-yeek-RAH Eh-loh-HEEM lah-OHR yom v'lah-KHOH-shehkh



KAH-rah LAI-lah vah-yeh-HEE EH-rev vah-yeh-HEE VOH-ker yohm



eh-KHAD



A. The word for "one" here can never mean complex unity.



B. The verb for "call" is only used once in this sentence.



C. The verb for "to be" or "was" is used twice in this sentence.



D. There is no preposition in this sentence.



The best answer is ----.







8. vahy-YOH-mer Eh-loh-HEEM yeh-HEE rah-KEE-ah buh-TOKH



hah-MY-yeem A. The first verb is imperfect third person



masculine singular with vav conversive giving it a perfect force.



B. The second verb is perfect.



C. The word for "days" follows a preposition here.



D. The word for "expanse" is not a noun in this passage.



The best answer is -----.







9. vahy-YOH-mer Eh-loh-HEEM yee-kah-VOO hahm-MY-yeem



mee-TAH-khaht hahsh-shah-MY-yeem el mah-KOHM eh-KHAD



vuh-teh-rah-EH ha-yah-bah-SHAH



A. The verb for "be collected" is in the perfect tense and it is



where we get the noun form of the same word, the noun form used



by the Jewish people for the word mikveh.



B. The last verb means "and he shall be seen."



C. There is a feminine prefix in the last verb, which is in the



passive tense. D. All of the above are true.



The best answer is -----.







10. vahy-yeek-RAH Eh-loh-HEEM lah-yah-bah-SHAH EH-rets



oo-l'meek-VAY hahm-MY-yeem kah-RAH yahm-MEEM



A. An H-stem verb has a causative force, as in the first verb of



this sentence, "He caused to call.



B. The word for "collection" is not in construct with the



following word.



C. The last word means "days."



D. None of the above.



The best answer is -----.







11. #2 is best translated



A. The earth (he) was empty and formless and darkness was upon



the faces of the sea.



B. The earth (she) was empty and formless and darkness was upon



the faces of the sea.



C. The earth (it) was empty and formless and darkness was upon



the faces of the sea.



D. None of the above.



The best answer is -----.











12. The best translation of #3 is:



A. The spirit of the G-d was brooding on the faces of the days.



B. The spirit of G-d was brooding on the face of the waters.



C. The Spirit of G-d was brooding on the faces of the days.



D. None of the above. The best answer is -----.







13. The best translation of #4 is:



A. And G-d said "Let there be light and let there be light."



B. And G-d said "Let there be light and there was light."



C. And G-d said "Let there be light and she was light."



D. None of the above. The best answer is -----.







14. The best translation of #6 is:



A. And G-d caused a division between the light and the darkness.



B. And G-d shall cause a division between the light and the



darkness. C. And G-d shall cause a division between the light and



between the darkness.



D. None of the above.



The best answer is -----.







15. The best translation of #10 is:



A. And G-d called the dry land "earth" and the collection of



waters he called "days."



B. And G-d called the dry land "seas" and the collection of



waters he called "earth."



C. And G-d called the dry land "days" and the collection of



waters he called "earth."



D. None of the above.



The best answer is _______.







16. This first Hebrew passage is Gen. 2:16. Place the letter of



the best answer in the blank on this page immediately after the



questions below. The answers are not meant to trick you but to



see if you have studied the material and know the obvious answer



(obvious to anyone who has studied) to the question.







In the Hebrew passage from Genesis below, without looking at your



Bible or your notes, for the word that is first in the passage,



please give the correct root and meaning. Place the letter in



this blank.







vah-yuh-TSAHV Adonoy Eh-loh-HEEM ahl ha-ah-DAHM leh-MOHR



mee-KOHL aitz ha-gahn ah-KHOHL toh-KHEHL







A. tsah-VAH is the root and the meaning is "he commanded."



B. tsah-AH is the root and the meaning is "he asked."



C. vah-TSAH is the root and the meaning is "he walked."



D. nah-TSAH is the root and the meaning is "he walked."







17. In the same word vah-yuh-TSAHV above, the PATACH (_) under



the first radical (TSAH-DEE) of the root tells you that the word



is a PIEL stem verb. PIEL means that the verb is___.







A. active reflexive (he ___ himself.)



B. passive reflexive (he was ___ himself.)



C. active intensive (he intensively ___.)



D. passive intensive (he was intensively ___.)







18. A good literal translation of the Hebrew passage above (Gen.



2:16) would be ___.







A. Hashem G-d said to himself to the man, saying, "From any of



the trees(collective) of the garden to eat you (plural) shall



eat. B. And Hashem G-d intensively commanded to the man,



saying, "From any of the trees of the garden to eat you shall



eat." C. And Hashem G-d intensively asked to the



man, saying, "From any of the trees of the garden to eat you



(plural) may eat."



D. And Hashem G-d intensively walked himelf to the man, saying,



"From any of the trees of the garden to eat you may (plural)



eat."







l9. oo-meh-AITZ ha-DAH-aht tov vah-rah lo toh-KHOHL mee-MEHN-noo







kee buh-YOM ah-KHOHL-khah mee-MEHN-noo MOHT tah-MOOT







In this passage (Gen.2:17), which of the following statements



about the first word--oo-meh-AITZ--is not true?



Put the answer in this blank___.







A. The letter MEM is the inseparable preposition MEEN meaning



"from." B. The letter SHU-RUQ is actually the conjunction VAHV



meaning "and" or "but."



C. The letter VAHV is in this case a consonant without a vowel,



and therefore, VAHV becomes SHU-RUQ when it occurs before VET,



MEM or FEH.



D. This word is not in construct with the following word.







20. In the passage (2:17) given in question #19, look at the



fourth word from the end --ah-KHOHL-khah-- and put the best



answer in this blank ___.







A. This word is an imperfect verb and its root is akhol.



B. This word is an infinitive absolute; that is because it lacks



pronouns or prepositions.



C. This word is an infinitive construct of the root ALEF CHAF



LAMMED. D. All of the above.







21. The best literal translation of the above passage (2:17) is:



A. "But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil not you



shall eat from it, for in the day you to eat from it to die you



will die."



B. "But from the knowledge of the tree of evil not you must eat



from it, for in that day you will die."



C. "But from the knowledge of the tree of good and evil not you



must take from it, for in that day dying you will die."



D. "But from the knowledge of the tree of evil not you eat from



it, for in that day to die you will die."







22. There is an allegorical meaning to this passage. Put the best



answer in this blank _________.



A. If you choose to know good and evil in counterdistinction to



what G-d's Word commands about good and evil, you will eat the



corrupting fruit of your actions.



B. G-d created man to obey him or else (or else eat the



corrupting fruit of disobeying Him, which means death).







C. Since Man as Man has corporately eaten the corrupting fruit



of disobedience to G-d (which means death), G-d must recreate Man



as Man to return the human race to the freedom conceived by G-d



in the beginning. This means that rebirth is absolutely



necessary, a new Man must come forth from G-D.



D. All of the above.







23. vahy-yah-PAYL Adonoy Eh-loh-HEEM tahr-day-MAH ahl



ha-ah-DAHM vahy-yee-SHAHN vahy-yee-KAHKH ah-KHAHT



meets-tsahl-oh-TAHV vahy-yees-GOHR bah-SAHR tahkh-TEHN-nah The



first word in this passage (Gen. 2:21) has a PATACH under the



first preformative. In the imperfect tense, this is a sign of



the HIFIL verb stem of the Hebrew root NOON FAY LAMMED meaning



"he fell." The letter of the answer which is not true is ___.



A. The HIFIL verb stem has a causative force.



B. In the verb in question the ? has assimilated to dagesh forte



in the ?. C. This verb does not contain vav conversive.



D. A good translation of this verb would be "So he made fall."



24. In the word MITZALOTAV in this passage (Gen.2:21), which of



the following is the best answer?







A. The word in question has this pronunciation:



MEE-TSAHL-OH-TAHV.



B. The root of the word, which means "rib" is TZADE LAMMED AYIN,



a feminine noun.



C. The word MEEN with assimilated NOON is in this word and is an



inseparable preposition meaning "from"; YOD KAMATZ FINAL NOON is



a pronomial suffix meaning "his".



D. All of the above are true.







25. Which of the following is the best literal translation of



Gen. 2:21?



A. "So he made Hashem G-d fall into a deep sleep on top of the



man and he slept and he took one of his ribs and he closed up



flesh in place of it." B. "So Hashem G-d made fall on the man a



deep sleep and he slept and He took one of his ribs and He closed



up the flesh (in) its place." C. "So Hashem G-d fell asleep and



the man slept and took one of his ribs and closed it up on him."



D. "So Hashem G-d fell asleep and the man slept and took one of



his ribs and closed up the flesh on it."







26. The word BASAR has which meaning in Scripture?







A. Meat or muscle of animals or man.



B. Humanity at large or what is frail or perishable in human



nature.



C. In the Brit Chadasha Scriptures the life of the flesh or SARX



is the life of the unrenewed or unregenerate old nature of man.



D. All of the above.







27. vahy-yee-huh-YOO sheh-nay-HEM ah-roo-MEEM ha-ah-DAHM



veh-eesh-TOH veh-lo yeet-bo-SHAH-shoo In this passage (Gen.



2:25), which statement below is not



correct?







A. The first word has the root HAY YOD YAH and is a Qal imperfect



third masculine plural form of the root with ? (vav) conversive.



B. The first word should be translated "And they were."



C. "The fall of mankind" means the sense of primal shame and lost



innocence that rebellious autonymous Man experiences as part of



his ontology or being.



D. AROM (ayin, resh, holem vav, final mem) is the root meaning



"naked" and here means "naked ones" and is a verb.







28. vah-TEH-reh ha-ee-SHAH kee tov ha-aitz leh-mah-ah-KHOHL



vuh-KHEE tah-ah-vah hoo lah-ay-NAHY-eem vuh-nehkh-MAHD ha-aitz



leh-hahsh-KEEL vah-tee-KHAKH mee-peer-YOH vah-toh-KHOHL



vah-tee-TEHN gahm luh-ee-SHAH ee-MAH vahy-yoh-KHAHL



In this passage (Gen. 3:6), which of the following is not



correct?







A. The first word is imperfect third person feminine singular



with vav conversive of RESH ALEF HAY the verb for "saw".



B. V'nechmad means "and being desirable because it is a NIFAL



participle of CHET MEM DALET, "he desired."



C. L'ishah means "to her husband" or "to her man," the hey mappiq



being a pronominal suffix, the LAMMED SH'VA being an inseparable



preposition. D. Neither answer A, B, nor C is correct.







29. The best literal translation for Gen. 3:6 is ___.



A. "And the woman saw that the tree (was) good for sin and that



it was delightful to the eyes and the tree being desirable to



gain wisdom and she took from her fruit and she ate and she gave



also to her man with her and he ate."



B. "And the woman saw that the tree (was) good for food and that



it (was) delightful to the eyes and the tree being desirable to



gain wisdom and she took from its fruit and she ate and she gave



also her husband with her and he ate."



C. "And the woman saw that the tree was good for her and that it



was desirable to her eyes and that the tree would bring her



wisdom so she took it and ate it and gave it to her man with her



and he ate (it)." D. All of the above.











30. Which of the following is not a true statement about Gen.3:6,



the passage above?







A. The way of death does not offer a false g-d-like knowledge.



B. The way of death beckons with eye-catching, desirable



allurements.



C. The way of death offers a pseudo-wisdom of some kind.



D. The way of death offers an individualistic ethic in which one



person can become a "serpent of temptation" to corrupt someone



else as well.



Directions: on this page, circle "T" or "F" next to the



statement, depending upon whether it is true or false. The



statements are not intended to be"tricky" but to test your



understanding of the text by planting blatantly erroneous



information in a statement, to see if you can detect it by virtue



of your acquired knowledge.







31. T F Ezekiel believed, and his belief can be demonstrated



from his writings, that an unregenerate rebel without a new heart



and a new spirit could nevertheless live by the law and keep it.







32. T F Ezekiel wrote in chapter 20, "For on my holy mountain,



the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign L-rd, there



in the land the entire house of Israel will serve me and there I



will accept them. There I will require your offering and your



choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices." This passage



is both an anticipation of chapters 40-48 in Ezekiel and also a



confirmation of Rav Sha'ul's optimism about an end-time revival



among the Jewish people in Romans 11.







33. T F In a reference to Zedekiah as a profane and wicked



prince, Ezekiel 21:26 says, "Take off the turban, remove the



crown..." We know from Psalm 110, Zechariah 3:8; 6:11-13, and



other Scripture that the kohen's turban and the king's crown



ultimately belong to the Moshiach, the Davidic high kohen after



the order of Melchizedek.







34. T F It was the ill-advised intrigues of Zedekiah with Egypt



that became the final provocation for the national disaster of



Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian army attacking the city of Jerusalem



and the Beis Hamikdash, as Ezekiel had predicted to theday.



35. T F Like her lewd sister, the Northern Kingdom who committed



harlotry with Assyria for favors against Damascus, so too the



Kingdom of Judah committed the same sins with Egypt; and the



Northern Kingdom was raped and dragged off by Assyria just as the



Kingdom of Judah was raped and dragged off by Babylon, all



because the covenant with G-d was broken--G-d, the angry husband



with a lewd wife.







36. T F The sign from G-d that the Beis Hamikdash, the "delight



of their eyes," would be taken away from the Jewish people was



the death of Ezekiel's older son, Pelatiah.







37. T F The period of Ezekiel's being afflicted with aphasia



(speechlessness) did not end until the return of the Exiles in



538 B.C.E.







38. T F Ezekiel's book gives comfort to those who, for one



reason or another, feel the need to hide their "sign" of



testimony and therefore do not accept the responsibility to give



personal testimony for the L-rd.







39. T F The book of the Bible that specifically addresses the



issue of the Edomites and their guilt regarding Israel is Nahum.







40. T F There is nothing in the writings of the historian



Josephus that could lead one to believe that the Magog of Ezekiel



38 might be identified in any way with Russia.







41. T F Scholars believe that Cush is modern Turkey.







42. T F Assyria collapsed when Nineveh fell in 601 B.C.E.





43. T F The Brit Chadasha kehillah today not only does not have



an understanding of the book of Ezekiel; the Brit Chadasha



kehillah today has few Ezekiels in its ranks, willing to



publically, fearlessly, address the public crowds outside the



Brit Chadasha kehillah buildings and give them a warning and an



offer to repent before they are swept away in national judgment.



This is the tragedy of the Brit Chadasha kehillah in America.



Liberalism, small numbers, and the swelling ranks of the cults



are part of the ways we are paying for our sin; but the lessons



of Ezekiel should lead us to believe that greater punishment is



coming if the Brit Chadasha kehillah does not repent and fulfill



its duty to be G-d's watchman to the nations.







44. T F Ezekiel 36:27 says, "I shall put my Spirit in you, and



make you keep my laws, and respect and practice my judgements."



From this passage we begin to understand why unregenerate



shepherds and ministers cannot properly interpret or follow the



Word of G-d: they lack his Spirit.







45. T F In context, the false shepherds that G-d is against in



Ezekiel 34 must be political and not religious leaders.







46. When King Zedekiah visited Jeremiah in prison to ask the



prophet for a word from the L-rd A) he was a fairly young king



B) he was an old man C) he was suffering from an incurable



illness in his bowels D) none of the above.







47. Jeremiah predicts Babylon will be G-d's instrument A) to



punish the sinful Northern Kingdom B) to punish sinful Judah



C) of punishment but never herself to be punished by G-d D) none



of the above.







48. The man who assassinated Governor Gedaliah was A)Pashhur B)



Johanan ben Moses C) Ishmael D) none of the above.







49. Kedar was A) an important city in Crete B) an important sea



port in Egypt C) an important Arab tribe D) none



of the above.







50. Jeremiah prophesied to the Jewish remnant left in the land



after Gedaliah's assassination A) that they would prosper if



they went down to Egypt B) that they would NOT find



the safety they sought in Egypt C) bothA and B D) neither A nor



B.







51. King Josiah of Judah was killed by Pharaoh Necho as Necho



marched to assist the Assyrians against Babylon in the year



A) 712 B.C.E. B) 695 B.C.E. C) 687 B.C.E. D) 609 B.C.E.







52. G-d avenged Josiah's death when the Egyptians were defeated



by the Babylonians at Carchemish in A) 711 B.C.E. B) 690 B.C.E.



C) 680 B.C.E. D) 605 B.CE.







53. In the case of one man, the great things he might have



sought for himself in terms of distinction in the land of Judah



were all forfeited because of his loyal service to Jeremiah. This



man's name was A) Ahaziah B) Menahem C) Baruch D) Shallum.



54. Jeremiah predicted this man would be handed over to his



enemies in the same way Zedekiah king of Judah was handed over to



his enemies. The man was A) Manasseh B) Pharaoh Hophra C) Pekah



D) none of the above.







55. In the book of Jeremiah, whenever anyone comes to Jeremiah



and asks him for a word from the Lord, A) they invariably



believe it and act on it B) they generally do not believe



it C) they act on it but in unbelief D) none of the above.



56. Ebed-melech was the man A) who helped Jeremiah when he was



inprison B) wiw betrayed Jeremiah when he was in prison C) who



was pro-Babylonian because he loved money D) none of the above.



57. It was in July 587 B.C. that A) Judah defeated Moab B) Judah



capitulated to the Assyriens C) Jerusalem fell to the



Babylonians D) none of the above.







58. Jeremiah 39:8 tells us that the Chaldeans tore down the walls



of Jerusalem. The man who became famous because he rebuilt those



walls was A) the Kohen Gadol Yeshus B) the High Kohen Yehoshus



C) Nehgmlah D) none of the above.







59. The man in the book of Jeremiah who knew the right



course of action but lacked the courage to take it was A) Baruch



B)Zedekiah C) Pashhur D)none of the above.







60. Which of the following is NOT true? A)Zedekiah was a puppet



king set up by Nebuchidrezzar B)Zedekiah came to power after the



exile of Jeholachin's son,Jehoiakim. C) Zedekiah was under the



control of his officials whom he feared D) Zedekiah was not a



courageous man of faith.







61. Jeremiah found A) himself completely forsaken by G-d in



prison B) that all his enemies soon shared his prison cell with



him C) G-d used prison as a place of protection for



Jeremiah and worked it for good for him D) none of the above.



62. "Ii there any word from the L-rd?" is a question asked by A)



Baruch B) Passhur C)Hezekiah D) Zedekiah.







63. In the book of Jeremiah the man who was erroneously accused



of deserting to the enemy was A) Ohaladab B) Mehahem



C) Jeremiah D)Zedekich.







64. The unrepentant sinners that Jeremiah confronts A) think



things will get better without their listening to the prophet



B)lose their eye sight or their lives as punishment for their



disobedience C) both A and B D) neither A nor B.







65. The man who cut up and burned part of the book of Jeremiah



was A) Josiah B) Seholachin C) Baruch D) Jehoiakim.







66. The man who did not fear G-d like his father Josiah was A)



Jeholachin B) Jehoshaphat C) Jehoiakim D) none of the above.



67. The man who was associated with Jeremiah for over 20 years



was A) Pashhur B) Zedekich C) Baruch D) none of the above.



68. "Your eyes will look at the eyes of the King of Babylon"--



these words were spoken by A) G-d to Baruch B)Jeremiah to



Zedekiah C) Zedekiah to Jeremiah D) none of the above.







69. In the book of Jeremiah, the name "The L-rd is our



Righteousness" is given to A) Jerusalem only B) the Moshiach



only C) both Jerusalem and the Moshiach D) none of the above.



70. "Straying from the path," "missing the mark," and "rebelling"



are terms in Hebrew that cover different aspects of the idea of



A) apostasy B) sin C) hypocrisy D) divorce.







71. The cult of Molech A) was the cult of a foreign G-d B)



involved child-sacrifice C) refers to King Molech of Jordan D)



both A and B.







72. Jeremiah's purchase of land at Anathoth A) showed he



believed Judah would never return from the Exile B) showed he



believed he would live to return from he Exile C) both A and B



D) was asign that the day would come when normal economic



activity in Judah would be resumed.







73. The Old Covenant was written on stone but the Brit Chadasha



would be written A) on the heart B) with the sword of military



victory C)with the blood of the saints D) none of the above.



74. The city of Ramah lay in the territory of the tribe of



A) Gad B) Naphtali C) Ephraim D) Benjmmin.







75. The Gentile Brit Chadasha kehillah is A) the New Israel



B) the only Israel C) spiritual Israel D) none of the above.



76. When the Shliach Yochanan calls Satan that "Ancient Serpent,"



A) he means you should interpret Genesis chapter 3 literally and



that means you only have to fight a viper when you're fighting



the devil B) he means the story is a myth without any raality



whatsoever behind it C) he means Genesis chapter 3 should be



interpreted so that it is actually Satan who tempted humankind in



the beginning D)none of the above.







77. Acosmogony is A) a theory of eschatology B) a theory of



theological beginnings C) a theory of recorded history



D) a theory of the origin and development of the universe. 78.



The book of the Bible that makes one want to re-read Genesis to



find out who the Edomites descended from and all about Esau is A)



Jonah B) Ruth C) Obadiah D) none of the above.







79. The book of Genesis A) is not a theological foundation for



the rest of the Bible B) lays a foundation for every major



doctrine of the Bible except the doctrine of the Moshiach



C) introduces us theologically to all the major questions of life



D) none of the above.







80. The evil of polygamy is introduced in Genesis by A) Ham



B) Lamech C) Enosh D) none of the above.







81. Canonical exegesis is A) the Bible interpreting itself



B) Scripture interpreted exegetically C) the Bible interpreted



according to extra-canonical criteria D) none of the above.



82. Moses A) was not educationally capable of writing the Torah



B) did not prefigure the Moshiach C) died outside the Promised



Land because he did not honor G-d as holy before the people



D) none of the above.







83. Exodus tells us about A) the ten plagues B) the ten



murmurings C) the ten commandments D) all of the above.







84. Moses is from the tribe of A) Dan B) Judab C) Levi D)Simeon.



85. The important theme(s) of Exodus are A) covenant



B) deliverance C) departure D) all of the above.







86. The sacrifice that is not presented in Leviticus is A) the



burnt offering B) the sin offering C) the guilt offering D)the



Chanukak offering.







87. G-d devoted a whole book (Leviticus) of the Bible on the



importance of blood sacrifice because A) the sacrifices in



Leviticus point to the book of Ya'akov B) there is nokapporah for



sin without the shedding of blood C) the sacrifices are meant to



edify our minds D) none of the above.







88. The book of the Bible that spends a sizeable amount of space



dealing with the subject of ordination is A) Genesis B) I Kings



C)II Chronicles D) Leviticus.







89. The census that is taken twice in Numbers is in reality



A) the same census that it taken in Exodus B) a body count C) a



means of gathering the tithe D) none of the above.







90. The two witnesses coming out of the Exile are Zerubbabel and



A) Caleb B) Joshua C) Haggai D)none of the above.







91. The essential point about Deuteronomy is that if G-d's



covenant demands are not obeyed, covenant curses will overtake



the guilty. Two books of the Bible which were singled out in



class as impossible to fathom without this understanding from



Deuteronomy are A) Philemon and Galatians B) Matthew and I



Corinthians C) Jonah and Obadish D) None of the above.







92. Deuteronomy 18:15 says1 "The L-rd your G-d will raise up for



you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must



listen to him." A) This is a collective reference to all the



canonical prophets that will follow Moses B) This is a reference



to Joshua C) This is a reference to Moshiach Yehoshua D) All of



the above.







93. The Book of Joshua shows A) the defeat caused by Joshua



B) the Hittite deception of the tribe of Judah C) the fulfillment



of a faithful G-d to keep his promises D) Statements "B" and "C"



are true.







94. Judges shows A) the continual apostasy of the people of G-d



B) the folly of independent-minded religion C) both "A" and "B"



D) deadly doctrines never bring joy.







95. Delilah and Samson prefigure A) Saul and David B) Shliach



Sha'ul and Timothy C) Judas and Moshiach D) none of the above.



96. A major theme of Ruth is A) retribution for the guilty



B) G-d's providential care c) G-d's love for the Jewish people as



his only chosen people D) none of the above.







97. I Samuel is an amazing character study of the tragedy of



A) King David B) King Saul C) Ahithophel D) Absalom







98. Elijah was raptured A) before he experienced any tribulation



in his ministry B) before the false prophets he opposed came to



their Anti-Moshiach destruction C) because rapturing him was the



only way G-d could keep him from the judgment G-d was bringing on



the wicked D) none of the above.







99. David's son Solomon had wisdom but the Moshiach A) brought



wisdom greater than the father B) was Wisdom C) spoke with the



learning of the Pharisees D) none of the above.







100. The king whose grandmother tried to kill him was A) Jeconiah



B) Hezekiah C) Josiah D) Joash.







101. The date of the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash was B.C.



A) 589 B) 586 C)467 D) 478.







102. The king who first opened the door for the Assyrians to put



their foot into Judah's affairs was A) Hezekiali B) Joram



C) Manasseh D) Ahaz.







103. Samaria fell B.C. A) 825 B) 728 C)722 D) 660.







104. Which of the following statements is incorrect? A) A



historical last Adam in I Corinthians is vital but a historical



first Adam in Genesis is not as important B)Esther's husband was



not named Xerxes C) Nehamiah was not a Persian Governor ruling in



Israel D) all of the above.







105. Which of the following statements is incorrect? A) The



covenant law always meant national welfare and happiness for the



people of G-d B) The book of the law found in 621 B.C. was



probably Exodus C) Failure to fulfil the demands of the covenant



law would result in the divine judgment falling on the offenders



D) None of the above.







106. The prophet that Jeremiah is most indebted to is



A) Micaiah Ben Imlah B) Samuel C) Gad D) Hosea.







107. "To pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to



overthrow, to build and to plant" (1:10) refers to A) nations



B)kingdoms C)both "A"and "B" D) evildoers.







108. The king who reigned from 640-609 B.C. was A) Joash



B) Josiah C) Ahaz D) Hezekiah.







109. The prophets who were roughly contemporary with Jeremiah



were A)Zephaniah B) Nahum C) Habakkuk D) Ezekiel E) all of the



above.







110. During the life-time of Jeremiah, Judah was a vassal of



A)Assyria B) Egypt C) Babylon D) all of the above.







111. In many ways the grandfather of Josiah was the catalyst to



many of the evils in Judah to which Jeremiah drew attention in



his preaching. His name was A) Ahaz B)Hezekiah C) Manasseh



D) Jehoiakim.







112. After the death of Solomon his kingdom fell apart into two



rival states, Israel and Judah. Their capitals were A) Anathoth



and Bethel B) Samaria and Bethel C) Samaria and Jerusalem D) none



of the above.







113. The king first responsible for entangling Judah with Assyria



and her idols was A) Ahat B) Jehoikim C) Jehoiachin D) Menassah.







114. The most momentous event that occurred in 722 B.C.E. is the



A)defeat of Assyria B) the destruction of Samaria C) the invasion



of Nebuchadrezzar D) the defeat of Josiah.







115. The time of Jeremiah's ministry extended roughly from



A)approximately 610 B.C.E. to 587 B.C.E. B) approximately 605



B.C.E. to 590 B.C.E. C) 627 B.C.E. to 587 B.C.E. D) none of the



above.







116. Jeremiah's special appointment as a prophet was A) to Judah



alone B) to the Northern Kingdom as well as Judah C) to the



nations, not simply to Judah alone D) none of the above







117. In Jeremiah's preaching. Judah is hauled into court, as it



were, and presented with a covenant lawsuit because A) she has



become unfaithful due to the allure of Canaanite Baalism and



other idols B) she has followed the example of the Northern



Kingdom C) she has evoked the covenant curses on herself D) all



of the above.







118. Israel's deep sin lay in (A) her failure to observe days



and rituals B) her disloyalty to the L-rd C) her inattention to



religion D) all of the above.







119. Which of the following statements is true: A) The kohanim



of Jeremiah's time did not act on a purely ritual and mechanical



level B) Most of the prophets of his time refused to tell the



people what they wanted to hear C) Jeremiah desired for the



people to "know" the Lord, which meant enter into a deep personal



commitment to him D) The term "shepherd" (ro'eh) always means



strictly a political leader and can never mean a religious leader



in the Tanakh.







120. The idea that occurs in Jeremiah is A) brit chadasha



B) backsliding C) ideal Israel D) all of the above.







121. Judah's infatuation with the fertility cult and its focus



on sensuality and religious prostitution was finally rooted out



but rooting it out required A) all Jeremiah's patience B) the



Exile C) great preaching D) prosperity and blessing.







122. The king under whose reign the law book was found in 621



B.C.E. was A) Hezekich B) Ahaz C) Josiah D) Joash.







123. Israel's faithless involvement with the worship of the



Canaanites was reprehensible to G-d because Israel A)attempted to



direct her allegiance to Baal instead of the L-rd B) attempted to



share her allegiance to the L-rd with allegiance to other deities



C) yielded herself to Baal and verbally renounced the L-rd D)



none of the above.







124. The subject of ecology is relevant to Jeremiah because



(A) sin or evil in the people has repercussions on the land in



Jeremiah B) droughts are really a natural phenomenon only C) G-d



may still bless the land regardless of morality in most cases



D) all of the above.







125. The lesser prophets of Jeremiah's day A) preached "cheap



grace" B) preached judgment but without predictive ability



C) refused to tickle ears D) none of theabove.







126. A message from Jeremiah that could be preached today is:



A) "Playing Brit Chadasha kehillah" without repentance courts



disaster B) Depending on "the Beis Hamikdash" without yielding



completely to G-d's Word can "destroy the Beis Hamikdash"



C) Beware when all men speak well of you D)all of the above.



127. The book of the Bible that probably most influenced



Jeremiah was A) Leviticus B)Deuteronomy C) Genesis D) I Kings







128. Jeremiah's comments about "the Queen of Heaven" A) refer



only to a Babylonian deity long since forgotten B) have relevance



to Roman Catholicism C) are particularly convicting with Jewish



people D) none of the above.







129. Jeremiah's message could be summarized as A) G-d cannot be



placated by ritualistically punctilious rebels B) The L-rd has no



obligation to sustain you or your ministry if you are not



absolutely obedient to him in it C) judgment must often come



before grace D) all of the above.







130. "The deceiving pen of the scribes" in Jeremiah's book



A) has to do with teachings that are handed down that nullify the



Word of G-d B) is one problem denominations never have to deal



with C) both A and B D) neither A nor B.







131. "The harvest is past, the summer is over, but we have not



been saved" A) has nothing to do with war B) has only to do with



war C) is dealing strictly with a religious issue and has nothing



to do with military defeat D) none of the above.







132. A concept that is mentioned only once in Jeremiah is A) the



foe from the north B) the Brit Chadasha C) backsliding D) none of



the above.







133. Which of the following is not true? A) Jeremiah was



threatened by men from his own hometown of Jerusalem B) Jeremiah



was confined in a cistern C) Jeremiah had assurance from G-d to



give him courage D) Jeremiah sometimes questioned G-d.







134. A Brit Chadasha Scriptures figure who was strongly



influenced by the writings and the diction and even the personal



testimony of Jeremiah was A) Ya'akov B) Shliach Kefa C) Andrew



D) Shliach Sha'ul.







135. The word "vindicate" is important. It means to clear



someone from an accusation or a suspicion. In the book of Job,



A) Satan is vindicated from the charge that he is an accuser



B) Job is vindicated of the charge that he serves G-d only for



the blessings he can get out of him and also that Job has done



something to deserve his sufferings C) G-d is vindicated of the



charge that human suffering means G-d must be at fault D) both B



and C.







136. Which of the following statements is NOT true? A) The Psalms



were originally both the prayerbook and the hymnbook of Israel,



with David and other lyricists using their lyrics in worship with



musical accompaniment. B) One can develop a deeper prayer life



and devotional walk with the L-rd by studying the Psalms. C) King



David wrote all the Psalms. D) A and B are true.







137. Which of the following topics are NOT included in the book



of Proverbs? A) self-control regarding sex B) common sense



regarding honesty C) matters of work and diligence D) laws



regarding the Passover.







138. Which of the following statements is NOT true about



Ecclesiastes? A) Ecclesiastes depicts the utter emptiness and



futility of life B) A materialistic and worldly person who thinks



life without G-d is wonderful should not be given Ecclesiastes to



read before you witness to him C) Ecclesiastes teaches that the



life of this world--in itself--is not worth living, arising as it



does from the futile envy and mutual jealousy and ambition of



dying men. D) There is a verse in Ecclesiastes that is often



used today to bury people.







139. In the Song of Songs, A) the poetic imagery is oriental and



culture-bound B) the material is low poetry C) G-d shows that he



affirms romantic love in holy matrimony D) all of the above.







140. Which of the following is NOT true? In the book of Jonah,



A) G-d's prophet has to be swallowed by death and spit out in



order to preach to the Gentiles B) G-d's prophet is a sign of



the coming Moshiach C) Jonah has compassion on the Ninevites



D) This little book shows the folly of backsliding away from



G-d's commandment to be his witness.







141. Amos A) was a paid, professional preacher B) was not a



short-term emissary C) believed that worship and correct



doctrine was enough D) none of the above are true.







142. Hoses A) knew for sure who the father of his children was



B) had no trouble with his wife C)preached for the Southern



Kingdom (Judah) D) none of the above are true.







143. Hosea A) was a contemporary of Jeremiah B) like Samson was



tempted to marry a prostitute C) was a native of Jerusalem D)



none of the above are true.







144. During the ministry of Isaiah, A) Damascus fell to the



Babylonians B) Ahab refused to ask for a sign C) the Northern



Kingdom fell to the Persians D) none of the above are true.



145. Isaiah writes about A) the millenial kingdom B) a new



exodus of salvation from the Exile C) a new creation following



destruction D) all of the above are true.







146. The sick king in the book of Isaiah who prays to have his



life spared is A) Manasseh B) Josiah C) the same one that makes



the mistake of showing his treasures to the Babylonians



D) Jehoiakim.







147. Sennacherib is a king from A) Ammon B) Assyria C) Babylon



D) Moab.







148. Micah is a contemporary of A) Jeremiah B) Obadiab



C) Ezekiel D) Amos.







149. A dramatic historical event that occurred during the life



of Micah was A) the Assyrien overthrow of Samaria B) the sparing



of Jerusalem when it was threatened by Sennacherib C)neither A



nor B D) both A and B.







150. The prophecy that the Moshiach would be born in Bethlehem is



given in A) Isaiah B) Amos C) Micah D) Hosea.







151. A contemporary of the prophet Nahum was A) Uzziah



B) Jeroboam II C) Zedekiah D) Josiah.







152. Zephaniah preached during the reign of A) Jeroboam II



B)Zedekiah C) Josiah D) Uzziah.







153. Jeremiah A) suffered violence only once because of his



preaching B) did not believe that the Exile would occur C)



predicted Judah would be evicted by G-d from her land for 70



years D) none of the above is true.







154. People said that Jeremiah was A) a traitor B) guilty of



sedition C) pro-Babylonian D) all of the above.







155. Jeremiah only mentions the Brit Chadasha A) in relation to



the Gentiles B) once C) as something that G-d will not accomplish



D) all of the above are true.







156. Jeremiah A) was at a total loss when Jehoiakim burned his



scroll because it was the only autograph copy in existence and



Jeremiah couldn't remember what he had written B) did not tell



Zedekiah that he would see Nebuchadrezzar with his own eyes



C) does not say that the Moshiach and Jerusalem will be called



by the same name D) none of the above are true.







157. Habakkuk A) prophesied during the reign of King Solomon



B) about the death of Jonah C) about the goodness of the



Babylonian people D) none of the above.







158. Ezekiel A) refused to use unorthodox methods in his



preaching B) used drama to get his point across C) did not out



live his wife D) none of the above.







159. Yoel (Joel) interpreted a locust plague A) as an act of



"neutral" nature B) as a sign of the tevilah of the Ruach



Hakodesh C) as a sign of G-d's judgment D) none of the above.



160. Zechariah prophesied during the A) time of Jeremiah B) time



of Yoel (Joel) C) time of the construction of the Second Beis



Hamikdash D) none of the above.







161. Zechariab's contemporary prophet was A) Ezekiel B) Haggai



C) Yoel (Joel) D) None of the above.







162. Malachi preaches against A) divorce B) tithe-stealers C)



carelessness in religion D) all of the above.







163. Jehoshaphat was A) a corrupt king B) guilty of never



working for revival C) a contemporary of Elijah D) none of the



above.







164. Jehu was a A) king who reigned in Judah B) man who refused



to take the lives of royal princes C) a contemporary of Amos D)



none of the above is true.







CIRCLE THE BEST ANSWER IN THE MULTIPLE CHOICE



QUESTIONS BELOW. Look at the Greek of Yehuda 8-25 and then



answer the questions. Yehuda 1:8-25







[VIII] 145 (*Omoi/Os 146 me/ntoi 147 kai\ 148 (ou=toi 149



)enupniazo/menoi 150 sa/rka 151 me\n 152 miai/nousin, 153



kurio/tEta 154 de\ 155 )aQetou=sin, 156 do/cas 157 de\ 158



blasfEmou=sin.







[IX] 159 (o 160 de\ 161 *MixaE\l 162 (o 163 )arxa/ggelos,



164 (o/te 165 tO|= 166 diabo/lO| 167 diakrino/menos 168



diele/geto 169 peri\ 170 tou= 171 *Mou+se/Os 172 sO/matos,



173 )ouk 174 )eto/lmEsen 175 kri/sin 176 )epenegkei=n 177



blasfEmi/as, 178 )alla\ 179)ei=pen, 180 )*EpitimE/sai 181 soi



182 ku/rios.







[X] 183 (ou=toi 184 de\ 185 (o/sa 186 me\n 187 )ouk 188



)oi/dasin 189 blasfEmou=sin,



190 (o/sa 191 de\ 192 fusikO=s 193 (Os 194 ta\ 195 )a/loga



196 zO|=a 197 )epi/stantai,



198 )en 199 tou/tois 200 fQei/rontai.







[XI] 201 )ouai\ 202 )autoi=s, 203 (o/ti 204 tE|= 205 (odO|=



206 tou= 207 *Ka/i+n



208 )eporeu/QEsan, 209 kai\ 210 tE|= 211 pla/nE| 212 tou=



213 *Balaa\m 214 misQou=



215 )ecexu/QEsan, 216 kai\ 217 tE|= 218 )antilogi/a 219 tou=



220 *Ko/re 221 )apO/lonto.







[XII] 222 (ou=toi/ 223 )eisin 224 (oi 225 )en 226 tai=s 227



)aga/pais 228 (umO=n



229 spila/des 230 suneuOxou/menoi 231 )afo/bOs, 232 (eatou\s



233 poimai/nontes,



234 nefe/lai 235 )a/nudroi 236 (upo\ 237 )ane/mOn 238



parafero/menai, 239 de/ndra



240 fQinopOrina\ 241)apoQano/nta 242 di\s 243 )apoQano/nta



244 )ekri=OQe/nta,







[XIII] 245 ku/mata 246 )a/gria 247 Qala/ssEs 248



)epafri/zonta 249 ta\s 250 (eautO=n



251 )aisxu/nas, 252 )astE/res 253 planE-tai 254 (oi=s 255 (o



256 zo/fos 257 tou=



258 sko/tous 259 )eis 260 )aiO=na 261 tetE/rEtai.







[XIV] 262 *ProefE/teusen 263 de\ 264 kai\ 265 tou/tois 266



)e/bdomos 267 )apo\



268 )*Ada\m 269 (*EnO\x 270 le/gOn, 271 )*Idou\ 272 )E=lQen



273 ku/rios 274 )en



275 (agi/ais 276 muria/sin 277 )autou=,







[XV] 278 poiE=sai 279 kri/sin 280 kata\ 281 pa/ntOn 282 kai\



283 )ele/gcai 284 pa=san



285 yuxE\n 286 peri\ 287 pa/ntOn 288 tO=n 289 )e/tgOn 290



)asebei/as 291 )autOn



292 (O=n 293 )Ese/bEsan 294 kai\ 295 peri\ 296 pa/ntOn 297



tO=n 298 sklErO=n 299 (O=n 300 )ela/lEsan 301 kat' 302



)autou= 303 (amartOloi\ 304 )asebei=s







[XVI] 305 (*ou=toi/ 306 )eisin 307 goggustai/, 308



memyi/moiroi, 309 kata\ 310 ta\s



311 )epiQumi/as 312 (eautO=n 313 poreuo/menoi, 314 kai\ 315



to\ 316 sto/ma 317 )autO=n 318 lalei= 319 (upe/rogka, 320



Qauma/zontes 321 pro/sOpa 322 )Ofelei/as 323 xa/rin.







[XVII] 324 (*Umei=s 325 de/, 326 )agapEtoi/, 327 mnE/sQEte



328 tO=n 329 (rEma/tOn



330 tO=n 331 proeirEme/nOn 332 (upo\ 333 tO=n 334 )aposto/lOn



335 tou= 336 kuri/ou



337 (EmO=n 338 )*Iesou= 339 Xristou=.







[XVIII] 340 (o/ti 341 )e/legon 342 (umi=n, 343 )*Ep' 344



)esxa/tou 345 [tou=] 346 xro/nou 347 )e/sontai 348 )empai=ktai



349 kata\ 350 ta\s 351 (eautO=n 352 )epiQumi/as



353 poreuo/menoi 354 tO=n 355 )asebeiO=n.







[IXX] 356 (*Ou=toi/ 357 )eisin 358 (oi 359 )apodiori/zones,



360 yuxikoi/, 361 pneu=ma



362 mE\ 363 )e/xontes.







[XX] 364 (umei=s 365 de/, 366 )agapEtoi/, 367



)epoikodomou=ntes 368 (eautou\s 369 tE|= 370 (agiOta/tE| 371



(umO=n 372 pi/stei, 373 )en 374 pneu/mati 375 (agi/O| 376



proseuxo/menoi,







[XXI] 377 (eautou\s 378 )en 379 )aga/pE| 380 Qeou= 381



tErE/sate, 382 prosdexo/menoi



383 to\ 384 )e/leos 385 tou= 386 kuri/ou 387 (EmO=n 388



)*Iesou= 389 Xristou= 390 )eis 391 zOE\n 392 )aiO/nion.



[XXII] 393 kai\ 394 (ou\s 395 me\n 396 )elea=te 397



diakrinome/nous







[XXIII] 398 (ou\s 399 de\ 400 sO|/zete 401 )ek 402 puro\s



403 (arpa/zontes, 404 (ou\s



405 de\ 406 )elea=te 407 )en 408 fo/bO|, 409 misou=ntes 410



kai\ 411 to\n 412 )apo\



413 tE=s 414 sarko\s 415 )espilOme/non 416xitO=na.







[XXIV] 417 *TO|= 418 de\ 419 duvame/nO| 420 fula/cai 421



(uma=s 422 )aptai/stous



423 kai\ 424 stE=sai 425 katenO/pion 426 tE=s 427 do/cEs 428



)autou= 429 )amO/mous



430 )en 431 )agallia/sei,







[XXV] 432 mo/nO| 433 QeO|= 434 sOtE=ri 435 (EmO=n 436 dia\



437 )*Iesou= 438 Xristou= 439 tou= 440 kuri/ou 441 (EmO=n 442



do/ca 443 megalOsu/nE 444 kra/tos 445 kai\ 446 )ecousi/a 447



pro\ 448 panto\s 449 tou= 450 )aiO=nos 451 kai\ 452 nu=n



453 kai\ 454 )eis 455 pa/ntas 456 tou\s 457 )aiO=nas. 458



)amE/n.











165. In verse 8 the word sa/rka means A) dreams B) feet C) flesh



D) none of the above.







166. The last word in verse 8 means A) they insult B) they love



c) they hate D) they abandon.







167. In verse 8, (*Omoi/Os means A) house B) likeable



C) children D) likewise.







168. Verse 8 teaches that A) sexual sinners sin against their own



bodies and actually hurtfully defile and injure themselves



B) sexual sinners live in an unreal world even while they rebel



and rail against G-dly authority C) sexual sinners are asleep to



G-d's judgment D)all of the above is true.







169. In verse 9 diabo/lO| means A) diabolical B) dial C) devil



D) drudgery.







170. In verse 9 diakrino/menos is an A) adjective B) participle



C) verb D) pronoun.







171. In verse 9 o/te A) introduces a temporal clause B) means



"blood" C) is a noun D) none of the above are true.







172. In verse 9 diele/geto A) is a verb B) is in the imperfect



tense and should be translated "was arguing" C) does not express



continuing action in the past D) "A" and "B" are correct.



173. In verse 9 peri\ means A) about B) jumping C) sailing D)



cloak.







174. In verse 9 sO/matos, means A) hair B) body C) teeth D)



clothing.







175. In your Greek Brit Chadasha Scriptures dictionary sO/matos



is listed sO/ma, tos and this tells you that A) the genitive is



sO/matos B) the word is a verb C) the word is a pronoun D) none



of the above is true.







176. In verse 9 )*EpitimE/sai A) is in the optative mood B) is in



the indicative mood C) is in the subjunctive mood D) is in the



imperative mood.







177. In verse 10 )oi/dasin means A) they ate B) they spoke C)



they know D) they heard.







178. In verse 10 )oi/dasin is in the perfect tense. A) This means



that the action takes place in the future although the verb does



not look like a future tense verb B) This means that the action



is a point action C) This means that the action is only imagined



and not actual D) This means the action takes place in the past



with results that extend up to, and even include, the present.



179. The last word in verse 10 A) is in the active voice B) is in



the passive voice C) has action that the subject receives rather



than performs D) "B" and"C" are true.







180. In verse 10 the Greek says "by these they are corrupted"



rather than the more natural order "they are corrupted by these."



This word order and the place that it has in the sentence (coming



last) indicates A) emphasis B) elasticity C) compression D) none



of the above.







181. In verse 11 tou= *Balaa\m is what is called a qualitative



genitive. A) A tevilah of teshuvah means a repentance-type



tevilah; the quality which could have been ascribed by the use of



an adjective might be put in the genitive. This is the meaning of



a qualitative genitive. B) The meaning in this verse is



"Balaam-type error" C) The idea means that if you study Balaam's



career in the Bible you will be able to perceive the quality of



the error these false teachers are guilty of D) all of the above



are true.







182. In verse 12 we have the phrase (eatou\s poimai/nontes,



A) The second word is a participle B) it means "feeding,



shepherding, caring for, pastoring, looking after, fattening in



the sense of indulging" C) From teachers we expect the



beneficient rain of doctrine and example; this is why Shliach



Sha'ul warns Timothy to watch his doctrine and his life closely;



but these false teachers are like those in Ezekiel 34:8--they



don't feed the sheep, they actually feed on the sheep, exploiting



them, deceiving them, devouring them both financially and



sexually D) All of the above are true.







183. In verse 13 we have the words eis aiO=na A) This is an



idiom, meaning an expression peculiar to a language, often with



an idea that cannot be derived as a whole from the conjoined



meanings of its elements B) It means literally "unto the age" but



is translated to mean "forever" C) Both "A" and "B" are true



D) Neither "A" nor "B" are true.







184. In verse 15 poiE=sai and )ele/gcai A) are infinitives B)do



not express purpose C) Only "A" is true D) Only "B" is true.



185. In verse 16 )epiQumi/as means A) lawlessness B) spotlessness



C) faithlessness D) evil desire, lust.







186. In verse 16 lalei= means A) walks uprightly B) hears



C) speaks D) none of the above.







187. In verse 18 )e/legon A) means "they were telling" and is a



"customary" imperfect verb, giving the idea "they used to tell"



B) means" they shouted" C) neither "A" nor "B" D) is a pluperfect



verb.







188. In verse 20 pi/stei A) probably means "trusting" and is a



verb B) means "speaking faith" C) is a noun and probably means



"the body of the teaching of the Moshiach's Shluchim" D) none of



the above are true.







189. In verse 20 proseuxo/menoi A) means literally "praying" and



is a participle B) means "prophesying" and is a verb C) is a



participle and this is the imperative use of the participle



D) "A" and "C" are true.







190. In verse 21 )e/leos means A) joy B) peace C) mercy D) none



of the above.







191. In verse 23 sO|/zete means A) stop B) save C) keep D) none



of the above.







192. In verse 24 duvame/nO| means A) being able B) being evil



C) being lustful D) none of the above.







193. In verse 21 do/cEs means A) glory B) power C) wrath D) none



of the above.







194. In verse 25 sOtE=ri means A) L-rd B) great C) Saviour D)



none of the above.







195. In verse 14 the word tou/tois means A) them B) feet C) flesh



D) none of the above.







CIRCLE THE BEST ANSWER.







196. Yochanan 10:35 says "the Scripture cannot be broken." This



teaches A) the doctrine of the procession of the Spirit B) the



doctrine of the authority of Scripture C) both A and B D) neither



A nor B.







197. The doctrine of the authority of the Scriptures means the



Scriptures were recognized by the early Brit Chadasha kehillah as



the final authority A) on all matters of faith B) on all matters



of practice C) on all matters of faith and practice D) none of



the above.







198. The word "canon" A) means "reed" (a measuring rule) B) is



found in the book of Ephesians C) came to signify a standard for



determining which verses are numbered correctly D) means that the



Brit Chadasha kehillah councils did not merely recognize the



canon already in use by the Brit Chadasha kehillot from earliest



times but imposed their ecclesiastical opinion on the Brit



Chadasha kehillot as to which books are Scripture.







199. "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out



of thy law" (Psalm 119:18) teaches the doctrine of A)



illumination B) teaches a foundation for every major doctrine of



the Bible except the doctrine of the Moshiach c) introduces us



theologically to all the major questions of life D) none of the



above.







200. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth"



(Yochanan 17:17) teaches the doctrine of A) perpetual calling B)



christology C) illumination D)inerrancy







201. When applied to Scripture, the term inerrancy means A) the



Bible interprets itself B) Scripture is interpreted exegetically



C) the Bible is interpreted according to extra-canonical criteria



D) that what G-d revealed and inspired is accurate, reliable,



authoritative, and without error.







202. Which of the following is not in II Timothy 3:16? "All



scripture is given by inspiration of G-d, and is profitable for



A) doctrine B) for reproof C) for correction, D) and for



instruction in the oppositions of science falsely so called."



203. II Timothy 3:16 quoted above refers to the inspiration of



the A) scribal copies B) original manusripts ("autographs")



C) uncials D) miniscules.







204. The word inspiration in II Timothy 3:16 A) pictures G-d



breathing out His word to men B) means that everything written by



a prophet is G-d's word C) Shliach Kefa never made a mistake D)



all of the above.







205. The important theme(s) of Jeremiah 36:27, "Then the word of



the L-rd came to Jeremiah, after the king had burned the



scroll..." is/are A) the doctrine of illumination B) the doctrine



of the authority of scripture C) the doctrine of preservation of



scriptures) all of the above.







206. In the United Bible Society Greek NT, Yehuda 5 has variants



listed in the textual apparatus. These variants A) say nothing



about Moshiach Yehoshua B) say nothing about Moshiach Yehoshua



being G-d C) all have extremely poor attestation D) none of the



above is true.







207. A miniscule A) is written in capital Greek letters B) is



earlier than a papyrus manuscript C) is invariably found in Egypt



D) none of the above.







208. A book of the Bible that spends space dealing with the



subject of inspiration is A) II Shliach Kefa B) Philemon



C) Obadiah D) all of the above.







209. An uncial A) is written in capital Greek letters C) is



earlier than a papyrus manuscript D) is invariably found in Egypt



D) none of the above.







210. We know that Psalm 22:16 ("they pierced my hands and my



feet") is A) not a Messianic prophecy B) has no problems in the



massoretic Hebrew C) is properly translated "hands and feet"



because of the Septuagint D) none of the above.







211. The doctrine of inspiration means A) G-d simply dictated



the words to his secretarial authors and they were unconcious of



what was happening B) G-d by-passed their personalities and used



them only as mouthpieces C) G-d mechanically operated on each



author through an ecstacy of inspiration D) G-d brought the Bible



into being by holy men of G-d as they were moved by the Ruach



Hakodesh.







212. The essential point about inspiration is that the Ruach



Hakodesh controlled the process of bringing things to the



writers' memories. This point is made in A) Philemon and



Galatians B) I Corinthians C) Jonah and Obadiah D) the Besuras



Hageulah of Yochanan.







213. Textual criticism is important because A) scribal errors



must be removed from some of the various manuscripts B) The Bible



itself has errors C) both A and B are true D) neither A nor B is



true.







214. The date of the writing of the first book of the New



Testament may have been as early as A) the mid 40's C.E. B) the



mid 50's C.E. C) the mid 60'S C.E. D) the mid 70's C.E.







215. The first book of the Brit Chadasha Scriptures to be



written was probably A) Ya'akov B) Luke C) Romans D) Philippians



Read the following and choose the best answer.







216. The Creed of Nicaea says, in effect, "WE BELIEVE IN ONE



ELOHIM HAAV ALL GOVERNING (PANTOKRATORA), CREATOR



(POIETEN) OF



ALL THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE; AND IN ONE REBBE



MELECH



HAMOSHIACH ADONEINU YEHOSHUA, THE BEN HAELOHIM, OF



ELOHIM HAAV AS



BEN YACHID, THAT IS, FROM THE ESSENCE [REALITY] OF



ELOHIM HAAV



[ek tEs ousias tou Patros, from the inmost being of the Father,



inseparably one. The ouias is that which underlies something,



that which makes it what it is, its essence, in other words] G-D



OF G-D, LIGHT OF LIGHT, TRUE G-D OF TRUE G-D, BEGOTTEN



NOT MADE,



OF ONE ESSENCE [reality] WITH ELOHIM HAAV [omoousion to patri]



THROUGH WHOM ALL THINGS WERE MADE, THINGS IN



HEAVEN AND THINGS ON



EARTH; WHO FOR US MEN AND FOR OUR SALVATION CAME



DOWN AND WAS



MADE FLESH, AND BECAME MAN, SUFFERED, AND ROSE ON



YOM HASHLISHI,



ASCENDED INTO THE HEAVENS, IS COMING TO JUDGE THE



LIVING AND



DEAD. AND IN THE RUACH HAKODESH. AND THOSE THAT SAY



'THERE WAS



WHEN HE WAS NOT,' AND, 'BEFORE HE WAS BEGOTTEN HE



WAS NOT,' AND



THAT, 'HE CAME INTO BEING FROM WHAT-IS-NOT



[NOTHINGNESS],' OR



THOSE THAT ALLEGE, THAT THE BEN HAELOHIM IS 'OF



ANOTHER SUBSTANCE



OR ESSENCE' OR 'CREATED' OR 'CHANGEABLE' [MORALLY



CHANGEABLE], OR



'ALTERABLE,' THESE THE UNIVERSAL BRIT CHADASHA



KEHILLAH OF



MOSHIACH'S SHLUCHIM ANATHEMATIZES."







A) This creed refutes the unitarianism of Rabbinic Judaism B)



This creed refutes "Moshiach Yehoshua Only" Sabellianites C) This



creed refutes the unitarianism of J.W.'s D) All of the above are



true.







217. In C.E.155 Montanus claimed (like Mohammad would later) to



be the paraclete or advocate through whom the Ruach Hakodesh



speaks to the Brit Chadasha kehillah with inspiration that is



immediate and continuous and not limited to the faith



once-for-all delivered to the saints (Yehuda 3). His religion,



Montanism, went beyond Shliach Sha'ul who permitted younger



widows to re-marry: in Montanism there is no second marriage if a



mate dies. What apologist got involved in this movement and came



to believe such doctrines? A) Clement of Alexandria B)



Tertullian C) Clement of Rome D) Valentinian.







THE FOLLOWING ARE ALL SHORT ESSAY QUESTIONS







218. In C.E.170-180 Celsus, a pagan apologist who attacked



Yehoshua as an impudent quack who learned his magic in Egypt and



was unable to save himself from death at the hands of his



enemies, while his followers were a disruptive, illegal



association that must be brought reverently in line under the



Emperor's authority. In the face of such scoffers, Irenaeus



(175-195 C.E.) saw his office as as the guardian of orthodoxy,



and Irenaeus' writings give us a picture of his early views.



Write an essay in which you enumerate similar errors today.



219. Write an essay in which you describe your ministry and an



arts project related to it.







220. Write an essay in which you describe your vision for world



evangelization.







221. Write an essay in which you either defend or argue against



the following (open Bible, give Scriptural support): Those Jews



and others who disparage celibacy or "monkery" as non-Jewish



should think a little more about the careers of both Jeremiah and



Nehemiah and should remember that marriage is fine for Jews who



want to lounge around the synagogue singing Hebrew hymns all



their life; however, winning the world for the Jewish Moshiach is



another matter, and exposing a wife and children to hungry



cannibals might not be the most appropriate strategy for a man of



religion.







222. Read the following and write an essay in which you discuss



the curriculum of our school. It should be remembered also that



the great universities started as cathedral schools or grew in



the shadow of the cathedral. Eighty universities were founded in



the Middle Ages (by 1500) throughout Europe. These were mainly



ecclesiastical foundations, obtaining their charters from the



papacy. They functioned like trade guilds (just as a PhD is a



"union card" for many professions today) and a "bachelor" was



equivalent to apprenticeship in a guild, whereas "doctor"



admitted one to qualify to teach in one's own university) thus



providing protection for admission to the teaching profession



(like state teacher certification does today). The elected head



was called a rector. The university classroom was a place where



Latin was the common language, making it possible for students



throughout Europe to sit and learn together. Whereas in the



yeshiva today students might study mainly the Talmud, in the



rising university of the Middle Ages a different curriculum came



into being (with theology the queen of the sciences, also canon



law, the arts, medicine, mathematics, and the natural sciences of



the day), professors (presided over by a dean), and final



examinations. The traditional seven liberal arts were taught: the



trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic or dialectic) and the



quadrivium (astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, and music).



Aristotelian logic and philosophy was very big. The teaching



method was by lecture, the professor giving a running commentary



on the prescribed texts while the students took notes. There



were also debates or disputations where a topic was exhaustively



dealt with at stated times and often lasting several days.



223. To answer this question, you must write a sermon. Take the



following outline on Yochanan 3:16: Today I want to talk about



G-d's Love. I want to discuss its object ("the world" = is the



object of G-d's Love); then, secondly, I want to talk about its



expression (G-d expressed His love for the world in this way =



"G-d gave (the gift of) His Only Begotten Son"), and finally, I



want to talk about its purpose or goal ("G-d is not willing for



people to perish; His love has a goal that they have everlasting



life"). Now take another Biblical text (of your own choice) and



outline it and write a sermon on it. But keep several things in



mind. Your sermon should have an INTRODUCTION that interests your



listeners in your message by means of a striking statement, a



brief humorous story, etc. Your sermon should be driving toward a



CONCLUSION that makes the point of your message and elicits the



response you've been aiming at from start to finish. You've been



driving toward the point that some course of action is good, or



spiritually profitable, or one's duty as a believer. Or you've



been developing the whole sermon to show a certain point in the



Holy Scriptures is true and its truth will drastically affect



people's well-being or lack of well- being, depending on how they



decide to agree or not to agree with the Word of G-d. But let's



go back to your starting point. After your introduction, there



should be an EXPLANATION of the meaning of your text for the



benefit of those who don't know the basic terminology of the



Hebrew/Greek/King James English etc or don't know the basic



storyline of the Bible (which is true of the Biblically



illiterate average modern person). After the



explanation comes the ARGUMENT section of the sermon. G-d's



thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and we don't naturally



think on G-d's level or agree with G-d's wisdom. Persuasion is



needed to get us to own up to the fact that G-d's Word is wiser



than our wisdom, and His ways are better than our ways of



thinking and living, There are various lines of argument that



speakers use. In your sermon, you should use as many of these



lines of argument as possible to persuade your audience of the



truth of the passage you are preaching and of the proposition you



are arguing. For example, suppose your proposition for Yochanan



3:16 is "The greatest love effects the greatest deliverance."



Now to argue this proposition you need to argue what true love is



and what it isn't. You need to argue what a truly Biblical



sacrifice is and what it isn't. You also may need to argue what



perishing really means and what deliverance really entails. To



help you, there are various lines of argument you may use in your



persuasion to clinch the points you are making. One line of



argument is ARGUMENT FROM TESTIMONY.



Here credible, reliable, authoritative witnesses are called upon



to prove points in an argument. For example, one could prove that



Moshiach Yehoshua actually existed (some scoffers assert that



Moshiach Yehoshua is like the Easter Bunny and is unknown in



authentic historical sources) by citing extra-Biblical historical



sources such as Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny and Josephus. Another



line of argument is ARGUMENT FROM INDUCTION (drawing general



rules from a sufficient number of particular cases) would be, for



example, to use Rev. 1:14, Luke 22:61, and Mark 3:5 to argue that



G-d looks upon sin with hatred and anger. Matt.6:26-28 shows



argument by induction in a sermon Moshiach Yehoshua preached.



Another line of argument is ARGUMENT BY DEDUCTION. Here the



argument moves from a general truth to a specific one (see Mark



12:35-37). Another line of argument is ARGUMENT A POSTERIORI.



Here a cause is inferred from a known effect as in I Cor.10:5. In



ARGUMENT A PRIORI particular effects are adduced to establish a



known cause as in Yochanan 12:6. In ARGUMENT BY DILEMMA either



of



two possible cases is shown to produce the same conclusion (see



Acts 5:38-39). In ARGUMENT BY REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM one's



opponent's premises or conclusion is reduced to its true absurd



character (Gal. 5:12). In ARGUMENT EX CONCESSO what one's



opponent concedes is used the basis for an argument. See Acts



17:23 and remember that the pagans on Mars Hill conceded that



their g-d was unknown, a point Rav Sha'ul uses as the common



ground premise of his sermon. In ARGUMENT AD HOMINEM ("To the



Man") we see the line of argument Shliach Sha'ul uses against



Elymas the magician in Acts 13:10. Make sure your sermon uses as



many of these lines of argument as possible in the argumentation



section of the speech. Finally, the APPLICATION is the part of



the sermon where the main thing to be done is presented and the



whole reason for the message is realized. This is where the



people get the altar call or sign the financial pledges or make



the decision the sermon has advocated. This is where the people



have the point applied to their specific situation ("There are



people listening here that need to stop quarreling and forgive



each other," etc). The application should touch the feelings of



the audience and focus the truth of the sermon to practical "here



and now" behavior. The application section should suggest ways



and means to do the truth, and may overcome last minute



objections to the correct response which the speaker is



advocating. The order of the sermon then is:



INTRODUCTION, EXPLANATION, ARGUMENTATION,



APPLICATION,



CONCLUSION. Find illustrations to get your points clarified and



brought to life. These illustrations are the quick little



teaching aids drawn from anywhere suitable to your audience:



literature, art, humor, history, science, parables, quotations,



true stories, tv, commercials, anything. Choose a text and begin.



Make sure the text is not too long. Psalm I would make a good



sermon. But you pick your own text. Or better yet, pray and let



the L-rd lay a text on your heart.







224. Write your own creed ("I believe in one G-d self-existant as



HaAv, HaBen, and HaRuach Hakodesh (Matt.28:19), etc"), your



personal faith based on your understanding of the Bible. Make



sure you include your faith in matters of soteriology and



eschatology.







225. Take a text and do research on the Biblical and Rabbinic



understanding of the passage. This should be for apologetics or



evangelism.







226. Create an arts project to preach the Besuras HaGeulah.



227. Write out a proposal for starting a new congregation.



Include the possible name of the congregation, the location, and



the steps that you would follow in your initial work to bring it



into existence. What efforts would you make to win disciples?



What efforts would you make to organize the initial core group?



What efforts would you make to build a nucleus that could carry



on the work in your absence? If this congregation became



successfully established by you, what efforts would you make to



multiply congregations? In other words, how might you work to see



a real people movement revival? To answer this question, it would



definitely help to have read Dr. Donald McGavren's books and Dr.



Phil Goble's other books.







228. Write an essay in which you explain exactly why you want to



study at our messianic yeshiva, and why you feel we should invest



time in helping you with the formation of your ministry.







229. A good concordance, a good foreign language dictionary, and



a good translation of the Bible can be used in learning a foreign



language. For example, suppose I want to learn Modern Greek. I



acquire a Modern Greek Bible. I want to be able to tell someone



my name or ask them theirs. I look far a similar sentence in the



concordance. In the concordance under the word "name", for



example, I find Moshiach Yehoshua asking a demon what its name is



in Mark 5:9 and the answer comes back, "Legion" I then can



substitute my own name for "Legion," and launch into learning a



foreign language using the best textbook of all, the Holy Bible.



The following are examples to help you get started in doing the



same. A native speaker can help you learn the rest even as you



help him or her learn the Good News! With G-d's help, soon



you'll be witnessing and even preaching in your new tongue and



preparing to go to the mission field!







(Learning Russian) Mark 5:9 What is your name? ___. ___ (is)



my name.







(Learning Modern Greek) ___What is your name?___is my name.



Gen. 42:? Where are you from? (native land/country--Jer. 22:



10)___ From the land of___ (Gen. 42:?). (Learning Modern Greek)



Where are you (p1.) from? (native country)___From the land of___



Write an essay in which you explain which foreign language you



feel G-d has called you to learn. Be sure to describe in detail



your strategy for language acquisition as you prepare to cross



that particular linguistic barrier as a bilingual



emissary of Moshiach's shlichut of the Besuras



HaGeulah. In your target language, develop conversational



dialogues (similar to the above) leading into the Besuras



Hageulah using Yochanan chapter 4 or other parts of the Bible



such as Pilate's question in Yochanan 18:38 "What is Truth?"



Don't forget Rom. 10:9 and other key evangelistic passages. Your



use of your Greek NT will be very important if the foreign



language NT you are using is a direct



tranalation of the original Greek. By looking first at the



Greek, then the foreign language translation of the Greek, then



the foreign language diotlonary, you will be able to guide



yourself a long (anointed) way into learning and using that



foreign languagen as a minister. For learning Russian, I would



recommend the English-Russian/Russian-English Dictionary by



Kenneth Katzner published by John Wiley and Sons, 1984. A



Russian Brit Chadasha Scriptures (or many other foreign language



Bibles or Brit Chadasha Scriptures) can be obtained from the



American Bible Society, 1865 Broadway, New York, NY 10023-9980



Telephone (212) 408-1499.















230. Write an essay completing this statement. "I know that G-d



wants me to enroll as a student of this virtual Messianic



Yeshiva because..."



























































(A parting word to Artists For Israel Institute from Phil Gable's



teacher, Dr. Donald McGavran, from a letter written, June 12,



1986.)







Dear Phil,







Enphasize in your writings that as long as the multiplication of



congregations is tied to the building of $200,000 edifices, Brit



Chadasha kehillah growth will remain minimal. In regard to the



school you are establishing, let me assure you that it is an



excellent idea. I believe G-d suggested it to you. However, do



make sure that academic excellence does not swallow up your main



thrust. Make sure that the graduates of your school not only



preach the Besuras HaGeulah through the arts but multiply



congregations. Build into your program a charting of the



effectiveness of all your graduates in winning talmidim to



Moshiach. Engage as professors or teachers only those who are



themselves actively engaged in multiplying congregations. Yes, I



agree. Do not seek accreditation. Let your record of



congregation multiplication commend your school. All good wishes.



The L-rd bless. Your comrade in Moshiach,



Donald McGavran







ENTRANCE EXAM ANSWER SHEET







PLACE YOUR ANSWERS HERE AND EMAIL THIS TO office@afii.org







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(Please fill out the following and email to office@afii.org or



mail through the post office your completed exam to Artists For



Israel Institute, P.O. Box 2056 New York City, New York 10163



U.S.A. Also fill out the following:







I, (NAME



(PLEASE PRINT)___________________________________________



2.COMPLETE



ADDRESS_______________________________________________ 3. CITY,



STATE, MAIL, CODE, COUTRY____________________________



4.AREA



CODE/TELEPHONE_____________________________________________



5.



HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT AFI



INSTITUTE?__________________________



6. LOCATION/NAME OF CONGREGATION YOU ARE A MEMBER



OF_____________



_________________________________________________________________



7. NAME OF YOUR SPIRITUAL LEADER OF YOUR



CONGREGATION, HIS



ADDRESS, AND PHONE THERE (ALSO ASK HIM TO SEND A



LETTER OF



RECOMMENDATION ON HIS OFFICIAL STATIONERY GIVING US



A LETTER OF



RECOMMENDATION REGARDING



YOU)____________________________________



_________________________________________________________________