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are pages studied by Messianic believers at our messianic yeshiva,
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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 1.___ 2. ___ 3. ___ 4. ___ 5. ___ 6.___ 7.___ 8.___ 9.___ 10.___11.___12.___ 13.___ 14.___15.___16.___17.___18.___ 19.___ 20.___ 21.___ 22.___ 23.___24.___25.___ 26.___27.___ 28.___ 29.___ 30.___31.___ 32.___ 33.___ 34.___ 35.___36.___ 37. 38.___ 39.___ 40. ___41.___ 42.___ 43.___ 44.___ 45.___ 46.___ 47.___ 48.___ 49.___ 50.___ 51.___ 52.___ 53.___ 54.___ 55. ___ 56.___ 57.___ 58.___ 59.___ 60.___61.___ 62.___ 63.___ 64.___ 65.___ _66.___ 67.___ 68.___ 69.___ 70.___ 71.___ 72.___ 73.___ 74.___ 75.___76.___ 77.___ 78.___ 79.___ 80.___ 81.___ 82.___ 83.___ 84.___ 85.___ 86.___ 87.___ 88.___ 89.___ 90.___ 91.___ 92.___ 93.___ 94.___95.____96.___ 97.___ 98.___ 99.___ 100.___ 101.___ 102. ___ 103. ___ 104. ___ 105. ___ 106.___ 107.___ 108.___ 109.___ 110.___ 111.___ 112.___ 113.___ 114.___ 115.___ 116.___ 117.___ 118.___119.___ 120.___ 121.___ 122.___ 123.___ 124.___ 125.___ 126.___127.___ 128.___ 129.___ 130.___131.___ 132.___ 133.___ 134.___ 135.___136.___ 137. 138.___ 139.___ 140. ___141.___ 142.___ 143.___ 144.___ 145.___ 146.___ 147.___ 148.___ 149.___ 150.___ 151.___ 152.___ 153.___ 154.___ 155. ___ 156.___ 157.___ 158.___ 159.___ 160.___161.___ 162.___ 163.___ 164.___ 165.___ _166.___ 167.___ 168.___ 169.___ 170.___ 171.___ 172.___ 173.___ 174.___ 175.___176.___ 177.___ 178.___ 179.___ 180.___ 181.___ 182.___ 183.___ 184.___ 185.___ 186.___ 187.___ 188.___ 189.___ 190.___ 191.___ 192.___ 193.___ 194.___ 195.____ 196.___ 197.___ 198.___ 199.___ 200.___ 201.___ 202. ___ 203. ___ 204. ___ 205. ___ 206.___ 207.___ 208.___ 209.___ 210.___211.___212.___ 213.___ 214.___215.___216.___217.___218.___ 219.___ 220.___ 221.___ 222.___ 223.___224.___225.___ 226.___ 227.___ 228.___ 229.___ 230. ____ (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)____________________________________ _________________________________________________________________
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