Marring the Image of the Creator Yehovah Through Rebelliousness-Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 4

by | Nov 16, 2024 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer-Torah Reading Thoughts and Reflections

Greeting and Introduction

 

Greetings saints of the Most High and welcome back to another installment of the Messianic Torah Observer. I’m Rod Thomas coming to you on a beautiful fall Shabbat in the DFW. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to fellowship with me on this blessed day of rest in Messiah Yeshua. And as always beloved, it is my hope, trust, and prayer that this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer finds you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed.

 

As I am posting these thoughts and reflections, it is the 13th Day of the 8th month of Yah’s biblical calendar year, which translates into the Sabbath Day, November 16, 2024.

 

This week’s Torah Reading — Parashah 4 — is contained in Genesis/Beresheit 5.1-6.8, with the Haftarah contained in Isaiah/YeshiYahu 30.8-15, and the Apostolic in Matthew/Mattiyahu 23.1-39. I’ve chosen to entitle this discussion: Marring the Image of the Creator (Yehovah) Through Rebelliousness.

 

Reading 4 Synopsis

 

Since our reading this week is rather long, I will first give a quick synopsis of the content of the Torah Portion, that I will then follow with my thoughts and reflections. As always, beloved, I would encourage you to read and reflect on the weekly parashot, not out of some rote/mechanical act of righteousness that these Torah Reading regiments so often engender in people. But immerse yourself in these weekly readings for yourself because they reveal to us the Person, Character, and Will of Yehovah. And since we call ourselves Yah’s people, we certainly want to be acutely aware of what Yehovah expects from us. Right?

 

Let’s get started with the synopsis.

 

(5.1) Yehovah made humankind in His likeness. What does being made in the likeness of Yehovah mean? It simply means that when Yah created Adam and Eve, He endowed them with several aspects of His Person and Character. And within the realm of endowing His human creation with His Person and Character, of all that Yah Created, humanity was tasked with carrying out His will and purpose on the earth. In fact, humanity is uniquely tasked with imaging Him upon the earth. What does that mean? Simply this: Humans are the pinnacle of Yehovah’s earthly creation. In being the pinnacle of Yehovah’s earthly creation, they are supposed to serve an elevated purpose of mirroring their Creator’s Person and character throughout this earthly plain.

 

In Torah Reading 3, the lineage of Cain was discussed: Cain-> Enoch (not the Enoch of Seth’s line) -> Irad -> Mehujael -> Methushael -> Lamech (the first polygamist) -> Jabal (tents), Jubal (musician), Tubal-Cain (metallurgy), Naamah (daughter).

 

(5.2) Yehovah made humankind into two genders: male and female. Both the man and woman were called Adam (Septuagint).

 

(5.3) Adam’s offspring were of his own likeness, according to his image. Yah chose to begin with Seth as Adam’s first child as opposed to Cain and or Abel. So, does this mean that every man and woman is not made in Yah’s image?

 

(5.4-5) Adam lived 930 years and fathered sons and daughters.

 

(5.6-32) Seth (912 years) -> Enosh/Enos (905 years) -> Kenan/Cainan (910 years) -> Mahalalel/Maleleel (895 years) -> Jared (962 years) -> Enoch (365 years). Enoch walked with God and then disappear because God took him away. What does this mean? Was Enoch translated and relocated to heaven? The Septuagint notes that Enoch was not found because God translated him. Or did he die? -> Methuselah (969 years) -> Lamech (777 years) -> Noah/Noe fathered Shem/Sem, Ham/Cham, and Japheth. Did a Lamech believe that his son Noah was the prophesied Messiah of Genesis 3.15?

 

(6.1-2) The sons of Elohim took unto themselves human wives.

 

(6.3) Yehovah declares that His breath of life would not remain within humankind indefinitely. But rather, humankind would remain for 120 years.

 

(6.4) The progeny of the sons of God and human women were the Nephilim. The Septuagint simply refers to the progeny of these as giants. Thus, this presented a major corruption in Yehovah’s creative order.

 

(6.5-8) Yehovah observed that humankind had become so corrupted that He regretted having made them. Thus, Yehovah decided to wipe humankind and every creature He had made from the face of the earth. But Noah found favor in the sight of God. What does it mean to find favor in the sight of Yehovah?

 

The Human Creation Corrupted Through Rebelliousness

 

Much of our reading this week has to do with the lineage of Seth. Reading 3 discusses Cain’s lineage. And so this week, what we, the Torah Observant disciple of Yeshua, are being exposed to is the preliminary genealogical pathway that Yah would have the serpent/nachash crusher take to intervene in the affairs of humanity. There’s the righteous Seth-lineage, of course, from which the Messiah would emerge. Then there’s the corrupt-evil Cain-lineage that would stand in opposition to the righteous Seth-line.

 

Now, this is not to say that the Seth-line did not ultimately fall into corruption. Indeed, according to Moses’ record, “Yehovah saw the dysfunctions of the human in the land was abundant, and all the thoughts of inventions of his heart was only dysfunctional everyday” … such that “Yehovah regretted that He made the human in the land, and He was distressed in His heart” (6.5-6; RMT).

 

Walking With Yehovah in an Exceptional Covenant Relationship

 

None of this is to say that Yehovah did not have a relationship with certain individuals along Seth’s lineage. The fact of the matter is that He most certainly had an exceptional relationship/fellowship with Enoch and Noah, both of who possessed righteous characters that especially resonated with Yah’s holy and righteous character. And these exceptional souls, in engaging Yehovah in a covenant relationship, served as an abrupt counter to the pervasive corruption of humankind. Not unlike the many incidents throughout human history, where certain individuals, as well as Yisra’el, distinguished themselves from the rest of the world because they elected to walk with Yehovah (5.23).

 

According to the biblical record, Adam, Eve, and Yeshua were the only humans to have been made in Yehovah’s image. The rest of humanity is made in the likeness of their human parents (5.3). Now, does this mean that Yah’s likeness or His image is completely absent in all of humanity? Absolutely not. There has and always will be an inherent physical and spiritual connection to the Creator of the Universe in every rational human being. Despite the scourge of sin that more times than not mars the physical and spiritual connection or image we possess with the Creator, Yehovah’s ultimate image remains intact in every soul. Therefore, every human life is precious in Yehovah’s eyes. Every human possesses a part of Yehovah that is indelibly embedded in their being.

 

Unfortunately, just as aspects and elements of Yehovah’s image are passed down to every individual through their parents, so is sin.

 

Humanity Possesses a Rebellious Heart

 

Torah teacher and president of Torah Resources specifies it is “the heart of rebellion” that is likewise transmitted (Studies in the Torah-Genesis; p. 38). Along with that rebellious heart, we have its penalty that is also “passed on to all humankind”, which is death (ibid., p. 38; reference Romans 5.12).

 

And so what Adam’s failure did to his posterity was to inject into every succeeding newborn child and succeeding generation, not an eternal, holy, and righteous human existence as was the original Garden of Eden plan, but a temporal existence that is weighed down by sin and sin’s effects — such as death, illness, violence, poverty, wickedness, evil, etc. — was injected into every succeeding human generation. Again, this was not the Creator’s original desire and plan and purpose for His human creation.

 

Indeed, the inherent tragedy we see here is the eternal image of Yehovah that man was supposed to bear throughout the earth had become horribly marred because of humanity’s unrestrained rebelliousness. And this tragedy persists even today beloved.

 

The electorate of this nation spoke over a week ago to support a return to some modicum of conservative values. And the once ruling liberal left have completely lost their minds at the thought of returning to such values. They vociferously rail against such thinking and vow to fight against and to hold tight to their rebellious ways in their wholesale rejection of the God of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov and His ways. And this wholesale rejection — this rebelliousness, if you will — against Yehovah is pejorative throughout the entire world. The world at large much prefers living in darkness than in the light of Yehovah and His ways. And that’s why my spirit has been uplifted in the last few days that so many people in such overwhelming numbers stood up with their votes in support, at least in part, for a return to conservative values. And I believe that before the End Times officially hits this world, this nation, because of the stand she just took, may experience one of the greatest revivals in its history. Or at least, this is my hope.

 

The Hope of Yah’s Plan B

 

Returning: Despite this seemingly hopeless reality that humanity found themselves in, Yehovah had a Plan B. The very conduit by which sin and death has reigned supreme on this planet — that being through the seed of the woman — would also bring an ultimate and permanent correction to this dire human situation. Through the seed of the woman would come the Mashiyach/Messiah — the serpent crusher — who would right all wrongs, rebuild the broken relationship that humanity once enjoyed with their Creator, and extinguish the scourge of death forever.

 

One of the brightest lights to emerge from Seth’s line was Enoch. So unique was Enoch in character and being, that Moses laid aside the lineal routine he employed to document the lives of Seth’s progeny. Moses employed the literary method of citing that so-and-so lived for so many years, then so-and-so fathered so-and-so, then so-and-so died at the ripe old age of hundreds of years old. But of Enoch, Moses simply wrote that Enoch walked with Yehovah 300-years (5.25). What an extraordinary testimony to record about someone’s life! Oh, if such an epithet be written about anyone of us with such simple sincerity and truth!.

 

 

What did Moses mean by the statement that Enoch walked with Elohim 300-years? What did or what would that have looked like?

 

Previously, Moses recorded that Yehovah Elohim walked in Gan/Garden Eden “in the cool of the day,” presumably to commune or engage Adam who, along with Eve, hid themselves from Yah’s presence (Gen 3.8).

 

Now, some scholars have postulated that Yehovah’s evening fellowship sessions with Adam were what is commonly referred to by scholars as a “theophany.” A theophany is defined as “a visible appearance of God to humans, in a manner that a human could more easily relate to” (Barry, John; Faith Life Study Bible).

 

If this is an accurate depiction of what took place in Genesis 3.8, then we have before us a rough understanding of what the personal relationship/fellowship Adam once enjoyed with the Creator looked like. Yehovah’s very presence in the Garden in close physical contact with His human creation: teaching; modeling; querying; and loving on Adam.

 

But was the caliber of relationship and fellowship that Enoch enjoyed with Yehovah similar to that of experienced by Adam? It’s impossible to tell from the scriptural text, but there would no doubt have been some similarities. For our reading does not say whether the Creator took on human form to commune and fellowship with Enoch. With Yehovah, anything is, of course, possible. Yehovah chose not to reveal what His fellowship with Enoch looked like. But what we can safely deduce from 5.24 is that of all the extant human souls of that day, Enoch stood out from them because Enoch had an elevated/exceptional fellowship and intercourse with Yehovah. Enoch’s fellowship with Yehovah was precious and intimate, unlike any such relationship between Yah and humankind since Adam in the Garden. And since Enoch enjoyed such an exceptional covenant relationship with Yehovah Elohim, it stands to reason that during those 300-years he took on Yah’s righteous character. Enoch would have been in-tune with the Creator, unlike any other human being of this day. Clearly, Enoch’s Godly character singled him out from all of his human peers who all endeavored to reflect the image of the enemy on the earth. Whether society of that day shunned Enoch because he imaged Yehovah on the earth is not made clear in the text. However, the extra-biblical apocryphal texts paint a portrait of Enoch as sort of a shadow-picture of Yeshua, who called unto Himself several followers, all of whom He lovingly disciples in the Ways of Yehovah.

 

The other aspect of the Enoch story that is not covered in the biblical text is the man’s role in sorting out the whole Watchers’ mess, as recorded in 6.1-4. It is, instead, the extra-biblical writing of I Enoch that goes into stark detail as it relates to the man’s role in being an intermediary between Yehovah and the fallen watchers. Again, we will bypass the story of the Watchers and Enoch’s role in that story until another time.

 

Enoch’s Reward for Walking With Yehovah

 

 

Regardless of how Enoch walked out his faith before and with Elohim, our text makes it clear that his transition from this earthly plane was unlike any of his human counterparts up to that point in all of human history. And I would argue that it was the extraordinary nature of Enoch’s walk with Yah that made Enoch’s transition from this earthly plane so unique. Of this transition, our text simply states that Enoch walked with God and he was no more, for God took him (5.24).

 

Of all the controversial texts of scripture, this one seems to split faith communities right down the middle: (1) That Enoch suddenly died a natural death with no record of what happened to his body. And (2) that Enoch was spontaneously translated into the spirit realm and whisked off into heaven or to paradise somewhere. This scriptural uncertainty causes somewhat of a chaotic situation for believers to be caught up in. In fact, just this past Sukkot in Kenya, whether Enoch and Elijah were translated to heaven or they simply died natural deaths, was posed by of one speaker who brazenly asserted that both men had simply died natural deaths. And this speaker’s proof-reference was John 3.13 which reads:

 

“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven” (KJV).

 

Interestingly, the speaker failed to acknowledge Hebrew 11.5, which reads:

 

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should NOT see death; and was not found because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (KJV).

 

From these verses, two phrases stand out:

 

(A) “…no man hath ascended up to heaven” (Joh 3.13). When interpreting, Yeshua’s words must be carefully taken into proper context. For the Master was talking to Nicodemus about the necessity for any who would enter eternal life to be “born again.” This issue about being born again became fused into a larger discussion about God’s people being able to discern spiritual, heavenly matters from carnal, earthly matters. Unfortunately, because Nicodemus could not understand such spiritual or heavenly matters, the central truth regarding the necessity of an individual to be born again was not penetrating the pharisee’s understanding. And so Yeshua, in trying to get Nicodemus to understand the concept of being born again through spiritual eyes, alerted the Pharisee to the fact that the concept of being born again was not a concept, like certain Greek philosophies and stories, that men say came from intrepid souls that journeyed up to heaven and brought back such lofty understanding. Regarding the truths that Yeshua was teaching Nicodemus, no human being — no one individual (“oudeis”) — has ever ascended up to heaven to receive and bring down to earth the things He — Yeshua — was revealing to the Pharisee that night. Only He, Yeshua, had been given such truths, and it was His to reveal to whomever He chose to reveal it. All of which is to say that the Master may have very well been making a passing reference to ancient Greek mythology (e.g., Homer or Virgil) that spun tales of humans embarking on fantastical journeys to unimaginable places to receive knowledge and experiences that would profoundly affect all of humanity. The Gnostics later told tales of humans receiving hidden or forbidden knowledge from heavenly beings (reference Borchert, Gerald; John 1-11-NAC Jn 1=11). In his statement that no man has ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, He was NOT referencing either Enoch or Elijah whatsoever. And this is why when we seek to interpret passages in the Holy Writ that we make sure we factor in that passage’s surrounding contextual information.

 

(B) “…Enoch was taken up so that he did not experience death … he was not found because God took him up” (Heb 11.5).

 

Of every human soul listed in Genesis 5, Enoch was the only one not given a death pronouncement, and the writer of Hebrews verifies that Enoch, because of his exceeding covenant relationship with His Creator, was spared death (reference Sirach 44.16; 49.14; Wisdom 4.10). This passage simply states that Yehovah TOOK Enoch! And all the apocryphal texts support this statement.

 

Now, the mechanics of Enoch’s taking or translation is a whole other discussion that I’m not looking to go into at this juncture. But suffice to say, when Yeshua returns for His bride, those that belong to Him just might experience a little of what Enoch and Elijah experienced.

 

Bottom line: Enoch, like Elijah, never experienced death. Both because of their exceptional relationship with Yehovah were spared the experience of death that every other human being throughout history has had to experience.

 

To twist scripture to support and promote some erroneous ideology that we’ve somehow developed in our pea brains over the course of our lives invites unforgivable opportunities that steer humanity away from the true Gospel message. Enoch’s unique story teaches us a lesson about the necessity for each of us to possess that unshakable hope.” That hope is to someday receive eternal life. And eternal life — overcoming death — maybe had by each of us who’ve determined to “walk exclusively with Elohim” in this life.

 

We today have a slight advantage over the likes of Enoch in our efforts to walk with Elohim. We, the elect of Yehovah, have Yah’s Word, Yahoshua’s sacrifice, and Yah’s Set-Apart Spirit to facilitate our walk.

 

Then we have at the very end of our reading the one who caught Yah’s eye because of his exceptional, righteous character. Unlike his great grandfather before him, this one was not only selected to enjoy a covenant relationship with Yehovah, he would be the means by which humanity would realize the hope of his predecessor, Enoch, before him. The passage simply states: And Noah found favor in the sight of Yehovah. And it is here where Yah’s Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of the Kingdom begin in earnest.

 

Haftarah Reading

 

Our haftarah reading is found in Isaiah 30.8-15. And at first blush, our haftarah reading seemed to me to have no attachment whatsoever to this week’s Torah Reading. But a secondary reading, along with some reflection on what the prophet was writing to his people, provided the following crossover themes:

 

  1. Rebelliousness: Yehovah, through the prophet, classified Judah as a rebellious people (30.9).

 

Rebellion in the Hebrew is “mer-riy’. It is an intentional defiance against Yehovah and His ways.

 

Rebelliousness can be described as contentiousness, even a bitterness against Yehovah. All of these descriptors describe the spiritual and physical state of Cain’s and much of Seth’s progeny. It’s a provocation of Yehovah by His human creation. How so?

 

Rational humans, as we’ve previously discussed, possess at least a modicum of Yehovah’s image and or character within their being. The Apostle Shaul confirms this truth in his letter to the Roman Messianic Assembly when he wrote:

 

(18) For the wrath of Elohim is revealed from heaven against all wickedness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (19) because that which is known of Elohim is manifest among them, for Elohim has manifested it to them. (20) For since the creation of the world His invisible qualities have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, both His everlasting power and mightiness, for them to be without excuse, (21) because, although they knew Elohim, they did not esteem Him as Elohim, nor gave thanks, but became vain in their reasonings, and their undiscerning heart was darkened (Rom 1; The Scriptures).

 

Yehovah equates the sin of rebelliousness with divination in 1 Samuel 15.24. And throughout most of the Tanakh writings, rebelliousness/mara/meriy, with just a small handful of exceptions, is specific to Yisra’el/Judah in some way or another, defying Yehovah and His ways.

 

The Theological Workbook of the Old Testament or TWOT beautifully delineates/breaks down specific actions that Yehovah sees as rebelliousness:

 

  1. Complaining (Num 17.10; 27.14).

 

  1. Challenging or defying Yehovah’s instructions (Psa 78.17; I Sam 12.15; I Kin 13.21, 26).

 

  1. One’s own propensity to transgress Yah’s instructions (Isa 3.8). In other words, most individuals simply do not have the heart or will to obey Yehovah despite that individual very well knowing what Yehovah expects of them. They simply choose not to obey.

 

 

  1. The prophet describes Judah as being children that refused to “shema” (i.e., to hear, listen, and obey) Yehovah’s instructions (Isa 30.9).

 

  1. Isaiah describes Judah as children who encouraged one another to transgress Yah’s Torah. Furthermore, these same individuals strongly urged their teachers and leaders to not properly divide Yah’s Words of Truth; to water-down Yah’s instructions in order to appease the peoples’ carnal sensibilities (30.10-11).

 

 

Yehovah, in identifying Judah’s corruptness — her rebelliousness — warns her through the prophet of His impending wrathful judgment. Yehovah promised to break the nation like a potter breaks one of his flawed vessels (30.14). But in His warning to Judah, Yehovah offered the rebellious ones a way out of His impending wrathful judgment: Teshuvah. In their teshuvah, they would be saved (30.15). In so doing, their virtue would be founded in their prevailing peaceful existence and in their trusting faith.

 

Tim Hegg exposits a brilliant nuance to Yah’s extended arm of grace to Judah, of which He always extends to His wayward children:

 

“In repentance and rest — the Hebrew term for rest is found in the same root as the name ‘Noah/Noach’ which is ‘nachat’ — in repentance (i.e., teshuvah) and nachat you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength. But you were not willing…” (ibid., p. 43). And as it is always the case when it comes to Yehovah’s wayward children, the only way to avoid the impending utter devastation of Elohim’s wrath is to teshuvah. This would come about as a genuine response to Yah’s extended grace. That teshuvah must include a shedding of all vestiges of rebelliousness from among the people, of which was always a show-stopper as it relates to maintaining a true covenant relationship with Yehovah.

 

The elimination of all vestiges of rebelliousness in our lives involves us having a complete trusting faith in the Persons of Yehovah and His Messiah. For when we successfully turn our lives entirely over to Yah through a complete and genuine act of trusting-faith through Yeshua, we for the first-time get to experience true peace — shalom — rest — quietness — an outflow of the complete or whole salvation or Yeshua of the Elohim of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’achov (ibid., p. 43).

 

This call for His creation to return to Him and His ways has persisted throughout the ages. However, the state of the human heart, which Yah described as “only evil continually” (Gen 16.5).

 

 

Sadly, as the end of Isaiah 30.15 declares, most are not willing to accept that grace, peace/shalom, and rest that Yehovah has always freely offered to humanity. The failure point seems to always be the depraved nature of the human heart. This being the case, the only hope for humanity is to undergo spiritual heart surgery: whereby that stony-rebellious heart is replaced with a Godly heart of flesh. That heart of flesh abhors and resists rebelliousness, and it seeks to please Elohim at all costs.

 

Our Apostolic Reading

 

It is here where our apostolic reading picks up. Yeshua, amid His Sermon on the Temple Mount, just a couple or so days before His Passion, lays before His disciples and the throng of souls who’d assembled on the Temple Mount ahead of Passover that year, the line of separation between Yah’s Ways and the depraved ways of man and his religions. The Master picked apart with surgical precision the many failure points of Judah’s religious leaders and the burden that the religious leaders’ systems placed upon the people. The religious leaders’ supposed fence around Torah was nothing more than an impenetrable gate that prevented the people, as well as their religious leaders, from making it into the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 23.13). The rule of Torah, which is Yehovah’s loving instructions in righteous living, were replaced with vain worship of Yehovah that consisted of rabbinic/manmade doctrines, precepts, and teachings. And this subordination of Yah’s supreme Words of life and truth to the contrived traditions of man is a clever act of rebellion. And Yehovah, as we’ve been discussing here, hates rebelliousness. That flawed, rebellious heart (i.e., a “yetzer ra”) must be replaced with a pliable, obedient, loving heart (i.e., a “yetzer tov”) that completely and wholly trusts in the Creator of the Universe. And it is upon the “yetzer tov” that Yehovah’s Set Apart Spirit inscribes His eternal and holy Words of Life and Truth: Yah’s Torah. Such is Yah’s amazing grace at work.

 

Conclusion and Call to Action

 

 

So, beloved, let us take/strip off all vestiges of rebelliousness from our lives today by finally turning our whole being over to Yehovah through the Person and Ministries of Yeshua Messiah. In so doing, we will open our hearts to a miraculous spiritual transformation that ultimately will result in Yah inscribing His Torah onto our hearts and minds, His Spirit residing within our being, and He becoming our all-in-all.

Was Eve the First Messianic and the Heart of True Worship — Thoughts & Reflections on Torah Reading 3

by | Nov 8, 2024 | Blog

Greetings Saints of the Most High.

 

I pray that you, your families, and fellowships are well and blessed.

 

It was my intention to do, at the very least, an audio version of this teaching and discussion. However, since our return from our Kenyan missionary trip, I’ve been down with a severe flu. Today makes a full week since I first began feelings flu symptoms. As I’m posting this installment, I’ve lost my voice, although I am over most of the other flu-related symptoms I had been battling this past week.

 

I had thought to fore-go posting this discussion/teaching. But since I had already put preparatory work into it, it seems good to me to publish this as a blog post.

 

Our Study Text

 

I have titled this teaching “The Heart of Worship and Was Eve the First Messianic?” It embodies some of my thoughts and reflections on the 3rd Reading of our 3-year Torah Reading Cycle. I have taken the text from Genesis/Beresheit 4:1-26. For purposes of this teaching, we will focus only on verses 1 through 7 which reads as follows:

 

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” (Gen 4:1-7 ESV)

 

The Birth of Cain and Abel

 

4.1-2. The birth of Cain and Abel. Cain means to acquire and Abel means vanity. Abel was a keeper of sheep, while his brother Cain was a tiller of the ground. “Sarna (Nahum M.) regards agriculture as the original occupation.”

 

Michael Carasik, in his 2018 book Introduction and Commentary to Genesis, points out an interesting fact. Carasik points out that the Tanakh always connects subsequent births to their respective fathers. However, in the passage we are focusing on, Carasik notes that Cain and Abel are discussed in relation to their mother. Again, there may be something to the prophecy of Genesis 3.15 that Yah rendered specifically to the nachash/the serpent:

 

14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

(Gen 3:14-15 ESV)

 

Was Eve the First Messianic?

 

Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, author of Messianic Christology, contends that a proper transliteration of the Hebrew for 4.1 is: “And the man knew Eve his wife, she conceived and bare Cain and said, ”I have gotten a man: Yehovah.”

 

Fruchtenbaum says that Eve believed that the event of her bearing Cain was a fulfillment of the Genesis 3:15 prophecy. She believed that her first-born was Mashiyach/Messiah, or the promised One. It would become clear to her she was mistaken with the birth of Abel, her second son, whom she named “vanity.” Some English translations incorrectly render this verse as “I have gotten a man with the help of Yehovah.” Clearly this construction is a scribal invention meant to steer the reader in a direction away from a possible Messianic application. The Aramaic-based Jerusalem Targum records Eve as declaring: “I have gotten a man: the angel of Yehovah,” while the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan records Eve as saying: “I have gotten for a man the angel of the Lord.” Then there is the Targum Onkelos, which records Eve as declaring of Cain that he was “from before the Lord.” Clearly these renderings lean towards an understanding of the supernatural. Although I have a difficult time buying that Tanakh references to the “Angel of the Lord” being the pre-incarnate Yeshua Messiah, I cannot deny that Eve may have been perceiving the birth of her first son from a fulfillment of the Genesis 3.15. I would concede that conceivably, the mysterious “Angel of the Lord” that features prominently in the Tanakh may have been an angel Yah created as a foreshadow or precursor to Yeshua Messiah. The Midrash Rabbah on Genesis 22.2 comments on Genesis 4.1 that “it might imply that she (Eve) had begotten the Lord.” Whatever credence we may give to Fruchtenbaum as it relates to a possible Messianic connection to Eve naming her firstborn son, Cain, we cannot dismiss the likelihood that Yah’s prophecy of Genesis 3.15 left a serious impression on her and as she bore Cain, it is certainly conceivable her heart and mind went back to that historic event in the Garden. To our first parents, defeat of the nachash would have been at the forefront of their hearts and minds. And if Eve truly entertained Messianic thoughts for Cain, that he became the first murderer would have crushed those hopeful thoughts. And of course, history bears out that indeed this would be the case for her.

 

So, was Eve the first Messianic in recorded biblical history? I would say, why not? Who else better than Eve at the point in human history would still reel from her and her husband’s expulsion from Gan Eden? Indeed, it would not be hard to imagine that the expulsion haunted her for years and the prophecy Yah made regarding her husband, the serpent, and her would have been at the forefront of her mind every day. And no doubt, when she gave birth to Cain, she immediately thought: “This must be the promised serpent/nachash crusher.” Sadly for Eve, however, the promised serpent/nachash crusher would not come on the scene of human history for another four millennia.

 

The Heart of True Worship

 

In verses 3 through 7, the story of Cain and Abel takes a tragic turn. On one fateful day, Cain offered unto Yehovah a selection of his produce, while Abel offered the firstling of his flock and their fat portions. The text that the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell (4.4-5).

 

If the apocryphal book of Jasher is to be believed, it records that Yehovah showed His acceptance of Abel’s offering/sacrifice by consuming Abel’s sacrifice on the altar where it lay with a fire from heaven (1:15) The reason Yehovah did not favor Cain’s sacrifice was because it comprised inferior fruit from the ground before Yah (1:26). Jasher discusses how Cain’s jealousy towards his brother over this incident led Cain to commit premeditated manslaughter. Jasper goes into great detail about the verbal altercation that preceded Cain’s slaying of his brother, which we can only note with caution (1:17-23). Seems the dispute between the brothers, according to Jasher, ran deeper than Yehovah’s acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice over Cain’s. The very ground Cain tilled to grow his produce would, from that time forward, deny him its increase. He would be a wanderer on the earth till his death.

 

Over the years, I’m sure you, like me, have come across several teachers and preachers who’ve been quick to offer reasons they believe Yehovah decline to accept to accept Cain’s offering/sacrifice:

  • God only accepted animal sacrifices, but Cain’s offering comprised produce.
  • The way Cain offered his sacrifice was incorrect.
  • Cain’s inherent evil made any sacrifice or offering to Yehovah unacceptable.

 

Our text doesn’t explicitly address why God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. Contextually speaking, however, I firmly believe the answer to this conundrum is clear from the text.

 

Since Yah is a God who searches the heart of man (reference 1 Sam 16.7; 1 Chr 28.9; Jer 17.10; Jer 29.3; Rom 8.27) — examines the intentions of His human creation, the outcome of this story suggests Yah declined Cain’s offering because of the negative state of the man’s heart towards honoring and obeying Yehovah. The consistency of Cain’s offering (i.e., produce) in relation to that of Abel’s offering (i.e., the firstling and fat of his flocks) had absolutely nothing to do with Yah’s refusal or acceptance of the brothers’ sacrificial offerings.

 

Of this central truth, Tim Hegg wrote:

“The point of the narrative…is not that produce offered to God is less acceptable than livestock, but that the heart motivation in giving the offering is the deciding factor” (Hegg, T., Commentary on Genesis; p. 33).

 

How do we know that this far-reaching observation is true? Well, our text goes into some detail as it relates to Abel’s gift, which Yehovah ultimately accepted:

“And Abel also presented an offering — some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions” (4.4; CSB).

We know from the instructions Yah gave the Levitical Priests that the choicest portion of any animal offering/sacrifice was its fat, and the fat of the animal sacrifice would always go to Yah foremost, as well as Abel offered the firstling of His flock — the best of the best of his flocks. It was the fat and the best of Abel’s flocks that featured prominently in his gift to Yehovah on that fateful day. Conversely, the text rather blandly states that “Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD” (4.3; KJV). Nothing distinguished Cain’s gift from that of Abel’s choice gift, both of which were obvious reflections of both men’s hearts. Rote habit and duty steered Cain’s motivation (i.e., going through the motions of worship as taught to him, no doubt by Adam, his father). Abel’s motivation, on the other hand, was “a gift of worship which spoke from his heart” (Hegg, T.; p. 34).

In reflection, these two scenarios put into beautiful perspective the contrasts that will always exist between humanity’s efforts to render worship unto Yah: Do we worship the Great I Am because we feel it’s our duty and responsibility to do so, absent any true adoration for Him; making up the rules for that worship as we go? Or do we worship Yah because we love and adore Him and His Ways and we would rather do anything else but be in His presence? What drives our worship of Yehovah is a question we all must answer and come to terms with. For whichever motivation drives our worship determines whether we catch Yah’s attention; whether He accepts our sacrifices of praise and our physical gifts of worship or not.

 

Because Abel displayed such a loving and pure heart in his worship of Yah, Jewish wisdom referred to him as righteous (Mat 23.55; Heb 11.4; Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews 2.1.53).

 

And so it was, Yehovah regarded (i.e., regard in the Hebrew being “sha’ah” which means to turn and look) Abel’s sacrifice, but Yah did not turn and look upon Cain’s offering. Yehovah deemed Cain’s offering unacceptable.

 

When we go through the motions of honoring and worshiping Yah that our hearts’ motivations are absent from our worship efforts, we are effectively “inventing” our own form of worship (i.e., p. 34). Such invented forms of worship do not interest Yah. Indeed, believers show their genuine, heart-centered worship of Yehovah by living their daily lives in Messiah. Unfortunately, denominationalism has effectively shifted the attention of so many to the church building or meeting places as the fulfillment and symbol of all worship of Yehovah. However, the truth is that true worship of Yah is firmly rooted in the Messianic’s/Netsari’s day-to-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute walk in Messiah. Yah cherishes and honors the elect one’s worship because their unique existence is rooted in the deep and high commitment of their loving, obedient, covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe. And if the elect one’s relationship with Yah is flawed, or if there is no viable relationship between Yehovah and a would be believer, any precipitative worship would be like Cain’s worship. Obviously, Abel enjoyed a true and loving-obedient-substantive relationship with Yehovah, while Cain’s relationship with Yah was likely challenged, if not absent altogether.

 

Closing

 

I pray this brief study discussion blessed you as much as it blessed me putting it together for you. Abba willing, our next posting will include audio. But until that time, beloved, may you be most blessed, fellow saints in training. Shabbat Shalom. Shavu’atov. Take care.

 

 

 

My Thoughts and Reflections on Whether Messianics/Netsarim Should Take Part in the Upcoming Electoral Process

by | Nov 3, 2024 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

Greetings

Greetings saints of the Most High. I’m Rod Thomas coming to you from the DFW on a rather stormy first day of the week. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to fellowship with me and as always beloved, it is my hope, trust, and prayer that this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer finds you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed.

 

Upcoming Election

As I am posting these thoughts and reflections, it is Sunday, November 3, 2024. This being the case, we are just two days away from the 2024 Presidential Elections.

What I believe to be at stake in this election is the very soul of these United States of America. What do I mean by the very soul of these United States is at stake in this election? Simply this: The American people laid out before them a choice between entering a season of complete and utter darkness and the potential for entering a season of truth and light. And what do I mean by complete and utter darkness and the potential for truth and light? One political party has made it clear that it is not interested in upholding and promoting any biblically moral standards in their quest for supreme power over the citizens of this nation. While the other political party, although not perfect in its moral standing, seeks to at least make some provision in upholding and promoting biblically moral standards in this nation.

 

No, Not One…

It would be naïve, if not entirely foolish, for me, or any other Messianic/Netsari, to say that one political party is the paragon of biblical morality in this nation. The fact of the matter is that scripture clearly notes that all of humanity is fatally flawed.

2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psa 14:2-3; cf. 53.2; KJV)

9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;  10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Rom 3:9-12 KJV)

Despite the reality of these critical, sobering verses of Holy Writ, we must still face an even greater reality that we who claim to be citizens of the Kingdom — Netsarim — Nazarene Yisra’elites — Messianics — must live in this world while at the same time not be of this world (Joh 17.14-16; Rom 12.2). And it is this greater spiritual reality that presents the tumultuous challenge within every true disciple of Yeshua Messiah; knowing that politicians are prone to lie and put their own self-interests ahead of their constituents and at the end of the day, many, if not most, of them do not have a true relationship with the Creator of the Universe. So, how does a dyed in the wool disciple of Yeshua rationalize these troublesome realities in terms of whether he or she should take part in the upcoming electoral process?

 

Past Convictions

Several election-cycles ago, I had firmly concluded that no true Messianic/Netsari/Nazarene Yisra’elite, knowing the inherent moral problems associated with all politicians, could with any level of righteous conscience take part in an electoral process. To do so would defy Yehovah and His purpose, plans, will. At the heart of my hard and fast conviction on this issue were the words of the Apostle Paul, who wrote to the Roman Assembly of Messianic Believers:

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. (Rom 13:1-4 KJV)

21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: 22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. (Dan 2:21-22 KJV)

For me the irresistible question was, if I were to vote for a particular candidate that Yehovah was NOT intending to put into power, would I be kicking against the pricks (Act 9.5; 26.14)? Would I be taking a stand, ignorantly, against the Almighty on this matter?

Did not the Apostle to the Gentiles, write to his young protege at the time that: 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier (2Ti 2:4 KJV)?

 

A Misapplication of Scripture

Indeed, all of these, what I once believed to be support passages for my position against voting for political candidates, provide us a glimpse into the sovereignty of our Creator over the affairs of man, as well as that Timothy passage encourages the child of the Most High to limit his/her involvement in the affairs of this life for the benefit and promotion of the coming Kingdom of Yah. But do these passages reveal the whole and end of the story? Do these passages truly cast a dim view of Netsarim/Messianics taking part in this nation’s electoral processes?

 

One Scripture

We who have been in this Faith for any length of time and who possess at least of basic knowledge of the bible know that scripture must agree with scripture. In other worlds, scripture must not only interpret itself, it must also be in complete harmony with itself. One passage of scripture cannot disagree with another passage of scripture. Right? If such a situation were to exist, then the whole viability of scripture would be in question and our Faith would be in peril. Praise Yah that this situation does not, nor could it, exist.

That being said, if scripture truly leans towards believers not taking part in the electoral processes of this nation, how do we rationalize God’s people throughout scripture, holding positions of power within and over pagan nations throughout history? Consider these examples:

  1. Joseph ruling as a Wazir over Egypt (Gen 41).
  2. Moses, before he was exiled from Egypt (Exo 2).
  3. King David ruled over Israel and the pagan nations of the region in peace (1 Chr 23).
  4. King Solomon rules over Yisra’el and the pagan nations in peace (1 Kin 4).
  5. Yehovah referred to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II as His servant (Jer 25.9; 27.6).
  6. Daniel served as an administrator of the Babylonian Court (Dan 6).
  7. Mordecai served as second-in-command to King Ahasuerus (Est 10.3).
  8. Esther served as queen over the Babylonian Empire (Esther).

 

Yah has shown in His Word that He is not above placing His people in positions of power, even placing His people in positions of power over pagan nations such as Egypt and Babylon. And if Yah has shown that He will place His people in positions of power over pagan nations, who are we to operate in isolation against the elected officials of this nation?

The Duty of Yeshua’s Disciples

The other issue that is related to the question of believers taking part in this nation’s electoral process has to do with turning a blind eye, heart, and mind to sin. As the righteous disciples of Yeshua HaMashiyach, we are called to be sin aware (Mat 5.3). If we as righteous disciples of Yeshua are sin aware — we are spiritually and physically aware of the devastating power of sin to humanity and we have it within our power — to some degree — seek to mitigate the profligation or prevalence of sin in our midst — does it not stand to reason that we would do so?

There is no secret in this nation that one of the political parties seeking to install their presidential candidate into office, openly and firmly promotes a sin-ladened agenda for the American people. That liberal party supports and promotes:

  • Antisemitism
  • Anti-Faith
  • The LGBTQ Agenda
  • Unrestrained murder of the unborn. This is nothing less than the national worship of Moloch.
  • Anti-Second Amendment
  • Pro-Islamic Agenda.
  • Anti-First Amendment (silence one’s opposition at all costs).
  • Pro-Illegal Immigration and the Culling of the American Population.
  • Promotion of racism.
  • Promotion of the Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Agenda which is right out of the Marxists’ playbook.
  • Etc.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the conservative political party seeking to install their candidate into the Office of the President of the United States is holy and righteous. As we mentioned previously, all are filthy, and no one doeth good. But we who are disciples of Yeshua are supposed to be filled with Yah’s precious indwelling Spirit, which leads us to be sin aware. That being the case, the sin aware disciple of Yeshua Messiah must be led by Yah’s indwelling Spirit and conduct themselves in an exceeding righteousness that promotes the Kingdom of Elohim. These individuals must seek to promote goodness, peace, justice, mercy, grace, truth, and love for their Elohim and their fellow man/woman. Thus, it stands to reason that taking part in the electoral processes of this nation for promoting and installing into power the political party that best embodies these Godly principles becomes the de facto, moral responsibility of the Netsarim/Nazarene Yisra’elite. The one who calls themselves a Child of the Most High who knowingly stands on the side of and promotes the Kingdom of Darkness agenda, for whatever reason, cannot be a true Netsari/Messianic/Nazarene Yisra’elite. It’s that simple. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing and are not true members of the Body of Messiah. In fact, it is absolutely doubtful that these deluded individuals even possess Yah’s Set-Apart Spirit.

Yeshua taught:

17“So every good tree yields good fruit, but a rotten tree yields wicked fruit. 18“A good tree is unable to yield wicked fruit, and a rotten tree to yield good fruit. 19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20“So then, by their fruits you shall know them— The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Mt 7:17–20.

The Apostle Shaul counseled:

11But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone called ‘a brother,’ if he is one who whores, or greedy of gain, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), 1 Co 5:11.

Time is Short

The other thing that we must be cognizant of as it relates Netsarim/Nazarene Yisra’elites/Messianics taking part in the electoral processes of this nation is that we, as Yeshua’s emissaries/ambassadors/disciples, are to be about the business of the Kingdom. There is no secret that time is short, and it becomes more and more evident each day that we are likely living in the Last Days. If we are indeed coming upon the Last Days, our work of promoting the coming Malchut Elohim — the Kingdom of Elohim — is even more critical. We must have every reasonable opportunity to work while it is still day, knowing the night cometh when no man/woman can work (Joh 9.4). If we as God’s elect decide to support, promote, and through our votes, install the presidential candidate that stands on the side of the Kingdom of Darkness, we may be cutting off our noses to spite our faces. It behooves us to act in accordance with the leading of Yah’s Ruach HaKodesh and vote for the candidate that will best foster an environment that is conducive to our doing the essential work of the Gospel.

 

Let us Do the Right Thing

And so, I simply encourage each of us to seek Yah’s will for our lives as it relates to the matter of His people taking part in the electoral process of this nation. Indeed, some of us may be led not vote for either candidate. And of course, many of us will be led to vote for the presidential, senatorial, and congressional candidates that best align with the principles of the Malchut Elohim and the work of the Gospel.

May Yah’s Spirit lead us to do the right thing in this matter and lead us unto all good works, and may Yah have mercy upon this nation.

 

When Torah Becomes a Witness Against Us — My Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 148

by | Sep 6, 2024 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

These are my thoughts and reflections on Torah Reading 148. I’ve been led to entitle this discussion: When Torah Becomes a Witness Against Us.” Our reading this week is found in Deuteronomy/Devarim 31.14-30.

 

Key Themes and Concepts Found in our Parashah this Week

Yehovah Formally Commissions Yehoshua. Yah directs an official change in our human leadership (i.e. from Moshe to Yehoshua). Yah addresses Moshe and Yahoshua in the form of column of cloud at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting (aka “o’hel moedim“) (31.14-15). Why at the sanctuary’s entrance as opposed to any other place in the camp? Yah is consistent in all of His holy and righteous ways. Everything He does, He does in a purposeful and orderly fashion. Furthermore, by calling the two leaders out before the “o’hel moedim“, Yah was effecting this historic transfer of human leadership and power in view of the entire nation. I point you to this Torah passage for clarification: 9 ⌊And⌋ at the entering of Moses into the tent the column of cloud would descend and stand at the opening of the tent, and he would speak with Moses. 10 And all the people would see the column of cloud standing at the opening of the tent, and all the people would rise and bow in worship, each at the opening of his tent. 11 And Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his neighbor. And he would return to the camp, and his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the middle of the tent. W. Hall Harris III, Elliot Ritzema, et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Ex 33:9–11.Transparency is the name of the game when it comes to our God. He leaves no doubt where He stands in the minds of His people. Thus, there would be no backdoor deals conducted in the dark — shifts in leadership and power that could easily lead to non-stop conspiracy theories such as that which we recently witnessed here in our nation’s government.

 

The Future Apostacy of Yisra’el. Yah informs Moshe that after his impending death (i.e., “sokeb“– death in this case conceived as him lying down to sleep with his ancestors), we would “arise” (i.e., “qam'” — that is, we would rebel) against Yehovah. And our rebellion against Yehovah would take the form of our taking up the worship of the Canaanite gods. Yah described our impending apostacy as “playing the prostitute” (i.e., “‘am zanah“) after foreign gods (i.e., “‘elohim“) (31.16). Yah’s description of our impending apostacy being likened unto prostituting ourselves plays heavily upon the realities associated with our marital relationship with Him. And in every metaphorical sense, when we take up foreign god worship, we are committing [spiritual] adultery. No marriage can truly remain intact when one or both parties engage in infidelity. Yah views our engagement in idolatry as forsaking Him. And despite the fact that the vast majority of people of faith do not engage in idol worship today per se, we must ask ourselves what things have we given ourselves to that equates to our forsaking our Heavenly Father and the covenant relationship we are supposed to share with Him? Pornography; fornication and adultery; drugs and alcohol; entertainment; personal possessions and the pursuit of wealth; the pursuit of fame.

 

Yah described Himself to us as being a jealous God who will not tolerate our engaging in foreign god worship of any form or fashion (Exo 34.13-14). In fact, so high was the risk that we would fall prey to the lure of adopting the Canaanites’ gods that Yah commanded us to not cut covenants with the inhabitants of the Land so as a preventative move (Exo 34.15-17). Clearly, associating with pagans and inquiring about their worship practices comes with tremendous spiritual risks. The penalty for any who would engage in false god worship is to cause Yah’s face to be hidden from us (31.18) and to incur Yah’s wrath against them and to be cut off from among the congregation of Yisra’el (31.17; Lev 20.5). And certainly, we did not listen, and we played the prostitute as Yah warned and prophesied (Jug 21.17; 8.33; Hos 1.2). But despite our stiffnecked and adulterous ways, Yah promised to remain true to the covenant He cut with us in order to honor the promises He made with our patriarchs and to bring glory to His holy and righteous Name (Hos 3.1).

 

Yah’s Reactions to our Spiritual Prostitution. There are natural consequences that come with abandoning Yah’s instructions in righteousness. Yah declares curses will overtake us when we elect to go our own way and reject His commandments (Deu 28.15-68). But that’s not where our problems end, because at the end of the day, beloved, we who are in a covenant relationship with Yah must contend with Him as a consequence of transgressing His Torah.

 

Bit by bit throughout His Torah (that must include the Prophets and the Writings), our Heavenly Father graciously reveals to us His steadfast and awesome nature and holy character. Here in our reading, Yah reveals to us what His reaction will be to our future idolatrous behavior:

  1. Yah Has a Righteous Temper. If we rebel against Him and “play the prostitute after foreign gods” of the land which we dwell, Yah declares that His anger will flare up against us. We then effectively become the object of Yah’s wrath. His wrath would bring “great harm and distress” upon us (Merrill, Eugene H.; Deuteronomy-NACDt). And we most certainly saw this come to fruition throughout our history in response to our stiffnecked persona and our failure to properly keep covenant with our Elohim. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown describes such an eruption of Yah’s anger toward us when we forsake Him for foreign gods as a “withdrawal of the divine favor and protection” (Brown, David et al; Commentary; 1997). And it will be through such harsh divine intervention that the realities of our evil ways will sink into our thick skulls.

 

  1. Yah Does Not Stay Where He’s Not Wanted. Part and parcel of Yah’s wrath against us will be that He forsakes us and Hides His face from us (31.17). As just mentioned, the natura; consequence of being on the receiving end of Yah’s holy and righteous wrath or anger is that His divine mercies are lifted or removed from us. In my commentary on the horrific October 7th invasion of Hamas terrorists against our Jewish cousins in the state of Israel, I mentioned I believed Yah had lifted His divine protection of her on that terrible day. Unfortunately, this concept seems to match up with what Yah has promised will happen when His people forsake the covenant He shares with them and they rebel and whore themselves after the ways of this world. And let us not be ignorant of the realities that the flaring of our Creator’s wrath and Him turning His face from us is not limited to the nation state of Yisra’el. Such calamity is certain to happen to each of us who abandons the covenant relationship He cut with us through Yahoshua and then pursue the ways of this world. We cannot afford to stand against the wiles of our archenemy without His presence. And to lose His presence because of our foolishness and our stubbornness is a total tragedy. So many in our faith community even today are currently enduring tremendous sufferings and trials and such and one who is on the outside looking in would have to wonder, why aren’t these individuals living the abundant life that Yahoshua Messiah promised them? But the answer to that question is quite simple to understand: Many of us who enter a true and substantive covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe through the Person and ministries of our glorious Master Yahoshua Messiah eventually play the prostitute against the Great I Am by abandoning or violating the terms of our covenant agreement with Him. And when we abandon or violate the terms of that covenant agreement we have with Yehovah, we stand to incur His wrath and His distancing from us. Of this the Jewish scribe Ibn Ezra notes that we become ready prey for the enemy” (Carasik, M.; Deuteronomy: Introduction and Commentary-TCB JPS Dt). Cassik notes what I find to be a fascinating perspective on this key issue and concept of Yah turning His face from us when we turn away from Him for foreign gods: “Out of love, like a man whose son has sinned. He tells the son’s master to whip him but cannot bear to watch” (Bekhor Shor). “My Providence will abandon them, leaving them ready for disaster.” This threat is worse than any of the previous ones (e.g., curses and wrathful anger), since all the previously threatened evils would come to them by way of reproach; this is simply abandonment (Gersonides)” (ibid.).

Indeed, some challenges that members of our Faith community go through are tests — trials — designed to mold, strengthen, correct us throughout the time of our sanctification. However, there are those hardships and challenges that many of us face because we’ve elected to take on the yoke of this world and abandon Yah and the covenant we share with Him. That’s why it is so important that we stay close to Yah and operate in His Set-Apart Spirit. When we do so, we mitigate any chance of our straying from the terms of the covenant we share with Yah and we are not so easily drawn to the ways of this world that if we grab hold them will lead to a loss of Yah’s presence in our lives and the tragic effects of His anger that is revealed against us.

References to all that we’ve just discussed may be found in Deuteronomy/Devarim 6.15; Judges 2.14; 6.13; Isaiah 8.17; 59.2; 64.7; Eze 39.23; etc.

Consider this defining passage:

Now Azariah the son of Oded—the Spirit of God came upon him. 2 And he went out before Asa and said to him, “Hear me, O Asa and all of Judah and Benjamin! Yahweh is with you while you are with him. And if you will seek him he will be found by you. But if you forsake him he will forsake you. 3 Now Israel has been without the true God many days, and without a teaching priest, and without law, 4 but at its trouble he returned to Yahweh, the God of Israel. They sought him, and he was found by them. 5 And in those times there was no peace for the one going out and the one coming in, for great tumults were upon all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 Nation was crushed by nation, and city was against city, for God threw them into confusion by all sorts of trouble. 7 But as for you, be strong and let not your hands be weak, for there is reward for your labor.” W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), 2 Ch 15:1–7.

 

Our God Always Sees the End From the Beginning But He Still Cares. Knowing that after we take possession of the Land of Promise, we will quickly turn our backs to Yehovah in our pursuit of the gods of Canaan, He reaches out to us and gives us a tool that is intended to help mitigate our transgression of His Torah and the covenant we share with Him. He dictates to Moshe a song (a “si-rah”), and depending on which English translation you’re using, a hymn or poem, that He intended to be sung or recited by us “as a witness against us” when we would eventually stray from Him and His ways (31.19). This song or poem that Moshe and Yehoshua were to teach us (i.e., to put it this song in their mouths means to have us memorize it) (Tigay, Jeffrey; The JPS Torah Commentary on Deuteronomy) and it would become for us “an explanation of our betrayal of Yehovah our Elohim” (Faithlife Study Bible; John Barry et. al.). Now, we won’t get into this song or poem in this Torah Reading because it is reserved for Torah Reading 149.

 

This Torah concept of something being used as a “witness against us” forces us to appreciate the heaviness of the Prophetic Words of Yehovah. Because we did not always have at our ready disposal Yah’s Torah, such inventions as poems or songs served as perpetual memorials to us. According to Jeffrey Tigay in his JPS Torah Commentary on Deuteronomy, this song or poem would serve as proof “that events were foretold prevents their misinterpretation. The poem will testify that God had treated Israel with justice and kindness, but that Israel betrayed Him (see 32:1–18, esp. vv. 4–5). If the people’s words in verse 17 represent a complaint that God had violated His promise to remain with them, the poem will rebut their charge, showing that God abandoned them for just cause.” According to the Jewish sage Obadiah ben Ya’achov Sforno: “When the disaster comes, the poem will prevent them from thinking that it was an accident; when they realize that it was caused by their behavior, they will repent.”

 

When national songs are taken to heart by the people of a nation, they “stir up deep feelings” within the nation’s people (JFB et al.). And this is indeed what Yah desperately wanted from us in the inevitable event that we rebelled against Him and went prostituting ourselves after the Canaanite gods. When such times came, He wanted us to stop, take assessment of our transgressions against Him and His Torah, and return to Him.

 

Today, we don’t necessarily have to learn this and other poems and songs verbatim as a tool to help wake us up when we forsake Yah and His ways and the dire necessity for us to turn back to Him before tragedy strikes (31.21). We are blessed to have in our possession the whole of Yah’s Words of Life and Yah’s precious Ruach HaKodesh (aka His Set-Apart Spirit) to bring such things to our memory and to lead us back into Yah’s good graces when we stray.

 

Indeed, Yah knows the end from the beginning. He told us: “For I know their inclination that they are having ⌊today⌋ before I have brought them into the land that I swore.”W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Dt 31:21. It is only human nature to erroneously think that we are immune to erring in our walk (aka our halachah). But Yah knows how we are and He knows what we are capable of doing. And so, in giving us a reason for the song or poem He was about to give Moshe and Yehoshua, He prophesied: “For when I bring them into the land that I swore to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, ⌊they will eat their fill⌋, and they will become fat, and then they will turn to other gods, and they will serve them, and they will spurn me, and they will break my covenant” W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Dt 31:20.

 

Why is it that when we are find ourselves abundantly blessed of Yah that we are the most prone to sinning? I guess it comes down to an erroneous belief that we’ve somehow arrived and that we have nothing to worry about. Then there’s the relative boredom that comes with affluence and contentment. Many of us, when we are doing well in life, develop what I like to refer to as an “itchy ear syndrome” whereby we become prone to search out the latest and greatest teachings and practices that catch our attention and appeals to our flesh. And I say that it is during these well-to-do times in our lives and in our halachah (aka walk) that we stay ever so buried in the Word and ensure that our ears, minds, and hearts are in tune to the still-small-voice of our glorious Elohim.

 

Be Strong and Courageous. Yah turns His attention to Moshe’s protégé and speaks to him the admonishment that we read in last week’s Torah Portion: “Be strong and be courageous, for you shall bring the ⌊Israelites⌋ into the land that I swore to them, and I will be with you” W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Dt 31:23.

 

I AM With You — Yah’s Abiding Presence. Here Yah doesn’t just admonish Yehoshua/Joshua to be strong and courageous as he takes on the leadership over the nation, He pledges to Joshua that He will be with him (31.23). Let us not forget the consistency of Yah here. We find back in Exodus/Shemote 3.12 where Abba Yah promised this same supportive relationship as He promised Moshe: 10“And now, come, I am sending you to Pharaoh, to bring My people, the children of Yisra’ěl, out of Mitsrayim.” 11And Mosheh said to Elohim, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Yisra’ěl out of Mitsrayim?” 12And He said, “Because I am with you. And this is to you the sign that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Mitsrayim, you are to serve Elohim on this mountain.” The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Ex 3:10–12.

 

The same One True God/Elohim giving His two leaders the same assurance of His abiding presence throughout the course of their leadership journeys. Yah’s abiding presence with Yehoshua was an obvious guarantee of success in His mission to lead us as a nation to the Land of Promise. And for any leader who has been tapped to do Yah’s work and to lead Yah’s people, there is no better situation to be in. So, when we extend this scenario of Yah’s abiding presence over to those of us who are in the service of Yah and of His Kingdom, especially when we factor in the coming persecutions that many of us will endure as we await our Master’s appearing, we have Yehoshua’s promise of “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Mat 28.20; KJV).

 

Preserving Yah’s Torah. Finally, Moshe gets to the place in his leadership role where he finishes writing or recording Yah’s Word in a book or on a scroll (31.24). The reference to Moshe completing his writing assignment seems to refer specifically to the content that is contained in the Book of Deuteronomy or Devarim. Eugene H. Merrill, in his commentary on Deuteronomy, writes that the phrase or “expression the words of this law…is technical language referring specifically to” chapters 5 to 28 (Deuteronomy — NAC Dt). He further states that chapters 1-4 of Deuteronomy make up the book’s prologue while chapters 29-34 constitute the book’s epilogue.

 

Such speculation is okay in my opinion, but I do not believe we should be too dogmatic about such things. And the reason I say this is that I recall just a few years ago, there was a segment of our Faith Community who were promoting dogma as it related to what made up Torah and what did not make up Torah; specifically what laws we kept and what laws we weren’t responsible for keeping, and so forth. So the term Torah became somewhat of a divisive term within a faith community that was supposed to promote Torah-living. I do not care to split hairs on such things or, as Merrill suggests, get technical. For the bottom line is that Moshe finished recording that which Abba Yah directed him to record. And when he finished his writing assignment, he commended those documents to the Levites for safekeeping and posterity, to be kept in the Ark of the Covenant (31.24-25).

 

Why did Moshe command the Levites to store his record of Yah’s Word in the Ark of the Covenant? Why did Moshe command the Levites to store his record of Yah’s Word, along with the 10-Commandments and Aharon’s Rod, in the Ark of the Covenant? Thus, besides being the central implement of the Tent of Meeting where the presence of Yah would take place, the Ark of the Covenant served as a lockbox for the Torah — for Yah’s instructions in Righteousness (31.26). And Yah went further to explain that the storing of His Word in the Ark would serve as a witness against us. Apart from those things we discussed earlier in verse 19, where Yah instructed Moshe to jot down the song/poem that He gives him to serve as a witness against us when we enter the Land of Promise and take up pursuing Canaanite gods. The preservation of the Torah in the Ark of the Covenant by Moshe and the Levites was more of a lesson-reminder to future generations to not repeat the errors of our fathers and forefathers than simply an indictment against us, more than a “see I told you that you would mess us.” What many modern denominationalists cannot recognize in this and countless other such passages that address the witness that the Torah served against us is that the provision of preserving the Torah the way Yah commanded Moshe and the Levites to do was a manifestation of Yah’s grace and provision. Of this provision of grace, Shaul wrote: 4For whatever was written before was written for our instruction, that through endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have the expectation. The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), Ro 15:4.

11And all these came upon them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come, 12so that he who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall. The Scriptures, 3rd edition. (Northriding: Institute for Scripture Research, 2009), 1 Co 10:11–12.

 

And yet our denominationalist cousins are steadfast in their rejection of living a Torah-honoring/obedient life. Therefore, in great part, that the Church Triumphant is enduring such chaos and hardships and apostacy. They have been indoctrinated to adhere to a replacement doctrine and the modern day grace perversion that throws the very Words of our Father into the trash bin of religious history. It’s a horrific tragedy that has and continues to lead generations down a road to destruction. This very Torah that Moshe was instructed of Yah to have safely stored in the Ark of the Covenant, along with the example and teachings of our Master Yehoshua haMashiyach, as the keys to the Malchut Elohim — that is, the Kingdom of God. We, who have entered a covenant relationship with the Great I Am through His Messiah Yeshua, are exceptionally blessed to recognize the very things about Yah’s Torah that Shaul wrote about to his Roman and Corinthian readers. For the rest of the world, however, spiritual scales continue to obscure the eyes of the denominationalists and even some of our Jewish brethren of this crucial reality. For Torah teaches us how to walk in righteousness and how to love our God and love one another as Yah has instructed.

 

Let us not be naïve to the reality that most of the civilized world today does not directly engage in idol worship. Notice that I said, “does not directly engage in idol worship.” Indeed, times have changed and we who are of the modern world have come to recognize carved/graven/molten images for what Yah described them to be over and over in His Word. They are nothing more than crafted expressions of either imagined gods of the elements or representations of the fallen ones who were demigods to the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia. Idols have no wherewithal to do anything for those that foolishly and blindly worshiped them through millennia. However, we today still engage in a form of idolatry which, when we engage in such worship, still incites His wrath against us and causes Him to turn His face from us. And what is this form of idolatry that I’m referring to? Most of which makes up life for us today.

 

Modern life offers us countless things and activities that have the potential of turning our hearts away from Yah and on to those things and activities. And as an article written by the United Church of God puts it, anything that we value more than we value god is idolatry (beta.ucg.org/learn/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/what-idolatry.) For some, it’s food and for others it’s sex and entertainment. Material possessions, wealth, fame and fortune capture the hearts, minds, and souls of many others. Then there are inappropriate relationships that cause an unequal-yoke situation for Yah’s people. And let’s not forget the worship of people and nation and culture that causes so many of us to turn our eyes, hearts, and minds away from Yehovah our Elohim. All these and more make up the gods of this modern world. Sadly, most of us don’t even realize just how close we get to prostituting ourselves to the gods of this modern world.

 

But praise Yah from Whom all blessings flow. He has made for us a witness to such dangerous shenanigans. We have access to Yah’s instructions in righteousness, the example and teachings of Yehoshua Messiah, and the indwelling gift of His Set-Apart Spirit to aid us in not falling prey to the lure of modern-day idolatry. Thus, it behooves us to keep our noses buried in scripture, our ears keenly turned to “the still small voice” of Yehovah, and the leading of Yah’s Holy Spirit to keep us on the straight and narrow, neither erring to the right or left; neither taking away nor adding to His eternal Words of Truth. But rather, that we may walk upright and perfectly before Him so that we may glorify Him on the earth and advance His glorious Kingdom to come. Oh Father in Heaven, hallowed be your holy Name. Thy Kingdom come and Your glorious and perfect will be done, over and in our lives, as well as on this earth, as it is in heaven.

 

There is no better time than now, beloved, for us to straighten up and fly right in anticipation of our Creator’s glorious Kingdom being firmly and eternally established here on earth. As we progress through this 6th Month of Yah’s biblical calendar year, let us reflect on His goodness; His mercies; His grace; and His righteousness. Our Master testified and informed that His Father is looking for true worshipers who endeavor to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (Joh 4.23). In said worship, there is no room for idolatry of any form or fashion. The true worshiper that Yah seeks is one who has stripped off the veneer of paganism and worldliness from his/her soul and put on our Master’s righteous garments. This is about a profound inward change of heart, mind, and soul that obediently seeks the Creator’s kingdom and His righteousness. Our worship is guided by the Holy Spirit and our obedient faith, rather than being governed by sight — that is the things that we see, feel, and hear — that tickle our fancy — that give us warm and fuzzies. And we are guided by His eternal Words of Truth and Life.

 

Our religious Jewish cousins view and treat the 6th month of Yah’s calendar year as a time of “introspection and personal stock-taking in preparation of the High Holy Days starting with Yom Teruah and ending with Yom Kippur” (Tim Hegg of Torah Resource). That being said, let us not squander this new month despite it not containing any mandated feasts or moedim of Yah. Let us dedicate ourselves to engaging in an inventory of our day-to-day walk with and in Messiah. Are we doing everything we should and can to ensure the integrity of our covenant relationship with the Almighty? Do we possess righteous intentions towards one another and do we possess the mind of Messiah? If we discover we are not worshiping Yah in Spirit and in Truth, are we willing to make some really hard decisions on how we conduct our lives? Are we willing to turn our back on the idols that we have given license to govern our lives? We know what needs to be done. All that’s left is for us to give our all to He who loved us before we were ever born.

 

Shabbat Shalom — Shavu’tov — May you be most blessed fellow saints in Training. Take care.

 

Be Strong and Courageous — My Thoughts and Reflections on Torah Reading 147

by | Aug 30, 2024 | Blog

Greetings saints of the Most High.  Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to fellowship with me here on this blessed day of rest in Yeshua Messiah. And as always, it is my hope, trust, and prayer that this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer finds you, your families, and your fellowships well and blessed.

As I am posting these thoughts and reflections, it is Preparation Day, A-gust 30, 2024.

These are my thoughts and reflections on Torah Reading 147. Our reading is found in Deuteronomy/Devarim 31.1-13; Isaiah 48.17-19; and 2 Timothy 3.12-17.

My apologies for not providing an audio recording of my thoughts and reflections for this reading as I do not have immediate access to my recording equipment. Abba willing, I plan to resume weekly audio posting next Shabbat.

Key Themes and Concepts Found in our Parashah this Week

Change in Leadership

Moshe cites he is a son of Yisrael at the ripe old age of 120-years at the time he was delivering this parashah. Let us bear in mind that Moshe was 80-years old when he, through Yehovah, led us out of Egypt. And now, some 40-years having passed, he points to his age being one of two mitigating factors in him not making it into the Land of Promise as our leader. The other contributing factor is that Abba Yah told him he could not enter the Land (31.1-2; a reference to 1.37; 3.27; 4.21-22).

No Need to Fear for Yehovah is With We Who Trust and Obey Him

In our being poised to receive the Land of Promise, Moshe declares two important realities to us that will profoundly affect our lives from now on: (1) We need not be afraid of the inhabitants of the Land of Promise because Yehovah our God was going before us to fight for us and help us take possession of the Land. (2) Since he, Moshe, would not be accompanying us into the Land, his able assistant Yahoshua/Joshua, son of Nun, would replace him as our political and military leader. No doubt the reality of Moshe not leading us to take possession of the Land would have been extremely concerning to us. Moshe had become the human bedrock and Yah appointed leader of our nation for over four-decades. We’d grown to trust him and fear him as Yah’s intercessor between us and Yehovah. Yes, we knew Joshua well. He had proven his metal throughout our nation’s wilderness sojourn. But for him to become Moshe’s replacement was going to be a significant paradigm shift for us as a nation (31.3).

Thus, Moshe reassures us — we being the second generation Exodus Hebrews — that there would be no need to fear the nations we were about to face in our taking possession of the Land. All we needed to do to ease our fears would be to hearken back in our minds to what Yah did to defeat Sihon and Og, former Amorite kings. In fact, all that would be required of them was to obey Yah’s instructions. And if they were indeed obedient to Yah’s instructions, Yah would destroy their enemies and deliver the Land of Promise into their hands (31.4-5).

Amid him delivering to us Yah’s instructions in righteousness and updating us on the change in leadership for the nation, Moshe delivered to us one of the most enduring and poignant admonishments ever given to the people of Yehovah: “Be strong and be courageous...” (31.6). In so saying, Moshe circles back around to the central point of his teachings (that which he had given us in chapters 29 and 30): We did not need to fear the nations we were going to face in our taking possession of the Land of Promise. Our trusting, obedient faith in the Great I Am would guarantee His abiding presence and help in their midst. He would not leave nor forsake us (31.6). After Moshe’s admonishment to us as a nation to be strong and courageous, he then delivers this same admonishment to Joshua/Yahoshua in the nation’s sight (31.7-8).

And let’s be clear here: It is Yehovah whom we were to trust and obey. Yah was the one who was going to cross over before us. Yes, we were to accept Joshua as our leader, who was set to replace Moshe. But just as we revered Moshe as our human leader, it was always supposed to be Yehovah Whom we were to trust and Whose Words we were to obey first and foremost. And it is here where our Haftarah of Isaiah/YeshaYahu 48.17-19 comes into play:

17 Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the holy one of Israel:

“I am Yahweh your God, ⌊who teaches⌋ you to profit,

leads you in the way you should go.

18 O that you had listened attentively to my commandments!

Then your prosperity would have been like a river,

and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

19 And your offspring would have been like the sand,

and the descendants of your ⌊body⌋ like its grains.

It would not be cut off, and its name would not be destroyed from my presence.”W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Is 48:17–19.

Our destiny will always rest upon Yehovah and His Word. We prosper and succeed in this life only when we trust and obey Him. Without Him, no number of would be Moshes or Joshuas can save us. For its when we take our eyes off of Him we fail and are destroyed (Isa 48.19; LEB).

The Importance of Constancy in Receiving Yah’s Set-Apart Words that Lead to Life

Having completed his recording of Yah’s Torah (i.e. the oracles of Yah), Moshe handed it over to the Levitical priests for safekeeping and as the constitutional document from which the priests would teach us as Yah’s chosen people (31.9). In so handing this written Torah to the Levitical Priests, Moshe instructed them to read it to us during the pilgrimage feast of Sukkot every Sabbatical or Shmittah Year (31.10-11). In so doing, no Torah observant citizen of Yisra’el would be exempt from receiving Father’s instructions in righteousness, including every Yisra’elite man, woman, child and non-Hebrew Torah observant citizen of our nation. The aim of this regulation was to ensure that every citizen of Yisra’el would receive Yah’s instructions in righteousness on a recurring basis and learn to fear and obey Yah all the days of their lives in the Land (31.12-13). Let us not overlook the fact that we are abundantly blessed to have direct access to Yah’s instructions, whereas our ancient cousins had to receive instructions through Yah’s anointed and select priests at appointed times of Yah’s biblical calendar year.

And this is where our Apostolic Reading comes into play for this Sabbath. As Shaul writes to his young protege Timothy about his impending leadership role, we learn about the vital role of scripture in the life of every believer. The Apostle enlightens Timothy about the impending persecution of the Body of Mashiyach and the necessity of every believer remaining grounded in the Word. He reminds Timothy how much the scriptures meant to him as a child in that Timothy recognized that scripture made one wise unto salvation through faith in Messiah Yahoshua and that the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings are profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness in the son and daughter of Yah may be competent and thoroughly equipped unto all good works (2 Tim 3.12-17).

Practical Messianic Halachah

Other than being a pivotal event in our nation’s history, what are we, the redeemed of Yah and set-apart disciples of Yahoshua, supposed to make of our parashah? Well, we are to make quite a bit out of this.

As members of the Body of Messiah, we will experience a periodic change in the leadership of our fellowships and congregation. We are to take such transitions, as painful and uncertain as they may seem to us at the time they occur, as God ordained and necessary in Yah’s grand plan of Salvation, Restoration, and Redemption. Nevertheless, it is not the person who Yah chooses to lead us whom we must set our eyes on. But rather, our eyes must remain steadfast upon Yah. It is Yehovah Whom we must trust and obey. For when we place all our chips on our human leaders, we are bound to at some point become disappointed and lose heart. But when we are steadfast in our hope and trust and obedience to Yah and His Word, we will never be disappointed nor lose heart. He will always be with us and fight for us through thick and thin. It is even more essential that we come to terms with this reality considering what the future holds for we who are the chosen and elect of Yah. Persecution and tribulation are coming and no human leader will match Yah’s abiding presence and guidance and deliverance. So, let us stay grounded in the Word, and let us be steadfast in our obedience and trusting faith in Yah. Now is the time, while it is still day, to strengthen our covenant relationship with Yehovah so that when the night cometh we will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and withstand that evil day (Eph 6.11-13; KJV).

May you have a restful and blessed day of rest in Yeshua Messiah.

Faithfully,

Rod

6 Be strong and be courageous; you should not be afraid, and you ⌊should not be in dread from their presence⌋, for Yahweh your God is the one going with you; he will not leave you alone and he will not forsake you.” W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Dt 31:5–6.