Hanukkah-Truth and Spirituality Versus Traditions of the Rabbis

Hanukkah-Truth and Spirituality Versus Traditions of the Rabbis

by | Dec 1, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer's Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections

 

This is Hanukkah: Truth and Spirituality Versus Traditions of the Rabbis.

 

As I’m recording this installment of the Messianic Torah Observer’s Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections, depending on which calendar you’re using, many Jews and Messianics around the world are celebrating or observing the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

 

Now, if you’re new to our Faith Community, Hanukkah is not a mandated feast of Yehovah. As you will come to learn in our discussion here today, it is a celebration that was put into place by one of the Maccabean leaders to honor the re-dedication of the Temple in Yerushalayim after Antiochus Epiphanes had defiled it.

 

Since that time, Hanukkah has been a holiday practiced by mainstream and orthodox Jews. And all indications are that Yahoshua even celebrated this holiday (Joh. 10:22-23).

 

Now, I realize there are many within our Faith Community who are strongly opposed to Yah’s set-apart people having anything to do with Hanukkah. And to a slight extent I agree with them. However, I believe the argument against Hanukkah observance by Yah’s set-apart people should not be an argument against the keeping of a manmade, traditional, national holiday, as opposed to the celebrating of a Jewish holiday that has been terribly twisted by traditions and falsehoods. That I can certainly understand, because there are a lot of falsities and errors associated with Hanukkah that are not corrected by Judaism but are rather fostered and encouraged by the religion. Unfortunately, some folks within our Faith Community, wanting to be more Jewish than being a disciple of Yahoshua, play fully into the frivolity and errors and misinformation of this holiday as opposed to recognizing the true meaning behind this fascinating and important Jewish holiday observance.

 

It is my goal today to bring to the surface a little bit of truth and spirituality that is associated with the true observance and meaning of Hanukkah.

 

Hanukkah Traditions:

 

  1. Hanging the Menorah on the Wall or Adjacent to the Mezuzah (Ashkenazi). Some Chabad Jews follow this practice following the tradition as recorded in Shabbat 22a. The instruction is for the menorah to be placed “on the left so that the Hanukkah lamp will be on the left and the mezuzah on the right. Then, one who enters the house will be surrounded by mitzvot.”
  2. Neighborhood Wine Tastings
  3. Lighting a hanukkiah for each of the 8-nights of Hanukkah.
  4. Jelly-Filled donuts
  5. Playing Dreidel
  6. Exchanging gifts, especially for children

 

Referred to traditionally by Jews as the “festival of lights.” It is generally kept 8-consecutive nights of menorah or hanukkia lighting, special prayers and fried foods.

 

The Hebrew term “hanukkah” (also chanukah) in English means “dedication.” It is aptly named in joyous acknowledgment and memory of the rededication of the Temple during the times of the Maccabees.

 

Hanukkah begins on the eve of the 25th of the 9th biblical month, which rabbinically speaking is the Month of Kislev. This year, according to the calculated Jewish calendar, it runs from 11/28 through 12/6.

 

I’d like to share with you a few verses from 1 Maccabees that I found to be powerful and spiritually significant, and that I believe best underscores the true meaning of Hanukkah. Along the line of my reading these to you, I’ll add commentary accordingly.

 

1 Maccabees 1-4 (Cepher).

 

As you may or may not recognize, the story of Hanukkah is tightly embedded in the story of the Maccabees. However, much of the Truth of Hanukkah has been lost to Rabbinic tradition that took liberty with recorded history and sought to spice up that history somewhat. For according to the Rabbis, when the Maccabees went to resurrect the Temple and light the Temple’s Menorah, they were only able to locate a “single cruse of olive oil” that qualified to be used to light the lamps. Beside that single cruse of oil that the Maccabees recorded, the rest of the oil supply had been contaminated or profaned by the occupying Greeks.

 

As the story goes, however, that single cruse of oil burned miraculously for 8-days until such time that sacred oil could be prepared and used according to Torah. And thus, the Rabbis take responsibility of creating this Jewish holiday or festival to commemorate, what we’ll find out here in short order, as erroneous miracles.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the story of Hanukkah is tightly embedded in the story of the Maccabees. And that story of the Maccabees is recorded in the Books of the Maccabees or the Sefer Hamakabim.

 

There are some 8-books that bear the title Maccabees that can be found in various canons of the Bible:

 

  1. 1 Maccabees–Originally written in Hebrew, the only extant copies are in Greek. It records the history of the Maccabees from 175 to 134 BCE.
  2. 2 Maccabees–a Greek “abridgment” written by Jason of Cyrene records the history of the Maccabees from 176 to 161 BCE. It’s main focus is on the leader Judas Maccabaeus.
  3. 3 Maccabees–a Greek narrative that provides an historical accounting of Egyptians Jews that were delivered from martyrdom at the hands of Ptolemy IV. Philopator.
  4. 4 Maccabees–a philosophical work using as its backdrop, the Maccabean martyrs.
  5. 5 Maccabees–an Arabic-language history from 186-6 BCE.
  6. 6 Maccabees–a Syriac poem.
  7. 7 Maccabees–a Syriac that is based on the speeches of the Maccabean Martyrs.
  8. 8 Maccabees–drawing on Seleucid sources, this book provides a brief account of the Maccabean Revolt.

 

1 and 2 Maccabees are considered canonical by the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, which the remaining 6 books are considered apocryphal books.

 

The miracle of the cruse of oil for the menorah of the temple that supposedly last for 8-days is a rabbinic invention (Shabbat 21b).  There is no record of such a miracle to be found in the Cepher of Maccabees account.

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Themes and Spiritual Concepts 

 

A time of reflection, planning, affirmation, resolve, dedication, zeal, covenant, courage in the midst of an overwhelming enemy, trusting faith in the delivering power of the Elohim of Avraham, Yischaq and Yaachov, Torah-keeping even in the midst of overwhelming persecution among several other things.

 

It’s a time for consideration of what we’re gonna do when they come for you.

 

Indeed, we are living, in a great many ways, in the days of the Maccabees.

 

We see today how the so-called Christian leaders and their organizations have happily gone over to the side of the pagan government of this nation to promote and use their influence to coerce would be people of God to severely compromise the very tenets of their faith: homosexuality, vaccinations, watering down the Word so as to not offend, pledge allegiance to the primacy and sovereignty of the government, promote the dissolution of the family, promote poverty in their communities as a means of encouraging and forcing dependence on the government, and so many more spiritual crimes.

 

We are all called to be as Maccabean Warriors. Our warfare, however, is not like that of Mattithyahu Ben Shimon (or Mattathias, son of John, son of Simeon) and Yahudah Maccabees (or Judas called Maccabeus). For our warfare is not against flesh and blood beloved, as Shaul taught that our warfare, unlike that of the Maccabees. Instead, it is against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12).

 

  • And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” (Gen 3:15 NKJ)

 

  • So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (Jam 4:7 NLT)

 

  • Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. (1Pe 5:8 NET)

 

  • And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children– all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus. (Rev 12:17 NLT)

 

Our fight must begin against our own flesh:

 

  • But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. (Rom 7:23 NLT)

 

  • Self-denial–25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1Co 9:25-27 KJV)

 

  • The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. (Gal 5:17 NLT)

 

  • Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. (1Pe 2:11 NLT)

 

  • With confidence– The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be (Psa 27:1-3 KJV)

 

  • Without personal baggage to bog us down– Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. (2Ti 2:4 NLT)

 

The Captain of our Warfare is Mashiyach and we fight under the banner of Yehovah our Elohim.

 

Our primary weapon that we take into battle must be our faith: 1 Tim. 1:18-19.

 

We conduct our warfare primarily through prayer: Psa. 35:1-3; 6:18.

 

We must fight with all earnestness: Jud. 1:3.

 

We must be watchful: 1 Cor. 16:13; 1 Pet. 5:8.

 

We must be sober at all times: 1 The. 5:6.

 

We must realize that this war requires endurance: 2 Tim. 2:3, 10.

 

3:25–Does the enemy know who we are and what we’re capable of such that they dread us?  So dreadful became the comparatively small forces of Yahudah to Antiochus that he sent greater and greater number of forces to war against Yahudah.

 

In chapter 4 we have the rededication of the overrun, defiled Temple, that the Maccabees rebuilt and purified. Hanukkah is also about the profane and the holy: Discerning the difference between the profane and the holy. Are we in a place in our walk with Mashiyach that were are capable of discerning the difference between the two? There is a stark difference indeed. And Yehovah’s people are called to not only discern between the two, but to also do something about those things in their lives that are profane and to guard those things that are holy.

 

And we also realize that these bodies of ours have replaced the physical temple. And so, we must treat our bodies–our whole self–as holy. And anything that may potentially defile it must be purged and in some cases, we must rededicate our bodies, hearts and minds for service, just as the Maccabees rebuilt and rededicated the temple in Yerushalayim.

 

 

So, I would suggest that Hanukkah, despite it not being numbered among the Feasts of Yehovah, and especially as it falls here upon us in 2021, is more of an annual reminder of that which we have in our covenant walk with Messiah that can so quickly and even violently be taken from us if we’re not careful. If we compromise in anyway in our walk with Messiah we run the very real risk of having the mantle of anointing, power and authority that Abba has placed over our individual, family and worship lives removed from us. And so, Hanukkah must become more than a silly, drummed up tale of menorah lamps miraculously burning for 8 days on a single cruse of oil. Anyone who chooses to focus on that lie or tale, and then teach one’s child these falsehoods is only asking for continued blindness to the lessons and instructions that Abba desires for His children to receive from the things He has allowed to happen to Yisra’el. For us, Hanukkah must serve as a life and spiritual lesson; a memorial; a confirmation and affirmation of that which is most important to all of humanity: The establishing and maintaining of a trusting Covenant Relationship we possess and enjoy with our heavenly Father.

 

The Maccabean Warriors recognized from the very beginning, when they were being told by the enemy that if they would simply compromise their faith, they would be on good terms with the Antiochus government, that any level of compromise meant their lives were over. You see, they recognized that their entire existence was their Faith; the covenant they possessed with Yehovah. And so, they fought without fear of losing their lives because compromise meant death for them anyway. So, they had little to lose, but everything to gain.

 

As we see played throughout the whole of Scripture, Yah’s people are always called to take the path less traveled; to abhor the paths of least resistance; to declare through our living and through our words that “if serving Yehovah is not your thing, simply choose whom you will serve; be it the gods of this world and the land in which we dwell, but as for me and my house we will serve Yehovah (Jos. 24:15).

 

We must have that Maccabean mindset in our walk with Messiah today. If Hanukkah offers us any true meaning and significance, it must be this one thing: What do I have to do in order that I maintain my covenant relationship with Yehovah, because to compromise means my covenant relationship will summarily end the second I say yes to compromise.

 

However, you are led to memorialize Hanukkah, I say do so from a perspective of Spirit and Truth. Yah saw fit that the Maccabean story be passed down to us for a reason. As Yah’s set-apart people, we are not called to find ourselves hung-up and practicing the traditions of men that only cause us to take our eyes off of our Elohim, but instead, place them on men. So then, instead, let us take Hanukkah for the life and spiritual lessons it offers us as we fight the good fight; work the fields while it is still day; and await our Master’s soon return.

 

Shabbat Shalom and if you are so inclined, have a blessed and meaningful Hanukkah season.

The Towers and Nimrods of our Life that Separate us From God

The Towers and Nimrods of our Life that Separate us From God

by | Nov 27, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer's Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections

This is The Towers and Nimrods of our Life that Separate us From God. It is the 9th Reading or Parashah in our 3-year Torah Reading Cycle.

 

I will be reading from the Robert Alter Translation of Torah, reading our focus verses with commentary as we go along.

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11:1  And all the earth was one language, one set of words.

 

 

[”One language or speech” means “few words” or small vocabulary.]

 

 

11:2  And it happened as they journeyed from the east that they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.

 

This “Plain of Shinar” appears to be the cradle of the most ancient of civilizations.

 

 

11:3  And they said to each other, “Come, let us bake bricks and burn them hard.” And the brick served as stone, and bitumen served them as mortar.

 

The bricks used in ziggurat construction was customarily composed of clay formed into bricks that was sun-dried. These were then baked for purposes of making the sun-dried, baked bricks more durable. Bitumen, or slime, was used as mortar or cement to bind the bricks together.

 

 

11:4  And they said, “Come, let us build us a city and a tower with its top in  the heavens that we may make us a name, lest we be scattered over all the earth.”

 

It is believed by conservative biblical commentators within our Faith Community that the description of the tower’s top reaching or scaling the heights of the heavens was common hyperbolic literary license used by the ancients to describe Mesopotamian ziggurat of the day. And the reason for the hyperbole is that in most cases, these ziggurat served as a lasting monument to a nation people’s culture and purpose which is  suggestive of the phrasing in our text of the Babylonians wanting to “make a name for themselves.”

 

The description of the tower rising with its top in heaven could be literal, if we choose to believe some of the fantastic extra-biblical accounts of the tower’s dimensions. Or it simply means that the tower was fortified and tall as other such edifices were in Deuteronomy 1:28. The ideology behind the ancients seeking to make a name for themselves seems more akin to the people seeking to be a powerful, secure and united citizen nation.

 

 

11:5  And the LORD  came down to see the city and the tower that the human creatures had built

 

Yehovah sees for Himself the extent of human rebellion portrayed here at the tower construction site before rendering judgment.

 

This seems to conjure up more questions than answers as to the nature of Elohim. If Yehovah is indeed omniscient (which I whole-heartily believe He is), why then would He feel the need to come down to earth to see for Himself the extent of human rebellion and depravity before responding to the rebellion with judgment? Would He not have already possessed full knowledge and understanding of what humanity had accomplished? Of course He would have!

 

Or is this possibly saying to those of us with eyes to see and ears to hear, that Elohim has and will always intervene into the affairs of His human creation? That He’s not aloof as most might feel and think Him to be?

 

This use of anthropomorphic descriptors as this would certainly cause the people of Yah to remember that despite the evil and lawlessness that may be ongoing round about them, Yah sees all and He will respond in a time and manner of His choosing. Yah is an Elohim of heart testings. He gives humanity just enough rope I which to hang itself before stepping in to sort things out and mete out justice and righteousness accordingly.

 

 

11:6 And the LORD said, “As one people with one language for all, if this is what they have begun to do, now nothing they plot to do will elude them.

 

Humanity here is united in an unholy endeavor. Unabated in the thrust of their united purpose, to storm heaven and unseat Yehovah, or simply to unseat Yah as Elohim in their lives altogether, humanity would certainly lead to both its physical and spiritual destruction.

 

 

11:7  Come, let us go down and baffle their language there so that they will not understand each other’s language.”

 

“Let us go down” may be another hint of the existence of a heavenly council, consisting of Yehovah as Creator and King of the Universe; and created beings of angelic or some other spiritual existence, all who support and carry out Yehovah’s Will and purpose in the earth. Of course, there remains insufficient information to confirm or even deny such thinking.

 

Clearly, there’s an expressed polemic against urbanism and trust in human ingenuity and accomplishments at work here.  It was not Abba’s Will for humanity to be urbanized. Urbanization leads to a great many spiritual and physical problems that serve only to lead citizenry further and further away from Yah and His Ways.

 

Interestingly, Messianic Author and Teacher Tim Hegg downplays any expressed or perceived notion that the tower was of any great importance in terms of its size. He describes the building of the tower as “puny.’ So puny, he states, that the building effort required Yah to come down and see it for Himself. Hegg contends that the text should not be taken literally, but taken more from a satirical sense. A mockery of the tower as being unworthy of Yah’s attention or of Yisra’el as a foe.

 

 

11:8  And the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth and they left off building the city.

 

 

11:9  Therefore, it is called Babel, for there the LORD made the language of all the earth babble. And from there the LORD scattered them over all the earth.

 

The diversity of language is not a blessing or even a good thing to have been experienced by humanity. But rather, it is another judgment against humanity that was meted out and piled on to the human condition by Elohim in response to humankind’s transgressions, revolt, impiety and immorality. Clearly, it was Elohim’s original Purpose and Will that humanity  be of one language/tongue. But more so, that humanity would be fruitful, multiple and swarm the earth to borrow the terminology employed by Robert Alter in his translation of these post flood commandments of Yehovah to the sons of Noah.

 

Here’s a question for you: What was the sin did the people of Babylon commit? Yehovah didn’t prohibit them building the tower did He? No. There is no scriptural proof that such a prohibition from Yehovah existed.

 

So maybe it’s not accurate to see the confounding of the single human language as a form of judgment  that Yehovah meted out or rendered unto humanity in response to their building of the Tower of Babel. But rather, the confounding of the language was a form of necessary course correction for humanity that Abba placed upon humanity.

 

You know, there have been times in my life where I have endeavored to do certain things—career wise; purchase-wise; relationship wise; etc. And despite my best efforts, those endeavors came to naught. And although those things seemed good to me at the time, I believe Yehovah, in His infinite wisdom and righteousness, influenced my efforts such that those endeavors came to naught for my own good. Who knows where I’d be if those things that I aspired to do would have caused me to be helplessly lost and never to enter into covenant relationship with the Almighty. So from time-to-time, I believe Abba employs course corrections for us to ensure that we get on or remain on His track.

 

Just thoughts and reflections.

 

 

Verses 10 through 32 entails the 10-generation lineage of Shem up through Avraham.

 

There is a distinction from this lineage account and the one given in chapter 10 that detailed what is popularly referred to as the Table of Nations.

 

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Extra-Biblical Resources Contribution to this Parashah

 

Jasher 7

 

The Book of Jasher intricately attaches the infamous Nimrod to the entire Tower of Babel Story, which I find to be quite interesting. And of course, if you’ve been in our faith community any length of time, you would know that Nimrod is held responsible by a great many commentators and teachers for introducing paganism, idolatry and tyranny to ancient Mesopotamia. And from there, as detailed in books like Alexander Hislop’s well known book “The Two Babylons,” paganism grew throughout the world and has since infiltrated every aspect of humanity, including religion. It is said by many that Nimrod, his wife Semiramis and son Tammuz, are essentially the reason for the season: for Christmas and all its trappings; Easter; Greek and Roman mythology; Eastern Religions; etc., just to name a few. Some have pegged Nimrod as being a Nephilim, cuing in on such phrases as “…he (Nimrod) began to be a mighty one in the earth” (Gen. 10:8).

 

I’m not entirely sure if the allegations of Nimrod being a Nephilim are true. But I do believe in the Biblical description of Nimrod as one who became a mighty hunter—hunter of animals and eventually humans: That he likely became a tyrannical overlord in his day and that he founded a number of fortified cities, the most notable being that of our focus passage today: Babylon or Babel.

 

Jasher pinpoints Nimrod’s birth and day as the time in post-flood human history where “the sons of men AGAIN began to rebel and transgress against Elohim.”

 

Nimrod descended from Ham’s line, Nimrod being the son of Cush.

 

The text notes that Nimrod sacrificed unto Yehovah of the animals he hunted. Furthermore, Nimrod is described as being strengthened of himself, and “rising up from amongst his brethren” and fighting the “battles of his brethren against all their enemies round about.” And it is in the context of these conquests that Jasher notes Nimrod received Yah’s favor, Nimrod, being “prospered” as the text notes in the battles he waged against the enemies of his brethren. This conquering spirit and life led to Nimrod reigning over a people in the earth. Thus, as young men would be trained and groomed for warfare, it became customary, according to the text, that they would be trained in the spirit and likeness of Nimrod, their leader.

 

The people admired him so much that they officially crowned him as their king. Thus, Nimrod is said to have established a formal government over his subjects, consisting of princes, judges and rulers. And one of those rulers happened to be Terah, Avraham’s father.

 

The text goes on to entail that Nimrod oversaw the building of an extensive, elaborate city that he called Shinar, the name of which has something to do with Nimrod’s enemies having been routed and destroyed. And thus, Nimrod dwelt and reigned in Shinar “securely” as the text describes, his kingdom becoming great.

 

Jasher then takes a very interesting turn, whereby it denotes that Nimrod’s fame and greatness caught the attention of “all nations and tongues” on the earth. And thus, the whole earth came under Nimrod’s lordship/kingship, with Shinar being sort of this central capitol of the known world.

 

The text states:

 

“…and Nimrod reigned in the earth over all the sons of Noah, and they were all under his power and counsel.”

 

At this point in post-flood history, humans spoke just one language.

 

Consequently, as the text continues, Nimrod in his greatness moved away from the worship of Yehovah. In so doing, Nimrod is described as being “more wicked than all the men that were before him, from the days of the flood until those days.” Of course, such life-behavior inevitably led Nimrod to making for himself and the people he ruled over, idols made of wood and stone. (Where would he get such a notion or inclination to do such a thing?) This of course led Nimrod and the whole of his subjects to rebel against Yehovah.

 

Jasher notes that the tower of babel was a concept created by officials of Nimrod’s government who sought to build the structure to enlarge their nation’s fame or make a name for themselves and to provide protection from their enemies and not be scattered upon the face of the earth.

 

Interestingly, Jasher words the building of the tower as being to that people “a transgression and a sin” and that their building of the structure was “against the Lord God of heaven” whom they imagined in their hearts they were warring against. The people imagined that they were ascending to heaven to fight  Yehovah and ultimately they were ascending to heaven to depose Yehovah and put in His place over creation their gods and serve them accordingly. It wasn’t just the tower that became a concern to Yehovah, it was the whole building of this monolithic city and Yah recognized the evil of the people’s thoughts that operated in conjunction with their works in building the city and tower.

 

The building of the project is said to have taken the builders some time to construct: Years. And the building project consumed the people such that the building went on non-stop, daily, without end. There are other aspects of this rendering of the story that we won’t get into, but suffice to say that at the point that Abba takes notice of the situation along with the elders of heaven, that He intervenes in the affairs of Nimrod’s people to put a stop to the building project.

 

Jasher details that Yehovah’s confounding of the people’s tongue or language not only stymied communications between the people in their building of the tower, it also led to violence between them. In fact, the Jasher account entails that Yehovah smote certain of the people who were behind the evil intention to unseat Him and destroy Him, while others’ skin color was changed and still others were simply scattered throughout the earth.

 

All in all, when the people saw what happened as a result of their evil intentions to build the tower, they abandoned the building of the tower. The story goes on to entail that the earth opened up and consumed a third of the tower, while a fire from heaven consumed a third part of the tower, while yet the remaining third part of the tower remained visible to the writer of Jasher in his day. Of the size of the tower that remained, Jasher records that it takes a person three days to walk around the circumference of it. Of the number of lives lost in the whole Tower of Babel affair, it was great, but the number is unknown.

 

But, believe it or not, the story of Nimrod did not end with the confounding of the language of the people and the destruction of the tower by Yehovah. In fact, Jasher entails that Nimrod remained and ruled from Babel. The text describes Nimrod as being unrepentant and that he continued to rule wickedly along with his son, Mardon. Another name the text renders unto Nimrod is Amraphel.

 

The remaining story is long and there is a story also involving Nimrod and Avram that must be told at another time as it falls outside our Genesis 11 account.

 

Jubilees 10

 

The Book of Jubilees takes an interesting road in explaining how humanity devolved into being utterly evil, despite Noah being righteous and passing down to his sons the Truth and righteous ways of Yehovah.

 

According to Jubilees, Noah’s sons actually came and complained to Noah that their sons were being led astray by demons. These demons, according to Noah’s sons, were “leading astray and blinding and slaying his son’s sons.”

 

After the death of Noah, his descendants (not sure how many because the text doesn’t tell us) traveled eastward from the Mountains of Ararat/Lubar, over to Shinar. And the people built unto themselves a city and a tower. Unlike the Genesis and Jasher accounts, Jubilees is silent as to why the people endeavored to build their city and the tower, although the text states the people said “Go to, let us ascend thereby into heaven.” Some have concluded that this implies an intention on the part of the people of Shinar to storm heaven and unseat Yehovah from His throne as Creator. But there is nothing beyond this statement to this effect.

 

The text, however, is quite detailed as it relates to the tower’s dimensions, which we won’t discuss here.

 

Nevertheless, Jubilees stays pretty much aligned with the Genesis storyline as it relates to the confounding of the peoples’ language and their scattering upon the face of the earth. However, Jubilees does mention that the tower was overthrown by a wind from Yehovah.

 

Interestingly, I could find no direct link between Nimrod and the Tower of Babel here in the Jubilee text leading up to the confounding of the language.

 

Here’s something to think about: Where did the post-flood descendants of Noah learn enough about engineering to build a structure such as the Tower of Babel? Assuming stories of the tower being of great height and strength are in fact true, one would have to conclude that the post-flood ancients possessed great knowledge that were passed down from generation to generation. However, at some point a great amount of that knowledge was lost. Simply consider the Egyptian pyramids: Even to this day, there is no widely accepted explanation as to how they were built.

 

Some have offered that the Watchers of Enoch’s day passed on such technological knowledge to humans. Scripture does not confirm nor deny such thinking. But clearly, even our heavenly Father was somewhat impressed by the advancements that humanity had become capable in making, stating of His human creation: “…and this is what they begin to do; and now, nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do” (11:6).

 

Antiquities of the Jews 4 Josephus

 

Josephus annotates a number of key post-flood, historic human trends:

 

  • Noah’s descendants descended from the mountains (presuming the Mountains of Ararat) down to the plains of Shinar.
  • There was a hesitancy to transition from the mountains to the plains for some time due to the fear that Yah might send forth another Great Flood and having their numbers separated and divided.
  • Nevertheless, Yah’s expressed Will was for humanity to populate the whole of the earth.
  • The descendants of Noah had developed a “contempt of Yah.

 

Leading this contempt of Yah was Nimrod, grandson of Ham.

 

Josephus describes Nimrod as being of great physical strength. He despised Yehovah to such a degree that he convinced the people that the source of their wellbeing was due to their own wherewithal. In other words, Yehovah had nothing whatsoever to do with their wellbeing.

 

Concerned that the people would ultimately fear and trust Yehovah, Nimrod resorted to establishing a tyrannical government over the people. Nimrod’s aim was to force the people to place their trust and wellbeing in him. Does this not sound very similar to what we’re seeing played out in many of the Western Governments of this world today?

 

To appease the people even further, Nimrod promised to avenge them if Yehovah “should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers.”

 

And so Josephus entails that the people loyally followed after Nimrod and began to build the tower. Josephus details that the tower was of great height, width and strength.

 

Josephus does discuss the confounding of the language, but he also makes the point that Yehovah was not incited to the place where He sought to destroy humanity.

 

It is interesting that Josephus does mention Sibyl Oracle that mentions the tower and the confusion of the language:

 

“When all men were of one language, some of them built a high tower, as if they would thereby ascend up to heaven; but the gods sent storms of wind and overthrew the tower, and gave everyone his peculiar language; and for this reason it was that the city was called Babylon.”

 

But for this part, this is where the story of Nimrod begins and ends it would seem.

 

Our parashah is a commentary on humanity’s continuous moving away from and resistance to Yehovah-government rule, choosing instead that of man-ruled government.

 

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Thoughts and Reflections on our Parashah and Practical Halachah

 

The ancient Mesopotamian ziggurat should serve as a reminder to us of humanity’s impiety and its desire to “make a name for itself” and be united under a central purpose that is utterly devoid of Yehovah Elohim. Of that central purpose, depending upon what resource you study and read, they include the goal of storming the gates of heaven; unseating Yehovah as Elohim of elohim from His throne; installing their own elohim to worship in Yehovah’s place; to escape the threat of another Great Flood; to revolt against and defy Yehovah’s commandments and turn completely away from anything having to do with Yah and His Ways. Although fascinating to those who get some sense of intellectual stimulation from the study of ancient civilizations, these structures are nothing more than symbols and ancient testimonies to humanity’s utter disregard for and hostility towards Yehovah and His Ways. They are clear indicators of the extent to which humanity will alienate itself from the Creator of the Universe, as well as they should serve as reminders of Yah’s wrath against the unrighteous  (reference Romans 1:18-32). These edifices in all reality should never be revered as marvels of human ingenuity and accomplishment as the worlds of science and archeology would have us embrace. They should, instead, be objects of derision and cause those who are Elohim-Conscious to be all the more fearful of our holy and righteous Elohim.

 

Much of humanity in those days built their trust and hope in these structures and the human leaders that governed their societies. But our hope and trust, conversely, is to be built upon Yahoshua our Messiah: His Person and Ministry; and upon our Creator and His Ways. There should be no edifices, monuments or symbols to look upon to bolster and affirm our reverence and loyalty to Yehovah, such as crosses, church edifices, religious relics and clergy. No. Our hope and trust, as the psalmist so poignantly asserted:

 

Is [to be] built on nothing less than Y’shua’s blood and righteousness. [For] we dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Yahoshua’s Name. [For it is] on Messiah the solid rock we stand, [because] all other ground is sinking sand” (Robert Critchley).

 

So, in our thoughts and reflections on this parashah for this Shabbat, I would endeavor to ask ourselves: How many towers have we, and possibly are now, building in our lives for the expressed purposes of rebelling against Yehovah? How tall and fortified are those towers? What do those towers represent to us  or do for us? Do they provide us a sense of security or purpose? Or do they simply fulfill a desire or perceived need in our lives? How do those things add to or take away from our trusting, obedient covenant relationship with the Eternal?

 

And when I mention towers here, I’m talking about those things we allow and foster in our lives—even our day-to-day walk with Messiah—that consume us; that influence us; that have the inherent tendency to take our eyes, hearts and minds off our covenant relationship with the Almighty. Things like technology; social media; possessions and riches; relationships; careers; religion; politics; ideologies and the like. No. For the average of us, we don’t necessarily erect ziggurat or towers today. Those are of a bygone era. Our towers of today are a bit more sophisticated and less obtrusive. They tend to define who we are and where we think we’re going? They also serve to unite us with others of like mind and heart.

 

However, over time, these towers in our lives serve only to distance us from our Creator. They blind us to our dire need for a savior and a deliverer. They tell us that we make our own way—we make our own name for ourselves: Yehovah has no say in what I do with my life. He’s not in control. I’m in control. But deep down within the very depths of our souls, we are wired to realize that we are not in control. Our very existence is entirely reliant upon Yehovah’s providence and goodness.

 

 

All ancient accounts of the tower builders in Nimrod’s day was that they had devolved to that of being a Godless and inhumane people. In fact, humanism, albeit humanism in its nascent form, was at the very heart of their tower-building efforts.

 

Those individuals who died in the course of their tower building, such as those that fell or were fatally injured in connection to the building efforts, were of no concern to their fellow tower builders. But rather, the breaking of a single brick, as reported in some extra-biblical accounts, became an occasion of great sorrow and grief to the entire building effort.

 

So again, in our thoughts and reflections on this parashah this Shabbat, I ask: What does this say about the society we dwell in today? Do we mourn and consternate over lost elements of the emerging towers we’re building in our lives? Or rather, do we even care about the souls that are lost every single day to the overall tower building efforts of this humanistic-based world we dwell in? What do the prayers to our just and holy Elohim evidence of the things that exist in our hearts and minds to that end?

 

That which ultimately befell the Tower of Babel in our parashah, so will the towers and ziggurat of modern humanity. These too will become relics of a dispersed and cursed people along with their descendants.

 

Some rabbinic sages did not hold the popular view that the tower was intended to be a platform by which humanity might ascend and war against the Creator. Some viewed the tower along the simple ideological premise that it served as a “rallying point” for the ancients who sought to “make a name for themselves” and remain united under one centralized humanistic government.

 

This I contend, could just as easily been the thinking of a great many in that day as well. And this ideology certainly plays into the modern ideology of the global elite: To create a system of government that elevates them while eliminating those who they view as expendable and useless. These, of course, have no mind or thought for the things and ways of Yehovah. But, like the ancients of Shinar and Babylon, they will be brought down and ultimately dispersed.

 

The flood did not in any way alter the depraved heart of humanity as indicated by previous textual mention that “the thoughts of his (that being humanity’s) heart were only evil continually.” And this clearly seems to have remained the case here. The thoughts of humanity’s heart remained evil continually beyond the Great Flood within the persons of Noah’s descendants.

 

In thinking and reflecting on this conundrum, I can’t help but wonder why Yah chose not to use the flood as His opportunity to transform the human heart—starting with Noah and His sons—and through that transformative process, usher in the paradise that was lost and His government as was the original plan at creation?

 

I guess it’s reasonable to conclude that it simply wasn’t time and it wasn’t His Plan to work salvation, restoration and redemption in this specific manner.

 

Even after the flood, hasatan still possessed the title deed to this earth as well as he would continue to hold sway over humanity as a whole. Therefore, Yah who does everything within the confines of Truth and Righteousness, will bring about the paradise that was lost and the redemption of humanity legally; all the while respecting humanity’s freewill to choose.

 

Nevertheless, humanity’s natural bent is to always be in contention with and hostile towards Yehovah and His Ways (Rom. 8:7).

 

The previous parashah explained how humanity recovered from the devastating flood, evolving into a unified nation people who were generally hostile towards Yehovah.

 

This parashah, in great part, explains how the human race of nations evolved and separated into nations that ultimately became enemies of Yehovah, and the emergence of the one nation from that sea of nations that would produce The Seed that would crush the head of the serpent and bring about a nation people loyal to and governed by Yehovah.

 

Many have concluded that Avraham was alive for the last 58-years or so of Noah’s life. And look just how far humanity in those handful of years had devolved to levels reminiscent of the days prior to the Flood. Noah was the only one of his generation who found favor in Yah’s eye because of His unwavering faith and trust in Yehovah and the covenant relationship He shared with Yehovah.

 

Scripture suggests, and certain extra-biblical texts describe Noah having preached a message of salvation to humanity for 120-years, which none of his contemporaries would receive. Avram was the only one of his generation who appeared to have found favor in Yah’s eyes, as least as far as scripture reveals. For we find in Acts 7 that Yehovah revealed Himself to Avram before Avram departed Mesopotamia. Avram would have been about 48-years of age at that time.

 

Despite what may appear to be the case of humanity being entirely and utterly separated form Yehovah, Yah always possesses unto Himself a remnant that images and glorifies Him in the earth.

 

Humanity unified themselves in their rebellion against Yah through their culture, who some believe is manifested in their single language), their ziggurat or tower, and their disregard or contempt of Yehovah. Over a brief period of time, these adopted the erroneous mindset and heart (perspective) that their wellbeing was a product of their own efforts; ergo humanism.

 

Humanism fueled and sustained the people’s mundane and often arduous existence. Consider just how purposeless a life that sets out to intentionally deprive itself of the presence and governance of Yah?

 

 

The urbanization of humanity served to garner dependence of its citizenry through human ingenuity and brutal leadership. In such a paradigm, Yehovah has no place.

 

What does that say about modern western urbanization of humanity? Government and society becomes the perceived source of human sustenance, provision and protection.

 

Conversely, the rural existence, that being the spreading out of humanity to live out their days in peace and labor and reverence of Yah, garners reliance and trust (I.e., faith) in Yehovah. For humanity in such a paradigm, realizes that it has no control over the elements and other natural circumstances that may or may not affect their overall wellbeing.

 

Yah’s expressed concern that “nothing which they purposed to do would be impossible for them” is a clear statement against humanity’s inherent purpose and desire to reverse Yah’s human created purpose, which was for humans to exist in a trusting relationship with Him. Yah’s Will was always for humanity to be united in a covenant relationship with Him.

 

Despite humanity’s disregard for the Creator’s commandment that it be fruitful, multiply and “swarm”/fill the earth, in their unifying themselves in the Plain of Shinar, humanity ended up doing things Yah’s way anyway. For Yah confounds the single language of humanity, which had the after-effect of causing separation and dispersion among the nation peoples of the plain. The one thing that incites separation in a people the most is culture. In this sense, culture was primarily the people’s language and singleness of purpose around rebelling against Yehovah.

 

Thus, a common reference spoken by any group of unified people against another group of unified people is that of “those people” over there…and such.

 

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Sins Committed by Mistakes are Still Sins–Torah Reading 77

Mar 28, 2020

Vayikra 4:1-35; Ezekiel 18:1-18 Revelation 5:6-10 Unintentional Sins Unintentional sin may be better defined as acts of unfaithfulness; sins committed without knowledge; or sins resulting from carelessness (such as manslaughter that may result in the guilty person...

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The Coronavirus Pandemic in Relation to God’s People

Mar 21, 2020

Fear and uncertainty has gripped the world. Widespread infections (Italy just announced 600+ deaths in one day; politicians and celebrities infected) Civil liberties are at risk of being severely curtailed or eliminated altogether. Personal and business incomes and...

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As the Days of Noah Were…Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections 8

As the Days of Noah Were…Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections 8

by | Nov 19, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections

Let us pray for the brethren throughout the world who are enduring tremendous oppression and persecution as a result of the leaders of the nations they reside exercising their evil powers over them (Australia; Austria; New Zealand; Germany; Greece). 

 

We’re seeing the beginnings of these things happening here in this nation. We must stand fast and walk obediently and steadfastly in our faith, and carry forth the great commission while it is still time. We gotta be like Noach in many ways. Despite the futility of our efforts sometimes, we are expected to keep on keeping on in our declaring of the Gospel and making disciples for our Master Yahoshua Messiah. We must also continue to image Yehovah in all the earth as we await our Master’s return. We must maintain true biblical faith in the earth, despite a drought of the Word and faith in the World. Master asked,  “When the Son of Man comes, will He find true biblical faith–trust–on the earth at all” (Luk. 18:8; CJB).

 

The organization “United in Yah” is leading a “Come Let Us Gather Together For Prayer & Fasting 28th Nov 2021.”

 

https://www.unitedinyah.org/

 

I post updated news article links that I feel may be of use to the brethren throughout the week on themessianictorahobserver.org landing page.

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Points of thoughts and reflection on Parashah 8–Genesis 9:18-10:32

 

  • Despite the cleansing of humanity through the instrument of the Great Flood, the depravity of the human heart bled through to the other side.  Of the human heart, Yehovah, through the Prophet Jeremiah described it as being “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). And the interesting thing is that Yehovah is a trier of the human heart–He searches out the content and state of people’s heart (Jer. 17:10).  And this is key. Despite those in our day who claim vociferously that they are out there doing what they’re doing for the good of humanity, Yehovah see through their evil.

 

  • Much is made in various commentaries and other extra-biblical writings on Noach planting a vineyard and getting drunk from the wine that came from the harvested grapes. But the truth of the matter is that Father’s intent in bringing this story to our attention was not to prohibit the consumption of wine nor to show the depravity of Noach. Noach, because he was overcome by the effects of the alcohol, found himself in a position where the corrupt heart of his son Ham was able to take advantage of him. Ham, Noach’s son, violates his father leading to Noach’s cursing of Ham’s offspring; specifically Canaan. (It’s possible that Moshe was led to ping on Ham’s descendant Canaan as opposed to specifically Ham himself, because the Canaanites were the nation peoples Yisra’el would seek to uproot through the hand of Yehovah.

 

 

  • The blessing of Shem and Japheth. We find in 9:27, that Noach blesses Yapheth such that Yapheth’s line would be enlarged. But of Shem, Noach’s blessing was that Yehovah’s Shekinah would dwell in the tabernacles of Shem. And indeed, this did happen as Noach prophesied.

 

  • Indeed, Noach’s covenant relationship with Yehovah carried weight. For whether Noach was speaking in accordance with the leading of the Ruach haKodesh or via some other inspiration, we see Noach’s blessings and cursings trickled down through humanity’s generations. This says to us that our covenant relationship with Yehovah carries significant weight with it.  Our Master instructed His disciples that He would build His ekklesia upon the truth of His Person and Ministry, and that the gates of hades would not be able to overcome it (Mat. 16:18). In so doing, Yahoshua granted them–and by extension us today–the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, such that whatsoever we prohibit here on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and whatsoever we permit on earth will be permitted in heaven (Mat. 16:19).  Just as Noach received and maintained a righteous mantle over him to image Yehovah and promote Yehovah’s kingdom here on earth, we as well possess that same righteous mantle over us.  What will we do with that mantle? Are we doing with that mantle that which we have been instructed to do?

 

  • Noach is the last of the millennials as the longevity of humanity quickly began to wane. Yehovah recognized that the longevity of humans only exacerbated the iniquity that existed on the earth.

 

  • The provision of the Table of Nations: No other such explanation of the origin of the nations has been provided in the world. This is the only such known documentation.

 

  • Nimrod is singled out as the first mighty man on earth (10:8). The extra-biblical, apocryphal books  and modern commentators have awarded Nimrod as the mighty one who ushered in the age of paganism on the earth–the whole Semiramis-Nimrod-Tammuz story, as convoluted and uncertain as it is, is the basis of a great deal of discussion and finger pointing as it relates to paganism, the Catholic Church and the destiny of humanity.

 

  • There is somehow a breakdown in righteousness in Noach’s/Ham’s line.

 

 

  • Shem is highlighted as the father of Eber; Shem being the father of the nation people who would become the Hebrews (i.e., ‘ibrim). Eber means: “From the other side” (of the river).

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Matthew 24:36-39; Luke 17:26; cf. Genesis 6–As in the days of Noah, thus will be the coming of the Son of man.

 

  • People eating, drinking and marrying. Humanity is oblivious to the coming wrath and judgment.
  • Powerful men holding humanity sway in evil (cf. Gen. 6:1-4). The Nephilim.
  • Wickedness was great upon the whole earth.
  • Earth was filled with violence.
  • There was total corruption of humanity in every way.
  • Idolatry; hearts were hardened (the love of many waxed cold); their ears dull; there is no repentance; there is no seeking after the things and ways of Yehovah.

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Jubilees 5

 

  • The human population had exploded.
  • There was the sin of the Watchers.
  • Yehovah’s living creation was corrupted in every conceivable and possibly every inconceivable way.
  • Iniquity increased in the earth.
  • Every imagination of the thoughts of man was evil continually.
  • Blatant evil was committed by humanity before the eyes of Elohim, despite humanity’s inherent knowledge of Yehovah and its ability to discern good from evil and right from wrong (Rom. 1:18-2:1).

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Jasher 5

 

  • The righteous ones had all died out with the exception of Noach and Methuselah. And so, in obedience to Yehovah, Methuselah and Noach preached 120 years of the coming wrath and judgment to humanity; to teshuvah and escape Yah’s coming wrath and punishment. But alas, humanity “would not hearken to them, nor incline their ears to their words, and they were stiffnecked.” This was twice iterated in Jubilees.

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Enoch

 

  • The sin of the Watchers (Chap. 6).
  • The corruption of the human genome (Chap. 7).
  • Humanity was taught by the fallen ones forbidden arts of sorcery; enchantments; cutting of roots; warfare; cosmetology and seduction; astrology.
  • The animal kingdom was corrupted.

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Practical Halachah

 

  • Shaul warned his student the Evangelist Timothy of the end times in 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

 

  • Everything humans thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. There was no regard for the things of Elohim. Yah’s people, however, are required to live by/walk by/halachah in their faith regardless (Hab. 2:4–Look at the proud: he is inwardly not upright; but the righteous will attain life through trusting faithfulness…they shall live by their faith).

 

  • Only a small remnant finds favor in Yah’s eyes. Noach was a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5; Heb. 11:7). Yehovah’s patience was sustained for many years (1 Pet. 3:20).

 

The Difference Between Faith and Belief-The Righteousness of God is the Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect-Part 3

The Difference Between Faith and Belief-The Righteousness of God is the Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect-Part 3

by | Nov 18, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer

 

This is “The Difference Between Faith and Belief,” it will be Part 3 of our Series within a Series Entitled “The Place Where Obedience and Faith Intersect.”

 

We’re picking up where we left oft at Romans 3:22 which reads:

 

“Even the righteousness of Elohim, which is by faith in Y’shua the Mashiyach for everyone and on every one that believes in Him: for there is no distinction…” (AENT).

 

Now, as I was putting this discussion together, I realized that we had not fleshed out the difference between faith and belief. In part 2 of this series, we talked extensively on the mainstay of Yah’s elect being required of Yehovah to live by their faith. And we see clearly delineated here in our focus passage that Shaul writes to his Roman Assembly readers that the Righteousness of Elohim is achieved through faith and that this righteousness is for everyone who believes in Him.

 

So, then I ask you: What is the difference between faith and belief? Is there a distinction between the two, or are they essentially the same concept?

 

Well, we will attempt to answer these questions today.

 

Faith as found here in our reading is the Greek term “pistis,” and believe is “pisteuo.”

 

As an aside, faith in the Hebrew is “’emuwn;” while believe in the Hebrew is “’aman.”

 

Faith is mentioned in the authorized version of the Tanach just twice: Deuteronomy 32:20 and Habakkuk 2:4, while some 229 times in the Brit haDashah.

 

Believe as an English term is found some 17-times in the Tanach, while it is found some 115 times in the Brit haDashah (with belief found only once in the whole of AV scripture, believeth 35 times in the Brit haDashah/4 times in the Tanach). 

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Faith is primarily born of “trust.”

Because a thing is believed as true; it is worthy of trust (2 The. 2:13).

 

In this passage, Shaul makes mention of the Thessalonians trust in the Truth and their being set apart by the Ruach haKodesh:

 

“But we are bound to give thanks to Elohim always on your account, my brothers, beloved of our Master (Y’shua), that Elohim has from the beginning chosen you to life through sanctification of the Spirit (aka Ruach) and through faith in the Truth” (AENT).

 

So it was to Shaul that these saints were chosen unto life because of their set-apart-ness by the Ruach haKodesh, AND because of their trust in the Truth of Yah’s Word and the Gospel of the Kingdom.

 

Now, it must be mentioned, that many English translations of this passage use the term “belief” as opposed to “faith,” although “pistis”—which is actually faith—is found in the Greek manuscripts. And so, bearing in mind that “faith” is generally founded upon trust in Yah and His Word, “faith” as opposed to belief is best used here.

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There are degrees of “faith” or “trust” that go up to that of “a full assurance of faith.”

 

Shaul asserts that God’s Righteousness is revealed from faith to faith as the elect one of Yah lives by their faith (Rom. 1:17).

 

In other words, as Yah’s elect lives their life by their faith, they will grow from one level of faith to the next, as the Ruach haKodesh works its work in them and they grow in knowledge and grace. 

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Faith comes from teaching (Rom. 10:14-17).

For faith to manifest, there must be knowledge (Joh. 10:38).

 

Increasing one’s understanding Yah’s eternal Word—His Truth–is key to one’s increased Faith. Faith, in addition to understanding, must consist of, what certain scholars frame as, an “assent.” “Assent” is an act of one’s will. In simpler terms, Faith is an action word. Faith requires one to do something in response to their trust. 

 

Now, some folks declare there is such a thing as “saving faith.” Saving faith is said to be received by the one who would be justified or receive Abba’s imputed Righteousness. These contend that this “saving faith” rests upon Y’shua alone for one’s salvation. (And I should also add that these also reject the keeping of Torah or any mention of establishing an obedient Covenant Relationship with Yehovah. But what else is new?)

 

Furthermore, these theologians contend that Faith accepts and believes that the Word of Yah is the absolute Truth and that it leads to the sinner being justified before a holy and righteous Elohim (Rom. 3:22, 25; Gal. 2:16; Phi. 3:9; Joh. 3:16-36; Act. 10:43; 16:31). This saving faith must also consist of a consciousness of one’s sin and his or her dire need of a savior.

 

These are all well and good explanations of faith by denominationalists. And I would say to a great extent, their definitions and understanding of what true biblical faith is true. However, their definition lacks in substance. And I would go so far as to suggest that the denominationalists’ official understanding and definition of faith is really more a definition of belief than faith. There is, instead, this sense of cognitive acknowledgment in the existence of the Creator and His Son. But when we see faith manifested in the patriarchs, one must admit that our forefathers’ possessed more than just a cognitive acceptance and knowledge of Yehovah. You’ll kind of see what I mean as we progress in this discussion. 

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So then, biblical faith can be viewed or framed as a reliance and trust in Messiah to deal with one’s sin issue. 

 

Messiah becomes one’s own. Such faith requires a renewed will that trusts. People, in and of themselves, are incapable of true biblical faith. Indeed, people may possess belief in Yehovah and the Bible and in Yahoshua, but when it comes to faith, as we see epitomized in the story of the boy’s father begging Yahoshua to do something towards delivering his son from demonic oppression, humans need spiritual help to bring them to the level of a trusting—even a salvation faith.

 

“(13) For a man in his natural self does not receive spiritual concepts; for they are foolishness to him. (14) Neither can he know them; for they are discerned by the Spirit. (15) But he that is spiritual, judges of all things: and he is judged of by no one. (16) For who has known the mind of Master YHVH, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Mashiyach” (1 Cor. 2:13-16; AENT).

 

The development or settling in of a trusting faith in humanity is complicated by the works of the enemy, that blinds humanity from the Truth of the things of Yehovah:

 

“(3) And if our Good News (aka Besorah or Gospel) is veiled, it is veiled to them that perish; (4) to them whose minds the god of this world has blinded, in order that they might not believe, or else the light of the Flame (aka the Good News or Gospel) of the glory of the Mashiyach (who is the likeness of Elohim) should dawn upon them” (2 Cor. 4:3-4; AENT).

 

This faith becomes who the individual is: Essentially, it’s as if that one’s moral or spiritual DNA becomes altered such that he or she chooses to be good instead of bad; his or her perspective is altered to that of Yehovah.

 

And so, the mind or intellect of the faithful must be enlightened by divine teaching (Joh. 6:44; Act. 13:48; 2 Cor. 4:6; Eph. 1:17-18). 

 

There must be a clear discernment of the things of Yah versus the things that are not of Yah.

 

Faith is a requirement of salvation because that’s the way Yah chose to set this thing up. One’s faith must enjoin in the fact of “Thus saith Yahovah.”

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Vine’s Dictionary

 

The Brit haDashah

 

Believe

 

To “believe” (verb) in the Greek is “pisteou,” which, depending on how it is used in context of the text in which it is found, means to be persuaded of…”

 

“Belief” is “pistis” (noun), which, depending on how it is used in context of the text in which it is found, may mean a conviction respecting Elohim and His Word and one’s relation to Elohim.

 

“Believe/Belief” is “pistos” (when used as an adjective), and depending on how it is used in context of the text in which it is found, could mean believing, trusting (active); trustworthy or faithful (passive).

 

Faith

 

Now, “faith” in the Greek is “pistis,” which, depending on how it is used in context of the text in which it is found, could mean a firm persuasion; a conviction that is based upon hearing. It is used in the Brit haDashah always of “faith in Yahovah or Mashiyach.”

 

“Trust” is germane to any biblical concept of faith, as evidenced throughout the whole of the Brit haDashah (Rom. 3:25; 1 Cor. 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor. 1:24; Gal. 3:23; Phi. 1:25; 2:17; 1 The. 3:2; 2 The. 1:3; 3:2).

 

As it relates to biblical faith, “pistis” consists of:

 

  1. A firm conviction and acknowledgment of YHVH’s revelation and truth (2 The. 2:9-12). Conviction classically means a firmly held belief or opinion of things of the Faith (noun). Those opinions or beliefs are generally transitory or changed, regardless any negative experiences or opposition to his or her established beliefs.

 

  1. Personal surrender to YHVH (Joh. 1:12). Without a complete turning over of one’s life to Yehovah, which we contend is via one entering into an obedient covenant relationship with Yehovah. It’s a dying to self, as the faithful one’s life is no longer his/her own:

 

“(19) Or don’t you know, that your body is the temple of the Ruach haKodesh who abides in you, whom you have received from Elohim? And you are not your own. (20) For you are bought with a price. Therefore, you glorify Elohim with your body, and with your spirit, which are Elohim’s” (1 Cor. 6:19-20; AENT).

 

  1. A conduct (obedience) that is inspired by such surrender:

 

“Now the just by my faith will live: but if he draw back, my soul will not have pleasure in him” (Heb. 10:38; AENT).

 

Therefore, faith is contrasted to belief, such that belief is more of an opinion or thinking that is held in good “faith” without reference, per se, to any supporting proofs.

 

For example, Avraham, who believed Yah’s promises, but his faith-His trust-rested on Yah Himself.

 

Tanach

 

To “believe” (verb) in the Hebrew is “’aman,” which depending on how it is used in context of the text in which it is found, means to be firm; to endure; to be faithful; to be true; to trust; to believe.

 

To “believe” is indicative of that thing of which one believes is:

 

  1. Lasting or enduring. In other words, that which we believe of Yehovah does not change. There is a sense of permanence associated with ‘aman, as opposed to transitory in our modern parlance.

 

  1. Firm or trustworthy (Isa. 22:23-25). An excellent example of this is found in the example of a peg that is driven into a firm substance so that the peg becomes immovable.

 

We have Genesis 42:20, cf. 1 Kings 8:26; Hosea 5:9, where “’aman” denotes both “trustfulness” or “faithfulness.”

 

 

“’Aman” in YHVH being faithful because He has already proved Himself as such. YHVH has kept His covenant (Isa. 47:7).

 

“’Aman” as used in Job entails that of a psychological or mental certainty (Job. 29:24).

 

In Genesis 15:16 we find recorded that Avraham believed in YHVH, not merely in Yah’s Words and promises, but in the very Person of Yah. This strongly denotes that of a personal relationship with Yah.

 

In Exodus 4:9, we find the gist of belief as used here is on the act of believing, not on the trustworthiness of the signs rendered.

 

Other references worth checking into are Exo. 4:5; cf. 1 Kin. 10:7.

 

Therefore, we find in the Tanach that faith and belief are essentially synonymous terms. In other words, the Hebrew mindset as it relates to one’s belief and faith are one and the same. There is essentially, no distinguishing between the two. That’s the term “faith” or “’emuwn” is only used twice in the Tanach and “believe” or “’aman” is used some 17 times. 

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Faith=Trust in Yehovah, while Belief=a mental state or persuasion. 

 

Thus, belief may or may not be as strong as faith. Beliefs are things that we are convinced are true through our acquiring of information or experiences to that end. Interestingly, because of the fluidity or subjectivity that our beliefs may be based upon, they—our beliefs—may change over time (I.e., they are transitory).

 

Faith on the other hand consists of belief, actions and confidence. Biblical faith, then, is bigger than biblical belief alone. Faith always requires action. One’s faith will always cause him/her to act.

 

The best reference to this is found in James 2 where the apostle and half-brother of our Master Yahoshua, declared that Faith without works is dead.

 

And so, one’s faith will naturally move one to obedience, or at least, it should move one to obedience.

 

The element of confidence, which is part and parcel of one’s faith, determines just how solid one is or how steadfastly one sticks to or conforms to his/her belief and conviction.

 

Most folks contend that faith and belief are synonymous. But the truth of the matter is that these two terms are interrelated, which is to say they are very close in meaning; that the two terms actually consist of some elements of the other so to speak. But, the two terms are indeed different.

 

And so, there is little to no mystery as to why the vast majority of English Bible translators make no distinction between the two.

 

One of the best ways to not only display this principle, but to also show a clear distinction between the two terms of faith and belief, is found in Matthew 17:20:

 

“(19) Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it (the it being demons) out?” (20) “Because of your little faith,” He told them. “For I assure you: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (CSB).

 

Do you see a problem here? If we take this passage at rote, face value, it appears that Yahoshua is telling His inquiring disciples/talmudim that they were unable to cast out the demon(s) because they possessed little faith. And then He goes on to explain further to them that if they had an even smaller amount of faith—let’s say the size of a mustard seed—they would be able to move mountains. If this doesn’t cause one to be slightly confused, then I don’t know what will.

 

But when we look at the KJV, NKJV and AENT to name a few, these make a distinction between faith and belief:

 

(19) “ Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ (20) So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your UNBELIEF; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have FAITH as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you’” (NKJV).

 

Now do you see the clarity between the two terms? Yahoshua explains to His disciples/His talmudim that they were unable to expel the demon(s) because they didn’t believe they could. And so, Yahoshua further explains that if they had just a baseline faith or trust in their authority—and Yahoshua likened that level or size of trust to that of a mustard seed—then nothing would be an impossibility to them because they would know or believe that they could do what they sought to do. In other words, one’s level of faith positively or negatively impacts one’s belief in their purpose.

 

You see, when you trust in the Person of Yahoshua and the authority that He has placed in us, His disciples, then that trust will translate into action and we will have the persuasion within us that we can do that which we are called to do. We will believe that we can do that which we were called to do.

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Ya’achov (aka James) points out that faith without works (works being obedience) is simply a belief (essentially he does—James 2).

 

The same Ya’achov mentioned that demons certainly believe in Yahoshua and Yehovah, but they actually shutter just at the mention of their names (Jas. 2:19). Demons, however, do not possess a trusting faith in Yahoshua and Yehovah.

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The writer of Hebrews defined faith as:

 

“…the persuasion of the things that are in hope as if they were in actual fact, and (it is) the manifesting of the things not seen” (11:1; AENT).

 

The writer invokes the concepts of persuasion, which can also mean assurance and confidence, and conviction. There is, then, within the faith holder a settled sense of confidence that something that is not seen but has been promised by Elohim will actually come to pass sometime in the future. There is a trusting in the Person and Words of Elohim and His Messiah. And this trusting faith is testified to throughout the whole of chapter 11.

 

And so, the truth-seeker and truth-lover can simply peruse the 11th chapter of Hebrews and from the list of faithful patriarchs, gain a well-rounded education on this critical subject of biblical faith.

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The persuasion that encompasses biblical faith is one that provides the soul a foretasting of that which is foreshadowed and promised; a present-mindedness that that which is promised has in some sense already come to fruition; yes, the check’s in the mail if you will.

 

Those things that cannot be seen by the physical eye are a reality of the mind. There is a certitude that Yehovah is real and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek after Him. Thus, faith, as opposed to belief, is that thing that pleases Yehovah (Heb. 11:6).

 

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But quite possibly the thing that separates biblical belief from biblical faith the most, at least as far as I’m concern and in the minds of others of like mind, is that true biblical faith is characterized by the existence of relationship or covenant. 

 

Our faith is something that we, the chosen of Yah, are instructed to live by (Hab. 2:4). Every aspect of who we are is to be controlled by our trust in Yehovah.

 

We don’t live by our beliefs, per se, although our beliefs might sway or influence how we respond to certain things going on around us. In fact, most certainly, belief comes always before trusting faith. Our faith then, leads us to a trusting, obedient, covenant relationship with the Almighty.

 

We then conduct our lives according to our trust in Yehovah. In so doing, Yehovah requires everything from us. He requires that we give Him our all; do what He tells us to do; look to Him for our needs; find our joy and peace in Him; seek to be like Him; to fear Him; to trust exclusively Him; and so forth. This becomes what we often refer to in our community as halachah–our walk. We walk or journey in the footsteps of our Master Yahoshua Messiah, who is the splitting image of His Father Yehovah Elohim, King and Creator of the Universe. If we follow Him to the tee and we conform to His image, we are likewise being formed into the very image of our Elohim. (Yes, we were essentially made in the image of Yehovah. But through Yahoshua, we are being made to be like Him in a great many ways: To take on His Perspective: to see as He sees; think as He thinks; feel as He feels; behave and act as He acts and behaves.)

 

Folks, faith, pistis, is all about being in a trusting, obedient covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe. True biblical faith is inextricably linked to covenant. I pray that you can see that.

 

And so, conversely, belief, although it is part and parcel of one’s trusting faith, does not necessarily involve covenant relationship with Yehovah. Anyone, either within or outside our faith community can believe in Yehovah and His Word. In fact, it has been reported that at least a third of the world believes—possesses a cognitive or ideological acceptance and understanding of Yehovah Elohim. However, the difference that one must recognize is that the person who possesses true biblical faith, is in covenant relationship with Yehovah. That covenant relationship will influence their belief in a number of ways: how they exercise their authority and power in Messiah; how they carry themselves within and outside their faith community; or how they understand Yah’s Words. 

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Our faith comes by hearing and teaching of the Word (Rom. 10:17).

 

It then behooves us and is required of us that we believe the Gospel (Rom. 10:16).

Ideally, humanity is supposed to believe on and possess trusting faith exclusively in Yehovah and His Son Y’shua Messiah. Unfortunately, we’re seeing clearly played out before today in the world around us, that the citizens of this world are instead believing on and trusting in humanity and the world’s systems:

  • Government and Government Leaders
  • Friends and Families and Employers
  • Social Systems
  • Their established way of life
  • Possessions
  • Liberal ideologies
  • Hollywood
  • Social media
  • Technology
  • Science

 

While the powerbrokers of this world place their beliefs on and trust/faith in:

 

  • Technocracy
  • Wealth
  • Their power and influence and fame and notoriety
  • One another
  • Especially their gods that direct their steps in life.

 

We, Yah’s elect, are not to place our trust in princes, nor in people, in whom there is no salvation or deliverance (Psa. 146:3). True salvation and deliverance comes only from Yehovah our Elohim. Man exists not of his/her own accord. Their very breath is owned by Yehovah (Isa. 2:22).

 

And so, Father says to humanity: Cursed is the one that trusts—one who puts their faith—in humans, especially those that do not know the Ways of Yehovah (Jer. 17:5).

 

True, biblical belief and trusting faith is rare in the earth. It is found in a remnant of people who all too often reveal their trusting faith in Yehovah and His Ways by giving up their lives for their Faith. They do not place their trusting faith in any of the above mentioned elements: They’ve given all to Yehovah and to Y’shua His Messiah.

 

But these who possess such belief and faith are a precious few. And Master lamented in a prophetic utterance to His talmudim by way of a question: When the Son of Man returns will He find faith in the earth (Luk. 18:8)? And the answer to that question is yes, but only in rare places and within a small remnant of the faithful. For only will the remnant possess the trusting faith that Yah is calling for from a people who would be His.

 

The broad path engenders within its followers a misplaced faith and belief system that leads only to destruction and death. The broad path is all about trust in men and their systems; trust in the god of this earth; trust in one’s possessions and position in life.

 

Conversely, the narrow path engenders, a necessary trust and belief in the One who will guide their way to life. The very fact that the pathway to Yehovah is narrow and arduous, demands one trust in the Elohim that will lead them along the paths of righteousness with the help of His Ruach haKodesh. 

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A great illustration and distinction between the two concepts of faith and belief, I believe, is to be found in the story of the healing of the demon-tortured boy in Mark chapter 9:

 

14 And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.  15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. 16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?  17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;  18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth,  and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. 19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. 20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. 21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.  25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.  26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. 27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. 28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? 29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. (Mar 9:14-29 KJV)

 

Okay, there are 4-specific points I want to draw and examine in this passage:

 

  1. Y’shua refers to his talmudim as a “faithless generation” in response to the boy’s father revealing to Y’shua that his talmudim were not able to expel the demons from the boy.

 

  1. The boy’s father expressed a level of uncertainty in Y’shua being able to heal his boy.

 

  1. When questioned or in responding to the father’s uncertainty regarding Y’shua being able to heal his boy, the father asserted that he did (A) believe that Y’shua could heal his boy, but he was struggling with whether (B) Y’shua would actually heal his boy. And we will see, in just a moment, that the text in most English translations of our bible, use only the terms belief and or believe, without the term faith having anything to do with this story (with the exception of Y’shua referring to His talmudim as being faithless). This would suggest to the average reader that the boy’s father’s faith was not a factor in the healing of his son, or that belief and faith are one and the same thing. But the AENT and the Peshitta does make a differentiation between faith and belief here that we must take into consideration in our attempt to understand the difference between the two terms/concepts.

 

  1. When Y’shua was asked by His talmudim why they could not expel the demon from the boy, Y’shua informed them that there are things such as the expelling of certain evil spirits that require things in addition to belief and faith: They in fact also require prayer and fasting.

 

Focusing on verses 22-24, the AENT reads:

 

(22) “…and many times it has cast him into the fire and into the water to destroy him, but whatever you are able to do, have compassion on me and help me.” (23)  Y’shua said to him, “If you are able to believe, anything is possible to be for him who believes.” (24) And at once the father of the boy cried out while mourning and said, “I believe, my Master. Help the lack of my faith!”

 

The father makes an interesting statement of exasperation to Master by saying:

 

“…whatever you are able to do, have compassion on me and help me” (vs. 22). 

 

But Master responds by in part, repeating the father’s statement back to him:

 

“If you are able…believe…”

 

In other words, the boy’s father, having already been disappointed by the failures of Y’shua’s Talmudim to heal his son, turns to Y’shua and fearing another failure about to transpire, (Master’s reputation likely damaged by the failures of His talmudim) settles for anything that Y’shua might be able to do to help his situation. Not necessarily heal his son. But something. Anything, the father asks.

 

And Master, in response to the boy’s father’s desperation, says to him:

 

“Look, you can accomplish just about anything if you believe it can be done.”

 

Master introduces into this situation the concepts of belief and faith. As it related to this boy’s father, the importance of belief and faith had possibly not been previously mentioned to him. And this situation forced the boy’s father to come to terms with what exactly he believed about this supposed healer in front of him and the real possibilities of his son being healed, especially after the most recent healing failure.

 

And so, the man pronounces to Master that he indeed believed his son’s healing was possible. But as far as he was concerned, he needed Yahoshua to do something to strengthen His faith in Him. The man needed something from Y’shua.

 

Shaul taught that faith (aka “pistis”) comes from hearing, and that which is heard comes from the Gospel or Word of Yah (Rom. 10:17). And so, as far as the tortured boy’s father was concerned, He needed an assurance from Y’shua Himself.

 

Thus, our faith is built upon the Word of Elohim. His Word causes us to trust Him; to be at One with Him; to be in an obedient covenant relationship with Him.

 

Interestingly, the talmudim requested of Y’shua that He increase their faith (Luk. 17:5). Master responded by simply positioning their perspective on the matter of faith (aka “pistis”). Master told them that it all starts with a seed of faith—of conviction. If you have a seed amount of true faith, you will be convinced that you can accomplish amazing things (Luk. 17:6). If you simply trust in Me (trusting faith), you will do amazing wonders (belief).

 

Concluding Thought

 

We believe (”pisteuo”) when we are persuaded that the Gospel is true and that Y’shua is our Messiah. That persuasion leads to faith (”pistis”), which is a conviction of truth that leads to an obedient covenant relationship with the Almighty. Belief doesn’t necessarily manifest in action or behavior. But faith always requires positive action on our part.

 

All that we’ve discussed here should be studied by each of us individually. Don’t take what I’ve presented to you here as absolute truth until you’ve verified through your own studies and meditations.

 

But I will offer this to you in closing as it relates to the distinction that exists between faith and belief. The absolute main point I would pray each of us leaves here with today is that we must trust in Yehovah in every area of our lives, through Yahoshua Messiah. And to get to that level of trust, we must enter into a trusting, obedient relationship with Yehovah our Elohim. Covenant then is the foundation upon which we build and grow our faith. Covenantal faith is what separates us from our Denominationalists and Jewish cousins.

 

 

 

 

We Serve a Covenant-Keeping Life-Giving God-STAR-7

We Serve a Covenant-Keeping Life-Giving God-STAR-7

by | Nov 12, 2021 | Blog, Podcasts

by Rod Thomas | The Messianic Torah Observer's Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections

Our Torah Reading today—which is the 7th reading of the 3-year Torah Reading Cycle, popularly referred to as a Torah Portion, is contained in Genesis 8:15-9:17. I’ve elected to assign this discussion a title of: “Our Covenant Making, Life Giving God, as this reading encompasses two concepts (among a great many others) that I want us to focus on, which are the concepts or themes of “life” and “covenant.” For we will find clearly laid out before us that we serve a life-giving; life-promoting and covenant-making and covenant-keeping Elohim. And this reality rests in stark contrast to that which the enemy and uncoverted/unrepentant humanity advocate, which is death and living lies. The enemy and unrepentant humanity is all about promoting death of itself one way or another, while promoting such things via platforms that are based upon lies and and deception.

You see, you can’t have covenant with Yehovah without Truth and life.

But our reading encapsulates the concepts and themes of life and covenant through the life and experiences of Noach and his family. We find here in our reading a story about “new beginnings” as Yehovah begins the process of rebuilding His living creation from the survivors of the Great Flood. And contrary to what we may think on the surface, the story of Noach is a story of hope, promise, covenant and life.

 

(8:15) And Yehovah spoke to Noach, saying,

(16) “Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives, with you.

(17) All the animals that are with you of all flesh, fowl and cattle and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth, take out with you, and let them swarm through the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

(18) And Noach went out, his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.

(19) Every beast, every crawling thing, and every fowl, everything that stirs on the earth, by their families, came out of the ark.

(20) And Noach built an altar to Yehovah and He took from every clean cattle and every clean fowl and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

And so, after disembarking the ark as Yehovah instructed Noach and his family, Noach builds an altar and offers burnt sacrifices consisting of clean fowl and cattle unto Yehovah.

Clearly Noach received proper worship instructions from someone prior to this. No doubt his righteous parents. At least one of the extra-biblical writings contend that Noach received instructions in righteousness from His grandfather Methuselah.

Regardless, what we see clearly spelled out here that there existed a clear distinction between that which was clean and that which was unclean as it related to animals.

(21) And Yehovah smelled the fragrant odor and Yehovah said in His heart, “I will not again damn the soil on humankind’s score. For the devisings of the human heart are evil from youth. And I will not again strike down all living things as I did.

And so, Yehovah smells the odor of the sacrifices and He says in His heart that He would (1) no longer damn the soil on humankind’s score. And (2) He would not again destroy all living things as He’d just done.

To say that Yehovah “says something in His heart” is to mean that Yehovah “says to Himself.”

J. H. Hertz, author of Torah and Haftorah asserts that this simply means Yah resolved that He would not destroy His living creation again as He just did.

The noting by Moshe here in this verse that Yehovah smelled the fragrant odor leading to Yehovah’s resolution not to destroy creation again is somewhat indicative that Yehovah accepted Noach’s volitional offering.

We also find here noted that Yehovah determines that “He will not again damn the soil nor strike down all living things as He did because “the devisings of the human heart (or will) are endemically evil.” And this damning of the soil on humankind’s score hearkens back to Yehovah cursing the ground by that Adam and his posterity would till for food, but given the context in which this statement is made, this damning of the soil or earth also directly applies to the Great Flood.

So I ask you: Is it possible that Yah settled within Himself and with the Heavenly Counsel (if there is indeed such a thing) that humanity’s inherent evil nature is something to be dealt with via another method or means instead of damning the whole of creation altogether? Does this not in some way speak to the Righteousness of Elohim, both of Yah’s goodness as well as His justness and justice?

Now that He reset creation to such a place whereby the corruption of Yah’s living creative order was more or less mitigated and He would now move forward with His Plan of Salvation, Redemption and Restoration, less inhibited by humanity’s corruption and wickedness? Could the advent of the Great Flood have been emotionally trying upon the Creator to the point that He would not wish a repeat of the flood event, His love for His human creation being so great? Or could it have been that maybe Yah was coming to terms with Himself that humanity was simply incapable of good without His help, and thus, His compassion and justice would not bring Him to repeat another extinction event such as the Flood?

Yehovah’s first instructions to post-Flood humanity and animal creation is to “be fruitful and multiply,” which is a clarion call for life: the promotion of life as opposed to death. And to facilitate that clarion call for life, Yehovah vows to never destroy His living creation with such a flood ever again. And He makes this vow, even covenant with His human creation, because, as Yah says, “the imagery (I.e., “yetzer”) of mankind’s heart is evil (I.e., “hara”) from his youth.”

Humanity’s inherent evil speaks to humanity’s natural inclination for evil, which the Jewish sages of old referred to as “yetzer hara.”

“Yetzer hara” is generally thought to overshadow humanity’s inclination for good, or in the sage’s parlance, “Yetzer tov.”

Thus, Yah acknowledges that humanity’s evil heart stems back to Adam’s first grasp of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.”

It must be understood, as it relates to this whole “yetzer hara” thing, that it wasn’t the world or creation let’s say, that corrupted the human heart. It was, instead, an undesirable characteristic of humankind that overshadows an individual.

Rabbinical sages, in grappling with this concept of “yetzer hara,” devised for the sake of discussion and debate, the concept of “good inclination” or “yetzer tov.” Messianic teacher and author Tim Hegg expounds upon this in some detail in his commentary on this parashah. He writes about “yetzer tov” being a prime element of the “Daily Shacharit” or “Morning Service Prayer” where the petitioner reasons with Yehovah that he/she not be ruled over by “yetzer hara” or their “evil inclinations.”

There is, of course, no mention of a “yetzer tov” in man. Our Master corrected the Rich Young Man who asked Him what good thing should he do in order to have eternal life (Mat. 19:16). Yahoshua said to this gentleman, “Why are you asking Me about good? There is One who is good! But if you want to obtain eternal life, observe the mitzvot (aka commandments)” (Mat. 19:17; CJB).

The focus of our passage is rather that of humanity’s inherent inclination for evil and wickedness. And it evident that Yehovah clearly recognized that his human creation generally had no ability to overcome his/her evil inclination, although I would argue that people will always have the ability to choose not to give into their evil inclinations. The unfortunate thing about “yetzer hara” is that the heart of humanity is deceitful and above all things desperately evil, and thus, humanity is inclined to give into that deceitful and evil heart of theirs (Jer. 17:9).

Yehovah told Cain just after rejecting his offering to Him:

If you are doing what is good, shouldn’t you hold your head high? And if you don’t do what is good, sin is crouching at the door- it wants you, but you can rule over it.” (Gen 4:7 CJB)

From the words of Elohim Himself, as He told Cain, humanity can rule over this “yetzar hara” if there is a desire to do so. But that desire, it stands to reason, must be there. Certainly, the patriarch such as Abel, Enoch, Methuselah and Noach had the desire and inclination to rule over the deceit and wickedness that is characteristic of the heart of humanity.

Yehovah, in His gracious compassion and love for His human creation, did not leave humanity to contend indefinitely with their “yetzar hara.” He instead, provided humanity with a lifeline, or as Hegg describes, a remedy. That remedy is of course the renewed covenant which encompasses Yehovah’s Plan of Salvation, Redemption and Restoration. Yahoshua, the mediator of the renewed covenant, ushered in an era where humanity’s sins were atoned for, and most importantly, where the corrupt, deceitful and wicked heart of humankind would be changed from the “yetzar hara” to that of, let’s say, “yetzar tov.” Yahoshua ushered in a change from within the human condition. Humanity would be offered the opportunity to start anew: to receive a new birth, whereby his/her heart of stone would be changed to that of flesh, wholly acceptable unto Yehovah whereby Yah would write His Torah upon it.

And so, Yehovah’s future methodology for dealing with humanity’s wickedness and iniquity would shift from that of universal humanity to that of the individual or community of sinners.

Yehovah continues that He will not again strike down all living things as He did,” which appears to be an oath that the Creator makes, possibly before the Heavenly Counsel, if such a thing actually exists, or rather to Himself. There is no indication that this pledge or oath is directed to or made in Noach’s hearing. No physical sign or token is offered of this solitary oath.

Along the lines of Noach’s sacrifice, let us not forget that his sacrifice was a foreshadowing of Yahoshua’s atoning sacrifice, which served as the vehicle by which humanity’s fellowship with Yehovah would be restored. In so doing, Yahoshua’s Personal Ministry made it possible for us to live in the midst of a corrupt, evil and lawless world, upright and holy before our Elohim (1 Pet. 1:15-16).

(22) As long as all the days of the earth-Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, and summer and winter, And day and night shall not cease.”

What we have laid out before us in this verse is possibly, as the rabbis of old suggest, a delineating of the seasons, that Abba declares will continue unabated as long as the earth remains in its present physical state. Each season, according to the rabbis, being two-months in duration.

(9:1) And Yehovah blessed Noach and his sons and He said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Yehovah blesses Noach and Sons, speaking to them in terms of the instruction that He first rendered unto Adam and Eve in the Garden: “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.”

Humanity was beginning anew through Noach’s family.

(2) And the dread and fear of you shall be upon all the beasts of the field and all the fowl of the heavens, in all that crawls on the ground and in all the fish of the sea.

And so, it was established that the animal creation would exist in fear of human beings, suggestive that possibly prior to the Flood event, the animal kingdom did not exist in fear of humans.

(3) In your hand they are given. All stirring things that are alive, yours shall be for food, like the green plants, I have given all to you.

Humans are released from subsisting on solely a vegan diet here, as Yehovah grants humans permission to consume flesh in addition to a plant-based diet (1:29). Why would Yehovah make this change and why would He do so at this juncture of human history? What changed in the mind or purpose of Yehovah?

(4) But flesh with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.

The recorded restriction given by Yehovah here as it relates to human consumption of meat that is taken from a live animal, as well as the consumption of any animal blood.

Yehovah views the blood of all living creatures as the seat of the creature’s life. And this instruction certainly plays into the Kosher handling of meats in Judaism, referred to as “Shechitah” and “Koshering.”

(5) And just so, your lifeblood I will requite, from every beast I will requite it, and from humankind, from every man’s brother, I will requite human life.

The sanctity of human life is underscored here in Father’s edict or ruling that He would exact punishment for the shedding of human blood (verse 6). This, Father asserts, is due to humans having been made in Yehovah’s image.

And thus, it could be concluded that Abba was foreshadowing the establishment of justice systems to directly deal with violations of this prohibition against shedding human blood and murder.

Clearly, leading up to the Great Flood, murder was a common pastime of the antediluvian human society and Abba, setting matters of humanity on a proper footing here with Noach, intended to make it clear that murder was not acceptable behavior for humans to engage in.

Also, if an animal happened to kill a person, that animal was subject to being killed as well. And this would later be reflected in a Torah commandment in Exodus 21:28-32.

Much more than this, if a person were to murder someone, Yah would exact vengeance from the murderer through the agency of humans, or rather, a judicial agency (Deu. 16:20). For the universal identity of humanity is that he was created in Yehovah’s image.

Along this line of discussion on what is meant by man being formed in Yah’s image,I would encourage you, if you are so led, to read or listen to that installment.

As people of Yehovah, it is imperative that we see the world and the human condition through His perspective. Yah’s perspective as it relates to humanity is that all human life is of value. J.H. Hertz describes this perspective as recognizing that all humans must be seen as being individual personality’s with “inalienable human rights.

So then, when one human murders another, the murderer is seen as denying their victim of his/her “inalienable human rights” so to speak.

(6) He who sheds human blood by humans his blood shall be shed, for in the image of Elohim He made humankind.

(7) As for you, be fruitful and multiply, swarm through the earth, and hold sway over it.”

Once again Yehovah conveys the command to Noach and Sons to be fruitful and multiply and swarm through the earth and hold sway over it. This is simply another iteration of the instruction Yah gave Adam and Eve in 1:28.

Now, J.H. Hertz asserts that this is not a superfluous repetition of 9:1 and 1:28, in that it was rendered by Yah AFTER His prohibition against murder and the shedding of blood.

Yah is starting over from scratch with humanity via Noach’s family and Yah is instilling into the very fabric of this man and his family’s psyche, the first thing right off the bat mind you, the concept of the sanctity of life.

The reverence for life had all but been lost in antediluvian humanity. Not too different than what we’re seeing played out before us in society today, heh? And this being one of the first instructions given to the family upon their disembarking the ark is that of don’t murder; instead be fruitful and multiply; propagate and promote life.

You see, our Elohim is an Elohim of life. For He brought about life out of death, darkness and utter and irreversible chaos.

Of this very thing Yochanan wrote:

“(1) In the beginning was the plan (word) of Yahweh, and the plan (word) was with Yahweh, and the plan (word) was Yahweh’s. (2) The same plan (word) was in the beginning with Yahweh. (3) All things were done according to it, and without it nothing was done, that was done. (4) In this plan (word) was life and that life was the light to mankind” (Joh. 1:1-4; Book of Yahweh).

(The conventional understanding of this passage is that Yochanan was describing Yahoshua, but I differ in that perspective and believe these 4-verses are literally describing Yahweh or Yehovah and His word—His spoken, uttered word being the source and giver of life. That same word, or as the Book of Yahweh frames it, the plan of Yahweh, the words of Yahweh which is life in and of itself, would take on human form, dwell in the midst of humanity and promote life.)

And because Yehovah’s character is that of pro-life (not just pro-life as it relates to the unborn, but pro-life as it relates to all humanity, we are called to possess and live that same perspective. We are called to promote life through the declaring and walking out of the Gospel and the making of disciples for Yahoshua Messiah.

Instead of condemning all of humanity for its endemic wickedness, Abba sent His Son to promote life. Of His mission, Yahoshua declared some 11-times in the Gospel of John alone, He came to bring and promote life to humanity. He being the bread of life; those who would believe on Him having everlasting life; He coming down from heaven and giving life to the world.

I tell you saints, Our Elohim is a God of life. All other would-be gods; those demigods, are promoters of death. And humanity is quick to abandon the only promoter of life in the universe for the purveyors of death. And we see this clearly today. The nations of the world, including this nation’s government and the people this government controls, promote and declare a gospel of death and darkness.

Since 1973 (passage of Roe v. Wade in this nation), it is estimated by www.christianliferesources.com, that some 62,502,904 abortions have been performed in the world. The World Health Organization estimates that there are some 40 to 50 million abortions performed each year.

Now, compare these numbers to those who have died from this plandemic over the last 18 months or so: It is estimated that worldwide, some 5 million souls have succumbed to this manmade virus.

Not to marginalize or downplay the tragic deaths of those who have succumbed to the virus, but the world is more concerned and even outraged over those deaths. Yet no tears are shed by the peoples of this world for the murders of those 62.5 million babies over the last 5-decades.

And of course there are the injustices of this world that have led to the deaths of untold millions: unjust and trumped-up wars that the military-industrial complex have propagated; gang and unwonted murders in the urban areas of this nation; the contamination of the nation’s food and water supplies; the distribution of vaccines and such, all intent on extinguishing life on this planet so that just the elite of this world can live and carry out their selfish, personal agendas.

Indeed, the elohim of this world-the enemy of this world-is a promoter and propagator of death, and the world is caught-up in the sway of the enemy to this end. But Yehovah, our Elohim, as we see here in our reading today, is promoting and covenanting on life.

It is interesting how Judaism has taken Yehovah’s instruction to Noach so seriously. These, even today, have some of the largest families in the world, with some couples having 6 or more children in their lifetimes.

The Noahide Laws

Now, before we leave this section of our reading, we must briefly discuss this issue of the so-called Noahide Laws that the Rabbinites have foisted upon the non-Jewish peoples of the world seeking Truth.

Rabbinism has taken this section of our reading and made it into a unique set of laws, often and popularly referred to as the 7-Noahide Laws.

I will tell you, depending on which Jewish sage’s writings you draw from, the 7-individuals laws may differ in terms of order and in terms of specific commandments given. But I drew this list of 7-laws from J.H. Hertz’ Torah and Haftorah for reference:

1. Human society is to establish courts of criminal justice.

2. Prohibition against blasphemy.

3. Prohibition against idolatry.

4. Prohibition against incest.

5. Prohibition against murdering and harming others.

6. Prohibition against roberry.

7. Prohibition against eating flesh cut from a living animal

Now, these are considered to be natural laws that are fundamental to the existence of humanity. The non-Jew who chooses to live among Hebrews or Jews would be expected to abide by these 7-laws, again depending on which version of the laws you come across, while the Hebrew/Jew was required to abide or obey the 613 Torah commandments.

The non-Jew who lived by the Noahide Laws would be referred to by Rabbinism as “righteous.”

This comes despite Yehovah Himself declaring to His people that there was:

49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. (Exo 12:49 KJV)

 16 One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you (Num 15:16 KJV)

The concept of there being a set of Yehovah-given Noahide Laws if a fallacy. It is yet another Rabbinic invention. The usurping of this passage of our reading to base the contrived notion of the 7-Noahide Laws actually came into existence between the 4th and 6th centuries C.E. The purpose of the Noahide Laws was to serve as a means of spiritually condemning the non-Jewish peoples of the world. The thinking was that only 7-Laws were given to the heathen of the world, and the world either refused or was incapable of keeping these seven. And so it was further reasoned that if the heathen peoples of the world would not or could not keep the 7-Laws of Noah, it would not be possible for them to keep the 613 commandments of Torah. And thus, Rabbinism established a clear line of demarcation between Jew and Gentile.

Now, we should dispel any false connection that has, over the centuries, been made between the erroneous Noahide Laws and the edict put forth to converted Gentiles by the Yerushalayim Council (Act. 15). The council’s edict was intended to bring order to the chaos that was rapidly developing between the converted Jew and Gentile of the Faith movement. It served to unite the converted Gentile by instilling basic Torah instructions regarding their behavior, which would provide them greater acceptability and admittance to synagogues of the Roman Empire where they would receive instructions in righteousness every Shabbat.

None of this is to insinuate that the commandments Yehovah passed down to Noach are irrelevant. They absolutely were (in Noach’s day) and remain relevant (to us in our day). These commandments are Yah’s Words—His oracles. They hold and promote life. They were indispensable in Noach days as they laid the foundation of rebuilding humanity on the earth. These laws promoted life and the sanctity of life. Without these essential Truths, humanity will inevitably fall into irreparable chaos and evil, as was the state of humanity before the Great Flood. These laws maintain the very essence and Truth that humans are created in the image of Yehovah, a distinguishing factor of humanity’s existence on this planet, which must be maintained and observed by all.

(8) And Yehovah said to Noach, and to his sons with him, 

(9) “And I, I am about to establish My covenant with you,

So, Yehovah turns attention over to Himself and reveals to Noach and Sons the expectations He established for Himself, having just given to humanity His expectations for it.

And thus, Yehovah establishes a unilateral, unconditional covenant with humanity and all of creation.

Unilateral or unconditional covenant is one where the onus for carrying out the agreement He makes with humanity and creation fall entirely upon Him. Mankind is not expected to do anything for Yah to stay true to His covenant. And Yah, because of Who He is, will always remain true to His Word and His Covenant.

(We discussed in some detail Yehovah always remaining true to His Words in our post entitled “Let God Be True and Every Man a Liar—A Messianic Discussion of Romans 3:3-4.” I’ll place the link to that post in this discussion’s transcript for your convenience, if you are so led.)

But we find here in this verse that Yehovah tells Noach even back a couple chapters ago, that He would establish such an agreement with him (6:18). And being true to His Word, Yah does exactly that.

This could be construed as the first covenant between Yehovah and man that is recorded in scripture. But we can also see that it really is not the first covenant. For back in the Garden, Yehovah tells Eve:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Gen 3:15 KJV)

In a great sense, this would be the very first covenant Yah established with humanity. Although this covenant does not take on a formal covenant as we read throughout the Tanach where Yehovah indicates that He is establishing a covenant between He and whoever, this prophecy is in every sense of the word, a foreshadowed agreement between Yehovah and humanity that He would fix the dire situation that Adam and Eve wrought upon the world by sending the One who would crush the serpent’s head.

Indeed, this was the first iteration of the renewed covenant that He would introduce to the world in Jeremiah 31 and ultimately through the Person and Ministry of Yahoshua Messiah:

22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (Joh 4:22-24 KJV)

Saints of the Most High, our Elohim is an Elohim of not just life, but also of covenant. He loves to be in covenant with His people. But there’s something inherent within humanity that abhors the keeping and living in covenant.

While our Elohim is an Elohim of covenant, the enemy of this world, and by extension the world that he holds sway over, is all about breaking covenant; destroying covenant; disavowing covenant; denying covenant; avoiding covenant. Why? Because in order for one to stay true to any covenant with Yehovah, they must be true and honest of heart. Hasatan and the world are of a wicked, corrupt heart and are thus liars. (Listen or read our discussion entitled, “Let God Be True and Every Man a Liar” if you are so led.)

Today, the order of business is to deny covenant and belief in Yehovah by the would-be power brokers of this world. They come forth with demands that we not be in covenant with Yehovah; that we not believe and trust in Yehovah, but instead that we break covenant with Yehovah, enter into covenant with them—a covenant of which is built upon lies—deny the Truth and power and authority of Yehovah, but instead trust in them to deliver and provide for us.

Folks, entering into covenant with the leaders and people of this world is a prescription for death. (And recall that we just discussed how Yehovah is an Elohim focused on the propagating of life and the avoidance of death.) The world is pressuring us to take a substance that they call a vaccine that they themselves have developed and promoted. Unlike our Elohim, who respects human freewill, the leaders of this world are seeking out ways of forcing compliance to their so-called mandates. These are denying human free will. These are usurping authority over Yehovah’s human creation. What does this tell us? It tells us that the enemy is hard bent on severing any and all opportunities for humanity to enter into an obedient covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe. These are all about promoting a Gospel of Death.

Praise Yah, He kept His end of the covenant. He was faithful to His Word, despite the terrible destruction He wrought upon humanity at the time, He ultimately preserved the seed of the woman. Contrary to our natural tendency to read doom and gloom into this story, Yah’s ultimate goal and purpose in the Great Flood was not to destroy humanity but to make unto Himself many sons and daughters who would dwell with Him for all eternity.

“The Importance of Being in Covenant with our Father in Heaven from Alef to Tav” (7-Part Series) by Robert Bills

(10) and with your seed after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the fowl and the cattle and every beast of the earth with you, all that have come out of the ark, every beast of the earth.

(11) And I will establish My covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the Flood, and never again shall there be a Flood to destroy the earth.”

The unilateral, unconditional covenant Yehovah established with His human and animal creation was that “never again would all flesh be destroyed (aka, “cut off”) by such a Flood as He just made happen.”

(12) And Yehovah said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I set between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for everlasting generations:

And is common to all covenants of the ANE, Yehovah provided a sign or token of said covenant. Such tokens or signs that Yah provides in support of the covenants He establishes with humanity, offer both parties to the covenant a visibly permanent sign of the existence of that covenant. In this case, that visible sign or token was none other than the rainbow.

Now, the appearance of the rainbow to Noach and family here at this juncture of our story should not lead us to conclude that Yehovah developed or created the rainbow to specially mark the occasion of this covenant. The rainbow, a natural occurrence in response to water particles in the air, no doubt had since creation always existed. It just so happened that Yah appropriated the rainbow as a sign; a reminder to both sides of this covenant, that the world would never again be destroyed by an extinction-level flood (not that Yah ever needs reminding).

We have physical circumcision as a token or sign of the covenant Yehovah made with Avraham and his descendants (Gen. 17:11), and the Holy Spirit is serves as a token of our covenant relationship with Yehovah (1 Joh. 3:24; 4:13).

(13) My bow I have set in the clouds to be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth,

(14) and so, when I send clouds over the earth, the bow will appear in the cloud.

(15) Then I will remember My covenant, between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh.

(16) And the bow shall be in the cloud and I will see it, to remember the everlasting covenant between Yehovah and all living creatures, all flesh that is on the earth.”

Yehovah tells Noach and Sons (twice mind you) that when He, from that day forward, would look upon the rainbow, and “remember His covenant with all living creatures on the earth.”

Recall in STAR 6 we discussed what it biblically means for Yah to remember something (we discussing Yehovah remembering Noach—Gen. 8:1).

The mention of Yehovah remembering a person, place or thing was about Yehovah being faithful to the covenant He established with the entity/persons of which the covenant was focused or meant for.

And so, as He technically did with Noach and Sons, He calls all humanity to enter into a trusting, obedient covenant relationship with Him in fulfillment of His ultimate goal and purpose for humankind.

One of the great points of the rainbow being a sign or token that we must take hold of in our walk with Messiah is the importance of covenant and covenant relationship with Yehovah. Many see the rainbow as only a physical sign from Yehovah that He would never destroy living creation with a Great Flood ever again. But the relevance of the rainbow extends well beyond this simply symbolism and understanding. The bow also provides the would-be child of the Most High with a visible sign of assurance that Yehovah will always be faithful to His Word—faithful to His covenant with them, His beloved ones. For He will always remember—honor—stay true to His covenant with us. Furthermore, the bow must stand as a visible message that we are to trust Yehovah as opposed to trust man:

Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. (Jer 17:5 KJV)

 

Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. (Psa 146:3 KJV)

 

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (Jam 4:14 KJV)

Unfortunately, the powers of darkness have usurped and twisted this sign/token of the rainbow being a sign of Yehovah’s covenant with Yehovah’s living creation, to that of a sign of wickedness, lawlessness and ultimately a sign of death. The LGBTQ has proudly usurped the rainbow as a symbol of their movement, and sadly, the world has happily accepted this evil, condemning any who would defy or counter it. The so-called Church, however, stood idly by and allow this usurpation to happen, and even today, will not take a stand against it. But then, the so-called Church was never really in covenant with Elohim: How could it recognize and guard this symbol as being exclusively Yehovah’s covenant token?

(17) And Yehovah said to Noach, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

May this story be for us an ever present assurance or even token of the covenant we have with our Elohim. Let us remain steadfast in our honoring and keeping of that covenant.

And if you have not taken the step of entering into a covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe—and know that I’m not talking about getting saved per se, but rather, entering into a true and substantive relationship with the Almighty through Yahoshua Messiah, I would invite you to contact us here at the Messianic Torah Observer, and we will be most happy to point you in the right direction.