I cover a few highlights of our trip here and also teach on calf worship and the antidote The Red Heifer. The significance of the third and seventh day for cleansing are compared and contrasted in scripture. I also cover the Midianite example of uncleanness as regarding touching or proximity to dead people. Of course Yeshua’s shed blood is the ultimate antidote for our sin problem (uncleanness).

— The Golden Calf Incident (Exodus 32 & Deut. 9:6-29) and Revisited by Jeroboam

The children of Israel built a ‘golden’ calf while Moses was on the mountain (Ex. 32:4).

massēḵâ (mas-say-kaw’) means either 1) a libation, or 2) molten metal, or image

Traditionally this has been translated as a golden calf but there is nothing in the word dictating that it did not have a reddish or red elements in the molten image. In fact, depending upon the concentrations of copper or silver embedded in the gold the material can be rose or even reddish of color. So it did not have to be golden (yellow) which is more indicative of pure gold which is unlikely to be sitting around on the ground. I was astonished to learn this.

Even the Muslim recount worship of a golden calf in Al Buqarah (67-73). So this leaves open the likelihood that a golden calf was used by early Caananite tribes to worship. Again, was it golden or more reddish in color. Tradition dies a slow death.

1 Ki. 12:26-29:: Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold (zāhāḇ). He said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

zāhāḇ (zaw-hawb’) means golden, of a precious metal, of brilliance

This is not the same hebrew word used in the original ‘golden calf’ incident meaning the color was probably different but the idea of having a calf to worship was nothing new. We read earlier in the chapter that Jeroboam had fled to Egypt to escape the wrath of King Solomon. So calf worship was probably over the whole region from Egypt north thru Canaan. I am not going to examine more the exact color, since purification is more probable under Jeroboam. What I will stress is this worship departs from the commandment of the LORD.

Ex. 20:3-5:: You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

Perhaps they had not received the instruction as of yet at Mount Sinai but it was well established by the time of King Jeroboam. Pagan worship had re-asserted itself because…

Jeroboam also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites (1 Ki. 12:31).

So while the people had come out of Egypt, Egypt was still in their hearts and minds. Even after 500 years the people reverted back to their pagan ways when left without a good shephard.

— The Red Heifer as the Antidote (Numbers 19)

The Red Heifer is the antidote today for the Children of Israel. Red is the color of the blood, the blood of Yeshua. No man-made sacrifice can take the place of the sacrifice of Yeshua for the remission of sins. Golden or even red calves were objected made by human hands. Sacrifice of an actual bull is what the LORD instituted and this became his only begotten son in the gospels.

The red heifer might have been the color of the original ‘golden’ calf. Color is not the issue with me. It is what did they do with the item? Heifers are real living animals which are sacrificed. Idols never get sacrificed, they are always sacrificed unto. Let me say it another way. A living thing with blood can be a sacrifice. A dead and lifeless object is only an object of veneration which demands sacrifices.

We are commanded to be a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1). This is one of flesh and blood but there is no need to actually die. We rather die to self: to greed, to personal desire, to our goals and ambitions.

We do not serve a dead God who demands sacrifices and offerings for no reason.

Even the red heifer offering had results. It was to cleanse a person of spiritual impurity. What was the purpose of the sprinkling on the third and seventh days?

— We can see many parallels to the third day in scripture:
—- The Earth brought forth life giving trees and fruit trees (Gen. 1:12-13)
—- Abraham looked up on the third day and saw mount Moriah (Gen. 22:4)
—- The LORD descend on Mt. Moriah on the third day (Ex. 19:11)
—- Simeon and Levi slaughtered the males of Hevi on the third day after circumcession. (Gen. 34:25)
—- Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days
—- Esther approached the king on the third day (Esther 5:1)
—- Yeshua rose from the dead on the third day (Hos. 6:2, Matt. 16:21,1 Cor. 15:4)a

So God gave us the tree of life to bring forth healing for the nations twelve months of the year. It was the third day that Abraham, the father of faith, looked up and saw the place of Cavalry, where our Yeshua was to be sacrificed. Instead of sacrificing his only son, Abraham only got to sacrifice a ram. The sacrifice of the son had to wait for another 2000 years. On the third day at Mt. Sinai day the LORD descended upon the mountain in fire. Hebrews 12 speaks of this fire and contrast this to coming to Mt. Zion instead where we go to the heavenly Jerusalem where Yeshua is the mediator of a new covenant. Then there is the story of Dinah and Shechem the Hivite. Shechem raped Dinah, daughter of Jacob. For this, Simeon and Levi killed the Hivite brothers on the third day after circumcision (while still in pain). We two need circumcision of the heart so the old man gets crucified. This is further recounted in the story of Jonah where he spent three days in the belly of the fish, symbolizing death. For just as Jonah needed to repent of running from the Lord we likewise need to change our course and go where the Lord sends us even amongst the pagans. Likewise, Queen Esther had to approach the king on the third day of their fast to negotiate for the salvation of the Jews. She received the royal scepter to save her life and to prepare as feast for the king. We know this king not as King Ahasuerus but as Yeshua HaMashiak. For this is the king who was crucified on Mt. Zion which Abraham saw on the third day.

—We can also see parallels to the seventh day in scripture:
—- God rested from all of the work he did (Gen. 2:2–3)
—- God gave us the sabbath day to rest from our labors (Ex. 20:8-11,31:15)
—- A woman’s menstral period makes her unclean for seven days. If a man gets menstral impurity upon himself he is unclean seven days (Lev. 15:19,24)
—- If a man/woman has a discharge of blood for many days, seven days after being cleanses she shall wait to be considered clean (Lev. 15:13, 28)
—- Yeshua declare He is Lord of the Sabboth (Matt. 12:8,Mark 2:27-28,Luke 6:5)
—- Yeshua appears to the disciples on the 8th day (John 20:26-29)

Rest is essential for the human body. God knew we need a rest day. He also rested on this day, not because he grew tired, but as an example for us to follow. That is why he created the sabbath, our day of rest. The new testament says several things about the sabboth. Since Yeshua is the Lord of the sabbath when we enter into the sabbath we also enter into his covenant with us. Hebrews states there is yet a sabbath of rest for God’s people (Heb. 4:9). Apostle Paul made it clear to the gentile christians that we are not to pass judgement on others for their sabbath rest (Co. 2:16,Rom. 14:5). The point is we should strive to enter into the Lord’s rest (Heb. 4:11). That includes a solemn day of rest but also points us to our eternal rest. It is therefore not surprising that we do not see Yeshua again until the 8th day for he rested on the Sabbath.

Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood (Num. 31:19-20).

According to the law of the red heifer the following are unclean for seven days:
1- Whoever touches the body of a dead person (vs. 11)
2- Whoever comes into a tent or stays where a person died (vs. 14)
3- Whoever touches one in a field that was killed with a sword or dies naturally or touches a bone or a grave (vs. 16)

The cleansing in each case has to do with proximity or touching a dead person. We are likewise cleansed thru the blood of Yeshua properly applied. I am one thinking there is more here than a remedy against physical uncleanness like a communicable disease (ebola, e.g.). We are spiritually cleansed of touching dead things. This can include dead bodies even our own bodies for we are continually dying and the Apostle Paul said ‘I die every day’ (1 Cor. 15:31). He goes on to speak of how the dead are raised back to life. We live in a sin satuated environment and death reined from Adam to Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way as Adam (Rom. 5:14). Yet we become aware of what sin is according to the law so it slew us. From Moses forward we have the hope of salvation thru Yeshua. So I propose that even the body of Yeshua had to be thoroughly cleansed for a solid week. I cannot say I understand this fully because it sounds like a mystery.

Can you find evidence of someone before doubting Thomas touched Yeshua on the 8th day? Some disciples walked with Yeshua on the road to Emmaus. He appeared to Mary Magalene on the first day as the gardener. He told Mary to not touch him.

— The Midianite Example (Num. 31)

There is another example of purification on the 3rd and 7th days. It involves the case of those who killed a Midianite or touched their body. When dealing with sin, even touching what is sinful, care must be exercised. Apostle Paul warned us about not being to hasty on the laying on of hands (1 Tim. 5:22). This could have been the case of ordaining elders but I think also it can include a transferral of uncleanness if we are not well armed (defensively). Do you have cracks in your armament whereby sin can enter in?

So I bring up the point here. Can we, as christians, need purification if we touch what is dead? I think the answer to that ceremonially is NO. But everything should be taken thru the lense of the cross. What things do we touch that are spiritually unclean? In the bible, lepers were considered unclean. Leprosy causes nerve cells to deteriorate. It is other communicable skin diseases can cause dead skin or white spotches and white hairs. My point is that our fleshly nature causes us to be unclean. This is what one becomes when they follow after the works of the flesh.

So why were the hebrews considered unclean when they touched a slain Midianite? Because God said so. It is also highly likely that dead skin contains disease.

We are told not to worship any graven image. It is the second commandment. In the case of Midianites there was a heavy penalty imposed upon them by the LORD.

What do we mean when we say ‘I have Jesus in my heart’? Is this an internal consumption of his blood and flesh or something else? Let’s look closer here what it means spiritually to having Christ in our hearts.

==> Promise of constant abiding in Christ

This is an enigma. We like to say “I have Christ in my heart” or “I know Jesus personally”.

1 Cor. 13:12:: For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.

Mark 10:17-18::
As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

1 Cor. 2:11-12:: For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,

Romans 11:33:: Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
anexichniastos – that cannot be searched out

==> Receiving the Spirit equivalent to receiving the Father and the Son. Abiding in him requires obedience.

John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:20:: In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

John 14:23:: Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
logos = word

This all mixed together under doctrine of the trinity

Note: John 14:12 speaks of the greater works his disciples will do!
Matt. 22:37-38 First and second greatest commands (love will all your heart, soul, and mind)
Heb. 4:12 Word of God cuts where soul meets spirit
Virkler: inner man = heart = man’s spirit (motivations, attitudes, emotions ==> character). Soul contains heart which contains the spirit. God’s spirit joined to our spirit.

1 John 3:24:: The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Here the commandment is to believe on the name of the Son Jesus Christ and to love one another, which includes the golden rule.

There are at least 38 other commandments of Jesus: https://www.trusting-in-jesus.com/Commandments-of-Jesus.html
Forgiveness! Also, be filled with the Holy Spirt (Eph. 5:18)

Billy Graham on Holy Spirit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5XFLqyWjqc&feature=youtu.be
Reference: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Indwelling-Of-Christ

==> Christ in your heart through faith

Eph. 3:14-17::
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
dunamis is strength or power or ability (same word as Acts 1:8)

His Spirit in the inner man brings Christ into your heart.
— Techically we don’t ask Christ into our heart.

Rev. 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
deipneo = dine with or eat the principle meal

You must be able to hear his voice. Can a non-christian hear his voice? John 10:3 – the sheep hear his voice. The Loadicean church was lukewarm, we talked 2 weeks ago about the Lord’s discipline and how in the Corinthian church some were weak and sickly because they did not properly observe the Lord’s body during communion. Verse talks about communion with him, not salvation

==> Salvation is a heart issue, not head issue

Romans 10:9-10 requires public confession as Yeshua as Lord and trusting in your heart that God raised him from the dead
For in the heart one keeps on trusting toward righteousness and keeps on confessing toward salvation
soteria – typically means salvation (sometimes deliverance)
confesses (NASB) implies keeps on making

Gal. 4:19:: My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you

Apostle Paul calls the Galatians foolish and under a spell for going back to Torah legalism and not trusting what they heard and being faithful. Christ had to be reformed in their hearts due to their foolishness! In the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:32) he was dead but brought back to life, lost but has now been found
nekros is dead, spiritually

David Platt video on ‘Jesus in Your Heart’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPhEEzjU8xQ

Reverand Graham: To be saved 1) repent of your sin, 2) by faith receive Jesus Christ as savior, lord, and master, 3) obey him in all little things he speaks
Luke 11:13:: How much more will the Father give the Holy Spirt from heaven to those who ask him !

Col. 1:27:: God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

==> Herein is one secret to getting your prayers answered!

John 15:7:: If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
rhema is words abiding here!
Would you ask amiss so that you can consume it upon your pleasures (James 4:3)?

Sounds from heaven at Mount Sinai probably echo’d on the day of Pentecost in the upper room. These sounds also get echo’d in John’s book of Revelation. These sounds echo anew with the law being given, not on tablets of stone but on hearts of flesh and blood. Tieing some of this together from sacrifices to new coventant fulfillment.

— Sounds from heaven at Sinai and at Shavuot (Pentecost)

Let us start out with the text of the book of Acts:
Acts 2:2-4:: suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Could this mighty rushing wind sound like a freight train? A mighty roar. Such is the sound heard by many during tornadoes.

This echo’s what we read about regarding the giving of the law at Mount Sinai:
Ex. 20:18:: Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.

qôl means voice, sound, noise
lapîḏ means flame or lightning

The YLT says the people saw the voices and the flames and the sound of the trumpet
LXX says the people saw the voice, and the lamps, and the sound of the trumpet

So it could easily be seen as tongues of fire at Sinai which represent the voice of the LORD.

Jer. 23:29 states “Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD

Rabbi Yochanan (2nd century) said that God’s voice, as it was uttered, split up into seventy voices, in seventy tongues, so that all the nations should understand. (Shemot Rabbah 5:9).

I cannot speak of any bible verses to support that but it makes sense. There were people of all languages in Jerusalem for the reading of the Law and Shavuot.

The trumpet heard at Mount Sinai would have been the shofar. Most likely a long blast. For those of us who have heard a fire drill in a school that is a very lound and piercing sound so I can understand why the children of Irael became fearful.

Now let us look at what happened at the first Pentecost:
Acts 2:5-7:: there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.

Prophet Habukkuk understood the concept that we see what he is telling us:
Hab. 2:1:: I will stand at my watch post And station myself on the tower; And I will keep watch to see what He will say to me, And what answer I will give…”

So tongues of fire are what God’s voice becomes visually to us as we hear his voice. It also can sound like thunder:
John 12:28-29:: a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.

No wonder some jewish communities accepted messianic believers well into the third and fourth centuries! It was because of rejecting the Torah, changing times and seasons, and persecutions promulgated over the centuries that the Jewish community gradually rejected christian (and messianic) believers.

— Echos of Sinai and Pentecost in Revelation

The events at Mount Sinai and that of Pentecost are echoed in some ways during John’s vision of the throne in heaven

Rev. 4:5:: from the throne proceeded lightnings (astrapē), thunderings (brontē), and voices (phōnē).[NU-Text and M-Text read voices, and thunderings]. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Note that in this verse it is translated as voices. This is the same greek word translated noises elsewhere. Additionally, some versions say the thunderings were more like pearls of thunder.

The seventh seal, trumpet, and bowl of Revelation also include an earthquake or great hail.

During the seventh seal:
Rev. 8:5:: the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises (phōnē), thunderings (brontē), lightnings (astrapē), and an earthquake (seismos).

lightnings as in the glean of a lamp (torch?)

During the seventh trumpet:
Rev. 11:19:: the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant[of the Lord] was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

During the seventh bowl:
Rev. 16:18:: there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth

It is interesting that only during the seventh trumpet great hail is added to the list. During the seventh bowl there was a great earthquake like has never happened before. It seems the manifestations get more numerous and intense as we move through the book of Revelation.

— Law Breaking forth in our Hearts

This is the key to truely understanding the significance of what happened on the day of Pentecost. The visual, auditory, and manifistations of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost are significant but without a deeper understanding of what it all signifies results in chasing after signs and wonders and not understanding the siginificance of it for our lives.

The giving of the law was done at Mount Sinai 50 days after the Exodus. Similarly the gifting of the Spirit was done 50 days after Passover. The two events are intricately connected. When we push away the law we neglect the significance of receiving the Spirit.

Spiritually, Shavuot commemorates the day God revealed the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. While Passover celebrates physical liberation from slavery in Egypt, Shavuot marks the moment the Israelites committed to serving God and became a holy nation through the covenant of the Torah.

Shavuot means weeks and it is the culmination of 49 days of physically counting the omer. It is also a festival of firsts fruits similar to what is accomplished on the Feast of First Fruits on the first Sunday after Passover. An omer or sheaf is a dry measure of grain, in this case wheat. For barley is harvested around Passover and wheat around Pentecost.

One key difference here besides the grain itself is use of leaven. The Passover is during the feast of Unleavened Bread, hence unleavened. Pentecost has a firstfruits offering of leavened bread:

‘You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the LORD (Lev. 23:17).

In Luke 12:1 Yeshua said the leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy. He also accused the Saducees and Herod as having leaven. We can all have leaven in our lives. Yeshua accused the Pharisees of not honoring father and mother so that they could give to the temple by declaring their gift corban or holy (Mark 7:6-13). This is not a lesson on leaven but a contrast between the festivals. Leaven itself does not represent sin but rather corrupt doctrine. He uses leaven in the metaphor of leaven mixed into wheat flour (Matt. 13:33,Luke 13:21). So leaven is not always bad and during Pentecost absolutely necessary.

I don’t think in the use of leaven that God was advocating hypocrisy or even sin during Pentecost. Two loaves represent two houses. One of jewish origin and the other of gentile origin. The loaves are and two lambs are waved before the LORD:

Lev. 23:19-20:: you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. ‘The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.

Again, I have not connected all of the dots but suggest the following. The goat, unlike the scape goat, was sacrficed for our sins. Two lambs do not explicitly represent Yeshua but like the two loaves the two houses of Israel: jew and gentile.

All of this while moving into the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. My sources say it was verbally given on Shavuot and around 40 days later written on tablet of stone. I believe all elements of the Law took months, if not years, to codify. My point is initial instruction happened on Shavuot.

We can find a situation where intial instructions were given to the church in Acts 15. Some say this is all that was given to Gentiles but from the Sermon on the Mount Yeshua himself went over a few more things not spelled out in that letter. I want to leave you with Apostle Paul’s thoughts on the law for Gentiles:

Romans 2:12-15:: For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them).

He said the doers of the law will be justified, even if the Gentiles do not have the law. This is in contrast to elsewhere to the Galatians we are justified by faith, not works of the law. I cited a reference which discusses the difference between the letters of Paul to the Galatians and James to the 12 tribes scattered abroad if anyone wants to dig deeper.

Paul states in Romans it is the doers of the law who are justified. It is a state of the heart. If whithin our new nature, being filled with the Spirit of God we uphold the requirements of the law we become a law unto ourselves. Our own conscience bears us witness: accusing or excusing us. So Pentecost is also about the giving of the law, not so much of commandments written on tablets of stone or scrolls but that given unto our hearts. This is the matter which Yeshua addressed at the Sermon on the Mount and not a legalistic interpretation which can be abrogated or ignored. Is your heart devoted to and serving God?

Sources:
https://ffoz.org/torahportions/commentary/the-signs-of-pentecost
https://thejewishobserver.com/2014/01/16/understanding-the-70-voices/
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/do-paul-james-disagree-on-justification-by-faith-alone/#:~:text=Faith%20alone%20justifies%2C%20but%20only,makes%20you%20a%20lawbreaker%20(Jas.

Yeshua became a curse for our sakes. Not that he is accursed for nobody says Yeshua is accursed by the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 12:3). This might be a certain Jewish perspective but is not that of a true Christian. Passover lambs could not have their bones broken, especially the legs. The innards and legs of burnt offerings and passover offerings are washed with water as was Christ. I will try to tie together the Passover lamb with burnt offerings and legs being unbroken and washing by blood and water but this could end up being a multi-week study.

— Curses from the Law

Gal. 3:13-14:: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Gal. 3:10:: For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”[Deut. 27:26]

‘Cursed is the one who does not confirm (to arise) all the words of this law by observing them (Deut. 27:26)

If you look at Deuteronomy 27 you find out six tribes stood on Mount Gerizem to bless the people and six tribes on Mount Ebel to curse the people. Then we get to chapter 28 which speaks of cursing the people for not observing the commandments and statutes:

Deut. 28:15:: it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you

What is key in this verse is to carefully observe all of His commandments and His statutes. So are we cursed if we ignore his commandments and statutes or even just casually overve them?

šāmar (shaw-mar’) means to keep, guard, or preserve so it could be translated as observe carefully.

Now Christians would counter this and say ‘we have been redeemed from the curse of the law for Christ has redeemed us from it’s curses’ because Christ has become a curse for us upon the cross.

Deut. 21:22-23:: If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, but his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

My only caveat here is that Yeshua did not commit a sin deserving of death. We did, that is he was crucified for the sins of the whole world. By taking on the likeness of sinful flesh he condemned sin in the flesh:

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:3-4)

It is in essence a curse against the curse. So great was the weight of sin upon the body of Yeshua that the father could no longer look upon him. There was darkness upon the land for the space of three hours (Matt. 27:45).

— Breaking of the legs (significance)

Part of the scripture about hanging upon the tree requires a body to not remain upon a tree all night long. Keeping a body up all night long would defile the land. Of course, many bodies of roman crucifixions did remain upon crosses all night long.

However, leaving bodies up all night long was not good during a high sabbath. This is why they came by to break his legs so that they might suffocate and die quicker.

John 19:31-37:: Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs [Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20].

Let me digress for a bit and review what the Torah says about breaking the bones of the passover lamb:

In regards to the passover lamb the instructions say: in one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. (Ex. 12:46)

They shall leave none of it until morning, nor break one of its bones (Num. 9:12)

He (the LORD) guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken. (Ps. 34:20). This is a Psalm about the afflictions of the righteous written by King David while fleeing Saul.

So what about eating the Passover in one house? What about not carrying the flesh outside of the house but finishing it that night?

Many godly people have long debated the exact timing of Yeshua’s death during holy week. We also do not know the exact timing of the consummation of his body (a burnt offering); it could have been that night (Passover night). This is in accordance with Exodus 12:10 which requires the passover lamb’s body to be burned with fire by morning if not completely eaten by daybreak.

Since Yeshua died for the whole nation his passover body was not consumed in a particular house nor at the temple. Yeshua did eat a seder meal with his disciples at what has become known as The Last Supper. We do have a recording of the temple curtain being torn in two from top to bottom (Matt. 27:50-51a). Perhaps that is not only reflective of opening up access to the holy of holies for Christians but also his flesh being eaten (figuratively) at the house of the LORD.

— Christ in Hades

Some people flippantly say ‘go to hell’. This is a terrible saying, even a curse. But did you know our savior Yeshua actually went to hell! Not exactly the flaming inferno that some picture like Dantes’ Inferno or the lake of fire. It is Hades or Sheol which actually means the abode of the dead.

Yet Peter says he preached to the spirits in hades (1 Pet. 3:19) and traditionally that during the three days before his resurrection early on Sunday. That Sunday is also called the Feast of First Fruits.

All we really know is that they saw the risen Yeshua early Sunday morning. Continuing in the gospel of John I want to give reference to the epistle of John.

But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out [John 19:34-35]

And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.”[Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:2]

And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”[Zech. 12:10]

1 John 5:6-8:: This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.

For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.

And there are three that bear witness on earth:the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.

Today we eat his flesh and drink his blood symbolically during communion. We also get cleansed through the dedication of our lives given during baptism. I think the washing of the feet and legs of the disciplies that Yeshua did during the last supper was also prophetic in the idea that washing the legs of the burnt offerings was a Torah requirement and as with the leftover passover lamb ultimately also got burnt up.

— Tieing It Together

So what do curses, broken bones, blood and water have in common?

My belief is that while Yeshua was made a curse for us upon the cross he could not have his legs broken as the passover lamb. He got cleansed by the water and the blood. The blood provides atonement, his own blood. The water cleansing like what we do during a baptism, a purification of the heart. In the case of Yeshua his insides (entrails) and his legs required cleansing by water which poured out of his side after being pierced by the roman soldier.

The remains of his body became a burnt offering:
Lev. 1:8-9:: ‘Then the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire upon the altar; but he shall wash its entrails and its legs with water. And the priest shall burn all on the altar as a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

The burnt offering (olah) was driven by an individual’s free will to express devotion, total surrender, and thanksgiving to God. It was the will of the Father to crucify Yeshua but in the end Yeshua gave his will over to that of the Father.

Fellowship offering that permits eating of the sacrifice for up to three days before being burnt up:

Leviticus 7:15-16:: The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning. If, however, their offering is the result of a vow or is a freewill offering, the sacrifice shall be eaten on the day they offer it, but anything left over may be eaten on the next day. Any meat of the sacrifice left over till the third day must be burned up.

But normally, the fellowship or peace offering is also to be eaten on the same day it is offered, just like the passover lamb. It could last an additional day if only a vow or freewill offering: not if it was offered by a miraculous event such as resurrection from the dead. For the Lord Yeshua is our peace.

Sources:
https://rabbiyeshua.com/articles/passover-lamb-ultimate-sacrifice#:~:text=Finally%2C%20the%20one%20presen%20ting,soothing%20aroma%20to%20the%20Lord.

Certain people have rececently commented that having a golden statue of President Trump is related to the hebrews making a golden calf at Sinai. I strongly disagree with this analogy. There is another more potent analogy available. The statue of Trump was dedicated June 6th at the National Doral Golf Club in Miami but calves and people are different.

The golden calf represented the gods of Egypt or Canaan: Apis the bull-god or El the god of strength for the canaanites or even Ba’al, the Canaanite and Phoenician god of fertility, storms, rain, and agriculture. Maybe the hebrews somehow thought the golden calf was part of Yehovah worship. Therein lies the deception.

There are other icons that people have been expected to worship: the statue of Nero and other roman emperors and the golden statue made by Nebucheddezar. Nero was a nut case and used the christians as a scape goat after the burning Rome in AD 64. He ends up blaming the christians which results in huge persecution for the local population. This is extra-biblical so I wanted to focus today on Nebuchaddezar.

We start off in Daniel 2 with the 2nd year of King Nebuchaddezar. The King had had a dream that none of the magicians, enchanters, or sorcerers and Chaldeans could know, much less interpret. Remember it was over 1800 years earlier where Joseph interpreted the dreams of the butler, the baker, and pharoah in Egypt. In this case Daniel had to not only interpret the dream but speak of dream details only the King and the Lord of Heaven knew.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but unless I have a really, really impactful dream I tend to forget most of it during the course of the day. The King might have written down his dream but the text makes it clear it was a secret from all others. So I’m going with the idea that the dream really, really troubled the King.

It is interesting that starting with verse 4 through chapter 7 the rest of the text is in Aramaic. The Chaldeans were a semi-semitic group. I will come back to that idea in a bit.

For now notice in verse 5 that ‘the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins’.

So the threat was against a specific group of people who had conquored Babylon some two or three generations beforehand and of which Nebuchaddezar shared cultural heritage. We shall return to this idea soon.

The sad fact is that Daniel and his friends were also targeted in this annihilation because he was among the wise men of Babylon. Daniel and his three hebrew friends were of the royal family and nobility of Judah exported in the first wave to Babylon. So Daniel had to act because the jewish people were also targeted, just as Queen Esther was later born for such a time as that. Let us pick up the story in verse 17.

Dan. 2:17-18:: Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

We see the first thing Daniel did was wisely consult his prayer partners. We all need a prayer team. A group of people to stand in the gap as we confront evil and unimaginable consequences. Daniel is then set to interpret the dream.

Dan. 2:31-33:: You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

in verse 28 Daniel declares to the king “you are the head of find gold”

–

• Standard definition of the statue kingdoms

To set the stage for further revelation, let me recap for you standard definitions of the statue components.

1) Head of Gold (Babylon): Daniel identified Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian Empire as the “head of gold”.

2) Chest & Arms of Silver (Medo-Persia): A second, inferior kingdom that would conquer Babylon.

3) Belly & Thighs of Bronze (Greece): A third, faster-spreading kingdom that would rule the earth.

4) Legs of Iron (Rome): A fourth kingdom, strong as iron, which would crush all previous powers.

5) Feet of Iron & Clay (Divided Kingdom): A final, fragmented empire that is partially strong and partially brittle, unable to unite fully. This is what is left of the Roman Empire (iron) as whatever power is yielded by the Catholic Church today. Clay is seen as democratic or unstable ruling elements. I’m thinking this is today’s political environment.

6) The Rock (God’s Kingdom): A stone “not cut by human hands” destroys the statue and grows into a mountain filling the earth, representing God’s eternal kingdom

Many of us christians look forward to the setting up of God’s kingdom, his millenial rein. This is a kingdom for the 12 tribes of Israel.

— The setup that hurt Daniel’s three Hebrew friends

Dan. 2:48:: the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

Does this not sound a bit familiar to Joseph being made ruler over all of Egypt?

Dan. 3:1-2:: King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

I am strongly suggesting that the statue that Nebuchadnezzar set up was none other than one of himself. In his dream he was the head of gold, now he made a stature of all gold so he could be venerated. However, the other rulers, the Chaldeans, did not like Daniel ruling over them. They devised mischeif against the Jews.

The book of Daniel is traditionally believed to have been written in the 6th century BCE (circa 536–530 BCE) by the prophet Daniel during the Babylonian exile. The book of Esther was written later on during the Persian empire but probably took place somewhere betwen 483-473 BCE), about 50 or so years later.

Nebuchadnezzar himself was a Chaldean. The Chaldeans were semi-semitic speaking people who conquored Babylon around 626 BCE, well before either Daniel or Esther. If you remember your bible, Abraham himself was born or at least lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. It to those people, including Nebuchadnezzar I focus in this teaching.

What is really curious about chapter 3 is that Daniel is completly missing from the narrative. It is his three hebrew friends that are in trouble. Where did Daniel go? At the end of chapter 2 ‘Daniel is given many gifts and promoted to ruler over the whole province of Babylon. We read Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king’s court’. We learn that the statue of Nebuchadnezzar was set up on the plain of Dura. Yet Daniel remains abscent. There is no Mordecai to counsel the ruler as with Queen Esther.

Jealousy runs deep. Remember Haman who later went after the Jews in Persia? These Chaldeans also went after the Jews.

Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews (Dan. 3:8)

It seems like the theme of absentee ruler happened well before Queen Esther. Daniel was off doing affairs of the state or worse yet indulging in ungodly things. We simply are not told what preoccupied his time as his three good hebrew friends where threatened with death.

Before I leave you with a bad image of the Chaldeans let me add a footnote. Today the Chaldean people has settled in many areas, including America. Many are christians and do not even consider themselves Arabs. Aramaic is their native languge but many also speak Arabic, expecially in Iraq.

So in the end, I am not concerned that a statue of Trump represents a pagan god. I am more concerned that Mr. Trump is considering himself to be as god. Nothing good can come out of a ruler who lacks humility.

I am hoping that our jewish friends are not being set up for an attack after being abandoned by their ruler, just as the three hebrew children thrown into the fires (of affliction).

Psalm 82 does say ‘you are all gods and are all children of the most high’ (Ps. 82:6). We just need rulers who rule righteously.

In part 1 I went over the significance of Bethlehem, Psalm 2 (A Son to Please and Rule), Psalm 22 (The Forsaken Servant) and Jeremiah 31 (The New Covenant). This week I want to continue talking about Yeshua from the old testament (aka Tenakh) covering the words of Prophet Isaiah and what he said in several chapters. My hope is this video gets seen by many Jewish friends.

Note: sorry for poor audio. I will re-record at some point in time.

— A Child is Born to Rule and Rein (Is. 9 & 11)

This is part 2 to Christ, Messiah of the Jews. Here we look at the words of Prophet Isaiah and contrast that to the new covenant.

Isaiah 9 starts out talking about Galilee of the Nations. Matthew even quotes from Isaiah:

Matt. 4:15-16: The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.

This includes spiritual darkness, cut off from the promises given to Moses and the Children of Abraham. The land beyond the Jordan really means beyond or on the other side of the Jordan. It does not specify east or north or west but beyond. Geographically Galilee is west and north of the Jordan but represents one stuck in darkness because the Gentiles were without a hope and a future. A note on Stack Exchange says the land was the decapolis, the 10 cities where Yeshua preached. At the time of Isaiah this area was controlled by Syria and at the time of Yeshua by the Romans.

Remember that the Assyrian king brought foreign populations into Samaria, replacing the northern tribes of Israel who had been exiled, leading to the origin of the Samaritans and other groups (2 Ki. 17:24). It is to this gentile region the announcement is made for people residing in spiritual darkness. So while Yeshua is known as the King of the Jews his humble beginnings pointed to something even greater.

Is. 9:6:: For to us a child is born,to us a son (ben) is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder…

Again we are speaking of a son being born. This is not an ordinary son, it is one who shall rule on the throne of King David:

Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness

But this word is not isolated and gives us a subtle warning:

Is. 9:8:: The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel;
The Lord sent death upon Jacob, and it came upon Israel (LXX).

dabar is heabrew and is a word but thánaton is in the greek Septuigint and means death. So it is a word against Jacob of judgement. It is against Jacob but falls against all of Israel, including Ephraim and Samaria.

If I am correct on my eschatalogical views this means both Jew and Christian:
Is. 9:9-10:: all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart ‘The bricks have fallen,but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place’.

Verse 10 has been quoted by leaders after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center
Even today we often hear President Trump speaking in an arrogant tone so these words of Isaiah are still fully in play. Do you not know that the current situation with Iran is all about the end of the age? I guess I am prophesying now…

we read about the enemies of Rezin in verse 9/11. This was Tiglath-Pileser III who annexed Syria and eventually set up his capitals in Asshur and Ninevah (Iraq). Eventually the Babylonians overthrew the Assyrians.

Is. 11:1-2:: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

The stump of Jesse and a branch from his roots spells out in the lineage of King David.

Is. 11:10:: In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

The signal represents something lifted up and can represent a banner. Yeshua was lifted up upon the cross to represent to us completion of the Law and forgiveness of sins. When Joshua defeated Amalak then Moses built an altar and called it ‘Jehovah Nissi’ meaning the Lord is My Banner (Ex. 17:15). The defeat of Amalek represents the people of God overcoming sinful nations and is a bit more of prophesying.

— A Man of Sorrows and Afflictions (Is. 51)

Listen to these passages in Isaiah:
Is. 53:3-5:: He was despised and rejected[forsaken] by men,
a man of sorrows[pains] and acquainted with[fn] grief [or sickness]
and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Who was despised and rejected? The verb (bāzâ) is in the masculine singular. It is not about a group of people it is about one person. When it says we did not esteem him it points to a person rejected in the hebrew. When it says he has borne our griefs it really says ‘he’ and ‘himself’ meaning ONE bore our griefs. It is not a group of people, only one.

It is for our iniquities he was pierced upon the cross.
ḥālal (kwaw-lal) actually has two meanings: 1) to profane (pual) or 2) to be slain (pual)

This verb stem translated pierced means to both to profane and be slain. So neither pierced nor wounded express the exact meaning of this phrase. Other verb stems speak of pollution or defilement or desecration. Yeshua was made for us sin upon the cross (2 Cor. 5:21). He was slain. This was a sacrifice for us. God even turned his face away from Yeshua on the cross because he was the epitomy of disguist and rejection unto the Father. Incidently, this verb sounds an awful lot like the Arabic term halal which is foods permissable in Islam.

So how was he crushed for our iniquities?
dāḵā’ (daw-kaw’) means to be crushed, be shattered or to be made contrite

It is for our iniquities he was crushed by the weight of his own body.

Philippians 2:8 states ‘being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!’. It was a common practice to crucify people with no clothes on. Yeshua had no plant or animal skins to cover himself.

Additionally,
Is. 53:10:: Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush (dāḵā’) him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt (asam)

Yeshua in essence became our guilt or trespass offering. When Yeshua prayed in the Garden of Gathsemene his first prayer being ‘if it be possible, take this cup (of suffering) from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will’. His second and third prayers said ‘my Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done’. Can you image Yeshua asking the father to crush him and humble him in such as shameful manner?

Monday night I was in my study praying before going to sleep. I felt an ungency to pray for my new Jewish friends. For the Jews have many reasons for rejecting ‘Jesus’ as their Messiah to include: 1) lack of freeing Israel from Rome (political messiah), 2) alternate interpretations of the gospel (salvation thru prayer and study of Torah), 3) lack of adherence to Torah teachings (church divorced from Judiasm), and 4) pogroms which Christians have carried out most effectively for 2000 years. So today I decided to take a fresh look at some Messianic scriptures. These are prophetic passages that point both forward and backward to the Messiah, Yeshua ben Joseph (aka Messiah ben Ephraim), Joseph being the first names of both the son of Jacob and the father of Yeshua.

This will be a multi-week study.

— The Birth of a Future Ruler

Rachel gives birth to Benjamin on the road to Bethlehem:
Gen. 35:19 says ‘Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)’

Rachel had been traveling from Schechem (later Ephraim) south through Bethel when she died during childbirth. It is a sad story.

It is not mere coincidence that Yeshua was born in Bethlehem. The book of Ruth makes an interesting point about Elimelech, Ruth’s husband. It says they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem (Ruth 1:2) and that likely means that children of Ephraim migrated to Bethlehem of Judah. Ruth ends up marrying Boaz after the death of her father-in-law and then death of her husband in Moab. Boaz was the great grandfather of King David but Ruth was a Moabitess. Boaz was also of the clan of Elimelech so possibly also a displaced Ephraimite.

Furthermore, Prophet Micah expresses a similar story in chapter 2:

Oh you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days (Micah 5:2)

Why is Bethlehem too little to be amongst the clans of Judah?
ṣāʿîr (tsaw-eer’) can mean little/small or younger supporting even the idea of migration.

— A son to please and to rule (Ps. 2)

Ps. 2:2:: The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed

Note here that the LORD is actually Jehovah in hebrew (praise his holy name). The Anointed however is meshiack which is Messiah in English.

Ps. 2:4:: He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord (Adonai) holds them in derision.

The ‘them’ here is pointing back to verse 3 which is the kings of the Earth. Ps. 59:8 makes it clear that it is the LORD who laughs at the nations. Another name for the LORD is Adonai so he not only laughs but holds nations in derision. Then we get to verse 6 it says ‘as for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill’. So the verse could be spoken about David being the King on Zion. Verse 7 speaks more propetically about a Son and not only that but about begetting a son:

Ps. 2:7:: I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son (ben); today I have begotten you.

If we continue on this line of reasoning then the LORD begot King David. This line of reasoning makes no sense because nobody considers David as physically begotten of the LORD and the Hebrew word ‘yalad’ everywhere else speaks of physically birthing a son.

Verse 8 says ‘ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession’. This is well beyond the earthly realm of King David so it must be specifying some other future King. So either King David is coming back at some point in time to rule over the whole earth or the reference is to another King of the same type as King David to rule over the Earth.

Verse 12 says ‘Kiss the Son (bar), lest he be angry, and you perish in the way’,

I want to point out here that the son in verse 7 uses the standard hebrew ‘ben’ but in verse 12 switches to the Aramaic term for son ‘bar’. Some argue that using an Aramaic term for son here and hebrew before makes no sense so a better translation for verse 12 is the kiss or embrace discipline. My source does point out that the common phrase “bar mitzvah” is also Aramaic and means “son OF commandments’. So whatever the proper interpretation of this one verse we are still left with remainder of Psalm 2 which speaks about a son being born to rule the whole world.

— The Forsaken Servant (Ps. 22)

Ps. 22:1:: A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

Actually the LORD hid his face from the son and abandoned him upon the cross.
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46)

Ps. 22:6-8:: I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!

The gospel account in Matthew pretty much echo’s Psalm 22:

Matt. 27:39-42::
those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying,
“He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

Then we have the manner of crucifixion:
Ps. 22:16:: they have pierced my hands and feet[Septuigint,Vulgate,Syriac, not all hebrew manuscripts] others translate ‘like a lion [they are at] my hands and feet’ (vs. 22 says ‘save me from the mouth of the lion’). It seems all of Judah has become a roaring lion no matter the exact translation.

An then there is the issue with dividing his garments for he was naked upon the cross:
Ps. 22:18:: they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

As did the Roman soldiers divide his garments and cast lots for them

— The New Covenant (Jer. 31)

I leave you with the words of Jeremiah the Prophet:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

This is powerful. It does not deny the law itself but makes a new covenant, a new testament for us in place of the old. It is God’s eternal promises to mankind.

Sources:
https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/studies-verses/psalm-2-12-kiss-the-son-or-embrace-purity.htm

— The new testament vs. old testament on commandments

Matt. 5:19-20:: Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments (entolē), and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matt. 5:19:: I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law (nomos) till all is fulfilled.

It is often stated that the commandments were only for Israel. Yet let us dig deeper into the words of Yeshua. What did Abraham, the father of faith, do?

Gen. 26:4-5:: I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge (mišmereṯ), My commandments (miṣvâ), My statutes (ḥuqqâ), and My laws (torah).

Please note that the commandments, miṣvot in the hebrew, is entolai in greek (plural forms). Here is a powerful verse right from the Torah. There is power in following Torah, expecially when it comes to sickness and health.

Ex. 15:26:: If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments (miṣvâ) and keep all His statutes (ḥōq), I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.

One could argue, maybe my condition was not put onto the Egyptians so it is excluded from his promises. Notice this verse also says it is he, Jehovah or Yehwey (praise his holy name) who puts the diseases onto the Egyptians. You might say it is Satan who does this or it is the consequences of sin in the world.

Remember what happened to the Philisteans when the had the ark of the covenant?

1 Sam. 5:6:: the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors,[fn] both Ashdod and its territory.

1 Sam. 5:11:: there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city (of Ekron); the hand of God was very heavy there.

Just perhaps Satan was still in heaven then so he was God’s henchman to cause evil upon people because Yeshua said I see Satan fall like lightening from heaven (Luke 10:18). The sad fact is that wherever Satan resides sickness and disease still rule upon the Earth.

Within the Torah we see the Lord speaking about commandments:

Ex. 24:12:: the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law (tôrâ) and commandments (miṣvâ) which I have written, that you may teach them

I am not going to give you every verse which speaks of commandments for there are about 613 of them. Nor should we worry about sacrifices and offering the way that ancient Israel did to atone for every sin. What I am is suggesting that Yeshua upheld the law of commandments.

— New covenant on curses for not abiding by the law

Gal. 3:10-14::
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

So what curse comes from the law? The one of doing only part of the law and not all of it.

The Torah reads in Deut. 27:26::
Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law by observing them.’

— Commandments found in the sermon on the mount (Matt. 5:20-48)

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:20)

Murder, Adultery, Sanctity of Marriage, Swearing, The Extra Mile, Loving Your Enemies

see the video for additional comments…

I just want to remind everyone of our encounter last year of a Muslim man near Webuye Falls in Kenya. He was also from Jinga, Uganda where we went a few years ago to work with the pastors there. It is really neat when we get a true divine encounter that only the Holy Spirit could set up. I look forward to many more of these types of encounters this year. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1D6nRo6t6Q/

While we wait upon the Lord for healing, whether that is instantaneous or takes a lifetime, let’s look at some items that can postpone or even stall your healing. Yeshua wants to heal us, it was a big part of his ministry while upon the Earth.

— Unforgiveness:
“AND WHENEVER YOU STAND PRAYING, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses (paraptōma).” (Mark 11:25)

King David said ‘who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults’ (Ps. 119:12). This is the same greek word paraptōma in the Septuigint. In many ways it is the unforgiveness of the heart that keeps us bound. We think ‘nobody sees this secret sin of mine’. Yet the Lord does. We all have faults and fall short of God’s standard from time to time.

According to the Mayo Clinic these benefits result from forgiveness:

Improved mental health
Less anxiety, stress and hostility
Lower blood pressure
Fewer symptoms of depression
A stronger immune system
Improved heart health

— Spiritual Oppression:
Can lead to a spirit of depression, heaviness or fatigue. Spiritual oppression is not the same as what is often called possession or demonization. Apostle Paul said ‘we are pressured (afflicted) in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair’ (2 Cor. 4:8). We need to break off the spirits of oppression. Depression in itself is not demonization, it is an attack. For sure Yeshua cast out demons and that is sometimes associated with physical healing. Demons can block healing but tend to work on the mind and emotions more than physical ailments. Notable examples are 1) the Blind and Mute Man (Matt. 12:22–24) and the Deaf and Dumb Spirit causing convulsions (Mark 9:17-29). Yeshua did cast out other unclean spirits and the result was clarity of mind and peace but not necessarily physical healing.

— Guilt (Unforgiveness of Self):
Isaiah 6:7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt [awon] is taken away, and your sin [chattah] atoned for. There is more to this story about holiness which I will cover in a few minutes.

— Sin/Iniquity/Transgression:
Chattah, which is most often translated as sin, means to miss the mark. Awon, often translated as iniquity, relates more to the inner character and points to an intentional twisting of a given standard. Pesha, often translated as transgression, is more of a willful rebellion against the given standard.

Psalm 51::
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my pesha [transgressions]. Wash me thoroughly from my awon [iniquity], and cleanse me from my chattah [sin]! For I know my pasha [transgressions], and my chattah [sin] is always before me. Against you, you only, have I chattah [sinned] and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in awon [iniquity] and in chattah [sin] did my mother conceive me.

The good thing is David did not die because of his sin. The bad thing is he paid the price in other ways. So physical maladies are sometimes related to sin/iniquty/transgression. I think the big take-away here is how sin/iniquty/transgression blocks healing. It is our seperation from God.

Is. 59:2 your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins (chattah) have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

You have been seperated from God because internally you twisted the standard.
He hides his face from you since you missed the mark.

Proverbs 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked (rasha): but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
Wicked = Actively doing wrong and morally wrong

Exodus 15:26 And said, If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that heals you (Jehovah Rapha).

Proverbs 3:1 My son, forget not my law (tôrâ); But let your heart keep my commandments (miṣvâ): 2 For length of days (forbearance or self-restraint, possibly rule), and years of life, and peace, will they add to thee.

— Negative Confesions:
Proverbs 18:21 Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Not only the tongue but also the beliefs of the heart … If you confess Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead (Rom. 10:9)

Luke 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

— Self Doubt and Unbelief:
James 1:5-8: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Asking for wisdom or anything from God requires confidence.

Does God want to heal me? Closely tied to self-doubt is just plain unbelief.

Mark 6:4 Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household.” 5 So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal (therepeo) them. 6 And He was amazed at their unbelief.

— The sin of familiarity causes many to remain ill:
The “sin of familiarity” is a spiritual concept where becoming too casual or accustomed to spiritual leaders, divine truths, or miracles leads to disrespect, lack of honor, and contempt, ultimately hindering one’s ability to receive blessings. This mindset causes people to take things for granted, causing a “red light” for the flow of grace and power in their lives. Muriam and Aaron where too familiar with Moses. She contracted leprosy, he did not, at least visabily.

How casually do you take your relationship with Yeshua? Is he just your good buddy?

— Pride:
King Uzziah contracted leprosy because he assumed what what ordained by God at the temple only for the Priests to burn incense was ok for him to do (2 Chr. 26). He had leprosy for the rest of his life. This just goes to show you that no matter how great a leader might become the sin of pride can make one unclean. There is another case of pride in the great Syrian leader called Naaman who was advised to do a simple task.

2 Kings 5:9–11:: So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed. 11 But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.

Sometimes it is the simple, even obvious things we miss that are key to our healing. Remember, Naaman had a terrible skin disease, maybe not leprosy itself but bad enough. He also had pride, meaning he expected a big display or ceremony for healing. Do we often expect the Lord to act a certain way? Does he arrive on the scene and wave his hands and call on his father to heal us or does he just give simple instructions he wants us to follow? Remember what Samuel said to King Saul ‘obedience is better than sacrifice!’ And when the healing evangelist comes to town we want to rush to his/her service. It is not that there are not certain gifts of healing in the body of Christ so much as our attitude toward obeying what the Lord instructs.

— His suffering atonement, our sin:
This is related to Sin/Iniquity/Transgression but I want to contrast here how that is related to what Yeshua did at the cross.

Matthew 8:16 says “when the even came, they brought unto him many that were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick (therapeuō): so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities (astheneia), and bare our sicknesses (nosos).” (Mattiyahu [Matthew] 8:16-17)

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. (Is. 53:4)

ḥŏlî (khol-ee’) = grief, disease, sickness, affliction, sadness, evil, or calamity
maḵ’ōḇ (mak-obe’) = sorrow or pain

(Septuigint) He bore our sins (hamartías) and suffered (odynátai) for us, and we considered him to be in pain and in hurt and in harm.

Three things I want to point out here regarding the Septuigint. One: he bore our sins, not just our griefs. The Masoretic texts tell us it is our griefs but it is more than that. Two: we often neglect the second part of this verse. It is about him. He suffered, he was in pain and in hurt and in harm. Three: Only some bible versions speak of our infirmities and our sicknesses (pains). This appears to be reading something into Isaiah not supported by many bible translators (our infirimities vs. our griefs) and our sicknesses vs. our sorrows). What we do have is an affirmation in the next verse regarding our trespasses and iniquities.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our trespasses [Hebrew: pesha, Gr: anomias], he was bruised for our iniquities [Hebrew: avon, Gr: hamartias] the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (rapha).
Note: In 1 Peter 2:24 the word healed here is iaomai

So I might be reading into this text as much as some bible translators but it appears to me that the reason we have infirmities and sicknesses is because of our trespasses and iniquities. Whether that is a personal statement or corporate statement I cannot say but I am just trying to be faithful to bible translation. Just going back to the idea of blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience but is possible Matthew had a slightly different version of the Tanakh available. But what is obvious is the healing ministry of Yeshua. And it would be amiss if I ever said all suffering in sickness is tied to our sin/iniquity/transgressions. It is just one avenue to explore.

Mt 8:1–3 When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured.

Healing from leprosy is spelled out in great detail in Leviticus 13 & 14. The idea that priests would examine a leprous person so much dismisses the notion that it is a highly contageous disease because you cannot get it through casual contact. Here Yeshua reaches out and touched the man. He was firstly willing to reach out to an austracized member of society. Secondly, while making him clean it shows both compassion for the outcast and cleansing from impurities. That is, the effects of spiritual uncleanness.

I like what John said in the epistle.

1 John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

It is not just coming to Jesus and saying “heal me!”. It is about keeping his commandments and doing what pleases him. Let’s not forget his stringent requirements at the sermon at the mount. There are lots of blessings (beatitudes) offered for those that do and act rightly. Many just want a quick fix. We cry out “Jesus Save Me!” while never really repenting of our sins or for that matter the sins of a nation as did Isaiah.

The seraphim touched my mouth with a glowing coal and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for (Is. 6:7).

Isaiah realized he was a man of unclean (impure) lips and lived amongst people of unclean lips. We want our healing yet are we ready to say ‘woe is me’ before getting healed. Even the lepers had to confess their sins yet they had already suffered greatly. What a day and hour we live in when unclean lips seem to permeate society, even at the highest levels.

I am hoping the Lord hears your cries and moves upon your situation to bring healing, hope, and restoration. In the end it might be one thing blocking your healing or even a combination of things.