Monthly Archives: May 2014

Torah Tidbit – May 31, 2014 – Nasso ( Num.4:21- 7:89)

This portion of the Torah deals with a myriad of subjects from the counting of the people, the laying out of the duties for the priestly orders, dealing with uncleanness in the camp (something of which we mostly fail to deem important), repentance, restoration and restitution, the ‘unfaithful wife’, the Aaronic blessing and the giving and receiving of offerings. Man, that’s a mouthful . . .
So what is the connection between all these seemingly mismatched subjects ? Do they, in fact, have anything in common? Let’s see what we can uncover . . .
The most important truth in these verses is that of God’s desire and passion for restoration and forgiveness based on our repentance and His unfailing grace. ‘If a person admits their guilt . . .’ And anytime you see ‘a fifth part’ mentioned in Scripture, it is a ‘redemption price’ . . . a picture of Salvation. The guidelines concerning the unfaithful wife should take us straight to the Gospel accounts of Yeshua in the garden praying fervently to the Father concerning the ‘Cup’. Again, a picture of grace, mercy, compassion and redemption.
The uncleanness ? This is a subject that can take pages to discuss. Let it suffice for now to say ‘uncleanness’ is a picture of that which can and does separate us from our heavenly Father, whether it be physical or spiritual, overt or unconscious,, unavoidable or intentional. God always makes a way for His people to come to Him, but it has to be His way, not ours.
The numbering of the people shows us God did not call just a mass of bodies. It tells us the God of creation is mindful of every creature fashioned by His Hand, from the greatest to the least. Not only is He mindful of each, but each has a task and purpose ordered by the Hand of creation. These verses also remind us there is order in Abba’s house, a way and purpose for everything He has directed and mandated, and these ways will always be for His glory and for our ultimate good, even if we don’t understand at first. There is a way that seems right unto man . . . but God’s ways are above ours and His thoughts beyond ours.
The giving and receiving ? In the truest spirit of these acts, there is a Presence of humility in the receiving and true compassion and charity (love in action) in the giving, a a picture of literally running to meet the need. Notice all the gifts were the same. No one gave more and no one gave less. This is the way Abba sees our giving. It is not necessarily the amount from the wallet,but the abundance of the heart He measures. (although one can a measure of the other) The widow’s mite, Yeshua says, was the greatest gift given that day.
And the ‘Blessing of the people by their Priest’ ? It is the culmination of God’s desire for those that are His. It is His desire that they would be blessed by His Presence and His shalom in their lives daily now, and in the Kingdom for eternity.
‘ . . . and in this way you shall invoke My Name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them, says the LORD . . .’
Shabbat Shalom – J & R

Rebekah & The Woman of Revelation 12

The woman in Revelation 12 and Rebekah in Genesis are inexplicably linked and a prophetic picture of one another.
As we have been talking somewhat about the concept of the ‘2nd Exodus’, the topic arose concerning Revelation 12 and the ‘woman clothed with the sun, a crown of 12 stars and the moon at her feet’. This passage also relates a second token in the sky, ‘a great red dragon’. Rebekah, the wife of Isaac, went through similar circumstances in Genesis 25 and in Genesis 37 we can gain insight into the sun and moon.
The Prophet Isaiah reminds us God ‘declares the end out of the beginning’. If we go back to Torah and look closely we see an image with striking similarity to the passage in Revelation 12.
Let’s think about Rebekah for a moment. She is pregnant and about to give birth and, calling or crying out to God in her distress, she asks why the struggle in her womb (struggle – Hebrew – to oppress or crush). Most know the response from God. ‘There are two nations and two peoples to come from you,’ He says. One is Jacob, later to be renamed Israel and the second is Esau, named thus because he emerged red and hairy. In reality, Rebekah bore two opposing forces. She bore Jacob (Israel – a nation of 12) and Esau, a godless man that literally embodies the spirit of Nimrod, the spirit of an/the adversary and all that is contrary to God and His ways. Jacob (Israel) produces 12 nations and out of these come the promised Messiah (Rev.12:5). These two opposing forces are still in the land today.
Revelation 12 pictures a ‘woman with 12 stars above her head, surrounded or covered by the sun and the moon at her feet’. In Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9, there are 11 stars, which are his brothers, and the sun and the moon are his mom and dad according to Jacob’s interpretation (Joseph, obviously, would have been number 12).
We must remember God gave a multi-faceted promise to Abraham. Abraham was promised descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore, a Land set-part for his descendants and blessing and gathering for all the families of the earth through him. This promise would be passed through Isaac to Jacob according to God’s own words, and Rebekah would be the one chosen by God to bear a son to Isaac that would come to be named Israel. She is a woman with 12 stars . . . she literally gives birth to Israel.
Let’s take a little closer look at the passages concerning Rebekah for some deeper understanding and clarification. Unlike Moses and Jacob finding their brides at a well, when Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, she – Rebekah – was found at a spring. So what’s the significance? In the Hebrew a well and a spring are not the same. ‘Be’ayr’ – well – is a hole in the ground full of water. The Hebrew word for spring is ‘ayin’, literally the eye of the water. It is actually the word for ‘eye’ in the Hebrew. Why was Rebekah found at a spring? Why is that important? Later in life we find that Isaac is physically blind. He was also spiritually blind in reference to his two sons. Isaac was blinded to Esau’s spiritual depravity by his affection for his eldest son. Rebekah, on the other hand, is the one that had ‘eyes to see’. She is the woman chosen to birth Israel.
Now keep in mind, there is an overriding prophetic picture in all of this which supersedes the realm of time. Jacob (the sun in Joseph’s dream) produces the twelve, and of that twelve, Rachel, (the moon in Joseph’s dream) produces Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph’s descendants become the Northern kingdom (Ephraim) and the tribe of Benjamin becomes a bridge connecting the northern and the southern kingdoms throughout Biblical history.
(more about the northern kingdom at ‘The Woman at the Well’ )
https://prodigalministries.wordpress.com/?s=understanding+come+from

(and some additional info concerning the Woman at The Well – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI9KGkXTo0k )

Now, fast forward to Revelation 12. Israel, the ‘ SHE ’ in these passages, is still divided into two camps, and at this point there are some of each camp in the Land and some of each camp outside the Land. Verse 6 says the ‘She’ in the Land flees to a place prepared for a very specific time period – 1260 days. Verse 17 tells us the ‘red dragon’ can’t get to ‘her’ and becomes enraged and goes after the rest of ‘Her’ children (the other ‘She’), the ones who have the testimony of Yeshua and keep the commandments.
What if this battle is not totally a future event, but, in fact, has, in part, been going on for centuries (between Jacob and Esau), and the final scene, as it were, is when the ‘she’ in the Land is finally given momentary sanctuary (Rev.12:6) and the Adversary comes after the rest of ‘Her’ children in earnest and in vengeance (Rev.12:17) . . . just another example of us looking for a ‘future event’ to take place when, in fact, a portion of this prophecy has been going on right under our noses. And who is it that comes after us ? . . . yes, we said ‘us’ . . .
Jeremiah 16 tells us God will send fishers and then, afterwards, He will send hunters. Esau was a skilled hunter. Nimrod was a mighty hunter in the face of God. Those connections are not coincidental. They were both Godless men that embodied the spirit of the Adversary (red dragon), the hunter, the fowler, the wolf among the sheep. So what about the time of Tribulation or ‘Jacob’s trouble’ ? Are we exempt? Is ‘Jacob’ (Israel) only in the Land? Are we, as believers, included? What does the Word say? Paul says in Ephesians 2 & Romans 11:17 we have been made a part of (and grafted into) the covenant of promise . . . “11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men),
12 remember that at that time you were separate from Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Messiah Yeshua you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Messiah.
(A little side note here about Paul. He was from the tribe of Benjamin and sent to be a bridge to and for the “wild olive branches).

So we find in this passage of Rev. 12 a woman crying out, giving birth, male child, red dragon and 12 stars, sun and moon. In Gen.25 we see a woman (Rebekah) inquiring, giving birth, male children, one that would be called Israel and the other Edom (red). By extension, we could say Rebekah had the 12 stars because she was the woman that gave birth to Israel and the sun and the moon were associated with him in Gen.37. Rebekah bore ‘a son of promise’ and the woman in Revelation 12 bore the Messiah, the Son of Promise.

Rebekah bore Jacob (Israel) and Esau (Edom, red). Israel had 12 sons and Rachel had 2 of those of which one, Joseph, would be known as the Northern Kingdom (Ephraim) that would at a future point be reunited with the Southern Kingdom into the Whole House of Israel (Ezekiel 20 ) . The nation of Israel produced the Messiah. Through Messiah, the eternal Kingdom of Israel will be born. ‘ . . . and because of the blood of Messiah, you have now been made part of the citizenship of Israel . . .’ (Ephesians 2:11-13, paraphrased). So why is she pictured in Revelation ? Once again Israel is about to be birthed.

We read about going into the wilderness in Rev.12, Ezek. 20 and Hosea 2. (and by the way, ‘fleeing to the wilderness’ and ‘coming out of Babylon’ are not the same thing). In Rev. 12 they are told to flee into the wilderness to a place that has been prepared by God for her (Israel). This is apparently speaking to those that are residing in the land of Israel and is going to take place during what we call the tribulation. We see this referred to by Yeshua in Matt. 24:16, Mark 13;14.
In Hosea 2:14-15 it speaks about the Lord bringing the people into the wilderness. This was given by Hosea to the Northern Kingdom (Ephraim) . . .
14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor {15 Achor means trouble.} a door of hope. There she will sing {15 Or respond} as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

Why is the woman pictured in Revelation? Because it is time to start the birthing process again. The first time was physical with twelve sons. The second time is spiritual . Israel will be birthed or born again (pun intended). As Jacob produced sons in the physical so Messiah produces offspring in the spiritual. Messiah came the first time born of flesh to start the process of bringing back the lost sheep of the house of Israel . Peter said the last days began then (Acts 2) . Scripture bears that out in Hosea 6:1-2 . . . “Hosea 6:1 “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.””
At the second day mark He came to revive us and now we are at the 3rd day where He says He will restore. Restore what? The Land, the people, the people to the Land.
Hosea 2:23 “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one. {23 Hebrew Lo-Ruhamah} ‘I will say to those called ‘Not my people, {23 Hebrew Lo-Ammi} ”You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.'”
Ezekiel 20:40 “For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD, there in the land the entire house of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them . . .”

What happened in Gen. is a type and shadow of what is taking place in Rev.12 and is a prophetic picture being fulfilled in these last days.
The restoration will happen at Messiah’s second coming. So let us have the spiritual eyes of Rebekah to see where we are and what is taking place.
Blessing and Shalom, R&J

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” . . . all gave some, some gave all . . . “

To all who gave, to all who served, to their families and friends –

On this Memorial day may our thanks, our gratitude and appreciation, our support and respect,

be deep, sincere, public, unapologetic and ever-abiding.

May we be a grateful people . . . grateful to those – past and present – who guard and protect the most precious intangible given to us this side of Salvation and Glory  . . . the intangible gift of Freedom and choice.

may God extend His mercy and grace to this people one more year for the sake of and on behalf of the ‘the ten righteous in the city’. Shalom to you and yours –

1 Corinthians 15:20,21 – Adam’s sin brought death. Messiah came in the flesh and through death brought life. Adam was given dominion over everything on earth. He lost it and Messiah came in the flesh and took it back. When He finished all that He had come to accomplish and left (through His death,burial and resurrection) He gave that authority back to us (Luke 10:19) to exercise through Him and His Holy Spirit. We need to recognize just as Messiah walked in authority under the Father, so we have been given this authority to walk in just as Messiah did while He walked here in the flesh. We need to get our head around who we are in Messiah !  We are His representatives and have His power and His authority at work in us while here…. Shabbat Shalom, R&J

Question : What are your thoughts ?
We just recently posted an article concerning the concept of ‘A 2nd Exodus’. Our question to you ? Who are these that are spoken of here that will be brought into the wilderness of the nations, into the ‘bond of the covenant’ ? Who are the ones culled ? When will this take place ? Or has it already occurred ? We invite your input and insight. Play nice and be polite and give us your thoughts. Shalom –

A Second Exodus ?

Father God of the Bible speaks through the Prophet Isaiah these words – “I declare the end out of the beginning and from ancient times that which is not yet done . . .” He tells us in advance what is going to take place so that when it comes to pass we will see and recognize not only the event and the plan but the reality and sovereignty of the God from whence it came. God’s Word speaks of a ‘second exodus’ in the last days patterned after the first one ( Jer. 16, Jer 23). And if we are living in those ‘last days’ ( and we are ) and since God knows ‘our frame’ and our propensity to get into trouble, perhaps we should know and understand a little about these events – past and future – that we might learn and not make the same mistakes again ( 1 Cor 10:11). Let’s dig a little.
In Numbers 16:12 we see the unfolding scene between Moses and Korah and Korah’s associates. They are not just questioning the authority of Moses. They are questioning and rebelling against the very act and movement of their God that had brought them thus far, out of Egypt and onward toward the ‘Promised Land’. But they began to not only disregard the miracles and judgments they had witnessed first hand but literally refer to the land of Egypt from which they were delivered as the ‘land flowing with milk and honey’. Their rebellion was so obnoxious to God, He showed up on the scene personally and dealt with their sin immediately and decisively. The same pattern is laid out in Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning God’s people in the last days and what will be the outcome for those that obey in contrast to those that rebel.
Ezekiel 20 ( 1-29) explains how Father God looked upon their rebellion in the wilderness in the first exodus out of Egypt and verses 30-49 relate what will happen in the second exodus ‘out of the nations’ in the process of ‘going home’. It is an admonishment to be mindful not to make the same fatal mistakes outlined clearly in verses 1-29 that our forefathers made the first time around ( Number 16, and see 1 Cor. 10) Once again, God will make a personal appearance and deal with the disobedience and rebellion, according to Ezekiel. Malachi speaks of a time to come when God’s people must remember the Torah sent by His servant Moses ( which implies obedience) and allow the spirit of Elijah to begin the restoration of the relationship between the children ( us ) and the fathers ( Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ), for if this were not to take place, the land would be stricken with a curse.
Just as God, in the first exodus, delivered His people from Egypt ( Mitzrayim – bondage) and then dealt with their rebellion in the wilderness, so it will be in the last days – “As surely as I live, declares Sovereign Yahweh, I will rule over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath.
34 I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered– with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath.
35 I will bring you into the desert of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you.
36 As I judged your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares Sovereign Yahweh.
37 I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
38 I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am YAHWEH.” Eze. 20:33-38

Shalom – J & R

So Who’s Omer ?

     God’s Biblical calendar cycle is outlined in the book of the Exodus and has it’s first memorial in the Passover. During the ensuing week there is a regular 7th day Sabbath and then ‘the day after the Sabbath’.
Leviticus 23:15 “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new grain offering unto the LORD.”
      This is what christianity has come to call ‘Pentecost’, from the word for ‘fifty’. In the Hebrew it is known as ‘Shavuot’ or literally ‘weeks’, named so due to the counting down of seven weeks and seven Sabbaths. The process of counting down the fifty days is known as ‘the counting of (or from) the omer’(omair). I went to school with a guy named Omer . . . this is not about him.
We actually see the word ‘omer’ in the English text of the King James translation in Exodus 16:16-36 when God is giving instructions concerning the gathering of ‘manna’ for the daily portion. An omer is a relative unit of measure. It can refer to a sheaf of grain or to a quantity of the grain berries ( approximately a quart or so) and comes from the word ‘amar’ which is to ‘bind up sheaves’. Leviticus 23:10 speaks of a ‘day of the wave offering’. This is the day the church system celebrates as the day of the Resurrection. The wave offering referred to is the ‘Raysheet Omer’, the First of the Sheaves or the First of the Harvest. On that day we begin to count down fifty days to the ‘day after the 7th Sabbath’, or the 50th day (Pentecost). This is not only the day recognized in the Bible and the christian church as the day of a great outpouring of the Spirit of God ( Acts 2) but also the day of God’s giving of the Torah and His covenanting for the first time with a ‘nation’ – literally the birth of the new covenant and the birth of the ‘church’ . . . ( Exo. 19-20 , Acts 7:37-38) . . . and there’s two other cans of worms we’ve opened . . .
      So these two holy days or seasons are connected, the Passover season and Shavuot or Pentecost, for in the process of one we begin counting down to the next. Let’s take a quick glance at just one of the ways these two ‘Feasts of the Lord’ are linked.
If you recognize Passover as the forerunner of the coming of Yeshua the Messiah, the Lamb of God, then you should understand that this coming of a Messiah was a promise of the Father. ( Genesis 3:15, Deuteronomy 18:15) But Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-11 and 2:14-21 also speak of a ‘Promise from the Father’, the promise given by the Prophet Joel and manifested on what we call the ‘Day of Pentecost’ and the Hebrew Scriptures refer to as Shavuot. These two ‘feasts’ are inexorably linked because they are two halves of one promise – the promise of the Heavenly Father. Did ya ever wonder how, if in Acts 2 it was the first Pentecost, how did they know what to call it ?  ‘Cause it wasn’t the first one. That’s why they were there, to celebrate this centuries old memorial – Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks.
      By the way, another quick side note. Shavuot or ‘weeks’ comes from the Hebrew word for ‘seven’ – shavua. Many understand the number ‘7’ to exhibit completion. But why ? Shavua or ‘7’ comes from the Hebrew root word ‘shava’ which means ‘to swear by’ or ‘take an oath’. Every time you see a ‘seven’ in the Bible it is not only a sign of completion but it is a picture of God’s seal on what He is doing – literally His promise to fulfill His promise . . . Isaiah 55:10 “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my Word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”          Shalom –