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The portion of Nasso begins with instructions regarding the clan of the Gershonites. The Gershonites are charged with the duty of transporting the Tabernacle from place to place as the Israelites moved across the wilderness. We then learn of the duties that are given to the Levitical clan of the Merarites is then explained. Instructions are then given regarding the numbering of the Levitical clans, the purity of the camp, and the restitution that is to be paid because of wrongs. The famous instructions of the test of an unfaithful wife are explained and chapter 6 then begins with the details of the Nazarite. Chapter 6 concludes with the priestly blessing. I must say that not enough can be written or said about this blessing and what it means in our lives. The Torah Portion concludes with the story of the offerings that took place at the dedication of the Tabernacle.
Despite all of these famous topics and talking points in this portion of Nasso we see something very interesting in an obscure place in the text. The passage I want to direct you that we read in the text regarding the offerings that were given at the dedication of the Tabernacle.
Numbers 7:18 “On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, presented an offering; 19 he presented as his offering one silver dish whose weight was one hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering;”
We learn from this passage that on the second day of the offerings that a man from the tribe of Issacar named Nethanel bin Zuar is to present the second offering for the dedication of the Tabernacle. In the Hebrew text we see something very interesting. In verse 18 we see the Hebrew word הִקְרִיבhikriv or it literally translates to “he offered”. We see the exact same word in the next verse but the spelling of the word is different. In verse 19 where we see the word used a second time the word is spelled הִקְרִב
In this second spelling we see that the word is spelled without the Hebrew letter Yud. We must ask ourselves why the spelling of this word is different in two consecutive verses. What is the Torah trying to show us here?
There is an old story that says that Reuben, who was the oldest child of Jacob comes to Moses in Heaven and asks Moses why Issacar brought the offering on the second day during the dedication of the Tabernacle. Reuben says that he understands why the tribe of Judah gave the offering first as he knows that the line of kings came through the tribe of Judah, but Reuben tells Moses that he does not understand why Issacar presented the offering second instead of his tribe. Moses explains to Reuben that there are two reasons. The first reason is because the tribe of Issacar was famous because of their study of God’s word. This virtue of study is held in very high esteem therefore this is one reason for why Issacar’s offering came before the offering of Reuben. Moses then explains that the second reason is because it was the tribe of Issacar that came up with the idea to have a ceremony of offerings to dedicate the Tabernacle. Reuben was still not happy with either one of these explanations to which Moses replied “this is the way in which God wanted it.”
I do not know if there is any truth to the actual story or not, but what I can say is that there is truth in the message of the story. We do what we do because this is the way God wants it. We cannot argue with the ways of the Father. We cannot dismiss what the Father wants from us to selfishly do what it is that we want. He is the one in charge, He is our Creator and it is our job to be obedient.
This idea makes me think of Paul’s letter to the Romans where he asks the question “Does not the potter have right over the clay?” We are to be vessels for the Father to use so that His will can be done. We are not to be of our own creation and be a god unto ourselves. It is the Father who decides what we should and should not do, what we should and should not eat and what holidays we should and should not celebrate. Who are we to take His words and twist them around to fit our will? In over 2000 years people have taken the Word of God and twisted it to say that in the word of the Messiah we are free to do whatever we want and we have thrown away any and all obedience to our Father’s ways. We pick and choose from His Word and we pick and choose from His commands and decrees if we even choose to follow any of them at all.
Let me suggest to you that our Creator, our Father in Heaven, The Almighty God did not send Yeshua our Messiah to die for us so that we could be free to disobey His commands and be free to live however we see fit.
We have such power as followers of Yeshua, yet we wonder why we do not see the things described in such places as Act Chapter 2 alive in our congregations today. I suggest that the “freedom in Christ” campaign that is so rampant in “churchianity” today is the reason we do not see the power of Yeshua in the body of Messiah today. We talk about it and we sing about it but we do not see it. I hear many people say things like “the Holy Spirit hasn’t convicted me of this or that” and “the Holy Spirit told me to do this or that”. I am not one to judge someone on what the Holy Spirit is saying to them but I can guarantee you that the Holy Spirit would never direct anyone to do anything or not do anything that goes against what the Word of God says. The Holy Spirit also will not instruct someone to follow God one way and then tell another person to follow God in the complete opposite way. This is especially if either “instruction” goes against the Word of God. I believe that a spirit may be influencing you do things that are against the Word of God but I can assure you that it is not the Holy Spirit that is influencing you. Many of us don’t know what to do or what not to do in our walk with God because we don’t know His Word. This leaves us open to influence not only from our own will or the will of man-made doctrines, but from a whole host of influences that originate in this realm and the next. To live in disobedience to the Word of God is a very dangerous way to live.
I mentioned before the story of Reuben’s complaint to Moses in Heaven about the tribal order of the dedication offerings. As I mentioned, I do not know if the story is true or not but I feel the message of this story connects to our missing Yud in the text.
The Hebrew letter Yud is a fascinating letter. It is the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and it is the first letter in God’s Holy Name. It is a letter that connects to the idea of completeness that occurs from a divine order. The ancient pictograph form of the letter is a hand. It is an open right hand. The letter Yud represents power, authority, might, ability. The letter Yud is the only letter that floats above all the other letters. It is connected to the spark of the Holy Spirit that is inside all of us. It is taught that we can find the letter Yud hidden in all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
The Yud is present in the first spelling of hikriv in our Torah Portion to teach us that we must do everything with God. We must do everything under His authority and His way. When we come before Him with an offering in our lives, it must be under His right hand, Yeshua Messiah. In the very next verse we see the word hikriv used a second time without the letter Yud. This is to teach us that that when we come before Him, it better not be without the Yud. When we bring our offerings to Him, it must be the way of the first spelling with the Yud and not the way of the second without the Yud. This message is a message of obedience to our Heavenly Father.
Reuben was the first born. When we look at the order from our own minds, it makes perfect sense to us that the offering of the tribe of Reuben should have come first. God did not want it that way and wanted the offerings to begin with the tribe of Judah. The people obeyed and Judah’s offering came first. We come along as say that it makes perfect sense that Reuben should now come second. The Father comes right back and says that Issacar will come second. Here we come again, and at this point we do not really understand what is going on with the order of the offerings but it makes sense to us that it is now time for the tribe of Reuben to make his offering. The Father again comes along and says that the next offering will be from Zebulun and that Reuben will make their offering fourth. During this whole thought process we had no idea what was going on with the order of the tribal offerings of the dedication and did not understand why God was willing it this way. After some careful examination we see that that these dedication offerings are being instructed to be offered up to the Father in the order of the camp of Israel and not in the order of the first born.
Our job is to listen to the right hand and be obedient. If a situation comes along and we do not understand why the Father is instructing us to do something or not to do something we must still be obedient to His instruction and His will. At this point we are encouraged to search the Word for the answer and pray about it. The Father promises that He will reveal it to you.
When we begin to live outside the authority of the Yud we start to do whatever we see is right in our own minds eye. It is all about the letter Yud, it is all about authority. Throughout Yeshua’s entire ministry we see the theme of getting back under the authority of the Yud. The people were living under the man-made authority of the Pharisees and were following the word of man, not the Word of God. Yeshua’s message teaching us to disregard the word of man and come back under the authority of the Father has been twisted to tell us that Yeshua came to do away with the Word of God. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This passage in the Torah makes me think of Yeshua’s encounter with the centurion.
Matthew 8:5 “And when Yeshua entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 7 Yeshua said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but justsay the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 Now when Yeshua heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And Yeshua said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.”
The servant understood the principles of the Yud. He understood the ideas and concepts of obedience and authority. Yeshua pointed him our as an example to his disciples. Yeshua attributed the centurion’s submission to authority and the word that results from it as faith. What does that mean to you?
I urge you to submit to God’s Word under the authority of your Messiah Yeshua. Give your offering to God with the letter Yud included. Follow the Master and when you do not understand the reason why in regards to some of his instructions all you have to do is seek the answer and it will be revealed to you.
The Torah Portion of Bamidbar begins the Book of Numbers. Here we see another poor translation. In English we call the title of this book “The Book of Numbers” although the word Bamidbar does not actually mean “numbers”. I often chuckle at the title changes of the Biblical books and wonder if the early translators changed the names because they felt the alternate titles would help the books sell better on the New York Times Bestsellers List.
We begin the Book of Bamidbar with the Father commanding Moses to take a census of the people of Israel. We see some more organization in the instructions given regarding how the tribes are to be encamped around the Tabernacle. We conclude the reading learning about the specific instructions regarding the tribe of Levi and the Kohathites that are a clan with in the tribe.
The Father told Moses and Aaron to count the tribe of Levi. The tribe of Levi is to be separated and set apart from the other tribes as they are to become assistants to Aaron and his son and serve in the Tabernacle.
Numbers 3:39 “All the numbered men of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the command of the Lord by their families, every male from a month old and upward, were 22,000.”
In the text of this verse we see something interesting. There are five dots located above the name of Aaron in the Torah. This is something that you will not see in your English Bible translations. We know that whenever see something like this in the text that it is trying to point something out to us. What are these 5 dots trying to communicate? I believe that when see study the name of Aaron here in connection to these 5 dots in the text that we will be pointed to the Messiah Yeshua.
We know that both Moses and Aaron were from the tribe of Levi. If a census was being conducted of the tribe of Levi then it would make sense that Aaron would be counted in the census as part of the tribe. One interpretation of this verse says that the five dots above the name of Aaron represent the idea that he was not counted in the census as part of the tribe of Levi.
If you remember from previous Torah Portions that we have studied that we have discovered that dots above a word allude to a diminished quality. The dots over the word וְאַהֲרֹן “va’Aharon” or “and Aaron” that we see in a Torah scroll in regards to the counting of the tribe of Levi are where this interpretation that Aaron was not counted comes from.
The interpretation says that Aaron was not counted as was set apart from the rest of his tribe. Why would Aaron who was the High Priest not be counted in the census?
Whenever we see the name of Moses and Aaron together in the Torah it points to the fact that Aaron was the right hand man of Moses. In this verse we have both of the men listed together but it is only Aaron’s name that has the dots. This tells us that for this moment their partnership together was different. Aaron has been separated from Moses in this moment.
If we take a step back and think about who Aaron was we then realize that he is a very interesting and unique character in our Biblical text. On one hand, Aaron was the right hand man of Moses. He helped Moses in his role as a leader of Israel. Aaron spoke for Moses in front of Pharaoh in Egypt. Aaron also took action on behalf of Moses. It was Aaron and his staff that touched the waters of the Nile and struck the land to bring about various plagues in the land of Egypt.
Along with his role as right hand man to Moses, Aaron also had another role. This role was as the High Priest. This role was completely separate in regards to Aaron’s role as an assistant to Moses. Aaron’s role as the High Priest in the service to the Father in the Tabernacle was a special, set apart duty.
There is a teaching that says that because Aaron was so special and so multifaceted in his roles and his service to the Father and to Israel that he simply count not be counted as just one man and therefore was left out of the census counting. While I agree with the admiration of Aaron and this is a beautiful message, I feel that there is an even deeper message here.
When we break down Aaron’s name we find something very revealing. Aaron is spelled אַהֲרֹן
His name means “light bringer”. In pictograph Hebrew Aaron’s name says that “The strength of revelation is the head of life”. If you notice the spelling of Aaron’s name you will see that it ends with a final letter Nun. The final Nun, or Nun sofit, drops down below the base line of all of the other letters. It is here, in the spelling of Aaron’s name, that we begin to see a connection with him and the Messiah Yeshua. The final Nun that drops below the line of the other letters teaches us the strength or leader of the revelation which is the head of life will be brought down to us. This love and revelation will be brought down to us by our High Priest.
Aaron as the High Priest is an allusion to Yeshua as our High Priest. If we connect the earthly idea of the role of Moses as far as him giving out the Word of God and Aaron’s role to Yeshua being the High Priest and being the one who is to speak and take action on that Word of God and administrate the covenant then we have an amazing allusion that can teach us so much more about our Messiah. As we learn more about Aaron we learn more about Yeshua. Another connection that we see between Aaron and Yeshua comes when the Torah tells us that Aaron died when he was 123 years old. If we break this numbers down into a mathematical equation we come to the equation of 1+2 = 3. The number one in this equation alludes to the Almighty God. The number 2 alludes to His creation. Since the beginning in the Garden of Eden, we see a conflict arise between the Father and His creation. The idea of a High Priest and of the Messiah Yeshua is that they connect God and His creation together. The result of this is redemption and completion from the creation that was causing the conflict with its creator in the garden.
When we look back at the five dots above Aaron’s name and interpret it as he was not included in the counting of the tribe of Levi because he was being set apart as the High Priest we can connected it to Yeshua who was also set apart and is the High Priest. Yeshua is not the High Priest in the line of Aaron and the Levites, but instead is the High Priest in the line of Melke-Tzedik.
In much of modern Christian philosophy it is taught that the Book of Hebrews is themed with the idea of a transfer of covenants. The transfer that is taught is from the “old covenant” in which Aaron was the High Priest to the “new covenant” which is administered with Yeshua as the High Priest. Let me suggest to you that this idea could not be further from the truth. The Book of Hebrews that we find in our New Testament has absolutely nothing to do with transference of covenants, but has everything to do with transference of priesthoods. It may surprise you, but the Book of Hebrews was written to…HEBREWS. These Hebrew readers would have understood the Melke-Tzadik priesthood. They would have been learning all about this line of priest in their study of the Tanach and would have been able to trace it from the Garden of Eden all the way through the rest of Torah and into the Psalms as King David spoke about it.
Christianity has had 2000 years of trying to transfer one covenant to another covenant that has made a disastrous disconnection between Aaron and Yeshua that should be one of the most beautiful and landmark pillars of our entire faith. The study of the Melki-Tzedik priesthood is fascinating and far too robust and detailed for this simple commentary. I encourage you to dig into the meat of it and investigate and study it for yourself. It will bring you so much revelation into what the Messiah actually did when He came the first time.
When the role of High Priest was transferred from Aaron to Yeshua and from one line of priests to another we are now commanded under Yeshua as our High Priest to be priests ourselves regardless of our tribal ancestry. This is not something that was a foreign concept in ancient Judaism. Yes, one had to be from the line of Levi to perform the actual services in the Tabernacle and the Temple but the rest of the Israelites were still commanded to do the work of a priest out in the world. The role of a priest was to bring the people closer to the Father and to bring the Father closer to the people. Are we doing this in today’s times? Are we mindful of this role that we can partake in as we serve under Yeshua Messiah as priests? I hope so! It is a very important role.
I encourage you to study the roles of the priests in the Torah. Study the work and life of Aaron the High Priest so that you can better understand your Messiah Yeshua. I also encourage you to re-read the Book of Hebrews with a new view and a new context that points to the transfer of the role of the High Priest to Yeshua.
To be a priest, we must know our role before we can begin to assist the High Priest in administering the covenant. The only way to know your instructions on how to be a priest is to know the Word of God. Do not end up like Nadab and Abihu who chose to do it their way. They brought an unauthorized fire before the Father and things did not work out so well for them. Learn your role as a priest and follow the orders of the Father and your set apart High Priest Yeshua.
Only then can you truly be the priest that Yeshua has called you to be.
In the Torah Portion of Bechukotai we conclude the Book of Leviticus. The reading begins educating us on the many blessings that God promises to Israel if the people follow His statutes. The text then takes a turn and we learn about 49 separate curses in grace detail that will fall upon Israel if they choose to turn away from the Father. The reading of Bechukotai concludes with a message regarding redemption that will turn out to be very prophetic for God’s people.
We find something very interesting in the following verse that warrants some further study.
Leviticus 26:42: “then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land.”
Normally in the Bible when we read about the patriarchs they are listed in the order of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Here we see that listed in reverse order. They are listed as Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. Why does the Torah list the names in reverse order?
Another interesting detail that we see in the Hebrew text is that the name Jacob, or Ya’akov is normally spelled with the Hebrew letters Yud, Ayin, Kuf and Bet. The name looks like this: יַעֲקֹב
Here in verse 42 the spelling of Jacob’s name is different. It is spelled with an extra letter. The spelling looks like this: יַעֲקֹוב
Here we see Jacobs’s name spelled Yud, Ayin, Kuf, Vav, Bet. Along with the first question regarding the order of the patriarch’s names, we must now ask why the letter Vav is placed into the name of Jacob.
When we begin to answer the question regarding the order of the names, there is a saying that says that the order in which we see or think about something depends on whether we are putting the emphasis on the first or the greatest. The first of our patriarchs is Abraham. In the place he lived he was the only one in his generation that was championing the idea of there being One True God. Whenever he was faced with trials and tribulations he always stood on his belief that there is only one God in Heaven. Our faith as we know it today began with Abraham. After Abraham came his son Isaac. Isaac became a great man and a follower of the Father. Isaac was blessed by having Abraham as his father to raise him up and teach him the ways of God. After Isaac came his son Jacob. Jacob’s teaches us that we can always follow and serve the Father, even in times of great hardship. We see this example in Jacob during his struggles with Laban and in his struggles with his brother Esau. Jacobs children become the 12 tribes of Israel and it was his descendants that would follow the Father all the way to the Promised Land. This can not be said about all of Abraham’s and Isaac’s children because from their lines came Ismael and Esau who turned away from God and became great enemies to God’s people.
Jacob was not only blessed by being able to learn about God from his father Isaac, but also from his grandfather Abraham. All of this alludes to Jacob’s path being the greater path. The reversed order of the patriarchs teaches us that the path to redemption in the end days will come through Jacob. This alludes to the reuniting of the 12 tribes of Israel that have been scattered. This allusion is confirmed in the New Testament writings as we learn that the Messiah Yeshua came the first time to die so that the lost and scattered sheep of the house of Israel have a way and a path to come back into covenant with the Father. Then we learn that in His second coming that Yeshua will gather up and reunite the 12 tribes of Israel and reign as King.
When we begin to look into the letter Vav that is added to Jacob’s name we find some more fascinating connections to the Messiah. We know that the Vav is a nail or a peg. It represents a connection. In my study in exploration of this particular Vav I came across something very interesting that points to a connection between Jacob and Elijah. There are five times in the Bible where we find the name אֵלִיָּהוּ Elijah or Eliyahu is spelled without the letter Vav that it should have. Even more interesting is that we see the name of Jacob spelled five times with an extra letter Vav that should not be contained in his name. I do not believe in coincidence, and I especially do not believe in coincidence when it comes to the Word of God. The question we must now ask is what is the reason that the name of Jacob borrows the Vav from the name of Elijah 5 separate times in the Bible?
One interpretation says that this alludes to the hand. The fingers on our hands look like the letter Vav. This allusion to the hand or the right hand of God which is Yeshua Messiah points us to the concept that as we are Jacob or Israel, we should be yearning for the spirit of Elijah to come. We know that the spirit of Elijah comes to us directly before the Messiah comes. We see this come to life with the stories of John the Immerser in the New Testament at Yeshua’s first coming.
Luke 1:11: “And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah,to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Another connection we can make between the five Vavs and Yeshua Messiah comes to us from Isaiah 52:13: “Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.”
This verse is of course talking about the Messiah to come who we know as Yeshua. The allusion is a very subtle one, but it is there all the same. The connection to the 5 Vav’s is that the Messiah will be (1) a servant. (2) He will prosper. (3) He will be high. (4) He will be lifted up. (5) He will be greatly exulted.
The Vav from Torah Portion Bechukotai that is added to Jacob’s name is one of the 5 Vavs that Jacobs name borrows from the name of Elijah. They all allude to Israel’s connection to the Messiah. The Messiah came the first time to redeem His people the first time, and is coming to gather them up and reunite them the second time before He reigns as King. The Messiah is not returning for Ismael, He is not returning for Esau. He is coming for His people Jacob, His people Israel.
In this week’s text we learn about the Sabbath year and the Year of Jubilee.
A lot of emphasis is put on the idea of redemption in this week’s text. We know that our relationship with the Father has always been about redemption. We see this in the Garden, we see this in Egypt, and we see it with the Messiah Yeshua. We see it all come to a head in the Book of Revelation. We must be redeemed. We must be redeemed as individuals, as Israel as a whole people, and the land must also be redeemed.
Let’s take a quick look at the words in Hebrew that give us the idea of “land redemption”.
גְּאֻלָּה אֶרֶץ “geulla erets”. In the paleo Hebrew we see something very interesting. We see how land redemption and personal redemption are connected. In the paleo Hebrew the meaning of land redemption is: “Serving the leader is the staff of revelation and the leader is the head of all righteousness.” Can you see how our personal redemption through Yeshua the Messiah is connected to the land redemption? Yeshua is the only one who can redeem you and redeem the land.
In Leviticus 25 we learn the instructions for the Sabbath year and the year of Jubilee. Let’s explore and see if we can make some connections.
Genesis 6:3 “Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
The word for “strive” here is the Hebrew word דִּין “diyn”. It does not mean strive. It means “to judge, contend, or plead”. Also the word for “years” is שָׁנָה “shaneh”. Shaneh does not mean a period of 365 days like we think of a year. It simply means a division or a measure of time. My question to you is…Can this be connected to the Jubilees? Can the Father be saying to us that He will not judge man for 120 Jubilees of time from this point? 120 x 50=6000.
I am not much of a prophesy person, and I am not about to give you any timeline for the Messiah’s return, but the math is interesting. Using the Book of the Jubilees that chronicles the ancient Jubilee cycles for us, we can calculate that the latest Jubilee cycle began in 1974 and will end in 2024. Some people use different reckoning of time and I have seen other calculations ending the current Jubilee cycle as 2017. Either way, my point is that we are close to the end of the latest Jubilee cycle. Does that mean anything to us? My suggestion is that it should. God is not random. He is very calculated and everything He has done is on a specific frame of time. Why would that change?
Another interesting calculation is that 120 Jubilees have passed since Genesis 6 so that would mean that we are well with in the Father’s time where He can begin His judgement.
When we read Leviticus 25 the numbers 7 and 50 repeatedly jump out at us from the text. Think of the connections to these numbers and what they mean. Every 7 days is a Sabbath. Every 7 years is a Sabbath of years and after 7 Sabbath years is the 50th year, the Jubilee. Now think about the time of the year that we are in now. The time of counting the omer to Shavuot or Pentecost. We count the omer every day for 7 Sabbaths giving us 7 weeks or 49 days and on the 50th day it is Shavuot. Is this connected? Also what happens in the 7th Biblical month of the year? We have all of the Fall Feast days that Yeshua is yet to fulfill. Is all of this a coincidence? Let me suggest to you that it is not! The number 7 is connected to the number 50. All of these 7’s and 50’s that seem to be very related to each other can not be a coincidence.
Let’s look at the Haftorah for this week’s Torah Portion. In Jeremiah 32:6 we see something very interesting.
Jeremiah 32:6 “And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 7 ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.”’8 Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the Lord and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
9 “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.”
So here we see Jeremiah buying the field. Babylon was about to take the land and Jeremiah is given the currency of redemption to buy back the field. This purchase is done according to the Torah commandment and look how the purchase is ratified in the next couple of verses.
Jeremiah 32:13 “ And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.” 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’
In that time, when a deed was ratified, it was the custom that the deed was written on a scroll. Seven seals were used to seal the scroll. A top loose leaf abridged version of the deed was used on top to surround the scroll. Anyone could read this abridged loose leaf portion of the deed but only the rightful land redeemer could break those seven seals and open the scroll. This is very prophetic is it not? Where do we see someone opening seven seals? Do you not see Yeshua in this passage? Does the seven seals in Revelation ring a bell? What about the clay earthenware jar?
Paul saw this connection in the New Testament. 2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;” He made a connection to it and gives us a bit of midrash on this idea. Keep in mind this idea of treasure as well as we will see that the idea of a “treasure” will make an important fit into this whole puzzle. Let me ask you a question, do you think this Rabbi of Rabbis, Paul, is just making this connection to earthen vessels by coincidence?
Let’s take a look back in Jeremiah at his prayer to the Father:
Jeremiah 32:16 ““After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I prayed to the Lord, saying, 17 ‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, 18 who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty God. The Lord of hosts is His name; 19 great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; 20 who has set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have made a name for Yourself, as at this day. 21 You brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror;22 and gave them this land, which You swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.23 They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made all this calamity come upon them. 24 Behold, the siege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, the famine and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has come to pass; and behold, You see it. 25 You have said to me, O Lord God, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’”
Adam was given the land. Adam lost the land because of sin. It was given to Satan in sin. Adam needed a redeemer for himself and for the land that was initially given to him. Is it a coincidence that Leviticus 25 says to return to the land and redeem it at the Jubilee? Could this be prophetic? We literally see this theme of land redemption from Genesis to Revelation do we not?
Turn to Matthew 13 and read the parable of the weeds. Continue and read the private explanation that the Messiah gives to His disciples. Now look at the parable of the hidden treasure. Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
In his explanation to the disciples Yeshua says “the field is the world”. Think of the famous verse of John 3:16. “For God so loved the world.” Again, Yeshua is midrashing here. Can you see where He is going with all this? Do you see a connection? His midrash regarding fields and wheat and tears and the field being the world and treasure all connect back to Leviticus 25 and Jeremiah 32. God’s people, His people Israel, is the treasure that is buried in the field. Yeshua must first redeem the field and harvest the wheat, separate the tears and burn them so He can get to His treasure. This is all about the redemption of God’s people and redemption of His land.
When Yeshua said, I have come not but for the lost sheep of the House of Israel, let me suggest that He meant it!
Psalm 135:4 “For the Lord chose Jacob to be His own, Israel to be His treasured possession.”
The Messiah is coming to redeem the land and dig up His treasure, Israel.
Have a blessed Shabbat!
This week’s reading begins with some instructions for the priests. We then learn about unacceptable sacrifices and the appointed festivals are reviewed. Before finishing this week’s reading we learn instructions regarding the olive oil and the bread that is to be set before The Almighty. This week’s reading concludes with the story of the blasphemer who is put to death.
I would like to focus our attention this week on the very first verse of the text. Leviticus 21:1 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people,”
In this verse we come across something very interesting that I feel is worth exploring. We see some double wording here in this first verse. “Speak to the priests…and say to them”. The Torah seems to be saying the same thing twice in the same sentence. This may seem like mere wordplay in the English translation, but in the Hebrew we may see something a little more than just word play.
Let us take a closer look at the two words:
The Torah uses אֱמֹר emor or “speak/say” and then it says אָמַרְתָּ amarta or “tell”. Here is the text. See if you can recognize the words.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה אֱמֹר אֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם לְנֶפֶשׁ לֹֽא־יִטַּמָּא בְּעַמָּֽיו׃
When we see something like this in the Torah it is worth us taking a closer look to see if there is a hidden message that we can pull from the text. When we study this text, I feel that we can make a connection to the Messiah using these two words.
In a book that was written before the Zohar titled The Book of Creation, it is taught that there are 32 paths of wisdom and creation. These 32 paths include the 10 attributes of God and the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Before we continue, I want to let you know that I do not consider myself as a mystic or a Kabbalist, and I certainly do not look upon writings such as The Book of Creation as any type of Scripture. I do however agree with the idea that the attributes and character of God and what He is, coupled with the language that He chose to communicate with us in, hold great wisdom for us. For example, if you can not believe that the Hebrew language holds great wisdom, then how can you believe the Torah has any wisdom at all? How can you consider the Holy Language to be Holy?
We know from the Torah that God created the Heavens and the Earth and everything else through His speech. I suggest that He was using the Hebrew alphabet to help with such creation. Scientifically, we know that there are elements of creation that God must have spoke into existence to further create our physical world. These elements are fire, water, and air. (If you ever want a mind numbing experience, read Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 and try to comprehend this creation! Even beginning to try and make any kind of sense of this will show you how small and unknowing you really are! Praise God!)
Now, I know what some of you must be thinking, “Is Earth not an element of creation?”. Without us getting into some massive scientific debate let’s just look at a simple experiment:
Imagine going to a lake or an ocean, a natural body of water, and imagine filling up a pot of water. Now, take that pot of water and put it over your camp fire. Just doing this we have engaged the three elements of creation that we have discussed. Water of the ocean, fire of the camp fire, and the air that fuels the fire. When the fire burns off and evaporates all the water I will be left with the minerals that were in the water. This is counted as Earth. This reflects the idea from Genesis that the land comes from the water and that within the three elements, we have the fourth.
I think that this same idea is hidden deep within the verse of Leviticus 21:1 regarding emor and amarta, and it pertains to the Messiah.
Emor is spelled Alef, Mem, Resh. Aleph = “leader” or “strength”. We will attribute this to the element of fire in our experiment story. Mem = a womb or water. It relates to living water. We will attribute this to the element of water in our experiment story. The final letter of emor is Resh. Resh = the head. We will attribute this to the air in our science experiment.
We now have three Hebrew letters that spell the word emor which means “to say or speak”. In pictograph form this word emor loosely means “The leader of the living water is the head”. As far as our science experiment goes, we have covered the three basic elements which are fire, water, and air.
In Leviticus 21:1 we also have this word amarta which gives us the repetition of speech. Emor and amarta are basically the same word with the same idea of meaning, the only difference is that amarta has the Hebrew letter Tav at the end. In relation to our science experiment at the beach, we will attribute the Tav as what we get after combining the other three elements. It is attributed to the idea of the Earth in our science experiment. Linguistically, Tav is the final letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It means a mark, or a sign, or a covenant.
If we connect a Tav to the word emor we get the word amarta. If the connection to this science story is a solid connection, does that mean that it is possible that the Father used His fire, fueled by His Spirit to heat the waters in Heaven to create the Earth? I have no idea! I wasn’t there. It is an interesting thought, but I believe the idea of how the Father actually created the world is far beyond any thought or idea that the human mind can even begin to comprehend. Maybe one day in another place we will be able to truly understand such things! For now, the science story is just an interesting idea to think about.
Let’s take a look and see what adding the Tav does linguistically and etymologically in this situation. Remember that we learned that emor was “the leader or strength of the living water is the head.” When we add the Tav we get “the leader of the living water is the head of the covenant.” So how does the Messiah Yeshua fit into all of this? As with everything else in the Word of God, this is all about Yeshua! He is the head of our covenant with the Father. He is the High Priest that administers the covenant.
If we look at what happens to the word emor when we add the letter Tav to create the word amarta, we have an amazing revelation. The first letter of the word amarta is Alef. Alef is also the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The last letter that we added was a Tav. Tav is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. When we combine these two letters we get the word אֵת “et”. Linguistically, this word does not have a real meaning. It’s purpose in language is to point to the direct object, but it seems there may be a spiritual lesson to be learned with the word. Take a look at these next three verses:
Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 21:6 “Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”
Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Yeshua says “I am the alpha and the Omega.” Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. Ask yourself this question…Do you really believe that Son of God, the Lion of Judah from the line of King David was running around speaking to the Jews in Judea in the Greek language? Do you think He appeared to His Jewish disciple John in a vision and gave Him the Revelation in Greek? Again, I wasn’t there, but I would give my house and my car to someone if Yeshua was running around speaking and teaching in Greek!
Yeshua would have said “I AM THE ALEF AND THE TAV”. The beginning and the end. When the Greek translators got a hold of these documents and saw “I am the Alef and the Tav”, let me suggest that they just put the first and last letters of their Greek alphabet into the translation to coincide with what was there and then all spiritual meaning was literally lost in translation.
Re-read this first verse of this week’s Torah reading through this remez, or hint, to Yeshua. The first verse tells us that Yeshua is the leader and strength of the living waters and the head of the covenant. Now as you read the rest of the text of Emor, think about how Yeshua relates to all of the different aspects of this Torah Portion. Think about how we as a whole and how you as an individual fit into these ideas along with your Messiah.
If you have any thoughts or questions, please feel free to post in the comments or you can email me at TargetTorah@gmail.com
Have a blessed Shabbat and a great week ahead.
This week’s reading begins with some various miscellaneous instructions that cover a whole range of subjects. Chapter 20 then teaches us various punishments for sins.
The area in the text that I would like to focus on is Leviticus 19:14 “You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.” In the literal, or pashat, message of this verse we come across a very simple idea that many would argue is common sense. We do not seem to need any type of commentary to interpret this verse in it’s literal sense.
A deeper interpretation points us in a very interesting direction. One deeper interpretation is that one could suggest that the “stumbling block” is something that could cause someone else to sin. This is a great message and is very practical in our day to day lives, but I feel we can go ever deeper in study to draw out an even deeper message.
Another interpretation is that we should not give advice to someone when that advice is not appropriate for him or the situation he is in. We also can suggest that we should not give any advice that we have some kind of connection to or may benefit from. Both of these ideas explain to us the stumbling block or the מִכְשׁוֹל mikshowl. This simple verse in the Torah that we see in Leviticus 19:14 is a very important verse. I feel this is what many religions and religious institutions have a habit of placing stumbling blocks in front of the blind whether they are doing it purposely or not.
The Torah is always very careful to make sure every detail means something. The Torah is never lacking in it’s message and the Father never adds anything extra. Every letter in the Torah is there for a reason.
If we look back to the Book of Exodus,we see an idea that very closely resembles the idea that we exploring today. Exodus 21:33 “If a man opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it over, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.”
Again, on a literal level, the message here about the pit is a very simple one. On a deeper level, we learn that if we uncover a pit or a falsehood, or even worse, if we are the one to dig the pit or create the falsehood and not cover it up, then an ox or a donkey which is representing one who is blind and must be lead comes along and falls into the pit, we are now the one who is held accountable and must pay restitution. The dead body of the animal, or the sin of the individual that we lead that person towards, now belongs to us.
We can not go to God and have the following conversation. “Hey God, I did not push your donkey into that pit. I just dug the hole. In fact, it was not even my hole. I did not dig that hole. It was just there. No, I did not cover it up, but I did not dig it either. Your donkey must have fell in that whole all by itself.” While this ridiculous narrative may be “technically” true, the Father’s response in the Torah is that this person is responsible for the donkey falling in the hole.
Our passage in Leviticus 19 is another hint to this idea. Why does the Father give us this idea in these two different yet very similar ways? This topic is also something that Yeshua Messiah points us to in the New Testament writings. When we are looking for a deeper meaning to this text and we connect the idea that we explored regarding the advice, we learn that the problem is not that we are giving good advice or bad advice. The problem is that we are giving advice that is not appropriate for that person.
There is an old Jewish proverb that says “do not tell your brother to sell his field and go buy a donkey.” There are some questions we can ask about this proverb. What if the farmer is a bad farmer? What if he does not seem to have any business owning a farm? Wouldn’t it make sense to sell the farm and buy a donkey so that he could use it for a delivery business or create a mobile store front with the donkey? He could also use the donkey to do work for others.
On the surface, it appears that the advice for a terrible farmer to sell his field is actually good advice. The problem is that the person giving the advice can step in and benefit from the situation personally. He can buy the field the second the farmer puts it on the market for sale. This is a concept that happens in religion and denominational doctrine all the time. This creates a stumbling block.
If someone is blind to a matter, the only advice that is appropriate to give that person to see with is the light of the Torah. Any other light or advice is inappropriate. If we give any other advice we are putting a stumbling block directly in that person’s path. If we give advice that is outside of what the Torah says we are manipulating that situation and buying the field for ourselves and not for the sake of Almighty God and His plan. That leader or person has who has given inappropriate advice has basically turned himself into a god before that blind person, and has created their own torah on which to advise people. They have created a stumbling block. This may sound harsh, but where does our Torah say it is acceptable for us to run around advising others in any which way we see fit? Where does it say we can go around making up our own doctrines and decrees in which to lead people or advise people?
Even if the advice that we give does not directly lead another person into sin, we have taken steps to advise someone in a way that is outside of God’s Word. Neither our advice, nor the action performed by the blind person after they follow the advice, is glorifying to God. The reason for this is that we gave OUR advice and not God’s advice that is found in the Torah. When you choose to give your own advice, you are the benefactor. The benefit you obtain is that you become like God and you can choose to buy the field when the blind person follows your advice and sells his field. This is a cornerstone idea of why we should not give advice outside of what the Torah says.
When giving advice as a leader or a friend, we must remove ourselves completely from the situation. We need to forget any of our own ideas and opinions and seek what the Father says regarding the situation before we give any advice.
When we look at the text of this week’s reading we come across something very interesting. The word for “stumbling block” or mikshowl is missing the letter Vav. The word should be spelled מִכְשׁוֹל but in the Torah in Leviticus 19:14 it is spelled מִכְשֹׁל This word mikshowl is mentioned 12 times throughout the Torah and the Tanach. Of the 12 times mentioned, this is the only time that the word is spelled missing the letter Vav. This is trying to show us something and it is something that we must explore.
We have spoken at length that the letter Vav is a connection. It is a nail or a peg. It represents our connection to God. We know that our connection to God is through the Torah, which is His Word. Our connection to Him also comes through His living word which is Yeshua Messiah. The idea of the pit and the stumbling block and the inappropriate advice that is not Torah based is a disconnect from God. When we put out stumbling blocks, not only are we disconnected from God, but we are causing someone else to live outside of God’s Word and be disconnected from Him also. This is why the Vav is missing. This creates can create a further problem because the “blind person” who has been given inappropriate advice that is outside the Torah can now pass on that advise to someone else! They can pass it on to friends, family, their children etc. It does not take very long for this stumbling block to become doctrine and a way of life.
Yeshua Messiah gave a very strong warning about this when He gave a midrash on this very idea during the sermon on the mount. Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The light He is talking about here is the Torah. We are to put that light on a lampstand and shine it for all to see. We are to shine it so that they can see what is good. This is honorable to God and praises the Father in Heaven. Yeshua says that He is not going to abolish the Torah and that nothing will pass away from the Torah until everything is completed. Verse 19 and 20 sums up what we have been discussing today and Yeshua gives the example of the Pharisees of that time being the ones who were placing stumbling blocks before the blind.
These stumbling blocks are why there are so many sects of different religions that all claim to be following the God of Israel. The sects and denominations all come from the man made doctrines that have been created by stumbling blocks. God gave us the light, the Torah, the connection, the Vav. When we go outside of that and do things on our own we create stumbling blocks and man made doctrine that has no Vav. It provides no connection to the Father.
When you come across a brother who is blind and who needs advice on a subject, please make sure you are advising him from the light of the Torah. This is the light of God and the light of Yeshua Messiah. This is the appropriate advice.
I pray you have a blessed week ahead.
We are in the time of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread and I hope you are all having a blessed time! I wanted to take some time and explore the commandment that the Father gives us during this time to eat unleavened bread.
In Exodus 13 Moses is telling the people that they should remember the day that they left Egypt as God has commanded. Exodus 13:6 says “For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord.7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you, nor shall any leaven be seen among you in all your borders.”
In verse 6, the Hebrew word for “unleavened bread” is מַצֹּת In verse 7 when we see the Hebrew word for “unleavened bread” again, it is spelled מַצֹּות In verse 7 of Chapter 13 of Exodus we see a Vav in the word that is not present in same word just one verse previous in verse 6. We must now look into this and try to discover some deeper meaning.
On the pashat level, or literal level, both spellings of the word are acceptable spellings. You will, however, find the spelling with the Vav than more often than without the Vav. When we go beyond the literal ideas of language and spelling, I believe there is a deeper meaning that these two back to back verses are intending to show us regarding the two different spellings.
First let us talk about what leaven symbolizes in scripture. Leaven can symbolize many things, it can allude to sin, ego, things that are false. These concepts are all similar in nature. Many beautiful teachings are derived from the idea of taking the leaven out of our bread and how that will look when we take the leaven out of our lives. Now let’s look at what the Hebrew letter Vav symbolizes. The Vav is a hook, a nail, a peg. It is a connection, and it alludes to our connection to the Father. Throughout the scriptures there are so many beautiful teachings that surround the idea of words that have a Vav added to them or missing from them.
When I look at these two verses back to back and I see that we have a word that does not have a Vav present in the first occurrence of the word and that very same word has a Vav present in next occurrence, something deep about our connection to God jumps off the page at me. When we believe in the promise of God and we choose in our lives to follow all of His word, we create a connection to Him. Following His commandments is how we obtain our connection with the Father. It is how He knows us. The Messiah alludes to this when He talks about how He will instruct the workers of lawlessness to depart from Him because He never knew them.
Anyone can choose to not sin at any given time. Anyone can choose a commandment of God and perform it’s action. This sometimes happens without the person knowing that their action is a commandment of God. The action is performed without any thought given to the Father and His ways. An atheist can choose to eat foods that are Biblically clean in his life and this does not mean he is honoring God and following God’s word. His intention of eating food that happen to be Biblically clean is not connected to the Father and why He commands us to eat this way. This is how this idea is reflected in the positive commandments.
The same can be said regarding the negative commandments. That same atheist can choose to never murder anyone in his life. This does not mean he is honoring the commandment of “you shall not murder”. His choice to not murder someone is not connected to God and His word.
Of course we are not to do the things that God tells us are sinful. Of course we are to do the things that God says are righteous, but we are not supposed to do or not do these things by happenstance. We are to have Him and His word in mind as we choose to follow the Father and as we choose to avoid sin. We do not get to decide what is “good” and what is “bad”. God decides. Our job is to constantly be seeking Him. We need to constantly be seeking out the reasons why we should do the things He says to do, and why we should refrain from the things He commands us to avoid. When we follow God and avoid sin and we continue to follow God and avoid sin for His reasons and not our own, then we create a connection to Him. This is having the Torah or the “law” written on your heart. That you are seeking after Him to follow His ways because of Him.
We not only want to eat matzo, we want to eat matzo and avoid leaven. When we do this we create this connection and add the Vav. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is not just about eating matzo. It’s also about avoiding the leaven. In the seven day feast of your life, do you eat matzo and eat leaven? Or are you following the Word of God the way He says to follow it? Are you eating matzo and avoiding leaven? This is the question we must ask ourselves. So many people want to follow God and do what God says, but they forget about the leaven. They think that avoiding leaven is legalistic or avoiding leaven has been done away with. This could not be further from the truth of God’s Word. He wants both! He always has, He always will. This is how we obtain our connection.
Please look at a few verses following the passage that we have been exploring. Exodus 13:6 “For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord.7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you, nor shall any leaven be seen among you in all your borders. 8 You shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the Torah of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 10 Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.”
Praise God what a beautiful message! From some of the connections we have made today we can look at this passage and say that “in our lives we shall follow God and at the end of our lives there will be a festival. We will follow His commandments throughout our lives AND no sin is to be seen among us. No sin is to be seen anywhere near us. Then at the end we can say that we followed the Father and avoided sin because of what He did for us when we came out of Egypt. And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the Torah of the Lord may be in your mouth. For it was with a powerful hand, which is Yeshua Messiah, that the Father brought me out of my Egypt and I will remember this at its appointed time from year to year!
I pray you have a great and blessed time during this exiting time of the spring feasts!
This week’s text begins with the instructions for the Day of Atonement. We then receive more information pertaining to the eating of blood and how this practice is forbidden. The reading concludes with instructions outlining unlawful sexual relations.
I would like to focus on the passage of Leviticus 16:20 “When he finishes atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall offer the live goat.21 Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”
In this passage we learn the instructions that Aaron must carry out regarding the Az’azel goat. In this passage of the Torah, we find what is called a kri and a ksiv. The idea of a kri and a ksiv comes to us multiple times in the Torah. The kri is the way a word is pronounced or read from the Torah. The ksiv is the way the word is actually written in the text of the Torah. This idea of a kri and a ksiv is completely lost in ANY English translation, and is most often translated as the kri in the text of the translation. My only explanation of whythis is the case is that early translators must have kept the kri in the translation to get the message of the kri through the text in a translation to the other language. There is no way to show a kri or ksiv in a translation to other languages in the text with out the use of a commentary, or footnotes.
The kri and ksiv in this passage comes to us in Leviticus 16:21 “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.”
We read this verse as Aaron puts his “hands” on the goat in the plural. The Hebrew text of the Torah actually says “hand” in the singular. The Hebrew word for “hand” that is written in the Torah is ידו when we read the word, it is pronounced and translated into English as ידיו or “hands”. Whenever we see a kri and a ksiv such as this one, we must ask ourselves why the Torah says “hand” in the singular in the text and we read it out loud as “hands” in the plural.
When studying this kri and ksiv, one of the first things I came across was a Rabbinical debate from Judaism in the Talmud. At the end of the debate, it is said that this word “hand” in the Torah shall be pronounced as “hands”, and furthermore, any time that the word ידו is used in the Torah for the word “hand” it should always be read and pronounced as ידיו or “hands”. This debate, and the result of the debate, made me want to dig a little deeper and try to find a further meaning on this kri and ksiv and find out why the Rabbis became so focused on changing the way this word should be read.
***It is important to note that when we study something such as a kri and ksiv, we must ALWAYS put the focus on what the text of the Torah actually says. The Torah is the Word of God that was given to Moses and always is held higher in both truth and importance when compared to any Rabbinical thought or literature. This is the same when the Torah is compared to any other form of religious literature for that matter.
So now, let us take a look at what Aaron was actually doing in the passage. He placed his “hand” on the Az’azel goat. This action presents us with the idea of transmission and transformation. Each person on Earth has what can be described as an animal soul and a Godly soul. The animal soul is the part of you that makes you who you are as an individual. It is the part of you that desires food, sleep, money, sex, power etc. The Godly soul is that part of you that was given to you by God as a part of Him. It is the part that returns to Him when you die and He can then use it again and again for His purpose. A great example of this Godly soul comes when learn that Elijah and John the Baptist had the same Godly soul. The Godly soul desires prayer, charity, following God’s will and Word, studying God’s word etc.
Judaism teaches that the “hands” are placed on the goat because of an allusion that lies within our 10 fingers. The idea here is that our 10 fingers represent the 10 attributes of the God and the Godly soul. These 10 attributes of God are found throughout the Torah and are explained and expanded upon in many other writings. There are three intellectual attributes and seven emotional attributes. These ten attributes are transmitted to the goat, the animal that is representing our animal soul that causes us to sin, and this transmission will transform the animal or animal soul into a Godly soul giving us all of the qualities of redemption, mercy, grace, loving kindness etc. For us, this would mean that we are casting out our sin and our selfish desires so that we will desire the Father in everything that we do. This is what much of Judaism teaches as the deeper meaning regarding the placing of the “hands” on the goat. While this is a beautiful teaching and I agree with the concept, I personally feel that this idea has not yet been completed in the Yom Kippur service.
My opinion is based on the fact that the Torah text says “hand” and not “hands”. The missing link in all of this is Yeshua Messiah. If the Torah wanted to convey this completed message from the Yom Kippur service and the Az’azel goat, then I believe that God would have written the word “hands” in the Torah text. The idea that the text says “hand” points to Yeshua and with all due respect, I believe that the Rabbis may have jumped the gun a little bit and skipped right to the completed idea with out focusing on what it was that completed the idea.
Let me explain. We know that it is fact that the Torah uses the word “hand”. In Middle Eastern culture, we know that this must refer to the right hand. The right hand was, and still is today, a sign of respect and power. Biblically, the right hand is an allusion to the Messiah. In Middle Eastern cultures, even today, people are taught to bestow everything to one another using the right hand. Any matters dealing with food, kindness, charity, greeting, respect, is all done using the right hand. Much less honorable things that we will refrain from discussing are done with the left hand.
If Aaron, the high priest, was performing a service to God on behalf of the people of Israel and transmitting all of the sin of Israel to this Az’azel goat, it is safe to say that he would have done it with his right hand.
The idea of transmitting the sins to the goat for redemption and Aaron performing this service with his right hand and the fact that the text states “hand”, is a direct connection to the Messiah. He is the redemption that allows us to come back to God through repentance and teshuva. Only after the Messiah has redeemed us and we repent and turn back to God and begin to follow His ways can we bring in the other five fingers to complete the beautiful teaching of the ten fingers of both “hands”. Only after the redemption from Yeshua and our own teshuva can we achieve a oneness and a connection to the Father.
The missing link in this teaching of the kri and ksiv is Messiah Yeshua. He will make this connection clear and complete when He returns and many people will realize that He is the right hand of God and He is the Messiah. We need not wait until He returns to make this connection. Return to God through Yeshua and through the Torah. Yeshua is the five fingers of the right hand, connect yourself to Him and follow the ways of the Father. He promises that if we follow Him, we will be blessed. In this blessing, you will share a oneness and connection to the Father and He will use you in powerful and exciting ways to do His will here on Earth.
Have a blessed week and a great start to the spring feasts with the feast of Passover!
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