Blessing of Torah.
Hebrew:
Baruch atah YHVH eloheinu melech
ha-olam, asher kideshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu la'asok b'divrei Torah.
V'ha'arev na YHVH eloheinu et divrei toratecha befinu uvfi amecha beit Yisrael.
V'niyeh anachnu v'tze'etze'einu v'tze'etza'ei amecha beit Yisrael kullanu yodei
sh'mecha v'lomdei toratecha lishmah. Baruch atah YHVH hamelamed Torah le'amo
Yisrael. Baruch atah YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher bachar banu mikol ha'amim
venatan lanu et torato. Baruch atah YHVH, notein haTorah.
English
translation: Blessed are You, YHVH
our Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His
commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim,
sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your
people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the
House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for
the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to
His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, Who
chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH,
Giver of the Torah.
In previous parashiot we have seen the
importance and central role the priests have played. The priests were obliged
to create a “space” that would encourage people to obey and worship YHVH.
In this parashah the emphasis seems to
be on “bnei Yisrael” for them to respond to the example of the priesthood and
also create a special “space” for YHVH to come and dwell.
So we see the first responsibility of
the congregation of Yisrael is to bring oil for the menorah, see vs 2.
The focus of the rest of this parashah
seem to focus on the conduct of the congregation of Yisrael and how their
conduct influences the way YHVH conducts Himself towards them. There are some
valuable lessons for a modern day Torah community to take note of.
Hos 4:6 “My people have perished for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being priest for Me.
Since you have forgotten the Torah of your Elohim, I also forget your children.
Hos 4:9 “And it shall be: like people, like priest.
And I shall punish them for their ways, and reward them for their deeds.
Once again we see that
our conduct will determine YHVH’s conduct towards us. Sadly many believers are
often unaware of what they are doing or not doing. In these possible last days
it will become more evident to us and others what is pleasing and what is not
pleasing to YHVH.
Lev 24:1 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh, saying,
Lev 24:2 “Command the children of Yisra’ĕl that they
bring to you clear oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn
continually.
Lev 24:3 “Outside
the veil of the Witness, in the Tent of Meeting, Aharon is to arrange it from
evening until morning before יהוה continually –
a law forever throughout your generations.
Lev 24:4 “He is to
arrange the lamps on the clean gold lampstand before יהוה continually.
This commandment is also found in Parashat 20 – Tetzaveh
– Shemot 27:20.
Midrash:
Yahshua was declared to be the light of the world.
Joh 8:12 Therefore יהושע spoke to them
again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall by no
means walk in darkness, but possess the light of life.”1 Footnote: 1
See 11:9-10.
Following Yashua means that our lives will know much
crushing and sorrow. We will also experience times of deep joy and peace.
However to be a light comes at a cost.
Oil was used to produce light. We see this truth also expounded in the
parable of 10 virgins waiting for the return of Messiah – Matt 25 – 5 were
ready, 5 were not. What was the difference? Obeying this commandment to bring
forth oil for the Menorah. This oil was not brought forth by the priests, but
by the sons of Yisrael. Those willing for their lives to be “crushed” by the
Ruach of YHVH.
This is a “deeper path” that most believers seem to
avoid, yet this is one of the ways that the light of Yahshua comes to the
world.
We see this truth illustrated in the following Apostolic
scriptures.
Joh 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain
of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it
bears much fruit.
Joh 12:25 “He who loves his life shall lose it, and he
who hates his life in this world shall preserve it for everlasting life.
Joh 12:26 “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me. And
where I am, there My servant also shall be. If anyone serves Me, the Father shall
value him.
Mar 14:3 And while He was in Bĕyth Anyah in the house
of Shimʽon the leper, and
sitting at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of perfume,
genuine nard, very costly. And breaking the flask she poured it on His head.
It was only when the alabaster box was broken that its
fragrance filled the air and its contents beneficial for use.
As one sage so eloquently stated “what does this world
need - Gifted men outwardly empowered, or broken men inwardly transformed.”
Let us look at some background history about harvesting
olives.
“shemen zait zach” means pure olive oil.
An olive tree never dies. Neither does it ever
cease giving fruit. When some branches become old and stop giving fruit, they
are cut off so that new shoots can come up that will give fruit. The olive tree
needs approximately 10 years in order to begin giving fruit, but the most
fruitful time does not begin until 40 years have passed. The leaves are always
green. It does not need a lot of water and can manage well in a warm and dry
climate. The olives have three important ingredients, oil, water, and alpechin.
Olive oil is very healthy for the body. It is used for cooking, among other
things. It can be mixed with flour to bake cakes. It can be used on salads or
directly on bread and can also be used as fuel for oil lamps, as in this case
in the tabernacle.
Olives are harvested
during the winter. During the Second Temple period, there were three harvests
per year. First the olives that were
furthest out on the branches and were ripe first because of the sunshine were
harvested. After that, the olives,
which were further in on the branches were harvested. The third harvest close to the trunk was the olives that had ripened
slowly.
There is a midrash that compares these three
pressing to the outpouring of the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Set Apart Spirit) on the
earth. (The word Messiah means one who is anointed – olive oil was used to
anoint)
The
first pressing came at Sinai – Shavuot – where the Torah was given to Moshe
- Psa 119:105 Your word is a lamp
to my feet And a light to my path. The Torah was given to a people that had
come out of the bondage and suffering of Egypt for centuries.
The second
pressing came after the suffering and death of Messiah on another “Shavuot”
also called “Pentecost” where the Ruach was poured out in Yerushalayim on the
Temple Mount – Yahshua the light of the world.
The third
pressing of olives was made with great crushing stones that grinded over
each other. This could be a picture of the outpouring of the Ruach during the
great tribulation, the coming together of Yisrael who will be a light to all
the nations of the world. The olive tree was often beaten with rods to shake
loose remaining olives that were situated close to the trunk of the tree.
Lev 24:5 “And you
shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it, two-tenths of an ĕphah
in each cake.
Lev 24:6 “And you
shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the clean table before יהוה.
Lev 24:7 “And you
shall put clear frankincense on each row, and it shall be on the bread as a
remembrance portion, an offering made by fire to יהוה.
Lev 24:8 “On every
Sabbath he is to arrange it before יהוה continually, from the children of Yisra’ĕl – an
everlasting covenant. (Being taken from the children of Yisrael)
Lev 24:9 “And it
shall be for Aharon and his sons, and they shall eat it in the set-apart place,
because it is most set-apart to him from the offerings of יהוה made by fire – an everlasting law.”
Light, bread, fragrance and Sabbath are terms that embody
the essence of what the Kehelah or assembly of believers was called to present
to the world - it is only when the community of Yisrael are willing to lay down
their lives and stand united in the truth and life of Torah, that life can go
out to the nations.
Rev 1:10 I came to be in the Spirit on the Day of יהוה, and I heard
behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,
Rev 1:11 saying,
“I am the ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Taw’, the First and the Last,” and, “Write in a book
what you see and send it to the seven assemblies of Asia – to Ephesos, and to
Smurna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia,
and to Laodikeia.”
Rev 1:12 And I
turned to see the voice which spoke with me. And having turned, I saw seven
golden lampstands,
Rev 1:13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One
like the Son of Aḏam, dressed in a robe
down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.
Rev 1:20 “The secret of the seven stars which you saw
in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are
messengers of the seven assemblies, and
the seven lampstands which you saw are seven assemblies.
These seven assemblies ARE NOT “CHURCHES” BUT “MESSIANIC
TORAH SEEKING COMMUNITIES” – and most of them were displeasing to the Master.
Lev 24:10 And the
son of an Yisra’ĕlite woman, whose father was a Mitsrite, went out among the
children of Yisra’ĕl. And the Yisra’ĕlite woman’s son and a man of Yisra’ĕl
strove in the camp.
*Lev 24:11 And the
Yisra’ĕlite woman’s son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. So they brought him to
Mosheh. Now his mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Diḇri, of
the tribe of Dan.
Lev 24:12 And they
put him in under guard, that it might be declared to them at the mouth of יהוה.
Lev 24:13 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Lev 24:14 “Bring
the one who has cursed outside the camp, and all those who heard him shall lay
their hands on his head, and all the congregation shall stone him.
Lev 24:15 “And
speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘Anyone who curses his Elohim shall
bear his sin.
Lev 24:16 ‘And he
who blasphemes the Name of יהוה shall
certainly be put to death, and all the congregation certainly stone him, the
stranger as well as the native. When he blasphemes the Name, he is put to
death.
The only time this word for blasphemy is used in Torah – “nakav”
It means to pierce.
The word “blaspheme” is not an accurate translation of
the Hebrew word “nakav.” The fact that it is only used once in the Torah in
this context reminds us that Yahshua was only pierced once for our iniquities.
Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once
enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of
the Set-apart Spirit,
Heb 6:5 and have tasted the good Word of Elohim and
the powers of the age to come,
Heb 6:6 and fall away, to renew them again to
repentance – having impaled for themselves the Son of Elohim again, and put Him
to open shame.1 Footnote: 1Heb. 10:26-31.
Heb 6:7 For ground that is drinking the rain often
falling on it, and is bearing plants fit for those by whom it is tilled, receives
blessing from Elohim,
Heb 6:8 but if it brings forth thorns and thistles,
it is rejected and near to being cursed, and ends up by being burned.
Heb 6:9 But although we speak in this way, beloved,
we are persuaded, concerning you, of better matters which possess deliverance.
We have been deceived by churchman for too long.
Churchman taught for centuries that the blood of Yahshua was only for our sins.
The blood of Messiah has a far greater application and impact on our lives. The
blood was also meant to deliver us from all lies that would prevent us from
fully embracing the Torah of YHVH and living an abundant fruitful life in His
Kingdom on earth. Sadly this has not been the case. We were saved by the blood
of Yahshua to walk in the obedience of Torah. Any other kind of life is a waste
of time and an insult to YHVH.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin purposely after we have
received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a slaughter offering
for sins,1 Footnote: 1See also 6:6, Heb. 9:7, Num. 15:15-28.
Heb 10:27 but some fearsome anticipation of judgment,
and a fierce fire which is about to consume the opponents.
Heb 10:28 Anyone who has disregarded the Torah of
Mosheh dies without compassion on the witness of two or three witnesses.
Heb 10:29 How much worse punishment do you think shall
he deserve who has trampled the Son of Elohim underfoot, counted the blood of
the covenant by which he was set apart as common, and insulted the Spirit of
favour?
What is sin?
1Jn 3:4 Everyone doing sin also does lawlessness, and
sin is lawlessness.
1Jn 3:5 And you know that He was manifested to take
away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
Sin is “Torahlessness”
and Yahshua was manifested to take away our Torahlessness or lawlessness.
What about many who think they can continue breaking YHVH’s Torah and
its ok? This is blasphemy.
Lev 24:17 ‘And he
who smites the life from any man shall certainly be put to death.
Lev 24:18 ‘And he
who smites a beast repays it, body for body.
Lev 24:19 ‘And
when a man inflicts a blemish upon his neighbour, as he has done so it is done
to him:
Lev 24:20
‘Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he inflicts a
blemish upon him, so it is done to him.
Lev 24:21 ‘And he
who smites a beast repays it, and he who smites a man to death is put to
death.
Lev 24:22 ‘You are to have one right-ruling, for
the stranger and for the native, for I am יהוה your Elohim.’
”
YHVH reminds us that the way we treat Him is going to be
the way He treats us – and there is only one law in His kingdom – Torah.
Lev 24:23 And
Mosheh spoke to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and they brought the one who cursed
outside the camp, and stoned him with stones. And the children of Yisra’ĕl did
as יהוה commanded Mosheh.
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu,
Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu.
Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the
Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting
life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn
Please
note these notes are under construction and are subject to correction and are
in no way a final authority on any subject.
*Additional Notes on apparent blaspheming the name of YHVH.
Septuagint Error in Lev. 24:16 & The Ineffable Name Doctrine
Between 100- 300 AD, both Jews and Christians were
gradually promoting the Ineffable Name doctrine : that it was sinful to
just use the true name of YHVH in speech -- formed from the 4 Hebrew letters
known as the Tetragrammaton. Many believe the Name is Yahveh. Others have
different pronunciations and views.
This stemmed
evidently from a mistranslation in 257 BC of Leviticus 24:16 in the Septuagint
Bible.
The Septuagint Greek translation of 257 BC
reads:
“And he
that names the name of the Lord, let him die
death: let all the congregation of Israel stone him with
stones; whether he be a stranger or a native, let him
naming the name of the Lord.” (Brenton – LXX)
death: let all the congregation of Israel stone him with
stones; whether he be a stranger or a native, let him
naming the name of the Lord.” (Brenton – LXX)
What it says instead in Hebrew, as the NIV renders
it, is:
Anyone
who blasphemes the name of the YHVH is to be put to death. The entire assembly
must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name
they are to be put to death. (Lev. 24:16 NIV.)
One can readily see that naming the name of YHVH
became wrong by a mistranslation.
That the Septuagint is to blame is indirectly revealed by the
coincidence that as early as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the error emerges -- which
means 250 BC-110 AD. In the Manual of Discipline in the Qumran
scrolls, we find this ban on the use of the name:
Any man who mentions anything by the Name which is
honored above all shall be set apart (i.e. banished) (Man. of Disc. 6:27)
In the Yoma in the
Mishnah we similarly find:
One does not pronounce the ineffable name outside
(of the temple). (Yoma 3:8; 4:1,2; 6:1,2; 8:9.)
Incidentally, Lesson About What Yahshua Truly Said at the Trial
Professor Howard has demonstrated that the earliest Christian Gospels
likely had "Yahweh" in many places, but due to the rise of the
Ineffable Name doctrine, they were replaced with versions that removed the name
Yahweh.
Here, I will demonstrate that something was removed from the text of
YHVH' trial that only once replaced, the verdict finally makes sense.
We are told in the gospel texts that were permitted to survive that
Yahshua said at His trial that He would return seated on the "right hand
of POWER." But scholars believe the ineffable name doctrine caused a
scribe to remove YHWH -- the Tetragrammaton -- and what Yahshua actually said
was YHVH. This explains why the priest then rent his garment, claiming Yahshua
had thereby blasphemed when simply saying He was the Son of Man coming to
return on the "right hand of power." (Mat 26:64).Those words
alone would not conceivably be blasphemy. Something was removed so we cannot
see what the priest thought was the blasphemy -- and that certainly was because
Yahshua must have uttered the name of YHWH.
Thus, because of the Septuagint version of Leviticus, any verbalization
of the name YHVH had become considered to be blasphemy, Yahshua broke that
erroneous translation's rule.
Reflecting the procedure at Yahshua' trial, the legal procedures
reflected in the Sanhedrin rules near the early 200s say one could
not be convicted of blasphemy unless one had exactly pronounced the sacred
name:
"The blasphemer" is not culpable unless
he exactly pronounces the name. (Sanh. 7:5, quoted from The
Sacred Name (Qadesh La Yahuwah Press, 1995) at 156.
The footnote goes on to say, "William Arnold
brings our attention to the fact that the Hebrew expression ... literally means
that the blasphemer, to be guilty, must pronounce the sacred name YHVH 'exactly.'"
In other words, blasphemy, based upon
the mistranslated Septuagint, came to be correctly pronouncing the sacred name.
They even laid down a very specific procedure for bringing a conviction
of blasphemy. According to the Mishnah, the following is an example of
that procedure:
Rabbi Joshua ben Karha says: On every day they
examined the witnesses with a substituted name, "May Jose smite
Jose." When sentence was to be given they did not declare him guilty
of death with the substituted name, but they sent out all the people and
asked the chief among the witnesses and said to him. "Say exactly
what you heard." and he says it; and the judges stand up on their feet and
rend their garments, and they may not mend them again. And the second
witness says, "I also heard the like," and the third says, "I
also heard the like." (Ibid.)
Even at a trial, because of their
Septuagint mistranslation, the rabbis used a substitute name for Yahveh when
interrogating witnesses. And then only just before the conclusion did
they actually have the chief witness exactly pronounce the sacred name when
quoting the defendant.
Then the judges, even though the Torah clearly forbids the high priest
tearing his garment, were to rend their garments in a demonstration of being
appalled, according to the Mishnah:
The judges stand up on their feet and rend their
garments, and they may not mend them again. (Sanh. 7:5)
This completed the procedure for
convicting a blasphemer.
Based upon such evidence, I agree with
the conclusion in “Did the Messiah Say The Heavenly Father's Name” that Yahshua
being quoted as referencing "Power" was a deliberate scribal
euphemism for what Yahshua truly said -- YHVH:
Now let's examine the trial in which Yahushua was sentenced to death.
Matt
26:64 (KJV) Yahushua saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto
you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power,
and coming in the clouds of heaven. 65 Then the high priest rent his clothes,
saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses?
behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. 66 What think ye? They answered and
said, He is guilty of death.
In light of these verses, it is fascinating to study the historical
context of what was going on. Based on the above scripture, it is evident that
the official charge against the Messiah was "blasphemy".
Now according to the Mishna:
"He
who blasphemes is liable only when he will have fully pronounced the Divine
Name. Said R. Joshua ben Qorha, "on every day (of the trial) they examine
the witnesses with a substituted name. When sentence was to be given they did
not declare him guilty of death with the substituted name, but they put
everyone out and ask the most important of the witnesses, saying to him,
"Say, what exactly did you hear?" And he says what he heard. And the
judges stand on their feet and tear their clothing, and they may not mend them
again.(m.San. 7:5)"
Therefore, it is evident that historically no man could be sentenced for
blasphemy unless he had actually spoken the Divine Name. This is further proven
when we see that the High Priest "rent his clothes" upon hearing the
name since Yahushua was his own witness (as he said "what further need
have we of witnesses?"). End Quote.
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