To gain a more deeper and fuller insight of Torah we
need to study and seek understanding at different levels of Torah learning. The
sages used a method of understanding they explain with the use of an acronym -
PARDES
- Peshat (פְּשָׁט) —
"surface" ("straight") or the literal (direct)
meaning.
- Remez (רֶמֶז) —
"hints" or the deep (allegoric: hidden or symbolic) meaning
beyond just the literal sense.
- Derash (דְּרַשׁ) — from
Hebrew darash: "inquire" ("seek") — the
comparative (midrashic)
meaning, as given through similar occurrences.
- Sod (סוֹד) (pronounced with a long
O as in 'sore') — "secret" ("mystery") or the
esoteric/mystical meaning, as given through inspiration or revelation.
Each type of
Pardes interpretation examines the extended meaning of a text. As a
general rule, the extended meaning never contradicts the base meaning.
Scholars
believe the four accounts of the life and teaching of Messiah was also presented
according to this pattern of understanding.
Mattithyahu (Matthew)
- Peshat (Plain sense)
Mark - Remez
(Hint - Implied meaning)
Luke - Darash
(Searching - Typological/Allegorical)
Yochanan (John)
- Sod (Mystical)
This week’s
Torah portion introduces one of the most remarkable insights into the life and
ministry of Melchizedek. There can be no co incidence of the surrounding
narrative surrounding Melchizedek. This
Torah portion is loaded with a deeper meaning that only the Ruach Ha Kodesh
(The Set apart Spirit) of YHVH can assist us to give us insight.
We will first
examine the narrative and then look for a deeper understanding of our portion.
Our Torah Portion:
Gen 14:1 And it came to be in the days of Amraphel(Possibly
Nimrod) sovereign of Shinʽar, Aryoḵ sovereign of Ellasar,
Keḏorlaʽomer sovereign of
Ěylam, and Tiḏʽal sovereign of Goyim,
Gen 14:2
that they fought against Bera sovereign of Seḏom, Birsha sovereign
of Amorah, Shinaḇ sovereign of Aḏmah, Shem’ĕḇer sovereign of Tseḇoyim, and the
sovereign of Bela, that is Tsoʽar.
Gen 14:3 All
these joined together in the Valley of Siddim, that is the Salt Sea.
Gen 14:4
Twelve years they served Keḏorlaʽomer, and in the
thirteenth year they rebelled.
Gen 14:5 And
in the fourteenth year Keḏorlaʽomer and the
sovereigns that were with him came and smote the Repha’im in Ashteroth
Qarnayim, and the Zuzim in Ḥam, and the Ěmites in
Shawĕh Qiryathayim,
Gen 14:6 and
the Ḥorites in their
mountain of Sĕʽir, as far as Ěl
Paran, which is by the wilderness.
Gen 14:7 And
they turned back and came to Ěn Mishpat, that is Qaḏĕsh, and smote all the
country of the Amalĕqites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Ḥatsetson Tamar.
Gen 14:8 And
the sovereign of Seḏom, and the sovereign
of Amorah, and the sovereign of Aḏmah,
and the sovereign of Tseḇoyim, and the
sovereign of Bela, that is Tsoʽar, went out and
joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim,
Gen 14:9
against Keḏorlaʽomer sovereign of
Ěylam, and Tiḏʽal sovereign of Goyim,
and Amraphel sovereign of Shinʽar, and Aryoḵ sovereign of Ellasar
– four sovereigns against five.
Gen 14:10
And the Valley of Siddim had many
tar pits(or oil). And the sovereigns of Seḏom and Amorah fled and
fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains.
“Israel: the coming
energy superpower” - Imagine the
political implications if Israel has one of the largest hidden oil reserves in
the world?
Gen 14:11
And they took all the goods of Seḏom
and Amorah, and all their food, and went away.
Gen 14:12
And they took Lot, Aḇram’s brother’s son
who dwelt in Seḏom, and his goods, and
left.
Lot
moved from the plains into the city. See Ber 13:12- Please note dear ones that
if you live near the immorality of religion you will eventually be captured by
it and become like it if you are not rescued.
Rev 11:8 and their dead bodies lie in the
street of the great city which spiritually is called Seḏom and Mitsrayim,
where also our Master was impaled,
Several scholars claim
that it is Israel and not Rome that is the Harlot of the Book of Revelation.
https://bible.org/seriespage/chapter-4-evidence-jerusalem-harlot
Quote:
“One of the most important issues in this discussion is the meaning of harlotry
in prophetic literature. The woman in Rev 17 and 18 is depicted as “the great
harlot … with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication” (
[17:1–2]), “the mother of harlots” and
related images. Her fornications are the reason for her judgment (ch. 18). This
theme cannot be overemphasized. In the Old Testament prophets, the imagery of a
people or city committing adultery, or being labeled a harlot, is consistently
a reference to covenant unfaithfulness. A multitude of passages in various
prophetic books use the harlotry theme to condemn Israel for her sin.
The
point here is too consistent to be overlooked: one cannot commit adultery
against YHVH if one is not married to YHVH. It is difficult to conceive of any
city other than Jerusalem that would be described as the covenant-breaking
harlot in Revelation, especially in light of the dozens of times she has been
given this appellation already throughout the Tenach. It would be highly
unprecedented to expect another referent. Over and over again in biblical
prophecy, Israel is the harlot. This issue becomes all the more striking
when we recognize that a great deal of the substance of Revelation comes from
John’s reapplication of the contents of Ezekiel, a work which is consumed
largely with the prediction of Jerusalem’s approaching destruction because of
her great adultery, which is followed by a vision of the New Jerusalem. The
connection is not insignificant.” End quote
Why is it necessary to mention Sodom and
Yerushalayim? Because it is only the High Priest after the order of
Melechzedek, who forever makes intercession for the saints that deliver us from
such bondage. This Torah portion should awaken in us the fearful realization
that we have completely brainwashed by religion – be it Christian Jewish or
Muslim or any other religion. It’s all idolatry and all flies in the face of
what the Torah teaches.
Gen 14:13
And one who had escaped came and informed Aḇram the Heḇrew, for he dwelt by
the terebinth trees of Mamrĕ the Amorite, brother of Eshkol and brother of
Anĕr, and they had a covenant with Aḇram.
Gen 14:14
And when Aḇram heard that his
brother was taken captive, he armed his three
hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and
went in pursuit as far as Dan.
Gen 14:15
And he and his servants divided against them by night, and smote them
and pursued them as far as Ḥoḇah, which is on the
left of Damascus.
Gen 14:16 So
he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his
goods, as well as the women and the people.
Gen 14:17
And after his return from the defeat of Keḏorlaʽomer and the
sovereigns who were with him, the sovereign of Seḏom came out to meet
him at the Valley of Shawĕh, that is, the Sovereign’s Valley.
Gen 14:18
And Malkitseḏeq sovereign of Shalĕm
brought out bread and wine. Now he was the priest of the Most High Ěl.
Gen 14:19
And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Aḇram of the Most High
Ěl, Possessor of the heavens and earth.
Gen 14:20
“And blessed be the Most High Ěl who has delivered your enemies into
your hand.” And he gave him a tenth of all.
The significance about Melchizedek was not only the place of His rule
and ministry in Yerushalayim; but that he operated in two offices as both priest
and king. He has been recognized as a "type" or a forerunner of our
coming Messiah who also has been appointed by YHVH as Chief Priest and King in
the coming Millennial Kingdom. Our patriarch Avraham gave Melchizedek tithes
and Melchizedek blessed Avraham and his family. He also brought out bread and
wine which serve to establish a covenantal relationship. This same covenant we
enter into when we come to YHVH through His Son Messiah seeking to be
reconciled to our Creator YHVH.
Please
note that Avraham did not fall down and worship Melchizedek.
The anti-Messiah will seek to come and reconcile society as a
religious political leader and for a short period of time will enjoy some form
of success. However this is simply the counterfeit of what the true Messiah
will come to do. The spirit of the anti-messiah is to demand or desire worship.
2Th 2:3 Let no one deceive you in any way, because the
falling away is to come first, and the man of lawlessness[1] is to be revealed,
the son of destruction, Footnote: [1] Some
texts read sin instead of lawlessness. This man might be the same one we read
of in the prophecy in Isa. 14:12 – Hĕlĕl (“Heileil”), meaning “the shining
one,” the sovereign of Baḇel. 2Th 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that
is called Elohim or that is worshipped, so that he sits as Elohim in the
Dwelling Place of Elohim, showing himself that he is Elohim.
Note the true Messiah never demanded to be worshiped. Sadly many of his followers have promoted a theology that gives the
true Messiah a status of that of YHVH the Father (Yahshua’s Father and our
Father Yoch/Jhn 20:17). This could prove extremely dangerous in the end times
because of the confusion as to the Messiah’s identity.
Gen 14:21
And the sovereign of Seḏom said to Aḇram, “Give me the
people, and take the goods for yourself.”
Gen 14:22
But Aḇram said to the
sovereign of Seḏom, “I have lifted my
hand to יהוה, the Most High
Ěl, the Possessor of the heavens and earth,
Gen 14:23 not to
take a thread or a sandal strap or whatever is yours, lest you should say, ‘I
have made Aḇram rich,’
Gen 14:24 except
only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with
me: Anĕr, Eshkol, and Mamrĕ. Let them take their portion.”
Let us examine together what the second writings have to
say about Melchizedek. (Tim Hegg from Torah Resource has valuable information
in this regard)
Heb 7:1 For this Malkitseḏeq, sovereign of
Shalĕm, priest of the Most High Elohim, who met Aḇraham returning from the
slaughter of the sovereigns and blessed him,
Heb 7:2 to
whom also Aḇraham gave a tenth
part of all, his name being translated, indeed, first, ‘sovereign of
righteousness,’ and then also sovereign of Shalĕm, that is, ‘sovereign of
peace,’
Heb 7:3 without
father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor
end of life, but having been made like the Son of Elohim, remains a priest for
all time.
Heb 7:4 Now
see how great this one was, to whom even the ancestor Aḇraham gave a tenth of
the choicest booty.
Heb 7:5 And
truly, those who are of the sons of Lĕwi, who receive the priesthood, have a
command to receive tithes from the people according to the Torah, that is, from
their brothers, though they have come from the loins of Aḇraham,
Heb 7:6
however, the one whose genealogy is not derived from them received
tithes from Aḇraham, and blessed the
one who held the promises.
Heb 7:7 And
it is beyond all dispute that the lesser is blessed by the better.
Heb 7:8 And
here it is men who die that receive tithes, but there it is someone of whom it
is witnessed that he lives.
Heb 7:9 And
one might say that through Aḇraham even Lĕwi, who
received tithes, gave tithes,
Heb 7:10 for
he was still in the loins of his father when Malkitseḏeq met him.
Heb 7:11
Truly, then, if perfection were through the Lĕwitical priesthood – for
under it the people were given the Torah – why was there still need for another
priest to arise according to the order of Malkitseḏeq, and not be called
according to the order of Aharon?
Heb 7:12 For
the priesthood being changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law1
also. Footnote: 1Heb. 7:12. See “Law” in Explanatory notes.
Vs 12 creates
confusion because some now assume that the Torah has been done away with. That
is not the case. We rather need to understand that a Levitical priesthood was
meant to prepare a people on earth to enter into the presence of the Almighty.
However only the Melechzedek priesthood – Messiah – a superior priesthood and
therefore a changed Torah regarding this one issue, was able through Yahshua to
bring us into the presence of YHVH the Father; YHVH the Almighty One.
Jud 1:24 And to Him who is able to keep you from
stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of His esteem with
exceeding joy,
Jud 1:25 to the only wise Elohim, our Saviour, be
esteem and greatness and might and authority, both now and forever. Amĕn.
Heb 7:13 For
He of whom this is said belongs to another tribe, from which no one had
attended at the altar.1 Footnote: 1See “Altar” in Explanatory
notes.
Heb 7:14 For
it is perfectly clear that our Master arose from Yehuḏah, a tribe about
which Mosheh never spoke of concerning priesthood,
Heb 7:15 and
this is clearer still, if another priest arises in the likeness of Malkitseḏeq,
Heb 7:16 who
has become, not according to the Torah of fleshly command, but according to the
power of an endless life,
Heb 7:17 for
He does witness, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Malkitseḏeq.”
Heb 7:18 For
there is indeed a setting aside of the former command because of its weakness
and unprofitableness,
Heb 7:19 for
the Torah perfected naught, but the bringing in of a better expectation,
through which we draw near to Elohim.
Heb 7:20 And
it was not without an oath!
Heb 7:21 For
they indeed became priests without an oath, but He became Priest with an
oath by Him who said to Him, “יהוה has sworn and
shall not regret, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Malkitseḏeq.’ ”
Heb 7:22 By as
much as this יהושע has become a
guarantor of a better covenant.
Heb 7:23 And
indeed, those that became priests were many, because they were prevented by
death from continuing,
Heb 7:24 but He,
because He remains forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
Heb 7:25 Therefore
He is also able to save completely those who draw near to Elohim through Him,
ever living to make intercession for them.
Heb 7:26 For it
was fitting that we should have such a High Priest – kind, innocent, undefiled,
having been separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens,
Heb 7:27 who does
not need, as those high priests, to offer up slaughter offerings day by
day, first for His own sins and then for those of the people, for this He did
once for all when He offered up Himself.
Heb 7:28 For the
Torah appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath
which came after the Torah, appoints the Son having been perfected
forever.