Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah.
עד אנה מאנתם – ‘’until when will you refuse’’
Until when will those who call upon YHVH and His Messiah refuse to obey and guard His commands - His Torah? Until when? It seems clear from the Scriptures that this will not happen until almost everything and everyone on this planet is utterly and completely destroyed. (Is 6:11-13 and Is 24)
Exo 16:28 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “How long shall you refuse (עד אנה מאנתם) to guard My commands and My Torot1? Footnote: 1Torot - plural of Torah, teaching. Exo 16:29 “See, because יהוה has given you the Sabbath, therefore He is giving you bread for two days on the sixth day. Let each one stay in his place, do not let anyone go out of his place(Heb ‘’makom’’) on the seventh day.”
His place -
‘’Makom’’ Strongs 4725/6965 קוּם - A primitive
root; to rise (in various applications, literally, figuratively,
intensively and causatively): - abide, accomplish, confirm, continue, decree,
endure, enjoin, make good, establish make a stand.
Let us consider that ‘’his place’’ has both a physical and a spiritual
meaning. Note ‘’his place’’ or ‘’makom’’ is mentioned here in our portion and
nor ‘’bayit’’ or house. People did travel on a sabbath (Acts 1:12 – from the
Talmud which permitted about 1,2 km journey on sabbaths) and leave their homes
to go to synagogue or the Temple.
Man was created by YHVH and placed in a perfect place on a perfect day –
the sabbath. Mans first full day on earth was in the garden of Eden on a
Sabbath. YHVH’s intention for man was that he should live in this perfect place
in perfect rest for all eternity.
Then the tragic fall of man came when he traded his inheritance. He chose
to live his life from his own understanding of what was right and wrong instead
of YHVH’s Understanding.
This Torah portion reminds and shows us a way back into His presence – our
journey of restoration begins on the sabbath day of each week. Most of us
simply don’t get it right.
The sabbath has suffered severe misrepresentation and abuse from both Jew
and Gentile.
Isa 58:13
“If you do turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure (ie
what would YHVH desire or want us to do—many of Yahshua’s miracles took place
on the sabbath) on My set-apart day, and shall call the Sabbath ’a
delight,’ the set-apart day of יהוה
‘esteemed,’ and shall esteem it, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own
pleasure, nor speaking your own words,
Isa 58:14 then you shall delight
yourself in יהוה. And I shall cause you to
ride on the heights of the earth, and feed you with the inheritance of Ya‛aqoḇ
your father. For the mouth of יהוה has
spoken!”
Evil and Oppression
Isa 59:1 Look, the hand of יהוה has not become too short to save, nor His
ear too heavy to hear.
Isa 59:2 But your crookednesses
have separated you from your Elohim. And your sins have hidden His face from
you, from hearing.
Isa 59:3 For your hands have been
defiled with blood, and your fingers with crookedness; your lips have spoken
falsehood, your tongue mutters unrighteousness.
Isa 59:4 No one calls for righteousness,
and no one pleads for truth. They trust in emptiness and speak worthlessness;
they conceive trouble and bring forth wickedness.
Isa 59:5 They have hatched adders’
eggs and they weave the spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs dies, and when one
is broken an adder is hatched.
Isa 59:6 Their webs do not become
garments, nor do they cover themselves with their works. Their works are works
of wickedness, and a deed of violence is in their hands.
Isa 59:7 Their feet run to evil,
and they hurry to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of
wickedness, wasting and ruin are in their highways. (Paul quotes in Rom
3:15-17)
Isa 59:8 The way of peace they
have not known, and there is no right-ruling in their ways. They have made
crooked paths for themselves, whoever treads in them shall not know
peace.
Isa
59:20 “And the Redeemer shall come to Tsiyon,c and to those turning from
transgression in Ya‛aqoḇ,” declares יהוה. Footnote: cSee footnote at Isa_24:23.
Exo
16:30 So the people rested on the
seventh day1. Footnote: The seventh day of the week, the weekly
Sabbath, was observed before the Ten Words were given on Mt. Sinai.
Thus, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Man is
not to afflict himself on the weekly Sabbath, he is to enjoy it and the freedom
it gives him from having to "go to work to make a living." His
praise and worship are offered up to YHVH during the set apart assembly in that
day, and he should enjoy the gift of life either alone or with others.
It is disgusting and disturbing to see what the religious leaders have
done to the sabbath. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/39_Melakhot
Traditions and Commandments
Mar 7:1 And the Pharisees and some
of the scribes assembled to Him, having come from Yerushalayim.
Mar 7:2 And seeing some of His
taught ones eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found
fault. (apparently the religious leaders had a ridiculous hand washing procedure)
Mar 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all
the Yehuḏim, do not eat unless they wash their hands thoroughly, holding fast
the tradition of the elders,
Mar 7:4 and coming from the
market-place, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions
which they have received and hold fast – the washing of cups and utensils and
copper vessels and couches.
Mar 7:5 Then the Pharisees and
scribes asked Him, “Why do Your taught ones not walk according to the tradition
of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
Mar 7:6 And He answering, said to
them, “Well did Yeshayahu prophesy concerning you hypocrites, as it has been
written, ‘This people respect Me with their lips, but their heart is far from
Me.
Mar 7:7 And in vain do they
worship Me, teaching as teachings the commands of men.’a Isa_29:13.
Footnote: aAlso see 2Ki_17:19 and Mat_15:3-9.
Mar 7:8 “Forsaking the command of
Elohim, you hold fast the tradition of men.”
Mar 7:9 And He said to them, “Well do you set aside the command of Elohim, in order to guard your tradition.
The following web
site contains some helpful views on the sabbath:
http://www.truthofyahweh.org/sabbath1.html
Exo
16:31 And the house of Yisra’ĕl called
its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was
like thin cakes made with honey.
Exo
16:32 And Mosheh said, “This is the word
which יהוה has
commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to keep for your generations, so that they
see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of
the land of Mitsrayim.’ ”
Exo 16:33 And Mosheh said to Aharon, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and set it down before יהוה, to keep for your generations.”
YHVH assuring them through this remembrance that He would always provide
for them.
Exo
16:34 As יהוה
commanded Mosheh, so did Aharon set it down before the Witness, to keep.
Exo
16:35 And the children of Yisra’ĕl ate
manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate manna until
they came to the border of the land of Kenaʽan.
Exo
16:36 And an omer is one-tenth of an
ĕphah. (An omer is approx. 2litres)
Exo 17:1 And all
the congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl set out on their journey from the
Wilderness of Sin, according to the command of יהוה,
and camped in Rephiḏim.(resting places) And there was no water for the people
to drink.
Exo
17:2 Therefore the people strove (וירב)
with Mosheh, and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Mosheh said to them, “Why
do you strive(תריבון) with
me? Why do try תנסון YHVH? (תנסון only used once here in the Torah)
Exo 17:3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Mosheh, and said, “Why did you bring us out of Mitsrayim, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
The Hebrew word for “grumble” is “lun” Strongs 3885. It also means to
“lodge ,remain or abide” In other words we become obsessed with our problem. This
appears to be the permanent state of many – ‘’stuck’’ in a state of
discontentment ‘’stuck’’ in a “wilderness”? Then to add insult to injury we
attack those who try and show us a way out. Jer 17:9 “The
heart is crookeda above all, and desperately sick – who shall know it?
Footnote: a Jer_7:24, Jer_16:12, Jer_18:12, Jer_23:17.
Exo
17:4 Then Mosheh cried out to יהוה, saying, “What am I to do
with this people? Yet a little and they shall stone me!”
Exo
17:5 And יהוה
said to Mosheh, “Pass over before the people, and take with you some of the
elders of Yisra’ĕl. And take in your hand your rod with which you smote the
river, and go.
Exo
17:6 “See, I am standing before you
there on the rock in Ḥorĕḇ. And you shall smite the rock, and water shall
come out of it, and the people shall drink.” And Mosheh did so before the eyes
of the elders of Yisra’ĕl.
Exo
17:7 And he called the name of the place
Massah and Meriḇah, because of the ‘strife’ of the children of Yisra’ĕl, and
because they ‘tried’ יהוה,
saying, “Is יהוה in
our midst or not?”
A similar complaint would eventually bring great sorrow and disqualification
for Moshe. See Ps 106 & Num 20:8-12 Moshe was refused permission to enter
the promised land. Footnote: I believe
YHVH will recall both Moshe and Eliyahu before the end of this age and not only
give them a second chance but will restore their birthright blessing and they
shall make a final call to a wayward end time generation to repent before the
seven bowls of YHVH’s wrath are poured out on all surviving mankind – Rev 11.
Psa 106:32 And they provoked wrath at the waters of Meriḇah, And Mosheh suffered on account of them; Psa 106:33 Because they embittered his spirit, And he spoke rashly with his lips.
Exo
17:8 And Amalĕq came and fought with
Yisra’ĕl in Rephiḏim. (Amalek will always be Israels perpetual and ultimate
enemy) they were descended from Esav – the spirit of Esav will always be
hostile to the family of Yakov) This is the about the final battle of
Armageddon – final destruction and the final solution for all Jew haters.
Exo
17:9 And Mosheh said to Yehoshua,
“Choose for us men and go out, fight with Amalĕq. Tomorrow I am stationing
myself on the top of the hill with the rod of Elohim in my hand.”
Exo
17:10 And Yehoshua did as Mosheh said to
him, to fight with Amalĕq. And Mosheh, Aharon, and Ḥur went up to the top of
the hill.
Exo
17:11 And it came to be, when Mosheh
held up his hand, that Yisra’ĕl prevailed. And when he let down his hand,
Amalĕq prevailed.
Exo
17:12 But Mosheh’s hands were heavy, so
they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aharon and Ḥur
supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. And his
hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Exo
17:13 And Yehoshua defeated Amalĕq and
his people with the edge of the sword.
Exo
17:14 And יהוה
said to Mosheh, “Write this for a remembrance in the book and recite it in the
hearing of Yehoshua, that I shall completely blot out - מָחָה (repeated twice) out the remembrance of Amalĕq from
under the heavens.” (The spirit of Amalek is alive and well today seeking to
undermine and destroy Israel)
Exo
17:15 And Mosheh built an altar and
called its name, יהוה
Nissi, Is 49:22
Exo 17:16 for he said, “Because a hand is on the throne of Yah, יהוה is to fight against Amalĕq, from generation to generation.”
As long as the teaching and authority of Moshe is held up high Esav will
not prevail; but when the teaching of Moshe does not prevail, the descendants
of Esav (apostate Judaism, the church and Islam) will prevail, but only for a
season until YHVH brings judgment upon all lawlessness. The house of Esav will one day be completely exterminated -
Oba 1:18 “And the house of Ya‛aqoḇ shall be a fire, and the house
of Yosěph a flame, but the house of Ěsaw for stubble. And they shall burn among
them and they shall consume them, so that no survivor is left of the house of
Ěsaw.” For יהוה
has spoken.
The same dilemma Paul faced we too face:
Rom 7:13 Therefore, has that which
is good (Torah) become death to me? Let it not be! But the sin, that sin might
be manifest, was working death in me through what is good, so that sin through
the command might become an exceedingly great sinner.
Rom 7:14 For we know that the
Torah is Spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.
Rom 7:15 For what I work, I know
not. For what I wish, that I do not practise, but what I hate, that I do.
Rom 7:16 But if I do what I do not
wish, I agree with the Torah that it is good.
Rom 7:17 And now, it is no longer
I that work it, but the sin dwelling in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me,
that is in my flesh, dwells no good. For to wish is present with me, but to
work the good I do not find.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I wish
to do, I do not do; but the evil I do not wish to do, this I practise.
Rom 7:20 And if I do that which I
do not wish, it is no longer I who work it, but the sin dwelling in me.
Rom 7:21 I find therefore this
law, that when I wish to do the good, that the evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the
Torah of Elohima according to the inward man, Footnote: aSee Psa_119:16.
Rom 7:23 but I see another torah
in my members, battling against the torah of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the torah of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 Wretched man that I am!
Who shall deliver me from this body of death?
Rom 7:25 Thanks to Elohim, through יהושע Messiah our Master! So then, with the mind I myself truly serve the Torah of Elohim, but with the flesh the torah of sin.
May YHVH be merciful to us all.
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 – Amein.
