Please, YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our hearts and in the hearts of Your people, the family of Israel. May we and our offspring and the offspring of Your people, the household of Jacob – know Your Name and study Your Torah, for the sake of Your Torah- empowering us to sincerely love one another and to love You above all. Please uncover our eyes and open our hearts that we may carefully examine and understand the marvels and mysteries of Your Torah- Amein.
Shabbat Shalom.
קדשׁ־לי – '’Set apart for Me”
Consecration of the Firstborn
Exo 13:1 And יהוה
spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Exo 13:2 “Set apart to Me (קדשׁ־לי)
all the first-born, the one opening the womb among the children of Yisra’ěl,
among man and among beast, it is Mine.”
Everything belongs to Him because He is the Creator. Yet
He can consecrate something from within His creation for a particular purpose.
This is also why Exodus 13:2 does not simply say,
"The firstborn belong to Me."
It begins with an instruction:
קדשׁ־לי
— Set apart to Me.
The emphasis is on consecration or dedicated for a
specific purpose.
And perhaps the most important point is this: being
specially chosen does not mean being more valuable than those who were not
chosen. In Scripture, being set apart frequently carries additional
responsibility rather than greater personal worth.
Under the Torah, the donkey is classified as an unclean
animal (Leviticus 11:3–8). It could not be presented as an acceptable
sacrificial offering. A lamb was an acceptable sacrificial animal under the
Torah and could be given in place of the firstborn donkey.
It explicitly states that YHVH will select individuals
from among the grafted in Gentile nations to serve as literal priests and
Levites – Kohanim and Levim.
YHVH will take some "unclean donkeys"
(Gentiles) and transform some of them into Priests and
"Levites"—consecrating them into having a permanently irreversible
priestly and covenantal status
This is not the Church or Christianity – these are people who have come out of that system.
Mat
21:5 “Say to the daughter of Tsiyon, ‘See, your Sovereign is coming to
you, meek, and sitting on a donkey, even a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ על־חמור ועל־עיר בן־אתנות
Addressing grafted in gentiles: Ephesians 2:11–19 - Eph 2:11 Therefore remember that you, once nations (gentiles) in the flesh, who are called ‘the uncircumcision’ by what is called ‘the circumcision’ made in the flesh by hands,
Eph
2:12 that at that time you were without Messiah, excluded from the
citizenship of Yisra’ěl and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no
expectation and without Elohim in the world.
Eph
2:13 But now in Messiah יהושע you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood
of the Messiah.
Eph
2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens of the set-apart ones and members of the household of Elohim,e
Footnote: eSee Rom_11:17-24, Isa_14:1.
Mat
15:21 And יהושע went out from there and
withdrew to the parts of Tsor and Tsiḏon.
Mat
15:22 And see, a woman of Kena‛an came from those borders and cried out
to Him, saying, “Have compassion on me, O Master, Son of Dawiḏ! My daughter is badly
demon-possessed.”
Mat
15:23 But He did not answer her a word. And His taught ones came and
asked Him, saying, “Send her away, because she cries after us.”
Mat
15:24 And He answering, said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of
the house of Yisra’ěl.”d Footnote: dSee Mat_10:6. –
Mat
15:25 But she came and was bowing to Him, saying, “Master, help
me!”
Mat
15:26 And He answering, said, “It is not good to take the children’s(Hebrew’s)
bread (Torah) and throw it to the little dogs.” (gentiles)
Mat
15:27 But she said, “Yes Master, for even the little dogs eat the crumbs
which fall from their masters’ table.”
Mat
15:28 And יהושע answering, said to her, “O
woman, your belief is great! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter
was healed from that hour.
The Pejorative Term (Kuon): The harsh,
standard Greek word for a wild, vicious street dog or a direct insult is kuon.
The Diminutive Term (Kunarion): Yahshua
deliberately does not use that word. Instead, he uses kunarion,
which means a "little dog," a "puppy," or a
"domesticated household pet".
Rom 9:33 As it has been written, “See, I lay in Tsiyon a Stone of stumbling and a Rock that makes for falling,(offense) and everyone who is believing on Him shall not be put to shame.” Isa_8:14, Isa_28:16.
Mat 11:6 “And blessed is he who does not stumble (offended) in Me.”
Gal
3:29 And if you are of Messiah, then you are seed of Aḇraham, and heirs according to
promise.
"I recognize that this boy's life belongs to the
Creator because of the blood of the Passover. I am handing over the legal
silver ransom to discharge his debt of temple service, buying him out of the
priesthood so he can live as a free citizen in the commonwealth of
Israel."
The evidence of been born from above is found when the perfect imperishable seed of the
Torah (1 Pet 1:23) has been planted and is flourishing in your life (see the
parable of the sower (Mat 13)
"...Who gave us the Torah of truth, and planted
eternal life within us." (Chayei olam natah betochenu)
Heb 12:22 But you have drawn near to Mount Tsiyon and to the city of the living Elohim, to the heavenly Yerushalayim, to myriads of messengers, Heb 12:23 to the entire gathering and assembly of the first-born having been enrolled in heaven, and to Elohim the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
The Perfect Tense in Greek denotes an action that
was fully completed in the past, but has ongoing, permanent results in the
present.
The Passive Voice means the action was done to
the believer by an outside force (YHVH), not earned by the believer
The Book of Hebrews masterfully balances this
"already" with the "not yet." While your standing is
perfect, your earthly journey requires endurance.
From a Hebraic Roots (HR) perspective, there is a profound connection between 1 John 3:9 and Romans 8:4.
In the Hebraic Roots paradigm, the "seed" (sperma)
that remains inside the believer is directly equated with the Torah being
written into the heart – Jer 31:33
Consecration of the Firstborn
Exo 13:1 And יהוה
spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Exo 13:2 “Set apart to Me (קדשׁ־לי) all the first-born,
the one opening the womb among the children of Yisra’ěl, among man and among
beast, it is Mine.”
The Feast of Unleavened Bread
Exo 13:3 And Mosheh said to the people, “Remember
this day in which you went out of Mitsrayim, out of the house of slavery. For
by strength of hand יהוה brought you out of this place, and
whatever is leavened shall not be eaten.
Gal
5:9 A little leaven leavens all the lump.
The historical layout of the spring start in Aviv (Nisan)
and the specific Sedarim (Torah portions) read during that season show a
beautiful synchronization of scripture and the appoijntments.
Exo 13:6 “Seven days you eat unleavened bread, and
on the seventh day is a festival to יהוה.
Exo 13:7 “Unleavened bread is to be eaten the seven
days, and whatever is leavened is not to be seen with you, and leaven is not to
be seen with you within all your border.
Exo 13:8 “And you shall inform your son in that
day, saying, ‘It is because of what יהוה did for me when I
came up from Mitsrayim.’
Exo 13:10 “And you shall guard this law at its
appointed time from year to year.
Exo 13:11 “And it shall be, when יהוה
brings you into the land of the Kena‛anites, as He swore to you and your
fathers, and gives it to you,
The Right Hand and Forehead: The book of
Revelation states that the enemy forces people to receive a mark on their right
hand or their foreheads to buy, sell, or function in the global world
system. (Commandments to wear “tefillin” (Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:18) Ex 13 vs 9
and vs 16)
Exo 13:13 “But every first-born of a donkey you are
to ransom with a lamb. And if you do not ransom it, then you shall break its
neck. And every first-born of man among your sons you are to ransom.
Exo 13:14 “And it shall be, when your son asks you
in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘By
strength of hand יהוה brought us out of Mitsrayim, out of the
house of bondage.
Exo 13:15 ‘And it came to be, when Pharaoh was too
hardened to let us go, that יהוה killed every first-born in the land of
Mitsrayim, both the first-born of man and the first-born of beast. Therefore, I
am slaughtering to יהוה
every male that opens the womb, but every first-born of my sons I
ransom.’
Pillars of Cloud and Fire
Exo 13:17 And it came to be, when Pharaoh had let
the people go, that Elohim did not lead them by way of the land of the
Philistines, though that was nearer, for Elohim said, “Lest the people regret
when they see fighting, and return to Mitsrayim.”
In the Old Testament, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was
frequently called simply "Ephraim" because it was the dominant tribe.
Because of systemic idolatry, God eventually stripped Ephraim of its kingdom
privileges and scattered the people among the nations
The Blessing: In Genesis 48:19, Jacob
intentionally blesses the younger Ephraim over the older Manasseh, prophesying
that Ephraim’s descendants would become a melo ha-goyim—literally
translated as "the fullness of the nations" or "the
fullness of the Gentiles
The New Testament Echo: In Romans 11:25, Paul uses
this exact phrase, writing that a partial hardening has happened to Israel
until the "fullness of the Gentiles" (pleroma ton ethnon)
has come in. [1]
Torah-observant scholars argue that the Apostle Paul (a
Pharisee trained under Gamaliel) was explicitly quoting Genesis 48 when he
wrote Romans 11:25. [1]
Thus, "the fullness of the Gentiles" does not simply mean a
generic headcount of non-Jews filling up a church bench. Instead, it refers to
the scattered, global descendants of Israel (and the nations grafted in with
them) finally returning to their ancestral roots. [1,
2]
The Ultimate Synthesis
When these two concepts are merged, this specific school
of scholars concludes that:
The "Fullness of the Gentiles" is the
prophetic realization of people from all nations abandoning pagan world
systems.
They "come into" Israel's covenant, not by
legalistically trying to earn salvation, but by discovering that the Torah
is not a burden of legalism, but a lifestyle of perfect freedom and liberty
when lived through the Set Apart Spirit.
Exo 13:19 And Mosheh took the bones of Yosěph with him, for he certainly made the children of Yisra’ěl swear, saying, “Elohim shall certainly visit you, and you shall bring my bones from here with you.”
To New Covenant Christians, this is a massive spiritual
lesson: of all the grand achievements in Joseph's life—ruling Egypt, saving the
world from famine, accumulating vast wealth—the Set Apart Spirit selects his
refusal to be buried permanently in Egypt as his crowning act of faith.
Exo 13:21 And יהוה
went before them by day in a column of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a
column of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.
Exo 13:22 The column of cloud did not cease by day,
nor the column of fire by night, before the people.
Crossing the Red Sea
Exo 14:1 And יהוה
spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Exo 14:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ěl, that
they turn and camp before Pi Haḥiroth,
between Miḡdol and the
sea, opposite Ba‛al Tsephon – camp before it by the sea.
Exo 14:3 “For Pharaoh shall say of the children of
Yisra’ěl, ‘They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has closed them
in.’
Exo 14:4 “And I shall strengthen the heart of
Pharaoh, and he shall pursue them. But I am to be esteemed through Pharaoh and
over all his army, and the Mitsrites shall know that I am יהוה.”
And they did so.
Exo 14:5 And it was reported to the sovereign of
Mitsrayim that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants
was turned against the people. And they said, “Why have we done this, that we
have let Yisra’ěl go from serving us?”
Exo 14:6 So he made his chariot ready and took his
people with him.
Exo 14:7 And he took six hundred choice chariots,
and all the chariots of Mitsrayim with officers over all of them.
Exo 14:8 And יהוה
strengthened the heart of Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim, and he pursued the
children of Yisra’ěl, but the children of Yisra’ěl went out defiantly.
Exo 14:9 And the Mitsrites pursued them, and all
the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen and his army, and overtook
them camping by the sea beside Pi Haḥiroth,
before Ba‛al Tsephon.
Exo 14:10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children
of Yisra’ěl lifted their eyes and saw the Mitsrites coming up after them. And
they were greatly afraid, so the children of Yisra’ěl cried out to יהוה.
Exo 14:11 And they said to Mosheh, “Did you take us
away to die in the wilderness because there are no burial-sites in Mitsrayim?
What is this you have done to us, to bring us up out of Mitsrayim?
Exo 14:12 “Is this not the word that we spoke to
you in Mitsrayim, saying, ‘Leave us alone and let us serve the Mitsrites?’ For
it would have been better for us to serve the Mitsrites than to die in the
wilderness.”
Exo 14:13 And Mosheh said to the people, “Do not be
afraid. Stand still, and see the deliverance of יהוה,
which He does for you today. For the Mitsrites whom you see today, you are
never, never to see again.
Exo 14:14 “יהוה
does fight for you, and you keep silent.”
What Really
Happened to Nicodemus After He Buried Jesus?