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.
הנני
ממטיר – “behold I am causing to rain” – it
is YHVH that causes (hiphil verb) the bread (Torah) to fall like rain from
heaven to earth.
Exo 16:4 And יהוה
said to Mosheh, “See, I am (causing)raining (הנני ממטיר)
bread from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather a day’s
portion every day, in order to try them, whether they walk in My Torah or
not.
Rev
3:10 “Because you have guarded My Word of endurance, (Torah) I also shall
guard you from the hour of trial which shall come upon all the world, to try
those who dwell on the earth.
The participle (vs 4) expresses an action YHVH is about
to initiate. In context, it points to a continuing provision rather than a
single isolated event - הִנְנִי
מַמְטִיר is the beginning
of a divine action that YHVH will not abandon until His purposes on earth are
fulfilled.
In Hebraic thought, the giving of Torah at Sinai
(commemorated on Shavuot) is also described with language of pouring out or
raining. The revelation that began in the wilderness is not finished; it
continues to be received, studied, and lived in every generation. The voice (Torah)
at Sinai “did not cease.”
In John 6 Yahshua explicitly links Himself to the manna:
“I am the bread of life… the bread that comes down from heaven.”
In Hebraic thought, the physical bread that fell from
heaven is viewed as the material manifestation of the spiritual wisdom of the
Torah.
The manna taught Israel (and later generations) that life
is sustained by YHVH’s daily portion. This is exactly what Yahshua echoes in
the prayer “Give us this day our daily bread” (lechem chukenu — the allotted
bread of the day). The physical manna ended, but the principle of living by
what YHVH gives today, remains.
Classic rabbinic saying “ein lechem, ein Torah” if there
is no bread there is no Torah and if there is no Torah there is no bread.
YHVH rained bread from heaven to completely free their
minds, creating a generation whose lifestyle allowed them to immerse themselves
entirely in an abundance of Torah study and will continue to rain until the purposes
of YHVH have been fully established on the earth as it has been established in
the heavens.
Shavuot is primarily Zeman “Matan Torateinu” — “the Time
of the Giving of Our Torah.” It commemorates the revelation at Sinai, when the
full wisdom of Torah was poured out to Israel in a unique, foundational event.
In that sense, Sinai is the great, decisive outpouring of divine wisdom. An
appointment we celebrate once a year. “Pentecost” inaugurated an ongoing era of
the YHVH’s Spirit covering the earth as the waters cover the sea –
Hab
2:14 for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the esteem of יהוה, as the waters cover the sea!a Footnote: a
Isa_11:9.
"Gather a Word a Day": In the literal
Hebrew of Exodus 16:4, YHVH says the people will go out and gather dvar-yom
beyomo. While translated as "a day's portion every day," the word
Davar (דבר) also
literally means "Word." The Midrash notes that they were being
trained to gather "The Word" daily, referring perfectly onto the
daily requirement to study Torah.
“I will lead them about in the desert for forty years
that they may eat manna and drink the water of the well and (thereby) the Torah
will be united with their body.” (Mechilta – rabbinic midrash)
Deuteronomy 8:3 provides the ultimate textual connection
linking the Manna directly to the Torah.
Moses says: “He humbled you, allowed you to hunger,
and fed you with manna... that He might make you understand that man does not
live by bread alone, but man lives by every utterance that proceeds out of the
mouth of YHVH”.
The abundance of Torah coming upon the earth requires a
daily "gathering." This is why Jewish tradition heavily emphasizes
daily and Torah cycles of study. The Manna trained Israel to become daily
gatherers of divine speech.
Yahshua taught us this instruction in prayer - Mat 6:11 Give us today our daily
bread.
Exo 16:5 “And it shall be on the sixth day that
they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they
gather daily.”
Both the sages and historical traditions directly link
this physical preparation to the spiritual reality of the weekly sabbath
gathering in several profound ways.
In Jewish tradition, Friday (sixth day) is formally
called Erev Shabbat (the Eve of Sabbath). The concept that one must
actively prepare, cook, and clean on the sixth day (Friday) so that no work
occurs on shabbat (Saturday) stems directly from the command in Exodus 16:5 to
"prepare” that which they bring in.
When you attend a weekly Shabbat service or sit down at a
sixth night meal, you will find two complete loaves of challah bread (Lechem
Mishneh or double portion of bread) on the table
This ritual is a direct commemoration of Exodus 16:5.
Covering the two loaves with a decorative cloth before
blessing them mimics the layer of dew that covered the Manna in the wilderness.
Thus, the physical table on Shabbat is structured
entirely around the miracle of the sixth day preparation described in this
verse
Exo 16:6 And Mosheh and Aharon said to all the
children of Yisra’ěl, “At evening you shall know that יהוה
has brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim.
Exo 16:7 “And in the morning you shall see the
esteem of יהוה, for He hears your grumblings against יהוה.
And what are we, that you grumble against us?”
Their physical liberation had already taken place, but
they still needed to learn what it meant to depend upon יהוה.
Notice His response in verse 4:
“See, I am raining bread from the heavens for you. And
the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, in order to try
them, whether they walk in My Torah or not.”
This establishes the purpose behind the provision.
The manna was not simply food to relieve hunger. It was
also a means of teaching and testing Yisra’ěl daily dependence and obedience.
Verse 6: “At evening you shall know that יהוה has brought you out”
This is particularly significant.
Why would Mosheh tell the people that they would know יהוה had brought them out of
Mitsrayim when they had already witnessed the Exodus?
Because their grumbling demonstrated that they had not
fully understood the significance and purpose of their deliverance.
They knew historically that they had left Mitsrayim, but
their present circumstances challenged their confidence in the One who had
brought them out.
The Hebrew word translated as know is from יָדַע (yada), which can
communicate knowledge gained through experience.
The evening provision would become fresh evidence that
their deliverance was not merely the accomplishment of Mosheh and Aharon. It
was the work of יהוה
Himself.
Verse 7: “In the morning you shall see the esteem of יהוה”
His esteem was not revealed only through the spectacular
events of the Exodus, but also through His faithful provision in the
wilderness.
This may be the reason why most of them and why most
of us won’t make it to the end –
“Is it even remotely possible that YHVH can keep up
and finish what He started, while all the evidence and challenges that confront
us, threaten to completely overwhelm and contradict the reality that surrounds
us especially in the last days?”
As long as we remain under the “cloud” we will not die
of hunger or thirst.
“For He hears your grumblings (Hev “lun”) against יהוה”
Sometimes grumbling (“lun”) is the language of people who
have lost the strength to imagine continuing.
This does not mean the Hebrew word lûn literally means
exhaustion. Rather, the narrative context allows us to recognise that Israel's
grumbling may have been symptomatic of something deeper than an argumentative
attitude, or even a lack of gratitude.
It raises an interesting theological question:
Were the Israelites simply unwilling to continue trusting
YHVH, or had their circumstances brought them to a place where they struggled
to see how they could continue?
The biblical narrative invites us to consider both their
human frailty and their responsibility to trust YHVH.
This distinction should cause us to look a little deeper
into our understanding of Exodus 16 or Numbers 14.
This “burn out” becomes even clearer in Exodus 16:8:
“Your grumblings (burn out) are not against us but
against יהוה.”
Yet notice something remarkable about His response.
Instead of immediately destroying them for their
unbelief, יהוה responds by
providing what they need.
His provision becomes both a demonstration of mercy and a
test of their future obedience.
This does not mean their grumbling was acceptable.
Rather, it reveals His patience in teaching a newly delivered people to trust
Him.
This connects directly with Deuteronomy 8:3, where Mosheh
later explains that יהוה
humbled Yisra’ěl, allowed them to hunger, and fed them with manna so that they
might understand that man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that
proceeds from the mouth of יהוה.
There is a vast, structural difference in Scripture
between unbelief-driven grumbling (or burn out) in public and pain-driven
crying out to YHVH in private. The Hebrew Bible treats these two actions
completely differently.
In stark contrast, when a believer takes their raw pain,
frustration, and deep complaints directly to YHVH in the secret place, the
Hebrew Bible calls this tza'aq (to cry out intensely).
Scripture does not just tolerate private complaining to
YHVH; it actively invites it:
The Psalms of Lament: Nearly a third of the Book
of Psalms consists of raw, unfiltered complaints to YHVH. In Psalm 142:2 David
says, "I pour out my distress before him; I tell my distress before
him."
Moses’ Own Practice: When the public grumbling of
the people became too heavy for Moses, he didn't grumble back to the camp. He
went into the tent of meeting and vented directly to YHVH, saying things like, "Why
have you dealt ill with your servant?... Did I conceive all this people?"
(Numbers 11:11-12) YHVH never punished Moses for these raw, private breakdowns.
The Hebrew Logic: Faith vs. Rebellion
The defining line between toxic discontentment and
healthy lament comes down to the direction of the voice:
Discontment (Lun) turns its back on YHVH,
faces the crowd, and misrepresents Him. It is an act of rebellion that seeks to
gather allies in its unbelief and defiance of YHVH’s Torah.
Crying Out (Tza'aq) faces YHVH directly in
private and complains to Him.
Bringing your anger, disappointment, or confusion to YHVH
in private is actually a profound act of faith. It proves that you still
believe He is the Master of the situation, that He is listening, and that He is
the only One who holds the remedy. It is completely okay to break down before
Him in secret; He is big enough to handle your most honest concerns.
Exo 16:8 And Mosheh said, “In that יהוה
gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfaction,
for יהוה hears your grumblings (discontentment)
which you make against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us
but against יהוה.”
Exo 16:9 And Mosheh said to Aharon, “Say to all the
congregation of the children of Yisra’ěl, ‘Come near before יהוה,
for He has heard your grumblings.’”
Exo 16:10 And it came to be, as Aharon spoke to all
the congregation of the children of Yisra’ěl, that they looked toward the
wilderness and see, the esteem of יהוה appeared in the
cloud.
Exo 16:11 And יהוה
spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Exo 16:12 “I have heard the grumblings of the
children of Yisra’ěl. Speak to them, saying, ‘Between the evenings you are to
eat meat, and in the morning, you are to be satisfied with bread. And you shall
know that I am יהוה your Elohim.’”
Exo 16:13 And it came to be that quails came
up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around
the camp. (quails are easier to catch at night)
שְׂלָו
“selav” H7958 - refers to the common quail –
שָׁלָה
/ שָׁלַו (shalah
/ shalav – Strong’s H7951), which means:
·
to be at ease / tranquil
·
to be secure or successful
·
to prosper
These Israelites could not yet speak like Paul - Php 4:11 Not that I speak concerning need, for I have learned to be
content in whatever state I am.
Php
4:12 I know what it is to be humbled, and I know what it is to have in
excess. In any and every situation I have learned both to be filled, and
to be hungry, both to have in excess, and to be in need. Php 4:13 I
have strength to do all, through Messiah who empowers me
While lun describes a heart that is permanently
unsettled and burnt out and "lodges" in a heart that feels continuously
overwhelmed, Paul has been granted the revelation (secret) that allows him to
"lodge" in absolute peace, detached from his external circumstances.
When Paul says, "I have learned the secret of
facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need" in Philippians 4:12, the
English phrase "learned the secret" translates to a single, highly meaningful
Greek word: μεμύημαι (memyēmai)
This is the perfect passive form of the verb μυέω (mueō),
and its usage here reveals why biblical contentment is so radically different
from normal human willpower.
Paul does not say, "I figured out the
secret," or "I achieved contentment." Because the
word is passive (memyēmai), it means " the secret of contentment
is been continually revealed to me”
2Co
1:8 For we do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, of our pressure
which came to us in Asia, that we were weighed down, exceedingly,a beyond
ability, so that we despaired even of life. Footnote: aSee 2Co_4:8-9 and
2Co_4:17.
The "thorn in the flesh" is one of the most
famously mysterious phrases in the New Testament -found in 2 Corinthians
12:7–10, Paul describes it as a "messenger of Satan" sent to
"buffet" or harass him. What was it? We don’t know.
“By using a passive verb, (Phi 4:12,13) Paul effectively
says, "I didn't conquer my circumstances; my circumstances broke me,
and YHVH met me in the brokenness."
True contentment isn't a trophy you earn through
self-mastery. It is a gift you receive through surrender.”
“He was introduced to this contentment by being
shipwrecked.
He was introduced to this contentment by being stoned and
left for dead.
He was introduced to this contentment by being hungry,
abandoned, and locked in a dungeon.
The classroom of suffering was the only place the
secret could be taught. You cannot learn that YHVH is all you need until
YHVH is all you have left.”
Note how gently YHVH introduces His people to His “secret”
in their wilderness journey:
Exo 16:14 And the layer of dew went up, and see, on
the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on
the ground.
Exo 16:15 And the children of Yisra’ěl saw, and
they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And
Mosheh said to them, “It is the bread which יהוה
has given you to eat.
Exo 16:16 “This is the word which יהוה
has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, an omer
for each being, according to the number of beings. Let every man take for those
who are in his tent.’”
Exo 16:17 And the children of Yisra’ěl did so and
gathered, some more, some less.
Exo 16:18 And they measured it by omers, and he who
gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have
too little. Each one gathered according to his need.
Exo 16:19 And Mosheh said, “Let no one leave any of
it until morning.”
YHVH was effectively saying to them “” I will give you
everything you need to make it through your wilderness journey”
This reminds us of the meaning of His Name – “YHVH” or
“I will cause to exist” or I will become whatever I need to become to meet your
need to accomplish your mission and journey here on earth” (a mission
impossible to achieve in your own strength)
This reveals the tragic mistake of the wilderness
grumblers. They looked at the empty desert and assumed YHVH couldn't handle it.
They forgot who He was.
His people didn’t believe Him then and they still don’t
believe Him now. This is the reason why almost no one makes it through the
wilderness of the last days – but will not be eternally excluded.
Isa
6:11 Then I said, “יהוה, until when?”(will they listen) And He answered, “Until the
cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, and the houses are without a man,
and the land is laid waste, a ruin,
Isa
6:12 and יהוה has removed men far away,
and the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land.
Isa
6:13 “But still, there is a tenth part in it, and , like a terebinth tree and like an oak,
whose stump remains when it is cut down. The set-apart seed is its
stump!”
Exo 16:20 And they did not listen to Mosheh, so
some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And
Mosheh was wroth with them.
Exo 16:21 And they gathered it every morning, each
one according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.
Exo 16:22 And it came to be, on the sixth day, that
they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers
of the congregation came and told Mosheh.
Exo 16:23 And he said to them, “This is what יהוה
has said, ‘Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath set-apart to יהוה.
That which you bake, bake; and that which you cook, cook. And lay up for
yourselves all that is left over, to keep it until morning.’ ”
Exo 16:24 And they laid it up till morning, as
Mosheh commanded. And it did not stink, and no worm was in it.
Exo 16:25 And Mosheh said, “Eat it today, for today
is a Sabbath to יהוה, today you do not find it in the
field.
Exo 16:26 “Gather it six days, but on the seventh
day, which is the Sabbath, there is none.”
Exo 16:27 And it came to be that some of the people
went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.
Conclusion:
Israel (and those grafted into Israel) struggled then as
they do until the present moment in history to “shemah, shamar, and asah – hear
obey and do His Torah.
The phrase "Wisdom is justified (or known) by her
children" appears in the Apostolic scriptures in Matthew 11:19 and
Luke 7:35.
It is a profound, proverbial statement spoken by Yahshua
to confront the religious establishment of His day, who—much like the eras of
Hosea and modern critics—completely missed the point of what YHVH was doing
because they were blinded by their own rigid expectations.
The condition of family relationships before celebrating the
Sabbath is considered so critical in Jewish tradition that it takes legal
precedence over other major religious duties.
The overarching Jewish concept governing this is Shalom
Bayit (שְׁלוֹם בַּיִת), which literally
translates to "peace in the home". The sages and legal codes
establish that welcoming the set apartness of Shabbat is impossible if the
household is in a state of friction, anger, or relational discord
Just as Exodus 16:5 establishes erev shabbat (Friday) as the
day to physically "prepare that which they bring in," the oral
tradition treats erev shabbat as the spiritual deadline to prepare the heart.
Entering Shabbat while holding a grudge or actively fighting
with a spouse or child is viewed as bringing spiritual "pollution"
into a set apart family dwelling.
It is a widespread custom to resolve disagreements, issue
structured apologies, and clear the air on Friday afternoon before the sun
sets. The physical cleaning of the house is meant to mirror an internal
cleansing of family relationships.
The structural
setup of the Friday night dinner is explicitly engineered to heal and reinforce
family ties after a stressful week: [1]
·
The Husband's Praise (Eshet Chayil): Before sitting down, it is customary for a husband to sing Eshet Chayil (A Woman of Valour) from Proverbs 31 to his wife, publicly honouring
her efforts and character.
·
The Blessing of the
Children: The parents place
their hands on the heads of their children to recite the Priestly Blessing.
This moment strips away the disciplinary friction of the school or work week,
re-centering the relationship purely on unconditional love and divine
protection.
·
The
Absence of "Grumbling":
Because the Manna taught Israel to shed survivalist anxiety, the Shabbat table
is traditionally a space where talking about money, business, debts, or
stressful secular problems is discouraged.
Isa 1:13 “Stop bringing futile offerings,
incense, it is an abomination to Me. New moons, Sabbaths, the calling of
gatherings – I am unable to bear unrighteousness and assembly.
Isa 1:14
“My being hates your New moons and your appointed times, they are a
trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them.
Israel and those grafted into Israel have not
travelled life’s journey very well – this journey will end in the last days
with almost complete destruction.
Hosea 8:12
“Though I write for him the many things of My
Torah,they are regarded as a strange thing.”
Hosea is speaking primarily to the northern
kingdom, often called Ephraim.
YHVH says He has given them abundant instruction (the Torah – lit Heb. “ten
thousand precepts” is exaggeration to make a point), yet they treated it as זָר (zar)
— strange, foreign, alien, something that did not belong to them.
Meaning of the contrast
This is a tragic reversal:
At Sinai the Torah was given as Israel’s own
covenant, their distinctive identity and life.
By Hosea’s time (especially in the northern
kingdom), the people had so thoroughly adopted other gods, other altars, and
other ways of life that the Torah felt foreign to them – as it does for
the Christians to this day.
They still offered sacrifices and kept religious
forms, but the actual teaching of YHVH had become irrelevant or alien in their
eyes.
This stands in sharp contrast to:
·
The manna and Lechem Mishneh — daily dependence on what YHVH
provides
·
The ongoing “raining” of bread / wisdom from heaven
·
The call to receive Torah as something living and present (“as if given
today”)
When the Torah becomes “strange,” the relationships
are broken. When it is received as one’s own portion, it remains the daily
bread that sustains all aspects of our lives.
Additional
Midrash:
During the 55-year reign of Manasseh (2 Kings 21), Judah did
not just neglect the Torah; they buried it under systemic idolatry. Manasseh
built pagan altars inside the Temple of Yahweh, practiced witchcraft, and
filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. During this time, the written scrolls of
the Torah were completely discarded, suppressed, or lost, becoming entirely
"strange" and non-existent to the culture.
The most explicit proof that Judah viewed the Torah as a
foreign thing occurred during the reign of Manasseh's grandson, Josiah (2 Kings
22).
While repairing the Temple, Hilkiah the High Priest stumbled
upon the lost "Book of the Law" (the Torah). No one knew it was a
Torah scroll. It was Huldah the prophetess who confirmed the authenticity of
the ancient, recovered Torah scroll – 2 Kings 22:14
When it was read aloud to King Josiah, he tore his
clothes in absolute horror and shock.
Yeshayahu
Leibowitz: The Critique of "Nationalist Idolatry"
Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903–1994) was a deeply Orthodox,
fiercely observant Israeli public intellectual and scientist. He levelled one
of the harshest rabbinic critiques against modern religious Judaism,
particularly Religious Zionism, explicitly using the concepts of zar (Avodah
Zarah—foreign or idolatrous worship). [1,
2, 3,
4]
Leibowitz claimed that modern religious Judaism had
fundamentally missed the point by fusing religion with nationalism, politics,
and land. [1, 2, 3]
The "Strange" Reality: He claimed that
attributing holiness to a state, an army, or physical soil was a modern form of
paganism. To Leibowitz modern institutionalised Judaism had substituted the
worship of God for the worship of the state and Jewish identity, transforming
the Torah into a political tool—making it entirely zar to its original
purpose. [1,
2]
Dr. Israel Netanel
Rubin: The Critique of Mystical Distortion
In contemporary Israeli discourse, some Orthodox scholars
argue that modern Judaism has been hijacked by later, invented traditions that
contradict the rationalistic monotheism of the Torah. In his book Kabbalah:
The Disaster of Jewish Faith, Dr. Rubin argues that the mystical traditions
dominating much of modern ultra-Orthodoxy have shifted the entire point of
Judaism. [1]
- The
Critique: He posits that the Torah was intended for human moral
improvement and building a just society.
- The
"Strange" Reality: Modern mystical subcultures have
transformed it into a system of cosmic magical manipulation (trying to
"repair divine realms"). He argues this shift has created an
insular, superstitious environment that is fundamentally foreign to
biblical and classical rabbinic Judaism. [1]
Summary
The recurring theme among these modern critics mirrors
Hosea's era: when a religious system becomes entirely about protecting an
institution, political power, or rote habit, the radical,
ethical, and transcendent reality of the Living Elohim becomes a "strange
thing" to the very people claiming to represent it. [1, 2, 3]
The phrase "Wisdom is justified (or known) by her
children" appears in the Apostolic scripture in Matthew 11:19 and Luke
7:35.
It is a profound, proverbial statement spoken by Yahshua to
confront the religious establishment of His day, who, much like the eras of
Hosea and modern critics, completely missed the point of what YHVH was doing
because they were blinded by their own rigid expectations.
1. The Context: A Generation that Refused to Dance
To understand the "children of wisdom," you must “look
at the analogy Yahshua gave right before it. He compared the religious leaders
to fickle children sitting in the marketplace playing a game, complaining to
their playmates:
"We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we mourned to you, and you did not lament." (Matthew 11:17)
Yahshua was exposing their hypocrisy by showing how they
rejected both YHVH's messengers for completely opposite, superficial reasons:
- John
the Baptist came living a life of strict fasting and self-denial. The
religious leaders rejected him, saying, "He has a demon."
- Yahshua
came feasting, drinking, and deeply associating with society's outcasts.
The same leaders rejected Him, saying, "Look, a glutton and a
winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!"
No matter what form YHVH's message took, the establishment labelled
it as "strange" (zar) and unacceptable.
“Ultimately, Yahshua is issuing a warning: institutional
approval, flawless external mechanics, and intellectual theology mean nothing
if they do not produce the living, breathing "children" of
righteousness, healing, and truth. Divine wisdom is practical, experimental,
and always vindicated by its results.”
In Isaiah 8:20 ("To the law and to the
testimony!"), the "testimony" (Hebrew: te'udah / תְּעוּדָה) is the active,
verified prophetic witness of YHVH’s spoken word into a current crisis. It
refers to the divine message given directly to the prophets specifically
Isaiah's own contemporary prophecies which were bound up, written down, and
preserved by a faithful remnant.
When a community commits to living out the true,
uncompromised Torah, they inevitably become a "sign and a wonder" an
oddity or a spectacle to a compromised world.
As Isaiah said in Isaiah 8:18, "Look, I and the
children whom יהוה
has given me are for signs and wonders in Yisra’el." The ultimate
irony of spiritual decline is that when a culture treats the Torah as zar
(strange), the people who actually obey it are the ones labeled as crazy,
backwards, or radical.
Nothing angers a compromised religious institution more
than a small community that possesses the real thing.
When the institutional system has reduced religion to empty
political posturing or rote habits, the presence of a people who have the Torah
written on their hearts acts as a mirror. It exposes the spiritual bankruptcy
of the establishment.
The Ultimate Paradox
This brings our entire “shiur” lesson full circle:
Israel and Judah viewed the Torah as a strange thing
(zar) [Hosea 8:12].
Because they viewed the Torah as strange, they viewed the disciples
who kept it as strange signs and wonders [Isaiah 8:18].
It is precisely those "strange" disciples who bear
the fruit that justifies and vindicates divine wisdom in the end
[Matthew 11:19].
YHVH’s truth is never lost; it simply moves underground,
preserved in the lives of a remnant who are willing to look bizarre to their
generation so that His perfect will can be established on the earth.
2 Timothy 2:2 represents the exact Renewed covenant
mechanism for how the "sealed testimony" of "the Torah among the
disciples" is handed down through history.
The verse reads: "And the things that you have heard
from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to
teach others also." [2 Tim 2:2]
This single verse outlines Paul’s strategic blueprint for
protecting the Torah from becoming zar (strange or corrupted) across
generations. It echoes the exact dynamic we saw in Isaiah 8:16, where truth is
preserved not by bricks-and-mortar institutions, but by investing deeply into a
relational, living chain of Truth-seeking Torah observant disciples.
The Standard of Choice: "Faithful" and
"Able"
“When Paul tells Timothy how to deposit this sacred trust,
he does not look for social status, political clout, or secular brilliance. He
demands two strict qualifications that mirror the characteristics of Isaiah's
disciples:”
Faithful (Pistos): This means reliable,
trustworthy, and unyielding. These are people who will not panic when the
culture shifts, will not sell out for political convenience (like King Ahaz),
and will not alter the message to make it more appetizing to a compromised
world. They are guardians of the "sealed testimony."
Able (Hikanos): This means competent and
qualified to pass it on. It is not enough to just quietly hold the truth; they
must have the capacity to replicate the teaching in others.
Conclusion
So, what is the whole point?
YHVH seeks a faithful remnant, and He will find them and
He will enable them.
And He will start again and extend grace to all those who
didn’t make it the first time.
Blessed
are you YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of
truth and have planted perfect liberty and everlasting life within our midst.
Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Amein.
Job
33:28 He has redeemed my being from going down to the pit, and my life
sees the light.’
Isa
38:17 “See, for peace I had what was bitter, bitter. But You have
lovingly delivered my being from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all
my sins behind Your back
Psa 16:10 For You do not leave my being in She’ol,
Neither let Your Lovingly-committed one see corruption.
Psa 16:11 You show me the path of life; In Your
presence is joy to satisfaction; At Your right hand are pleasures
forever.
A significant and highly influential portion of the early
Church firmly believed in post-mortem restoration, (restoration after the first
death) historically known by the Greek term apokatastasis (meaning the
restoration of all things).
Post-mortem restoration went from a widespread,
respectable view to a minority "heresy" due to a massive geopolitical
and theological shift between the 4th and 6th centuries.