Blessing for the Torah:
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-O’lam, asher
bachar banu m’kol ha-amim,
v’natan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn
ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe,
(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. Blessed are you, YHVH,
giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
This
week there is no Torah portion. I would like to share some thoughts about the
“Resurrection” hopefully from a more Messianic point of view.
Without any doubt this is perhaps one of the most
important truths in the scriptures, without resurrection our faith is in vain.
1Co 15:13 And if there is no resurrection of the dead,
then Messiah has not been raised.
1Co 15:14 And if Messiah has not been raised, then our
proclaiming is empty, and your belief also empty,
1Co 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, then neither
Messiah has been raised.
1Co 15:17 And if Messiah has not been raised, your
belief is to no purpose, you are still in your sins!
My personal opinion is
that because of the early and present day influence of Gnosticism in the church
we have tended to spiritualize this teaching to the point where we fail to
realize the full impact of its message.
Gnosticism is the teaching
or philosophy of spiritualizing everything to the point where truth has no
meaningful impact upon our lives.
One of the obvious
evidences of the abovementioned statement is the belief that we all go to
heaven and stay in heaven when we die.
It sounds like a very
lofty and wonderful truth, but it is not the truth. When we die we sleep and
await the resurrection of the dead when Yahshua comes back with the last
trumpet blast (1Co 15:52) to
rule and reign from Yerushalayim for a thousand years.
(1Co 15:23 “And each in his own order: Messiah the
first-fruits, then those who are of Messiah at His coming,” 1Co 15:24 “ then
the end, when He delivers up the reign to Elohim the Father, when He has
brought to naught all rule and all authority and power”).
After the Thousand
year reign comes the renewed heaven, renewed earth and renewed Yesuashalayim
(Rev 21). It will serve us well to seriously consider that the scripture
teaches two resurrections.
We who are alive
should be hopeful and prepared for the first resurrection.
Rev 19:7 “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him
praise, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife prepared herself.”
Rev 19:8 And to her it was given to be dressed in fine
linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the
set-apart ones.
Rev 19:9 And he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those
who have been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me,
“These are the true words of Elohim.”
The Marriage of Messiah to his bride will take place shortly after the
first resurrection.
This is perhaps what
Shaul was referring to in:
Php 3:10 to know Him, and the power of His
resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His
death,
Php 3:11 if somehow I might
attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Php 3:12 Not that I have already received, or already
been perfected, but I press on, to lay hold of that for which Messiah יהושע has also laid hold of me.
Php 3:13 Brothers,
I do not count myself to have laid hold of it yet, but only this: forgetting
what is behind and reaching out for what lies ahead,
Php 3:14 I press
on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of Elohim in Messiah יהושע.
We must not assume that all believers in Messiah automatically qualify
to become part of the bride of Messiah.
1Co 3:11 For no one is able to lay any other
foundation except that which is laid, which is יהושע Messiah.
1Co 3:12 And if
anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
straw,
1Co 3:13 each
one’s work shall be revealed, for the day shall show it up, because it is
revealed by fire. And the fire shall prove the work of each one, what sort it
is.
1Co 3:14 If
anyone’s work remains, which he has built on, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If
anyone’s work is burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved,
but so as through fire.
The Torah is compared to gold.
Tehillim/Psa 19:7 The Torah of יהוה is perfect, bringing back the being;
Psa 19:10 More desirable than gold, Than
much fine gold; And sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.
Journey of faith.
We need to remind
ourselves that the Avrahamic covenant came before the covenant or Torah given
to Moshe.
We first believe in Messiah then we follow him.
We were meant to follow him according to the Word – The Torah or instruction
given to those who are of the faith.
We were saved by faith
to walk according to the Torah.
We were filled with
the Ruach(Spirit) of YHVH to enable us to walk this way.
Rom 8:4 so that
the righteousness of the Torah should be completed in us who do not walk
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Hegg has the following to say concerning the resurrection:
“Indeed, the resurrection of Yahshua affirms that
He is the Master.
Rom 1:3 concerning His Son, who came of the seed of
Dawiḏ according to the
flesh,
Rom 1:4 who was
designated Son of Elohim with power, according to the Set-apart Spirit, by the
resurrection from the dead: יהושע Messiah, the Master of us,
This affirms that His offering of himself has been
received, something only he could do. What is more, His resurrection is seen by
Paul, not as the resuscitation of a corpse only to live and die again, but as
the decisive moment in history when the tyrannical hold that death had upon the
whole of creation is broken. Yahshua will never again die, and as conqueror of
death, He offers to those who receive Him, eternal life, that is, that they may
be saved.
To
“believe in one’s heart” means also to make the conscious decisions necessary
to live in the reality of Messiah’s resurrection. It was Paul’s prayer in Phil
3:10 that he might know the “power of His resurrection” (cf. Rom 1:4), by which
he means to experience the life-changing reality of YHVH’s victory over sin and
death.
Paul here considers the resurrection
to be the keystone in the arch of genuine faith. Since the resurrection is the
affirming declaration of YHVH to the utter acceptability of Yahshua’s death as
a offering for sin.” End quote.
Pesach Week.
This week we are once again
reminded of the significance of who our Messiah really is and the redemption he
has secured for us.
It is correct to say about
Pesach: “Pesach/Passover is the Season of our Freedom.” Unleavened Bread begins
on the night when the Pesach Seder (the memorial Seder) is held (the night of
the 15th of Aviv) and lasts one week. In other words, the 14th
of Aviv was the day that the pesach (the lambs that were offered) were offered “between
the evenings”– Yahshua died too on the ninth hour (about 3pm our time) on the
14th of Aviv, but only by the evening of the 14th of
Aviv, going into the 15th of Aviv, were the lambs eaten with bitter
herbs and unleavened bread. So the Pesach Seders are held on the start of the
15th of Aviv, the First day of Unleavened bread. The week of
Unleavened bread is marked by eating bread made without leaven – also any other
food that we eat will have no leaven in- no leaven will be found in our houses
by the morning of the 14th of Aviv.
We believe on the 16 Aviv –
Omer Resheet – when we start counting the omer was the day Yahshua rose from
the dead. Some Messianics observe different dates.
Three
times a year the Israelites would go up to Yerushalayim – Pesach, Shavout and Sukkot.
We need to remind ourselves that this was a commandment for all
generations.
Pesach.
Lev 23:4 ‘These are the appointed times of יהוה, set-apart gatherings which
you are to proclaim at their appointed times.
Lev 23:5 ‘In the first
month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between the evenings, is the
Passover to יהוה.
Lev 23:6 ‘And on
the fifteenth day of this month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread
to יהוה – seven days you eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7 ‘On the first
day you have a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work.
Lev 23:8 ‘And you
shall bring an offering made by fire to יהוה for seven days. On the seventh
day is a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work.’ ” (Emphasis added)
Counting of the Omer to Shavuot.
Lev 23:10 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and you
shall say to them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, and shall
reap its harvest, then you shall bring a
sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest to the priest.
Lev 23:11 ‘And he shall wave the sheaf before יהוה, for your acceptance. On the morrow
after the Sabbath the priest waves it.
Lev 23:12 ‘And on
that day when you wave the sheaf, you shall prepare a male lamb a year old, a
perfect one, as a burnt offering to יהוה,
Lev 23:13 and its
grain offering: two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour mixed with oil, an
offering made by fire to יהוה, a sweet fragrance, and its drink
offering: one-fourth of a hin of wine.
Lev 23:14 ‘And you
do not eat bread or roasted grain or fresh grain until the same day that you
have brought an offering to your Elohim – a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:15 ‘And from
the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the
wave offering, you shall count for yourselves: seven completed Sabbaths. (Tim Hegg: “ “Seven complete Sabbaths”…In
the 1st Century the Hebrew word Sabbath was also taken to mean week. In this
way “after the seventh Sabbath” was understood to mean “after the seventh week”.
There are a number of datum to support the fact that the Hebrew word Shabbat could
be understood to mean week in the 1st Century. Such a meaning rested
first and foremost upon the text of the Torah itself. And Lev 23:15 was a
crucial text in this regard for it speaks of “seven complete Sabbaths”. Now if this is speaking
of weekly Sabbaths how is one to understand the adjective “complete”? Surely
this must indicate that “Sabbaths” here refers to weeks for only if this is the
case does the adjective “complete” have meaning. One could not imagine an
incomplete weekly Sabbath but one could surely understand an incomplete week; that
is a period of time less than the full seven days prescribed for a week. The
same is true of Lev 25;8…………” End quote (Emphasis added)
Shavuot.
Lev 23:16 ‘Until the morrow after the seventh Sabbath
you count fifty days, then you shall bring a new grain offering to יהוה.
Lev 23:17 ‘Bring
from your dwellings for a wave offering two loaves of bread, of
two-tenths of an ĕphah of fine flour they are, baked with leaven, first-fruits
to יהוה. (wheat)
Lev 23:18 ‘And
besides the bread, you shall bring seven lambs a year old, perfect ones, and
one young bull and two rams. They are a burnt offering to יהוה, with
their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a
sweet fragrance to יהוה.
Lev 23:19 ‘And you
shall offer one male goat as a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old, as
a peace offering.
Lev 23:20 ‘And the
priest shall wave them, besides the bread of the first-fruits, as a wave
offering before יהוה, besides the two lambs. They are
set-apart to יהוה for the priest.
Lev 23:21 ‘And on
this same day you shall proclaim a set-apart gathering for yourselves, you do
no servile work on it – a law forever in all your dwellings throughout your
generations. (Emphasis added)
Sukkot
Lev 23:39 ‘On the fifteenth day
of the seventh month, when you gather in the fruit of the land, observe the
festival of יהוה for seven days. On the first day is a rest, and on the eighth
day a rest.
Lev 23:40 ‘And you
shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of good trees, branches of
palm trees, twigs of leafy trees, and willows of the stream, and shall rejoice
before יהוה your
Elohim for seven days.
Lev 23:41 ‘And you
shall observe it as a festival to יהוה for seven days in the year – a law forever in your generations. Observe
it in the seventh month.
In the three major feasts where the Yisraelites had to be
in Yerushalayim (Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot) we can see a connection to a
resurrection theme – First fruits.
1Co 15:20 But now Messiah has been raised from the
dead, and has become the first-fruit of those having fallen asleep.
During the feast of Pesach we had the first fruits of the
barely harvest.
During the feast of Shavuot we had the first fruits of
the wheat harvest.
During Sukkot, the feast of Tabernacles we have the first
fruits of the fruit harvest.
Note the first born, man or beast were considered YHVH’s special
possession.
Shemot/Exo 22:29 “Do not delay giving your harvest and
your vintage. Give Me the first-born of your sons.
Exo 22:30
“Likewise you are to do with your oxen, with your sheep. It is to be
with its mother seven days. On the eighth day you give it to Me.
Exo 34:19 “Everyone opening the womb is Mine, and every
male first-born among your livestock, whether bull or sheep.
Exo 34:20 “But the first-born of a donkey you ransom
with a lamb. And if you do not ransom, then you shall break his neck. Every
first-born of your sons you shall ransom. And they shall not appear before Me
empty-handed.
Jer
2:3 “Yisra’ĕl was set-apart to יהוה,
the first-fruits of His increase. All who ate of it (devoured or oppressed) became guilty – evil came upon
them,” declares יהוה.’ ”
(Emphasis added)
When
we give the first fruits to YHVH we are expressing our faith and belief that He
will bring to perfection all things that pertain to life and set apartness in
our lives.
When
we tithe we also confirm our belief in His ability to bless all that we have.
Rom 11:16 Now if the first-fruit
is set-apart, the lump is also.
This verse is a
reference to Yisrael and reminds us that we will only be fully set apart unto
YHVH when Yirael is dedicated to YHVH through her Messiah.
Rom 11:25 For I do not wish you
to be ignorant of this secret, brothers, lest you should be wise in your own
estimation, that hardening in part has come over Yisra’ĕl, until the
completeness of the gentiles1 has come in. Footnote: 1Gen.
48:19
The completeness of gentiles could refer to those non Jews who realize
that they will only experience the fullness of their faith once the first
fruits of the Jewish people have been set apart unto YHVH. Those Gentiles who
realize that they never can be complete without Yisrael.
Yochanan/Joh 4:22
…. because the deliverance is of the Yehuḏim.
The world longs to see a manifestation of people who
have entered into and embraced the truth of first fruits.
Rom 8:19 For the intense longing1
of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of Elohim.
Why? I have no hope of reaching perfection in my present state – I am
going to have to die and be raised to new life with a body that does not want
to sin all the time.
In fact the
confession of our faith depends on us believing in the physical resurrection of
Messiah
Rom 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart” – that is, the word of belief which we are
proclaiming:
Rom 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth the
Master יהושע and believe in your heart that
Elohim has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with
the heart one believes unto righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth,
and so is saved.
Rom 10:11 Because
the Scripture says, “Whoever puts his trust in Him shall not be put to shame.”
Rom 10:12 Because there
is no distinction between Yehuḏite and Greek, for the same Master of all is rich to all
those calling upon Him.
Rom 10:13 For
“everyone who calls on the Name of יהוה shall be saved.”
Yahshua refers to himself as the “son
of man” more than other description of himself.
We need to remind ourselves that
until heaven and earth pass away not one word of YHVH will pass away.
When the truth of the resurrection becomes
a revelation to us, it gives us hope. There is real life beyond the grave. We
must remember that the Word of YHVH is valid while heaven and earth are still
in existence.
Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the
Torah or the Prophets.1 I did not come to destroy but to complete.
Footnote: 1The Law and the Prophets is a term used for the
pre-Messianic Scriptures.
Mat 5:18 “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and
the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the
Torah till all be done.1 Footnote: 1Lk. 16:17.
Mat 5:19 “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of
these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the
heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the
reign of the heavens.
This word teaches us about marriage
about sowing and reaping, about going to the toilet. It will serve us well to
come to terms with the fact that our growing into perfection comes to us while
in a physical state albeit a resurrected physical state but none the less a
physical state.
Resurrection is about the coming together of the
physical and the spiritual in perfect harmony. This side of the grave this does
not yet exist in its perfection. Whenever there is a lack of harmony between
the two there is frustration and problems.
Additional scriptures concerning the resurrection.
Beresheet/Gen 22 – The
offering of Yitzchak.
Heb 11:17 By belief, Aḇraham, when he was
tried, offered up Yitsḥaq, and he who had
received the promises offered up his only brought-forth son,
Heb 11:18 of
whom it was said, “In Yitsḥaq your seed shall be
called,”
Heb 11:19
reckoning that Elohim was able to raise, even from the dead, from which
he received him back, as a type.
Yeshayahu/Isa
26:19 Let Your dead live, together
with my dead body, let them arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
for Your dew is a dew of light, and let the earth give birth to the departed
spirits1. Footnote: 1The Repha’im.
Tehillim/Psa 23:6 Only goodness and kindness follow me All the
days of my life; And I shall dwell in the House of יהוה, To the length of days!
Dan 12:2 and many of those who sleep in the dust of
the earth wake up, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches,
everlasting abhorrence.
The Resurrection of Messiah
Tehillim/Psa
16:10 For You do not leave my being in
the grave, Neither let Your Kind One see corruption.
Act 2:24
“Him Elohim raised up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was
impossible that He could be held in its grip.
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worth comparing with the esteem that is to be revealed in
us.
Rom 8:19 For the intense longing1 of the
creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of Elohim. Footnote: 1Lit.
anxiously looking with outstretched head.
Rom 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility,
not from choice, but because of Him who subjected it, in anticipation,
Rom 8:21 that the creation itself also shall be
delivered from the bondage to corruption into the esteemed freedom of the
children of Elohim.
Rom 8:22 For we know that all the creation groans
together, and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
Rom 8:23
And not only so, but even we ourselves who have the first-fruits of
the Spirit, we ourselves also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for
the adoption, the redemption of our body. (Emphasis added)
Rom 8:23 And not only so, but even we ourselves who
have the first-fruits of the Spirit, we ourselves also groan within ourselves,
eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
1Co 15:16 For if the dead are not raised, then neither
Messiah has been raised.
1Co 15:17 And if Messiah has not been raised, your
belief is to no purpose, you are still in your sins!
1Co 15:18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in
Messiah have perished.
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have expectation in
Messiah, we are of all men the most wretched.
1Co 15:20 But now Messiah has been raised from the
dead, and has become the first-fruit of those having fallen asleep.
1Co 15:21 For since death is through a man, resurrection
of the dead is also through a Man.
1Co 15:22 For as all die in Aḏam, so also all shall
be made alive in Messiah .
1Co 15:23
And each in his own order: Messiah the first-fruits, then those who are
of Messiah at His coming,
1Co 15:24
then the end, when He delivers up the reign to Elohim the Father, when
He has brought to naught all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25
For He has to reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.
1Co 15:26
The last enemy to be brought to naught is death.
This word will be lived out to its full,
this word will set us apart and prepare us for eternity.
Jas 1:18
Having purposed it, He brought us forth by the Word of truth, for us to
be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures.
“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, Yahweh 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.