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,
you have selected us from among all the peoples,
and have given us your Torah. Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
“The Talmud [Shabbos 68B] reveals the heavenly deliberation which preceded Hashem's revelation and subsequent giving of the Torah to Moshe.
Rabi Yehoshua ben Levi taught: When Moshe ascended to the heavens (to receive the Torah) the ministering angels asked Hashem: What is a human being doing here amongst us?
Hashem answered: He has come to receive the Torah.
The angels responded: Are you going to give to flesh and blood the precious treasure that's been hidden away since the time before creation? What is man that he should be considered? Hashem, your glory should remain here in the heavens! “ End quote.
Joh 1:14 And the Word(Torah) became flesh and pitched His tent among us, and we saw His esteem, esteem as of an only brought-forth of a father, complete in favour and truth.
This week we once again consider the cost we make to follow the high calling of Elohim in Messiah.
Heb 3:1 Therefore, set-apart brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, closely consider the Emissary and High Priest of our confession, Messiah יהושע,
Heb 3:2 who was trustworthy to Him who appointed Him, as also Mosheh in all His house.
Heb 3:3 For this One has been deemed worthy of more esteem than Mosheh, as much as He who built the house enjoys more respect than the house.
The book of Hebrews was written to Jews who had come to faith in Messiah and who were becoming weary of the enormous opposition they were enduring from the religious establishment for their faith.The writer to Hebrews recognizes the calling and esteem given to Moshe and adds that Yashua’s is given higher esteem than Moshe. Moshe acknowledges this in Deu 18:15 “יהוה your Elohim shall raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brothers. Listen to Him.Deu 18:19 ‘And it shall be, the man who does not listen to My Words which He speaks in My Name, I require it of him.
Act 3:22 “For Mosheh truly said to the fathers, ‘יהוה your Elohim shall raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear according to all matters, whatever He says to you.
Act 3:23 ‘And it shall be that every being who does not hear that Prophet1 shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ Footnote: 1Deut. 18:18-20.
There is no conflict between the ministry of Yahshua and Moshe. In fact when Yahshua return he will teach the nations the Torah from Yerushalayim – Yesh 2:2-3 And it shall be in the latter days that the mountain of the House of יהוה is established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills. And all nations shall flow to it.
And many peoples shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of יהוה, to the House of the Elohim of Yaʽaqoḇ, and let Him teach1 us His ways1, and let us walk in His paths1, for out of Tsiyon comes forth the Torah1, and the Word1 of יהוה from Yerushalayim.” Footnote: 1His ways, His paths, the teaching and the Word of יהוה are used synonymously. .
We have a high calling- Heb 3:1 Therefore, set-apart brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, closely consider the Emissary and High Priest of our confession, Messiah יהושע,
The calling and message of both Messiah and Moshe is the same, only Messiah is worthy of more esteem than Moshe.
Both Messiah and Moshe paid a high price for this calling – are we called to something different?
High calling comes with a high price.
The calling and message have not changed. For the most part the church has a different calling and message from that of Moshe and Messiah.
The message and calling is still the same - to bring in the lost sheep of the house of Yisrael – to return to the faith of their fathers – to return to the Torah of YHVH.
Mat 15:24 And He(Yahshua) answering, said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Yisra’ĕl.”
In Messiah we are now grafted back into the vine of Yisrael – Rom 11.
Our Torah portion begins:
Gen 39:1 And Yosĕph had been taken down to Mitsrayim. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, a Mitsrite, bought him from the Yishmaʽĕlites who had taken him down there.
Note whenever the Torah speaks of going to Mitsrayim/ Egypt it always refers to ‘going down” to Mitsrayim/Egypt. Whenever the Torah speaks of going to Yisrael/Israel or Yerushalayim it says “going up.”
The chief executioner was most probably the captain of the guard. Yosef was fortunate to escape with his life after he was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife.
Gen 39:2 And it came to be that יהוה was with Yosĕph, and he became a prosperous man, and was in the house of his master the Mitsrite.
Gen 39:3 And his master saw that יהוה was with him and that יהוה made all he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen 39:4 So Yosĕph found favour in his eyes, and served him, and he appointed him over his house, and gave into his hand all that he had.
Gen 39:5 And it came to be, from the time that he appointed him over his house and all that he had, that יהוה blessed the Mitsrite’s house for Yosĕph’s sake. And the blessing of יהוה was on all that he had in the house and in the field.
These words in Torah are perhaps allegorical and profoundly prophetic:
Many sincere believers have prospered and done well in the “house of Egypt” – which although appearing to be outwardly appealing is not where YHVH has called us to be.
Egypt or Mitsrayim means “restricted” and can be compared to a birth canal which points to the way we are born again into the kingdom of Elohim.
Usually some dramatic crisis needs to occur before we leave Egypt – often the false accusations of our brothers will cause us to land in “jail” – isolated and rejected by those who were once greatly blessed by our lives.
These false accusations come about because we refuse to submit to the false doctrines and teachings of a Babylonian/Egyptian religious system that teaches that it is ok to fornicate with false doctrines of men and reject the true doctrine of scriptures/Torah.
Gen 39:6 And he left in Yosĕph’s hand all that he had, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. And Yosĕph was handsome in form and appearance.
Gen 39:7 And after these events it came to be that his master’s wife lifted up her eyes to Yosĕph and said, “Lie with me.”
Gen 39:8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has given into my hand all that he has.
Gen 39:9 “No one is greater in this house than I, and he has not withheld whatever from me but you, because you are his wife. And how shall I do this great evil and sin against Elohim?”
Gen 39:10 And it came to be, as she spoke to Yosĕph day by day, that he did not listen to her, to lie with her, to be with her.
Gen 39:11 And it came to be on a certain day, when Yosĕph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside,
Gen 39:12 that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.
Gen 39:13 And it came to be, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside,
Gen 39:14 that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a Heḇrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
Gen 39:15 “And it came to be, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”
Gen 39:16 And she kept his garment with her until his master came home.
Gen 39:17 And she spoke to him these same words, saying, “The Heḇrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me, to mock me,
Gen 39:18 so it came to be, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”
Gen 39:19 And it came to be, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me according to these words,” that his displeasure burned.
Gen 39:20 Then Yosĕph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the sovereign’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.
Let’s have a look at some of the practical kinds of issues that can cause you and me to land up in “prison” – isolated and ostracized by our brethren.
1. When you begin to question the legitimacy of the church. Yahshua did not come to start a religion called Christianity or an organization called the church–in fact the word “church” never appears once in all of the original scriptures. Yahshua came for the lost sheep of Yisrael and He came to return Yisrael to the ancient paths of his fathers.
Jer 6:16 Thus said יהוה, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; and find rest for yourselves. But they said, ‘We do not walk in it.’
Jer 6:17 “And I raised up watchmen over you, and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the ram’s horn!’ But they said, ‘We do not listen.’
Jer 6:18 “Therefore hear, you nations, and know, O congregation, what is upon them!
Jer 6:19 “Hear, O earth! See, I am bringing evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to My words, nor My Torah – and they rejected it.
2. When one challenges the perception of who “G-d” is.
We know that He has a name – YHVH – we believe it is possibly pronounced Yahveh. We know that He alone is YHVH and that there is no other like Him.
Deu 6:1 “And this is the command, the laws and right-rulings which יהוה your Elohim has commanded, to teach you to do in the land which you are passing over to possess,
Deu 6:2 so that you fear יהוה your Elohim, to guard all His laws and His commands which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days be prolonged.
Deu 6:3 “And you shall hear, O Yisra’ĕl, and shall guard to do, that it might be well with you, and that you increase greatly as יהוה Elohim of your fathers has spoken to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deu 6:4 “Hear, O Yisra’ĕl: יהוה our Elohim, יהוה is one!
Deu 6:5 “And you shall love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might.
Deu 6:6 “And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart,
Deu 6:7 and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up,
Deu 6:8 and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deu 6:9 “And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
There is no “holy trinity” and Yahshua is not YHVH – say that and you will definitely land up in “prison” and many believers even Messianic believers will do all they can to discredit you.
3. When you begin to question the pagan origins of Christmas and Easter and want nothing to do with these Christianized pagan feasts and return to the Appointments/Feasts of YHVH as found in Leviticus 23. These are not so called ‘Jewish’ feasts they are YHVH’s covenantal Appointments (Moadim) with His people.
4. That YHVH has called us to gather on a Shabbat (the Seventh day of the week) and not on the First day of the week.
5. That eating pork and shell fish is an abomination to YHVH.
6. When well-meaning believers proclaim that we are no longer under the law but under grace and you challenge them declaring that the Torah or covenant of YHVH has never been done away with.
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.
7. When you declare that YHVH will once again restore monogamous and polygynous patriarchal families on earth before Yahshua returns – when men take the responsibility of priesthood and not the woman. This issue will even cause your closest friends and family to turn against you.
Gen 39:21 But יהוה was with Yosĕph and extended kindness to him, and He gave him favour in the eyes of the prison warden.
Gen 39:22 And the prison warden gave into the hand of Yosĕph all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there was his doing.
Gen 39:23 The prison warden did not look into any point that was under Yosĕph’s hand, because יהוה was with him. And whatever he did, יהוה made it prosper.
Yahshua has promised a great reward for those who are prepared to do “jail time.”
Mar 10:29 יהושע said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for the sake of Me and the Good News,
Mar 10:30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, everlasting life.
Mar 10:31 “But many who are first shall be last, and the last first.”
Pro 11:31 See, the righteous in the earth shall be rewarded, How much more the wrong and the sinner!
(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.