Financial Support – Tzadekah.
“Tzedakah ([tsedaˈka] or Ṣ'daqah [sˤəðaːˈqaː] in Classical Hebrew (Hebrew: צדקה; Arabic: صدقة), is a Hebrew word literally meaning justice or righteousness but commonly used to signify charity, though it is a different concept than charity because tzedakah is an obligation and charity is typically understood as a spontaneous act of goodwill and a marker of generosity. It is based on the Hebrew word (צדק, Tzedek) meaning righteousness, fairness or justice, and it is related to the Hebrew word Tzadik meaning righteous –wikipedia”
We at the Beit-El Messianic congregation are both amazed and enormously grateful that YHVH has blessed us this far (we are a Kehilla (assembly) of approximately 27 people at the moment) and we believe He will continue to do so.
Luk 12:32 “Do not fear, little flock, because your Father did delight to give you the reign.
Luk 12:33 “Sell your possessions and give in kindness. Make yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief does come near nor moth destroys.
Look at what YHVH has done! – He has provided us with a new place of worship.
The building process is almost finished.
Week later on the 4th of December 2013: Preparing for last evening of Chanukah and our first meeting in the new Meeting place. How appropriate on this Feast of Dedication!
Evening celebration of the last day of chanukah:
Congregational/Israeli dances always are a part of the Chaggim in our little Kehilla (assembly). Just not for the Appointment of Pesach (when we do a Pesach seder in our homes- some invites another family or single people and on the Appointment of Yom HaKippurim.)
If you are blessed by this ministry's study notes posted on this Blog and want to bless us financially you may do so by depositing your financial gift into our bank account. it will be much appreciated
Name of account: Beit-El Messianic Congregation
Name of bank: Absa Bank
Branch: Plumstead
Branch Code: 632005
Account Number: 9279853495
Swift Number: ABSAZAJJ
Torah portion
May this Torah portion connects us to the real meaning of Chanukah on this third day of Chanukah and the rest of the eight days- complete dedication to our Master his service.
Rom 12:1 I call upon you, therefore, brothers, through the compassion of Elohim, to present your bodies a living offering – set-apart, well-pleasing to Elohim – your reasonable worship.
Blessing
for the Torah Reading:
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.)
“Beshalach” “When he set free or when he cast out”
Exo 13:17 And it came to be,
when Pharaoh had let the people go….
Could this narrative be pointing us to a similar narrative in the end
times?
Once again herein lies a very important truth for
us to understand this Torah portion as well as end time events. It seems that
Pharoah had a legal right over the people of his country – they were completely
controlled by him and worshipped him. YHVH was not going to steal His people.
Pharoah appeared to have set them free because they had become too much trouble
for him. Pharoah could not accept that
he was to lose control of his subjects and YHVH hardened his heart that caused
Pharoah to pursue the Yisraelites to his own destruction.
We need to take a re-look at our eschatological
understanding of the end times in the light of these truths. We are not going
to return to the land of Israel until the Pharoah of this present world system
also “sets us free” and is completely destroyed. The watch word we are waiting
for is - “Be shalach”- when he sets free or casts out the remnant of Yisrael in
the last days.
Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where
she has a place prepared by Elohim, to be nourished there one thousand two
hundred and sixty days.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown out, that
serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who leads all the world astray. He
was thrown to the earth, and his messengers were thrown out with him.
Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in the
heaven, “Now have come the deliverance and the power and the reign of our Elohim,1
and the authority of His Messiah, for the accuser of our brothers, who accused
them before our Elohim day and night, has been thrown down. Footnote: 1See
11:15.
Rev 12:11 “And they overcame him because of the Blood
of the Lamb, and because of the Word of their witness, and they did not love
their lives to the death.
Rev 12:12 “Because of this rejoice, O heavens, and you
who dwell in them! Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come
down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has little time.”
Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he had been
thrown to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.
Rev 12:14 And the woman was given two wings of a great
eagle, to fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a
time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
Rev 12:15 And out of his mouth the serpent spewed water
like a river after the woman, to cause her to be swept away by the river.
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth
opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of
his mouth.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman,
and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands
of Elohim and possessing the witness of יהושע Messiah.
Rev 14:8
And another messenger followed, saying, “Baḇel is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all
nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her whoring.”
Rev
14:9 And a third messenger followed
them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image,
and receives his mark upon his forehead or upon his hand,
Rev 14:10 he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath
of Elohim, which is poured out undiluted into the cup of His wrath.
Rev
14:12 Here is the endurance of the
set-apart ones,1 here are those guarding the commands of Elohim and
the belief of יהושע.2 Footnotes: 1In 12:17 they are called
“the remnant”
Rev 15:1 And I saw
another sign in the heaven, great and marvellous: seven messengers having the
seven last plagues,1 for the wrath of Elohim was ended in them.
Footnote: 1See 21:9.
Rev 15:3 And they sing the song of Mosheh the servant
of Elohim, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvellous are Your
works, יהוה Ěl Shaddai!
Righteous and true are Your ways, O Sovereign of the set-apart ones!
Our Torah Portion:
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.
The
column of cloud and fire assures those who have set their heart on pilgrimage
that they will enjoy both protection and guidance on this journey. For
believers today seeking to return to their Hebraic roots this translates to the
Torah as taught by our Messiah and his talmadim (disciples).
Exo 14:1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Exo
14:2 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl,
that they turn (return – “shuvu”)
and camp before Pi Haḥiroth,
between Miḡdol and the sea, opposite Baʽal Tsephon – camp before it by the sea.
YHVH's
leading is miraculous: "By day His presence went ahead of them in a pillar
of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give
them light..." (v. 21). It is significant that the writer informs us that
the pillar of cloud and fire never "left its place in front of the
people" (v. 22). Why is this significant? YHVH is about to do something apparently
strange and unexpected. He wants us to know that He led them every step of the
way to this point, and now He stops the Israelites and tells them to turn back!
"Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between
Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal
Zephon." YHVH shows us that the confrontation with the Egyptians at Baal
Zephon is not by accident, or a coincidence. He shows us that He intentionally
turns the Israelites around and leads them to a place that He has chosen for
the great spiritual conflict with the Egyptians.
The
study of the history and background of Baal Zephon is utterly fascinating. The
worship of Baal was known throughout the Fertile Crescent, the Levant, and down
into Egypt. Upon this mountain, Baal Zephon, it was believed that Zephon
reigned in power and was master over the sea. Here, Pharaoh may have sensed that
the idol Zephon was going to display his power over the Israelites. YHVH tells
us some of Pharaoh’s reasoning: "Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are
wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.' And I will
harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them" (v. 3, 4a). Indeed he
did, and it is possible that Pharaoh considered that Zephon would finally rout
the Israelites and that Yahweh would be shown to be inferior in power. (Did
Pharaoh still think that he and his Egyptian gods had power to
subdue the Elohim of Israel unaided by a still more powerful deity?) And it is
no surprise that YHVH stopped Israel and turned them around to meet and defeat
not only Pharaoh and his army, but also to display his power over Zephon and
defeat him at the mountain of his so called esteem and power. Not only this,
but Yahweh would lead His people directly through the sea...the sea which the
Egyptians believed were under the control of Zephon! And further, that instead
of the Israelites being destroyed, showing Zephon's power of the sea, it would
be the Egyptians who would discover who was both Master of the mountain, but
also Master over the sea! There were many ways that YHVH could have chosen to
eliminate the Egyptian army; it was no accident that He chose to bring this
conflict into the sharpest spiritual focus and to a climax of incredible
proportions.”
We have no spiritual armour to protect our backs and so
YHVH still wants us to face the enemies of our beings/souls.
Eph 6:12 Because we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against authorities, against the
world-rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual matters of
wickedness in the heavenlies.
Eph 6:13 Because of this, take up the complete armour
of Elohim, so that you have power to withstand in the wicked day, and having
done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Stand, then, having girded your waist with
truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Eph 6:15 and having fitted your feet with the
preparation of the Good News of peace (Torah);
Eph 6:16 above all, having taken up the shield of
belief with which you shall have power to quench all the burning arrows of the
wicked one.
Eph 6:17 Take also the helmet of deliverance, and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of Elohim,1 Footnote: 1Isa.
59:21.
Isa 59:21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,”
said יהוה: “My Spirit
that is upon you, and My Words that I have put in your mouth, shall not be
withdrawn from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the
mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” said יהוה, “from this
time and forever.”
Exo
14:3 “For Pharaoh shall say of the
children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has
closed them in.’
Exo
14:4 “And I shall harden 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’ĕl 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 hardened the heart of Pharaoh sovereign of
Mitsrayim, and he pursued the children of Yisra’ĕl, but the children of
Yisra’ĕl 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 Baʽal
Tsephon.
Exo
14:10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the
children of Yisra’ĕl lifted their eyes and saw the Mitsrites coming up after
them. And they were greatly afraid, so the children of Yisra’ĕl 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 graves 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 still.”
There
is an interesting midrash about Tzephon. “Now, the evil inclination is called
the ‘tzephoni’(S6845) - the hidden one, like it says (Yoel 2,20): “And the
hidden one (northerner) I will distance from you”, because it is concealed and
hidden in the chambers of a person’s heart, as Chazal have said. This is what
the posuk(verse) is saying “between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal
Tzephon - in a place of idol worship, and before the concealed evil
inclination. In front of it you shall be, and you will subdue your inclination.
And therefore “opposite this”, in return for this, “you shall rest on the sea”,
you shall rest on dry land within the sea –
It
is here before the great deliverance of the sea that opens up for bnei Yisrael
(children of Yisrael) that YHVH wants to deal with our evil inclination in a
decisive manner. It was because bnei Yisrael failed to be convinced of YHVH’s
ability to deliver them that they so easily were controlled by their evil
inclination.”
It
is not only our flesh that needs circumcision but our hearts as well. Nothing
will be left hidden in the heart
of a true Yisraelite – ALL WILL EXPOSED TO THE
LIGHT.
Deu 30:6 “And יהוה your Elohim
shall circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love יהוה your Elohim with all your heart and with
all your being, so that you might live,
Deu 30:7 and יהוה your Elohim shall put all these curses on
your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.
Deu 30:8 “And you
shall turn back and obey the voice of יהוה and do all His
commands which I command you today.
Deu 30:9 “And יהוה your Elohim shall make you have excess in
all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your
livestock, and in the fruit of your ground for good. For יהוה turns back to rejoice over you for good as
He rejoiced over your fathers,
Deu 30:10 if you
obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim,
to guard His commands and His laws which are written in this Book of the Torah,
if you turn back to יהוה your Elohim
with all your heart and with all your being.
Deu 30:11 “For this command which I am commanding you
today, it is not too hard for you, nor is it far off.
We must learn from these
experiences our forefathers had to endure because we too could face extremely
difficult circumstances in the last days. We are generally unprepared for
extreme hardships. Circumcision of our hearts may prove far more painful than
the circumcision of our flesh.
Heb 10:32 But remember the former days, when, after you
were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings.
Heb 10:33 On the one hand you were exposed to
reproaches and pressures, and on the other hand you became sharers with those
who were so treated, Heb 10:34 for you
sympathised with me in my chains, and you accepted with joy the seizure of your
possessions, knowing that you have a better and a lasting possession for
yourselves in the heavens. Heb 10:35 Do
not, then, lose your boldness, which has great reward. Heb 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when
you have done the desire of Elohim, you receive the promise: Heb 10:37 “For yet a little while – He who is coming
shall come and shall not delay.”
Heb 10:38 “But the righteous shall live by belief, but
if anyone draws back, my being has no pleasure in him.” Heb 10:39 But we are not of those who draw back to
destruction, but of belief to the preservation of life.
Heb 12:6 for whom יהוה loves, He
disciplines, and flogs every son whom He receives.”1 Footnote: 1Prov.
3:11-12.
Joh 19:1 Then, therefore, Pilate took יהושע and flogged Him
-same Greek word for “flog”. (S3146) Obviously YHVH is more compassionate.
Heb 12:7 If you
endure discipline, Elohim is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom a
father does not discipline?
Heb 12:8 But if
you are without discipline, of which all have become sharers, then you are
illegitimate and not sons.
Heb 12:9 Moreover,
we indeed had fathers of our flesh disciplining us, and we paid them respect.
Shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? Heb
12:10 For they indeed disciplined us for
a few days as seemed best to them, but He does it for our profit, so that we
might share His apartness.
Heb 12:11 And
indeed, no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but grievous, but afterward
it yields the
peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.1 Footnote: 1Dt. 8:2.
peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.1 Footnote: 1Dt. 8:2.
Exo
14:15 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Why do you cry to Me?
Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and let them go forward.
Exo
14:16 “And you, lift up your rod, and
stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and let the children of
Yisra’ĕl go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
Exo
14:17 “And I, see I am hardening the
hearts of the Mitsrites, and they shall follow them. And I am to be esteemed
through Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen.
Exo
14:18 “And the Mitsrites shall know that
I am יהוה, when I am esteemed through Pharaoh, his
chariots, and his horsemen.”
Exo
14:19 And the Messenger of Elohim, who
went before the camp of Yisra’ĕl, moved and went behind them. And the column of
cloud went from before them and stood behind them,
Exo 14:20 and came between the camp of the Mitsrites
and the camp of Yisra’ĕl. And it was the cloud and the darkness, and it gave
light by night, and the one did not come near the other all the night.
Exo
14:21 And Mosheh stretched out his hand
over the sea. And יהוה caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night,
and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
Exo
14:22 And the children of Yisra’ĕl went
into the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on
their right and on their left.
Exo
14:23 And the Mitsrites pursued and went
after them into the midst of the sea, all the horses of
Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.
Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.
Exo
14:24 And it came to be, in the morning
watch, that יהוה looked down upon
the army of the Mitsrites through the column of fire and cloud, and He brought
the army of the Mitsrites into confusion.
Exo
14:25 And He took off their chariot
wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty. And the Mitsrites said, “Let
us flee from the face of Yisra’ĕl, for יהוה fights for them against the Mitsrites.”
Exo
14:26 Then יהוה said to Mosheh, “Stretch out your hand
over the sea, and let the waters come back upon the Mitsrites, on their
chariots, and on their horsemen.”
Exo
14:27 And Mosheh stretched out his hand
over the sea, and the sea returned to its usual flow, at the break of day, with
the Mitsrites fleeing into it. Thus יהוה overthrew the Mitsrites in the midst of
the sea,
Exo
14:28 and the waters returned and
covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came
into the sea after them, and not even one was left of them.
Exo
14:29 And the children of Yisra’ĕl
walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to
them on their right and on their left.
Exo
14:30 Thus יהוה saved Yisra’ĕl that day out of the hand of
the Mitsrites, and Yisra’ĕl saw the Mitsrites dead on the seashore.
Exo
14:31 And Yisra’ĕl saw the great work
which יהוה had done in Mitsrayim, and the people
feared יהוה, and believed יהוה and His servant Mosheh.
Exo 15:1 Then
Mosheh and the children of Yisra’ĕl sang this song to יהוה, and spoke, saying, “I sing to יהוה, for He is highly exalted! The horse and
its rider He has thrown into the sea!
Exo
15:2 “Yah is my strength and song, and
He has become my deliverance. He is my Ěl, and I praise Him – Elohim of my
father, and I exalt Him.
Exo
15:3 “יהוה is a man of battle, יהוה is His Name.
Exo
15:4 “He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and
his army into the sea, and his chosen officers are drowned in the Sea of Reeds.
Exo
15:5 “The depths covered them, they went
down to the bottom like a stone.
Exo
15:6 “Your right hand, O יהוה, has become great in power. Your right
hand, O יהוה, has crushed the enemy.
Exo
15:7 “And in the greatness of Your
excellence You pulled down those who rose up against You. You sent forth Your
wrath, it consumed them like stubble.
Exo
15:8 “And with the wind of Your nostrils
the waters were heaped up, the floods stood like a wall, the depths became
stiff in the heart of the sea.
Exo
15:9 “The enemy said, ‘I pursue, I
overtake, I divide the spoil, my being is satisfied on them. I draw out my
sword, my hand destroys them.’
Exo
15:10 “You did blow with Your wind, the
sea covered them, they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
Exo
15:11 “Who is like You, O יהוה, among the mighty ones? Who is like You,
great in set-apartness, awesome in praises, working wonders?
Exo
15:12 “You stretched out Your right
hand, the earth swallowed them.
Exo
15:13 “In Your kindness You led the
people whom You have redeemed, in Your strength You guided them to Your
set-apart dwelling. Exo 15:14 “Peoples
heard, they trembled, anguish gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. Exo
15:15 “Then the chiefs of Eḏom were troubled, the mighty men of Mo’aḇ, trembling grips them, all the inhabitants of Kenaʽan melted. Exo 15:16
“Fear and dread fell on them, by the greatness of Your arm they are as
silent as a stone, until Your people pass over, O יהוה, until the people, whom You have bought,
pass over. Exo 15:17 “You bring them in
and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, in the place, O יהוה, which You have made for Your own
dwelling, the set-apart place, O יהוה, which Your hands have prepared. Exo 15:18 “יהוה reigns forever and ever.”
The remnant will once again sing a song of
deliverance the words of this song have already been given to us.
Rev 15:3 And they sing the song of Mosheh the servant
of Elohim, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvellous are Your
works, יהוה Ěl Shaddai!
Righteous and true are Your ways, O Sovereign of the set-apart ones!
Rev 15:4 “Who
shall not fear You, O יהוה, and esteem
Your Name? Because You alone are kind. Because all nations shall come and
worship before You, for Your righteousnesses have been made manifest.”
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 YHVH, 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 – Ameyn.
Please
note these notes are under construction and are subject to correction and are
in no way a final authority on any subject.