We are now in the Sixth Hebrew/Scriptural Month, the month of ELUL. You can read about the Month of Elul on the right hand side of this home page under the heading "PAGES".
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.)
“Yeshayahu/Isaiah chapter 19, describes a very difficult, violent and economically
disastrous future for Mitrayim/Egypt in the last days, and even worse
leadership than it has had in the past….but there is also hope, there
is good news — very good news — in Mitsrayim’s/Egypt’s future as well.”
Isa 19:1 The
message concerning Mitsrayim. See, יהוה is
riding on a swift cloud, and He shall come into Mitsrayim. And the idols of
Mitsrayim shall tremble at His presence, and the heart of Mitsrayim melt in its
midst.
Isa 19:2 “And I shall stir up
Mitsrites against Mitsrites, and they shall fight, each one against his
brother, and each one against his neighbour, city against city, reign against
reign.
Isa 19:3 “And the spirit of
Mitsrayim shall vanish within them, and I destroy their counsel. And they shall
seek the idols and the mutterers, the mediums and the sorcerers.
Isa 19:4 “And I shall deliver the
Mitsrites into the hand of a cruel master, and a fierce sovereign to rule over
them,” declares the Master, יהוה of
hosts.
The spirit of Mitzrayim must “vanish” – In spite of all that Mitzrayim has
become and represents it has also been a “birth canal” for those who are called
by His Name. To be born again means we come out of ‘Mitsrayim/Egypt’ by the
blood of a lamb and we go through a mikvah (baptism) ‘Red Sea’ and we go
through many trials and tribulations before we eventually enter into the
Promised Land. The very word “Mitzrayim” means
“restriction.”
In the last days when this calamity comes upon Mitzrayim – restoration too
will come.
Isa 19:19 In that day an
altar to יהוה shall be in the midst of the land
of Mitsrayim, and a standing column to יהוה at its border.
Isa 19:20 And it shall be for a sign
and for a witness to יהוה of hosts in the land of Mitsrayim.
When they cry to יהוה because of the oppressors, He sends
them a Saviour and an Elohim, and shall deliver them.
Isa 19:21 And יהוה shall be known to Mitsrayim, and the Mitsrites shall
know יהוה in that day, and make slaughtering
and meal offering, and shall make a vow to יהוה and pay it.
Isa 19:22 And יהוה shall smite Mitsrayim, smite it and heal it. And they
shall turn to יהוה, and He shall hear them and heal
them.
Isa 19:23 In that day there shall be
a highway from Mitsrayim to Ashshur,* and Ashshur shall come into Mitsrayim and
Mitsrayim into Ashshur, and Mitsrayim shall serve with Ashshur.
Isa 19:24 In that day Yisra’ĕl shall
be one of three with Mitsrayim and Ashshur, even a blessing in the midst of the
earth,
Isa 19:25 whom יהוה of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Mitsrayim
My people, and Ashshur the work of My hands, and Yisra’ĕl My inheritance.”
*Ashshur includes areas in modern day countries of Syria
Turkey Iraq and Iran.
It is also significant that in the last days Yerushalyim
is refered to as Mitsrayim (Egypt) and even Sodom:
Rev 11:8 and
their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city which spiritually
is called Seḏom and Mitsrayim, where also our Master was
impaled,
Once
again those who are alive in the last days will witness how YHVH creates a
“birthing canal” for His people to come out of bondage and restriction into the
marvellous freedom of His kingdom.
Today
we see in the Middle East parties in conflict where no possible resolution
seems possible.
Could
this possibly be pointing to the reality that we are approaching a time in the
history of the world where YHVH will no longer tolerate disobedience to His
Covenant/Torah.
Act 17:30
“Truly, then, having overlooked these times of ignorance, Elohim now
commands all men everywhere to repent,
Act 17:31
because He has set a day on which He is going to judge the world in
righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed,1 having given proof of
this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
Isa 24:3
the earth is completely emptied and utterly plundered, for יהוה has
spoken this word.
Isa 24:4 The earth shall mourn and
wither, the world shall languish and wither, the haughty people of the earth
shall languish.
Isa 24:5 For the earth has been
defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the Torot1,
changed2 the law, broken the everlasting covenant3.
Footnotes: 1Torot - plural of Torah, teaching. 2Jer.
23:36. 3This is the only reason, according to all Scriptures, why
the earth shall be burned in the day of judgment – see also 13:9, 13:11, 26:21,
66:24, Mic. 5:15, Zeph. 1:2-18.
Isa 24:6 Therefore a curse shall
consume the earth, and those who dwell in it be punished. Therefore the
inhabitants of the earth shall be burned, and few men shall be left.
The context of this Torah portion should be
seen in that a remnant of believers will see the establishing of Messianic
truth before Messiah returns to earth.
Act 3:20
and that He sends יהושע Messiah, pre-appointed for you,
Act 3:21 whom heaven needs to
receive until the times of restoration of all matters, of which Elohim
spoke through the mouth of all His set-apart prophets since of old.
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.
Act 3:24 “And likewise, all the
prophets who have spoken, from Shemu’ĕl and those following, have also
announced these days.
Act 3:25 “You are sons of the
prophets, and of the covenant which Elohim made with our fathers, saying to Aḇraham, ‘And in your seed all
the nations of the earth shall be blessed.’
Act 3:26 “To you first, Elohim,
having raised up His Servant יהושע, sent
Him to bless you, in turning away each one of you from your wicked ways.”1
Footnote: 1See 2:38.
Note
there will be a measure of restoration of Messianic Torah observance BEFORE
MESSIAH RETURNS.
Our
Torah portion begins:
Ber/Gen 46:28 And he sent Yehuḏah before him to Yosĕph, to point out
before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen.
Note the leadership role Yehudah has in
leading the way for the family of Yisrael to come together in Mitzrayim
(bondage).
We
too can expect in the last days that a remnant of Yehudah will lead the way
once again for the coming together of the brothers.
Gen
46:29 And Yosĕph made ready his chariot
and went up to Goshen to meet his father
Yisra’ĕl.
And he appeared to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.
Gen
46:30 And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “Now
let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
Gen
46:31 And Yosĕph said to his brothers
and to his father’s household, “I am going up to inform Pharaoh, and say to
him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Kena’an, have come to me.
Note the family of Yisrael do not meet in
the courts of the Phaorah but in the tent of Yakov/Yisrael.
In the last days we too can expect a great
love and proper honour to return to our Heavenly Father.
Gen
46:32 ‘And the men are shepherds, that
they have been men of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their
herds, and all that they have.’
Gen
46:33 “And it shall be, when Pharaoh
calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’
Gen
46:34 that you shall say, ‘Your servants
have been men of livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our
fathers,’ so that you dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an
abomination to the Mitsrites.”
Shepherding
and caring are not part of the Egyptian way of life. They see themselves as way
above simple shepherds. Instead they worship the animals the shepherds take
care of. The Remnant will live in the tents of Yakov, will pitch their tents
build their altars and dig wells – and study the Torah and take care of animals
–which qualifies them to shepherd the nations.
Gen 47:1
Then Yosĕph went and spoke to Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my
brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come
from the land of Kena’an. And see, they are in the land of
Goshen.”
Gen
47:2 And he took five men from among his
brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
Gen
47:3 And Pharaoh said to his brothers,
“What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are
shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”
Gen
47:4 And they said to Pharaoh, “We have
come to dwell in the land, because there is no pasture for your servant’s
flocks, for the scarcity of food is severe in the land of Kena’an. And now, please let your servants dwell
in the land of Goshen.”
Gen
47:5 And Pharaoh spoke to Yosĕph,
saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.
Gen
47:6 “The land of Mitsrayim is before
you. Settle your father and brothers in the best of the land, let them dwell in
the land of Goshen. And if you know of capable men among them, then make them
chief herdsmen over my livestock.”
Gen
47:7 And Yosĕph brought in his father Ya’aqoḇ and set him before
Pharaoh. And Ya’aqoḇ blessed Pharaoh.
Gen
47:8 And Pharaoh said to Ya’aqoḇ, “How old are you?”
Gen
47:9 And Ya’aqoḇ said to Pharaoh, “The
days of the years of my sojournings are one hundred and thirty years. Few and
evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the
days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”
A Yakov - people – the remnant of Yisrael
will be those who have through many trails and tribulations come to this
special place of reunion of the family of Yisrael.
Gen
47:10 And Ya’aqoḇ blessed Pharaoh, and
went out from before Pharaoh.
Gen
47:11 So Yosĕph settled his father and
his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Mitsrayim, in the best
of the land, in the land of Ra’meses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
Gen
47:12 And Yosĕph provided his father,
and his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread for the mouth of
the little ones.
Gen
47:13 Now there was no bread in all the
land, because the scarcity of food was very severe, and the land of Mitsrayim
and all the land of Kena’an became exhausted from the scarcity of
food.
Gen
47:14 And Yosĕph gathered up all the
silver that was found in the land of Mitsrayim and in the land of Kena’an, for the grain which they bought. And
Yosĕph brought the silver into Pharaoh’s house.
Gen
47:15 And when the silver was all spent
in the land of Mitsrayim and in the land of Kena’an, all the Mitsrites
came to Yosĕph and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your
presence? For the silver is gone!”
Gen
47:16 And Yosĕph said, “Give your
livestock, and I give you bread for your livestock, if the silver is gone.”
Gen
47:17 So they brought their livestock to
Yosĕph, and Yosĕph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the
flocks they owned, and for the herds they owned, and for the donkeys. Thus he
fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
Gen
47:18 And when that year had ended, they
came to him the next year and said to him, “We do not hide from my master that
our silver is all spent, and my master also has the livestock we owned. There
has not any been left before my master but our bodies and our lands.
Gen
47:19 “Why should we die before your
eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and let us and our
land be servants of Pharaoh. And give us seed, and let us live and not die, and
let the land not lie waste.”
Gen
47:20 And Yosĕph bought the entire land
of Mitsrayim for Pharaoh, because every man of the Mitsrites sold his field,
because the scarcity of food was severe upon them. And the land came to be
Pharaoh’s.
Gen
47:21 And as for the people, he moved
them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Mitsrayim to the other
end.
Gen
47:22 Only the ground of the priests he
did not buy, for the priests had portions allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they
ate their portions which Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their
ground.
Gen
47:23 And Yosĕph said to the people,
“Look, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed
for you, and you shall sow the land.
Gen
47:24 “And it shall be that in the
harvest you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. And four-fifths is your own, as
seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food
for your little ones.”
Gen
47:25 And they said, “You have saved our
lives. Let us find favour in the eyes of my master, and we shall become
Pharaoh’s servants.”
Gen
47:26 And Yosĕph made it a law over the
land of Mitsrayim to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for
the ground of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.
Gen
47:27 And Yisra’ĕl dwelt in the land of
Mitsrayim, in the land of Goshen. And they had possessions there and bore fruit
and increased exceedingly.
Gen
47:28 And Ya’aqoḇ lived in the land of
Mitsrayim seventeen years. So the length of Ya’aqoḇ’s life was one hundred and forty-seven
years.
Gen
47:29 And the time for Yisra’ĕl to die
drew near, and he called his son Yosĕph and said to him, “Now if I have found
favour in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh, and show kindness and
truth to me. Please do not bury me in Mitsrayim,
Gen
47:30 but I shall lie with my fathers,
and you shall take me up out of Mitsrayim and bury me in their burial place.”
And he said, “I do as you have said.”
Gen
47:31 And he said, “Swear to me.” And he
swore to him, and Yisra’ĕl bowed himself on the head of the bed.
These
events may be a prophetic allegory of how YHVH will protect and prosper a
remnant in the last days.
Who
will this remnant be?
Those
who have been truly born again by the Word/Torah of YHVH.
1Pe 1:23
having been born again – not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible –
through the living Word of Elohim, which remains forever,
What
does it mean to be born again?
Yochanan/Joh 3:3
יהושע answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless one is born from above, he is unable to see1 the reign
of Elohim.” Footnote: 1Or perceive.
Joh 3:4 Naḵdimon said to Him, “How is a
man able to be born when he is old? Is he able to enter into his mother’s womb
a second time and be born?”
Joh 3:5 יהושע answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is
born of water and the Spirit, he is unable to enter into the reign of Elohim.
Joh 3:6 “That which has been born of
the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7 “Do not marvel that I said
to you, ‘You have to be born from above.’
Joh 3:8 “The Spirit1
breathes where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where
it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who has been born of the
Spirit.”
Today
we have lost the original meaning of what was involved in such a conversion. It
was a total radical turning away from every form of man-made religion and an
embracing of the Torah of YHVH. This could only happen where the Ruach of YHVH
had begun a deep work of regeneration within a person. This regeneration was
evidenced by a mikvah (baptism) and a public declaration that a person was
willing to forsake all. Many of the early believers sold all their possessions
and lay them at the apostle’s feet. These were men and woman who had completely
turned their backs on everything to follow Messiah. These were people who had
discovered the pearl of great price – the treasure hidden in the field. These were
the remnant of Yisrael.
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.