2026 Commentary on Torah & Joshua

Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Genesis 3

The first word of Scripture is Beresheet (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית), which on the surface means "In the Beginning," but take note: nothing in Scripture is meant to be read only on the surface. Our God is eternal and His ways are unsearchable, and so His Word goes wider and deeper than we will ever know. He's eternal! That being said, He has given us the joy to get to know Him better by the day, even into eternity. This ought to excite each and every one of us to the very core of our being! Our Holy Father has chosen to reveal Himself to us first through His Holy Word and then through His Son, the Word who became flesh—and we know Him through the power of His Holy Spirit. That being said, we could literally study the first Word of Scripture for hours and not exhaust its meaning, for the first Word of Scripture explains the entire story of God's creation. He exclaims through the prophet Isaiah (46:9-10): "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." God existed before the beginning. He is the Creator! He is God, and there is no other!
 
Today's reading is honestly a bit unfair. We have to breeze past three of the most important, foundational, relevant, and consequential chapters of all Scripture. They explain: God exists in an eternal state; He created man so that we could enjoy an eternal relationship with Him, and He with us; He gave us free will in a great act of love so that we could choose to pursue a relationship with Him; He suffered immense pain as He watched us choose to walk away from that relationship; He foretold the manner in which He would Redeem us through the Son—a sacrificial love that has no parallel; and He invited us to humble ourselves and wait on Him so that we could one day return to dwell with Him forever. We learn that all blessing is from God, and that everything God has ever done or plans to do is good. We learn that His instruction is designed for our good. We also learn that all suffering is the result of our own actions that contradict the will of God, which He duly explains in His Word. Any action we choose in rebellion to God serves Satan, who is the first rebel—full of pride. We are called to humble ourselves and to seek an intimate relationship with God in all our ways. All of the Bible tells this story in so many different ways.

Here's an hour-long message I recommend on the Word Beresheet (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית), which I pray opens your mind to the power of God's Word: https://youtu.be/PtATSQx3cjI.

Pastor Daniel Joseph, my mentor, produced a sermon series called "In the Beginning," which I highly recommend. It details the significant meaning of the Bible's first five verses, which explain that our God is One God who eternally exists and reveals Himself as the Father (יהוה), the Son (Yeshua), and the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmI6y1h4ekf5iUNN3C_p2FdMfaxulitSU&si=BGaPsn_cd1exMrWH 

I spoke about these things in detail also within my sermon series, "Who Is Yeshua the Messiah?" https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7ZxP9bZ9iQoZJ2zoYqKUEO9w4jDAUCIq&si=b4zK2XLaWyvkk_tM. Yeshua, our Messiah, the Son of God, is One with the Father in a unique way that is unlike any other relationship. Like Eve is one flesh with Adam, we are invited to become one flesh with the Son, who became like us but did not sin, died and rose from the dead so that we can be united with the Father forever through what He has accomplished and what He has promised. Scripture is quite literally HisStory.

And by this I mean also that Genesis is True—historically, scientifically, physically, spiritually, culturally, metaphorically, prophetically, and in every other conceivable way. We ought to read this book knowing that God is teaching His people—those of us who Trust Him and therefore follow Him—exactly how things came to be, how they ought to be, and how they will be. He explained that He would have appointed times, such as the Sabbath to celebrate exactly what He had done and what He plans to do with those who love Him, and He invites us to join Him. After all, the Sabbath was made for Man—so that we can come in to be near to God and throw off the curse of the fallen world we live in for one day each week. He is a merciful God indeed! He created all things perfectly. Everything He created was good. God DID NOT create evil! He DID create free will, and evil results from the choices we or any created beings make opposing God's will. Free will is good because it provides us with agency to choose the One who is perfect. When we choose Him, this brings satisfaction and blessing for God and His chosen people. The husband and wife relationship is the first God describes—it is a prophesy explaining that we ought to be His Bride.

We ought to also note that we were created to be God's image bearers. We are like Him, but we are not Him, and yet He desires us to be with Him. For those of us who choose Him and the Redemption He's promised—by invitation—this will come to be. He provides everything we need along the way; He knocks on the door of our hearts; He provides our instruction; He provides our Salvation and Redemption; He provides our Sanctification; He provides our Deliverance. All of this was predestined according to His will, but He leaves each of us the choice—whether we will accept His gift. We are made in His image, but we are not Him. Thus if we create a world of our own, our experience will not be good because it will be apart from Him. The only blessing we can have is His presence and the goodness that it brings. Fully surrendering to the good path He has set for us through Yeshua brings us into His presence. God "resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Genesis 1 and 2 are the same story told in two different ways. Revelation was written similarly. If you think about it, so were Kings and Chronicles; the Gospels; many of the Epistles repeat similar themes. God's Truth, like all things, is established on a testimony of two or three.

As human beings we are made from the dust of the earth and the breath (spirit) of God, and when these two things combine we become a living being, or a soul, which is to say a "nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ)" in Hebrew. This "nephesh" is the part of us that God created, and the part that resurrects into everlasting life or is destroyed in the second death. Like God, we are created in His image as one. He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are Breath, Flesh, and Soul.

Genesis 3 explains our falling away, but also our way back. We are all sons and daughters of the rebellion, suffering from the consequences of our fathers' sins, but we all enjoy the invitation of our Father's eternal mercy and blessings that frees us from bondage to condemnation and presents us with the gift of eternal life. Nevertheless, in this life we face the curse: which is the toil and labor we must engage in for six days each week, while God's grace provides us with the Sabbath rest, which is a foreshadowing of our everlasting life to come.

Yahweh set Adam in the garden to cultivate and keep it, and so too will we cultivate and keep the New Heaven and New Earth. Without the experience of sin and death, Adam and Eve did not appreciate the choice God had given them. He said they could eat the fruit of any tree except one. We have the same choice today: Do we obey God's commandments or do we rebel, thinking that disobedience leads to better blessings? Disobedience leads to curses, as we learn, and obedience leads to blessing.

Blessed is the man whose "delight is in the law of Yahweh, and in His law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:2b LSB)

The serpent—nachash (נָחָשׁ) in Hebrew—is a deceiver who speaks half truths to divide and conquer God's people. He receives glory by tempting God's people to rebel against God, but unlike God this created being desires our spiritual death. God's glory is magnified when His people follow His instruction, and life is the result. The Devil has the exact same playbook now as he did then, but God is greater and offers more grace to those who humble themselves and repent to follow the example of Yeshua. Do we want eyes wide open to the consequences of sin, or eyes that are fixed on Yeshua that receive eternal blessing? We are clothed by God's glory, and we perceive vulnerability on account of our sin. We cannot sew our own clothing from fig leaves—our own deeds are fully insufficient to cover our sin, and without Yeshua we can expect nothing other than death. We must rely on the blood of the Lamb for our atonement, and God indeed provides us with this covering of skin. But we cannot get back into the Garden unless we are purified by the flaming sword that guards it, which is the Word of God understood by the power of God's Holy Spirit.

And in Genesis 1-3, the entire message of God is conveyed.

Genesis 4, Genesis 5, Genesis 6, Genesis 7

Genesis 4 demonstrates the way of God that we must follow in the midst of our now fallen world, which draws us to err and fall further away.

Adam and Eve were on the lookout for the promised Seed of Genesis 3:15, perhaps even imagining that Cain might have been the promised Messiah. By the end of the chapter we see that they recognize that Abel had been faithful and righteous, not Cain, and now that Abel was dead, Seth, their third son, would carry forth the Promise of God to send His Seed, Messiah Yeshua.

In Cain's offering, he gave "in the process of time" from the fruit of the earth, while Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and its fat to give the first and best to the LORD. To give from the earth is to bring up what is of the flesh and believe that what we ourselves produce can satisfy God. We are not sufficient in ourselves and the works we do to warrant the forgiveness of sins. Abel's offering foreshadows Yeshua, the firstborn of the resurrection, and His Passover sacrifice, which is the only offering God will accept for atonement. God had made the flock, as well as the first and the best from it, and Abel gave his best back to God—a true sacrifice. When we surrender to God's will above our own and therefore act on the eternal instruction of God that is present in every Word of Scripture, God sees a man after His own heart and accepts our sacrifice.

Cain's anger is misplaced and the most dangerous place any man can ever find themselves. God is perfectly good and everything we experience in this life is for our good, even suffering through the consequences of our own sins and the sins of others. God uses everything for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Cain did not have to go the way he did. God called him back, saying, "If you do good, will not your countenance be lifted up?" When we obey God, blessing results even in the midst of struggle. He warned: "if you do not do good, sin is lying at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." When we rebel against God's Word, we open ourselves up to further rebellion. Sin multiplies sin. But when we find ourselves in this spot, we ought to confess our sins and repent, which is to return to the Way of God. This is what it means for us to "rule over" sin. We must take every thought captive, and choose this day whom we will serve. If we are not serving Yeshua by doing His will in our lives, then we are in rebellion against God. Cain did not choose well. Abel's blood still cries from the grave under the altar of God along with all the other martyrs where were murdered for their faith in God and obedience to His Word. The curse of Cain was not what most people think. It is a curse indeed to witness the consequences of our sins in the lives of others. Praise be to God that He alone removes this condemnation through the Blood of the Lamb.

In Chapter 5, when I read in my LSB version, "This is the book of the generations of Adam," the word "toledoth (תּוֹלְדָה)" translated "generations" or "genealogy" ought to be understood as a "written account." Thus, God's Word explains to us that Adam himself wrote down his portion of Scripture in a book. Don't believe the secular archaeologists who deny the Word of God. Moses wrote down all the words that God told him in a book, and Genesis preceded his time. We can speculate whether God told him what to write down for Genesis, which is certainly possible, but what's more likely is that Adam passed down his book to Seth, who added to it, and then Noah, and then Shem, and then Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. If there were others in between, Scripture doesn't say. But these are all recorded in the same way as this. Take note of this and look for it. I personally believe this is true, and this is why Scripture is unparalleled in its true account of God's story.

The names of the patriarchs themselves tell the entire story of God. Pay attention to them, for each name has meaning. Please NOTE: I did NOT vett this ministry or website, but the article here is accurate and explains what I mean: 
https://biblicalfidelity.com/2019/01/17/the-gospel-in-genesis-5/.

Also note that the ages of these men are seemingly fantastic, but I will submit to you again that the Bible is True. When we plot their ages down the line on a mathematical scale, they follow an exponential decay curve. Death was a real consequence for sin, and only God could put such perfect math into His Word. The scientific reasons for such longevity remain a mystery, but there are working theories available on the Answers In Genesis webpage that I invite you to explore: https://answersingenesis.org. The theories concerning the Bible's veracity there are far more reliably supported by real evidence than any other "science" that's out there.

Adam's son Seth was created in his likeness, in his image. Adam, who had been make in the image of God, had fallen by choosing to sin. Seth and all who came after him inherited the consequences of this sin. Rather than being born into the perfect Eden that Adam and Eve enjoyed, Seth and all who came after would be born in a fallen world awaiting the Seed who would make a Way back to Eden.

Genesis 6 begins the saga of Noah, which also deserves its own independent study. The first four verses explain that created spiritual beings rebelled against God and mated with human women, giving up their heavenly purpose by taking what they wanted for themselves. Their offspring became Nephilim, and when they died their spirits became demons, which still tempt us today. The first Book of Enoch, which I consider a valuable resource, explains this history well. I believe the first book of Enoch is a valid prophetic work, as it is quoted verbatim in Jude and used by Yeshua and His apostles in multiple illustrations within the Gospels.

Noah was a righteous man who trusted in God and therefore obeyed His Word. Ezekiel 14 lists him as one of three men who meet this description; Job and Daniel being the other two. This is significant. Answers in Genesis hypothesizes how the Ark could have been constructed to hold every kind of animal on the Earth. The Ark Encounter in Kentucky is a place I highly recommend you visit so you can see for yourselves. Every culture in the world has a contorted history of the flood event, which God explained accurately here in Scripture. Yeshua Himself said the last days would be like the days of Noah, which "every intent of the thoughts of [men's] heart was only evil continually." Noah's story is a story of God's holiness and mercy. The LORD resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. He is long-suffering, but there will come a time when His grace runs out for those who continuously and purposefully disobey Him. The number who have truth faith in Yeshua and endure in His commandments will be much fewer than those who are ultimately destroyed in the lake of fire. God cleansed the earth with water the first time, a baptism by water, and He will cleanse the earth with fire the next time, a baptism by fire. All that cannot be refined will be burned up, but the gold and silver will remain. Let us all seek to buy gold and silver from the Word of God, as Noah did.

Noah wrote his story into what became the Book of Genesis. See Genesis 6:9. I believe he passed down a scroll through His son Shem. Noah walked with God, and so too should we "walk the way He walked" (1 John 2:6). It is important that we recognize that Noah and those of us today who worship Yeshua are walking with the same God. Let us not fall into the corruption of those who are lost around us, but rather help pull up those from the fire as the LORD allows. The LORD is going to destroy all flesh—not with water but with fire. The great flood that covered the whole earth is a lesson to us. We have to be of the spirit if we hope to stand within the fire, enjoying and living within the eternal covenant that was given to use through the Blood of Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of God. The LORD's Mercy saved a testimony of two amidst all of His creation. Remember that His creation was good. Let us not fall into the depravity around us, but choose to worship God alone so that we can be called into the Ark that saves us, which is Yeshua. He is the Door for the Sheep that lifts us up above the grave and leads us into green pastures.

Noah took a complete number, 7 pairs, of every clean animal, and only two of the unclean. This is evidence that God's law is eternal and was not just given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. The abundance of clean animals would be needed to re-inhabit the earth, so man would have food to eat.

When the flood came, waters came from the "fountains of the deep" and from rain that had not fallen previously. These are key Biblical facts that we ought to use to establish a scientific model of how this global flood occurred, and how it changed the world that was before into what we have now. The continents were one, but they split apart. Evidence for this rests at the bottom of the Atlantic, where the fountains of the deep erupted from. The rain came down permanently eliminating a layer of the atmosphere that had protected long life, and now our lives decay with the harsher elements invading what we have left. The erosion that occurred when the waters receded created the landscape we now call earth, and all of its features. There's really too much to write. Do the research. The evidence supports what you're reading here.

Genesis 8, Genesis 9, Genesis 10, Genesis 11

The number 40 signifies a time of judgment and a time of transition, and God would use this time to remake the Earth so that our lifespans would be shorter and the opportunities for us to rebel as well as repent would be fewer. Perhaps this was a grace to us, so that our redemption would come more quickly? "For it is appointed for man to die once, and then after that comes the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). We have an urgent faith, for no one knows the day or the hour that Yeshua will return. Just as the men and women of antideluvian times were eating and drinking, giving in marriage and so on, so too will we be doing these same things when Yeshua returns and judges all, separating the sheep from the goats (NOTE: These are both clean animals; I believe the future separation will be among believers). We must prepare our hearts by keeping the commandments of God and the testimony of Yeshua, for this is the Way through the narrow gate Yeshua offers. The covenant God made with Noah still applies to us. Until Yeshua returns, we will have days and nights and seasons and everything will appear as it does now. Today is the day we ought to choose to serve the LORD, for He will come as "a thief in the night."

Gen. 8 includes a parable for our redemption. On the ark, Noah sent out a raven, which "kept going to and fro until the waters dried up from the earth." Note Job 1:7: Satan reported he had been “going to and fro on the earth..." Next, Noah sent a dove and it "did not find a resting place for the sole of her foot" and returned to Noah. Yeshua said during His earthly ministry in Luke 9:58, "...the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." The foot/head juxtaposition is also interesting to consider alongside the prophesy of Satan's curse in Gen. 3. Also, it was not yet time to establish His dominion on the Earth. When Noah sent the dove the second time, it brought back a freshly plucked olive leaf. When Yeshua returns, He will bring His people Israel who have the testimony of Yeshua and keep God's commands back into His Heavenly abode to celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb; then the wrath of God will completely remove all sin from the Earth. It is only when Noah sent the dove a third time that she did not return to the ark. Revelation 21:1 explains: "There was no longer any sea." The New Heaven and New Earth will be established when God's City descends from the heavens and the LORD forever provides light for His people there.

Noah took 7 pairs of clean animals and 1 pair of unclean animals onto the ark, making a clear distinction. When the LORD allowed every living thing that moves to be eaten as food, the word "food (oklah (אָכְלָה))" explains that only those animals which are permitted by God to be eaten may be eaten. In other words, every animal that is food may be eaten as food. This meaning is present in Genesis 9:3. Prior to the flood, men did not eat animals. Animals were only sacrificed prior to the flood. Now that the climate had changed on account of the global flood, meat would become a necessary part of the human diet, especially as the ice age that would result from the massive deluge was fast approaching. There would be very limited areas where crops could be grown; the people chose the fertile area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. There is much evidence that our entire world population can be traced back to Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives. Every culture in the whole world has a flood story, but thanks be to God that Noah wrote down the true account for us to archive what actually happened. See also Deuteronomy 12:20-28 for a verse similar to Genesis 9:3, in which the LORD clearly does not allow us to eat any animal.

God also commanded Noah and family not to eat blood, and not to take blood. The punishment for murder would be the death penalty, because God made man in His image. God loves the people He creates. He desires us to be with Him. Whenever we encounter a difficult person we ought to remember that he or she is a person that God created and loves and desires to be with Him. Let us act in such a way that every person we encounter will know that we know the LORD.

The LORD commanded Noah and family to be fruitful and multiply, which was the same command He gave to Adam. Not coincidentally, this is the same command Yeshua gave to us in Matthew 28:19-20: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you....” To go forth and multiply is not just to reproduce physically, but also to reproduce Godly disciples of the LORD, seeking Him and His ways in our lives. We are commanded to also reproduce spiritually, for "in the image of God He made man."

Just as Adam and Eve were in a garden and there they sinned by disobeying God's commandments, finding themselves naked and ashamed as a result, Noah also planted a garden and grew grapes for wine, leaving him drunk, naked and ashamed. This pattern shows that we will all fall short of God's glory. Because we serve a Holy God, we need a Redeemer so that we can come near to God through the grace He offers us in Yeshua, and this Seed was promised through Shem. The prophesies of Shem, Japheth, and Ham's son Canaan, illustrate the positions God puts us in are not equal. We are not all born into wealth and positions of authority, but some of us are born as servants to others.  We do not have a free will to choose our position in society that we're born into, but we do have a free will to choose God no matter what station we find ourselves in. Whether master or servant, male or female, rich or poor, we ought to choose to serve the LORD and love one another all the days of our lives, for He makes a Way back into His garden through Messiah Yeshua.

The generations of Shem, Japheth and Ham are a true account of how people spread out from the ark location following the flood. From their children the nations were separated on the earth. We all can trace our ancestry back to this point in history. We are all of one human race, the people whom God created to multiply and fill the earth. Nimrod who came from Ham became a mighty hunter; he established all the cities that would come to represent the kingdoms of this world that would rebel against the LORD and His people. It was in the days of Peleg that the world was divided. I believe this means that during Peleg's life, the Tower of Babel incident took place, and this is when God divided the peoples into different ethnic groups based on language. This interpretation makes more sense to me than any alternative. I believe the uni-continent known as Pangea broke apart as the deep separated to release the waters of the flood rather than during the days of Peleg. Noah and family would truly land on a new world. I believe, as we move into the story of Babel, built by Nimrod, who is the first antichrist of the new world, we can note chronologically that this took place during the days of Peleg.

Genesis 11 is critical for understanding human history as well as the history of the nations and human religion. A brief reference to this time occurs in Deuteronomy 32:8-9, where we read: "When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance." This passage refers to the dividing of the people or the dividing of the languages that occurred at Bavel/Babel/Babylon. It took five generations from Noah to Peleg for the people who were given a second chance to come back into complete rebellion against God. We know that Noah sinned in a garden of his own making by getting drunk on the wine of his vinyard, and Ham certainly sinned by exposing his father's nakedness, but neither were in outright rebellion against God and both suffered consequences for their sins. But now, in Bavel, in the Sumerian plains (Shinar), mankind united once more in total rebellion against God, just like before the flood. Oh how quickly we fall away!

The tower of Bavel was likely a portal to the demonic realm, for the people sought to become "men of renown" just like those born of the fallen divine beings who mated with human women before the flood. They wanted to reach the heavens with their tower—the place where divine beings live. Was their interaction with rebellious spiritual beings the trigger for their rebellion against God? It's likely, but their failure here really comes down to a lack of faith. God had promised Noah He would not flood the Earth again, and yet they doubted Him; they wanted to ensure their own safety and do things their way rather than trust in God and do things His way. Not only this, but God had commanded the people to go forth and multiply for their good. This was the same commandment given to Adam and the same commandment given by Yeshua in the Great Commission. But rather than obey God, they built this tower in an effort to thwart God's plan to scatter them. The origin of all pagan religions comes from this city, for when God scattered the people abroad by confusing their languages, they brought with them the same traditions that Nimrod had taught them at Bavel. Over time, each people group lent their unique culture to these selfish ways.

Genesis 12, Genesis 13, Genesis 14, Genesis 15

Terah, Abram/Abraham's father, had already left "Ur of the Chaldeans" in the region of Bavel/Babylon in Sumar, to head toward Canaan, but he never made it there. He had settled in Haran, which was situated along a major trade route between the two regions. Haran later became part of Assyria, and is now situated in modern Turkey. According to the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, "Haran was an Aramaean city and was famous for its worship of the lunar Sin-and-Nikkal cult. This system was an offspring of the cult found in Sumerian Ur." Some have posited that Terah leading his family to Haran may have been part of a religious pilgrimage, and while it's fun to speculate, the truth is we don't know why they went there. We can safely assume, though, that none of them knew the LORD at this point and they were all very pagan in their ways. 


Thus, when we begin Genesis 12, we can see that Yahweh called Abram out from a life of darkness into His marvelous light. Yahweh said to Abram: "Go forth from your land, and from your kin, and from your father's house to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, and so you shall be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." This is a promise of God that He later fulfilled, but the story itself takes a lifetime to develop, as it does for each of us.

Hebrews 11:8 answers the question "Why Abraham?": "By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going." This is actually what we read in the text of Genesis 12:4a: "So Abram went forth as Yahweh had spoken to him; and Lot went with him...." Contemplate: When God calls you to follow Him and you obey His voice because of faith, do you also seek to bring others with you? God may have directly called Abram/Abraham, but He also called Lot through Abraham, and both obeyed.

Why did God call Abram out of the World and not any of the other people who lived around him? Why does God call any of us out of the World to follow Yeshua? This is a difficult question, but does the text say He didn't call others? It's my belief that God calls all of us at His appointed time because, according to Romans 1:20-21a, "since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ....," and 2nd Peter 3:9b, He "is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." And Proverbs 3:34 answers "when": "Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble," and Jeremiah 17:10 answers "how": "I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." God calls a people to Himself from those who humbly long for Him in the midst of a depraved and fallen world. He gives us grace according to the condition of our hearts. Do our hearts long for God in the midst of our experiences, or are they repelled by Him? God will call for us when we are truly seeking Him in humility.

As Abram reached the land, we're told that his Seed would be given the land. This is the same Seed promised to Eve through Seth and then Noah. The Seed is not Abraham's physical children, but the Seed that was passed down through Israel; namely, Messiah Yeshua, and everyone who trusts in Him will receive a share of His inheritance. To trust in Yeshua is not only to believe what He did for us, but also to follow His example. In John 8:39, Yeshua said to Abraham's descendants, "If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham." And we've already looked at one: On account of Abraham's faith, He obeyed God and went out into a foreign land as a stranger to walk humbly, but not perfectly, with our God. We also learn from Hebrews 11:9-10: "By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Abraham knew He was living for God's Kingdom through Yeshua, the Seed of promise, but as the day-to-day mechanics of this get fuzzy for us, so they did for Abraham. We ought to understand Father Abraham was just a man with faith, and aspire to be such people.

Yeshua said in John 16:33b: "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” Famine, according to Ezekiel 14, is one of God's four judgments on a nation living in persistent unfaithfulness. This isn't a judgment on the individuals, but the whole nation, and it's meant to cause repentance of the people so that the nation redirects. Famine was in Canaan because the people were sinful and getting worse—ultimately God would use Israel to wipe out these Canaanites, and the sword and regime change are additional judgments of God against a nation (again, see Ezekiel 14). Abram went out from them during this time, showcasing that He sought refuge in the LORD. Why did he go to Egypt? It's a prophetic template to showcase how Jacob and his 11 sons would join Joseph in Egypt during a famine in the land of Canaan much later. The Bride of Abram, who was also his half-sister, was beautiful in appearance, and yet she would be made vulnerable to the world represented by Egypt and Pharaoh. We are the Bride of Christ and also brothers and sisters of one another. This metaphor should not be lost on us here. Our own wives in this world ought to also be our sister in the faith, for we are not to be unequally yoked.

Did Abram sin by suggesting Sarah was his sister so the Egyptians would not kill him? Was he afraid, not trusting in God? No! Or..., was He shrewd, trusting in God to protect his wife's purity in a foreign land while preserving His own ministry for another day? Yeshua told us: "Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." This is likely an example of Abram doing exactly this. Abram DID NOT give Sarah to Pharaoh to be his wife, but Pharaoh took Sarah into his house with that intent. The Bride of Abraham, the man of God, represented by Sarah, was she about to become wed with the world? No! The text does not explain there was a marriage; so we can be certain that Pharaoh DID NOT violate Sarah, AND God came to the scene and fought for Abraham and His wife. He brought plagues into Egypt, again, a prophetic template for what would later happen for the sons of Israel. Abraham also enjoyed blessings from Egypt on account of his relationship with God. Indeed, when God later brought Israel out of Egypt, these sons of Jacob would "plunder" the Egyptians. It's another prophetic template. Pharaoh sent Abraham, his wife Sarah, and his wealth out of Egypt, showcasing the Truth that God cares for His people even as we face oppression in the world.

As Abram returned to the land of Canaan (Gen. 13), he brought wealth with him just as the children of Jacob would later do. He called on the name of Yahweh there, indicating that He was walking in faith. He and his nephew Lot would separate in the land, just as the children of Jacob would later do, but note that it was on account of strife. Sometimes it is better to separate from our brethren rather than to remain together in strife. Paul and Barnabas continued their ministries for Yeshua while also separating one from another, also on account of strife (Acts 15:36–41). Let strife not endure, but brotherhood in the faith and allow separation only in daily operations if needed to maintain peace. On the positive side of this, recognize that Yahweh's command was for Noah and his children to "go forth and multiply," and as I noted, this aligns with the Great Commission of Matthew 28. Sometimes God allows difficulty among brethren so that we spread out and further enhance His ministry by reaching new people in new lands.

Abraham showed us how to live like Messiah, always considering others better than himself, he offered Lot the choice of which land to inhabit. Lot did not choose wisely, and we ought to learn from his error. "Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere." In the physical world, it was well provisioned, but God calls us to look for the land of promise in His spiritual Kingdom, not the abundance of this world. In appearance it was like the garden of Eden, but it was like Egypt in spiritual reality. The men of Sodom were evil and opposed to God. Remember 1st John 2:16-17: "For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever." Think of the lukewarm Laodicea from Revelation, a people who perceived they were rich but were instead pitiable, blind and naked. Lot chose the wrong way, though he would still have a chance for redemption. Abram lived where the LORD directed him, and so the LORD blessed Abram and told him to walk the land, claiming it in the name of the LORD. He gives the same challenge to us.

Moving into Genesis 12, we can see the result of Lot's poor choice. Yeshua taught in Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." The land that looked so great to Lot's eyes was raided and its rulers sank into the tar pits, the sticky mire that ends all evil lifestyles. The raiders “also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed.” The sword is yet another judgment of an unfaithful nation in Ezekiel 14. Abram, the man of God, heard about Lot's trouble and he went out to rescue the righteous man despite his poor decisions. Psalm 34:17-18 reads: "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." A fugitive, a refugee, found Abraham and asked for help, and the LORD our God is indeed our refuge in times of distress and trouble. God will rescue His people from the midst of a wicked people and even a wicked generation.

In the aftermath, the King of Righteousness/King of Peace, called Melchi-Tzedek, a prophetic template for Yeshua, came out and received a tithe from the increase—a tenth. Yeshua, we're told in Hebrews, is "A priest after the order of Melchi-Zedek." Melchi-Zedek blessed Abram in the name of God Most High, and blessed God Most High also, because He ultimately is the one who delivers us. For his part, Abram would not take part in the spoils of war, only what he needed for the day of battle. In Matthew 6:11, Yeshua told us to pray: "Give us this day our daily bread." In Matthew 6:34, He said: "do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things." In Exodus 16:4, God said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not." In Proverbs 30:8-9, we learn: "Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches— Feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, And say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God." Abram trusted in the LORD for provision and sought heavenly reward, not ties to worldly men.

In Genesis 15, we can see the result of Abram's faithfulness. God cut a covenant with him, confirming that He would be Abraham's shield from all of his enemies and His reward would be intimate relationship with God in the Kingdom at the end of days. The covenant ceremony between God and Abraham may seem strange, but it is typical for this time period. The LORD worked within the customs of the people and walked among the sacrifices with a lamp and with smoke, promising the land of Canaan to Abraham's descendants following their 400-year captivity in Egypt. We know from this covenant announcement that the promised Seed would go through Isaac and Jacob, and this was planned before they were born.

Abram asked Yahweh to help him understand His promises, as we also ought to do in our prayers. God promised a Seed, but where was He? God answered noting how the Seed would come from his body, and undoubtedly, Yeshua was a physical descendent of Abraham. Isaac, the son of promise, would be a prophetic template for Yeshua, but Abraham would have to wait for God's appointed time to fulfill His plan. His descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the sky. Note Daniel 12:3: "Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." Yeshua said the children of Abraham "do the works of Abraham." God's promise referred to those who would come to believe in and obey Yeshua. Abraham believed God's promise, and this faith became righteousness. As we read in James 2:21, 24: "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ... You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." Abraham would have to learn the hard way to "wait on the LORD" and His promises. Psalm 25:5 is instructive here: "Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day."

Some key verses from today's Psalm: “But know that Yahweh has set apart the holy one for Himself; Yahweh hears when I call to Him. ... Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And trust in Yahweh. ... In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O Yahweh, make me to abide in safety.” (Psalm 4:3, 5, 8 LSB)

Genesis 16, Genesis 17, Genesis 18

Sarai reminds us of Eve's failure to heed God's command, and Abram of Adam's failure to lead his wife in righteousness. When the LORD gives us the promise of blessing and asks us to wait for Him, we ought to wait! Why are we impatient? Why do we doubt? Why do we take matters into our own hands? Our faith calls on us to wait on God's promises and do things the Way He instructed while we wait. When we are impatient and take matters into our own hands, suffering always results. When we wait on the LORD's promises, there is blessing, peace, and joy. Men ought to consider that God has given us the role to lead our wives in righteousness, with gentleness and kindness. As we'll see a little later, Job was successful in this where Adam and Abraham failed. According to Job 2:9-10, when Job's wife said, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” Job replied to her: “'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips." He didn't call her a "fool," he said don't be like one (See Proverbs 14:1). We have to hold fast to the promises of God even when everything looks bleak and those closest to us have given up.

Hagar was a bondservant of Sarai, but became proud in her station when she bore a child to Abram while Sarai still struggled. Her station had not changed. This wasn't going to end well for anyone. Let this and other stories of polygamy in Scripture be a lesson for all men everywhere that polygamy is a TERRIBLE idea. It goes horribly wrong always! Sarai afflicted Hagar, causing her to flee. Pride always leads to a fall. When the LORD Yeshua showed up, appearing as an angel, He gave her the same message as we read in the Apostolic Scriptures. Here in Genesis 16:9: "Return to your mistress and humble yourself under her hands." Likewise, Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:5-9: "Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the LORD, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him."

When Hagar obeyed, the Angel of God promised blessing to her, indicating that she would have many descendants. Yeshua then instructed Hagar to call her son's name "Ishmael," meaning "the God who hears," because he heard her cries in the midst of her affliction and comforted her. The son and his progeny would be contentious, as we have seen throughout the generations. This was the consequence of Abraham not waiting on the LORD, and frankly we are still dealing with these consequences today, much like we still deal with the consequences from Adam's sin in this life. But the LORD would have mercy on everyone involved and would still fulfill His promises despite their disobedience. Hagar called the LORD "El Roi," meaning "the God who sees," even while she had seen Him and remained alive. We know this Angel was Yeshua, because He is the "image of the invisible God." No one can see the Father and live, because He is Holy, but we all receive mercy and relationship with God through the Son, who atones for our sins. And so, we know that our God sees us, even into the depths of our soul, and He also hears us when we cry out to Him. This is the God we serve—the God who loves us, no matter what our station is in life.

God is faithful—He doesn't just give up on His promises to us—even when we fail Him. The LORD continuously calls His people back to Himself all the years of our lives, but we must remain humble and ready to confess our sins. Thirteen years later, Yahweh returned to Abram and called on him to repent—"walk before Me and be blameless." He renamed him Abraham because he would become the father of many nations, and no longer just one. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) Indeed, Yeshua, Abraham's descendant, would bring the faithful among all the nations under His Banner to become the adopted sons of the Father. God's covenant with Abraham's Seed—namely, Yeshua—would be an everlasting covenant and the Promised Land would belong to His followers. The text switches from the prophetic to the immediate, as "God said further to Abraham, 'Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you..." All Abraham's children must be circumcised in their flesh, and those uncircumcised will not be brought near to God. Indeed, the Holy Spirit cuts the fleshly desires out from our hearts, leaving behind only that which is Godly.

The promises of God are True: Sarai, now Sarah, would be a mother of nations, and would bear a child past the age of childbearing. This Son of Promise points to Yeshua, who was also born miraculously through a virgin. The promised son's name would be Isaac, meaning laughter, and his Seed would bring the everlasting covenant God promised. Abraham plead with God for Ishmael, the fruit of his own effort, but God said "no." Isaac would be the covenant bearer, not Isaac. We CAN NOT go to God and expect Him to bless the things we do on our own, especially if He has not commanded us; because the LORD will only bless those fruits that come from us obeying His will. Next, we can see the repentant heart of Abraham; He immediately circumcised himself and everyone in his house in complete obedience to the LORD.

Abraham's hospitality toward the LORD Yeshua and His two angels is a model for us. He was still healing from his circumcision when he ran to greet his guests in the heat of the day. He prepared them unleavened bread and the fatted calf along with butter and milk and stood by them while they ate as a servant in his own house. The LORD gave a second witness to His testimony that Sarah would bear a son, causing Sarah to laugh upon overhearing. Was her laughter joy? Was it delight? I believe so. Despite her humility (or embarrassment), the LORD proclaimed that nothing is too difficult for Him to accomplish, and this we ought to appreciate. God fulfilled His promise to Abraham at the appointed time. Isaac, the promised Seed, would indeed bring laughter into Sarah's bosom. This was a story of redemption, just like the Gospel that was to come.

In the discourse that follows, we ought to understand that God became Abraham's friend due to his faith and the fruit of the Spirit he exhibited through persistent prayer (see Luke 11:1-13). God explained prophetically to His friend what He planned to do with Sodom and Gomorrah. Just 10 faithful people can save a community from God's judgment, and so now we know how much evil must be present in a land prior to its destruction. The LORD is long-suffering, but Yeshua also said, "when the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the Earth?" Just like in Lot's days, there may only be a handful of true believers.

Genesis 19, Genesis 20, Genesis 21

When God delivered Lot through the works of Abraham earlier, we find evidence in Genesis 19 that Lot was changed by the experience. The hospitality he showed God's messengers was similar to what Abraham had exhibited to the same angels earlier. Lot gave up everything he had—so to speak—perhaps even his own life, to ensure his guests were not torn apart by the "wolves" who surrounded his house. He washed their feet, fed them a feast, and offered them shelter, as we also ought to do for those who are brothers and sisters in the faith, and even the strangers at our gates who seek refuge among us.

Before we continue, remember the Apostle Peter's words: "and if [God] condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,..." (2 Peter 2:6-9). The Word of God is True. Lot was righteous.

So, how should we then interpret the more disturbing nature of this story? Did Lot actually offer his daughters to be violated? To answer this, consider Genesis 6:2, when "the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose." Here in Genesis 19, the story seems reversed. Why did the men of the city want to copulate with the angels? Perhaps it was so they could gain the power and wisdom of the gods?!? These were evil and pagan men, and they were not far removed from the story of their pagan fathers going back to Nimrod at Babel. They wanted the forbidden knowledge offered to Eve in the Garden by Nachash, "the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan." Lot, understanding all of this, offered something righteous instead: his virgin daughters. He didn't mean to cast his daughters out to rape and destruction; rather, he offered them in marriage.

By doing this, he was calling the men of the city to repent from their sins, reminding them of God’s way, which is for a man to take a woman as a wife. Don't forget that it was Lot himself who went outside the door at the risk of his own life, and the angels helped him as he was out there fulfilling the great commission, loving his enemies by trying to save them from God's judgment. Those who could see became blind. Lot had heard the Gospel message, and now he was sharing it because he could see. He even went back out desperately trying to reach his sons, his son-in-laws, and anyone else in the city who would listen. He was a true witness of God's coming judgment and the need to repent, but very few listened; the sons-in law thought he was "jesting." As Peter noted: "scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?" They "willfully forgot ... the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." (2 Peter 3:3, 5, 7). We are living in Sodom, and we have to be like Lot at this time.

But there will come a time when it will be too late. When God's messengers come and say "flee for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stop anywhere in the surrounding area," we had better listen. This is similar to Revelation's "come out of her my people" and Paul's "flee your youthful lusts" or "flee from sexual immorality." In other words, we had better sprint away from the world that is perishing, because God is offering a new everlasting life today. And as we read in Psalms 95:7-8, "Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,..." We must leave behind the world and all its lusts and follow Yeshua by submitting ourselves to the will of God. Even more significantly, the angels directed Lot and family to flee to "the mountain," and "the mountain" is presented in the singular according to the Hebrew text "ha'harah (הָהָרָה)," even though most English texts read "mountains." This is significant because it prophetically points the story of Sodom and Gomorrah forward to the End Days when angels will literally come to bring God's saints to the Mountain of God, leaving behind a world that will perish in the fire of God's wrath.

Of all the people Lot called, his wife and two daughters were the only ones who followed—the Bride and her daughters fled together with Lot from destruction. Those of us who believe in Yeshua should take heed according to Luke 17:32-33: “Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” This comment, in reference to the Judgement, refers to Gen. 19. Lot's wife looked back at the life she had in this world, where her friends, her home, her provisions, and her memories were located, and she longed for it, even though the LORD had made it clear that He was about to destroy it all. Believers who cling to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life will not inherit Heaven. It is difficult for us in the flesh to let go of our worldly treasures, but all these things are nothing compared with what God has prepared for us in His Kingdom. There will come a time when our choice will be to obey God and lose everything in this place but gain eternal life or disobey God and maintain the life we know, but only for a time. We are warned by Yeshua to choose rightly, so we do not perish like Lot's wife but instead inherit eternal life, like Lot and his daughters.

Now, when Lot asked the angels if he could go into Zoar—the little city–and they permitted it, this was likely the end of the prophetic template. No longer did Lot represent the shepherd and no longer does his wife and daughters represent believers in the Last Days. Instead, the narrative shifts dramatically to specifically prevent confused thinking that Lot himself was the promised Seed. This is a theme that happens repeatedly throughout Scripture. Just when we might look at any man or woman and presume they're perfect, God shows us that they're not, which of course points us forward to the need for Yeshua to actually come and redeem us from our sin.

For their part, Lot's daughters had picked up too much from the city they fled from. They took things in the wrong direction, because they had not yet adopted their father's faith. Having lost their mother, their home, their fiancés, and everything they knew, they decided to sin by lying with their father. Instead of waiting on the God who saved them, they turned toward the ways of Sodom. The text makes it clear that Lot did not know that his daughter's had done this to him, but he did fail in his drunkenness. We don’t know the end for Lot or these women, but we do know the nations they conceived—Ammon and Moab—become enemies to the people of God—and that did not bode well for most of them. The sons of Abraham, those who do the works of Abraham and know Yeshua, are the only people who will ultimately make it back into the Promised Land that is God’s Kingdom, the Garden of Eden. The daughters' sin is also evidence that a father and his children will suffer the consequences of their own sins, or achieve victory in Messiah Yeshua through their own individual faith. There is no familial salvation. We will individually stand or fall before the judgment seat of Christ!

Meanwhile, Abraham continued to wander around Canaan preaching to Gentiles, but in so doing he had to continue to hide his wife's identity by calling her his sister. It wasn't a lie, actually or prophetically. He acted shrewdly and saved both of their lives to teach the Gospel another day. Consider what had just happened to Lot in Sodom! The Gentile nations were embroiled in sin and the likelihood they would have killed Abraham and taken Sarah was high, for she was a beautiful woman. Indeed, they did take her, but God intervened. The LORD kept Avimelech from commiting adultery, as his heart of flesh desired, because the LORD knew his heart desired righteousness more. This is the same reality we face as saved Christians; our flesh desires to sin, but the LORD will help us walk away from it. There is no temptation common to man that is too great when we are truly living according to God's will, for He rescues us out of them all. After the LORD called out to Avimelech, he and Abraham became brothers. Avimelech was grafted in to relationship with Abraham through covenant, and this too is prophetic for the righteousness Jews and Gentiles share together in Messiah. They shared livestock and they overcame difficulties regarding the well of living water, which is both of their share of the Holy Spirit. Our own hearts ought to be like Avimelech's, listening to the voice of God and obeying it without fail. We ought to pray for one another like they did.

After 100 years, Abraham finally fathered his promised son. This miraculous life would foreshadow the coming of our Messiah Yeshua, who is God in the flesh. Isaac was not God nor the son of Yahweh, but the LORD brought forth this living, historical parable so we would know Yeshua. It’s a prophetic template of the highest value, and He used a faithful man He called out from the world—Abraham—to show the world His plan. This plan was veiled and would not make sense to Abraham or his contemporaries or even the many thousands of believers who lived from that day until the first century AD, when Messiah Yeshua was born, but this was for good reason. The LORD hid His plan from the Evil One to make sure he did not understand redemption. If Satan knew that Yeshua had to die so He could be raised to save us from our sin, then Satan would not have led the effort to have him murdered through Judas Iscariot (Luke 22:3). The promises of Yahweh had to be available for those of us afterward so we could see them and believe, but obscure enough so as to not give away His plan to the enemy. The brilliance and magnificence of our LORD is ever on display in every Word of Scripture and it makes me cherish the Word all the more.

After Sarah delivered Isaac, the occasion brought laughter to all involved, except perhaps Hagar and Ishmael, who were illegitimate. The son of promise was born, and the illegitimate son was cast out. We can’t allow this to become a stumbling block in our faith. On a human level, the LORD had seen Hagar and Ishmael and provided for them, making Ishmael into a “great nation." Our "God who sees" observes our sin, and still loves us and provides for us. He even shows us the way to repentance and eternal life, even while we are still caught up in sin and the world. On the human level, our reading shows that Hagar saw God working in her life and she put her trust in Him. It is because of this that God gives Hagar a life in Him and helped her raise her son and ultimately find him a wife.

Paul used this story to teach the difference between physical circumcision and spiritual circumcision in Galatians 4:21-32 (read it). For those of us who are in Messiah, we become sons of the free woman Sarah, the sons of promise. While we were barren without Messiah, in Messiah we bear fruit as great as the stars in heaven. Yet, as sons of promise, we will be persecuted by the sons of perdition, who will be cast out. While Hagar represents the written law and our bondage to sin because of it, Sarah represents the freedom we have in Messiah, saved by His grace and released from the bondage of sin, now able to walk according to the law with the help of the Holy Spirit (John 14). Paul wrote in Galatians 5:13, which synthesizes the earlier citation: “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Now, walking in the Spirit through the love of God, we keep God’s commandments by the Spirit, in freedom!

Genesis 22, Genesis 23, Genesis 24

In Genesis 22, the LORD revealed one of the most profound prophetic templates pointing forward to the death and resurrection of Yeshua in the Torah, which is known as "the binding of Isaac," or the Akedah (עֲקֵדָה) in Hebrew. At the prophetic level, the father brought his son, "his only son," to be sacrificed at Mount Moriah, which later became the temple mount, and the Father would indeed sacrifice His only Son in Jerusalem as our one-time sacrifice for sin many years later. Despite Scripture referring to Isaac three times as Abraham's "only son," Abraham had another son who was actually born first. Ishmael was born of Abraham's fleshly effort with Hagar, the servant, while Isaac was the son of promise, born miraculously through the power of God, through His wife Sarah.

God wasn't about to take Isaac away from Abraham, having proclaimed just 12-20 years prior to make Isaac's descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. Abraham's faith passed the test, and Hebrews 11:17-19 explains why, where we read: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only son, to whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called.' He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he also received him back.”

As the chapter begins, even in verse 1 we learn that God was testing Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac. Perhaps because of Abraham's past failings with Hagar (because the Patriarch took matters into his own hands), the LORD, having offered grace by bringing forth the promised son anyway, now wanted to see whether Abraham had developed true faith toward God; namely, that God would keep His Word. God also tests us in this manner. Great blessing is often followed up by testing to make sure we have learned that God is faithful. Read Hebrews 12. Such testing develops the "peaceable fruit of righteousness" in us. Remember: Abraham's faith was accounted to him as righteousness. Remember also James 2:21-22, which reads: "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected." After all, according to Hebrews 11:1, "faith is the substance of all things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." When we obey God, even when His commandments seem outlandish to us, we walk upon His narrow path toward eternity. Remember again: Abraham's children who inherit the Kingdom of God are those who "do the works of Abraham," Yeshua said in John 8:39.

It's worth stopping to ponder a question on the side, before we continue. First, God certainly sought to test Abraham. And yes, God certainly intended to provide a prophetic template for Yeshua's death and resurrection through the binding of Isaac. He foreknew how Abraham might interpret His command to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering. It's hard to read Deuteronomy 12:31, 18:10, and similar verses that note God's hatred for human sacrifice and conclude that God demanded human sacrifice from Abraham. Offered as a possible interpretation, consider Jephthah in Judges 11, who didn't actually sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering but rather consecrated her to a life of prayer. Had God asked Abraham to literally dedicate Isaac as a prophetic patriarch for the people of God, making him a prophetic template for you and me at the same time? To make a burnt offering, we learn in Psalm 141:2, Revelation 5:8, and Revelation 8:3-4, is to offer prayer to the Most High. Paul noted that our lives ought to be sacrificed with "reasonable service." In a symbolic sense, Abraham and Isaac had both willingly offered up everything to God.

And though Isaac willingly and dutifully went along with his father like a lamb being led to the slaughter, God indeed would "provide the lamb," just as Abraham had said He would. In the story, God provided a ram caught in a thicket by its horns—a symbol of power—and Yeshua, the very ram that God provided for our atonement, was crowned (another symbol of power) with thorns prior to His crucifixion. If God could bring a child out of barren Sarah who was past the age of childbearing, He could do anything, including bringing forth His Son from the Virgin, and then sending Him to die for our atonement and rise from the dead in victory! Abraham’s faith was completely confirmed by the provided Lamb. This gives new meaning to Yeshua's statement John 8:56: "father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." We have to have the faith of Abraham to enter the Kingdom of God.

Now, because God HATES human sacrifice in all its forms, we have to reason through a few additional paradoxes. How did Yeshua come to sacrifice Himself for our sin if the LORD HATES human sacrifice? Remember again from Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” Here's the reality: God Himself would take accountability for His own creation and come in the flesh (see Philippians 2:5-11) so that He Himself, a sinless eternal One, would die for our sins and rise in victory. Know that Yeshua is Yahweh, and there is only one God. The Son was the physical image-bearer of God Himself, and He is God and always will be God. This is how the LORD could sacrifice His Son, the one who came in the flesh, because it was He Himself who sacrificed Himself. Only God Himself could atone for our sins, and no substitute would do.

Moving along, we read that Sarah had died, and Abraham wasn't willing to receive a gift from other men for a place to bury Sarah, but he insisted on purchasing it for fair market value. This purchased land would become Israel; it was actually quite a bit of land.

Like Abraham, we ought to be very careful concerning the intentions of others when they offer gifts. Is something expected in return? It's not a gift under these pretenses, but a manipulation. Abraham wisely bought this land, giving his descendants a legal right to the land God had granted to them, and yet even with this possession we learn that "Abraham waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). We ought to be above reproach like this, and still not expect any lasting reward in this place.

In 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, Paul writes that Christians should not tolerate busybodies who will not work, and even says such people walk “disorderly.” It is our duty as men to provide for ourselves, if we are able bodied, and Paul makes a special note to say, he and his fellow church leaders “worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.” He takes this a step further and says, “we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” Abraham is showing us this same principle. By buying the land through the fruit of his own labor, Abraham was ensuring he was a blessing and not a burden to his neighbors

The thirteenth-century sage Rabbi Yitzchak bar Yehudah, wrote, “According to Leviticus 27:16, the value of land in biblical times was 50 silver shekels for … 75,000 square … (cubits).” He continues, “Thus, the area purchased by Abraham [with 400 silver shekels] was … 600,000 square cubits.” He adds: “A square cubit is the approximate area occupied by an upright human being.” The Rabbi explained that when we understand that the generation of Jews who left Egypt totaled about 600,000 heads of households, and so too were the men from the second generation roughly 600,000 in number who entered the Promised Land, we should note that the first purchase of land in Israel “included a share for every Jewish soul,” a type of prophetic promise to Israel’s future inheritance of the land, through the seed of Sarah. I agree with this prophetic picture, but I think it’s deeper than this. Who is the seed of Sarah—the Promised Son? As explained earlier, it is Yeshua! So here’s my conclusion: Abraham valued land for burial greater than he valued land for living in (he lived in tents his whole life). He wanted a place where Sarah’s body could be preserved, as well as his and his descendants so that they could be raised up on the Last Day by the Promised Seed into the eternal Kingdom. Hebrews 11:8-10, Ecclesiastes 7:1-2 and Philippians 1:21 inform this interpretation. Yeshua told us we were to sell everything we have to buy a place in the Kingdom of God, and I think Abraham’s purchase is allegorical for this.

When God blessed Abraham and Isaac, He said in Genesis 22:17, "I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies." In Genesis 24:60, a second testimony of this blessing was given to Rebecca by her brothers, when they said: “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your seed possess the gate of those who hate him.” Pay attention! This is an End Time prophesy. Yeshua said in Matthew 16:18 that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Kingdom. Yeshua was indeed the Seed of Isaac and Rebecca, who came through Jacob their son, and indeed He now has authority over the gates of those who hate Him. We can trust that God will prosper our way when we have faith in Him and take the time to pray for the LORD's guidance according to His will. If we are walking according to God's will and waiting on Him to show us which way to go, we will see the fruit of the Spirit come forth from our lives. Isaac and Rebecca's union was the result of this type of faith.

Abraham had such faith that his servants relied on the grace of Yahweh to bless them in their missions for their employer. As he asked for Yahweh to provide at the well, so he provided and he boldly spoke in faith about his mission, which the LORD made successful. This too is how we ought to live, relying on the LORD to fulfill His will in our lives, believing that because He said it, it will be as He said. Rebecca for her part was a faithful woman wanting to be obedient to Yahweh, and she went with Abraham's servant without hesitation to fulfill the will of the LORD and to become the wife of inheritance. Women should aspire to be like Rebecca, who grasped onto the Son of promise and let go all of the things of this world, not even looking back while leaving them behind.

Meanwhile, Abraham had given his entire inheritance to Isaac, just as Yeshua has inherited all of the Heavens and the Earth as the Son of God, and the other brothers were only given a stipend and sent away. I find it interesting that Isaac and Rebecca's story is minimal in Scripture outside of their marriage of promise and their interaction with their sons. For such a celebrated and promised son, I would think to see more of his story. We know he was obedient to God and obedient to his father, even carrying the wood on which to make the sacrifice, just like our LORD. His minimal coverage points to another day when the prophesy of the promised Son would be fully realized in Yeshua.

The marriage of Isaac and Rebecca is yet another story of faith in the life of Abraham, and we see that he has rubbed off on his servants. Rebecca and her family show great hospitality to Abraham’s servant, signifying that they also know the LORD and walk in His ways. The marriage to Isaac is equally yoked, one believer to another, and the whole arrangement is set up by God through faith. Rebecca shows her faith by not even hesitating to go with the man to meet Isaac; she trusts that the LORD is behind the whole situation based on the synchronicity of events that led to Abraham’s servant approaching her at the well. When we notice this type of synchronicity happening in our lives, we ought to turn to the LORD in praise, thanksgiving and worship, just like we see Abraham’s servant doing. It is a time to fully trust in his ways and let God fulfill His will. As we read in Ps. 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.” Let this also describe you and me.
 
Genesis 25, Genesis 26

Abraham was the father of many nations, but only from Sarah was the son of promise born, and through Isaac would come Jacob/Israel and the Promised Seed Yeshua the Messiah. Isaac received the birthright and the inheritance of Abraham, just as Yeshua would receive the birthright—He was the firstborn from the dead and received the eternal inheritance of the Father. Everything that belonged to the Father became the inheritance of the Son. In the flesh, through Hagar, Abraham fathered Ishmael and his 12 sons. Through Keturah, Abraham fathered 16 nations, including Midian. Prior to this, Lot fathered Moab and Ammon, and later Esau would father Edom. Through faith in Abraham's God even a remnant among these wayward nations would enter the Assembly of God's people.

God answers prayers according to His will. It's interesting that Rebekah was also barren at first, like Sarah, but Isaac prayed to the LORD to open her womb and the LORD answered that prayer after 20 years. Had he learned from his father's impatience? In any case, Isaac waited on the LORD, and the LORD delivered.

Note: Jacob and Esau were twins inside Rebecca's womb literally at the very same time. Two nations so completely different came from this same pregnancy; namely: Israel a man of God who strove to receive God's blessings, and Esau who cared not for the things of God but sought the desires of this world and of the flesh. Scripture explains that Esau was a “man of the field,” but Jacob was “a civilized man, living in tents.” This is key. Esau was a man of the Earth; he had worldly cares and concerns, and he put the world first. When the Word says that Jacob lived in tents, it’s clear that he is a sojourner in the world and he had no concern for it, for he cared about the Kingdom of God and put that first in his life. We read in Hebrews 11:9-10 that Abraham dwelt in the land of promise “by faith … as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of him of the same promise.” That promise was for “the city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God;” a promise made to us as well.

The LORD spoke to Rebecca the prophetess, saying: the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob). At a prophetic level, Jacob holding onto Esau's heel signals the coming Messianic age that would follow the age of this world in the flesh. Practically speaking, the Word of God—not Jacob, not Esau, not Isaac, not Rebecca—determined the earthly status of these two people groups. Now, some turn to the story of Jacob and Esau to illustrate predestination for salvation or destruction, but the story as it plays out disproves this. Note: Malachi prophesied, “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated," and Paul asked rhetorically in Romans 9:20, "Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?'” We have to ask: Did God predestine Esau for eternal destruction or was it something that proceeded from his heart? We read from Genesis 25:23 "Yahweh said to [Rebecca], 'Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.'” Esau was made to serve Jacob, a reversal of cultural norms, but the older son had a choice on which manner he would serve the younger.

Yeshua washed the feet of his disciples, He said, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” In Matthew 20:26, Yeshua said, “whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.” And so Esau had an opportunity that the LORD gave to him to be greater than his brother in the spirit, for if his heart had been right, from his lower status, he could have served Jacob with love and joy and brought great good into his family. The LORD gives us each a different status in life. Some are born into poverty, others are born into wealth, and still others are born into families somewhere in between. God cares about what we do with what we’ve been given, not what status we've been born into.

Now, usually the oldest son received a double portion and the younger received only a third of the inheritance, but such would not be the case with Esau and Jacob. Yahweh Himself said Jacob would receive the inheritance. While this is symbolic for eternal life in God's Kingdom, the prophetic pointer should not lead us to conflate two interpretations. As noted, the prophesy that Esau would serve Jacob does not damn Esau to eternal destruction, rather it appoints him to a lesser status in this world. Esau's own free will would would determine his eternal destiny; he had an opportunity to thrive within his lesser status and inherit life by joyfully serving his brother Jacob. Unfortunately for him, Esau resented his lower status, and resultantly rejected the righteous path repeatedly.

This leads to another important truth: Esau chose to sell his birthright legitimately to Jacob, and Jacob did not steal it from him, as is often supposed. Jacob was 100 percent righteous in claiming the birthright later on from his father on account of this, and still he humbly hesitated to do so. For his part, Esau despised his birthright in the Kingdom of God and valued the world more. His choices were what led him down the wrong path, not his status on the earth.

We have to be careful not to give up something so precious as our right to inherit the Kingdom of God for something so cheap as a momentary physical pleasure. How quick and temporarily satisfying might it be to steal or commit adultery, among so many other temporary worldly pleasures? Let us not be so flippant with the promised eternal gifts of God's Kingdom as Esau was, so we do not lose out as he did, even after he later sought these gifts with tears. There will come a time when it is too late to receive God's blessings, as it was for Esau. This is why the LORD says, "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion." Yeshua said those who seek to save their life will lose it, and those who give up their lives for the kingdom of God, will find eternal life. This was a choice that Esau made of his own free will. His heart was not right with the LORD, but he had the opportunity to repent and follow after God. His grandfather was Abraham, his father was Isaac and his brother was Jacob. He had every opportunity to repent and walk right with the LORD, but didn't make those choices. Let us instead choose rightly as Jacob did and seek to purchase our birthright  in Heaven no matter what the cost.

Isaac made two covenants with Avimelekh, a Gentile who may have been familiar with Abraham and his relationship with the LORD. Though Isaac was concerned for his life on account of his wife, perhaps acting shrewdly as Abraham did before, Avimelekh had a heart for the LORD and rebuked him, concerned that any adultery would bring a curse upon him and his land. But the LORD prospered Isaac as promised, and thus Avimelekh cast Isaac away from him so that the contention would not lead to bloodshed. Isaac found a place to settle in Beersheba, the house of the seventh well, and there He called upon the name of Yahweh. These wells represent the living water of God, and it's interesting that the Philistines as symbolic demons had been filling them with earth. Satan tricks God's people to fall away by filling some with the things of this world? Isaac, for his part, dug them all out by focusing on the Kingdom of God and thus restored the living water of God in his life. Avimelekh had seen enough. He made covenant with Isaac a second time, representative of the New Covenant wherein Gentiles are grafted-in to Israel through Messiah Yeshua. The children of Abraham would live in peace with the Gentiles around them, bringing blessing to all.

Genesis 27, Genesis 28, Genesis 29

Jacob was obedient to his mother, who directly commanded him to impersonate Esau. Esau went out of his way to dishonor both mother and father—he even married sinful women just to spite them. The LORD had explained His will to Rebekah for both of her children, and Rebekah acted in obedience to God, despite her husband’s desire to bless Esau. She disobeyed her husband only so much as God had given her direct commandment. This is in alignment with what Yeshua taught that God must come first before any family member (Matthew 10:37, Luke 14:26). Make careful note: Rebekah said to Jacob, “So now, my son, listen to me as I command you. … Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go…” Jacob was blameless in his actions and did not deceive his father. Rebekah acted to ensure God's will was done. Esau had already despised his birthright and sold it to Jacob.

If anyone here is at fault, it is Esau, for he should have been an honorable man recognizing that his birthright no longer belonged to him. He had the idea that you could live like hell and still inherit heaven. His desire to murder Jacob because of his own choices further reflects his evil heart, and this root of bitterness would not leave Esau or the people of Edom for their entire existence until God wiped them out for helping the Babylonians raid Judah. Esau made a bed of evil, and would die in it. Despite all of Jacob's later kindness to his brother, Esau would never stop trying to steal what he had sold away.

Furthermore, once the dust had settled, Isaac called Jacob back in and blessed him knowingly, confirming his earlier blessing. Perhaps he had realized the wisdom of his wife? Here's a thought to ponder and contemplate: When the text says Isaac trembled exceedingly when he learned that he had blessed Jacob earlier, there is a testimony of two involved in this statement. The Hebrew text indicates Isaac "charad (חָרַד)," which is to shudder with fear or terror, including the fear of God and a reaction to a divine encounter. I think Isaac was rebuked by God internally after he learned that he has blessed Jacob. It's unlikely that Isaac was trembling with anger. Rather, he was trembling in fear of God. It's a sign of repentance.

Rebekah for her part, would now honor her husband's headship and request that her husband send Jacob to her people to find himself a wife, rather than marry one of the wicked Canaanite women living around them. Esau, being the evil-hearted man that he was, married two of them, and Rebekah could not bear God's chosen son marrying into such a people. Isaac heeded his wife's counsel, perhaps another sign of humility, and he brought Jacob in commanding him to take a wife from the daughters of Laban. He asked God Almighty (El Shaddai) to bless him, to make him fruitful and multiply him into many peoples.

On the way, the LORD appeared to Jacob and confirmed that he would be the chosen vessel to continue the LORD's priesthood on the Earth. From him, the Son of God would be born, and He Himself appeared to Jacob to tell him this. Jacob pledged to serve this Word of Yahweh should He go with him on his journey and provide only food and clothing, and as we know, the LORD has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Jacob pledged to give a tithe to the LORD, and the LORD would bountifully bless Him because of His humble heart willing to put the LORD first. Jacob's heart is one we ought to emulate.

In observing the Stairway to Heaven in Genesis 28:12, with angels ascending and descending on it, we ought to note John 1:51, where Yeshua said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” We can see in the fullness of Scripture that Yeshua Himself is the stairway to Heaven, and faith in Him gives us His Spirit, who will lead our willing heart the rest of the way. Alignment with the Spirit of God requires endurance in the love of God, a Fruit of the Spirt, and the Holy Spirit helps us to ascend this stairway to Heaven, which is our path of sanctification in God as we continue to obey Him and cast off our sins of the flesh. Jacob was on this upward path.

As Jacob met his mother’s family, he fell in love with Rachel and made a covenant with Laban to work for him so that he could marry her. Laban went back on the deal. Rather than rebel against Laban and run off with his rightful wife, he accepted the persecution and trial that life threw at him and loved his enemy, just like Yeshua instructs us. He worked another seven years for Rachel and married the woman he loved. Yeshua also told us in Matthew 5:41, “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two,” and this is precisely what Jacob had done here. This is one lesson embedded with the story, but there is yet another. Leah was not at fault for being put in this position by her father, and she trusted in God and dutifully obeyed him, despite her circumstances. Even though she was rejected by Jacob, God fully embraced her and used her to bring about the father of our Messiah Yeshua in the flesh; namely Judah. And this very reality prophetically represents how the leaders of the Jews would reject Yeshua, and yet God would bless the whole world through Him.

The LORD did not care for this rivalry between Leah and Rachel and His eternal law would prohibit a man from marrying sisters to avoid such discord. To Jacob's credit, Laban cheated him and left him in this position, but Jacob did not walk righteously in taking the two concubines.

Jacob's time with Laban is symbolic of Israel's time in Israel. While the acquaintance was sweet at first, it later soured and devolved into slavery. Laban was a thief and a liar who deceived Jacob into working for him for 20 years. Even after Jacob labored for Laban's daughters and paid for his dowry and possessions with hard labor, Laban still falsely claimed them as his own. God blessed Jacob greatly during this time with 12 children (Benjamin would come later), with many possessions, and with a good reputation. He was blameless before men and before God. God provided Jacob with a blessing because Jacob loved the man Laban who had become his enemy, and despite poor treatment, he put his head down and did the work, never thinking anything evil. As we read on in the story, we'll see even more prophetic glances of Israel leaving Egypt as God calls Jacob back to the Promised Land and helps him along the way, despite his enemies' pursuit.

Genesis 30, Genesis 31

Leah and Rachel became rivals of one another, which led the LORD to later clarify in Leviticus 18:18: "Nor shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive." While the concept of a kinsman redeemer would be unveiled, that a man would take his brother's wife if his brother died, the LORD clarified that what Jacob did should not be done. Granted, it was no fault of his own. Laban forced his hand in the matter. Nevertheless, the rivalry lead to the two sisters' servants also becoming Jacob's wives—children came from all four women.

Did Rachel learn her envy and contention from Sarah? Neither woman could endure a barren womb. Regardless, Rachel's sin led to Dan, the accursed tribe, who came first from the concubines. At some point, Rachel made peace with God and accepted the children of her servant as her own, and this is when God finally opened her womb. It is often when we are not striving after the things we believe we need in this world that the LORD provides them for us. We read: “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and said, ‘God has taken away my disgrace.’” Rachel had prayed to God for a son, but it was not until her heart was humble that God answered her prayer with Joseph. We must wait on the LORD and the LORD's timing, because it is always exactly right.

God favored Jacob who humbly served Laban for 20 years, despite Laban's deception and harsh treatment. The whole nation of Israel, except for Benjamin, was born in the bondage of Laban. He kept his eyes on the LORD and endured through his persecution. Laban had sold his daughters and his flocks to Jacob for his labor, and yet the scoundrel still said that the women and the animals belonged to him. God saw through this and made things right for Jacob. When we wait on the LORD, He will deliver us from our enemies and bring us into the land of promise. Rachel and Leah agreed it was time to move on from their father's house, but Rachel brought pagan idols with her. This would plague her family for many generations to come. Nevertheless, Jacob, for his part, served only the God of His fathers; the one who created the heavens and the earth and everything in it.

We can also look at the story of Jacob and Laban in another way. In a prophetic template for the upcoming Exodus story, Jacob fled from the slavery of his overlord, who prophetically pointed to Pharaoh, but not before God had taken away all the wealth of Laban and given it to Jacob. Just as Pharaoh chased after Israel, Laban chased after Jacob. Just as Israel stumbled in the wilderness with the golden calf, Rachel stumbled by taking her father’s household gods, and later Jacob commanded their destruction. But just as Israel escaped from Pharaoh, Jacob escaped from Laban and entered the Promised Land. It is because God remembered his promise to Jacob/Israel, and came to deliver him from his oppression. If we face persecution in this life, we must remember God’s promises to us and endure with patient joy and thanksgiving. The Day of the LORD will come. Nachmanides, the Middle Ages sage, commented: “I will tell you a principle by which you will understand all the coming portions of Scripture concerning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is indeed a great matter which our Rabbis mentioned briefly, saying: ‘Whatever has happened to the patriarchs is a sign to the children.’"

Genesis 32, Genesis 33, Genesis 34

Some say Jacob showed a lack of trust in the LORD's promises when he expressed fear toward Esau, but it would be unfair to expect perfection from Jacob when we have not achieved it ourselves. Are we not afraid when the enemy confronts us directly? Do we not struggle to turn our hearts toward the LORD and trust Him when the prospect of destruction stands in front of us? Shouldn't we go before the LORD and wrestle with Him and plead with Him to take away our fear and build up our faith to trust in Him? We embrace courage when we face legitimate fears by trusting in God, and prayer is the very best way to build such resolve. When we find ourselves caught up in doubt, it's time go to war in prayer. When we lack faith, we must ask God to increase it. Yeshua warned us in Mt. 10:28: “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Paul wrote in 1 Corinth. 10:13 that we can overcome any temptation through faith in God. Jacob was victorious in His prayers.

The Angel Jacob wrestled with was none other than the pre-incarnate Yeshua, which we know because Jacob said, "I have seen the face of God and lived." The face of God is Yeshua, for He is the very visible image of the living God. And Jacob would not let God go until He blessed him. In other words, Jacob would not abandon His prayers until he knew that God was going to fulfill His promises. In the big picture, God prevailed in this match by receiving the glory of Jacob's faith, and Jacob prevailed by overcoming his own human weaknesses. He became Israel, a man who strives after God, and we should do the same. When we are afraid, when we are to face an insurmountable enemy or problem, we ought to spend our nights in prayer with the LORD, pleading for His blessing. We must not let go until we receive the blessing, all while knowing we don't deserve it on account of our sin. Our prayers ought to be intense, persistent, and faithful.

Note how Jacob walked differently after His encounter with Yeshua. He walked with a limp because God touched him. If we are following Yeshua in this life on account of faith, we had better develop a different lifestyle than we had before; everything about us has to change. Faith without works is dead.

When Jacob sent troves of gifts to Esau, he was living out the Gospel. He was loving his enemy and disarming him before they could meet. By separating his family into groups, he showed wisdom. He strategically led his family and sent his house forward in groups, ensuring that he would not lose everything if Esau made good on his promise to murder his brother. Only God knew Esau’s true intentions, but the last time he saw Jacob, he wanted to kill him, leading to Jacob’s 20-year sojourn with Laban. In Romans 12:20, Paul teaches, “Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head,’” which comes from Proverbs 25:21-22 and was taught by Yeshua in Matthew 5:44. Yeshua also told us in Matthew 10:16, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.” Jacob continued to prove he knew the LORD, because he consistently did His will.

When the two brothers met, Esau's desire for earthly riches was fulfilled, even though he feigned denial. It seems that Esau was embarrassed by his brother's kindness; likely because his intent was to murder Jacob. He showed his brother affection, but in context this was a veiled attempt at manipulation. Esau was still vying to reclaim what he had squandered. Remember: Isaac had blessed Jacob, making him master over Esau, and yet as Esau's master, Jacob presented himself as a servant. In Mark 10:43, Yeshua said, "whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant." He loved his enemy, the one who wanted to murder him, before he even saw him. This is what Yeshua asks of us, and we can see the result: Esau did not murder his brother, even though its clear this was his intent.

What could be missed here we cannot skip: Esau offered to lead Jacob into the land. This is not a kind gesture, but rather an attempt to usurp Jacob's rightful place as first born, which he was given by the LORD, purchased with a bowl of red stew, and given by his father Isaac at the command of the LORD through his mother Rebecca. When Jacob refused to go with Esau, Esau tried again, offering to leave his men with Jacob. Jacob kindly refused this gesture, indicating that he would go at the pace of his cattle and his children. Jacob indicated he would travel at his own pace along his own Way, which was the Way of Messiah Yeshua. Rather than go to Seir, the land of Esau, he went on to Succoth, the place of dwelling in tents. Jacob, like his fathers Isaac and Abraham, preferred to live in tents than to permanently establish a dwelling on the earth. He knew His home was in Heaven and the Promised Land was not here on this Earth.

Jacob's intent was to obey God, and so he returned to the land where God commanded him to go and built an altar there dedicated to worship the One True God, the God of Israel. When Jacob and family settled outside Shechem in their tabernacles, he paid for the land with 100 pieces of money. There is no reason for us to be presumptious in this life, but we ought to work for and pay for our way in this world, and not take anything from the world that it might attempt to offer us. It wasn't long before the world tempted the daughter of Israel to sin, and the people who cause her to sin would be ultimately destroyed. On the literal level, Simeon and Levi sinned by taking vengeance into their own hands, for the LORD says, "vengeance is mine, and I shall repay." Jacob later cursed them among his sons on account of their sin. However, there is also a prophetic template here for the times that were to come. The daughters of Israel would sin with the nations, committing fornication with the pagan religions and embracing the practices of the people of the world. This isn’t a problem just for native Israel, but also the followers of Yeshua today. While those causing God's people to sin will be judged, so too will those who fall into the sin.

Importantly, It is only at the direction and guidance of the LORD, within the proper structure of authority, that justice ought to be done. If you skip ahead to the blessings and curses Jacob gives his children at the end of his life, both Levi and Simeon are cursed to live amidst their brothers and not inherit any land of their own, which has great spiritual significance. It was because of what they did in Succoth. Even Reuben would lose his first-born status for sexual sin—he slept with his father's wife—leaving Judah and Joseph with firstborn status and the inheritance respectively. In any case, Jacob continued to wander throughout the Earth, not finding a place to lay his head, just as our LORD Yeshua said about Himself. He didn't find a place to call home, because his home was in the Kingdom of God. That being said, Jacob was not about to take the offer of Succoth and Hamor to intermarry with their sinful sons and vice versa. We ought not yoke ourselves with unbelievers, for it will lead to our ruin, but the end in this story does not justify the means, and that is the lesson.

We can talk more about Dinah's fall into sin and Simeon and Levi's legalism, but what about Jacob? It seems that Jacob was working on a long-suffering conversion of the Gentiles who had done him wrong by asking the men of Shechem to be circumcised. Circumcision is symbolic for cutting away the flesh (the fleshly desires) of the world. Just read Romans. Paul said this is the Way of Messiah. We no longer live according to the law of the flesh, but instead according to the law of the Spirit. Unfortunately, Simeon and Levi's presumptuous manner prevented Jacob from properly executing the Gospel, and for this he disinherited them. We must be "above reproach," but Simeon and Levi made Jacob a stench to the Canaanites. Like Absalom who would later sleep with his father David's concubines, Reuben slept with his father's concubine not long after this. Was it for the same reason? I believe Reuben was indeed working on a power play to take authority from his father. It was a coup attempt. Was it because Jacob was working to redirect his sons toward God and away from the world? In a word: yes! Judah received first born status because of these three rebellions against Jacob. This is how seriously Jacob considered these sins against God.

Genesis 35, Genesis 36, Genesis 37

The beginning of Genesis 35 teaches us about spiritual warfare. If we are going to go to Beth-El, the house of God, to build an altar to worship the LORD, just as Jacob did, we first have to set aside all of our idols, which means any idea, object or activity that we elevate above our love of God and the commandments He has given to us. Jacob commanded his sons to “remove the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments.” This is the formula for us all: 1) Repentance (stop sinning and ask for forgiveness in Yeshua), 2) Sanctification (seek Messiah's Way instead of the way of the world, "go and sin no more"). 3) Glorification (Worship God alone wearing the garments of Messiah). According to Jacob, we do this because Yeshua "answered me on the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone."

We cannot go before God in prayer if we carry any sin in our hearts with us, we must first repent, because we serve a "jealous God." We cannot worship with others who are willfully sinning and believe they can still be saved, but we must "get the sin out of the camp" by teaching the Truth of God's Word and walking alongside brothers and sisters to lead them along the righteous walk of Yeshua. We can't just leave our idols behind us, either, but, like Jacob, we must bury them so they are gone forever. Recall how the Philistines (representing demonic forces) had buried the wells of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (the living water of our Holy God), Jacob was burying the way of the world and leaving it behind so He could embrace the presence of God. After Jacob had led his sons in righteousness, we can see the men of the world around them were in fear of the people of God.  This is a prophetic template of who we ought to be as set-apart sons and daughters of God in Messiah Yeshua. When we walk in “the Way” of the LORD, the men who are of the world hate us out of fear, for they know that God is with us.

Here's some clarifying points regarding the LORD's command: "Get rid of the foreign gods..." The word "gods" here is "elohe (אֱלֹהֵ֤י)," which means "god(s) of." It's a derivative of "Elohim," which could either refer to "gods" in the plural, or the magnificent ONE God who is "Yahweh El Olam." Here, Yahweh was commanding Jacob to get rid of the gods of "nekar (נֵכָר)," meaning the gods of the foreigners or heathens. These foreign gods were "tavek (תָּוֶךְ)" meaning "among" them, as they are also among us in rebellion against God Most High, or "El Elyon." The first commandment of God in Exodus 20 is "you shall have no other gods before Me." This commandment wasn't just given to Moses on Sinai, but to all of God's people. Additionally, within this section, the name "El" is associated with God Most High the Creator. When God described Himself to Moses in Exodus 3, He said, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," and then He also called Himself, "I Am who I Am," or "Ehyeh, Asher, Ehyeh." The difference between "Ehyeh" and "Yahweh" is verb form—the first is "I AM" and the second "He who will be." "Yahweh" is a description of who He is. Abraham called on the name of "Yahweh El Olam," or "He Who will Be God the Eternal One" in Genesis 21:33.

When we throw off all of our thoughts, words, deeds and possessions that we had elevated above Yeshua and turn to put the LORD first in our lives, above all else, He will come to us and bless us in the same way God greatly blessed "Jacob" by giving him the honorarium "Israel" a second time. We are to be grafted-in to Israel in Messiah Yeshua (see Ephesians 2, Romans 11). Yeshua, "the image of the invisible God," "appeared" to Jacob a second time to offer him this Kingdom title. Israel loved God, and yes, Jacob loved his fellow man; this is the meaning of his prophetic names, which fulfills the whole law and prophets in Messiah Yeshua. And God identified with the man's words and actions when He said, "I am the God of Jacob." In this right relationship, God commanded Jacob just as he did Adam, saying: "Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body." Physically and spiritually, Israel was to be a man of God who the LORD would use to pass his faith to the whole world through his children, ultimately leading to Messiah Yeshua, the King of kings and LORD of lords.

In Genesis 35, Rachel died while delivering Benjamin, and this last son of Jacob was born in the land, while Israel was not living in captivity. She called him the "son of mourning," while Jacob called him "the son of the right hand." Later, Jacob's prophesy in Genesis 49:27 seems to reflect this. Of note: Benjamin was not among the other brothers who sold Joseph into slavery. Later, Benjamin was the only son who did not go down to Egypt while the rest of his brothers went for provision. When he later went down, the brothers were reunited with Joseph and recognized him as the ruler of Egypt. Consider possible parallels in the New Covenant relative to the Apostle Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin and the right hand preacher of the Gospel to Messiah Yeshua? We know that Jacob's prophesy in Genesis 49:27 is related to Paul. He is the ravenous wolf who devoured Christians in the morning, but who converted people into Christians afterward, dividing the spoil of their fruit. He was also "the least of the apostles" in 1st Corinthians 15:9—the last to become an apostle of Yeshua. When he was born again, his "mother" spiritually died—the pharisaical religion that was proved false by Yeshua's doctrine. There's much more to say.

Joseph must have known his grandfather Isaac before his brothers sold him into slavery. It must have been something indeed to sit at the feet of such a man and hear his stories. How much more Yeshua, of which Isaac is also a prophetic template!?! While Joseph missed the funeral, it's notable that Jacob and Esau were able to stand side-by-side and honor their father together. One day Yeshua will stand before us and separate the sheep and the goats, but until that point we ought to remember Moses's words in Psalm 90:12: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Solomon wrote similarly in Ecclesiastes 7:1-2, where we read, “A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” As we contemplate our mortality, we ought to recognize that Judgment Day is coming for us all, so today is the day for us to humble ourselves before God and repent, for no one knows the day or the hour. A funeral is a good time to ponder these things. The peace between brothers was positive, but for Esau, he missed the opportunity to repent.

For his part, Esau would turn his back on God one last time and go off to live in Edom, where he would raise up a nation that would later be destroyed by God on account of its bitter jealousy and hatred for the people of God. Esau never forgave his brother and his descendants carried that grudge to their own destruction. While there are liberal theologians who believe the Bible is just another myth and the patriarchs made-up characters, the Word of God stands on its own merits and affirms the historical account of these men who inhabited the lands not long after Noah and his sons walked off the ark. In Genesis 36:1, we read, "these are the GENERATIONS of Esau" and in Genesis 37:2, we read: "These are the GENERATIONS of Jacob." The word "generations" is "Toldoth (תֹּלְד֥וֹת)" in Hebrew, and while it certainly can be translated "generations," a better translation is "written account." It is my belief that Esau and Jacob wrote down these records on a scroll that was later passed down to Moses, and Moses compiled them into the anthology we now call "Genesis" or "Beresheet." Today's Holy Bible offers the ONLY True historical account of these families who are key participants in God's interaction with Man during our very short time on the Earth. For what purpose would a fiction writer detail Esau's family history and the kings that ruled over Edom when Jacob and his family were meant to be the main characters? The purpose of Edom's family tree in Scripture is only to provide a true, historical account of these men who lived as descendants of Abraham and Isaac, but not only this. Esau was Jacob's twin, and spiritually this has significance. The two men came from the same womb at the same time, but one turned to the right and the other turned to the left. There perhaps is no clearer example in Scripture that we each have an individual relationship with God, or we don't.

Here's some key things to take note of for later from Genesis 36:
In Genesis 36:12, we can see Amalek, the father of the evil Amelekites, was born of a concubine Timna to Eliphaz, the son of Esau. As the son of a concubine to the firstborn of the fallen Esau, there is a legitimate reason to think he carried the most resentment from his grandfather forward.
Genesis 36:31 points out: "these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king of the sons of Israel reigned.”  In Ariel's Bible Commentary on the Book of Genesis from Arnold Fruchtenbaum, he made an interesting point worth noting: Hadad, the last king of Edom, is supposed to be the king of Edom in Numbers 20:14 when Moses was rejected passage through Edom. He wrote: "Here again is an example where those outside the Covenant initially seemed to do better than those within the Abrahamic Covenant. Esau seemed initially to do better than Jacob did. Edom seemed initially to do better than Israel. Lot initially seemed to do better than Abraham." Ultimately, though, Israel prevailed in the short-term through the Old Covenant, and then through Messiah Yeshua, the King who would reign forever over an everlasting covenant.
There are many prophesies of Yeshua's return, when He will permanently smite Edom for her former sins against God's people; see: Isaiah 63:1–6; Obadiah 15–21; Isaiah 34:5–8; and Ezekiel 25:12–14, for example. See also Revelation 19:11-16.

The Epic of Joseph begins in Genesis 37 and goes all the way to the end of Genesis. This is a prophetic template for Yeshua the Messiah, the step-son of Joseph, and the branch of David. Like Yeshua, Joseph was loved by His Father more than any of his brothers, he was a prophet, and a High Priest who wore a multicolored tunic, and he gave a bad report concerning his brothers, who were not obeying the Father. He was sold out to pagans by his brothers because of this for the lawful amount of silver, and a male goat was sacrificed so that its blood could cover his garments. Wild beasts, those without any fear of God, ended up selling Joseph off. His father wept for him.

Also like Yeshua, Joseph's brothers rejected the prophesies he gave that he would rule over them, and he was hated for speaking this truth to them. As a dreamer of dreams, it's important to note that His prophesies came true. Consider Deut. 18:22, Jer. 28:9 and Ezek. 33:33, among so many other verses, that explain that a prophet is verified when his word comes to pass. When a true prophet goes out by speaking the Word of God and teaching its truth, he will be hated by those who do not know God. We know, as Yeshua said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house” (Mark 6:4). We know, a prophet may even be put to death for speaking the Truth of God's Word. But like Jacob, who knew his reward was in Heaven, Joseph would store up treasures in heaven. Our life is not about glory or honor or blessing, but about giving God glory and honor and blessing, and God will exalt those who humble themselves in this life like Joseph, who spoke the Truth no matter the consequences.    

Genesis 38, Genesis 39, Genesis 40

Judah's story in Genesis 38 is a story about sin and repentance and provides a contrast to Joseph's story about righteousness in Genesis 39. Judah "went down" "vayered (וַיֵּרד)" from his brothers and "turned aside" "natah (נָטָה)" to a certain Adullamite named Hirah, a word that is supposed to mean "splendor," and in doing this he "saw" a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, possibly meaning "opulence" or "riches" or "a cry for help," and both have significance. The root "yarad" means to "go down from," or figuratively, to "fall away." The root "natah" means to "stretch out" or figuratively, "to turn aside." One interpretation and takeaway from this passage is this: Judah went astray from following God because he was attracted to the splendor of the world and its riches and he wed himself to the world, rather than to God. Alternatively, Judah "turned aside" from the righteous path on account of shame, for having proposed to sell his brother Joseph into slavery. His rebellion was "a cry for help" and his heart longed for redemption.

Deuteronomy 5:32, Proverbs 4:25-27, and Matthew 7:13-14 command us to look straight ahead at Yeshua and His commandments so that we do not turn aside to the left or right or stumble from the walk of faith, but even in these passages God always provides a way back. Job 31:1 explains, "I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?" (Keep this reference for the story about Joseph and Potiphar's wife in the next chapter). We should only look upon what God gives us as blessing, seeking first His Kingdom, and we ought to be grateful for what He provides, waiting on His way to fulfill our needs and desires. In Matthew 6:19-21, Yeshua warned: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

While God certainly offers forgiveness and redemption, we cannot escape the consequences of our apostasy. Judah would suffer greatly for his desire to seek the world and its lusts instead of the faithful way of Jacob his father and the rest of his brothers. It's clear that Judah's poor choices led his sons to follow their father's example. "Er," meaning "aroused," married Tamar (more in a moment), and Er was evil in God's sight; he literally aroused God's judgment and was killed. Onan, meaning "vigorous," poured out his vigor on the earth, violating God's commandment for the kinsman redeemer. According to Deuteronomy 25:5-10, Onan should have given his brother Er a son through Tamar, to preserve his brother's name, but he poured out his seed on the ground and failed to obey God's commandment. He was also judged for this and died young. Judah's third son, Shelah, meaning "petition," was born in Chezib, which means "falsified" or "in vanity." A valid petition was indeed falsified through this third son, as the story continues. On account of Shelah's youth, Judah delayed giving Shelah to Tamar to redeem his brothers. God’s law is clear in Exodus 22:22: “You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.” After some time, Judah's wife died, because opulence and riches never last forever. Yet Judah had not yet learned. He returned to Hirah (splendor) to sheer his sheep in Timnah (meaning "portion"). He sought another portion.

Now, Tamar learning that Judah was coming near went to claim what was rightfully hers. She was going to seek redemption where it could be found, if you will, and in this very act, Judah would himself be redeemed, as we will see. Now, we shouldn't completely gloss over Tamar's deception here, because to prostitute oneself is a sin worthy of death, but it's important to recognize that she was seeking what had been promised to her. She saw that Shelah had not been given to her, and we're told, "let your 'yes' be 'yes,' and your 'no' be 'no'." Was she, in effect, seeking to uphold the law? The context of the rest of this story seems to align with this. Tamar's heritage is unknown, but her name meaning isn't. Tamar means "palm tree," or figuratively, erect like a palm tree or straight like a palm tree. In other words, she would walk along the straight and narrow path. Psalm 92:12-14 gives context: "The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be  fresh and  flourishing,..." Even Josephus, the first-century Jewish commentator, noted: "The personal name suggests not only the idea of the stature of the date-palm but also the sweetness of its fruit." Judah would bear fruit in his old age as the unknowing "kinsman redeemer" for Tamar. His son Perez, meaning "breaking through," or "to stand in the gap," was the one who was the ancestor of David and Yeshua Himself.

It's in the unknowing piece of Judah's act here that prophetically points forward to Yeshua, who is our "kinsman redeemer." Follow me: the marriage between God and Israel would eventually end on account of harlotry (see Jeremiah 31:31-34)—the first covenant was broken through apostasy. Yeshua (God in the flesh) would die on the cross, and thus His bride was "widowed." But God is faithful. Yeshua was then reborn (resurrected) so that He could be a Bridegroom to a new Bride, which is "the Israel of God," a Holy People made up of those "redeemed" by the blood of the lamb who therefore follow Him in all of His ways. In a way, the "husband" died so that a "new husband," the resurrected LORD, could wed the widowed woman. See Paul's prophetic word in 1st Corinthians 7:39: "A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the LORD." Yeshua's "kinsman redeemer" position was hidden from God's people in the prophesies in the same way that Tamar hid her identity from Judah. See Romans 9:25: "As He says also in Hosea: 'I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved.'” (Hosea 2:23). Judah had gone astray from God, but through Tamar's act that held him accountable to the Word of God, they both enjoyed a redemption of a type. Like Jacob, who simply claimed the birthright God had already given to him, which Esau sold to him, Tamor claimed the right of a son that was due to her from her kinsman redeemer, which had been promised to her.

Indeed, Judah provided a pledge for Tamar in order that she could be certain to receive the brideprice, "a young goat from the flock." NOTE: the Passover sacrifice can be either a lamb or a goat; see Exodus 12:5: "Your lamb shall be a male, without blemish, a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats." This reference is intended. Judah provided her with his signet, cord and staff until she delivered the goat. His signet was his authority as the firstborn son, his cord (though a different word) was a pointer to the tzit-tzit binding him to the commandments of God, and his staff was his role as a shepherd who was meant to lead all people to the Way of God. He gave this up until he could deliver her the goat that would represent Yeshua's redeeming blood on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. When Judah tried to send the goat, Tamar could not be found, because she was not a "cult prostitute" as he had supposed. Three months later, and yes, the number three is symbolic here, Tamar was found pregnant with Judah's child, and Judah's response was like the men in John 8:1-11 toward the woman caught in adultery. Burn her! He was right, from the letter of one law, but not according to the Spirit that synthesizes all the law together in love. Tamar presented the signet, cord and staff of Judah, saying he was the father of her child, and the grand conclusion presents itself in Judah's response: “She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.” Indeed, no stones were thrown and both would go on to "sin no more." This act of humility and repentance restored Judah for his own sin, and everything worked out for good.

One more point: When Tamar, who restored righteousness to Judah, was about to give birth to his sons, Zerah came out first with his hand and a "scarlet thread" was tied around his hand. Zerah means "rising," and you better believe this points forward to both the death and resurrection of Messiah Yeshua. He is the ultimate Redeemer who forgives us from all sins. Why did he recede into the womb and Perez, the blood ancestor of Yeshua, come out instead? He was the one who stood in the gap and breached through. There's so much we could explore here, but the meaning is straightforward. Yeshua was before all of creation, because He was with God and He is God, and His redemption plan for mankind—his death (scarlet cord) and resurrection (Zerah) was planned before the foundation of the world. This plan, though eternal, was fully revealed at his coming and that is when the New Covenant was instituted. But the heritage of Yeshua through physical Israel would come first, along with the Old Covenant, though it did not precede God's eternal plan in Yeshua. God's relationship with Israel would stand in the gap in God's relationship with man, but could not fully redeem it. Only Yeshua, the Son of God who would come from this line, could fully redeem mankind and repair the breach. Judah was on his way to redemption through this experience, because of his confession. Proverbs 28:13 and 1 John 1:9 explain. He would be content to live out his life without taking Tamar as wife, showing that he had also changed his heart from desiring the world to desiring what God had for him.

The historical parable of Joseph in Potipher's house in Genesis 39 is not meant to take away from the prophetic pointers we discussed of Judah's relationship with Tamar, but to set up God's standard for sexual purity so that we are not confused—and reveal some additional awesome truths. Genesis 39 is prophetically akin to Paul's "Certainly not!" in Romans 3:31, so to speak. Prophetically speaking, Genesis 38 asks the question leading up to it: "Do we then make void the law through faith?" Having just studied Genesis 38 as we did, we might come to this incorrect conclusion. The Holy Spirit is answering our potentially wandering hearts in Genesis 39, by saying, "On the contrary, we establish the law." Grace ought to lead to obedience, not lawlessness. And so, when the storyline returns to Joseph, a prophetic template for Yeshua, we turn to his service to Potiphar. Like Messiah, everything Joseph did was prosperous, even while he was serving as a humble servant. And as we can see in Yeshua's life according to God's righteous Way, so too in Joseph's and in ours: the devil is coming to try to disrupt this type of ministry.

On a practical level, Potiphar was a leader in Egypt. His wife was gorgeous. When she grabbed the slave Joseph and commanded him to lie with her, she most likely was not wearing much, and she was in a position of authority over him, also. As a slave, evading this seduction might have been even more difficult, and this situation would have been difficult for any man. And yet, God gives the righteous man help to resist such temptation. As Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." Joseph did the only thing he could do, and frankly, the only thing any of us ought to do in this situation. He ran away from temptation. This was consistent with 1st Corinthians 6:18, where Paul wrote: "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body." This is how we ought to treat any such situation, because adultery or any sexual immorality is a sin that leads to death. Even those who misunderstand Acts 15 cannot escape this truth, but Paul is clear in 1 Corinth 6:9: Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,..." and so on.

Returning to the prophetic template of Joseph's story, it's important to remember that Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery at the hands of the Ishmaelites, who took him down to Egypt. Similarly, Yeshua's brothers sold him over to Pontius Pilate the Roman, who then sent him to his death on the cross. Joseph prospered in Egypt at first, just as Yeshua prospered when he was sent to Pontius Pilate. Remember that the Roman governor liked Yeshua and wanted to release Him. Joseph became elevated to the highest position in Potiphar's house, but then on account of false accusations against him, he was sent into the dungeon. This was the case for Yeshua, who was falsely accused by the woman (Israel), who was committing adultery with false gods (their fealty to Rome itself above God), and then he was sent off to the cross. Like Joseph, we must flee from sexual immorality, and like Yeshua, we must strive to "be perfect, therefore, like your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48). Despite this, we will be persecuted, even killed, just like Joseph and Yeshua.

Facing false accusations against him, just like our Messiah Yeshua, Joseph was thrown into prison, just as Yeshua was crucified for His righteousness. In the depths of the pit—a metaphor for the death that comes on the cross—Joseph's story moves on to a new theme: God will save the humble and will destroy the proud. Peter wrote in 1st Peter 5:5-6, "Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." God tells this story through the tale of two servants of Pharaoh who were put in prison like Joseph, much like the two thieves on the cross who were hung next to Yeshua. In both cases, one of the criminals was given hope about a future life in the kingdom, while the other was condemned for presumptuous/rebellious sin. And just as Joseph was forgotten in the dungeon, so too did all of Yeshua's followers flee when He was taken to the cross. In the historical parable, each prisoner next to Joseph had a dream. The cupbearer envisioned himself serving Pharaoh (a metaphor for God), while the baker saw Pharaoh serving himself. The good criminal on the cross asked for Yeshua’s mercy with repentance, while the condemned criminal only wanted his enemies to be destroyed. Yeshua came to save sinners who turn to repentance in Him, and Joseph likewise foretold God’s mercy to those who seek Him in humility.

As we consider Joseph's prophetic gift and his spiritual ability to interpret dreams, we ought to exercise caution. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 5:3, "Dreams are the product of much activity," meaning that they could be nothing more than our imagination painting a flurry of activity in our mind. Other dreams, like Joseph's, especially when aligned with Scripture, are legitimate messages from God. I have dreams from time to time that seem to serve as a testimony of two or three and have significant meaning for my spiritual walk. I remember these. Other times, I have dreams that go nowhere and I don't remember them. When dreams are meaningful, all of the glory of the interpretation belongs to the LORD alone, who will reveal their significance at the appointed time. When dreams align with Scripture, and verify the Word of God, we ought to pay attention.

As an aside, we should note the possibility that Joseph, the step-father of Yeshua, had a kinsman redeemer in his own history. To reach this conclusion, we must assume that both Luke and Matthew's genealogies represent Joseph's heritage. Was Joseph the son of Heli, the son of Matthan/Matthat (Luke 3:23-24), or the son of Jacob the son of Matthan (Matthew 1:15-16)? Were Heli and Jacob brothers? Did one of them die, leaving it to the other to be his kinsman redeemer? It's certainly possible, for this is one way to explain the disparity between the two genealogies. Assuming this is correct, then it may be that Matthew wanted to point out how Joseph, the step-father of Yeshua, was the son of Jacob. By doing this, Matthew would be pointing back to the Joseph and Jacob of Genesis and identifying Yeshua as the prophetic son of Joseph's story. However, this latter Jacob would be the kinsman redeemer, the biological father of Joseph the husband of Miriam, while Heli would have been the brother who died. Joseph would be known as the son of Heli in Luke's Gospel because Luke's aim in writing his Gospel was to give a historically accurate account. According to the law, Joseph would be Heli's son on account of the fact that Jacob had redeemed his brother's name. For the record, another possibility is that one genealogy expresses Joseph's heritage and the other Mary's heritage. Perhaps the narrative leaves this vague to allow us to explore all the possible meaning and God's heart for us to know Him?

As an aside, Joseph must have known his grandfather Isaac before his brothers sold him into slavery. It must have been something indeed to sit at the feet of such a man and hear his stories. How much more Yeshua, of which Isaac is also a prophetic template!? While Joseph missed the funeral, it's notable that Jacob and Esau were able to stand side-by-side and honor their father (Genesis 35:27-29). One day Yeshua will stand before us and separate the sheep and the goats, but until that point we ought to remember Moses's words in Psalm 90:12: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Solomon wrote similarly in Ecclesiastes 7:1-2, where we read, “A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” As we contemplate our mortality, we ought to recognize that Judgment Day is coming for us all, so we ought to humble ourselves today before God and repent, for no one knows the day or the hour. A funeral is a good time to ponder these things. The peace between brothers was temporary and Esau missed the opportunity to repent.

Genesis 41, Genesis 42

In Genesis 41:51-52, we see that Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh, for “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household,” and he named the second Ephraim, for “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.” Later in Genesis 48:12-20, Jacob blessed the two lads as his own children, giving Joseph a double-portion of inheritance through them, and he prophesied over both of them, ultimately saying: "his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” At the end of the passage, we read: “By you Israel will bless, saying 'May God make you as Ephraim and Manasseh!' And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.”

Remember: Jacob was a prophet, and what he did recorded in Genesis 48 is a prophetic look forward to Messiah Yeshua. Indeed, Yeshua would be risen from the dead in the very land of his affliction, and this would come first. According to 1st Corinth. 15:20-23, Yeshua would be the “firstfruits” of the Resurrection of the Dead. This would happen before God would make Him forget all His trouble in His fathers’ household, upon Yeshua’s return, when He will reign as the King of kings and LORD of lords, utterly destroying all His enemies.

In a second meaning, where we consider the prophetic template of Joseph’s story, we can see that in Yeshua’s first coming, God forgot our sins by Yeshua’s blood (Manasseh born first), and in the resurrection He became the firstfruits and will raise us up into fruitful, eternal life, right here on the Earth (Ephraim born second).

I believe both meanings are intended.

Back in the reverse order of Jacob’s prophesy, we are meant to follow Yeshua’s model; first living as servants to God in this land, suffering tribulation as we share the good news of our Redemption in Messiah, calling for others to join us (Ephraim’s fruit amidst affliction). When He returns, He will raise us up from the dead, bringing us into His Kingdom forever, wiping every tear from our eyes, and we will forget all of our troubles (the fruit of Manasseh taken out from tribulation). God establishes a pattern for us to fully explore.

God gave Pharaoh a dream and He gave Joseph the interpretation, because “God uses all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). God orchestrated this entire episode to rescue Joseph from the punishment he did not deserve. From the pit, Joseph has now risen from death—for his father believed that he was dead—and now he rules over all the kingdoms of the Earth, providing them with the bread of life. We see in Isaiah 53:10, “But the LORD desired To crush Him, causing Him grief; If He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.”

His brothers came before him and worshipped him, just as Joseph had prophesied. This historical allegory will happen, as prophesied in Zechariah 12:10: “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

We see that Pharaoh has given everything into Joseph’s hand, so that only Pharaoh is greater than Joseph, and Joseph has complete authority over all the kingdom so that all of Pharaoh’s men are completely obedient to him, and so is anyone else who wants to eat bread. Yeshua said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” In 1 Corinthians 15:25, we read, “For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.” Yeshua reigns today from the right hand of the Father, and His Kingdom will have no end. Our current reality reflects the prophetic template in the story of Joseph, but there is a second part of this prophesy, when He will return as the Messiah son of David, to rule forever as king. This is prophesied also in Zechariah 14:9, “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—‘The Lord is one,’ And His name one.” In that day, the Father and Son will be One, and His Name shall be Yeshua.

The brothers, who are the sons of Israel, did not recognize their brother, who is now king over them. In like manner, many Jews today do not recognize their own Messiah—only to those He reveals Himself like He did to the men on the Road to Emmaus. And yet, they need Him, and they tremble before Him, not even knowing His name, for they call Him Hashem, which literally means, “the name.” Hashem is Yeshua, the “name above all names.” “And at the name of Yeshua, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, that Yeshua HaMashiach is Yahweh, to the glory of Elohim” (Phil. 2:10-11). But not yet. First we all must come to repentance. Many, who Scripture calls “Scoffers,” ask why Yeshua is taking so long to reveal Himself. 2 Peter 3:9 explains God’s rationale: “The LORD is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” We must repent, and then trust in and wait on the LORD.

Note: 10 of the brothers went down for grain in Egypt, and the number 10 is significant here in Genesis 42. It reflects testimony, law, responsibility and completeness of order or justice. Joseph recognized his brothers, accused them of being spies and threw them in prison for three days and three nights, a type of retribution, but then his faith got the better of him and he told them, "I fear God" and he showed them mercy, testing their righteousness. This led to their confession to one another and before God: "We’re truly guilty for our brother. We saw the distress of his soul when he begged us for mercy, but we didn’t listen. That’s why this distress has come to us.” They were shown mercy and their own lack of mercy was exposed. They understood. And then Joseph showed them blessing by giving them the grain with their money, rather than simply making an even exchange. And this blessing made them want to do what was right. Reuben, whom Jacob will later call "unstable as water," didn't quite understand the Way of God; however. Offering to sacrifice his own two sons (Jacob's grandsons) as surety for Benjamin, he did not understand true godly love. Our calling is to sacrifice ourselves for the benefit of others.

Genesis 43, Genesis 44, Genesis 45

In the story's fullness, Judah showed us why Jacob later gave him first born status. Not only did he lead by insisting on the hard work needed to bring in grain for Israel, a metaphor for going out to do the hard work of spreading the Gospel, he also was willing to sacrifice himself for the good of his brothers. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). Judah had arrived at wisdom and understanding. He showed us through his actions that he had confessed his sins, repented and was now walking with God.

Consider for a moment that Judah is the one who recommended the brothers sell Joseph into slavery. At least he didn't have a murderous heart like the others, but he very much did his brother a great evil in exchange for a little money, just like Judas did toward Christ. Unlike Judas, though, Judah came to full repentance. Joseph tested his brothers by setting up a situation where Benjamin, their father's new favorite son, would be enslaved. Jacob would have died at hearing the news, and Judah knew this. For the sake of Benjamin and their father, he offered up himself instead. Judah had learned his lesson. He wasn't going to repeat his error from the past. Joseph could not contain himself at this point and he revealed himself to his brothers. He forgave them, all on account of Judah's heart reversal. Does not our Savior Yeshua do the same for us? When we repent of our sins and completely walk away from them, showing through our actions that we have adopted the heart of God, the LORD forgives us from sin and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. In the eyes of God, Judah was now blameless for what he had previously did, and Joseph, as the prophetic representation of Messiah Yeshua, filled the role of forgiving him completely.

Now Joseph, loved by the father, was rejected by his brothers and they sold him off for death. He wasn’t just rejected by Israel’s sons, though; he was also rejected by the Gentiles who also threw him into the pit for a crime that he didn’t commit. But from that pit he was also raised up to rule over the entire known world and provide grain for everyone to eat. He didn’t just serve the Gentiles with this food, but also the fledgling nation of Israel. And this nation of Israel got a special place at his table and did not have to pay for their food. God’s grace for Israel is certainly free. They were also given the best place in all the land. There was certainly punishment for Israel’s sin against Joseph, but through Judah’s actions, in particular, of self sacrifice for the good of all his brothers, the entire nation was redeemed. The Gospel narrative is richly prophesied through this story, for Yeshua surely did come for the Jews first, but also for the Greeks. The Egyptians would benefit greatly from Joseph as well, but they would not know him intimately as his brothers did. The message here for us is that we truly ought to desire to be grafted-in to Israel so we can know our LORD in this most intimate way.

The Old Testament Scripture prophesied Yeshua on every page, but there are two characters who the Jews view as symbolic for the coming of the Messiah; one of them Joseph and the other David. In an article (https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Mashiach_ben_Yosef/mashiach_ben_yosef.html) on the website, Hebrew4Christians.com, John Parsons describes the tradition in this way: “Jewish tradition sometimes refers to two redeemers, each being called “Messiah.” Both of these redeemers are involved in delivering the Jewish people from exile and ushering in the long-awaited Messianic era. These two Messiahs are called Mashiach ben David (ָמִשׁיַח ֶבּן־ָדוִד), "the Messiah the  descendant of David," and Mashiach ben Yosef (ָמִשׁיַחֶבּן־יוֵֹסף), "the Messiah the descendant of Joseph," respectively.”

When Jews typically think of "the Messiah” (i.e., ha-mashiach: הָמִּשׁיַח), however, they generally have in mind Mashiach ben David of the tribe of Judah who shall rule in the Messianic age. Mashiach ben Yosef is said to be of the tribe of Ephraim (son of Joseph), and is also sometimes called Mashiach ben Ephraim (Bavli Sukah 52b). Mashiach ben Yosef will come first, before the advent of Mashiach ben David, to prepare the world for the coming of the kingdom of the LORD. He will fight God's wars (against "Edom," collectively understood as the enemies of Israel) in a time preceding the fulfillment of the Messianic Kingdom (this is sometimes referred to as Ikvot Mashiach, the "footsteps of the Messiah”).” The article continues and is worth reading further for greater understanding.

And so Joseph, who has figuratively risen from the dead and has control over all of the bread of the Earth, represents the risen Messiah, who provides the bread of life to all who believe in Him. This bread of life that He provides is three-fold: It is the Word of God in written form (Old Testament law and the prophets) that Paul calls “the letter,” but it is understood through the power of the Holy Spirit in Truth. This is the law and the prophets understood how Yeshua described it on the Road to Emmaus. We can walking on that road with Him as we read the Word. And it is the Word that He spoke when He walked the Earth, as recorded by the Apostles. Lastly, it is the Word that the Holy Spirit speaks into our hearts to guide us, the living voice of God that we hear as we go throughout our days that aligns perfectly with the Word of God. (In this, we must test the spirits by comparing what we discern with the Word, which is the bread of life.)

To receive this life-giving bread, we must believe in Him and then follow Him. This is no different than what the people of the ancient world experienced during the seven-year famine. They must believe the stories that Pharaoh’s right-hand man Joseph has the only bread in the Earth and then they must get up and go to where He is to get it. We can’t be just hearers of the Word, but we must be doers of the Word. The law should describe the type of people we are becoming in Messiah. If we are lacking, then our hearts ought to go to the LORD to ask Him to fill us where we still hunger, and He will do this through His Holy Spirit. But we must go to Him in His Word, and read this Word, which is the Bread of Life that became flesh.

Joseph was interested in Israel and his sons. While he was providing Bread for all the world (the Goyim/Gentiles/Nations), what he wanted was all of the lost sheep of Israel to come to him for bread and to dwell among him in the best part of the land. “The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’” Israel was not happy about this. Jacob resisted, and he even considered that he was going to die by acquiescing to this strange ruler among the Gentiles, but he knew that he needed the bread that Joseph offered, and so he sent his sons out to him, first holding one of them back, but then reluctantly sending them all. He sent gifts to honor the man, as any man of God would, for the Jews are a nation of Kings and Priests for the Lord God.

Joseph told his brothers that they would not see his face again until all of the brothers came before him, including Benjamin. Yeshua told his brothers that they would not see His face again until they said, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” or “Baruch Ha-shem Yeshua.” Joseph provided them with bread. He gave them what they needed to survive, but he didn't reveal himself until they came before him in repentance for what they have done: for rejecting him. Zechariah 12:10 says, “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” It’s not until Judah offered himself up as a slave in his brother Benjamin’s place that Joseph knew his heart is repentant. When the Jews repent and call out for Yeshua, this is when Yeshua will come.

Genesis 46, Genesis 47

Notice in Gen. 46 that before Jacob went down to see Joseph in Egypt, he went to Beersheba to sacrifice to God and ask for His guidance. There is nothing in the whole world that Jacob desired more than to see Joseph—he thought he was dead, and yet he still went to God first to make sure what he was doing was according to God’s will. In the first layer of meaning, this is the model we should follow in our lives before we do anything. We should bring our living sacrifice before God, offer Him praise and Thanksgiving and prayer, and then wait for Him to lead. In this case, God said go, and I will make you a nation, and then bring your descendants back to Canaan as promised. Jacob went with shalom. In a second layer of meaning, Israel believes that Yeshua is dead, crucified, buried and gone. But there is nothing they desire more than for the Messiah to come, and come He will, when they say, “Baruch Ha-shem Yeshua.” When Israel prays to God to bring “Yeshua,” this is when He will come.

Before Israel come to Egypt, Joseph advised Pharaoh that Israel and his sons are shepherds, and the Holy Spirit points out in Scripture that Egypt does not associate with shepherds, for “every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” Of course they are! The Egyptians represent the pagan world—the Goyim. They have false gods. What do they have to do with the shepherds of God Most High? Shepherds are metaphorically preachers and teachers of the Word of God. We see on account of Joseph who saved the whole world from famine and preserved the “Bread of Life” that Pharaoh gave these shepherds the best land he had to offer.

Not only that, but he invited them to take care of his sheep: In Genesis 45, Pharaoh said, “The land of Egypt is at your disposal; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land, let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.” God sent Yeshua to bring the whole world into the faith, not just Israel, but also the Nations. Israel is a nation of kings and priests, a holy nation. And through them, all the nations of the world would be blessed. Through Joseph, the prophetic representative of Yeshua, they were blessed indeed.

Joseph made it a statute concerning Egypt that Pharaoh would have 1/5th of all the land's production (if only our taxes were that low). But the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh's and he did not tax them, and in the same way our own governments provide religious entities with tax-free property. After noting in Genesis 47:26 that the priests land was not given to Pharaoh, note verse 27: "Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they took possession of property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous.” Israel is a nation of priests for God Most High, and today all who are grafted-in to Israel lead everyone with eyes to see and ears to hear to Messiah Yeshua, our LORD and our God. 1st Peter 2:9 explains: "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" In the prophetic template, Goshen becomes parabolic for the Heavenly New Jerusalem, and like Jacob, we ought to strive to be pilgrims in the world, desiring to enter the Heavenly City to be with Yeshua and those who love Him forever. We ought to live in the world, but be not of the world, just like Israel in Goshen.

A beautiful reunion between Jacob and Joseph took place, and Jacob enjoyed his last 17 years with his family restored—the 70 of Israel. This 70 becomes an important number in Scripture as the narrative continues. For example: The nations were divided according to this number, and Yeshua sent 70 out to bring the good news to Israel.  Why did Jacob seek to be buried in the land of Israel after his death? Yes, it was to honor God's promise to Israel and to him, but it goes far deeper than this. Hebrews 11, especially 9-10 explains: "By faith [Abraham] dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Jacob expected to be raised from the dead on the Last Day when Yeshua returns for His people. He wanted to be in the land of promise for that momentous day!

We also see in Genesis 47 how Joseph bought all of the land for Pharaoh in exchange for the Bread of life. We read: “So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s.” What did Yeshua say to us in Luke 14:33: “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.” In order to receive the Bread of Life and follow Yeshua, we must first offer Him everything we have to be used for His purposes. The people of Egypt were doing this for their savior, Joseph, and Joseph did it for Pharaoh, who in this prophetic template represents God Most High. We read about this in 1 Corinthians 15:27-28: “For Yeshua has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, ‘All things are put in subjection,’ it is clear that this excludes the Father who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.” To clarify, this passage and the prophesy of Joesph and Pharaoh identifies the Son's "functional subordination" to the Father. Because you and I are made in God's image, this is akin to our own invisible mind (the Father) directing our right hand (the Son) to act according to our will. The hand does not have its own will, but does what the mind directs it to do, and yet the mind and hand are part of One body. And so it is with the Father and the Son, for as Zechariah 14:9 clarifies: “And the Lord will be King over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one.”

Genesis 48, Genesis 49, Genesis 50

Israel was also a prophet, and he would spend some significant time prophesying the future for his sons, even up to including their captivity in Egypt and their later return to Canaan. In Genesis 48, we read about his prophesy to Ephraim and Manneseh, and there are two things of note here. Jacob gave Joseph a double portion inheritance, which belongs to the eldest son, but he gave the birthright to Judah in Genesis 49. This in itself foretells the first and second coming of Messiah, for He is the Messiah son of Joseph (literally via his step-father and prophetically via Joseph) and the Messiah son of David, the son of Judah, who would serve as the Messianic King forever and ever. And so it should not be a surprise to us that His divinity is also declared by Jacob the prophet today, for Jacob blessed Joseph and his sons by the name of the God of His fathers, the God who was His shepherd, and the Angel (divine messenger) who rescued him from all harm. The Hebrew grammar of this sentence is such that the God identified in the first and second part is identical with the Angel in the third part. Jacob is describing the complex, triune nature of God, and Yeshua is the Angel that is referred to here, one in being with the Father.

Genesis 49 requires intense study, and I do intend to preach a series on it, if the LORD wills it. Jacob's prophesies for his sons are specifically relevant for the LAST DAYS, or the "acharit-hayamim," and the Last Days refer to the time after the resurrection of Yeshua, and so we have been living in them since Yeshua resurrected from the dead in AD 30 or 33. The prophesies of Joseph and Judah are obvious, for both serve as a sign for the coming of Yeshua; Joseph for the first coming, Judah for the second coming. As Jacob spoke of Joseph, Yeshua is a fruitful plant by a spring and his branches breached the wall that separated Jews and Gentiles, he was attacked fiercely, but he rose from the dead and was given blessings to everlasting, taking dominion of the deep, the earth and the heavens, offering those blessings to all of His followers.  

As Jacob spoke of Judah, Yeshua's brothers (all Israel) would acknowledge Yeshua before his return. The LORD Himself said, "You will not see me again until you call out, "Blessed is He who Comes in the Name of the LORD." While a lion's cub presently (fierce vengeance in wait), he still stands over the pray. Who would dare to provoke Him? Hebrews 10 says: woe to those who "insult the Spirit of grace." He will not ever lose His dominion, and when He comes the people will obey Him, because obedience belongs to Him. When he washes his clothes in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes, this looks back to the crucifixion, but also forward to the grapes of wrath. The LORD's robes will be soaked in the blood of vengeance when He repays those who have denied Him or opposed Him. His teeth are white like milk, for His vengeance is coming on those who do not uphold the righteousness He taught us by giving us an example of how to live out God's commands. He calls to us now from this prophesy and so many others to put our love and trust in Him and obey His commands.

Benjamin's prophesy also speaks to the early Church, for Paul the Apostle is of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5), and he began as a ravenous wolf in the morning, a false teacher, a Pharisee who was devouring the prey. Read Acts 9:1 where Saul/Paul was still breathing murderous thoughts about the early Messianic Jews. He was on a mission to Damascus to arrest these Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment when Yeshua appeared to him and asked him why he was persecuting the people of God, ordering him to repent and preach the Gospel, which is something that Paul did. And yet in the evening he was dividing the spoil, for the LORD called Him to be an Apostle to the Gentiles and he went out to every nation, including Israel, preaching Yeshua as the Messiah, and there was so much of a harvest of Saints this spoil would need to be divided among many teachers after Paul's death.

The balance of the prophesies requires further study, but we know that Jacob had not forgotten Reuben's adultery, and we see a representation of this in 1 Corinthians 5. This sin causes his removal from firstborn status and his weakness among the people of God. Even though we read in 2 Corinthians 2 that the man was forgiven, would he be effective in building the kingdom of God? Levi and Simeon were the violent ones, murdering all of the men of Shechem, and for this they would also be divided among their brothers and have no earthly inheritance. Their focus must completely turn to Heaven for them to have any hope. Dan was a viper by the way looking to take out the horse and his rider for he led rebellion against the LORD in Israel, turning to pagan gods and even re-erecting golden calfs at both ends of his territory. His people would later trap some of the children of Israel into this depravity. Zebulon would spread out across the sea, Ishachar would become servants in other nations. Gad would be defeated in war. Asher would provide food for the Messiah. Naphtali would roam the forests multiplying. Jacob himself would be buried in Israel, awaiting the Last Day, the coming of Messiah Yeshua, to raise Him up into His kingdom.

After Jacob's death, Joseph's brothers worried that he would bring vengeance upon them. Though Joseph had already forgiven them for their sins against him, they still had fear of him. Joseph wept about this. They were so afraid to face him, even though he had shown them mercy. We read in Zechariah 12:10, "they shall look upon Him whom they pierced," and mourn... Ultimately, they openly requested their brother's forgiveness, and Joseph offered it freely, explaining that God had used their evil for good, their unbelief to reach the whole world with the bread of life. Now they would enjoy the fat of the land for as long as Joseph reigned. In the prophetic sense, Yeshua's reign is forever, and thus we must recognize Israel's place as His promised people who will dwell in the best land forever. Like his father Jacob, Joseph asked for his brothers to carry his bones up out of Egypt and bury them in Israel, for this is where he wanted to await the coming of Messiah to raise him up on the last day. Moses, when he left Egypt in the great Exodus, did not neglect to take Joseph's bones, as we shall see. Presumably, he too is buried in the cave with his father, grandfather and great-grandfather Abraham, from which Yeshua will raise them up.

Exodus 1, Exodus 2, Exodus 3

The transition from Genesis to Exodus seems intentional to link the two books. I believe Moses compiled the books of Genesis from manuscripts handed down to him, while he wrote most of the other four books of the Torah, with the exception of the last few paragraphs of Deuteronomy, which were likely written by Joshua. In Genesis 5:1 and 6:9, for instance, the text reads in the NKJV, "this is the genealogy of Adam" and "this is the genealogy of Noah," and there are other examples. The word for "genealogy" is "תּוֹלְדָה," which is "toldah" transliterated, and while "genealogy" is a good translation, perhaps a better one is "written account." In other words, these men, Adam and Noah as noted here, literally wrote down the genealogical records and important accounts in the lives of these family members. While this doesn't line up with what most historians will tell you about the history of written language, I really don't think this matters and I don't believe they're right. Many "scientist" types have made several conclusions in conflict with the Bible, without much evidence, and many of those conclusions have been found to be incorrect. It's my belief that the Bible itself tells us who wrote it, and that the Bible is true.

In the same way Genesis is history, so is Exodus and the rest of Scripture. There is great evidence of the Exodus in archeological findings, but we have to look past the secular archaeologists who try to obscure it. According to Biblical archaeologists ("Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus" and "Associates for Biblical Research"), we can deduce that the date and Pharaoh of the Exodus was 1446 BC; the Pharaoh who killed Hebrew children was Amunhotep I, 1532-1511 BC; Pharaoh's Daughter who adopted Moses was Hatshepsut, 1526 BC; the Pharaoh of Moses' flight to Midian: Thutmoses II/Hatshepsut, 1498-1485 BC; and the Pharaoh of the Exodus was Thutmoses III: 1485/1464-1431 BC. When we consider this timeline, all the archaeological evidence proves this story is historically accurate. Additionally, God has presented us with a historical parable in the Exodus story with a twist on his historical parable from Genesis. Pharaoh was metaphorical for God the Father in Genesis, and Joseph representative of Yeshua, now Pharaoh represents Satan in the Exodus story and Moses is representative of Yeshua. Yeshua was "a prophet like-unto Moses."

Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers combined is also the story of how the LORD God intends to rescue His people from the World and bring us into the Promised Land, which represents His Kingdom of Heaven. As the story progresses and then concludes after its retelling in Deuteronomy, you will notice that Moses, who brought the law to us in written form, does not bring Israel—the people who are “strivers with God”—over the river into the Promised Land. Only Joshua—Yehoshua, which is Yeshua for short—can do this, because he represents a faith in God’s promises fulfilled and yet to come. Just like the men and women Joshua would lead into the land, we must combine our faith in God’s promises and what He has done for us through the death and resurrection of our Yeshua on the cross with an obedience to God’s commandments out of our love and trust in Him all the way into the land.

In the prophetic lens, we see that Moses first went to His people, the Israelites in Egypt, and delivered them from the slavery of an Egyptian master, but they rejected his authority, so he went off to Gentile Midian and rescued the 7 daughters of Reuel/Jethro from false teachers, and they brought him in and married him into the family. They fully accepted him as their deliverer. These daughters are representative of the seven churches in Revelation. This was the same story for Yeshua, who went first to Israel, and was rejected by its leaders, and then he was preached to the Gentiles, who accepted Him. However, Moses then went up on the Mountain of God to speak with Yahweh, the One Who Was, Who Is, and Who Will Be, as Yeshua also has returned there to His throne, the One Who Was, Who Is and Who Will Be. Likewise, God would send Him to Israel a second time, and this time He would deliver them and they would follow Him out of bondage into His marvelous light. As the story progresses, we will also see a metaphor for the Christian walk: saved by the blood of the lamb, baptized in the Sea of Reeds, and wandering in the wilderness, fighting against the enemies of Truth on the way to the Promised Land, where Yeshua is leading us.

In the first chapter, we see evidence that the people of Israel had obeyed God; they were fruitful and increased abundantly, they multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty, and they filled the land. They had obeyed one of the first commandments of God: to go forth and multiply. This was a physical multiplication, as in the number of people and their outspreading, but it was also a spiritual multiplication. They were shepherds over Pharaoh’s flocks as well as over their own, if we recall from the story of Joseph. They spread knowledge of God and His promises to all who would listen. This is why we read that the new king over Egypt “did not know Joseph.” Joseph is a prophetic representation of Yeshua’s first coming, so when the text says Pharaoh did not know Joseph, it means that he didn’t believe in the salvation that God brought to those who trusted in Him and followed all His ways. This new Pharaoh rejected Messiah and the faith that Messiah possessed. He hated Israel on account of their faith. In Exodus, Pharaoh becomes symbolic for Satan.

It's also likely that Israel was opposed to the new Thutmose dynasty because they were allied with the previous Hyksos. The fact that this peaceful people were thriving within the territory taken over by the new dynasty lines up with Pharaoh's statement, "we must deal shrewdly with them ... they may join our enemies." It's actually likely that Israel would have aligned with the new dynasty's enemies if the previous dynasty had mounted a counter-attack. The new dynasty was cruel to the Semitic Israelites, just as many heathen people have been throughout all of history, because Israel was given a special blessing from the Most High. This same jealousy of the Egyptians against the Israelites was the jealousy of Joseph's brothers against him. People, in general, do not look kindly on a favored person or people group, particularly if they feel inferior. The Israelite midwives were godly women, though, and they could not be convinced to cave to the pressure of the new Egyptian rulers. They stood by their people and honored God's commandments, which they must have known through the relationship the elders maintained with the Most High.  

In the story of the midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh, we have an example of what a woman of God (the church) ought to do in the face of tyranny, particularly tyranny that is opposed to the will of God. These midwives “feared God,” and so they were willing to risk their careers, their lives and everything they had in order to put God’s commandments first in their lives, and granted, God’s commandments were not yet written, but they were written on their hearts. Pharaoh tempted them and gave them a chance to succumb to his will and forsake God’s will, but they refused to go along with it. God rewarded the midwives obedience and provided for them, so Pharaoh had to seek to do evil another way. Rather than coax the Israeli women to forsake their own, he had to bring the violence himself. This is the pattern of every tyranny ever to increase in the Earth, both physical and spiritual. First the enemy offers voluntary carrots and special favor to comply, and then comes involuntary force along with threats against life and limb.

It's possible to deduce from the context that Moses was born early because he was quiet for three months. Premie babies are quiet until their due date, and then they make a lot of noise. Pharaoh’s daughter had mercy on the baby floating in the Ark (Tebah תֵּבָה), and thus we know that her heart was pure. She had faith in Israel and God’s promises, and thus she even paid Moses’s mother to nurse him until he was weened and then made him her own son rather than report the male child to her father, who would have put him to death. I wonder whether anything besides Moses was put into the Ark? Though not the same Hebrew word as the Ark (Aron אֲר֣וֹן) of the Covenant, it's an interesting thought that the Covenant of God written on the tablets of stone and the manna that fell from Heaven were put into the Ark of the Covenant, and we know that Yeshua who represented both was “a prophet like unto Moses.” We also see Noah constructing a Tebah to escape from the destruction of the whole world, with one door of entry for salvation, also representing Yeshua..

Moses’s journey from here is one of discovering who he is and growing in his own faith. With the law written on his heart, he took the law into his own hands and even murdered a man for his violence against Israel. Yet even the very next day he withheld his hand and simply brought the Truth, rather than enforce it himself. He would pay the consequences for his sin and have to run from his luxurious life, and on the run he would humble himself into the form of a servant, a shepherd. His first act in humbling himself was to save the seven daughters of the Man of God Jethro from false shepherds who tried to keep them from the well of water. Moses chased the false teachers of God’s will away and watered Jethro’s flock from the well of living water. He would marry Zipporah, a name that means bird (think dove—i.e., Holy Spirit), and in this new marriage relationship would shepherd the Gentiles in the faith as a stranger in a strange land for a time, until God called him to return to rescue the children of Israel.

Moses explained his coming of age quickly in Chapter two and three, but it truly underscores what the writer of Hebrews later wrote in Hebrews 11:24-26:  "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward." We don't hear much about his life in Pharaoh's court, and can only imagine it was full of opulence and sinful practices. Moses had a deep calling of God within him, even though he didn't know his history until later. This, perhaps, is why God allowed him to protect his brethren from the Egyptian who was beating them, and why he also drove away the shepherds who were harassing Jethro's daughter. From a spiritual perspective, those were false shepherds and Moses was preparing to be a true shepherd of God. He was indeed a shepherd when God called to him from the burning bush. It was indeed Yeshua, the Angel of God, who called to him from the non-consuming fire.

When God called to Moses, He explained that His name is I AM THAT I AM. This ehyeh asher ehyeh is in the first person for the verb, and it is clear that Moses recorded what the LORD directly said about Himself. When the LORD explained how others should refer to Him, the form of the verb changed from the first person to the third person. It became: "He who is." In Hebrew, that's Yahweh, grammatically speaking, and so we know fairly confidently that Yahweh is the proper pronunciation of God's name. Much later, Masoretes who copied and passed down copies of the Torah, added vowel markers to the Hebrew letters that were originally only consonants. They based this on tradition that was passed down to them on how to properly pronounce the words. The wrong vowel markers were intentionally added to יהוה YHWH so the name of God could not be properly pronounced. This was due to a theology at the time that the name should not be pronounced, because it was too holy. I don't agree with that theology, and so I intentionally use the name Yahweh when referring to the Father. The pronunciation "Yehovah" or "Jehovah" could be due to intentionally incorrect vowel markings, and a newer version "Yahuah" is questionable, at best. My opinion is that Yahweh is correct, but the more important thing is that we worship the LORD, who we know know as Yeshua/Jesus, the one who saved us from our sins.

Exodus 4, Exodus 5, Exodus 6

Moses’s pushback against the LORD can be seen two ways: 1) As obstinance and disbelief, worthy of death. Is this why the LORD tried to kill him? 2) As humility. A prophet like unto Moses was humbled unto death on the cross, and thus God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name—Yeshua. There's much to write about Moses's calling from God, but his humility is probably the most important. He pushed it too far, so that God got angry with him. When God calls us to do His will, we certainly ought to make sure, 1) that it's actually God calling, and 2) that we understand what He is asking of us. In Moses's case, his calling was certain and God ultimately used Him both to deliver Israel from bondage and also bring them to the doorstep of the Promised Land. The law that Moses recorded can do the same. It brings us to the doorstep, but only Joshua/Yeshua can bring us over the impassable Jordan river into the promised land. Moses's story becomes a prophetic template for the first and second coming of Yeshua. Yeshua, after all, is the prophet like unto Moses.

To go deeper, we read in Numbers 12:3: “Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” We MUST be humble before the LORD, and the LORD will use those of us who have such a heart for His purposes, just as He did Moses. We can see Moses’s humility on display in Exodus 4 when he initially resisted the LORD’s call. Moses wasn’t quite ready to jump on such a challenging mission—he didn’t think he had it in Him to do it. Importantly: He was right. Without the LORD, not a single one of us can stand up against the enemy, but with the LORD, all things are possible (Luke 1:37). However, when Moses said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send,” this is when “the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses.” We must not mistake fear or doubt with humility. We must be careful not to talk ourselves out of obeying the voice of the LORD. Faith leads to obedience, or else that faith is dead.

The Apostle James leaves no room for ambiguity on this point when he writes, “But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20). He also wrote, “lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:21-22). In other words, when the LORD, through His Word, whether written or implanted on your heart by His Holy Spirit, commands us to do something, we had better do it, for in fact this obedience is a sign of humility. With the LORD’s anger, Moses got the point and headed off toward Egypt. Moses’s ultimate obedience aligns with Yeshua’s parable in Matthew 21:28-31a, where we read: “A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. ‘Which of the two obeyed his father?’ They replied, ‘The first.’” And they replied rightly.

When Moses presented the LORD’s Word to the people of Israel in Egypt, they listened at first, but then the going got tough and they rejected him. Pharaoh increased the Israelites’ workload when Moses first explained the LORD’s command to “let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness” (Exodus 5:1). The people didn’t deny the LORD, but they absolutely denied that Moses was His messenger, when they said, “Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us” (Exodus 5:21). Even when the LORD gave Moses a prophetic message from the LORD, explaining that He would deliver them with “an outstretched arm,” prophetic for the Messiah Yeshua's mission in the world, they denied him because of their anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. Despite rejection by the majority of people—a people who claimed to know the LORD, mind you—the prophet persisted in his calling, but first he turned to prayer.

When Yahweh confirmed His mission for Moses to stand up against Pharaoh, Moses replied, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?” This was not false humility, and in fact this very word was repeated by prophet after prophet in Scripture. One of the more powerful examples of this is found in Isaiah 6:5-7, where we read the prophet respond to the LORD’s call on his life:  “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Subsequently, the LORD sent a Seraphim to Isaiah and touched his lips with a glowing coal, saying “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.” We need atonement before we can go to battle for the LORD, and our atonement begins with humility. Even Yeshua began His ministry saying, “repent and hear the good news.” In order to repent, one has to stop what they’re doing, confess it as sin, and go the other direction. Moses did this very thing and we must also remember to do this thing, even in the midst of a mission the LORD has sent us on.

Yes, the LORD may have sent us on a mission, He may have called us to preach, to evangelize, to lead worship, to lead set-up, to go up against the spiritual hosts of wickedness, to participate in any other type of ministry, and this calling was authentic, just as it was for Moses. But along the way, the enemy will come in and try to take us off course—this isn't a maybe; it is going to happen—it's guaranteed. He will present obstacles we don’t expect. He will try to discourage us, frighten us, even make our mission from the LORD seem impossible to fulfill. This is the time when we ought to double-down in prayer and return to the LORD, saying, “Yeshua, I am a man of unclean lips. How can I possibly do this thing for you. I can’t go unless you come with me.” And this is precisely what the LORD did for Moses. Yeshua said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” The next thing we read concerning Moses is this: “Then Moses and Aaron did so; just as the Lord commanded them, so they did.” We know everything we need to know from this simple verse. The power of the LORD would be displayed through Moses and Aaron on account of their faith, and so too will the LORD work through us when we show agreement with His will in this very same way.

There is a line in Exodus 4 that makes everyone scratch their head, but it is deeply prophetic and requires a brief note. We read: "It happened along the way, at a lodging place, that Adonai met him and sought to kill him! But Zipporah took a flint, cut off the foreskin of her son, and threw it at his feet, saying, 'You are surely a bridegroom of blood to me.' She said, 'A bridegroom of blood' because of the circumcision. Then He let him alone." Circumcision is literally a cutting away of the flesh from the part of a man that multiplies fruit in the world. When you consider this spiritually, the Holy Spirit cuts away the "flesh" from the "heart" so that all that remains is that core part of our being that seeks God. It is literally a cutting away of fleshly desires that lead to death so that we can go forth with pure hearts in all faith and multiply disciples for God. Why was Moses a bridegroom of blood to Zipporah? Zipporah represents the Church, and Moses represents Messiah. God sought to kill Moses, just as He sought to kill Yeshua to redeem us from our sins. When we cut away the flesh from ourselves and our sons, we are redeemed in Yeshua and God overlooks our past sins. There's more to this passage, but that's enough for now.

It's interesting that Israel worshipped God when they heard He would deliver them, but after Pharaoh, a type for Satan, poured on the pressure against Israel, their fear stole away the promises of God. We have to be careful not allow the fear of the enemy take away our hope in Yeshua. The enemy will lie to us, he will curse God, he will attempt to get us to curse God, but God's promises are sure, so long as we believe them. It's fascinating to see that this generation of Israel would ultimately not reach the promised land because of their disbelief. God's promises are completely faithful. He will uphold them. He brought the following generation of Israel into the land, but He will not grant anyone a permanent relationship with Him in His kingdom if they disbelieve in what He has promised. The devil knows this, and thus sows fear, doubt and discouragement to kill, steal, and destroy, and his target is us. He wants us to be like he is. We have to have the faith of Joshua and Caleb to ultimately receive God's promises, an undying faith that does not bend to any trial or tribulation in this world, but holds on to God's promises with unquenchable faith. Prayer, praise, worship, fellowship, and endurance in faith are needed.

When Moses went before Pharaoh, Pharaoh said something very particular that we ought to focus in on. After Moses told Pharaoh that Yahweh had commanded Israel to celebrate a feast in the wilderness with Him, Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” Note that this statement is made prior to when the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart. At this point, Pharaoh had an opportunity to melt his heart toward the LORD, to repent of the evil he had done against the Israeli male babies, as well as the slavery he has imposed on the adults, to repent of his hatred of Israel and Israel’s God, and make all things right. We all have that opportunity when the LORD confronts us with His Truth, or convicts us of our sins. The question is: What do we do with it? Do we repent and turn toward Him and obey His ways, or do we harden our own hearts and set ourselves up for judgment, as Pharaoh did.

Instead of repent and allow Israel to celebrate a Sabbath feast to the LORD in the wilderness, Pharaoh lashed out against Israel and accused them of laziness on account of their wanting to keep the Sabbath rest. He said in verse 17: “You are lazy, very lazy; for that reason you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ So go now and work.” It is with extreme sadness that we have seen false early “Christian” teachers use the same rationale as Pharaoh to take Christianity off track from the teachings of Yeshua and the commandments of God. Consider Ignatius of Antioch in his Epistle to the Magnesians, when he took 2nd Thessalonians 3:10 out of context, saying: “Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in the days of idleness; for he that does not work let him not eat." Keeping Sabbath isn’t Jewish, per se, it’s a commandment of God, one that He gave to the Jews first, but meant for all the world to obey.

From this rationale, Ignatius, like Pharaoh, led Christians into worship of pagan gods, and the sun-god worship of Rome eventually was overlaid with Christian imagery, mixing the Holy with the profane as Solomon had done in Jerusalem. Solomon’s sin of mixing pagan symbology with worship of God Most High led to the division of Israel into northern and southern kingdoms. Likewise, Christianity suffered schism after schism on account of these false teachings that unfortunately still have their place in Christian denominations today. Now pastors teach that you can be a proud transgender homosexual and still know God. We are called to “come out of her, my people;” to come out of the false religious beliefs of “Mystery Babylon.” Interestingly, this clear lesson from God that showed its face in the antisemitism of the early church is also very present here in the Exodus story, when God also told Moses to tell Israel, “come out of Egypt, my people.”

God commanded all of His followers to celebrate each Saturday as a Sabbath rest, and each of the seven Holy Convocation Days, including Passover, is a Sabbath rest. Israel ultimately celebrated the Sabbath in this story, as God brought them out of Egypt with an outstretched arm (that right arm, which is Yeshua). Pharaoh, in response to God’s commandment for Israel to worship Him during a Holy Convocation Day—essentially to do no work and set the day apart as Holy—forced Israel to work. This is what the enemy—Satan—does over and over again, all throughout history to the present day. When God has set a day apart as Holy and commanded us to sanctify it to spend with Him, Satan will do everything He can to steal, kill and destroy that honor.

God won’t let Pharaoh have the pleasure. While he won for a time, he would eventually lose because he rebelled against God. Anyone who rebels against God and His commandments will be destroyed, and Pharaoh is among those caught up in this eternal Truth. In this instance, Pharaoh is representative of Satan and every antichrist who has ever walked the Earth. This story repeats over and over, and not just in the Bible. Hitler, Stalin, Che, Mao—all evil dictators who think their way is better than God’s way will be destroyed. It’s terrifying to stand up to a person like this, but this is what God had asked Moses to do. He didn't want to, but ultimately he obeyed. Those who obey the LORD, like Moses, in the face of potential humiliation, torture or death, will be used by Him to bring freedom to God’s people by introducing them to the salvation that only comes through Messiah. They’ll be saved themselves in the process.

On the surface letter, observe that Pharaoh hardened his own heart in these early parts of the Exodus story. He said, "I do not know Yahweh and neither will I let Israel go." Pharaoh believed that he himself was god, and he was held up by a series of other gods. He had redirected the Nile to cultivate crops for Egypt and believed that he brought life to his people. He dominated his slaves and built magnificent structures through his control over their lives. God was about to go to battle with him, but at the first, it was a battle between Pharaoh and his own will verses God and His will. There will come a time, and I will point it out, when God no longer grants Pharaoh a chance of repentance, but in these early stages, Pharaoh could have let go of his pride. He had the free will to do it. It won't be until later that God says enough and decides to use Pharaoh to show his own glory. God would harden Pharaoh's heart, but it wouldn't be until later. God will literally destroy the imagined power of every single one of Egypt's gods, and then Pharaoh himself will be defeated last. Only God Most High, Yahweh the King, will remain as God, and everyone in the whole world would know it.

Exodus 7, Exodus 8, Exodus 9

The plagues against Pharaoh were meant to bring glory to Yahweh, to elevate Him in the minds of men above the gods of Egypt, or any other gods, so that the whole world would know that Yahweh has no equal, He is God Most High, El Shaddai, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them. The LORD says, "by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with such severe plagues that you would have been wiped off the earth." He sent water to wipe out all life except for Noah, his family and the animals on the ark, so surely He could do anything else. He continued, "But it is for this very reason that I have kept you alive—to show you my power, and so that my name may resound throughout the whole earth." This was accomplished, for even Jethro later says in Exodus 18:10-11: “Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.” At the End, every knee will bow and tongue will confess that Yeshua is Yahweh, to the glory of Elohim, the Father of all life.

Here's a powerful Truth, which is unveiled in Scripture, regarding the spiritual battle of the Exodus story. In brief summary, consider for a moment that the LORD confused the languages of men at the tower of Babel because the men said in Genesis 11:4, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Nimrod had led this direct rebellion against the LORD’s command to Noah and his sons to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” in Genesis 9:1, a command that was intended to be a blessing for mankind, to be co-creators and stewards of the Earth in partnership with God. The men incorrectly interpreted God’s commandment as a curse, instead, and this led to judgment upon them, just as it will in the Last Days. In the same way that Eve falsely concluded in the Garden of Eden, when Nachash (the serpent) tricked her into thinking she would not die by eating the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3, a violation of God's commandments, it’s understood by many that the men at Babel also had help from divine beings who were in rebellion against God and in league with the enemy.

The tower whose top was “in the heavens” may have been a type of portal into the spiritual realm. Based on this interpretation, we might conclude that the LORD confused men's languages into 70 forms (Genesis 10) specifically to ensure His commandment was fulfilled, but also to upset the plan for man to rebel against him in agreement with some of His rebellious spiritual beings. God disowned the nations at this point, later calling Abraham and his chosen descendants out from them to create a nation of people for Himself through Isaac and then Jacob. This is confirmed in Deuteronomy 32:7-9, where we read: “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you: when the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the place of His inheritance.”

The LORD also condemned the divine beings that He had appointed to oversee the 70 nations, because of their rebellion. We can see this play out in Psalm 82 where God explained that He would kill these “gods” like men specifically because they showed partiality to the wicked, making the foundations of the earth unstable. Further, in the same Psalm, we also read the LORD foretell His final act: the risen Messiah would arise to judge the Earth and restore all of the nations to Himself. For its part, Egypt, or Mizraim in Hebrew, had been founded by a descendant of Ham, the cursed child of Noah. The descendants of Ham had created their own mythology based on the original stories purportedly invented in Babel, as all nations had done. These stories seem to have very similar themes, which represent an inverse of the true story of Creation and the flood account and its aftermath that is explained in Scripture. One of those myths made its way into Egypt, and that brings us back to Exodus. According to this interpretation, Moses, as a prophetic template for the coming Messiah, would begin the process of overthrowing and humiliating these divine beings that had risen up in Egypt against the LORD. Consider also Psalm 2 as a summary of this.

In the Exodus story, God’s ultimate victory over the whole world would be symbolized by the blood of the lamb in Egypt, a prophetic microcosm of the whole story, if you will. Before that final plague, the LORD would display His glory in Egypt by literally showing everyone with eyes to see how every single “god” they looked up to was as good as dead when put up against the power of the Most High. Consider Exodus 7:14-25, when God instructed Moses to change the water of the Nile into blood, the LORD was declaring His supremacy over the Egyptian god Khnum, the purported guardian of the river’s source, Hapi, the imagined Spirit of the Nile, and Osiris, who supposedly used the Nile as his bloodstream. When the LORD commanded Moses to bring forth frogs in Exodus 8:1-15, He expressed supremacy over Hapi, the supposed frog goddess. God covered Egypt with lice in Exodus 8:16-19 using the dust of the earth, overcoming Seb, the Egyptian god of the earth. The LORD brought flies in Exodus 8:20-32, overpowering the lord of the flies called Uatchit in Egypt. Through Moses, God affected the herds in Egypt with pestilence in Exodus 9:1-7, humbling Ptah, Hathor, Mnevis and Amon, the supposed gods associated with bulls and cows.

The boils brought forth in Exodus 9:8-12 overpowered Sekhmet, the spirit of epidemics and humiliated Serapis and Imhotep, the purported gods of healing. The hail mixed with fire from Exodus 9:13-35 might have disgraced Nut the Egyptian sky goddess and Shu the god of the atmosphere. The locusts of Exodus 10:1-20 took on Serapia, who did not have the power to fulfill his assignment protecting Egypt from locusts when facing up against the Creator of locusts. The thick darkness of Exodus 10:21-29 showed Yahweh’s supremacy over Ra, Amon-re, Aten, Atum and Horus, the Egyptian sun gods as well as Thoth the moon god. And finally, with the death of the first born identified in Exodus 12:29-36, Yahweh brought final judgment on all of Egypt’s gods, including Pharaoh himself, who considered himself to be the son of Ra, the sun god. He also may have been bringing vengeance on Pharaoh for his forefather's move to drown the Israelite baby boys in the Nile. Yes, God, by His Right Arm, the prophetic expression of the pre-incarnate Yeshua, who is the visible action of God in the World, would show His supremacy over all other gods. There is no God like Yeshua, for He was, He is, and He will forever be God Most High.

Also note: the plague of lice was the first plague not duplicated by the Egyptian sorcerers and was attributed to "the finger of God," which is the Holy Spirit. Relatedly, Yeshua said in Luke 11:20, "If I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you. In Matthew 12:28, in the same story, He said, "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the Kingdom of God has come upon you." Surely, the Holy Spirit was bringing the Kingdom of God to bear in Egypt to defeat the demons that Pharaoh and the Egyptians worshipped, but also to let their captives free. Yeshua did this same thing by defeating the demons possessing His people and freeing them to pursue the Kingdom of God.

We saw in earlier chapters and now see in Exodus 7-9 that Pharaoh hardened his own heart as God brought plague after plague through the hand of Moses to challenge Pharaoh’s obstinate hatred of Israel and Israel’s God. We haven’t gotten to the part where God hardens Pharaoh’s heart; Pharaoh still has a chance to repent as we're reading these chapters. But once a certain point is reached that only God knows, which we'll see demonstrated in the text, God will harden Pharaoh’s heart for the purpose of showing His glory to those who still have a chance to repent. Pharaoh, like Satan, whose pride became their full identity, are destroyed. Read Deuteronomy 28 and you will see how God works in this way. See also Revelation 20:10.

To Pharaoh, God had made Moses “as God,” just as God said Moses would be "as God" to Aaron in Exodus 4:14-17. This is a prophetic template pointing forward to Yeshua, who "being a man, made Himself equal to God." He would be "as God" to both his followers and his enemies. Pharaoh was a man who believed himself to be a god, and so this set things up to be a direct head-to-head battle from Pharaoh's perspective, but he was deceived. Satan has this same mindset just like his followers, thinking that good vs. evil is an equal playing field—the ying and the yang, if you will. This is false and untrue (See Ezekiel 28:1-19), and God will demonstrate His eternal preeminence here.

We also see a prophetic template in the plagues of Egypt representing the plagues that will be poured out on the world in the Last Days (See Revelation). Israel, those who “strive after God,” meaning those who seek Yeshua and His Way, do not suffer from the plagues, but those who are seeking the things of this world and doubting the Word of God suffer God's wrath. The plague of hail gives a great example. There were Egyptians (Gentiles) who brought their livestock into the barns. We read: “Everyone among the servants of Pharaoh WHO FEARED THE WORD OF THE LORD hurried to bring his servants and his livestock into the houses.” These among the Gentiles were spared, and they later became the “mixed multitude” who went with Israel out of Egypt. It’s essential for us to see this metaphor, because it’s probably the most relevant to us in these days we’re living in—especially for those of us who trust Yeshua. The hail didn’t strike Israel, even though they were present in the land, but the hail struck the Egyptians who did not prepare for the judgment of God. This is how it will be when the wrath of the Lamb comes to pass.

Of additional note: It's clear that the mixed multitude of former Egyptians became a part of Israel—they became just as the native born. This is a prophetic picture of when heathens would later convert to Christianity. Ephesians 2 makes it clear that the two—Jews and Gentiles—become one in Messiah. There are not two different groups of people, there is only the Israel of God. Romans 11 makes it clear we are grafted-in to the Olive Tree that is Israel through faith in Yeshua, but we only remain within the tree by doing the will of God.

In the waxing and waning of Pharaoh’s mercy, we see the same lukewarm, wishy-washy heart in people of the world who will not surrender to the Gospel. They see signs and wonders—even miracles—they may endure suffering—and yet they refuse to turn to the LORD and obey His Word. Instead of repenting to turn toward God's will, they blame God for the consequences that result from sin. Their heart tugs at them—Yeshua Himself said that "He stands at the door and knocks"—but only those who humble themselves and surrender will have a chance to escape destruction. We read in Revelation 16:21: “From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.” But we also read in Revelation 14:12 (LSB): "Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Yeshua." The LORD's people are saved by grace through faithfulness—grace gets us out of Egypt and faithful obedience gets us into the Promised Land.

Exodus 10, Exodus 11, Exodus 12

In Exodus 10:1, the Scripture shows that God’s patience with Pharaoh had expired. This is quite notably the first time in Scripture that the text indicates that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Prior to this, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. It had been Pharaoh’s free will to rebel or obey prior to this point, but now his fate was sealed and God would use Pharaoh as an example of how He judges the disobedient and rebellious as a testimony to His own holiness and authority. We read about this pattern in Hebrews 10:26-26: “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the Truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.” Pharaoh had reached the point of no return, and even his false cries for forgiveness in Exodus 10:16-17 were followed by half-hearted obedience. The LORD doesn’t save the lukewarm (Revelation 3:16), and thus we read again in Exodus 10:20: “the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart.”

If you read ahead to Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, God explained that He only allows rebellion against Him to go so far before His final judgment comes upon a people and their land. Repentance leads to blessings, giving God glory, and rebellion leads to judgment, also giving God glory. Here we’re looking at the latter. God explained the consequence of persistent unfaithfulness in Exodus 10:1-2: “that I may set these signs of Mine among them, and that you may recount in the hearing of your son and of your grandson, how I dealt severely with the Egyptians, and how I put My signs among them, that you may know that I am Yahweh.” Again, it was for the glory of God and for a sign that God does and always will defeat the powers of darkness and set His people free from bondage. Even the sorcerers of Egypt knew they were defeated by the LORD, and they pleaded with Pharaoh to give in to the LORD, lest they be destroyed, but Pharaoh's pride persisted to his own fall, the fall of Egypt, and the glory of God and God’s people. This Truth is upheld in all Scripture. Our surrender to God is required.

In the final plague against Pharaoh’s Egypt, God established the Passover Holy Convocation and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as “‘a memorial” that ought to be celebrated; “as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations … as a permanent ordinance” (Exodus 12:14). Importantly, we read in Exodus 12:47-49, we read: “All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. But if a stranger resides with you and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, all of his males are to be circumcised, and then he shall come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised male may eat it. The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who resides among you.” This law does not say that Gentiles should not keep the Passover. On the contrary, it extends the blessing of keeping the Passover to all Gentiles, so long as they are circumcised. With this, it is critically important to understand what “circumcision” means.

We know from Paul's writing in particular, but also Peter's, that Gentile grafted-in believers have been circumcised in their hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 2:25-31)—“the circumcision made without hands” (Colossians 2:11). Thus, in order to participate in the Passover, we must have received the Holy Spirit following our faith in Yeshua; this is a requirement for keeping the feast. Read 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, where Paul is directly instructing Gentiles about how to keep the Passover. He wrote, those who eat or drink in an unworthy manner eat or drink judgment on themselves because they do not understand Messiah Yeshua. Some even get sick or die because they eat the Passover improperly, with sin unconfessed or hearts that do not treat it with the solemnity that it requires. The Passover is the highest Holy Day of the year, and it was set up so that all who follow Yeshua would remember the Day forever. We must remember it with faith and awe, and not as if it is just another meal.

The Apostle Paul, exhorting his Gentile disciples, after listing a whole host of sins, said in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8: “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Messiah, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” This passage brings the whole concept together. Yeshua, our Passover Lamb, our Unleavened Bread, served as the sinless sacrifice on our behalf so that we can be freed from the curse, which is bondage to sin and death. This is a free gift of grace that we cannot earn. We now celebrate the feast in memory of Him, by introspectively removing any sin within us so that we can sincerely abide in His Truth, which is defined by His righteous law. As we move to keep the feast, it’s not enough for us to remove leavening agents from our homes—and this we should certainly do—but we also ought to remove any sin from our hearts, for “a little leaven, leavens the whole lump,” Paul explained in Galatians 5:9. This is akin to James’ statement, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:8-10).

Thanks be to God for His grace, which saves us, and not our works, so that none of us can boast. Nor does our knowledge or understanding save us, but our love toward God and one another. This is yet another meaning for 1 Corinthians 5:6, where Paul wrote: “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” In context, He was referring to those Christians in Corinth who were showing too much grace toward a man who was committing sexual immorality, for we cannot “turn the grace of God into lewdness” (Galatians 2:17). And so we ought to be mindful of this delicate balance in our faith between the severity of God that punishes sin and the mercy of God that forgives those who truly repent and come with humility before His altar—there is a narrow path toward Messiah Yeshua that rests between legalism and lawlessness. When we walk it, keeping our eyes on Messiah, depending on His righteousness defined by His law and understood by His Spirit, which convicts us and guides us—when are are looking to daily build upon our growing relationship with our Creator who redeemed us by His blood and circumcised our hearts by His Spirit—then the power of God will help us to defeat the enemy in our lives. He is the victor, and in Him we too can be victorious. We remember His great sacrifice for us during His feast each year.

Prophetically speaking, with the final plague, God established the Passover as an everlasting memorial for what He did in Egypt and what He would do through Messiah Yeshua, and what He is still planning to do at the End. The Passover is the beginning of months, and it will also represent the beginning of the everlasting Kingdom when Yeshua brings home His bride for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It marks the beginning of Israel's redemption from bondage in Egypt, and faith in the blood of the Lamb also marks the beginning of a Christian's redemption from the bondage to sin and death. The lamb was inspected on the 10th day of Aviv/Nisan, just as Yeshua was inspected by the City of Jerusalem and the Temple Rabbis on the same day (the palms were lain at His feet). The Lamb was to be taken and consumed so that nothing was left, and it was to be eaten in haste, just as we must fully embrace the death and resurrection of Yeshua for our redemption and our surrender to Him is urgent—it is life and death for us. The Lamb is without blemish (sin) and the Bread is without Leaven (sin), for Yeshua is our spotless Lamb of God and our Unleavened Bread, and by His stripes we were healed. His body was given as an offering for us by fire.

The Lamb's blood was spread on the doorposts to spare the first born among Israel—faith was needed to obey this commandment—and the angel of death passed over homes that were marked, just as those who accept Yeshua's blood on the cross—the doorpost between Heaven and Earth—for our atonement by faith will be passed over by the angel of the second death at the Second Coming. Yeshua said we were to celebrate His blood being shed and His body being offered by drinking the Passover Seder fruit of the vine and eating the Unleavened Bread in memory of Him. It is an everlasting commandment for the Native Born as well as the Stranger who has come in, circumcised by the Holy Spirit of God. The uncircumcised (Unbelievers) are not to partake in the Passover Seder lest they expose themselves to the curse. See 1 Corinthians 11, especially vs. 29: "For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves." The feast is a memorial, which is why Paul exclaimed we ought to "keep the feast" in 1 Corinthians 5:8 with the "unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth." The Truth is always God's law, and our sincerity is our faith in Yeshua. We remember the day Yeshua freed us from bondage to sin and death.

And so, when we read the final instructions to Israel before the people left Egypt, the LORD explained the important details of remembering the Passover because it would remind Israel of God's power to encourage them in future battles and point toward the future redemptive work of the cross. The cross would not end the celebration but embody it. The Passover Seder is followed by the seven-day feast of Unleavened Bread. The LORD described this celebration in Exodus 12:18-20, where we read: “In the first month [of Aviv/Nisan], on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’” These instructions apply to everyone who follows Yeshua!

This feast applies to us, for Yeshua who kept the Passover on the night He was betrayed, said, “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). He also said, “I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes,” pointing forward to Passover celebrations even into the age to come. When we keep the feast, we remember the LORD’s deliverance of Israel in Egypt and we remember Yeshua’s deliverance of all His followers from sin and death, and both salvations were based in the blood of the lamb, but we also look forward to the Promised Kingdom that He has said He will bring us into when we follow Him in all of His ways. He will drink the cup with us at that time, this time not in suffering, but in celebration of the Kingdom. Ephesians 2:11-22 explains that as Gentile believers in Messiah Yeshua we have been brought into Israel; we are "no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" through the blood of Messiah Yeshua. The household of God is Israel, and in Romans 11, Paul explains that we have been grafted-in to the One Olive Tree as wild branches among the native branches. Isaiah 43 prophesies this same very thing.

Also note: God ordered Israel to plunder the Egyptians, and He would later use this bounty to build His tabernacle. Note also that some of this material was used to construct the golden calf. We have to be very mindful that we do not use God’s blessings in our lives to create idols that in turn bring curses into our lives. Yeshua died on the cross to forgive us our sins, but let us not use His grace as an occasion to sin, but rather freely give God total surrender and obedience to His law. We ought to serve God willingly and give back to Him the love He has given to us and live according to the Way He has shown us. Because of the riches of the Kingdom that are offered to us through Yeshua, we ought to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to all with ears to hear. "To whom much is given, much is expected.” These are all eternal Truths!

Also note: The meaning of the word "fulfilled" (πληρῶσαι plērōsai) is "to make complete," or more properly, "to fill to individual capacity." This is CRITICAL for properly understanding what Yeshua accomplished and what we still have to do, especially when He commanded His disciples (you and me) to "follow" Him. He said: "follow Me." John said in 1 John 2:6: "the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." The commandment to "love one another as I loved you," as Yeshua presented in John 13:34-35 is NEW because Yeshua showed us how to do this very thing by perfectly fulfilling the law in the flesh. Thus, if we are true followers of Yeshua, we also ought to perfectly fulfill the law here. Yeshua in fact showed us how to do this by fulfilling it. He made it known to us. He explained it to us. He led the Way. And now we have to follow Him. His sacrifice is the "one time sacrifice for sins," and so we no longer sacrifice bulls and goats (or lambs), but we would be wise to "keep the feast" and "Do [the Passover] in memory of..." Him, and not find ourselves following the doctrines of men who syncretized pagan "communion" ceremonies never imagined by Yeshua. He showed us exactly what to do.

Exodus 13, Exodus 14, Exodus 15

From the blood sacrifice of the lamb and the exodus of Israel from Egypt begins a new historical allegory that ends when Joshua conquers Jericho. The blood of the lamb frees us from the bondage of sin, and we are to leave this sin behind us and not go back to it. Upon our faith in the blood for salvation by grace, we are baptized in the Sea of Reeds and come out the other side into the wilderness, which is the rest of our lives. Now we praise the LORD and worship Him, and He goes with us. However, we face trial and tribulation all along the way. Do we look back at our life of bondage to sin and return to it? Do we grumble against the LORD? Or do we trust Him and believe in His promises, enduring whatever confronts us in this life, knowing the Lord will fulfill His promises? If we keep our faith—and this is an “IF” proposition; not a guarantee—then we can go with Yeshua into the promised land when He returns. If we do not, then we die in the wilderness and suffer the second death.

The LORD continues to emphasize the Passover celebration with importance to anyone who believes in Him, and Yeshua has commanded us to keep the Passover Seder and the Feast of Unleavened Bread in memory of Him. The LORD said, “you shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.” Paul wrote: “Therefore, keep the feast” (1 Corinth. 5:8). Not only are we to keep the feast, but we ought to teach our sons and daughters why we keep the feast. It is because of what the LORD did in Egypt when His “powerful hand” brought Israel out of bondage. It is also because of what the LORD did at Calvary when His powerful hand was sacrificed to free us from the bondage of sin and death. Look at Deuteronomy 6 where the LORD said to teach the Word of God to our children and to meditate on it no matter where we are or what we’re doing. Every word we speak and every action we take should be aligned with it, and that alignment, as Yeshua taught us, begins in our hearts.

Keeping the Passover is seen “as a sign on your hand and a memorial between your eyes" (forehead). This is the MARK OF GOD. The LORD presents four memorials represented by four Kiddish cups during the Passover Seder, when the fruit of the vine is drank. The first cup is a memorial for the LORD's deliverance He gave Israel from Egypt. The second cup remembers Israel's entry into the Promised Land. The third memorial points to the deliverance that Yeshua bought for all of Israel by His blood, and the fourth memorial still points forward to the coming Kingdom and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We eat unleavened bread to remember the haste in which Israel left Egypt, which is tied to the urgency of our acceptance of Yeshua's striped body given up for our atonement. It reminds us of our sinless Lamb who sacrificed Himself for us, but also reminds us to sin no more because of our redemption. "It is because of what the LORD did for me" when I came out of sin. This is why we ought to "keep the feast" in memory of Yeshua.

The LORD led Israel with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, which represents the prophetic power of God's anointing as well as the Holy Spirit. When examining the Hebrew word "anan (ענן)," it means "cloud," "soothsaying," or "prophesy." This is similar to the use of the word "nachash (נחשׁ)" in Genesis 3, which means "serpent," "to conjure deceptively," or "burnished bronze." In Hebrew, metaphors have positive and negative connotations; i.e., Satan is a "roaring LION seeking someone to devour" and Yeshua is "the LION of the tribe of Judah." Similarly, the word "anan" has multiple connotations. "Prophesy" is good when God Most High is behind it. Recall Joseph, the prophet of God, said he practiced "divination" (Gen. 44:15), which is also the word "nachash (נחשׁ)." Moses carried Joseph's bones for burial in Israel where they would be ready for the resurrection of the dead into glory. Recall: Scripture describes both false prophets but also prophets of God. God appeared to Moses in a non-consuming fire; Yeshua told Nicodemus in John 3:8 that the Holy Spirit leads us in unpredictable ways. This imagery of the pillar of cloud explains how God led Israel with the Spirit of prophesy, which leads those of us who know Yeshua today.

Additionally, the LORD's cloud by day and fire by night gave light to Israel, led Israel forward, and defended Israel from the enemy. The Holy Spirit works the same way by leading us according to the law of God, which God has written on the hearts of those with faith in Yeshua, and by keeping the enemy's attacks from destroying us, so long as we keep our faith. We are tempted by fear, doubt, discouragement and disbelief, but the LORD calls us by His Word to keep our eyes on Him, so we do not sink in the waters, but rather walk through them to safety. We can tear down strongholds the enemy has on us, so long as we keep our eyes on Yeshua. It is up to us to have faith, and to endure in it, and to think and act in a way that bears this out. The historical parable of the people's exodus from Egypt until the second generation entered the Promised Land foretells this Truth. The Sea of Reeds crossing represents our baptism, when our faith in the blood of the lamb is put to the test. Will we step out in faith and show the world we believe. Will we accept the burial of our sin and fleshly life and come up the other side as a new person in Messiah? We must, or we won't make it to the Promised Land. Unbelievers die in the wilderness.

The LORD led Israel on a roundabout route—perhaps along the coast of the Sinai peninsula to the Straight of Tiran by the Gulf of Aqaba, which is part of the Sea of Reeds—the Sea of Suph. They did NOT go on the highway through the land of the Philistines. Archaeological finds of God's name YHWH (יהוה) are prevalently written in caves along the coastal path in proto-Hebrew (????). Though we can't say definitively that the crossing was at Aqaba, I believe it's likely. Study a topographical map and Scripture's description takes shape. There is a wide desert plain that Israel likely walked down on the west side of the Sinai Peninsula, which is east of the Gulf of Suez. When rounding the southern most tip you will see in the terrain that the plain narrows and then ends up against a mountain range. Israel would have turned back at the mountain range and watched the Egyptians approach, which is called Sharm El-Sheikh today. Then the LORD, at Moses's hand, would have opened the Sea at the southernmost part of the Gulf of Aqaba, allowing Israel to cross into Midian. This interpretation places Mt. Sinai in modern Saudi Arabia, which was ancient Midian. Not coincidentally, local Saudis identify a mountain by that name in the expected area.

"Patterns of Evidence: The Red Sea Crossing," a two-part series, shows significant evidence to support this theory above. This theory is also supported by "The Associate for Biblical Research." Historically, there is record of a Pharaoh who follows the patterns of Exodus. This Pharaoh watched much of his army die in the sea, and he watched his slaves escape. He had to go into the lands of Canaan and the lands of the Philistines at an unusual time of year to replace them. History also shows a massive decline in the kingdom of Egypt following this time period. Pharaoh didn’t go into the sea after his men, but his kingdom was left in a disarray after Israel left. In the land of Goshen, there is evidence of a Semitic people living in luxury, and then declining into slavery. There is even a record of there being a disproportionate number of females in the later population. And there is a record of 12 graves, with one of those graves made to be more noble than the rest. This grave, the grave of Joseph, does not have a body in it, for Moses carried it with him when he left Egypt and brought it up to the Promised Land. For further evidence, in Galatians 4:25, the Apostle Paul explained, "this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia" in a metaphor explaining the difference between the fleshly and spiritual understanding of the law. In Galatians 1:17, Paul also explained that after his vision of Yeshua and his confession of faith in Yeshua, he did not confer with flesh and blood nor go to Jerusalem, but rather "I went to Arabia," he said. Presumably, he went to Mt. Sinai there. Did he confer with God there like Elijah did in 1 Kings 19:13? I believe so.

When Pharaoh cornered Israel on the beach beside the sea in the shadow of the mountains, Israel forgot the great things God had done in Egypt. How often do we forget the great things God did for us when we're faced with an existential threat? Don't we know God will deliver us if He desires, and even if He doesn't we will be resurrected into new life? Take note: God saved Israel from the fiery anger of Pharaoh's pursuit right AFTER the people had been delivered from bondage by the blood of the lamb. We are delivered from sin through faith in the blood of Yeshua. But don't think that our salvation frees us from the pursuit of the enemy. Satan does not want to let his captives free, and he will pursue believers more than unbelievers. Through their baptism in the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea) (1 Corinthians 10:2), God washed the bondage of Israel's sin away from them forever. Now they would walk forward on the other side of their bondage, singing glory to God for the freedom they now enjoyed in their salvation. This was not the end of their struggles, for so many times the enemy would circle back in new ways to try and destroy them. Satan will likewise conceive of many ways to destroy us, despite our freedom in Messiah. We must not let him win by continually remembering the cross and how it sweetens the bitter waters and the Truth of God's Word that shines a light in the darkness, dispelling it.

There are moments of fear when the enemy approaches us as new believers, just as Israel went into a frenzy as Pharaoh approached. Moses redirected their hearts to God, as the Holy Spirit of Yeshua now helps us against the enemy. When we have faith in Him, He delivers us. When we trust in Him, He will destroy the enemy, and we don't have to do a thing except walk forward in faith. He will guide our steps as the enemy stumbles trying to tear us down. Our souls will reign victorious with Messiah on our side when we align with His will. The praises Israel gives to the LORD on the other side of the sea are significant, for this is how we might feel after our baptism as a new man or new woman in Messiah. But this is just the beginning of our journey. Many tests will come. Many trials and tribulations. And some of those tests will be immediate. The Israelites lost faith in God almost immediately following the Sea of Reeds miracle. Where was God? Why did He leave them without water? He didn't, but they had to believe. The LORD provided mightily—this living water for Israel—as He does for us, but we cannot look back at our former life in bondage to sin and death, or we will die. We have to trust in Messiah and keep our eyes on Him.

God parts the waters for us, He makes a way for us, and we just need to put one foot after another and walk along the path He has prepared for us. “The Lord will fight for you, while you keep silent.” Do we believe this? In the midst of spiritual attack, it is our only option. The Song of Moses was sung with celebration following the victory of God over Pharaoh. Moses sang, “I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him. … In Your faithfulness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have guided them to Your holy habitation. … The LORD shall reign forever and ever.” In Revelation 15:3-4, we see that the Saints of Yeshua will sing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb on the Last Day as God brings His wrath on the wicked: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O LORD, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.”

The LORD took the opportunity of Israel's doubt at the bitter waters to remind us about our need for faith: “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight and listen to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.” God will heal us of all disease, including our bitter hearts, and forgive us of all our sins as long as we have faith in Him and do as He has commanded. He will separate us as a people away from those who are perishing. We are grafted-in among Israel, the strivers with God, as opposed to Egypt, those who are of the world who strive against Him. If we go with the LORD, He will lead us to springs of living water, where there is fruit to eat and enjoy; everything we need to sustain us. If we turn against God or His way, we will suffer the same plagues that came upon the Egyptians. As we read in Hebrews 3-4, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

Exodus 16, Exodus 17, Exodus 18

The people grumbled in the wilderness for lack of food, much like so many of Christians grumble against the LORD when things don’t go our way. This angers the LORD. It shows a lack of trust and gratitude in what He has done and promised. In Psalm 116:17, we see the right approach: “I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.” Yeshua gave us the same guideline in Matthew 6:10-13. Despite their grumbling, the LORD still brought blessing. And the LORD will do this for us, too, but not forever. At some point, we have to surrender to His Way. We can see this play out in Exodus 16, because the LORD indeed blessed Israel, but He also tested them to see if they would follow His instruction. In this test, He brought them supernatural provision but commanded them to rely on it a particular way, by keeping His Sabbath Day holy, the same Day that He consecrated in the Garden. The Sabbath is God's gift—“the LORD has given you the Sabbath.” It is a gift for us to rest a day with the LORD, giving Him thanks and praise. He does not want us working, looking for food, cooking or preparing food, or otherwise seeking our way in the world. The Sabbath is a day to stop and be with the One who made us.

And so, the LORD established the Sabbath as a way to test His people; whether we would obey His commandments or not. God gave enough manna each day for five days, and then on the sixth day the LORD gave double for the Sabbath also. God wants us to depend on what He gives us day-by-day—"give us this day our daily bread." Yet, many desire "flesh" (the way of the world) even though we have been freed from bondage (sin) in Egypt (the world). God provides us with the Spiritual food we need each day of the week, and enough for the Sabbath on Preparation Day. When we doubt Him and desire to work on the Sabbath or when we try to take more than we need for ourselves, there are consequences. When we desire to rest in the LORD on the Sabbath and trust Him for our provision, He will bless us abundantly. Do we recognize the Manna from Heaven, the Word of God who came in the flesh, or do we wonder, "Who is He?," just like Israel asked "What is it?" in the wilderness. Do we trust in God or our own industry? Do we crave something else besides God's Word for our sustenance?

God instructed Aaron to keep some of the Manna stored next to the Ark of the Testimony, for we cannot achieve union with God without this testimony of two. We need both faith in Yeshua and obedience to the commandments of God to inherit a place in God's Kingdom.

To make the Sabbath commandment more clear to us than ever, Yeshua told us in John 6:57-58: “Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, the one who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” If Yeshua is the Manna from Heaven that we must eat—meaning to take His essence into ourselves and make His instruction a part of our own being so that we can live forever—then we clearly must celebrate the Sabbath by taking in the double portion He has prepared for us on that day, setting aside the day as “a Sabbath observance, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.” Yeshua said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He wants us to do this for Him. He commands us repeatedly, just like He did the Israelites in the wilderness.

Because Israel sinned by doubting the LORD's ability to provide living water, the people opened themselves up to attack from the enemy, just as we do by doubting God's Word. The Israelites had already forgotten all of the great things God did for them. He had taken them out of bondage in Egypt and rescued them through the midst of the Sea. How could anyone see such things and believe God was going to allow them to die? We can't keep grumbling like this and make it into the Kingdom of God. Hebrews 3:15, quoting Psalms, says, “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,” and in Hebrews 4:11: "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience." God has patience, but rather than complain we ought to praise God and rejoice always, in good times and bad, for the LORD is bringing us through all things to mold us into the men and women He wants us to be. It is rebellion to complain. Instead we ought to speak life, and life only, which is the Word of God.

The first time Israel thirsted for the living water of God, God commanded Moses to strike the rock to bring forth this water in Exodus 17. Moses obeyed, and water came forth. Likewise, Yeshua, our rock of salvation, was struck down during His first coming and in our faith toward His obedience, we inherit living water. Later in Num. 20:7-12, God commanded Moses to speak to the rock to bring forth water. In the same way, we must call out to Yeshua with our lips to be saved. Moses disobeyed the second time, striking the rock again, which literally cost him the privilege to enter the physical Promised Land, though Moses would still be redeemed (Jude 9). And God still brought living water for the people, while Moses paid the price for disobedience. God gives us living water and brings us into His eternal Kingdom with Him when we have faith in His Word that leads us to obey Him. If we develop religious patterns that God did not command and thereby disobey His Word, we won't make it. Leaders who teach the ways of men won't make it. We have to obey God and not man. Furthermore, if we strike Yeshua upon His second coming, which is to rebel against Him and His Word, we will not make it.

For all of their grumbling and complaining, God brought the sword against Israel as a judgment in the form of the people of Amalek. The sword is one of four judgments God brings upon His people in response to persistent sin, according to Ezekiel 14:12-23. God judges us to redirect us back to faithfulness. Even still, I wonder what the Amalekites were thinking to attack Israel—could they succeed after Pharaoh failed? If Israel continued in sin, the answer is "yes," but Israel repented and thus God defeated Amalek. Moses sought mercy in prayer and stood up for the people of Israel and raised his hands in praise and worship of the LORD. This is the remedy to all grumbling and complaining. In 1 Thes. 5:16-18, Paul writes: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Messiah Yeshua for you." We can't always stand alone, and nor could Moses. Joshua led Israel into battle and Moses stood on the mountain worshipping with the help of Aaron and Hur. With the help of his brethren, Moses held up his arms in prayer, and it was his prayer that defeated the enemy. This explains how important prayer is for us.

According to Genesis 36, Eliphaz, the son of Esau, and his concubine Timna had a child named Amalek. Amalek clearly grew up learning Esau’s pathological hatred of Jacob’s descendants. His offspring became the nation of Amalek, and they lived to the south of Israel in the Negev Desert. God would use Amalek in every generation to judge Israel when they needed to be tested and reminded to follow God, as their father Jacob did. For example, Haman in the story of Esther was an Amalakite. We read: “the LORD has sworn, the LORD will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.” Those who oppose God's people may temporarily succeed, but they are playing a role in God's plan to be restorative toward those who truly love Him. Understand: The enemy may take some people out, some of the faithful may indeed fall, and God allows this because He wants to know who will endure in their faith until the end. But God also promised to Moses: "Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Those who thought it good to attack God's people will be utterly destroyed, while God's people who remain humble and repent will have another opportunity to trust Him.

When Moses approached Sinai in Midian in Exodus 18, he testified concerning all the great things that God had done for Israel and brought Jethro the pagan into the faith to worship God alone. Now that Jethro had become a believer, Moses honored his father-in-law and heard his godly advice. Thus, there is evidence that every leader must have oversight so that he does not go astray. Jethro's advice was for rulers of 1000s, 100s, 50s and 10s, and his advice was later verified by God. Exodus 18 is analogous to what we read in the Book of 1st Timothy regarding overseers, deacons and elders as well as several other New Testament chapters on church leadership. Churches ought to have leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, and here’s the awesome part: They will all judge the minor matters themselves, but they will bring every major matter in prayer to the prophet like unto Moses, who is Yeshua the Messiah. Yeshua is the people’s representative before God, who sits at His right hand. He admonishes us about the statutes and laws, and Has instructed us in the same, and He has made it known to us the way we ought to walk and the work we ought to do. But He selects leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens to lead His flocks and help them navigate through life, with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit helping them. The point is so that all the people of God can go to their places in peace.

Exodus 19, Exodus 20, Exodus 21

The LORD's holiness is well established at the foot of the Mountain, for the people could not even come near it without risking destruction, but when the shofar was blown from the heavens the people could come up. Note that it is at the last trumpet, the last shofar blast, when the people of God will finally be able to approach Him on His Holy Mountain, where He will indeed judge all people according to His Word. In preparation, we must consecrate ourselves and make ourselves holy, yes, through faith in Yeshua because it is Yeshua indeed who embodied the law. We approach Yeshua through the law, and once we know Yeshua, we keep the law the way He has taught us. Only Moses and Aaron, the High Priest and Mediator, could ultimately go into God's throne room on the altar, and Yeshua now fills both of these roles, interceding for us forever as Moses and Aaron once did. As Israel said, so must we: "everything the LORD has spoken we will do." This is how we can ensure we do not die when we come to stand at the foot of the mountain, for Yeshua will only intercede for the faithful.

We know that it is on account of grace that we are saved, not by works so that no one can boast (Eph. 2:8). Yahweh explained this to Moses prior to giving the Ten Words, but we don't learn this until later in Deuteronomy. The shadow of it is here in Exodus 19. First, here's Deuteronomy 9:5: "It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." The LORD took Israel out of Egypt by the blood of the lamb, in the exact same way He takes us out of the bondage to sin and death by the blood of the LAMB of GOD, who takes away the sins of the world. It is because of grace that we are saved, and nothing else saves us. Nevertheless, we are God's workmanship, His Creation, and we were created for good works and we ought to walk in them (Eph. 2:10). The model is here in Ex. 19: Because God has saved us by His free gift of grace, it is incumbent on us to sanctify ourselves in Him by our belief and then obey His commandments because we love Him, and because we know they are for our good.

Yahweh said in Exodus 19: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will pay careful attention to what I say and keep my covenant, then you will be my own treasure from among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you will be a kingdom of priests for me, a nation set apart.’" This is a combination of Ephesians 2:8-10 and Matthew 28:18-20. You can see here that it is grace that saves us, and the LORD does all of this work, even raising us up on eagle's wings to help us rise above sin and death. We confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Yeshua is Yahweh and God has raised Him from the dead, and we are saved (Romans 10:9). Because He has saved us, we have to pay careful attention and keep His covenant—for us, the New Covenant, which Yeshua said plainly: "If you love Me, keep my commandments..." and I will give you "the Helper," the Holy "Spirit of Truth." (John 14:15-18). The Holy Spirit seals us, it raises us up on Eagles wings convicting us of wrongdoing and leading us in the righteousness of Messiah. Once we are there, living a life in Messiah Yeshua, we then become a nation (people) of priests, grafted-in to Israel, who are called to "make disciples," "baptiz[ing] them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit," and "teach[ing] them all the things [Yeshua has] commanded [us]." He is with us in this.

The difference here in the Old Covenant is that the common people cannot approach the Mountain of God, and even the priests must be fully sanctified. The men couldn't even sleep with their wives before hearing the commandments of God from His voice. Thunders and lightnings fell down as the Ten Words were given, just like there were voices and torches in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit wrote the Ten Words on the hearts of the Apostles. The Words were written on stone here, now they are written on our hearts, but they are the same Words and we have the same obligation to keep them, if we love Yeshua and desire to follow Him. It is Yeshua, indeed, who makes it so we can come near to the Mountain of God, and we are told in Hebrews 12:25: "See that you do not refuse Him who speaks." Read Hebrews 12:18-29, which explains all of this. When we say, as the Israelites did, "Everything the LORD has said, we will do," we had better turn our hearts to Him and away from the world so that we are not found to be "hypocrites," for liars will not inherit the kingdom of God (Revelation 21:8). God comes near to us so that we may develop the appropriate fear/respect/reverence for Him, and understand His holiness, and Yeshua has said: "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48)

When the Israelites feared death from the Voice of God, they told Moses, “You, speak with us; and we will listen. But don’t let God speak with us, or we will die.” God later said this was good, and sent a "prophet like unto Moses," namely Yeshua, to be our eternal Mediator, and He would fulfill this very request. Now we have Yeshua, who allows us to come near to the Mountain of God and not fear death, and yet we cannot go to the mountain if we are lawless in heart. Yeshua made this very clear in Matthew 7:21-23, where even among those who call out "LORD, LORD," those who "practice lawlessness" will be cast out. John wrote: "Sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4), and Paul wrote that "we know the law is good, if one uses it lawfully" (1 Timothy 1:8), and to use it lawfully is to interpret it "in Spirit and Truth" (John 4:23-24), for "the law is Spiritual" (Romans 7:14). The law is this: Yahweh is God, and there isn't another equal to Him (Yeshua is Yahweh), we cannot worship any created thing or any work of our hands, we cannot preach falsely or speak falsely against God, we must remember to keep His Sabbath Day holy and refrain from work, we must honor our parents, we must not murder, we must not commit adultery, we must not steal, we must not bear false witness and we must not covet anything in our heart that doesn't belong to us. This law is not burdensome, but rather it is a delight to all who keep it with their whole heart (1 John 5:3).

Yeshua said to the woman caught in adultery as well as the man committing idolatry by the pool of Siloam, "Go and sin no more!" He also said to the man, "lest a worse thing happens to you." What is worse than being paralyzed? It's the second death! When we accept Yeshua as our savior, His grace heals us from our sins that lead to death. But we cannot continue to sin, for as Paul writes in Galatians 2:17, "Messiah is not a minister of sin." And as the writer of Hebrews explains in Hebrews 10:28-29: "Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" When we are redeemed by the blood of Messiah, we are to give up everything we have, including our own ideas of right and wrong, and follow after Him, the one who lived this law perfectly and commanded us to do the same. If we love Yeshua, we will obey these commandments. The time is now to repent and follow Him!

Yeshua said that not one jot or tittle of the law would be done away with until Heaven and Earth are done away with, and He also said that Heaven and Earth may be done away with, but His Word will never be done away with. In other words, the commandments of God are eternal and apply to everyone who follows Yeshua. We can't receive the blessings of Israel without the responsibilities. It's not logical. And so we read the commandments that God gave to all humanity in Exodus 20. They are simple, elegant and good. They are the “perfect law of liberty,” as James wrote.

In Exodus 21, the LORD provided ordinances, which are applications of the law, and they are beautiful and good. A slave that desires to remain with his master, because he loves him, will have his ear marked with an awl in the door. This may sound painful and brutal until you realize the Spirit behind this: When we hear the Word of God and desire to follow it, because we love our Master Yeshua, we will permanently mark our ears (hearts) with it and surrender our lives to Him. The rest of the details here are mercies. For instance, "whoever curses his father or mother must be put to death." Thank GOD for His grace and mercy and that we are all new men in Yeshua! But God forbid we curse our father or mother once we become Christians, lest we die the second death! The LORD has commanded us to honor our father and our mother, and this we ought to do. The LORD also makes it clear that abortion is murder right here in Exodus 21:22-25, saying: If you injure a pregnant woman but she and her baby live, then there is simply a retribution given as the husband sees fit, but if the baby dies, the one who attacked the woman in order to cause this ought to lose his life. God's justice is good, it is pure and it is holy. We ought to obey!

If we love God, we ought to be able to say: "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97). "The law is spiritual" (Romans 7:14). And "he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:25).

Exodus 22, Exodus 23, Exodus 24

Psalm 119:7: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple."

I absolutely love reading these statutes. They are so good, they are so just, and they bring mercy and kindness to all involved. I especially love the sections on restitution, for these show God's perfect justice and wisdom.

When we seek to obey the Law of the LORD, not out of fear, but because we desire to love the LORD and love our fellow man, there is nothing but blessing that results. He has given us this law for our good, so that we might be blessed and live a good life.

When it comes to the sacrifices, know that the LORD does not desire them. Why is this? The sacrifices were needed to atone for sin, and they were a sign pointing forward to the one-time sacrifice of Yeshua. Both of these sacrifices were horrendous; innocent life taken because we are too weak in our flesh to obey what is already good for us. God desires our obedience, not sacrifice, because He wants what is good for us. This is still true today. Because of Yeshua's grace, we ought to obey the LORD.

When Moses went up onto the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights, know that this is a prophetic type for Yeshua's ascension into Heaven. He sits on the throne interceding for us even now, but one day He will return. We should contemplate this and take appropriate action to repent when necessary. When Yeshua returns, will He find faith on the Earth or will He find us worshipping abominations instead? When He returns, the LORD will literally burn up all that He finds by the Word that comes out of His mouth. Pray that this unquenchable fire will simply remove any impurities in us rather than consume us completely on account of disobedience. The writer of Hebrews asks rhetorically: "Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:28-29).

Note in Exodus 24:4, we read: "Moses wrote down ALL the words of Yahweh." This is SO important, and it is one of many "witnesses" of this Truth in Torah. The Jews contend that their Mishnah and their Talmud, etc., which were LATER written down after the advent of Messiah, were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai by God and passed down as "oral tradition." Moses's own testimony directly rejects this idea. Moses wrote down "KOL" (כֹּל), which means ALL of God's WORD, including everything, excluding nothing. If we believe the Word of God—and I do—that means that this Torah is the law—the instruction of God—and nothing outside of it is law. Yeshua confirmed this when He came. In Matthew 15:3, He asked, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?" The tradition He referred to was the "oral tradition," or the "oral law," allegedly passed down from Moses. The "commandment of God" He referred to was this Torah, this written Word that was given to Moses directly from God. Mark 7 is a parallel admonishment against tradition. If you want to know what Yeshua meant when He said in John 14:15, "If you love me, keep my commandments," we ought to read the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), ...

...for everything in Torah can be summed up with the Sh'ma from Deut. 6: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" and Lev. 19:18 "Love your neighbor as yourself." Even Yeshua's exhortation to "love your enemy" can be found in Torah. Consider: "If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey straying, you must return it to him. If you see the donkey which belongs to someone who hates you lying down helpless under its load, you are not to pass him by but to go and help him free it." Is this not the command of Christ?: "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Mt. 5:44-45). The LORD commands restitution for theft; even for accidental damage to a neighbor's property. He pronounces death on those who murder or do abominable things, such as practice witchcraft or sexually abuse animals. This justice isn't ours to deliver; the LORD has said, "vengeance is mine, I shall repay." As Paul instructs in 1 Corin. 5: "deliver such a one to Satan..." Pray they repent!

Reading through these "ordinances" of the LORD gives me such great joy, for it unveils the LORD's heart to us and it also shows us examples of what the LORD means by His commandments, which are higher than these ordinances. When the LORD says, “Anyone who sacrifices to any god other than Yahweh alone is to be completely destroyed," this is an ordinance for the commandment, "You shall have no other Gods before Me." When the LORD says, "Keep away from fraud, and do not cause the death of the innocent and righteous; for I will not justify the wicked," this is an ordinance for the commandment, "you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." The LORD isn't giving us these commandments so that He can punish us for violating them, rather He is giving them to us so we can understand the difference between good and evil—righteousness and lawlessness—obedience and sin. Paul writes, "For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet” (Romans 7:7). When we understand sin, and when we understand the punishment for sin is death (a second death that the LORD brings upon the guilty), then we understand the need for our Savior Yeshua and our salvation becomes all the more urgent.

At the same time, we must recognize that our salvation in Yeshua does not give us license to sin, but the contrary. Paul writes: "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!" (Galatians 2:17). In Jude 1:4, we learn that "ungodly men ... turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." So those of us who have been called to follow Messiah Yeshua, must do so by "walking the way He walked" (1 John 2:6) and follow these commandments and ordinances of God, not out of blind fear, but out of a deep desire to become more like Messiah. How can we seduce a virgin and sleep with her and then leave her defiled without consequences? The LORD instructs us to pay the father the bride price, even if we don't marry the woman, for under the law of God he will not get the bride price for a defiled woman from a righteous man. While this may seem archaic to us, the Spirit of this law is to wait until you are properly married before sleeping with your wife, for this is what God intended for our good, and it was this way from the beginning, when God said in Gen. 2:24: "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh." In 1 Corinth. 6:16, Paul verifies that we cannot sleep around and stand righteous before God for this very reason—and remember: "Christ is NOT a minister of sin."

What Moses experienced on Sinai was unique in his generation, for the blood of Messiah had not yet been shed. He and a select number of Israel's leaders were able to dine with God, to sit at His table on the top of His Holy Mountain. This may have been a mountain in Midian (now Saudi Arabia), but it was spiritually the Mountain of God. The LORD revealed His heavenly realm to these men, but not to Israel as a whole, for they saw a consuming fire and believed Moses was dead, as we'll read in the next chapter. God gave Moses tablets of sapphire stone, and on them the Word of God had been written by the finger of God. As we read at the end of Hebrews 11, we have a much better covenant. Now the Word of God is written on our hearts, if we allow Him to write it there, and we too have access to the Mountain of God through Yeshua, who is one Mediator and High Priest. Moses would make a copy of what He saw in Heaven as an example of the Eden that is to come, and we will truly experience this reality if we endure in our faithfulness until the End. We ought to practice for His coming by keeping the feasts that He has commanded us to keep, by bringing our first and our best before His heavenly throne, and by offering up our praise in joy and thanksgiving and celebration with Him! The LORD's commandments are just as relevant to us today as they were when first given to Man. Let us keep the feasts in sincerity and truth. Here is the LORD's heart for us: “... Seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Mt. 7:7). We will find the LORD when we seek Him with all of our heart. (Jer. 29:13)

Exodus 25, Exodus 26, Exodus 27

We should be able to pray this prayer with confidence knowing that the LORD will make all things new: “Test me, O Yahweh, and try me; Refine my mind and my heart. For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth.” (Psalm 26:2-3 LSB)

Three times in Egypt, we read about how the LORD told the people of Israel that they would loot the Egyptians when they were freed from bondage there. Note the following:

“And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” (Exodus 3:21–22)

“‘Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.’ And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.” (Exodus 11:2–3)

“Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.” (Exodus 12:35–36)

See also the prophesy in Genesis 15:13-14: “Then He said to Abram: ‘Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.’” And see the prophetic template in Genesis 30-31 when Jacob plundered Laban.

These were not accidentally placed verses, but were all positioned to set up what God would ask from Israel in Exodus 25, especially in verses 1-2: “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.” (Exodus 25:1–2) This is an eternal principal of God, which we can see echoed in the Apostolic writings. Yeshua taught: “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:49b). Peter echoed: “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). And Paul taught: “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:1–2). There are many more examples.

The LORD asked Israel to request these articles from the Egyptians so they would have them later to build His sanctuary, but He would not demand these articles from them, for the LORD is looking for a people with willing hearts. He would only build His dwelling place among them from materials given by those who had a willing heart. It's fascinating to consider this. The LORD had commanded Israel to loot the Egyptians, as if these slaves were victorious in battle over their masters. And because the battle was the LORD's, and all Israel had to do was hold their peace, this is exactly what happened. God made Israel successful in a literal conquest of Egypt. This loot was God's additional gift to Israel so they could build a sanctuary where He could dwell with them, but He would only accept what the people would give wholeheartedly for this purpose.

Does we not experience this also in our lives? Does God not give us everything we have, including the promise of eternal life with Him? How much are we willing to give Him back wholeheartedly to further His Kingdom here on Earth? Yeshua said we ought to be willing to give everything we have, and then He would reward us with eternal life, the precious pearl without price. In the wilderness, the LORD desired to build His tabernacle and its implements for a similar purpose; namely, so He could dwell among His people in the wilderness. The LORD has always found a way to dwell among His people, in a "garden of Eden" or a "holy mountain," and the tabernacle would represent this intersection between Heaven and Earth. He desires this greatly, for He created us so He could dwell among us. He told Moses: "They are to make me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them." Today, in the New Covenant, He builds His dwelling place within us, for His Spirit comes to dwell within His people who keep His commandments out of a deep love for Him and faith in all of the wonderful things He has done for us as well as all of the wonderful things He has promised for us. Don't you know you are the temple of God? So long as we purify ourselves with the blood of Yeshua and subsequently walk in His righteousness, the Spirit of God will come to us. He will not leave us nor forsake us.

Today’s Christians ought to study Exodus 25-27 and the related Scripture about the Tabernacle, because as God says repeatedly, “See that you make them by the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.” The Mountain of God is a metaphor for the Kingdom of God. As we learn when reading Hebrews, these models were made in the wilderness as a shadow of the real Kingdom that is coming, or in other words, as an image of what is real in God’s Kingdom. If we want to know who God is, what He promised to us, and how it will come to being, we need to study these patterns that He provided as a sign for His true throne room.

Allow me to share a few highlights of what I mean:

As God begins to instruct Israel to construct the Tabernacle, He first asked Israel to contribute whatever their heart moved them to contribute to its construction. We only need to go back a few chapters in Exodus to remember that God instructed Israel to lawfully plunder the Egyptians as they were leaving by asking them for gold, silver, bronze, violet, purple and scarlet material, and the like. This was prophesied by God many, many years earlier when He spoke to the patriarchs (see above). God had been setting this up for hundreds of years. Now, rather than command Israel to contribute what He gave them through His own lovingkindness, He asked them to contribute whatever their heart moved them to contribute. NONE of these things belonged to them; God gave everything to them. And yet, God did not demand it back, but only made the request for the people to offer what their heart moved them to offer. What do we have to offer to God who gives us all things? What do we freely give to Him in what He has called us to do?

God was instructing the tabernacle to be built as a place for Him to dwell with Israel. This isn’t just a place for religious ceremony, but a dwelling place for God’s presence to be with His people. We celebrate God’s presence among us during the Feast of Tabernacles today, and we remember this time in the wilderness. But we also remember the time when God game to tabernacle with Man in the flesh, when He took on the form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross, and how God greatly exalted Him, so that we can confess that Yeshua is Yahweh to God’s glory! Finally, we look forward to the time when God will come to dwell with us forever; when He brings us a New Heaven and a New Earth and sits on His throne in our midst to light the eternal day. As God sets up the Tabernacle in the wilderness, He is setting us up to understand that He will one day dwell with us forever. We must first bring our free will offering—our entire being—before Him and offer it up. Then God will dwell with us.

Today, God calls us to come before His altar in Heaven to bring our prayers before Him, and from there He provides us with His commandments which are written on our hearts so that we know what step to take next. We see Him dwelling among the seven lamp stands, which represent the different parts of His Body that each illuminate one, whole and united Church in Yeshua. We see that clear oil is needed from beaten olives to illuminate the lamp stands, the first and the best from the best fruit on the tree. We must be grafted-in to the Olive Tree of Israel if we are to produce the fruit that comes from the tree, and we must have the Holy Spirit dwelling with in us to produce the pure oil when we are pressed through the trials and tribulations of life. Will our light shine? Will our lamps burn continually. Will we, like the wise virgins of Matthew 25, have enough oil to burn until the Messiah returns for us? Only if we persevere by keeping the commandments of God and our faith in Yeshua!

All of the implements of the Tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the menorah, the table of incense and the table of shewbread were made "just as you were shown on the mountain," God told Moses. While God showed Moses the design literally on Mt. Sinai, He was showing His prophet a vision of the Mountain of God in Heaven, where the throne room of God actually rests. Read Hebrews 8:1-6: "Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. ... as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, 'See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.' But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises." This doesn't by any way diminish what the LORD was doing for Moses in the wilderness, but it states its purpose was as a model of what was coming for those of us who trust in Messiah Yeshua.

Moses literally created a model of the Heavenly court. The ark of the Covenant represented the throne of God and the covering cherubs, and the testimony inside of the ark represented the Word that dwelt within the heart of our Father, Who came into the world and became flesh. The menorah represented the spirits of the complete people of God, as we read in Revelation 1, and the oil that burned forever is God's spirit that dwells in us and gives light to the world through our works. The shewbread represented the body of Messiah displayed constantly as a reminder that we can come before God because of what He did on the cross. The altar of incense represented the thanksgiving, praises and prayers of the Saints, that rise up to God as a sweet-smelling aroma. Finally, the altar of sacrifice showed the LORD's love for his creatures, whom God's people would eat after sacrificing them there on the altar. The LORD requested the blood to be poured out, the best part to be offered to Him and the meat to be consumed in His presence, for this was His gift for His people's nourishment at the expense of these beasts. It is a more honorable way to eat a steak, to be sure. Ultimately, the sacrifices also prophesied the sacrifice of Messiah Yeshua on the cross, the one-time sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, and by this too we could stand before God's throne and not be destroyed.

Note from Revelation: there is no Temple in the New Heaven and the New Earth, because God and the Lamb are the Temple. Note from Revelation that the New Jerusalem will come down from Heaven like a faithful bride for her husband. The New Jerusalem, which is the Tabernacle, is made up of the people who had been taken up to the air to be with the LORD forever. They will dwell around Him as a Holy City, and He Himself will be the Holy of Holies. We can see this imagery in the construction of the Tabernacle of the wilderness. The Ark of the Covenant is the heart of God's throne because it holds His law, the heart of His love letter to humanity. The law is God's heart, and the fact that He has shared it with us shows that He loves us. Note that the Mercy Seat is above that throne, and God Himself sits there on the Mercy seat, judging according to His law. It is a Mercy Seat because of Messiah Yeshua. Because Christ died for us and His blood was splattered on the Mercy Seat on the Day of Atonement, God offers His mercy to those who approach with repentance. The Menorah represents the complete Body of Believers, and the Table of shewbread represents this Body, but also the sacrifice that Yeshua gave for us.

When the Tabernacle was constructed, this was a little piece of the Garden of Eden that God allowed so that His chosen people could come in and be in His presence again. He was welcoming His chosen people back into the garden. Today, we stand in our purified bodies, purified by the blood of the Lamb and kept pure by our righteous living, as building blocks of the eternal Tabernacle. We are invited to become the central component of the Garden of Eden around God Himself, who will sit there on the throne in the midst of us. This relationship with God is the paramount purpose of everything God was doing here in Exodus. This was the very purpose for creation to begin with. God made us to be with Him and to be His co-creators, His friends, His bride. All of Scripture explains that the Messiah would build the third and final temple, but most of humanity assumes it will be a physical place like this Tabernacle. But this Tabernacle was just a pattern built according to what Moses saw on the Mountain. The second temple was torn down in AD 70, but Yeshua Himself began building the third temple on the day He rose from the dead. He started with Himself, the cornerstone, and 12 blocks as the foundation, and then He called for the building to be constructed on top of this firm foundation. That building's construction is almost complete, and when the last believer is built in, Messiah will come.

Exodus 28, Exodus 29

The New Covenant has replaced the Old Covenant, and thus we now worship as Exodus is describing "in Spirit and in Truth." Hebrews 9:11-15 reads: "But when Messiah came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."

Sacrifice was required so that Aaron and his sons could minister before the LORD, and now we have the one-time sacrifice of Yeshua so that those men He has called to be priests can serve under His eternal leadership. In the New Covenant, Yeshua is our high priest and mediator instead of Aaron and Moses, Yeshua is our sacrifice for sin instead of bulls and goats and rams, the Tabernacle is now our body in Messiah Yeshua instead of a tent of meeting or building in Jerusalem, and the law is written on our hearts instead of on tablets of stone.

Everything else we're reading in Exodus now applies to our bodies and the Body of Messiah; therefore we ought to ask God to help us understand how to apply this Torah to our lives. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:9 concerning those who know Yeshua as their God: "you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." We are not the laymen in our readings of Exodus who have no access, but we are the priests who minister for Messiah according to the Great Commission: To go forth and make disciples, to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to teach the commandments of God. Consider the beauty of Aaron's garments and then note how beautiful our LORD God Yeshua is in the Spiritual realm. In Revelation 19:16, we read: "He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." Read about the Word of God who became flesh. It's all there. His head is donned with "many crowns," and written on His turban is a name only He knows. His robes are scarlet, dipped in blood, and we are set apart for the LORD because of Him. He bore our guilt.

The blood is daubed on Aaron's ear, hand and toes to symbolize the beginning and end of Him, it's daubed on the altar to purify it, for blood is the price of sin. The blood atones for all of His sins, and all the sin of the world, and when Aaron was purified in this way he could go before God and ask for the people's sins to be forgiven. But now the blood of Messiah daubs the beginning and end of us, and the altar in our hearts, and we no longer need a human intercessor. He is our mediator—our only intercessor needed—and we can go out and reach those who don't know Him because of what He has done for us.

While only the priests would eat of the sacrifices offered to the LORD, for He has given us all food to eat, now we too can partake in meat and eat the sacrifices. How could we eat a single bite without offering thanks and praise to our God who created those animals so that we can eat them to sustain ourselves? How can we put bread on our table without waving it in the air and acknowledging that God has given us both the wheat to make flour and the knowledge and skill by which to grind it, combine it and bake it on a fire? Everything that sustains us comes from God, in the physical realm and in the spiritual realm. How much better is the Lamb sacrificed on the cross who offered His body for our food, and His blood shed for our sins, for us to drink? This spiritual food will sustain us for all eternity, and not just for a day or year.

Exodus 30, Exodus 31, Exodus 32

It’s interesting that we see Bezalel, son of Uri, in the tribe of Judah in Exodus was “filled with the Spirit of God.” For anyone who says the Holy Spirit did not fill people prior to the New Testament Pentecost, this verse discredits that. It’s amazing that God’s Holy Spirit is breathed into certain men in the Old Covenant to do His works. In this case, Bezalel was used for artistic expression of God’s glory. And yet, at the same time, God was dwelling with them all in the Tabernacle. In the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit is available to “all flesh,” as we read in Jeremiah 31:31. This does not mean that all flesh receives the Holy Spirit, for Yeshua tells us in John 14 what we must do to receive Him. It means that the Holy Spirit is now available to all flesh through faith in Yeshua and obedience to His commandments. Then, He comes to dwell in the tabernacle of our hearts. Praise God! Before the New Covenant, only chosen people, like Moses, Bezalel and David received His Holy Spirit.

And so, the episode of Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah in Exodus 31 is one that should encourage any Godly artist, for it is quite clear that the Holy Spirit will fall upon anyone who desires to create beautiful art or music to the glory of God, but only according to His commandments. These acts of praise must be done in accordance with God's will, for we can see that Aaron's creation of a golden calf at the request of the people ends in great disaster, for the people were worshipping the golden calf as if it was God itself. This dichotomy gives us great insight into the meaning of the Second Commandment. The LORD has not commanded us to avoid all graven images or similar art forms; rather, He has commanded us not to make these objects for worship, which includes prayer. They ought to serve as memorials to remind us of God; they are never to serve as an object of prayer or even a focus during our prayers. Our worship, praise and attention needs to be given to God alone!

Prophetically speaking, when we see that all the components of the Tabernacle had to be consecrated, we should understand that so too do all the people of God whom He calls in to become a part of His Temple through Messiah Yeshua. When God commanded Aaron in Exodus 30 to burn fragrant incense upon the altar every morning as he prepared the lamps, and then again when he lit the lamps at dusk, He was instructing us in Spirit and in Truth to pray when we rise up and before we lie down at night. We can see in Revelation there are two witnesses to this Truth that the incense represents the prayers of the Saints (those who trust Yeshua and keep the commandments of God: 1) ”Now when He [Yeshua] had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 5:8b) and 2) "Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand” (Revelation 8:3-4).

And so, just as the prayers of the saints rise up as sweet smelling incense to the LORD on account of Yeshua's blood of atonement, the light of Yeshua also shines through His people in this dark world in the same way the light of the menorah shined forth in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. When we consider these things, we ought to note the seriousness of God’s instruction in Exodus. We are forbidden from mixing our prayers with any traditions of men or devotion to demons, for such unauthorized incense will lead to death. If we make incense for the LORD in the wrong manner or mix it in with other traditions besides what the LORD has commanded, He may just destroy us in such unfaithfulness. Also note, the basin for washing can be prophetically tied to the baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that now marks our death in the flesh and rebirth into the newness of life in faith. We also ought to wash our hands and feet, the beginning and end of a man, as we come in to worship, for we must wash off the stain tied to the curse of work in this world. We come in standing before God Most High. What manner of honor do we owe Him when we come before Him to praise and worship Him?

Continuing with these templates, note that the holy anointing oil cannot be reproduced, for only the authentic indwelling of the Holy Spirit can create the sanctifying relationship with God that brings life. If we try to reproduce the fruits of the spirit or signs of the Holy Spirit with our own strength, this will lead to death. It is a violation of the third commandment to take the LORD's name in vain. We must wait on the LORD for His anointing and His lead, for He is the vine and we are the branches, and without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). When we are anointed with the Holy Spirit, all the work we do for the LORD ought to be for His glory. All of our work ought to bring praise, glory and honor to God on His throne. His Spirit will help us to honor Him according to His will, if we wait on Him and trust in Him according to His instruction. The Sabbath is the sacred time that God made for man to come in near to His presence and rest from all the work that must be done under the sun. As we learned in Genesis 3, work is a curse and the Sabbath is our weekly reprieve from the curse to experience a little piece of Heaven’s blessing on His Most Holy Day. God said, the Sabbath is “a sign between Me and you." It is “holy to you.”

Note the command for the census in Exodus 30:11-16. The LORD said, when you take a census, ensure to take a tribute for the LORD. To not offer such tribute brings pestilence as punishment. Now we know why Israel was punished with pestilence when David took a census of Israel in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21, without giving tribute. If the LORD ever were to call for a census of all of His people, the commandment here is for every person counted among the sons of Israel to contribute a half ounce of silver to the congregation at large. God doesn’t seem to command a census here, but only that any census called for is used for His purposes of building up the Assembly, rather than for the purposes of Man. Remember Psalm 127: “unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Our calling is to wait on the LORD and do His will by obeying His commandments in order to see His glory in our work, otherwise, we risk becoming transgressors.
 
The golden calf incident in Exodus 32 is a prophetic template for the last days before Yeshua returns for His people. We read, "the people saw that Moses was delayed coming down from the mountain," just as Peter says in 2 Peter 3:3-4: "First of all, understand that in the last days, scoffers will come scoffing, following after their own desires and saying, 'Where is this promise of His coming?'" Because these scoffers lack a true relationship with Yeshua due to their lawless hearts that will not turn to do the will of the Father, they create a false religion to attempt to reach up to Him. The people in the wilderness asked Moses to make a representation of God for them, and the High Priest obliged. He made a golden image and called it “Yahweh,” He made a feast that was not a Holy Day of God and called it the Lord's Day, and He encouraged the people to worship this false image of God with music, food and dancing. How many faith leaders do this exact same thing today, following the tradition of men instead of the law of God? Peter wrote in verse 11: "Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way [by fire], what kind of people should you be? Live your lives in holiness and godliness..."

Meanwhile, Moses was up on the mountain and interceded for Israel, just as Yeshua is interceding for us on the throne of God. God was about to consume the people completely, but humble Moses asked God to take him instead, as a template for Yeshua who would give Himself up for us. Moses showed us how to pray, reminding God about the promises of His Word and honoring the LORD while doing it, reminding Him that the Egyptians would wonder about His glory if He destroyed the people He had earlier delivered. God relented from destroying Israel on account of Moses's prayers, and He holds back destruction against you and me because Yeshua does the same for us. However, Moses then came down from the mountain and his own wrath burned against Israel in the same way that Yeshua will return the second time for judgment against the lawless. Moses drew a line in the sand just as Yeshua will separate the sheep and the goats. Moses destroyed the lawless ones just as Yeshua will also tell the lawless, depart from Me. Those Saints who keep God's commandments and trust Yeshua will judge the rebellious, just as Moses called for the faithful to slay his brother, friend and neighbor who refused to align with the lawgiver.

Pleading for the lives of those who repented, Moses again offered himself, but the LORD replied, "whoever sins against me, I will blot out of my book." Yeshua said the very same thing in Revelation 21:27: "But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life." Speaking to Moses, the LORD spoke about His Angel (Messiah Yeshua) directly, saying: "My angel [Messenger] will go before you. Nevertheless, on the day when I take account, I will hold them accountable for their sin.” There is no change in this promise of God, for God does not lie. Paul explained in Galatians 6:7-8: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."

The LORD so desires to dwell with His people, but His people cannot dwell with Him with even a scintilla of sin, for God is Holy, and any man will die upon encountering His presence. The High Priest and the Tent of Meeting again were shadows, or metaphors, for the things that would come in Messiah Yeshua, who covered our repentant sin. Read the Book of Hebrews, particularly chapters 8-10. It details how the Old Covenant was meant to show the work of God that would be realized in Messiah. Aaron, with his holy garments would be replaced as High Priest by Yeshua, who wears His own cloak of righteousness as our eternal High Priest. The dwelling place of God, the Tabernacle, is now the tabernacle of our hearts, and the Holy Spirit dwells in those who have faith in Yeshua and obey His commandments. As we read these instructions, it’s critically important to note every element has a purpose and serves as meaningful for the Truth that would come and will be represented in God’s eternal Kingdom.

And so, let our hearts be the altar for burning incense, which is our prayer. Let our mouths bring praises forth to God, and let them be overlaid with gold, which is the righteousness of Messiah. Let our light shine brightly from one of seven lamps, united at the root, reflecting His righteousness in our lives, showing the world that we are not like the people who are of the World, but we are a people set apart. Now that the veil has been removed from the Holy of Holies by the Blood of Yeshua—He is our “atoning cover”—let us come before our God with clean hands and pure hearts, fully repentant of our sin, turning toward Him and walking only in His ways by the power of His Holy Spirit. Let God accept His blood for our atonement forever on the horns of His altar forever in our place; praise His Holy Name! I pray this in the name of the one and only Messiah Yeshua.

Exodus 33, Exodus 34

Today’s Scripture shows the clear promises of God, but it also shows the desolation of Man on account of his doubt and the failure of so many in the faith to truly follow Yeshua. The inability to recognize, accept and act on God’s Truth when it stares us in the face is obstinance or “stiff-necked"-ness. But Moses continued to act as a mediator between God and the people of Israel. We ought to learn from Moses here, who trusted God and spoke with Him face-to-face. He is a friend of God, a man who has developed true faith, who would go with God and do whatever He asked. Yeshua said this about us; that we are His friends when we trust in Him and obey Him.

The LORD promised to take Israel into the Land of Promise, and He would honor His Word, but only with the second generation who trusted in His Word. This is prophetic. Only those who trust in the Word of God and His Messiah, the Word made flesh, will enter the Kingdom of God. We must strip ourselves of our ornaments, for it is by grace alone that we have any hope, but we also need to live faithfully, for those who rebelled against God's commandments, even in the second generation, do not make it into the Promised Land.

When Moses went up to the Tent of Meeting, the people worshipped God, who appeared as a pillar of cloud outside Moses's tent. Likewise, when Yeshua intercedes for us on His Sabbaths and Feast Days, we ought to come near and worship Him because He comes in nearer to us on these days, and He invites us to sit at His feet and learn from Him. Mary chose this "better way" at the feet of Yeshua, while Martha worked when she should have been resting. "But the LORD answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things, but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). We ought to answer Yeshua's invitation, because what was once available only to Moses is now available to us all.

We ought to pray the same way as Moses, and God will respond the same way: "Now then, I pray, if I have found grace in Your eyes, show me Your ways, so that I may know You, so that I might find favor in Your sight. Consider also that this nation is Your people.” God answered: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Did not Yeshua also say in John 14:15-18, "If you love Me, keep My commandments, and then I will send you another Helper, the Spirit of Truth...." Because of grace, we ought to become obedient servants who plead with God to show us His Way. He will help us to know Him more and more when we truly seek Him with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.

As Moses went up to see the LORD, the LORD explained His nature to him, and this IS the eternal nature of God: “Yahweh, Yahweh, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, showing mercy to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means leaving the guilty unpunished, but bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” These qualities of God can be seen lived out by the Son of God. The consequences of sin may carry on from generation to generation, but each person has the opportunity to accept the LORD's mercy and walk according to His way instead. He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin, three different types of rebellion against Him. He accepts those of us who repent, on account of His lovingkindness, His grace and His goodness, and He teaches us His Truth for our own good. He will not clear the guilty, meaning that those who refuse to confess their sins and repent will be punished with eternal death, and the consequences of their actions will carry on. He calls His people toward Himself to dwell with Him, trust in Him, and do as He instructs.

As Yeshua told the woman caught in adultery and the crippled man at the pool of Siloam, "go and sin no more." Let us pray: “If now I have found grace in Your eyes, my LORD, let my LORD please go within our midst, even though [we are] a stiff-necked people. Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your own inheritance.” And He will absolutely answer this prayer in the same way as we see here: "Obey what I am commanding you today" and then I will drive out your enemies and bring you into My Kingdom. We must worship God according to His way, and by no other design. The veil preventing our understanding of God's Word is taken away when we build a true relationship with Yeshua, trusting in Him fully!

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:1, "Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses," and this concept itself is repeated several times in Scripture. One may wonder why Scripture seems to repeat itself, but we should not wonder, because God tells us: Every matter is established by a testimony of two or three. Thus, when God repeats commandments, such as to keep His Sabbath Day Holy, to keep His feast days holy, and to avoid idolizing anything besides Him, we ought to pay attention. He repeats that we ought to willingly offer up our treasure and talent to His purposes a second time, and He will send His Spirit to guide our hand when we do. All of these concepts are indispensable to the faith today, and have everything to do with following Yeshua. Our God is Holy, He wants us to know Him, and He will make a way for us so that we can know Him, if we so choose to do what He asks of us. Because we find favor (grace) in the sight of God, He will come with us as we wander in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. But we must accept His grace and respond to it with loving obedience, showing we appreciate the gift that has been given to us.

Exodus 35, Exodus 36, Exodus 37

The LORD illustrates a principle of His law—that by a testimony of two or three witnesses, every matter is established. The LORD told us, and then He showed us, and now He's telling us again. He wants to make sure we understand that His Way is easy, His burden light and not burdensome. The Sabbath is a time of rest so that we can be with God. We're not to kindle a fire to do any work, whether metallurgy or cooking or whatever. He then showed us right after this that He would send His Holy Spirit into His people to do the work of building the Tabernacle, a representation and symbol for His kingdom on the Earth. We are literally not even supposed to do the work of proselytizing on the Sabbath, for that is the day for us to come in and be with the LORD in worship. But on the other days He provides us with what we need so we can give it back to Him. Abundance of joy and peace in our lives comes from obedience to God's will. The whole walk with God is a like an upward spiral staircase, where we follow the same steps with unique iterations at increasing levels of intimacy with Yeshua as we approach His throne room. Our offerings ought to be given freely. Our obedience ought to be out of desire and love, rather than by coercion or fear.

The people were so moved to honor the LORD that they brought an abundance to Moses by their own free will to build a sanctuary for the LORD to dwell among them. When moved by the Holy Spirit of God, we are generous, particularly when we believe we are doing something for the good of other people or for the worship of the LORD. Israel had developed humble and contrite hearts ready to praise God, a good place for us to rest, but as we will read just a little later, their religious expression was not enough for salvation. As Israel prepared for a direct march up into Canaan, to take the “Promised Land," they rejected the promises of God and saw only what was directly in front of them. The false reality of the world is present, while the promises of God are not yet realized. Only Joshua and Caleb accept what the LORD has promised. All of the religious celebration we can offer, and all of our generosity is not enough to make it to Heaven (Read 1 Corinth. 13:3). We ought to trust in God’s promises and respond in love, which is obedience to the law. We ought to act in a way that shows we believe, not just give generously and say we've done our part.

The gold that overlayed all of these tabernacle components must have been magnificent to behold. Imagine how the light of that menorah would have reflected off the gold in the otherwise darkened tent. It would have been stunning! Add worship music from a skilled musician to the mix, and there is enough glory right within the halls of worship to move hearts and change lives. There are churches today that exhibit similar magnificence, but what are in the hearts of men? Do they honor the craftsmanship of men or the God who gave men talent by His Spirit? God commanded this sanctuary to be constructed. It has value, and in fact, a piece of His presence ultimately dwelt there. As we read later in Hebrews, this tabernacle was a model of what truly exists in Heaven. Today, we bring our lives as living sacrifices to the Tabernacle in Heaven! As the LORD later told King Saul, “I desire obedience, not sacrifice.” Obedience means to do what God commands because we believe His promises and love Him for what He has done for us already. We act, because we believe. This faith is what was missing from most of the Israelites in the wilderness, and it is missing from most Christians today. I pray for restoration!

Now, we know that The LORD made a nation out of the sons of Israel when He took them out of Egypt, 603,550 men, not counting women and children, and they looted the Egyptians at the command of God, who is "a man of war," who was victorious over Egypt for His own glory, so that all the world would come to know Him. He chose Israel as a nation of priests to bring the Truth of God's Word to all men. With what they took out of Egypt, they freely gave 1,930 pounds of gold and 6,650 pounds of silver, among so much more, to devote to the tabernacle and all of its implements. They gave so much that Moses had to ask them to stop giving. While this was a wonderful gesture, and reflects a generous heart, which we ought to have, we also have to pause and consider whether they were truly honoring the will of God. Yes, God had commanded them to build this meeting place, and they were right to build it. This tabernacle was a beautiful place, meant to represent the Garden of Eden where God would meet with His people. Bezalel was inspired by the Holy Spirit to build it, and it was a good and wonderful thing.

But we ought to reflect on the idea that this physical place to meet with God was only part of the deal. God wanted a people set apart for Himself to worship Him, to give Him thanks and to do the things He commanded them to do for their own good. But the people weren't willing to do what the LORD had commanded, and this led to their destruction. The Book of Hebrews literally says their bodies were "scattered in the wilderness," and warned that we also would face such an end if we don't learn from their disobedience. Despite the surface level faith of this first generation of Israel coming out of Egypt, there was no depth to their faith. They made a show of faith, but they didn't do what the LORD really wanted, which was to show their love by obeying His will. Ultimately, this was why the LORD came in the flesh, so through faith in Him we can be forgiven for our shortcomings and start over with a clean slate once we recognize the error of our ways. Now, the LORD desires us to make a beautiful place in our hearts where He can dwell, and when He dwells there, we ought to desire to do the things He has commanded for our good.

And so, the Tabernacle was a beautiful model of God's throne room in Heaven where Yeshua sits on the throne, because God instructed Moses to design everything according to the pattern He saw on the mountain—God showed Moses a vision of the heavenlies there. God also gave Bezalel and his associates the anointing of the Holy Spirit so they would know exactly how to build this replica, and all of the related accompaniments. To worship in the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, would be as close as Man could get to God until Yeshua came Himself and gave the faithful the opportunity to become part of the Spiritual Temple that Messiah would build. It won't be until Yeshua returns that we will fully understand God's Tabernacle that we are a part of—its beauty cannot be described. Gold, silver and bronze could only model God's beautiful design for His Kingdom on the earth, and the approximation could never measure up to the actual Tabernacle of God that He is still setting up for us. Nonetheless, we can and ought to meditate on these components in Torah and all of the love, care, and generosity that went into putting everything together, and we ought to approach the brethren in Messiah Yeshua with even greater love, care and generosity.

In 1st Corinthians 3:17, Paul wrote, "If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." Are we truly understanding the weight of what God is teaching us in His Torah regarding His Tabernacle? Are we understanding what ought to go into building the Kingdom of God here on Earth, as we ourselves participate as ministers of reconciliation between those who have been lost to the world in bondage to sin and death and God, who sets us free in Messiah? We have been called to reconcile men and women to God in Messiah (2 Corinthians 5:11-20). Lest we ourselves be caught up with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, treasuring the creation of God or even the work of our own hands rather than the creator and the people He loves, we have been warned to walk circumspectly and not as fools, but wise, redeeming the time, for the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15).

We cannot be so boastful to believe God's grace has made us wealthy when we ourselves fail to turn away from our sins. In Revelation 3:17-18, Yeshua said to the self-absorbed church: "Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see." So we ought to learn from God's instruction to Moses; for it is indeed a spiritual representation of our life following our Messiah Yeshua. Let us remain always humble and contrite, calling out to God, "have mercy on me a sinner," also while constantly calling out to Him in prayer that He helps us to obey Him completely. Let His righteousness be upon us!

Exodus 38, Exodus 39, Exodus 40

God eternally sits on His throne on top of the Mercy Seat between the Cherubim on top of the testimony of His Word, and Moses made sure this was the first part of the Tabernacle constructed. Next was the Table with its bread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel, and then the Menorah and its light, representing the full Body of believers in Messiah, the light of the world, and finally the table of incense, for the sweet smelling incense is the prayers of the Saints rising up to the altar of God. Once this Holy Assembly of God's believing people of Israel had been established, they would need to be set up to bring others in. Thus, the sacrificial altar, representing the one-time sacrifice of Messiah, and the laver for baptism were set out in the outer court. The anointing oil would represent the anointing by the Holy Spirit that all new believers would receive in Messiah Yeshua. New believers must confess their sins and repent, accept Yeshua as LORD and savior, and then be washed in the baptism of Yeshua, symbolizing their burial with Him and how they are risen up a new man, and then they receive the Holy Spirit as the brothers lay hands upon them, and they become a part of the Tabernacle of God.

It took Israel an entire year of wandering in the wilderness before they set up a place for the LORD to meet with them, and meet with them He did. His presence remained on the tabernacle and His glory filled it up, so even Moses couldn't enter the tent but could only stand in front of it. The LORD so loves His people that He literally came down to dwell with Israel and created a model of His heavenly throne room so they could interact with Him. He does the same through us with His Holy Spirit. When the cloud of God's presence was taken up, the people followed it wherever it would lead, and whenever it sat still, the people would sit still. Yeshua said something to Nicodemus in John 3 that applies this historical reality to us. He said, "Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” If we are born of the Spirit, we go where the LORD directs us and we rest when He commands us to rest. We don't know where we're headed next, but that's OK, because we fully trust the LORD. This entire life is built upon increasing our trust and love in the LORD each and every day.

Aaron's garb was beautiful, and it serves as a type for the raiment of our High Priest Yeshua, whose glory cannot be matched by anyone. On Aaron's head, His turban read, "Holy to Yahweh." Are we set apart for Yahweh by the blood of the Lamb? Do we have the same dedication as the One who told us, "Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:12-14). We are to be a people set apart for the LORD, increasing our faith with each trial and tribulation, increasing our praise and thanksgiving with every blessing. Let us have a similar report to the people of Israel: "exactly as the LORD had ordered, they had done it." But let us also put our hearts behind that work knowing that the LORD rewards those who love Him and keep His commandments. Let our trust endure, our faith endure, and our hope endure, for His promises are true and His mercy endures forever.

As I meditate further on the crown of pure gold in Exodus 39:30-31 inscribed with the engraving, “Holy to the Lord,” complete with a violet cord to fasten it on the turban above, signifying the royal priesthood of Aaron and his sons, I also think of the crown of thorns dug into my Savior’s forehead, blood streaming down his face, and behind His head, an inscription in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, “Yeshua of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” Heb. 10:14 says, “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” And then we read in Heb. 10:19-23, “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

And that leads me to think of the song, “Echo Holy,” which goes, “All blessing and honor, dominion and power to You! … A million angels fall, face down on the floor, all to echo HOLY IS THE LORD.” This is what Yeshua's throne room is like! And here I am, ever in His presence—His presence within me. How often do we fall face down to the floor, singing, shouting, praising God, “Holy is the Lord!” How often do we humble ourselves before Him and just offer our whole self to the moment, spending the time in His throne room? For we have a High Priest who never leaves the throne of Heaven, who has made us clean, who sanctifies us with His Holy Spirit! How can we not give Him everything we have, every fiber of our being, and echo with the Heavenly angels, “Holy is the Lord!” Do we stop to wonder? Do we stop to praise Him? Do we stop and spend time in His presence?

The glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle that Moses and the people who were led by the Holy Spirit completed just as the LORD had commanded, and so it was an authentic replica of the Tabernacle in Heaven. They could not enter when the cloud was on it by day and the fire by night! In Messiah, as we read in Hebrews 8:1-2, we have a better way: “Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the LORD erected, and not man.” And the LORD has written the law on the tablets of our heart, whereas before it was written on tablets of stone and stored in the ark within the holy of holies. And so, the true Holy of Holies of Heaven is directly connected with the very core of our being by the blood of Messiah. We worship now in Spirit and Truth, and we have boldness to dwell right within the throne room of God at His feet!

Knowing we have access to God in this way, we read in 2 Peter 3:11: “Therefore, since all these things [the whole world and everything in it] will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?” What sort of persons ought we to be when we know that God dwells in and writes His law in us, and yet our flesh wars against Him? What sort of persons ought we to be when we know that we can walk into God’s throne room in spirit and truth with our prayers? We have a better way, but do we walk it? Do we humble ourselves and come before Him as the hated tax collector in the Temple who was justified by saying, “Have mercy on me, a sinner,” or do we look at others and thank God that we’re not like them, condemning ourselves? Oh have mercy on me, my King of kings, for you are Holy and I am not!

Leviticus 1, Leviticus 2, Leviticus 3, Leviticus 4

As we read through Leviticus, keep the Book of Hebrews in mind, which clarifies how to interpret the law with the New Covenant Spirit and Truth of Yeshua. In Hebrews 9:22, we read, “And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” So as we read about bulls and goats sacrificed and their blood poured out, consider the Lamb of God sacrificed Himself and poured out His own blood on our behalf. Yeshua's sacrifice became the one-time sacrifice for sin. This is one way the New Covenant is a better covenant than the Old; however, it is also critical to understand that the underlying Torah law is eternal and applies to us today. In either Covenant, the blood sacrifice for sin takes an unclean, impure, and sinful people separated from God and purifies us so we can enter the tabernacle and be with God, and even more than this; so He can enter us and dwell within us. There is no life for us without blood sacrifice for sin. We ought to be careful not to even sin by accident, for we do not want to bring to shame the blood of Messiah.

The LORD spoke to Moses from the tent of meeting while Moses stood in front of it. Today, all men have the potential to know the LORD like this, when we surrender our lives to Him and put Him first. We read about many sacrifices involving bulls and goats, but thanks be to God He prophesied in 1st Samuel 15:22: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams." Do we stop to consider the implications of this? The law's purpose is to instruct us in righteousness; it does not permit us to continue in disobedience and sacrifice. Yeshua's advent was to draw this line in the sand. He served as the one-time sacrifice for sin so we could repent and obey on account of our love for Him. Hebrews 9:13-14: "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" 

Hebrews 10:26-31 explains that our better sacrifice comes with a higher expectation of righteousness, and so we need to understand that as grafted-in followers of Yeshua we don't just enjoy the blessings of Israel, but also the responsibilities. "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” [a]says the Lord. And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

The LORD said, "With all your sacrifices you must offer salt." Yeshua said in Matthew 5:13: “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." This means that we ought to maintain our obedience to the LORD's commandments as we go out to spread the faith, otherwise when we go to teach others they will view us as hypocrites. We can not season the living sacrifice of our living example of obedience to Messiah if we ourselves are not living according to his example.

Our one-time sacrifice in Yeshua for sin is superior in every way to the bulls and goats offered for sin in the wilderness, but it's important to examine the corollaries that God set up as a witness in His Torah. Yeshua was a male without blemish—the Lamb of God; He was wheat without leaven—the Bread of Life. His blood was sprinkled on the altar as He ascended to the Father in Heaven. As He approached God's throne, His blood trickled on the floor as a trail leading right up to the Mercy Seat. Think about this especially as you read about Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The peace offerings are still conducted today. When we go to our grills to offer up praise and thanksgiving to the LORD for the meat He provides for our nourishment, we also ought to eat only what the LORD has commanded. The organs and the fatty tissue surrounding the meat ought to be left for the LORD, the blood poured out—because the life/soul is in the blood—we ought not eat it. The meat is reserved for our enjoyment to be eaten with gratitude along with the oil and bread. The LORD provides us with all we need, and we ought to offer Him thanks and praise by living according to His instruction rather than according to the desires of our own minds or flesh.

The Bread of Life must also be made of fine flour, and never can it be used as a grain offering with leaven: “for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the LORD.” There is no sin in the sacrifice of Yeshua on the cross, and neither ought we consider His sacrifice for us with sweetness. His death was bitter and His sacrifice horrendous. While we consider it, we ought to mourn grievously that we ever sinned to cause such suffering to the One we love! Additionally, note Rev. 8:4: “And the smoke of the incense ascended from the angel’s hand with the prayers of the saints before God.” With that being said, when we come before the LORD in prayer, we cannot come while practicing sin. We cannot cover up our sins with good works, either. We must first repent, or God will not hear us. Proverbs 28:9: “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” 1 John 3:22 says the same thing. When we turn to prayer, our first thoughts ought to be humble and contrite, and then we can offer thanksgiving and praise to God for what He has already done. Only then should we even contemplate asking for anything else.

When we come before the LORD in peace, to give Him thanks and praise, we must offer Him from our abundance. The fat of the animal around the entrails and the organs—this excess does not belong to us—it belongs to God. When we have excess, what do we do with it? Sure, we can follow the example of Joseph and store up resources for the lean times, but there is a point when we are eating the fat ourselves, and this should not be. Yeshua told us to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread.” We want the Word that He has for us today, and we want the provision He has for us today, and anything extra that He gives us we ought to use for His purposes and share with others. Our abundance ought to be given back to God in the form of charity and alms built into the lives of those around us who are in need, both the abundance of our spiritual understanding and the abundance of our provisions.

We all sin unintentionally. When it becomes known to us, we need to atone for it, no matter who we are. Just because it was “a mistake” does not make it forgivable without repentance. When we read Leviticus 4 and read, "if anyone," "if the entire community," "when a leader," or "if an individual among the people," it means when anyone at all "commits a sin inadvertently and does something against any of the commandments of the LORD considering the things which should not be done, he is guilty. If the sin which he has committed becomes known..." he or she must then make an offering for it. This law of God is eternal, but the sacrifice for the sin has changed. We read in Hebrews 10:14: "by one offering Yeshua has perfected forever those who are being sanctified," and then the author cites the new covenant in verses 16-18, stating "I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them" and "their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." The author concludes: "now where there is a remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin."

Let's put this all together: The law and the prophets are eternal. Yeshua said not one jot or title would be done away with. If we sin unintentionally, we're guilty and worthy of death, specifically when we become aware of our sin. We MUST make atonement for it. Yeshua has made atonement for it, and so we must go to Him and repent. He Himself instructed us: "go and sin no more" and "be perfect as Your heavenly Father is perfect." The Mercy of God is such that in the New Covenant, we are forgiven through Messiah, but we still must go before Him to confess and then repent, which is to walk in righteousness from that point forward.

Leviticus is the heart of God, and also the heart of the Gospel, and we ought to read it as such. When we go to prayer, we go with the blood of Yeshua smeared on us. He is the one who brings power to our prayers. And thus we worship Yeshua, for He is God and there is no other. If we have seen Him, we have seen the Father. We worship Him through obedience to God's commandments, for it is this very act that shows we love Him, as He Himself expressed (John 14:15). But we had best not think that our obedience gains us anything. Our disobedience gains us destruction, but our obedience is expected (See Luke 17:10: "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’") If we dwell on the grace of God and never progress beyond this elementary principle, we can easily get lost in the idea that we no longer need to obey. In doing this, we fall into the same sin as Israel in the wilderness, continually offering sacrifices that can't take away sin. Our surrender to Yeshua is what takes away sin. His blood was poured out at the base of the altar so we can "go and sin no more." So help us God!

Leviticus 5, Leviticus 6, Leviticus 7

As we read on into Leviticus 5, the LORD repeated the commandments and our need for an atoning sacrifice for violating them. The Sacrifice is Yeshua, but we should not repeatedly nail Him to the cross. Some celebrate Yeshua's suffering on account of sin and death, but we ought to celebrate His resurrection that conquered sin and death. We should meditate on this. Those too focused on the cross could be worshipping an idol, just as those Israelites who believed they were worshipping God with their sin offerings. God never intended for us to sin! It was never His desire. It was never His hope! He does not delight in offerings. He delights in obedience. The slain and bloodied Messiah is grace for us, and we praise God for what He has done, but the risen and living victorious King who has shown us how to live a blameless life is the One we ought to live for. We are covered by His righteousness, because we depend on His living Holy Spirit to lead us in righteousness. If we sin after hearing a charge of His oath, we bear false witness against our neighbor, our Yeshua! The LORD instructed: "let your yes be yes, and your no be no, for anything else is of the evil one." He commands our obedience, but leaves the choice of whether to follow Him up to us.

We read: "So it will be, when one becomes guilty of one of these things, he shall confess about what he has sinned. Then he is to bring his trespass offering to the LORD..." In 1 Jn 1:9, the Apostle wrote: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The law does not change, but the sacrifice was replaced by Yeshua. The LORD IS, always WAS, and always WILL BE "merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” (Ex. 34:6-7) Said another way: Yeshua offers grace to those who confess their sins and repent, but those who "practice lawlessness" (Mt 7:21-23) He will have to send away. In Acts 17:30-31, Paul said to a group of Gentiles: "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

The LORD said: “Now if anyone sins and one of the LORD's commandments that are not to be done, though he did not know it, still he is guilty and will bear his iniquity ... He is absolutely guilty before the LORD.” But our High Priest Yeshua will "make atonement for him over the sin that he committed unknowingly—and he will be forgiven." Should we then insult the spirit of grace? In Heb. 10:28-29, we read: "Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" This is the Gospel. When we violate the law of God we are worthy of death. But if we insult the grace of God by continuing in sin, rebelliously flaunting the law of God because of false teaching, how much worse punishment should we expect? On account of the grace offered to us, we must confess and then repent, just as Yeshua told the paralytic he healed at the pool of Siloam, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14).

So here is the law that is stated as Leviticus 5 begins: If you are a witness to a crime being committed or to a crime not being committed that someone is accused of and don’t report the truth so that the situation can be properly adjudicated, you’re guilty of the same crime. This is an extension of the ninth commandment; to not bear false witness, and this ordinance further clarifies its meaning. Not only are we obligated to testify truthfully, but we are also commanded to testify when we can help convict or acquit someone of a crime. We can see this type of clarification occurring throughout Torah, and coincidentally, Yeshua does this same thing in His ministry. In Matthew 5, for instance, He says it’s not just adultery when you actually commit the act, but it’s also adultery when you look at a woman with lust in your eyes. He says it’s not just murder to take another person’s life, but also to harbor anger or hatred toward them. Messiah Yeshua is the same yesterday, today and forever.

We should not touch unclean dead things or other contaminants, but we might. If we do, we’re unclean until we take a shower or wash our hands. It’s common sense, but God spells it out, because He loves us and wants to know what’s good for us.

Next we read about a person “swearing thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good” or people “speaking thoughtlessly with an oath.” Paul identifies this as a sin of “the flesh,” and he redirects us how to live in the Spirit instead in Eph. 4:29: “Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” In Eph. 5:4, he says, “there must be no filthiness or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks." Paul is a Torah expert, drawing from it with his every word. To live in the Spirit is to obey Torah.

Torah is merciful on the poor, allowing people to recognize their sins according to the means that they have. The wealthy may bring a lamb for a sin offering, while the middle class might bring two turtledoves, while the poor are permitted to sacrifice some of their flour without oil. We see that some sacrifices are offered to the priests so that they can eat, since they don’t have lands or industries of their own. This is also a mercy. While these animals sacrificed for sin are tied only to the Old Covenant, the law itself in Leviticus that defines sin is eternal and upheld in the New Covenant. And this leads to our need for a sin offering also. The greatest mercy of all is that God came in the flesh to die for our sins, and now He has become the one-time offering for sin so we no longer have to sacrifice bulls and goats, turtledoves or flour. We are still called to offer ourselves as a “living sacrifice,” meaning that Yeshua and God’s commandments come first.

Read Hebrews 10:14: “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” NOTE: He provides righteousness ONLY to ”those who are being sanctified;” meaning, those with faith who turn away from sin and walk according to the commandments of God. We are NOT counted righteous while we are living in sin, as we read in Gal. 2:17: “But if, while we seek to be justified by Messiah, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Messiah therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!” Messiah's blood is our sin offering, and He makes us righteous through that offering. However, if we “practice lawlessness,” we will be cast into Hell, according to Messiah's own words in Matthew 7. To become righteous in Messiah, we ought to turn toward Him and sin no more. Knowing Torah and obeying it, with the Spirit of Messiah helping us, we become righteous in Christ. It’s not just faith, but also doing the will of God that justifies us (See James 1-2, i.e., “faith without works is dead”).The offering must be burnt outside the camp, just as Yeshua Himself was crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, and His prayers for us while dying—"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing," went up to Heaven as a sweet-smelling aroma. For our part, we must change our garments. We must take off our "filthy rags" and put on the righteousness of Messiah Yeshua. We must go and sin no more.

Some offerings must be burnt outside the camp, just as Yeshua Himself was crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, and His prayers for us while dying—"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing," went up to Heaven as a sweet-smelling aroma. For our part, we must change our garments. We must take off our "filthy rags" and put on the righteousness of Messiah Yeshua. We must go and sin no more.

The grain offering was to have no leaven (sin) in it, for unless we eat the Bread of Life that makes us holy, which was unleavened, we have no hope in us. Yeshua said, "I am the Bread of Life." He was referring to this offering. It is an eternal statute for the grain offering to be burned in fire, as Yeshua Himself offered Himself up praying, "God forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing." This is unintentional sin. We take into ourselves the Bread of Life that makes us holy in the Passover Seder celebration when we "do this in memory of [Him]."

The trespass offering is eaten by the priests, as is a meal offering, a thanksgiving offering and a fellowship offering. As we come in to our faith community each Sabbath to ask the LORD to forgive our trespasses and offer Him thanks and praise, we also ought to have fellowship with our brethren and enjoy our offerings with one another at the LORD's table. We ourselves are now a nation of kings and priests in Messiah Yeshua (1 Peter 2:9)! We must make sure that we do not come in to be near to our God to worship with unclean hands or impure hearts, but as the LORD said, if we have something against our brother, we must first make things right with our brother and then come in to make our offering at God's altar. We ought to search our hearts and see if there is unrighteous way in us and ask the LORD to purify us before we come in to be near to Him on His Holy Day.

We see a myriad of other sins and acts of justice and injustice explained throughout Leviticus 5-7, and each example is eternal. If we act unfaithfully against the LORD, if we disavow a rightful claim of our neighbor, if we extort, lie, rob, or any other such matter, the LORD calls this sin and He says it is our duty to make restitution. When we sin, and then repent, the LORD forgives us through Messiah, but there are still consequences for our actions. Judgment meant to drive us toward repentance follows, because God is merciful. And according to the Torah of God, the consequences of sin will be more severe against us than the affect of the sin itself. This is something I have experienced, and I know it is true. Consider what happens when we do something that harms another person. They may forgive us for it, but their lives were upended and possibly changed forever. What did they do to others on account of our sin? What time did they lose, and what good for the LORD could have filled that time, instead? Yes, God uses all things for good, but we ought to seek to do good and learn to be more like Him.

Leviticus 8, Leviticus 9, Leviticus 10

With what we read in Leviticus 8, it's a good time to explain how Moses was a type and shadow for Yeshua. In today's reading, Moses anointed Aaron and his sons, performing the priestly duty. Earlier, in Exodus, Israel had asked Moses to intercede as mediator between them and God, lest they die. God said that Moses himself would be like God to Pharaoh and like God to Aaron. Moses also prophesied by giving the very Word of God to God's people. The Israelites also had asked Moses spitefully, "who are you to rule over us?" As we will see, God corrected Miriam and Aaron when they challenged Moses's role as King over Israel. While Moses was not God in the flesh, he was meant to point forward to Yeshua, the "prophet like unto Moses." Yeshua was not just a prophet, but also Judge, King, Mediator, High Priest and, God in the flesh. What wonderful insight the LORD provides through Moses so we know who to expect as our LORD and God, Yeshua the Messiah. While Moses gave us the written Word of God, which we ought to obey, Yeshua was indeed the living Word and implants that Word today in our hearts for us to obey. The Word itself does not change, but its location becomes far more intimate in Messiah Yeshua so that we have no excuse.

The blood of the bull was sprinkled before the altar, just as Messiah's blood was sprinkled before the altar in Heaven—both atone for sins. We must explore the blood that was put on Aaron’s right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot. The right side in Scripture represents action, and listening is an action. Aaron was being consecrated so that He could hear the voice of the LORD. His right thumb and his right big toe are the beginning and the end of the man, and so by consecrating these locations, Aaron was consecrating his whole being for service to the LORD. Once this is done for him and his sons, the LORD asked the High Priest, the Mediator and the attendants at the Tabernacle to enjoy a feast with the LORD, an honor that is beyond comprehension. On the Eighth Day, the LORD commanded very specific procedures for atonement and He was serious about the manner in which Israel was to worship Him, so that the LORD could bring blessing into the camp.

Aaron's two sons died because they offered an unauthorized sacrifice of fire—they brought their own religious practices into God's Holy Presence when God had not commanded these things. This is something that ought to strike fear into our hearts, and we ought to ask ourselves if we are likewise worshipping the LORD in a manner that He has not commanded. The LORD explained that we are not to worship Him according to our own traditions or ideas, but in the way He chooses—today, in Spirit and in Truth. In Isaiah 1, we learn that we have to have clean hands and pure hearts when we come in to celebrate His Sabbaths, holy days, and festivals, because He will not bear iniquity with the sacred assembly. We have to get ourselves right with God and surrender ourselves to His Way, leaving behind our own way. We cannot mix the Holy and the profane. It is a death sentence for our soul. We must separate pagan practices from the practices that the LORD has instructed us, and make sure that we do not have any other gods besides Him, for He is a jealous God. He does not want to share our affections with any other tradition or power, for He is preeminent and desires a people who worship Him as such. His holiness is perfect, and it is incumbent on us to recognize Him in His Way. Yeshua taught this point in particular in Matthew 15, 23, and Mark 7.

Moses put to action the sacrifices that God had explained, and the purpose of doing these things was so that the glory of God would appear among them. It is imperative that we confess the one-time sacrifice of Yeshua for our atonement and have full faith in His resurrection from the dead in order for God to appear among us—indeed: His Holy Spirit will come to dwell within us. Fire will come forth from the Holy Spirit and devour all of the sin in our presence as we are being sanctified as we follow the righteous Son, and indeed, we ought to respond by shouting our praise and falling on our faces to worship the one and only King Yeshua!

Leviticus 11, Leviticus 12, Leviticus 13

The LORD has said what is good to eat for those who are grafted-in to Israel by the blood of Messiah Yeshua, and that is described in Leviticus 11. Those saved by the grace of Messiah are now freed to follow God's law while no longer subject to condemnation when we fall short. We ought to turn from our former ways of the flesh in the world to do what God commanded on account of our salvation, because the Spirit of Messiah is in us! God forbid we quench the Holy Spirit of God through rebellion against what He said is true! God's food laws in Leviticus 11 set the Saints apart as Holy, for God commanded: "You shall be holy, for I am holy." In 1st Peter 1, the Apostle explained we must be obedient children, not conforming ourselves to our former lusts, as in our ignorance. We must be holy in all of our conduct, he said, for God said, "be holy for I Am holy," quoting Leviticus 11 directly. Paul warned in Philippians 3:19 that that we ought not make a god of our belly, favoring the satisfaction of our appetite over God's Word. There isn't a single properly interpreted New Testament verse where God nullifies His food laws in Leviticus 11, and the law applies to everything we consume.

In one example from Romans 14, Paul made it very clear that we are not to distinguish between those who eat vegetables only (this is acceptable) and those who eat CLEAN meat and vegetables. He didn’t write “clean,” but He wouldn’t have had to write it. Everyone from the time period knew what was clean and what was not, and they would have known that Paul was not talking about eating unclean meat in this passage. In the First Century, some believers, such as the Essenes, were advocating for a return to the Garden of Eden, when Man ate only seed-bearing plants and did not eat meat at all. They actually took things to a whole new level and called it sin to eat meat, twisting interpretations of Scripture to fit their narrative. They said Yeshua advocated not eating the Passover Lamb during the Last Supper, among other interpolations to affirm their view. Their teaching was popular. And in the context of 1 Timothy 4:1-5 in particular, we see these demonic spirits also “forbid marriage." This criticism also lines up with the celibate Essenes.

Likewise, in Mark 7:19, note that words are added to Scripture and falsely put into Yeshua's mouth in some translations. The words “(therefore He declared all foods clean)” are simply not present in the Greek text. Like Peter in Acts 10-11, Yeshua would NEVER allow any unclean thing enter His mouth, and we can’t either. This interpolation is just as bad as what the Essenes were doing during the First Century relative to commanding vegetarianism. On the contrary, in Mark 7, Yeshua was teaching us the folly of the Rabbinical tradition that eating bread with unclean hands would make bread unclean. There is no such Torah law; the Pharisees made it up. In the passage, Yeshua taught that such bread eaten with unwashed hands would pass through the intestinal tract out into the sewer, purifying it. In other words, it’s irrelevant whether the hands are clean or not, for the bread itself is clean and what matters more is that each Christian has a clean heart. But what does it mean to have a clean heart? It means that we keep the commandments of God out of love for Yeshua and do not hold up the teachings and traditions of men above God's Word. Please read Matthew 15 and Mark 7 in context, along with an interlinear Greek-English translation.

If we desire to know which meat is food, and which meat is not food, it's all in Leviticus 11, nice and concise. God said: “This is the law regarding the animal and the bird and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, to separate between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.” People have proposed all kinds of ideas on why these laws exist for practical reasons, but God's laws are not just meant only for practicality, but also to show we love Him and are a people set apart for Him. Again, He said: "I am Yahweh your God; therefore consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy." Noah was aware of these food laws before they were given at Sinai, for seven pairs of clean animals and two pairs of unclean animals entered the ark. His sacrifice following the flood was of clean animals. If Noah had used unclean animals for sacrifice, they literally would have gone extinct. God also commanded Noah to eat meat, which is here defined clearly in Leviticus 11. Noah didn't write as specifically as Moses, but he still understood the eternal law of God.

In 1 Tim. 4:1-5, Paul confirmed God's food laws, noting that anything God described as "detestable" is not food. We may eat "foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the TRUTH." Nothing is to be refused so long as it is "sanctified by the WORD of God and prayer." What is the Truth? Ps. 119:142: "Your law is Truth." What is the Word of God? Ps. 119:43: "And take not the Word of Truth utterly out of my mouth." Yeshua, the Word who became flesh and lived without sin, said in Mt. 16:24: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Indeed, we deny our flesh when we take on Yeshua, who is the embodiment of the law, and follow Him in all His ways. In Galatians 5:19, the word translated "impurity" refers to the same uncleanliness that comes from eating unclean food, and those who practice uncleanliness according to Paul engage in a sin of the flesh that leads to eternal death. Some assign a sexual meaning to the word, but this would be redundant, because "sexual immorality" comes right before it in the list of sins. The word refers to Biblical impurity. Thus, we ought to walk in the Spirit of love, which obeys the commandments of God.

In one of the clearest prophetic pictures of the coming Messianic Kingdom, in Isaiah 66:12-17 we read a passage that convinced me personally that all who say they follow Yeshua ought to eat Biblically clean according to the law. We read: "For thus says Yahweh, 'Behold, I stretch out peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; ... and you will be comforted in Jerusalem. Then you will see this, and your heart will be joyful, and your bones will flourish like the new grass; and the hand of Yahweh will be made known to His slaves, but He will be indignant toward His enemies. ... For Yahweh will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by Yahweh will be many. 'Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following One in the center, who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things, and mice, will come to an end altogether,' declares Yahweh." If anyone says they follow Jesus—the One in the center—but violate God's law, Yeshua said He would say to them: "depart from me you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:21-23). Our calling is to turn away from sin in order to follow the one who saved us. God forbid we ever embrace sin.

Many wonder why a woman is unclean for twice as long when she gives birth to a female as for when she gives birth to a male. The reason is beautiful. God created Man as male and female in His Image. Females express the creative power with God when they are one with the Bridegroom. However, in the flesh, a woman goes through a cycle and only presents the creative power during a seven-day window of each month—this is part of the fall. Thus, she is "unclean" when she does not share the fullness of her creative power with God, but she is clean when she is capable of creating life. When she gives birth to a female the period of uncleanness doubles to represent the creative power of the female she births, also. The circumcision of the male on the eighth day represents the need for men to circumcise the flesh from our hearts in order to live with God eternally. The Holy Spirit removes the flesh from our lives so we can live according to the Spiritual law of God, which is articulated well in the Torah and living example of Yeshua.

As a side note: We also see that the sacrifice for a boy or girl is a lamb for a bunt offering (prayer) as well as a dove for a sin offering—in other words, a peace offering to recognize the original sin and make atonement for it. But if a woman cannot afford a lamb, she will offer two doves or two young pigeons instead. In Luke 2:24, Mary offered two turtledoves for Yeshua, who was the Lamb of God, indicating that she was poor physically but rich indeed spiritually.

In the leprosy of a man, clothing, and ultimately, as we will read, a home, the LORD recognizes the need to isolate sickness, mold, mildew and disease of persons, articles and dwellings so that it doesn't spread and cause additional problems for others. What mercy! What goodness! There is a spiritual element to this as well, for the sin in our flesh can separate us from God, but also from our other brothers and sisters in our faith communities. The clothing we wear represents our "covering," which becomes diseased through sin, but is purified by Messiah Yeshua, who clothes us in righteousness. When we find ourselves in sin, there is a great cost to pay. We may be forgiven by the blood of Yeshua, rather than by the animals noted here in Leviticus, but the same principles apply. We wash our clothes and shave our bodies to remove the stain of sin, but there is more to the story. Sin, which itself is grotesque, creates very ugly consequences, also, and we ought to be mindful of this so that we don't s

As a side note: When we are unwell and contagious, we ought to isolate ourselves until we are well so we do not spread our illness to others. When we are well, we can resume our daily activities and go about the world. Any mold or mildew infecting a garment may destroy a whole wardrobe or even a home if it spreads; it ought to be removed so it doesn't infect the whole house and make people ill.

Leviticus 14, Leviticus 15

The Lord’s Truth here in Leviticus 14-15 is simple. There are diseases that make our flesh unclean, and some of these diseases can be spread to others. We should be careful to obey God’s laws to keep others from suffering because of our carelessness. Homes can become unclean. There are entire businesses today devoted to mold remediation. If a house is infected with mold, from time to time it needs to be demolished. God explained this in His Torah, and it is still Truth today. Bodily fluids cause uncleanliness, and we certainly should not go into God’s Holy Assembly before bathing after engaging in sexual activity. Menstrual impurity was more of a problem without sanitary solutions in the day Torah was written, but even today, touching such impurity would make one unclean. It's simple: take a shower and wash your clothes and bedding. This is good hygiene and satisfies Torah. The sacrifices are satisfied by Yeshua’s death on the cross, but all the other law is eternal and still applies to us today. We should be mindful and obey.

Consider the instance of the two birds in Ch 14 as a parable: The one bird is killed for the leper's cleansing, representing the blood sacrifice of Yeshua, but the other has the blood of its companion (blood atonement) mixed with living water (Holy Spirit) smeared on it, but it is also mixed with cedar wood (the cross), scarlet (a reminder of the sacrifice) and hyssop (purification), and it is released. The living bird represents what happens to us after we are forgiven from our sin. We testify in the blood of Yeshua, which He gave on the cross for our purification, and surrender to the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us, but the consequences of our sin also fly away and have an affect on anyone who runs across them.

Consider a false witness you might give about another person. Even if you try, you can't undo the harm to the other person's reputation. It's like bursting open a feather pillow in the wind and then trying to retrieve every feather. Similarly, the released bird drips the blood caused by sin everywhere as it flies away, and it cannot be contained. Sin is disgusting, and we ought to do everything in our power, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to go and sin no more so we no longer cause such harm to others in this world.

Leviticus 14 also shows how a person with leprosy, metaphorically representing sin, ought to be brought back into the Congregation after confession. They ought to go to the priest (pastor and elders) and show themselves for examination. This conversation with the person determines whether the sin is truly behind him or her and whether he or she is ready to submit to Godly authority. If not, he or she remains outside. If so, then he or she ought to be presented before the whole Body and rededicated as a forgiven member. We might also lay hands on the person and say a prayer over them, so the whole church knows to welcome him or her back as a brother or sister. Notice also how there ought to be follow-up the next day to make sure the clean heart was not just a temporary emotional swing. The LORD has sacrificed for us, so a person with a humble and contrite heart who is teachable and persistent in faith is what we're looking for. Notice how the LORD makes provision for a wealthy or poor man; their sacrifices are commensurate with their ability to bear them. We should keep this in mind when deciding how to rededicate a sinner who was lost but now is found, and praise the LORD, for He with His angels will certainly be celebrating.

Leprosy of a house refers to mildew or mold or some other infestation, perhaps rodents or insects. When this is ongoing, we cannot allow it to persist or the house will be lost. Mold or mildew has to be removed. Insects or rodents have to be killed and their pathways blocked up. Rot in the wood has to be repaired. Our shelter is in the LORD, but He also provides us with His law so we know how to care for the shelter He provides for us. We are partners in this life with Him. On a Spiritual level, leprosy (tzara‘at) in a house is very dangerous. It could mean evil spirits have some kind of authority or attachment allowing them to bring havoc to our dwelling place. We ought to identify the problem and get it out of the house. Are we watching something on TV/computer screen/phone we shouldn't? Are we reading something we shouldn't? Are there pagan symbols, idols or something else in the house allowing such demonic activity? These things must be removed. Then, we ought to bless the house and restore it under the authority of God by anointing it with His Holy Oil, which is the Holy Spirit. Olive oil on all the doors and windows, with prayer, is a good symbol to use when doing this, but first the house must be cleansed of evil.

The spiritual element of the leprous house is also found referenced in 1 Peter 2:4-5, where we read: "As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." This verse describes when our spiritual house is healthy. But when sin comes in and capture the hearts of people to the point where they are led astray, the pastor must inspect these stones and attempt to cleanse them. If the pastor can reconcile a man or woman to Yeshua, they may remain in the house on the following Sabbath. If not, they must be removed from the church until they can get their sin under control. If they can't remove their sin, they must be permanently removed so they do not destroy the whole house/church. As Paul said, "a little leaven leavens the whole lump," and a little mold can also poison the whole church, also. Church is the place for those who confess and repent from their sins, not for those who continue to live in lawlessness.

Regular body functions reflect our spiritual state. Being unclean does not necessarily mean that we are sinning; it may just mean that we need self reflection and purification of heart so that we can realign ourselves with the LORD. A woman's cycle separates her because she has temporarily lost her co-creative power with God. It's not that she's less of a person; her potential to co-create is still there, just dormant. Ceremony recognizes and celebrates when her co-creative power returns. Women have been given a gift in their childbearing, and those who have many children are considered blessed by God. God's first commandment to "go forth and multiply," brings such blessing. Likewise, a man with a seminal emission has lost that potential to create life in his relationship with his wife. The LORD asks us to recognize this in our thinking by taking a bath or shower, which is often a contemplative time for us. We ought to spend this time focusing on relationship with the LORD and restoring ourselves to purity so we can stand before Him. We all need to be purified daily—thank God for Yeshua, yes, but we still must "die daily," as Paul writes. The LORD is looking for those of us who have humble and contrite hearts to dwell with.

There is further spiritual truth to discover in all of this. As Yeshua said in Matthew 15:19, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." When we have discharges from our hearts that come out in sinful words and actions, this unveils a heart that is diseased and sinful. We must purify ourselves (confess our sins), purify our garments (restore righteousness/repent), and purify our surroundings (ask for forgiveness) using the powerful name of Yeshua, with prayer and fasting, and His Word. James 5:16 reads: "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." 1 John 1:9 reads: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Yeshua said in John 5:14: "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” Torah is beautifully understood and applied through the example of Yeshua and the Apostolic doctrines.

Leviticus 16, Leviticus 17, Leviticus 18

The Day of Atonement is an eternal Holy Day of the LORD set aside to memorialize Yeshua's one-time sacrifice for our sins. We should not be proud, but rather come humbly before the LORD on this day in the affliction of our souls, crying out like the tax collector: "Have mercy on me, a sinner." The writer of Hebrews says: "come boldly before the throne of grace"—our boldness is against sin and the accusers who attempt to condemn, not in pomp and circumstance toward the LORD. Is there anything that can justify us before God besides His grace through Yeshua? Certainly not! Thus, our atonement by His blood sacrifice ought to have the same awe and wonder as described in Leviticus 16, especially when we memorialize the Day of Atonement as God commanded. Yeshua is our Atonement, and God has set aside this day to memorialize Him. He is our sacrificial lamb and also our scape goat. He bore our sins and carried our sorrows. The High Priest could only go in once per year to atone for sins, first atoning for himself. Now we have a sinless High Priest who eternally intercedes for us, so let us not forsake the assembly, as is the manner of some, but exhort, correct, and edify one another especially as the Day approaches.

God changed the sacrifices and offerings for the Day of Atonement and the location of the Tabernacle, and He said He would do this through the prophets, which is confirmed in the New Testament. In the Book of Hebrews, we see the Old Covenant is “abolished” and replaced by the New Covenant, which is called (and certainly is) “a better way.” But this word "covenant" does NOT refer to the law. It refers to the manner in which we now keep the law and where it is written, where we worship, the identity of our Mediator and High Priest, and what sacrifices God accepts on our behalf. Jeremiah 31:31 indicates that the New Covenant would come and the law would be written on our hearts, rather than tablets of stone. Psalm 40:6 (39:6 in the Septuagint) is properly translated, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me.” Yeshua told the woman at the well, the “day NOW is” when we will not worship on the mountains or in Jerusalem at the Temple, but “in Spirit and Truth.”

In Lev. 16, God said, “This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble yourselves and not do any work, whether the native, or the stranger who resides among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, so that you may humble yourselves; it is a permanent statute.” When we read this, it is clear that this Day of Atonement (in Hebrew Yom Kippur) ought to be kept by all who say they follow Yeshua. Never did Yeshua ever say to disobey God or His commandments—in fact, He said the opposite, that not one jot or title of the law would be done away with—and no one except God has the authority to change His law. God has not done so. When Matthew 5 says Yeshua "fulfilled the law," it means He perfectly explained it in word and deed, and He also said to follow Him, for whoever teaches us to forsake the law shall be "called least" in the Kingdom, meaning he or she will be excluded. We want to be "called great" in the Kingdom by faithfully following the law as our Master taught us. We have to be better than the Pharisees, who taught men to add to or take away from the law—something God commanded us not to do. If we truly love Yeshua, the Day of Atonement is a Holy Convocation forever, a day for us to meet and refrain from all work, to fast and pray, throughout our generations.

Following the disrespect Aaron's sons showed toward the worship of the LORD, bringing pagan traditions into the tent of meeting to worship Him with "strange fire," the LORD instructed Israel concerning The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and He declared it a permanent ordinance. He explained the holiness required for us to come near—holiness that is provided to us through faithful surrender and obedience to Yeshua. Paul talked about keeping the Day of Atonement in Acts 27:9, "Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them..." The Day of Atonement is also upheld in the Book of Hebrews 9-10, where we understand its Spiritual meaning, particularly Hebrews 9:11-12, "Messiah came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." Yeshua, our High Priest, is also the Mediator of a New Covenant, and in the New Covenant we keep Yom Kippur as a day of atonement, to deny ourselves with fasting and doing no work, looking to Yeshua as our High Priest who made atonement by His blood. He purified us from all sin and has made a way for us to follow Him into eternal life. We read: "The High Priest anointed and consecrated to be High Priest in his father’s place will make the atonement ... and he will make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the community. This is a permanent regulation for you, to make atonement for the people of Israel because of all their sins once a year.” Because of Yeshua, we can come boldly before the throne of grace. Because of His sacrifice, because He walked up to the altar dripping blood from His own wounds on the cross, sprinkling His great sacrifice one time for us, we ought to dedicate this Day of Atonement to Him and thank Him for His gift.

It is also clear that Yeshua’s one-time sacrifice for sin does not absolve us from the punishment for sin if we continue living in it. He said this Himself repeatedly, but most poignantly in Matthew 7, where He said, many will say “Lord, Lord,” in the day of His coming. These people are Holy Spirit filled Christians, who literally have cast out demons in the name of Yeshua and done miracles and wonders in His name. These men and women are saved Christians, for you cannot do these signs and wonders without the Holy Spirit dwelling within you as we read in 1 Corinthians 12:3-4, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Yeshua is accursed”; and no one can say, “Yeshua is LORD,” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.” There are other verses that show this. In Luke 10:20, Yeshua said, “do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

Judas cast out demons in the name of Yeshua. Therefore, his name, Judas Iscariot, was written in Heaven. Judas was saved and was one of the people of God, but when lawlessness was born in him, his name was blotted out of the Lamb's Book of Life. We can see this written right within the Word of God. We must be cautious not follow in Judas’s footsteps, for we know that the LORD will say “depart from me” to those who “practice lawlessness.” To practice lawlessness means to disregard the instruction of Torah, even though it is abundantly clear that we are to follow it fully, in Spirit and in Truth. We can slip and fall and get back up, healed by the blood of Messiah, but if we persistently sin and do not repent, if we rebel against His law and do not repent, we will not make it. Paul writes in Galatians 2:17, “Messiah is not a minister of sin.” He does not abide with those who are lawless. He will not forgive those who thumb their noses at His Word and say it doesn’t apply to them. These He will command to depart.

Thus, in Lev. 17 we read that when we slaughter any CLEAN animal to use it for food, that we must pour out the blood. If we consume the blood, we will be cut off from among the people of God. Not only this, but we must offer every clean animal up to God and praise His name for the meat that He has given for us to eat. We cannot eat meat sacrificed to demons. In 1 Corinth: 10:20-21, Paul writes: “I say that things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the LORD and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the LORD and the table of demons.” We read right in Levi. 17, that “anyone” who slaughters and ox, lamb, or goat (all clean animals) and does not “present it as an offering to the Lord” will have the bloodshed counted against them; they will be cut off from God. God says we are to “no longer offer [our] sacrifices to the goat demons.” Torah is eternal.

Consider also what the LORD told the Samaritan woman in John 4:21-24: "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Thus, when we sacrifice a clean animal as a peace offering to the LORD, we MUST bring this sacrifice to the altar of the LORD as a peace offering, we MUST give thanks to the LORD for the meat that He has given us for our well being, for our shalom. We must NOT mix the holy with the profane and engage in any pagan practices at all when grilling our meat. We cannot drink the blood. We cannot eat without giving thanks to Yeshua. The tabernacle we come before is now the authentic tabernacle in Heaven, but we still must come before it and offer thanksgiving and praise. To forget to do this is to forget the LORD and what He has given us.

We learn that there is a reason why we are not to eat an animal’s blood. The "nephesh," or life, is in the blood, and we are not to consume the life of another living being. The life belongs to God. We learn the soul of every living creature is bound to its blood, and thus only creatures with blood are “living beings.” This is why when we die, our blood must be poured out, for this is how our soul comes to rest in the Earth until the Last Day when the LORD returns for us, to give us our new bodies that we will dwell in forever. We read in Ps. 49:20, “Mankind in its splendor, yet without understanding, is like the animals that perish.” Thus the man who does not come to understand salvation in Messiah Yeshua, who does not turn away from sin toward God in repentance, will perish like the beasts. While it is true that all living things with blood have souls, only the soul of a repentant man in Messiah lives forever, and the souls of all other beasts, whether man or animal, die. 2 Peter 2:12 confirms. It is also clear from this why the blood of Yeshua on the cross has the power to save us.

Man is composed of the flesh, the Spirit of God breathed into the flesh, and the soul that results from this union. When we die, the Spirit of God returns to Him (this is not our identity, but His), the flesh decays, and the soul sleeps in the grave waiting for the Last Day, when Yeshua will raise us up, for He has said: "I will raise you up on the Last Day" (John 6:39). Our souls will be resurrected on the Last Day when we have the faith of Yeshua and keep the commandments of God.

In Acts 15:18-21, we read there are four things Gentiles must do immediately (day 1) when they become Christians: “Known to God from eternity are all His works. Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” We learn about all of these things in today’s reading, and we’ve covered blood, things strangled and animal sacrifice polluted by idolatry in Leviticus 17. In Leviticus 18, we learn about what “sexual immorality” actually means.

It is abundantly clear in Acts 15:21 that James, the head of the Messianic Christian counsel, acknowledges that new Christians cannot follow the whole law on day one, but he also gives a list of four things that must be done immediately. Sexual immorality has different meanings to different people, depending on whom you ask, but to God it is clearly defined. Read Leviticus 18 and 20 and you will understand how God defines sexual immorality. This is what new Christians must understand and do on day one of becoming a Christian. James doesn’t stop there. He makes it clear that Christians will continue to come to worship every Sabbath Day (Saturday) and learn the rest of the law given to Moses. As Christians become more mature in their faith, they are convicted of sin by the law, so they may repent, and go and sin no more. It is a beautiful thing. Any so-called “Christians” not abiding in the law of Leviticus 18 & 20, or the whole law for that matter, is subject to the judgment of God.

Leviticus 19, Leviticus 20

The LORD told Israel in Leviticus 19: "You people are to be holy because I, Yahweh your God, am holy." Yeshua, speaking the same Word as the Father, because He is One in Being with the Father, said in Matthew 5:48: "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Can we accomplish this? Not without the Holy Spirit indwelling us—absolutely not. However, with the Holy Spirit, "all things are possible with God" (Matthew 19:26). So how do we obtain the Holy Spirit. Yeshua told us in John 14:15-18: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." It's interesting, because to be holy as the LORD is holy—to love the LORD—is "the greatest commandment," according to Yeshua in Matthew 22. The second greatest commandment is also here: “‘Do not hate your brother in your heart, but rebuke your neighbor frankly, so that you won’t carry sin because of him. Don’t take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh." The way God defines love includes making sure your brother or sister knows when they are off course, and rebuking them in the appropriate way to get them back on track. I honestly believe this is one of the most important acts of love in the Christian walk that most Christians neglect, because of a false understanding of Yeshua’s grace. Grace is only for the repentant.

And so it amounts to this: 1) God created us and everything He created was good, but in His love for us, He gave us free will so that we could choose to love Him. 2) God commanded us to obey Him for our good and warned us about the consequences for disobedience: death. 3) We disobeyed Him, and the punishment for this was death—not physical death, but eternal death. We all disobey Him, for there is not one without sin, and thus we are all subject to destruction. 4) God Himself, being accountable for His creation which He made with free will, came in the flesh as Yeshua to show us how to keep His commandments, and He did so flawlessly, and He asked us to follow Him. ... 5) God sacrificed Himself on our behalf, the ONLY worthy sacrifice, to redeem us from the punishment for our sins, which is death, and then He rose, conquering sin and death. 6) This is why Paul writes that we are saved by grace, not by works, so none of us can boast. We cannot earn this salvation. It is impossible. But our salvation is only the beginning of the way toward God's kingdom. 7) Because of our love for our Savior, for what He has done for us, we decide in our heart to keep His commandments; we do the works that He has prepared beforehand and walk in them. 8) He knows our hearts, and will help those who are earnestly seeking Him with our whole hearts. He expects us to ask Him to help us, and He has promised to do so. 9) We must endure in our faithfulness, because He is faithful to us, until the end. 10) Like He was risen, we too will be risen up on the Last Day to everlasting life with Him, if we follow Him by keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua.

In Leviticus 20:22, we read: ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.” In Revelation 3:15-16, Yeshua says this, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Our hearts must be hearts of obedience to the LORD, but not only this, we need to be on fire for the Lord, burning with our first love, Yeshua—to do His will first before all else. God knows if this is our heart. Jeremiah 17:9-10, reads, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” Read Romans 2:5-11, it says the same thing, particularly verse 6: The Lord “…will render to each one according to his deeds…”

In Leviticus 20:11, we read: “If there is a man who sleeps with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death, they have brought their own deaths upon themselves.” Paul teaches this same thing in 1 Corinthians 5. Here’s an excerpt from verses 1 and 4-5: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has his father’s wife. … In the name of our LORD Yeshua, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our LORD Yeshua, I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the LORD.” Excommunication is akin to death in “Spirit and Truth,” and Paul shows us this. How great a witness excommunication is! Will the person repent? This one did. But those living in sin cannot worship with those who serve Yeshua, without repentance.

The balance of today’s reading includes repeated commands from Exodus. Our reading today is beautiful love offered by God to His people to know Him and understand who He is. As any good Father, He explains what is good for us and what will lead us to destruction, and tries to steer us to do what is right. He offers us grace when we fail unknowingly, but when we rebel or fail willingly, there are going to be consequences and judgment to steer us back on track. The LORD desires that we all come to repentance so that we can be with Him. It is interesting to note that even the Apostle Paul was concerned about His own endurance, as we read in 1 Corinthians 9:27: “but I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” I also feel this burden. I exhort others to love Yeshua by keeping His commandments, but I must also ensure that I check the beam in my own eye before concerning myself with the speck in my brother's eye. It takes strict discipline, with significant love, to stay on track.

When the LORD said, “You shall not round off the hairline of your heads, nor trim the edges of your beard. You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the LORD,” He was not saying that we can’t cut our hair or shave our beards and that we have to look like the Hasidic Jews walking around in New York. Such a literal meaning is not intended. The LORD was opposing pagan practices, making it clear that we ought not partake in them for ritualistic purposes. Again, He has lumped together several practices of the nations around Israel as they are about to head into the land, and He sought to separate His people from those pagans and the things that they were doing. Today, we MUST NOT shave shapes into our beard or head that have pagan symbology, and we certainly should not cut ourselves or wear tattoos of any kind. To put a mark on our skin is to disgrace the image of God that He put on you. We must bear His image only.

The LORD commanded Israel and the outsiders among her not to offer a child to Molech, and anyone who does such a thing was tobe put to death. Even more, those who tolerate this practice without verbally protesting and preventing it, also to be put to death. Let's be clear: this law is about abortion. Under no uncertain terms should we offer our children up to Molech, which means sacrificing them for our own personal prosperity and gain. This law applies to anyone who engages in the practice of abortion or tolerates others who do so today. We must oppose this most evil action with every fiber of our being.

We must not involve ourselves with the occult; it is an abomination and affront to the commandment to put no other Gods before Yahweh.

We must remain sexually pure, one man married to one wife who is not a close relative for life, and the couple must not engage in any type of perversion. Relations are off limits during a woman's period. While the LORD hates divorce, Yeshua explained a strict understanding that it is only permissible in the case of sexual immorality. Upon remarriage, a man and wife ought to remain in union with the LORD for life. Any perversion of homosexuality, transgenderism, or bestiality will lead to eternal death.

The law's intent is to set God's people apart as a wise and understanding people who love the LORD and love one another. We are not supposed to live like the people who don't know God. Our lives should not resemble the lives of those ungodly people around us in any way, shape or form. If we can live in the freedom of God's law, eternal life with Him awaits us, because by our own actions we will have shown ourselves to desire this more than anything else. God has now told us twice that we ought to follow His food laws to set us apart from other people. Picture Him saying: "Because I said so." We ought to obey our Father, who art in Heaven, for Holy is His name!

Leviticus 21, Leviticus 22, Leviticus 23

As pastors today, we ought to be mindful that the LORD has made it clear we are not to approach dead bodies, except for our parents, children or siblings. God is eternally alive and death is a profanity for Him. He never intended death. Death is the result of sin, which He commanded against. Even Yeshua Himself said, "Let the dead bury their dead." Death is the end of all opportunity for any person to confess sin and repent, and so their fate is sealed, but it is a reminder for us who remain to turn toward God and live. As pastors, we must also be "husbands of one wife," as Paul said. This commandment is found right here in Leviticus 21. A pastor also must be without defect; they must be blameless, or above reproach, as Paul explained. How can we lead others if we ourselves are being accused rightly of any kind of evil. A pastor that has committed any grievous sin while in office must step down, and arguably, he should never serve again. Forgiveness is warranted, but leadership may not be.

The LORD Himself is Holy and we ought to consider the LORD's holiness when we approach Him to worship. We have to make things right with our brothers, we have to confess our sins and repent, in all ways we ought to ask the LORD to search our hearts and find any unrighteous way in us to remove BEFORE we go in on the Sabbath or Holy Days to worship Him. His Holy Name—יהוה—Yahweh—ישוע—Yeshua—ought to be held in the highest regard. We ought to use this name only to bring God glory, to praise Him, to offer Him thanks, and to call for His help. Everything offered up to the LORD ought to be given to Him freely. There should be absolutely no expectation of anything for ourselves. When we give to the LORD, we cannot have any expectation that we will receive something in return. He has already given us eternal life and our food, drink and clothing! What else could we need?

When we approach the LORD to offer Him thanks and praise, we can come boldly before the throne of grace, according to Heb. 4:16, but not without full faith and trust in our mediator Yeshua. Faithfulness, which purifies us, is identified by obedience to His commands with the intense desire of our own heart. We cannot have any blemish when we come before the LORD, meaning that we cannot appear with any sin. The LORD said in Matthew 5:23, if you remember your brother has anything against you, leave your gift at the altar and make amends with/forgive your brother and then return to offer your gift. If we are offering thanksgiving to the LORD, a nice sirloin steak on the grill for a Shabbat meal, for instance (cooked before sunset, of course), then we ought to do so with thanksgiving. We don't just repeat rote words and call it "grace," but we earnestly seek the LORD in prayer and offer Him true gratitude for what He has given. This is why the LORD says in Leviticus: “When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Adonai, you must do it in a way such that you will be accepted." Do you really mean it, or are you going through the motions? Our heart condition is what matters MOST! We are not to profane the Holy name of Yeshua (Jesus)!

Leviticus 22 is truly about abiding in purity of heart and mind before coming before the Lord for worship or prayer, and this ought to be our takeaway. In Romans 12:1-2, the Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” In other words, our whole lives become a devotion to following Yeshua and giving everything we have to Him, even our very own lives. This sacrifice is acceptable to God when we renew our Mind by reading His Word by the power of His Holy Spirit for understanding and become “doers of the Word” (abide by it) in our lives by the same Spirit. God’s Truth must be planted and growing to produce fruit from the depths of our hearts. Then we can bring our worship before God.

Now we know from today’s reading that only the Levitical priests may eat of the food that is presented before God, and this is true of the Tabernacle made by human hands, but Yeshua is not a Levitical Priest. Rather, He is a priest in the order of Melchizedek, a King from the line of David, and because He is our High Priest and King of kings ministering before the eternal altar of God in Heaven, we may come and eat the bread and drink the wine of His table—the Word of God and the sacrifice that He made for our atonement—the obedience to God’s commandments and the faith of Yeshua as our salvation.

Leviticus 23 uses an inclusio, which is a Hebraic literary structure meant to concentrate all of our attention between two bookend truths. The bookends are: "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts'," in verses 1-2, and “So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord" in verse 44. Verse 2 is stark, in that it literally says from the Hebrew to the English, "These are the appointed times of Me, of Yahweh." When reading Isaiah 58:13-14, the LORD calls the Sabbath His Holy Day—in other words, "the LORD's Day,"—and all but one of the feasts in Leviticus 13 are Sabbath days, including the weekly Sabbath, the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the feast of Pentecost, the feast of Trumpets, the day of Atonement, the feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day. These are also Holy Convocations; days God Himself has commanded His people to gather for worship. First Fruits, which is Resurrection Day, is the ONLY day that is neither a Sabbath nor a Holy Convocation, because our salvation is an individual choice we make to confess Yeshua is Yahweh and believe in our heart that God rose Him from the dead.

When the LORD announced His Holy Convocation Days, we must pay special attention to the Words the LORD used here, because the nuance has eternal meaning. Leviticus 23 is the one chapter of the entire Bible that gave me true faith in Yeshua and led to my walk in the LORD with earnest thanksgiving and praise—and this is NOT a small matter.  Firstly, the LORD said these are HIS "appointed times" that we ought to celebrate as He instructed. These aren't our feasts. They aren't the feasts of the Jews. They are the LORD's Feasts. Think of Him being the Master of a Kingdom (and He is), and He invites YOU to come into His castle to dine in His dining room, and you receive the invite. Would you go? Read Matthew 22:1-14, because the parable of the wedding feast is about this very thing. What will your heart condition be? Will you accept the invite from the LORD, who has made all things and redeemed all who call upon His name? Or will you make up a lame excuse or some other rationale to not go? Worse: Will you listen to other men who have made up lame excuses not to go? What will the LORD who invited you to HIS FEAST think of that? He asks us, "Who do you say that I AM"? If you truly believe YESHUA IS GOD, as I do, then there is no other answer than to show up in our best wedding garment, and not only that, but with our first and our best offering for our host.

There's one thing the LORD hates even more than NOT showing up at His feasts, and that is when we invent our own feasts on which to worship Him while ignoring the ones He has told us to come to. That is the very subject of Isaiah 1, where the LORD says, "The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. YOUR New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good;..." Lest we believe that the LORD doesn't want us to pray to Him any longer, we must read this section carefully. The LORD is saying that He HATES when we do things our own way. He wants us to do things HIS way. He hates when we sin and then come before Him to worship. He hates when our hearts are far from Him, but then we offer Him lip service on Sunday, a day on which he did NOT command us to worship him, or on some other pagan festival. He wants us to come to HIS HOLY CONVOCATION. He commands it!

These feasts are HOLY CONVOCATIONS, meaning that they are appointed times of the year when the LORD wants us to gather before Him, and these are Sabbaths, meaning that we are to do no work, we are to not cook or clean, we are to kindle no fire, we are to avoid buying and selling and we are to give our hearts fully to Him in devotion, for Yeshua is the LORD of the Sabbath. And He made the Sabbath for us, not us for the Sabbath. It is good for us to do these things His way—they will be a delight to us when we keep the LORD's Days the way the LORD has directed us. Read Isaiah 56:1-8 and Isaiah 58:13-14, for this explains the LORD's heart beat. As holy convocations, it is a commandment of the LORD that we come together. In Hebrews 10:22-25, the writer exhorts us to "not forsake the assembling together, as is the manner of some" and in fact, He writes to do this all the more as the Last Day approaches. If you take the Greek words, "assembling together," they are the same words as the LORD's in Leviticus 23: "Holy convocation," they mean the same thing. The words is episunagógé (ἐπισυναγωγή) in Greek. The Word in Hebrew is mikrah (מִקְרָא), and it also means gathering together. They are holy assemblies commanded by the LORD.

Thus, the LORD lists these feasts and clarifies which feasts belong to Him each year. They are the weekly Sabbath (seventh day—Saturday), the Passover Seder at evening on the 14th of the first month, the first and last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the first day of Unleavened Bread is the same day as Passover), the Pentecost, the Day of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, the First Day of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Eighth Day, which is the day after the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. First Fruits, which is a day that clearly foretells the resurrection of our LORD, is actually NOT a holy convocation day, but it is mysteriously called out here as being a day on which we ought to make a wave offering to the LORD, which is worship. The LORD when He came in the flesh said "Do this in memory of Me" when He celebrated His last Passover Seder meal with His disciples, and then He was sacrificed as the unblemished Passover Lamb and the Unleavened Bread, our sinless and perfect sacrifice on the first day of Unleavened Bread. The Sabbath during Passover week was the next day, and thus that Sunday was First Fruits, the day He rose as our First Fruits of salvation and literally went to wave Himself before the Father in Heaven.

Importantly, at the Seder itself, which has four cups symbolizing four different things, the LORD said in Matthew 26:29: "But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” The fourth cup of the Passover Seder is the cup of the kingdom. The third cup of the Passover Seder is the cup of salvation represented by the advent of the Messiah. The first cup represented the lamb's blood from the Exodus story. The second cup represented the exile from the Babylonian captivity. The third cup is the cup Yeshua held up to them and offered as the cup of salvation from sin by His blood. The fourth cup is the cup of the Kingdom, and represents our union together with Him forever in His Kingdom because of His blood sacrifice. He won't drink it until He returns, which means that Passover has not been completely fulfilled, and yet we will celebrate it with Him in His Kingdom. Thus, we "do this in memory of" Yeshua when we celebrate it each year, just as He Himself commanded. He appeared the first time to the Disciples on First Fruits, resurrected, and then again on the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He comes to us on His Holy Feast Days, and all we have to do is go to Him and accept His invitation to dine with Him, to be with Him when He desires to be with us.

Yeshua told us the Pentecost would come, and told His disciples to be in Jerusalem for the Feast Day, just as the LORD commanded. This was also the day that God gave the 10 Commandments on Sinai. Just like He wrote the commandments on tablets of stone on Pentecost (Shavuot), He wrote the commandments on our hearts on the very same day. We celebrate this day in memory of the Holy Spirit's advent into all flesh (Jeremiah 31:31), especially the flesh of Gentiles, but we also celebrate and worship the LORD on this day, for He has called for such a celebration. The Feast of Trumpets is the day that heralds the coronation of the King, the second coming of Yeshua, and it has both historical and future realizations. He will return "at the last Trumpet." Coincidentally, the Feast of Trumpets is the only convocation that takes place on the New Moon, which means that we have to "watch" just like He said, and truly "no one knows the day or the hour." He will return during the middle of the night, which of course has spiritual significance also. The Day of Atonement was realized when the Jews chose Yeshua BarAbbas over Yeshua the Messiah, preferring a worldly rebel over the savior of the world, but it will be realized again on Judgement Day, when the LORD separates the sheep from the goats.

Finally Tabernacles has multiple realizations. The LORD tabernacled with Israel in the wilderness, and then He was born on the first Day of the Feast, laid in a manger outside the home of a relative, most likely within one of the tents that had been set up for the Feast. He was circumcised on the Eighth Day, a double entendre. In Zechariah 14:16, we understand that "it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles." The Feast of Tabernacles will be an eternal celebration even after the Second Coming of Yeshua. Even after the final battle. It is a permanent memorial that represents Jews and Greeks coming together as one Body in Messiah Yeshua. It shows us that we are the Tabernacle of God, and when we come together as one Body, He dwells with us and within us. The Eighth Day is a new beginning, and it represents the New Heaven and the New Earth, which will last forever. When we celebrate all of these feasts each year, we worship the LORD the way He desires and we confess that we believe both in what He has accomplished as well as what He has promised. How could we not celebrate the way He has asked us to celebrate together with total peace and joy?

Because as Gentile Christians we are grafted into Israel (Rom. 11, Col. 2, Acts 10-11), the Lord speaks to us in Lev. 23 here: “The Lord’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these:…” Each of them is “a permanent statute throughout your generations.” These appointed times are “holy convocations,” meaning that it is required of every believer of Yeshua to come together and celebrate. Paul says in 1 Cor. 5:8, speaking of Passover, “therefore, let us keep the feast… with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Yeshua commanded: “Do this in memory of me.” He referred to eating unleavened bread and wine to represent His Body and Blood, and the Passover Seder meal that He celebrated. This is the Feast we must keep sincerely according to the Truth of God’s Word, which we read about in Lev. 23. It’s not just Passover, but all eight of these holy convocations. We ought to do no work and instead come together for worship in "the place where God has chosen to put His name," which is upon His Holy Assembly. In Zech. 14:16, we read about the End when Yeshua will reign from Jerusalem: “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.” If this feast is celebrated eternally, we should be rehearsing it now.

First Fruits is not a “holy convocation,” meaning that we don’t gather. It is recognized as a day of remembrance, though. First Fruits, when the first grain harvest was waved before God, takes place on the day following the Sabbath during the week of Passover. In other words, it is Resurrection Day in the Hebraic calendar—a Sunday. Paul says this about First Fruits in 1 Cor. 15:20:  “But the fact is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” He recognizes that Yeshua was the “grain offering” that was waved before God, the Bread of Life offered up for us to share at His table. While our hearts may desire to celebrate Resurrection Day as we are accustomed, the Lord has asked us to keep His Passover in remembrance of Him, and thus we celebrate both His death and resurrection simultaneously during the Passover Seder, again the following day, and again on the seventh day, and we eat unleavened bread and drink wine all week “in remembrance of Him.” I believe First Fruits is not a Holy Convocation day because our salvation is individual—it is between Yeshua and each on of us whether we truly believe in His identity, accomplishments and promises in our hearts.

I have named our church, First Fruits Ministries, primarily because of 1 Corinth. 15:20-23, “But the fact is, Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man death came, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruits, after that those who are Messiah's at His coming,…” The reason is simple: The Resurrection that occurred on First Fruits is the crux, pun intended, of the whole Christian faith. And in this verse we can see the beauty and magnificence of God’s Holy Convocations as a whole, and not just this one day of remembrance.

Messiah is our First Fruits, who died for our sins and rose from the dead during the Passover as our Unleavened Bread and Lamb of God. He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell with us during the Pentecost, to help us! He will return for the harvest of souls who are fully devoted to Him during the Feast of Trumpets. We read in 1 Corinth. 15:52, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” This is the day we will all be raised from the dead or changed immediately upon His coming. The Sabbath is our weekly rehearsal dinner for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We need to be ready! The Day of Atonement is Judgement Day, and we will face Christ on the Judgment Seat. Those who have Christ’s grace will dwell with Him forever. The rest will be destroyed. The Feast of Tabernacles is when God will live among His people forever—represented by the Eighth Day. Let us endure in faith until then.

I've often heard Christians say they keep such profane days such as Easter, Christmas, and Halloween because God needs a day for us to worship Him regarding His resurrection, His birth, and even to honor the dead. But these pagan festivals are an abomination to the LORD, who has commanded us repeatedly not to worship Him in the way of the surrounding nations. See Deuteronomy 12, for example. Jeroboam set up alternative feast days for the LORD and alternative methods for worshipping Yahweh, and God's response was to wipe out Jeroboam's entire family on account of this grievous evil. God has already given us days to worship Him; He has commanded us to keep His Holy Feast Days. We celebrate His death and resurrection on Passover and Unleavened Bread, we individually recognize our own salvation on First Fruits, we celebrate our Atonement by His blood on the Day of Atonement, we celebrate His birth, when God came to dwell with us, during the Feast of Tabernacles, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and we celebrate the coming resurrection of the dead and coming of the King on the Feast of Trumpets, and the promise of our eternal life on the Eighth Day. Why would we feebly try to replace what God has made perfect?

Yeshua spoke about the propensity for us to mistakenly follow the commandments of men to our own demise in Matthew 15 and Mark 7, but He has called for us to keep the commandments of God, just like He also did Himself. This is indeed how Yeshua/Jesus fulfilled the law; in fact, He fully followed it in every way and gave us its full meaning. He then asked us to give up all that we have—including the pagan ways of our fathers—and follow Him. He said those who weren't willing to do this would not be called His disciples. I fear for those who are so stuck in their own ways that they cannot surrender to the clearly articulated and simple will of God! We sing the song, "I surrender all. ... All to Jesus, I surrender, I surrender all." But do we? Only if we keep His commandments, for this is how we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments (1 John 2:3). In fact, it's how we know that we love Him, if we keep His commandments (John 14:15). We are indeed liars if we say that we know Him, but don't keep His commandments (1 John 2:4). Outside the Ten Commandments, which include the Fourth Commandment to Remember the Sabbath Day, the Leviticus 11 food laws and Leviticus 23 Feast Laws could not be more clear, and they are fully upheld.

I've covered the Holy Days extensively in my time since 2020 as a pastor of First Fruits Ministries. Here is an archive to all of these teachings: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7ZxP9bZ9iQpUF6z9t_Zj_Nkw636_sFLP&si=htBMN_Rd6aPnotuW. If you'd like a study that is specifically on Leviticus 23, here is that sermon, which I gave recently: https://youtu.be/QK4ZILY2SPs?si=Z14f6NswqJZ4cy_x. I pray these edify you and prepare you to truly surrender all to Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one gets to the Father, but through Him (John 14:6). And He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Yeshua is Yahweh (Philippians 2:11). There is no other God besides Him (Deuteronomy 6:4)

The light of the Menorah must burn continually. Yeshua said the same thing in Matthew 5 and Revelation 1. The cakes must be set forth in front of the LORD continually, and so must we always be with the LORD, praying to Him without ceasing, a burnt offering that is a sweat aroma before Him going up to His altar (Psalm 141:2). We had better praise the LORD with all of our words and deeds, and not believe that some prayer we said once is our ticket to freedom. To live as Christ lived is our freedom!

Leviticus 24, Leviticus 25

Pure oil from crushed olives must burn continually as light in our lamps. Yeshua explained in His Matthew 25 parable of the 10 virgins that the wise virgins had enough oil to burn. The oil comes from fruit being cultivated and then crushed. When we are out spreading the Gospel, teaching the commandments, and practicing what we preach, we are bound to bear fruit, for the LORD's Word never returns to Him void. In the midst of this, we are bound to suffer persecution, for the enemy hates when we bear fruit for God's Kingdom. When our fruit is crushed, these "olives" are used for God's purposes, burning the light of Messiah Yeshua in the world. We ought to burn our lamps continually and never run out of oil by continually doing the work of Yeshua in the world. All of our service is in "living sacrifice" to the LORD, through persecution, trials and tribulations, and these cause growth for our own faith and help to harvest other souls for Yeshua. Likewise, the incense and bread ought to be burned and arranged respectively before the LORD each Sabbath—it is essential for us to come together for prayer and to share in the Word of the LORD. We are to eat from the Word in the holy place, where we come together with other believers.

I long for a society where it would be unthinkable to blaspheme the Name of the LORD. We know the LORD says, “vengeance is mine, and I shall repay,” and this is the Truth. Importantly, Moses was God’s mediator in the wilderness and he was thus serving as a type of ruler—the government of Israel. God uses government to judge the people at large—then and now. While Moses could not stone the man for blaspheming the LORD on his own authority, in his position as Mediator/Judge of Israel, he could stone the man under God’s authority and under God’s law. It is for this reason that government exists; namely, to bring God’s judgment to a world that needs it. When a people is moral and abides by God’s law, judgment is not needed and the government remains at peace with the people. When a people is immoral, God brings hell down on the people and uses the government to do it. The government itself may become “evil” from our perspective as a reflection of our own moral standing with God. In an ideal society, a just government of a moral people removes outliers like this son of Shelomith of the tribe of Dan. Evil spreads like a cancer in society when it is not punished, and so the evil must be removed.

The LORD is serious about His commandments. He will judge those who violate them, but His hope is for our hearts to desire obedience—to please the One who sacrificed Himself for us. He helps those who seek Him with all of their hearts, souls, minds, and strength. The LORD is just and kind, desiring the foreigner to be treated the same way as the citizen, for as Yeshua said, the rain falls on the just and the unjust. Still, the Hebrew slaves ought to be treated fairly and released after 7 years, while the foreigners can be enslaved forever. The foreigner grafted-in to Israel is no longer a foreigner and can be freed after 7 years, while unbelievers and pagans will be subject to slavery to sin forever. Still, the stranger within our gates is given the mercy of rest on the Sabbath. We see this same justice extend into the Jubilee year, when all lands must be returned to their original owners. There is a reset every 50 years so that all who had advanced ahead and those who had fallen behind would be brought back together as brothers—we are all equally valuable as part of the Body. Note that Yeshua began preaching during a Jubilee year, and He came to set the captives free. It is likely His return will also be in one of these years.

The law of the Shemitah Year (Sabbath Year) and the Jubilee is such a blessing. The LORD intends for there to be Mercy within the land and for one family to not become too dominant over another on account of hardship and the natural course of the world that we live in. Family members are called to redeem their brothers, sisters and cousins who have fallen short and take care of their parents. No member of Israel was to remain in servitude past the 50-year mark, but their property and freedom was to be restored. While it is easy to keep track of the weekly Saturday Sabbath, because it is every 7th day, and it is still reasonable to keep track of every Shemitah, for it is every 7 years, we have not kept track of the Jubilee years. Regardless, we know that the year Yeshua announced His ministry was a Jubilee year, because He read the following from Isaiah 61 in His own synagogue: "He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." I believe the Year of Yeshua's return will be another Jubilee by default. Perhaps the loss of the Jubilee cycle is one reason no one knows the day or the hour?

Leviticus 26, Leviticus 27

Lev. 26 is the first witness for Deut. 28, and both explain the blessings and curses of God. The LORD brings blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, and this did not change with the coming of Yeshua. While the curse of eternal condemnation was put upon Yeshua on the cross for those who repent and follow Him, those who are not in obedience are practicing lawlessness (living in the flesh), and therefore not free of condemnation. We must be in Christ to receive eternal blessings from God, but to be in Christ means to deny ourselves and take on the righteousness He showed us. Being "in Christ" is not an intellectual exercise. It's not a simple statement of belief. It is a lifestyle change that drastically impacts every aspect of our lives. On account of our love for Jesus, faith leads to sanctification: we stop doing things that God said not to do, and we start doing the things that He desires. This brings the blessings, both in this life and in the life to come. To deny Messiah is not just to deny the testimony of His death and resurrection, but also to deny the instruction of His Word, falsely relying on grace without repentance. We need a testimony of two to receive blessing: faith in Yeshua and obedience to Torah.

We are living under the New Covenant, which subsumes the former covenants. For us, the judgment for violating God's law is even more severe than before, as we read in Hebrews 10:26-31: “How much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot”? Please understand from Leviticus 26 that the purpose of all of the blessings of God are to create fellowship between God and Man, and this happens when our covenant relationship with Him is sound through love of and obedience to Christ. However, when that relationship is not sound through disbelief or disobedience, the curses are not meant to destroy us. The curses are God's effort to bring us into repentance and restore a right relationship with Him. God does not want to destroy His people, but correct them and bring them back to Him. This is LOVE! Those in His presence receive eternal blessing, and this is what He wants for all of us! This is why He sent Yeshua to die and rise! He is doing all the work to bring us back to Him. God is long-suffering, but those who continue in rebellion will ultimately be destroyed and there will be no excuse.

The last line in Leviticus reads: "These are the commandments which Yahweh gave to Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai." Earlier in Exodus 24:4 we read, "And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD." There are several witnesses to these very important facts. From this we can deduce a few important things: 1) Yeshua, who is one with the Father, gave His commandments to Moses. Though often referred to as the "law of Moses," these commandments were given by God to His prophet Moses, and thus they are truly the "law of God." 2) Moses wrote down every single Word the LORD spoke, and none were excepted. This is important when considering that the Jews developed an oral tradition, claiming that their Mishnah and Talmud came from things the LORD commanded and that Moses didn't write down. There is zero Scriptural evidence for this happening, and in fact, the evidence suggests quite the opposite. There was no oral law given to Moses. The "oral law," which is now recorded in the Mishnah and Talmud, was likely developed during the Babylonian captivity. This oral law is the one Yeshua criticized in Matthew 15 and Mark 7.

I want to note as an example of the law's universal application that America was once an untamed land, where wild beasts roamed the land, the sword (arrow) flew wildly, and there was much pestilence, but when the people of God inhabited the land, the wild beasts were tamed and moved into the wilderness, the wars ceased and the pestilences were cured, among other things that are noted here in our reading from Leviticus 26. Today, mountain lions, wolves and coyotes are spreading into inhabited areas, pestilence is growing and the sword is looming. The people of America have turned against God, and we will continue to receive God's judgment unless we repent as a people. Individuals can be saved out of a sinful land if we live as Job, Daniel and Noah, but the land itself will be judged. We need to get to work spreading the Gospel of Yeshua and teaching the commandments if there is any hope of saving America from destruction. Our goal ought to be to pull as many up out of the fire as possible, and let the LORD sort out the details. As for me and my house, we shall serve the LORD.

The laws of redemption for money in Leviticus 27 are relevant. For a man under 20, his assessment is 20 shekels of silver. For a working age male, like Yeshua, it’s 50. We know that Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery for 20 shekels of silver (Genesis 37:28). This, of course, is a prophetic template for Yeshua being sold for 30 pieces of silver by Judas (Mt. 26:15, 27:3, etc.), but why the disparity in price? Look at Exodus 21:32: “If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his master 30 shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.” NOTE: the Aleph, the first letter in Hebrew, pictorially represents an Ox’s head, and it also represents God the Father. Judas represented the Jews, who brought forth their Messiah (God) who would save the repentant from sin, whether Jew or Gentile. Judas was paid the price for a slave being gored by an Ox. We know that Yeshua said that He came to do God’s will. Sacrifice and offering God did not desire, but a Body was prepared for Him. "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief." (Isaiah 53:10a). The proper price was paid for our redemption.

Numbers 1, Numbers 2, Numbers 3

As we move into Numbers, the LORD provides us with a shadow of the coming redemption through His Son. While the people of Egypt lost all their first born in the 10th plague, Israel's first born sons were preserved by the blood of the Lamb. In exchange for this free gift, the LORD had asked earlier in Exodus 34:19 for the first born of every family to be dedicated to Him—for a life of prayer. The LORD set up the principle of substitution through what He does here in Numbers. Instead of each of the firstborn, He would accept all of the Levites in service to Him. The difference in persons would be paid for with the people's redemption value of 5 shekels of silver each. There is great symbology is this: Ultimately, we were all bought with a price—the price of Yeshua's blood on the cross. He gave His lifeblood in exchange for ours, which was required from us on account of sin, and in His life we can be redeemed through faith. Even still, "we are debtors," as Paul stated plainly in Romans 8:12—we have a debt we cannot repay. Therefore, we ought to dedicate our own lives to prayer and service to the LORD as the Levites did, because we are part of the "Assembly of the Firstborn who are registered in Heaven," according to Hebrews 12:22-24.

Israel would be a nation of priests who would disclose the True God to the World, and then this very Messiah would rise up from their midst to save all of humankind who believes in His gift of grace on the cross and therefore follows His instruction with the help of His Holy Spirit. Within the context of Numbers 2, the people of Israel were arranged around the tabernacle in the formation of a cross, and they advanced as a unit toward the rising sun. This is assuredly yet another prophetic template for the risen Son of God, Who God's people must approach in formation (aligned with His will and his purpose), according to the Word of God, as they walk toward the Promised Land. Yeshua must be in the center of our lives and the center of our faith communities. We hold Yeshua up as a banner, and thus we ought to represent the one whose name we celebrate, for it is rebellion against God's commandments to take the Name of the LORD in vain. Is Yeshua at the center of our life and is His law at the center of our heart? Do we desire to seek Him more than anything else? These are very important questions we ought to ask as we ourselves travel through this wilderness on planet Earth toward the eternal Promised Land, which is not of this world.

As a practical note, we ought to understand that God's Word declares men who are 20 years and older to be adults, and thus we also ought to consider 20 to be the age of accountability in the church. According to my interpretation, while someone prior to 20 can be baptized into the faith in Yeshua provided they understand what they're doing and proceed authentically and willingly, men and women at age 20 or older MUST make this choice or they put eternal life in jeopardy. In another interpreted application within the church, those younger than 20 can come to the Passover Seder even if they don't yet believe, because they are still under their father's covering and can participate without a true and heartfelt faith of their own. However, once they reach 20, they must believe or should not participate in the Passover Seder per Paul's teaching in 1st Corinthians 11:29, where we read: "For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the LORD's body."

As a side note, I found it interesting that Judah (with 74,600) and Joseph (with 72,700), combining Ephraim and Manasseh, had much greater numbers than any of their brothers. These two tribes represent the coming Messiah, who would be the Son of David of Judah and the Son of Joseph, as well as the Son of God. They were obedient in the commandment to "go forth and multiply," just as we ought to be in multiplying disciples for Yeshua now that we are grafted-in among His brothers.

Here's some foreshadowing of the Numbers story arc: All of the 603,550 men counted in the second year leaving Egypt from Numbers 1-3, with only two exceptions, died in the wilderness within the next 38 years of their travels. Joshua and Caleb were the only two who made it to the Promised Land from that entire generation. With these two, only those younger than 20 made it into the Promised Land. This historical reality of Israel in the wilderness presents a prophetic picture of the superiority of the New Covenant in the incorruptible life of Messiah Yeshua over the Old Covenant in the physical Levitical system, but there is additional meaning here to examine. As we will see, many among the second generation also failed to make it into the land. In this way, Numbers becomes a multifaceted warning to encourage  our faithful diligence, as described in Hebrews 3-4. Yeshua explained the path to God's eternal Kingdom as "narrow" in Matthew 7, and He said "few would find it." When we consider that only two of 603,550 men made it into the Promised Land, despite all of the miracles of God they witnessed, we ought to cling to our faith in Yeshua and the Holy Spirit inspired and understood instruction of God from His Word.

In that light, I want to present a thought experiment relative to the proportions we're going to read about in the rest of Numbers: There are approximately 124 million men, 20 and older in the United States today. If we consider this story prophetic, which it is, only 411 men alive in the United States today are truly following the LORD the way He wants to be followed. If we were to use this same proportion to consider the world population of 8.3 billion, men, women, and children, that's 27,504 people in the whole world who are truly following the LORD. My point IS NOT that only these 411 U.S. men or 27,504 people in the world will be saved, because only God is the judge and He will decide, but the point IS that when the LORD says His Way is narrow, He really means it. Only a remnant of believers truly follow Him. This thought experiment's purpose is to encourage all of us to be diligent to make sure we and everyone we can reach are  among those who enter the Kingdom of God through faith in and obedience to Yeshua.

The Levitical Priesthood fulfilled all of the duties of the Tabernacle of the LORD. Within the family, duties were divided and each member had to remain within their territory as set apart to the LORD for His purpose. Today, we follow the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek rather than the order of Aaron. This was one of five viable changes between the Old Covenant and New Covenant explained in Scripture. One example is 1 Samuel 2:27-36, where God said He was going to change the priesthood, and then in Hebrews 7:17, among other Book of Hebrews passages, this concept is fully explained. Peter explained in 1 Peter 2:9 that we are part of this royal priesthood under Yeshua, and thus the Holy Spirit gives each of us gifts according to the measure of our faith. See 1 Corinthians 12. The symbolism of what we're reading in Numbers is eternal, for it is relative to the pattern of what God showed Moses on the mountain. In other words, it is a model for the spiritual Truth in Heaven. As followers of Yeshua, we still fall under this order of having different roles within the Body, and we must obey God rather than the dictates of our own hearts. Today we have only one, eternal High Priest, and His name is Yeshua. Praise be to His name!

Numbers 4, Numbers 5, Numbers 6

When it comes to moving the tabernacle and all of its implements, note that this is a metaphor for the workings of a faith community, particularly when the Holy Spirit has called upon the people to move on a particular ministry. It is important to note that in any ministry action, there are roles for the different members of the community to play, and not all people within the ministry have the same roles. In fact, trying to step outside your role could in fact lead to spiritual death. We can see this law being played out in Acts 6 as follows: “Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word." In a way, Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 attempted to have a share in the holy place, without bringing the proper heart condition. They kept back proceeds for themselves while claiming to give all. They lied to the Holy Spirit and were struck down on the spot, which also reminds me of Aaron‘s oldest two sons and their profane fire.

To send the leprous outside the camp was a health precaution, for leprosy did not have a cure in the days of Moses. However, the commandment is also a metaphor. If someone is sinning, or bringing unrighteousness into a church, they must be removed. Yeshua is quite clear in Matthew 18 how to remove leprosy from the church properly. First we must confront the sinner, next we bring two or three with us to confront the leper, and then the whole community ought to confront the sinner. If they repent in any stage, they are welcome to stay, but if the leprosy continues in their heart, they must be removed from the camp. When we sin, we need to confess our sins before each other and before the LORD. This is not a private ordeal, but it ought to be done within the community. To confess sin is paramount to forgiveness, and confession ought to lead to repentance, which means turning away from sin. Now, if we have wronged anyone in a material way, we need to restore what had been before and add a fifth to it to overcome the hurt from the wrong committed. We ought to follow these laws today. 1st John 1:9 reads, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

This law sets up the idea of a woman who is potentially unfaithful to her husband. A study of the Hebrew clarifies what is actually being taught and helps makes perfect sense of it. When a belly swells (tzabah), it means that the uterus becomes hard and unusable and when a thigh (yarek) shrivels, it means the seat of her reproductive power is taken. In brief, the procedure for a jealous husband who suspects his wife has become unfaithful is meant to take away his cancerous jealousy and prove whether it is founded. If his wife continues to bear children for him, then she has been faithful, but if she becomes barren on account of the prayer, then she was unfaithful. To be barren in the Hebraic understanding is to be cursed, and to bear children is a blessing from God. Spiritually speaking, it is so important that each marriage in a faith community be pure and undefiled that a husband ought to bring his wife before the priest/pastor for counsel if there is any jealousy in their marriage. The seriousness of marital fidelity must be discussed with the elder—man and wife together—and every spirit of jealousy must be satisfied with either reconciliation or truth, and hopefully both. The actual act of adultery could lead to spiritual death without repentance, and it could at least result in a death of the marriage if it is found out. May the LORD reveal all and bring shalom for groundless jealousy. On the other hand, it is not wrong for a man to be weary of the friendly advances of other men towards his wife, which is why his jealousy does not cause his guilt.

It’s interesting to me that whenever I see the Apostle Paul depicted in film form, he has short hair, but Scripture is quite clear he had taken a Nazirite vow. In Acts 18:18, he seems to end his vow:  Now “Paul, when he had remained many days longer, took leave of the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. Paul first had his hair cut at Cenchrea, for he was keeping a vow.” If one wishes to consecrate themselves with such a vow, they should read Numbers 6 to determine how. Nevertheless, I don't believe we should consecrate ourselves in this way unless specifically requested by the Holy Spirit. It is a rare dedication so a man can devote Himself to prayer and moderation, much as a monk would do. Paul was single, which probably made it easier for him to do this. Regardless, the "vow" is still an admirable act of faithfulness.

The end of Numbers 6:22-27 is the Birkat Kohanim—the priestly blessing—which I give at the end of each Sabbath service to bless the congregation. Pastor Daniel of CFM has a beautiful five-part teaching on the Blessing that I highly recommend: https://www.cornerfringe.com/media/series/q7t2z8b/the-blessing. I feel the Holy Spirit descend on me every time I either give or receive this blessing. It is powerful to call on the LORD to bless His people and it is powerful to receive this blessing from the LORD. Everyone who follows Yeshua should want this blessing in their life, for the LORD to bless us and keep us in the faith, to keep us in His presence by His grace, and to shine His light and life on us by looking toward us and being with us, and to give us the wholeness of His presence to fill us with everything we need.

“The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD cause His face to shine on you and be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His face to you and give you peace.’”

ye·va·re'·khe·kha' · Adonai · ve·yeesh'·me·re'·kha
ya·eir · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · vee·khoon·ne'·kah
yees·sa · Adonai · pa·nav · e·ley'·kha · ve·ya·seim · le·kha · sha·lom

יברכך יהוה וישמרך
יאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך
ישא יהוה פניו אליך וישם לך שׁלום

Numbers 7, Numbers 8

The LORD has given us all things. He asked us to worship Him “in Spirit and in Truth,” no longer from Jerusalem or the mountains of Israel (John 4:24). How do we dedicate our hearts to the LORD? When we dedicate a new thing to the LORD, whether a new home, a new church building, a new marriage, a new child, and so on, it is proper to bring our gifts to His altar in Heaven. Among the most prominent gifts should be thanks and praise, for God gives us everything we have, including our own talents.

“Through Yeshua then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” (Hebrews 13:15)

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Yeshua, giving thanks through Him to God our Father.” (Colossians 3:17)

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Do not come before the altar of God empty-handed:  "I beseech you therefore, breathren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." (Romans 12:1)

The lamps of the menorah, which represents the complete assembly of God's chosen people in Messiah Yeshua (see Revelation 1), must cast their light forward. Yeshua said not to put our lamp under a basket, but on the lamp stand. We must let our light shine forth before men, and show them the reason for the hope that is in us, and it is this: Yeshua, the light of the world, dwells in us, and He has saved us from the curse of death and shown us how to live in righteousness—praised be to His blessed name. Our very lives ought to be a living Gospel, showing everyone we meet that we worship Yahweh and obey His commands.

The Levites are a special class of people who consecrated themselves to God and served within the Tabernacle and/or Temple in Jerusalem from 25-50 years old. It is clear from reading Scripture that Yeshua was not a priest according to this order of Aaron, but he was a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Paul talks about this, as does the writer of Hebrews. Abraham, we know, tithed to Melchizedek, who was a high priest for God Most High in Jerusalem, and therefore, those who came from the loins of Abraham; namely, the Levites, also would be subject to the higher order of the priesthood under Messiah Yeshua, our eternal High Priest, in the New Covenant. Read the Book of Hebrews to get a better sense of this transition that occurred. It is well spelled out there. There are several Old Testament passages where the Lord talks about removing the authority from the Levites and giving it to Yeshua, particularly in the prophets. This occurred the first time in the Book of Samuel, however.

The princes of Israel each brought similar gifts to consecrate the altar that God asked them to dedicate to His Name, regardless of the size of the tribe they came from. This is symbolic of each person contributing their spiritual gifts for the Body of Believers, who are the new Temple of God in the New Covenant (1 Corinth. 12). We cannot deprive the Body of the gifts God gave to us to share. When God calls us before His altar, shouldn't we bring our first and our best, as well as our entire hearts to give Yeshua full thanksgiving and praise? God expects each of us to bring our first and our best to Him, and we each ought to do so without hesitation.

The Levites are a priesthood set apart. We are washed clean by blood of Yeshua, but we must walk forward set apart from the stain of the world. Think about when Yeshua washed His disciples feet and asked us to do likewise. It wasn't necessary for us to wash our whole bodies, as Peter suggested, because Yeshua already made us clean, but when we walk in the world, our feet pick up the filth that we walk through. That is why when we come together to worship, we must wash each other's feet in fellowship, cleansing off the filth from the week, exhorting one another to endure in our faith.

Numbers 9, Numbers 10

The Passover festival is SO important to the LORD, that it is the one Holy Day that has a do-over it if is missed on account of defilement. Yeshua said to "do this in memory of me." Paul said to "keep the feast." Over and over again the LORD makes it abundantly clear that Passover is a feast we ought to keep as a memorial forever, for on that day the blood of the Lamb was shed for our sins, once for all time, and the unleavened bread was waved on the cross for all to see. We ought to remember His sacrifice and the new covenant of His blood the way He instructed, and if we can't do it because of defilement, we even have a second chance to do it. If we cannot make this annual event due to illness or a death in the family, there is a make-up day. Thanks be to the LORD that He has made the importance of this Holy Day that honors the advent of the New Covenant so clear.

The LORD explained to Israel how they were going to move from one place to another, and then after 20 days He said it was time to go. The LORD will always prepare us for the work He wants us to do before He sends us out. The leaders of the congregation ought to make announcement when it's time for the people to move out on mission, and the mission work ought to be orderly. It shouldn't be a free-for-all, but each person ought to have their own role and their own time to move in and move out. Upon arriving at the next mission field, prayer and worship ought to proceed everything else. We always ought to pray to the LORD first and also last in all things that we do, to initiate and to confirm. As we go out upon the direction of the LORD, we ought to be confident that He is with us, and thus our enemies will not stand a chance to defeat us. Likewise, when we come to rest, we ought to pray for the LORD to overwhelm us with His presence and abide with us.

As the cloud hovered over the tabernacle when the LORD instructed His people to sojourn, and as it moved when it was time for the people to move, so too must we move with the Holy Spirit, wherever He leads us, and remain and wait in place when He tells us to wait. Numbers reads: "At Yahweh's order, they camped; and at Yahweh's order, they traveled — they did what Yahweh had charged them to do..." As Yeshua told Nicodemus in John 3: "the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” This is how we ought to live our lives in faith. In the New Covenant, rather than be guided by God’s presence in the cloud by day and fire by night, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. The same principle applies to us that applied to Israel in the wilderness. We are to obey God and His Holy Spirit and go wherever He commands us at the time that God appoints. We are not to follow our own way, but God’s way alone!

When reading Moses's prayer, I think of the Resurrected LORD, who conquered sin and death, scattering every evil spirit in our path: “Rise up, O Yahweh! And let Your enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You.” (Numbers 10:35)

The trumpet ought to be blown for summoning the community for prayer, which is spiritual battle. When we go to battle in prayer, the trumpet ought to be blown first, announcing to the enemy that the living God is rising up to bring victory for His people. When God is for us, who can be against us? The trumpet ought to be blown on Shabbat and the Holy Feast days as a sound of rejoicing, and on the New Moon, along with prayer and feasting. How could we not relish the opportunity to come before the LORD with other faithful believers and enjoy His company? I look forward to each opportunity with glee. The Shofar blast brings peace in my heart.

When Moses went to his brother-in-law Hobab the Midianite and asked him to come with Israel to be their eyes, it might seem like Hobab turned back, but the syntax of the text makes it clear that he went with Moses. This will be important as we read through the rest of the Tanakh, as the Kenites are descendants of Re'u'el/Jethro and prove themselves to be extremely faithful followers of Yahweh, even more so than the Israelites and the people of Judah. Track this genealogy as we read; they are a powerful people of God, grafted-in Gentiles who had become a part of Israel.

Numbers 11, Numbers 12, Numbers 13

Regarding the dispute over manna in the wilderness, most of Israel did not understand that they were eating Heavenly bread that had more spiritual value than anything else they might consume. They were being fed by the hand of God, but it wasn't good enough for them. They were given eternal sustenance in the manna, and yet they wanted more. Most believers will come to a place when they are not satisfied with the simplicity of the Gospel, but they will desire more from the LORD. The manna represents Messiah Yeshua, and all we have to spiritually consume is the Bread of life. How could we desire anything else? Is there meat in the Word beyond Yeshua? Yes! Do we desire it more than Him? We cannot! The LORD will provide abundant meat for those who ask, but those who are not satisfied with Yeshua will experience spiritual death. Whoever is not satisfied with Yeshua will fail to enter into everlasting life. There is a time and place to eat meat, and the LORD will give us meat to eat, but we cannot be so caught up in debating over doubtful things that we grumble against or walk away from the Bread of Life.

The LORD hates when we complain, because it is a sign of disbelief and ingratitude. Has the LORD not given us everything we have? Will He not give us everything we need? Will He not fulfill His promises? He has and He will, and this is faith, the kind of faith that moves mountains and tears down strongholds; the kind of faith that defeats even the most giant of enemies, because God is the one who does the fighting for us.

In the wilderness, it is the ones who longed to return to Egypt, the land of bondage, who were destroyed by plague. Maybe all of them craved meat, and the LORD gave them so much meat they would no longer desire it, but only some of them desired to return to bondage, and these are the ones who died. If we look back at our life of sin and consider it superior to our life with Messiah Yeshua, we will have rejected Yeshua in the same way as these men in the wilderness, and there is nothing to expect but death. We must look forward, as Paul writes, "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:13).

How egregious the sin of this people Israel! In John 6:58, Yeshua said, “I am the manna from Heaven.” The Israelites said literally, “but now our soul is dried up. There is nothing for our eyes except this manna!” What did they desire instead? Flesh. Plain and simple. They wanted flesh. What did Paul say to us in Romans 8:6 “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace….” They literally had God Most High dwelling among them in the wilderness, providing them with everything they needed, and the Angel of God, the pre-incarnate Messiah, was leading them to the promised land. And what did they want? Flesh. They wanted flesh. Their soul preferred the things of this world over God; they did not want to look upon the Son or sustain themselves on the life that He provides through faith and obedience. They wanted to return to their former life and live a temporary existence until they died. This is all about the heart of man that leads to death.

When Moses grew weary of the LORD's call on his life, he became depressed, saying to the LORD, "If you are going to treat me this way, then just kill me outright!—please, if you have any mercy toward me!—and don't let me go on being this miserable." I'm sure we've all been in this place before, where death seemed like a better way than the troubles that have gathered all around us, but this is also a sign of doubt in the LORD's goodness and His promises, for death itself is a curse and the LORD does not desire it for us. Remember: "Yeshua wept" at the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35). The Apostle Paul writes, "let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Galatians 6:9). Whenever we feel this way, we should follow Moses's example and go to the LORD in prayer, and He will help us. He will lift us up on Eagle's wings and bear us on the breath of dawn (Psalm 91).

When leaders are given an anointing by the LORD to lead a congregation, they will and ought to have additional leaders around them to help govern the congregation. Moses himself prophetically desired that all men had the power to prophesy (See Numbers 11:29), which means to rightly divide the Word and understand how to apply Scripture to their lives. God answered Moses's request, but only partially during his life in the wilderness. Israel would have to wait for the New Covenant for all people to have access to God's Holy Spirit. And God said He would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh (Jeremiah 31:31), and He fulfilled this following the resurrection of Yeshua. Granted, this doesn't mean that everyone who confesses Yeshua can prophesy, because we must also do the will of God to rightly divide the Word. Even Paul exclaimed, "in the assembly I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue" (1 Corinth 14:19). In verse 1, Paul expressed desire "that you may all prophesy." To actually do this, saints must keep their faith in Yeshua AND keep the commandments of God, lest they become false prophets.

Miriam and Aaron were too close to the top, and they questioned Moses's leadership, asking wrongly: "Has the LORD spoke only through Moses?" Just before this, God had spoken through 70 men, but that doesn't mean Moses gave up his role as the spiritual leader. He was indeed the anointed by the LORD to lead Israel, and anyone questioning that leadership was presumptuous. Even in the New Covenant, we all can prophesy when we do so rightly, but we must submit to the governing authorities who are both called and righteous before God (Romans 13). God does not take kindly to people who rebel against rightfully called, law-abiding, and humble leadership in His faith communities.

Moses had an Ethiopian wife? Zipporah was from Midian, not Ethiopia. There is debate on this passage. The word is כּוּשִׁי or Kushi, and it means Kushite, or Ethiopian. Others from Israel pronounce the word Kaasha, which means beautiful, and argue that Moses only married one wife. Regardless of what view you take, the message is the same. The people were jealous of Moses, that God spoke with Him face-to-face, and even Aaron and Miriam rebelled against him. Miriam, being a woman, complained about Moses's wife as an act of jealousy. But Moses was more humble than any man on the Earth, so he took the matter before God. This is what we ought to do with any controversy in the church; we ought to take the matter to God in prayer. The LORD answered saying that Moses was his chosen vessel to lead the people and no one ought to dispute that. He gave Miriam leprosy for a week to punish her for her rebellion. She was repentant, but still had to deal with the consequences of her sin. This is true of us also. The LORD will forgive, but we still have to deal with the consequences of sin. We ought to consider one more very important lesson here: God calls the leaders of His people, His pastors/prophets/teachers. The NT verifies this. They are not elected by the congregation, but they are called by God. The people should not question this calling, but they absolutely should judge their leaders according to their fruit, for Yeshua said we would know a true teacher vs. a false teacher by their fruit (Mt. 7:16)

When Moses sent out 12 men as spies into the Promised Land, he instructed them to explore, to see what the land was like, what people were living there and what they were like, what their cities were like, whether they were fortified, the condition of the soil and forests, and to bring back fruit. The 12 men did not sin with their report after 40 days of judging the land: They said the land was flowing with milk and honey, they brought fruit, they said the people were powerful, the cities were powerful and large, there were giants living there who devoured human flesh, and they explained which people groups were living in which sections, Amalek in the south, the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites in the mountains, and the Canaanites/Philistines by the sea and on the banks of the Jordan. This was an accurate and righteous report! But what followed was the sin, and it separated the 10 unrighteous and faithless men from the 2 righteous men—the remnant. There will always be a remnant for the LORD. Here's the sin: The majority doubted God's Word, saying "we cannot attack these people, because they are stronger than we." But Caleb, the faithful, said, "We should definitely go up and capture the land, for we can certainly do it!" Caleb knew what the rest didn't. With the LORD, with faith and no doubting, all things are possible. God is faithful! If we side with the faithful, we will make it into God's kingdom. If we don't, we won't.

We are beginning to read about the people's rejection of God's divine purpose for them, to inherit the Promised Land. They see worldly things instead of the amazing miracles God has done for them, and this leads them to disbelief. There were giants in the land, the descendants of the Nephalim. NOTE: This could means angels continued to rebel against God after the flood and continued to mate with human women. It could mean that one of the wives of Shem, Japheth or Ham had hybrid blood in them, which was passed down. It seems like Nimrod in Babel expressed this hybrid nature, for he himself was called "a man of renown." In any case, the children of Nimrod and his ilk were inhabiting Canaan, and the LORD wanted them wiped out. The flood accomplished this, but the evil ones persisted. Now God wanted to use Israel in this second iteration of judgment to wipe them out. Israel did not believe that God could use them in this way, and so they would die in the wilderness—all of them who denied the LORD and disbelieved His Word....

...This is a lesson for us also. We too face spiritual battles in our lives, we face enemies that are far stronger than us, and we cannot defeat them on our own, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). Without God, it's impossible, but with Yeshua living in us we can defeat any of these enemies and continue this battle until Messiah Himself returns to throw them into unquenchable fire. For now, Yeshua seeks to use His people to fight against these enemies, even though He doesn't need us, because He desires the glory that comes from our faith. Remember this next time you are facing a spiritual battle and know, as Joshua and Caleb did, that when the LORD is for us, who can be against us? The enemy is nothing but smoke in the wind with the strength of the LORD and our faith in Him.

Numbers 14, Numbers 15, Numbers 16

Our eternal salvation comes down to faith as a primary requirement, and faith is something that drives God's people to trust in His Word and do it. When we look at Joshua, Caleb and the other 10 spies, they represent the prophetic teachers of Israel. Ten were false prophets, and were literally consumed by Yahweh for it, just as all false prophets will be in the end, and Joshua and Caleb taught the Truth and would be rewarded for it with entry into the Promised Land. They were obedient and faithful. Sadly, Israel followed the false prophets and thus was denied the Promised Land, but their children who would witness their destruction and keep their trust in God would enter in, led by Joshua and Caleb. Moses may have interceded as a mediator for the people, convincing the LORD to preserve them for His own glory in the wilderness for 40 years, but they would ultimately fall. The LORD allowed the wheat to grow with the tares until the Day of harvest, and then He gathered the wheat into His barn and burned up the tares. So too would the generation of lawless doubters walk with the faithful until the Last Day, when the faithful would enter the land and the last of the lawless would be destroyed.

If we who are called to follow Yeshua ever ask the LORD why He saved us and brought us along this difficult path to the Kingdom of Heaven, we too ought to be consumed in an instant. But we have an intercessor on the throne of Heaven—Yeshua—who experienced this life and died sinless for us so that our sins of doubt and unbelief would be forgiven, but only when we repent and walk in the newness of faith by following after Yeshua and doing what He did. Remember the woman who grabbed Yeshua's tassels, knowing that the commandments of God lived out in faith are what bring life, and she was healed of her disease? Hebrews 10:28-29 reads, "Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?" When Yeshua tires of His people rejecting Him and the commandments He gave through His servant Moses, His wrath will be unlike anything we've seen in the Old Testament. He will consume not just the rebellious ones in front of Him, but the entire world will be consumed with fire.

We were warned in Hebrews 3-4, but particularly 4:11-13: "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." The LORD is not slack considering His promises, but wants us all to repent, to change from following our own hearts to following after His heart instead, just like Joshua and Caleb. He forgives, but our corpses will be scattered in the wilderness just like theirs if we persist in our sin. The Holy Spirit offers gentle nudges to bring us back on course, just as the LORD led Israel with the soft movement of His cloud. Note, though, how He also took out those who caused His people to rebel against Him, and ultimately He took out those who followed after them, also. He is the same today. Only Joshua and Caleb who were faithful and acted on their faith entered the Promised Land, and we have the same bar.

The LORD had now promised that every man and woman 20 years and older, except Joshua and Caleb, would die in the wilderness, and the people doubted this promise, also. We can see that the people’s repentance followed the LORD’s judgment on the sons of Israel, but the LORD's mercy and grace had reached its end. He would only allow their children, the second generation, to reach the Promised Land, and this first generation would die in the wilderness according to their own faithlessness. They actually brought this judgment on themselves by prophesying and believing it, instead of believing the prophesy of the LORD. False prophets are so dangerous they can lead to our permanent destruction if we believe them instead of the Word of the LORD. Despite the people’s repentance, it is further sin that the people presumed they could still enter the Promised Land. Those who followed the false prophets to try and take the land against the Word of the LORD were destroyed.

In the wilderness, the LORD suggested He ought to destroy the whole nation and raise up a nation from Moses. It would have fulfilled His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for Moses was their descendant. But Moses, being the humble servant of the LORD that He is, appealed to the LORD on behalf of the people and sacrificed himself for them as a prophetic template of what our LORD would do for us on the cross. In so doing, He showed us how we ought to pray, also: “So now, please, let the power of the LORD be great, just as You have declared, saying, ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in mercy, forgiving wrongdoing and violation of His Law; but He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’ Please forgive the guilt of this people in accordance with the greatness of Your mercy, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” It was to God's glory that Moses appealed, and it was for God's glory that the LORD heard his prayer. His pleasure was to make His name great in all the earth by saving as many as would choose to love Him by obediently following His anointed.

According to our reading, the law would apply to the natives as well as the foreigners who dwell among them, just like Paul explained in Ephesians 2, Romans 11 as well as Acts 15:21, and several other places. Unintentional sin could be atoned for, but rebellious sin against the law would be punished with death, and in both cases, it doesn't matter whether the person was Jew or foreigner. Paul said the same thing in Romans 2:8-11: "...to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God."

Once we come to knowledge of the Truth and the LORD convicts us, we cannot turn back toward our life before we knew the LORD or we will die in our sin. We might slip up, we might stumble, we might sin unintentionally, and the LORD is merciful and full of grace, but if we rebel continuously there is no longer salvation available. As we dwell in the wilderness of this life, and we look to Yeshua as our sacrificial Ram who died for our sins, we must bring bread and wine before the LORD in memory of Him. The grain offering and the drink offerings fulfilled vows (the covenant) and today fulfills our obligation to the LORD during His appointed times. He is the Lamb that was slain. This commandment applies to us all: “As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who resides among you, a permanent statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD.” There is no separation between Jews and Gentiles; we are united in Yeshua!

Numbers 15 concludes with an example of what it means to “despise the Word of the LORD” or to “sin defiantly,” which occurred while Israel was “in the wilderness.” They had turned back from the Promised Land and went back toward the Sea of Reeds, which is where they began. There they would live for 40 years until everyone 20 and older died, except Joshua and Caleb. God said in Numbers 14:25: “Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.” This tells us that they left the border of civilization and were back in a land that was far away from any civilization. This is critically important to understand, because this is the setting for the example at the end of Numbers 15. Here a man was caught gathering wood on the Sabbath Day, and for that God commanded that He be stoned with stones to death.

I maintain my earlier belief that this punishment was more merciful than casting the man outside the camp without food and water, because they were days away from civilization. To “cut the man off” from among the people could be accomplished in two ways: either by stoning to death or banishment. We see Paul talk about this very thing in 1 Corinth. 5 to judge the adulterous man—he was banished, not stoned. King Saul banished the witches from Israel and did not stone them. The punishments are equivalent. But banishment would be less merciful than stoning this Sabbath breaker to death on account of where they were—he would have suffered without food and water. Still, we should not get lost in our perceived harshness of this punishment, for it is meant to teach us an important lesson, and that is this: If we willfully disobey the commandments of God we should expect nothing but eternal death. God will not show mercy on those who know His commandments but refuse to obey them.

It is not coincidental that the LORD chose violation of the Sabbath Day as the commandment for this lesson. In Exodus 20, He said, “Zakar [Remember] the Sabbath Day, to keep it Holy.” He would not say “remember” unless He knew His people would forget on account of the false prophets who have led them astray—who explained that they don’t have to keep it or that they can keep it another day of the week. God has said we must remember to keep the “seventh day” holy. That is the end of the matter, and nowhere did God undo this commandment, nor did Yeshua undo it. Once we read the Word of God, we either obey God’s commands or we willfully rebel. The LORD instituted the law to wear white tzi-tzit (tassels) with one blue thread following this event. The tassels are meant to remind everyone to keep the law of God—so they don’t forget. We must remember to keep the Sabbath holy, the LORD commanded. Our faith is what matters, but the tassels remind us when the flesh might draw us away from our faith.

The LORD will indeed destroy all who rebel against Yeshua, in the same way He destroyed Korah and his followers. Those men who "heap up disciples after themselves" are not of the LORD and they ultimately will be swallowed up by the grave with no hope. We don't serve the LORD to build our own kingdom for our own name, but we serve the LORD to build the kingdom for Yeshua and His glory. It is all for God's glory, for He is worthy. Moses was the prophetic template for Yeshua with Aaron in his High Priest role was as well, and God utterly destroyed those who opposed these servants of the LORD.

When the LORD calls a man to become a prophet, teacher, pastor or leader of a congregation, those who grumble against their leadership have two choices: 1) leave the congregation or 2) submit to their leadership. If they remain and grumble against leadership, even claiming the role for themselves as Korah did, the punishment is death, or in the modern church, banishment. God’s law on the matter is eternal. Paul writes on the same topic in 1 Timothy 5:17-22, “The elders who lead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. … Do not accept an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Messiah Yeshua and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality. Do not lay hands upon anyone too quickly and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.”

The unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit is to deny the LORD, because it is only by faith in Yeshua that we can be saved. It is by the Holy Spirit we can confess that Yeshua is Yahweh, to the glory of our Creator, Redeemer and Deliverer. But those who say LORD, LORD and practice lawlessness will never stand in His presence. It will be even worse for those who, like Korah, claim that everyone who calls on the name of Yeshua will be saved regardless of how they live their lives. What did Korah complain against Moses; namely, that Moses's humble obedience to Yahweh, by which he led all of Israel, was unnecessary and unwarranted: "After all," Korah said, "the entire community is holy, every one of them, and Yahweh is among them.” This is a lie, and God made sure we all know it: Death swallowed up these rebels whole, for "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry" (1 Sam. 15:23). In order to be counted among the holy ones of God, the saints who will inherit His kingdom, we must keep the commandments of God AND the faith in Yeshua (Revelation 14:12). And he who minimizes the least of these commandments will be called least in the Kingdom.

The time is now to heed this warning from Numbers 14-17, for the LORD is slow to anger, rich in grace, forgiving offenses and crimes; yet not exonerating the guilty, but causing the negative effects of the parents’ offenses to be experienced by their children and even by the third and fourth generations. We are called to throw off the ignorance of our preceding generations, for the time of grace is coming to an end. The LORD intercedes for us; He forgives us; He calls us to Himself, but He also calls for us to "go and sin no more." Thank God we have this "Prophet like unto Moses," Yeshua the Messiah (Deut. 18:15), whose blood ensures the LORD does not consume us in an instant, who is "long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). What love He had for us to suffer and die, despite our insolence. We ought not be proud in His grace, but fear! He forgives, but not so we can sin again. He is NOT a minister of sin (Galatians 2:17). Thanks be to God that He helps us, if we are willing!

Numbers 17, Numbers 18

Aaron's rod that budded was representative of the good fruit that comes out of a heart to serve the LORD and also prophetically represents the resurrection of Yeshua. From a dead branch came buds and fruit that would stand as witness in the Tabernacle, just as the risen Yeshua stands in the tabernacle of the heavens interceding for us. The LORD shows that life will come from death, fruit will be borne out of a branch that was formally dead, and this fruit would stand before the LORD permanently as a witness to all the World that He is the One who takes away the sins of the world, and there is no other. In like manner, when we come to faith and abide in Messiah, God takes what was once a dead branch (you and me) and brings new life into us by breathing His Holy Spirit into us so that we might bear fruit; namely, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

The rod that budded was among the items kept in the Holy of Holies, as we read in Hebrews 9:3-5: "behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat." Each of these things points to Yeshua. The rod that budded reflects a dead piece of wood that not only lived but also bore fruit, just as Yeshua's dead body lain in the tomb and then rose again and brought about a new Kingdom borne in the hearts of all who believe. He sits on the mercy seat in Heaven, and intercedes for us there. The covenant is written on our hearts as we read and digest the Word daily. The manna is that bread that we cannot live without, found written right within this book we're now reading, which Yeshua lived out by example for us. It is more precious than fine gold, and worth more than the entire world. Let the Cherubim say "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."

The Levites would not inherit lands, but would be sustained by their work for the LORD. Their interest was not in this world but in the next, and there they would receive their inheritance. The LORD would provide everything they need for this life, and all they had to do was trust in His promises. The offerings brought to sacrifice to the LORD were used by Aaron and the Levites for food, but even they gave a tithe of the tithes unto the LORD. The LORD uses our willing offerings to multiply His blessings into eternal abundance.

The tabernacle service was a physical representation of what Messiah Yeshua would do in the spiritual realm for us. Rather than Aaron and Moses as High Priest and Mediator between God and man, living in the camp, we now have Yeshua as High Priest and Mediator between God and man living with an eternal destiny: Hebrews 9:11-15, reads: "Messiah came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." We know that Yeshua replaced all of the sacrificial offerings with His Body as a one-time offering for sin, and so every time we read about these offerings in Torah, we know that Yeshua is our offering. We ought to come before our Risen King with clean hands and a clean heart according to the Law of Moses.

Numbers 19, Numbers 20, Numbers 21

The red heifer sacrifice was a mystery to the rabbis because of its apparent contradiction, but as we know, God's Word does not contradict. Anyone who touched this perfect red, virgin cow—which had never bore a burden and had no white or black hair—would be made unclean, but whoever received its ashes mixed with water would be purified. Was this a paradox? It was the only sacrifice that incorporated the animal's blood, and this reveals its spiritual Truth: Anyone who put Yeshua to death, whether directly in AD 30 or indirectly by the sin he or she has committed, is unclean. Anyone who makes a confession (burnt offering) of Yeshua's blood sacrifice and is washed with the living water of His Holy Spirit is made clean. Yeshua was without sin or defect (2 Cor. 5:21; John 8:46), he was sacrificed outside the camp (Heb. 13:13), He made Himself sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21), his sprinkling made us clean (1 Pet. 1:2, Heb. 12:24, Rev. 1:5), and the water of separation His sacrifice created makes us clean from sin (Eph. 5:25-26, Heb 10:22). Also, the red heifer was burned up with hyssop, scarlet yarn, and a cedar stick, items associated with cleansing from leprosy, and also from a woman's menstrual impurity. Zech 13:1 makes reference to the fountain that would be opened for the house of David that would cleanse their impurity, a metaphor for ritual cleansing after the shedding of menstrual blood. More information: https://hebrew4christians.com/training/red-heifer-paradox-and-faith/.

I also want to point out that these items sacrificed with the red heifer were directly associated with Yeshua at His crucifixion. John 19:29: "they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth." Hyssop also was used to apply the lamb's blood to the doorway for the Passover (Exodus 12:22). The doorway the lamb's blood was spread on was presumably made of cedar wood, and presumably, so was the cross. While the scarlet yarn could certainly be associated with the lamb's blood and Yeshua's blood, we already know that the red heifer's blood was burned up in the sacrifice, so there must be another parallel, and there is. In Matthew 27:28, we read: "And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him." It's clear that Yeshua is the red heifer. We are unclean in our causing His sacrifice, but we are also cleansed by it.

Toward the end of Numbers 19, we can see that anyone who touches a dead body will be unclean for seven days and must be cleaned by the ashes of the red heifer at the end of this period of separation. We ought to contemplate what's going on here. God is holy and eternally alive, and death is the punishment for sin. Thus, death creates a stain on us when we are around it; it reminds us of our sin, and yet we do not want God to remember our sin. Thanks be to God through Messiah, God will remember our sin no more (Hebrews 8:12). God wants nothing to do with sin or death—but He also suffered through death to atone for our sin and put death itself to an end. Remember Peter's statement in Acts 2:24: "death could not hold Him." It was impossible for our flawless God to remain dead, and by His Own power He rose up from the dead, as we read in John 10:18: "I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." We are cleansed from death through Yeshua, the red heifer; as stated in John 6:40: "...everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

On a practical level, both Miriam and Aaron were about to die, and Israel would need to cleanse itself from the stain of this loss. Even the prophetess and high priest would die, for there is no man (or woman) who is without sin. God once again prepared Israel for what was about to happen by giving them instruction. He prepares us, and then we experience what He has prepared us for to test us and see if we will keep His commandments. He knows what is in our hearts, and He works us through by the power of His Holy Spirit to bring us to victory in His Word, if we have faith without doubting.

Israel complained about not having water for the red heifer to help them cleanse the stain of death, but God provided what Israel needed—as He always does. He instructed Moses to SPEAK to the rock at Meribah to bring forth water. On the one hand, God kept His promise to Israel and delivered the water they needed. On the other hand, Moses disobeyed God's Word and beat the rock, and he also took credit for bringing forth the water himself. God gave him bad news: "Because you did not trust in Me so as to esteem Me as holy in the eyes of Bnei-Yisrael, therefore you will not bring this assembly into the land...” Moses—though a prophetic template for Yeshua—was just a man. Death was inevitable for him. Prophetically, he wrote down the law, which could not bring Israel into the land of promise. Only Yehoshua (Joshua), a representation of the 2nd coming of Yeshua, would bring the 2nd generation into the promised land through faith. And yet, God was faithful to bring his promise of living water to the people of Israel regardless of its leaders' disobedience.

The people had worn down Moses with their fears, doubts, discouragement and disobedience, and Moses had reached a breaking point. When they complained again at Meribah, God told Moses, "tell the rock to produce its water." In Ex. 17:6, God had commanded Moses, saying in front of the rock at Horeb, "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Please notice the difference! The first time the people contended with Moses about water, God commanded Him to strike the rock. The second time the people contended about water, God commanded Him to speak to the rock. We often find ourselves falling into religious habits. Because a prayer or practice "worked" the first time, God must want us to do the same thing every time. NOT SO! God wants us to go to Him in prayer and wait for His instruction according to His will. He then expects us to follow His command, to do what He has said, not what our own heart desires or repeat mechanically what we have done in the past. The enemy had worn Moses down, and he fell victim to religious habit, which kills, rather than humbly obey the voice of the living God, our Friend, Who gives eternal life.

Due to the obstinance of the people, Moses fell victim to frustration and discouragement—two enemies we all face. He claimed credit for the outpouring of God's living water rather than give God the glory, who is faithful and merciful. Moses's act of disbelief, which culminated in anger, had sprung up from unforgiveness—the root of bitterness that can take any one of us out. See Matt 6:14-15. We're also reminded that not one of us is worthy of entering God's Kingdom, because we all fall short of God's glory, and thus we must give God the glory for His grace, which saves us. We should also recognize that nothing we do in this life is our own accomplishment. God gave us our imagination, our time, the materials by which we might create anything, and He gave us our strength and even our very breath that animates us. God deserves the glory for absolutely everything we do! The rock of salvation is Yeshua, our LORD and our God, and from Him pours living water. He wants us to come to Him, to speak with Him, and to wait on Him, especially when we are losing patience in the situation we are in. He says wait! And then at the appointed time, the LORD delivers in such a way that only He receives the glory because only God can truly deliver us.

Next, God would build up the faith of the 2nd gen before their fathers all died by carrying them past the obstacle of Edom to defeat King Sihon of the Amorites on one side of the promised land and Og, king of the Bashan, on the other side of the land. The boundaries now cleared of evil, the land itself was ready to be cleansed. Before this, Israel grumbled about its setback from Edom, and they would again face the consequences of disbelief. God sent fiery serpents to those out who doubted until the remainder called out to God for help. God hears the cries of those who pray with faith and no doubting. This was when the LORD commanded Moses to set up a bronze serpent for the bitten to look upon for healing. In Jn 3:14-15, Yeshua likened His coming death on the cross to this bronze serpent. He would become sin for us (the serpent's poison), so we could be set free from sin by looking to Him in faith. Those who survived the fiery serpent episode had restored faith—they trusted in this seemingly bizarre commandment because God commanded it. We ought to learn from this. There may be several commandments of God we don't understand, but we ought to do them anyway, because Dad said so. Life and victory come from such faithful obedience.

While the wilderness experience in Numbers is a historical allegory for our own wilderness experience in this life as we approach the spiritual Promised Land, it's important to note that Moses and the people of Israel are all God's chosen people, and their second generation would enter the Promised Land. And so again, God is showing us in His Word that we must wait for the appointed time of God to see His glory, and it will come if we have faith. Like Miriam, Aaron and ultimately Moses, we all must die in the wilderness. Only a select few will be physically alive when Yeshua comes to bring us into the Promised Land. But at the same time, when Yeshua comes, a multitude will be raised up to enter the land with Him. Though we die, we will all be made alive on the Last Day with Him, so long as we have faith in Him and keep His commandments. And while we are here, the LORD is going to challenge us in every way imaginable to make us into the men and women He desires us to be. We are not to balk at these challenges, but embrace them and rejoice in them, for they are making us into the image of God that He designed.

Also note: God gave the first generation out of Egypt a second chance to fight against giants without going back on His Word concerning their temporal fate. Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan, were rulers over demonic portals. Their lands were full of giants who had been born of rebellious divine beings, just like in the days of old—the antinomian days. Many wonder why God commanded Israel to destroy these people—men, women and children—and often settle on the idea that they were "only evil continually," just like the men, women and children God destroyed in the great flood. This is true, but it's more than this. These inhabitants were hybrids (divine beings and humans) living in complete rebellion against God's created order. Bashan was the very place where the divine beings, called fallen angels, descended to mate with human women, and their offspring became what we call demons or evil spirits. We're reading a historical allegory for the spiritual battle we face against the hosts of wickedness in our lives (Eph 6:12). God calls us to drive out demons and establish His Kingdom in their place; He has given us authority to do this through Yeshua. Israel's prophetic example illustrates today's spiritual battles.

Numbers 22, Numbers 23, Numbers 24

Balaam, a tragic character, called Yahweh His God, even though he practiced soothsaying. He aptly noted he could only prophesy what God put into his mouth, but was double-minded in his practices. His greed, according to 2 Peter 2:15, is what ultimately did him in, which later Scripture unveils. At the first, we might be confused by him because he was seemingly obedient to God. I suspect he is spiritually similar to many Christians today who practice syncretism and mix the holy with the profane—they seem like believers, but are not actually doing God's will in their hearts. On the c contrary, Balak was truly wicked, attempting to destroy a whole people who were peaceably living besides him. Persisting in such murderous hatred toward Israel will always lead to destruction. Israel, for its part, was untouchable while God was with them, and God was with them when they obeyed Him and kept His commandments. Likewise, the devil cannot touch Christians who confess their faith in Messiah Yeshua and keep the commandments of God. Despite recent rebellions, Israel had been restored to righteousness when all of their rebels were removed from the camp, and so too can we be restored when we repent.

Balaam is a complex character, a Gentile sorcerer who came to know the LORD, but then fell away. We read a similar story of Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8:9-25, and if we turn to extra-canonical writings we can see that the story for Simon ended the same way as it did for Balaam. Balaam is also a tragic character, who serves as a microcosm for the underlying lessons God taught here in Numbers. Though Balaam obeyed God by not going with Balak's first men, he made the same error as Moses when the second set came. God said, "If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but DO ONLY WHAT I TELL YOU." Instead of waiting on the LORD to tell him to go with the men, Balaam woke up the next morning and eagerly saddled his donkey, causing God to grow angry with him for his disobedience. The donkey incident is fascinating, that God would use such a miracle to prove a point, but God does this all the time and we ought to offer praise and wonder rather than doubt. We ought to do only what God tells us, and all will be well with us. As we'll see, Balaam was on the right track at first, but he will later fall away.

Balaam was a "saved Christian," for all intents and purposes, who even exclaimed, “This is the speech of Balaam, son of Beor; ... the speech of him who hears God’s words; who sees what the Almighty sees, who has fallen, yet has open eyes." As Christians, we who were once fallen, can see by the power of the Holy Spirit all that God has for us. We can confess Yeshua, something that Balaam Himself did, and we can proclaim God's mercy for His people—a grace they don't deserve—on account of His righteousness, something Balaam also did. And those who sought after God's righteousness would live, while those who fell away after "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" would be destroyed, both in this world and in the age to come. This story of Balaam is a prophetic template for those of us today who would confess Yeshua is Yahweh and that the power of God raised Him from the dead. We ought to read His story very carefully, for it can be summed up by Hebrews 6:4-6. Balaam blew it in this exact way, as we can read in Numbers 31:16, Joshua 13:32, Jude 1:11 or Revelation 2:14. The pull of the flesh and the world were too much for Him, and He turned away from God, despite being such a powerful witness to the Truth.

Many Christians who were saved will fall away from their salvation just like Balaam in the Last Days, as Yeshua Himself said in Matthew 24:12 (also Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3), and this is, in fact, what makes Balaam's prophesy about the Last Days so much more important for us. Notice: “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult. And Edom shall be a possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, WHILE ISRAEL DOES VALIANTLY. Out of Jacob One shall have dominion, and destroy the remains of the city.” We who come to faith in Yeshua are grafted-in to Israel (see Romans 11, Ephesians 2, Isaiah 43, Acts 10-11), and we must be a part of Israel through faith in Yeshua to "do valiantly" in these Last Days when all of the nations will come up against her—both the physical Israel as well as the spiritual Israel. The true faith is being challenged by demons who stand on every high place all around and attempt to curse us, and when their curses fail, they seek to pull us away into their own depravity. We must endure until the end to be saved!

Look at this verse and know it is a true prophesy of God regarding Israel: "Blessed be all who bless you! Cursed be all who curse you!” Take this to heart, for He also says, "Who has counted the dust of Jacob or numbered the ashes of Israel? May I die as the righteous die! May my end be like theirs!” This needs to be our heart, and if it is, what is said of Israel will be true of us, who are grafted-in to Israel through Yeshua: "One can’t put a spell on Jacob, no magic will work against Israel." This is the identical message to Romans 8:31-39, we are untouchable and the enemy cannot destroy us so long as we are living with faith in Yeshua, whom we love by keeping His commandments. In this way, we will die as the righteous die, and the next thing we will know is resurrection unto eternal life (1 Corinthians 15). As Balaam looked down on Israel, he couldn't help exclaiming this truth: “How lovely are your tents, Jacob; your encampments, Israel! They spread out like valleys, like gardens by the riverside, like succulent aloes planted by Yahweh, like cedar trees next to the water." So will it be of those who trust in the LORD and lean not on their own understanding, as we read in Revelation 22:1-5.

Balaam, looking down on Israel, saw their formation, which was literally the sign of a cross as described in Numbers 1-4. The king who will be higher than Agag, whose kingdom will be lifted high; Yeshua is the One who is coming to devour the nations who rebel against Him. But those who are a part of Israel will have water flow from their branches; our seeds will have an abundance of living water as we go out to plant the Word of God in the hearts of men and women. Who can stand against those who endure in the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua (Rev. 14:12)? Our Father in Heaven is not a man that He should lie, Balaam said, and many use this verse to deny Yeshua, but they miss the very point of the verse. Our God came in the flesh like a man, but He is not a man that lies, which is to say that He was without sin. Only our sinless king could redeem us by His blood. This verse actually confirms Yeshua's divinity and shows us that He and Yahweh are one in the same God, for our God is one (echad אֶחָֽד). When He says something, He will do it; when He makes a promise, He will fulfill it. This is the faith we need to endure in this life through all of the trials and tribulations that are going to come and withstand the temptations.

Numbers 25, Numbers 26, Numbers 27

These next few chapters are an interlude in the story arc that we've been reading regarding Balaam. The story continues in Num. 31:16, where we learn how Balaam counseled the women of Moab and Midian to tempt the men of Israel to sin against the LORD, and also that God judged Balaam with the sword of Israel in Num. 31:8 for this betrayal. These truths, though clear contextually, don't come out in our readings today. It may seem abrupt that the people suddenly began to have relations with the women from Moab and Midian and worship Baal of Peor, a demon, but this is a lesson for us to understand the whole counsel of God and not take verses or passages out of context. We're also taught through this lesson to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing, just as Yeshua said. Paul said he warned us day and night with tears about such men who take passages out of context and preach that we can inherit Heaven and still live like Hell. In Rev. 2:14, Yeshua says to the Church in Pergamon: “I have a few things against you, because you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.” We have to be on guard!

The women of Moab brought the men of Israel OUT of the camp to lie with them and worship their demon gods, and the woman of Midian came INTO the camp of Israel, and Cozbi even went into the Tabernacle of Yahweh to practice her dark arts. Cult prostitution is the sin of Cozbi and Zimri, and they sinned in the very place where God's Spirit dwelt, while all Israel watched. For you and me, we have to watch for those wolves that seek to draw us out of our relationship with God as well as those who come in among us to corrupt the righteous way of God. Both threats are real, present and ever attempting to take real Christians out. Any compromise from the Way of the LORD leads to death. In fact, if we allow sin within the camp of our faith community or even tolerate it, it can begin to destroy people previously not in sin. Paul explained in Rom. 1:32 that it is sin to even tolerate sin among us. Phinehas expressed the zeal we must all have for our faith. When sin or profanity makes its way into the Tabernacle, which is represented by our faith community, we must remove it. Our God is calling us to faithful endurance, so we do not fall into the temptation of worldly wealth or join into unequal yokes with unbelievers.

Satan works in this way toward us. We’re warned: “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8). Balaam is not Satan, but Satan worked through his greed to tempt Israel. While Israel was untouchable living in faith and obedience to God, when they fell into the temptation to sin, Israel could be destroyed entirely. The same is true of us. Satan does not prowl around trying to destroy the lost. Satan tempts the saved to steal them from Yeshua. Salvation is a free gift that we cannot earn, but once we have salvation, our glorification with Christ on the Last Day is conditional on our endurance in faith and obedience to God. Sanctification is the process we go in once we are baptized and begin to walk according to the Way of the LORD. We wander through the wilderness being tested over and over again by God to make us into the people He wants us to be. If we fall away during this time, we will not make it into the Promised Land. The wilderness experience of Israel is our experience also. Read Hebrews 3-4 and you will find this truth there, also.

God would have been just to destroy Israel had Phinehas not acted as swiftly as He did, and God blessed Phinehas with peace forever (eternal life) because he thrust Cozbi and Zimri through, removing the sin, but not before 24,000 men were destroyed by the sin that spread like cancer. Zeal for God's house consumed Him, as it should us! Our Savior Yeshua similarly drove out sin from within the Temple in Jerusalem, those who set up their markets in the place where Gentiles were meant to pray. For her part, Cozbi was prompted by the elders of Midian to bring this evil into God's house. She was a witch, sent to do her witchcraft within the temple, to purchase the souls of Israel for the Devil through cult prostitution right in front of their eyes. If she was allowed to continue—if Israel had allowed this heinous evil in their midst—all would have been lost. We must take this to heart. We cannot allow sin into the church, or the church will be destroyed. Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 5. Grace does not cover lawlessness, and God has said through the Apostle Paul in Romans 1 that even those who silently stand by while sin occurs among them approve the sin itself, and they too will be destroyed. We MUST stand up like Phinehas and call out sin, and we MUST NOT allow sin to come into our churches. We MUST call out false teachers, who say any kind of sin is acceptable within the church. The health of the whole church depends on our vigilance like Phinehas, and like Yeshua, who cast the evil out to Satan.

The LORD showed me more about Phinehas a few years ago, and I want to share it with you as an addendum to my comments, because I can't possibly give you all 9,000 words of my sermon here. The message, "Stand Against the Enemies of God," was delivered on location at 60 Bailey Ave., Manchester, NH for First Fruits Ministries Sabbath celebration on July 15, 2023. The message looks at some more controversial Old Testament passages regarding Phinehas's swift action to spear Zimri and Cozbi on account of their sexual immorality in Numbers 25 and Israel's resultant destruction of Midian in Numbers 31. There are no contradictions or inconsistencies in these passages, for they relate directly to today's world, the modern church and the coming judgment of the world. Watch this video to learn how followers of Yeshua should be handling themselves on account of what Scripture teaches in these verses. Here's the sermon video: https://youtu.be/ulusHaJezQc?si=O19DPIC53Rh956eq.

When the LORD first numbered the children of Israel (Num. 1-2), there were 603,550 men age 20 and over. Now 40 years later, there were 601,730 men age 20 and over. These were not the same men. We read: "Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the sons of Israel in the Sinai wilderness, because Adonai had said they would surely die in the wilderness. Not one of them was left, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.” Thus, 603,547 men died, and Moses was about to die. The 2nd generation of Israel could have been larger, but it ended up smaller: 601,730 men. They had lost men to sin along the way, especially the 24,000 to the trickery of Balaam, but the LORD preserved all who endured in faithfulness, as He will us. Moses was about to explain the law to the 2nd generation; Deuteronomy would be Moses's last sermon, and He would send the people into the Promised Land with this teaching at the hands of Joshua, the new Mediator and prophetic template for Yeshua. It's a precursor of the Great Commission in Mt. 28, when Yeshua told His New Covenant followers to baptize new disciples and teach them His commandments. This too would be in preparation for entering the Promised Land.

God is so just as to ensure there is a plan for daughters who have no brothers, that they also will receive their inheritance. Women typically marry into a new family and receive the inheritance of their husbands, and as we will see, this will be the case for these women, also, but God so desires His people to receive what belongs to them that a man with only daughters will pass his inheritance on to them. There is no partiality with God. Men and women are equal in His eyes, but also equal within His created order that gives different roles. A father and husband cover their women, they protect them and provide for them, while a woman loves her husband and guides him with her counsel. This is a prophetic picture of Messiah, who protects and provides for His bride, the children of Israel, and saves us all from all evil, while we offer Him love and praise and pray to Him to meet our needs according to His will.

At the prophetic level, we can see that the daughters of Zelophehad yearned to be counted among their brothers with an inheritance in the Promised Land, and God made it clear that women will be counted among His chosen people. Women do not simply relate to God through their Fathers or Husbands, but can also receive an inheritance of their own. Certainly, a man and his wife are meant to be one unit, working together to prepare themselves and their children for God’s kingdom, but when there is not such a unit, the single person has full access on his or her own. Even the Gentiles have access through Messiah, as we see prophesied in Ezekiel 47:22: “…And [the strangers in your midst] shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.” Anyone who remains faithful to God has a place in the Kingdom, and to be faithful to the LORD, we must put Him first like these daughters of Zelophehad.

Numbers 28, Numbers 29, Numbers 30

The LORD’s feast days are such a blessing for us to keep, and He reminds us every chance He gets to keep them the way that He has designed. There’s not just a testimony of two, but of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, more… We ought to bring our prayers of thanksgiving before the Lord always, and on His Holy Convocation Days, we ought to bring our hearts of praise to worship the Lamb of God. Our prayers and songs of praise and thanksgiving rise as a soothing aroma to the Lord. Our burnt offering of prayer ought to be continual, meaning that we must “pray without ceasing.” The Word of praise and prayer should never depart from our lips. God’s Holy Assemblies as He has ordained them are incredibly important to Him, and we had better learn to repent and bring our humble hearts before Him as He commands. He asks us to celebrate His feasts with clean hands and clean hearts. Why anyone would not want to come to the Lord‘s table and eat with him on the days he has asked us to be there is beyond me. Accept  the invitation! There is no greater blessing in this life than to fulfill the LORD’s holy days. Come and worship and pray before his altar and enjoy the fellowship of your fellow Saints, because of what He has done for us. It is literally a preview of Heaven.

Yeshua said that we shouldn’t take oaths, but simply let our “yes be yes” and our “no be no.” Numbers 30 says the same thing, but Yeshua actually added emphasis to it and gave us a higher standard; namely, "anything else is from the evil one." Violating our Word is a sin that leads to death, according to Yeshua. If we make a vow, the key word being “if,” then we had better keep it and not break our word, or we will be held accountable by God.

Torah explains the spiritual authority of a father over his daughter until she weds her husband, and then the husband's spiritual authority over His wife. The husband is the head of a woman, Paul writes, while Messiah is the head of the man. The whole Word aligns perfectly. These principles become critical for engaging in spiritual warfare. Any woman or girl involved with making agreements with evil spirits can have those agreements canceled the moment the man of the house hears of it. I have also taken this principle to apply to young boys under 20, but that is my personal opinion based on Scripture. There have been times when my children have gotten into games, innocent as they may seem, that bring evil into the home. It is critical to renounce it and eradicate evil as soon as it comes to your attention, or else the evil will remain. We are in Yeshua and we are secure in our faith, but the devil is looking for a foothold to bring temptation and trouble to make us stumble. We can't give him an inch!

Numbers 31, Numbers 32

The Midianites had been involved with the Moabites and King Balak in desiring to curse Israel, and Balaam had taught them to send their women in to seduce the Israelite men. As Moses and Aaron were planning to remove the evil men who had fornicated with Moabite women from the camp, Zimri brought the Midianite woman Cozbi directly into the Tabernacle of meeting to commit sexual idolatry with her in front of the Holy Place. This pagan practice of cult prostititution was widespread in the cultures of the people that God desired Israel to destroy, but Midian was previously not on the list of people Israel was called to destroy. Cozbi was actually the daughter of one of the Midianite kings, and it is likely that the Midianite kings conspired to send their daughters into Israel to destroy the nation. God had had enough. He brings judgment by the sword, and here He sent Israel to take vengeance on Midian for this evil that led to the loss of 24,000 Israeli men. That's a very large number of people who got caught up in the sin. This episode helps us to understand why it is critical that we do not allow sin to take root inside our churches; it can literally destroy the entire body if it is allowed to fester. God allowed Israel to take the spoil only if it could be cleansed or was undefiled. The young girls who were taken became servants (don't read into this text improperly). You can see Naaman had an Israeli girl in such a servant role in 2 Kings 5. It was for that reason that Israel kept the 32,000 undefiled women. In the battle, not a single Israeli man was lost. This is how much God was behind this battle and how much He will fight for His people.

God commanded Moses saying, “take vengeance on the Midianites.” This is not a contradiction from the general principle of the LORD; namely, “vengeance is mine. I shall repay.” The LORD was actually executing His vengeance through Moses and Israel in the same way He uses governments today to do the same thing. In Ezekiel 14, we learn that God uses the "beasts of the earth" to execute judgment against the lawless. Just read Revelation or Daniel, and you will see that beasts refer to governments. This is a critically important understanding, and it applies to us today as the people of God in Messiah. We don't act individually to bring vengeance, for this is for the LORD, sometimes through governments (see Romans 13). This lesson applies to us spiritually. We must wait on the LORD to lead us into and through every spiritual battle, and if we do not wait on Him, we sin. That being said, if the LORD commands us to pick up the Sword (Word of God) individually, He will be with us. If we fail to act according to His calling, we also sin in disobedience through inaction. We must have discernment and we must belong to Him, for to act without His blessing is sin, and to fail to act when He commands is also sin. His sheep hear & obey His voice.

Moses permitted Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh to settle on the other side of the Jordan river so long as they stuck together in courage with their brothers to complete the mission the LORD had called them to. We ought to have this same mentality with our believing brothers and sisters no matter where we live. If there is a mission the LORD has called us to work together, we should not rest at peace in our homes until we fulfill that mission together. In the plains of Moab, Yahweh explained that mission to Moses: "you are to expel all the people living in the land in front of you. Destroy all their stone figures, destroy all their metal statues and demolish all their high places. Drive out the inhabitants of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess." The people of Canaan were either cross-breeding with demons or they were worshipping demons, and the LORD desired to use Israel to remove this impurity from His designated land. They could not persist there. In fact, if they did persist there, they would become as thorns and thistles—a constant temptation for Israel to sin and fall away from worshipping God to the point that some would fall away, and thus be destroyed in the same way. When the LORD calls us on a mission to cleanse a person, a house, a property or a region from the influence of evil spirits, we ought to persist in the spiritual battle until it is done, lest we fall victim to the work of the enemy. He has called us for this purpose.

Just as the conquering of Canaan was meant to be an effort of all the people together, 1st Corinthians 12:20-26 reads: "But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." As it is with Israel as they go in to take the land for God's glory, so it is with us as we take territory from demons and restore those in bondage to the LORD. Each part of the whole body has a role to play.

Numbers 33, Numbers 34

As we recall the places Israel traveled and camped, it would be beneficial to do an in-depth word study of each location. I looked at "Rephidim," which is a place, but also comes from a root word meaning "balusters." At Raphidim, the people quarreled with God because they had no water, but God delivered water to the children despite their disbelief because God is faithful.

Each location listed provides a picture of our God's loving character, for He will never leave us nor forsake us. His judgments are meant to lead us to repentance. I have not done the work to compare Israel's travels here to other accounts, but I am confident that any discrepancies are intentional. Every detail in these descriptions ought to command our attention, because God tells us a story about Himself with each Word, and He truly does want us to know Him.

In another sense, I observe all of the many locations Israel camped as a reminder of how many times the people tore down and set back up the Tabernacle and all its implements. When God moves us out to do His will, it's going to take effort every time, but we should always make sure the sanctuary of His Holy Spirit comes with us so that we can properly prepare to do God's will in each new adventure.

Numbers 33 also teaches that when Israel, the people of God, go into a territory as directed by God, all idols and idolatry must be removed and all of the people who do not belong to God must also be removed. This is a picture of how we should view the sacred assembly during our gatherings on the Sabbath and the Holy Days. If any people remain who are from a pagan mindset—who mix the holy with the profane, if any remain who do not love the LORD with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength, they will be a thorn in our sides and they will continue to trouble us week after week. The LORD desires His holy land to be pure, and we should share in this desire. The place to meet with sinners and bring them to repentance is outside the camp, just as Yeshua did, and not inside of the sacred assembly. And yet discernment is needed for where to draw the line, for we all fall short of God's glory. "Teachability" is a concept that I wrestle with when making such distinctions, with loads of mercy and grace, for God has called us to be long-suffering, gentle and kind. He also taught us to be good and faithful, so there is a balance that needs attention. Church is a place to worship God and be at peace with Him and others who are doing the same. It is not a place for battles against willful disobedience or acrimony. Such battles ought to take place outside the camp, and we are commanded to fight them—the LORD be with us. Let us bring many home to repentance in Yeshua's name.

God apportioned the land to each tribe according to its size and commanded Israel to take every inch, destroy all of the inhabitants, and their demonic possessions. The Canaanites living in the land weren't just evil, they were thinking only evil continually just like in the days of Noah. They had bred with demons—literally—and had brought forth giants. It was a microcosm of the days of Noah. Rather than use another flood, which He had promised not to do, God intended to use Israel to cleanse the land, for God brings judgment with the sword (war) and with the beasts of the earth (governments), as well as with the famine (natural disaster) and the pestilence (disease). In this case, God would be using Israel's 12 tribes. Each of the tribes had an animal associated with it—for instance, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Conquering kingdoms are the "beasts of the earth" that are among the judgments of God (Ezekiel 14). God was intent on judging Canaan, but He would later judge Israel for failing to complete the mission. Any remaining Canaanites would be "barbs in their eyes and thorns in their sides." We can see the same curse God presented to Adam now held up again as a consequence for disobedience.

This map shows the borders of Israel as they are today compared with Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Map_Land_of_Israel.jpg. It’s interesting to consider that the people of Israel have never possessed the whole land God gave them, and they’ve even possessed parts of Edom outside of God's commanded boundaries. It’s fairly close, though Gaza and the West Bank are certainly thorns in the sides of God’s people. One day, when our LORD Yeshua returns, Israel will be fully inhabited by all whom the LORD gives His inheritance, and the nations will dwell around her in peace. I long for this Kingdom on the Earth, and I look to my King and pray for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. We know that the New Jerusalem—I believe this to be the resurrected followers of Yeshua—will descend from Heaven and after an initial period where authority is restructured under Messiah, Heaven and Earth will be refreshed and will be united in one place again, just as in the Garden of Eden. This day cannot come soon enough, but all in God’s appointed time, because there are many who need to repent beforehand. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to make disciple-making disciples for Jesus and expand the Kingdom in the lives of all who are willing. On another note, the physical land of Israel is still God's prophetic pointer for what He is doing in the world and thus we ought to bless Israel, so we too will be blessed, lest we curse Israel and receive the wrath of the Lamb.

Numbers 35, Numbers 36

To me, God’s justice in Numbers 35 makes sense. The murderer must be put to death, for innocent blood defiles a land and sets it up for judgement. The manslayer must be set apart for the blood he shed—even accidentally. The city of refuge is retribution for his carelessness, for life is precious in the eyes of the LORD. Read this carefully: the LORD will not hold us guiltless for shedding innocent blood, and our nation is swimming in it through the Satanic practice of abortion. We need to mourn against this great evil and speak out against it boldly. We should not accept evil, but stand up against it with the boldness of the Truth. We ought to repent if we are guilty in any way, either directly or through complacency. The LORD will provide mercy at the death of the High Priest. When the High Priest dies, the manslayer who was banished for his carelessness can return to his own land. Prophetically speaking, when Yeshua died on the cross, He enabled all sinners who repent to receive back the eternal inheritance they lost through their sin. We rise up again, as He rose from the dead, as new men and women when we confess our sins, and turn to do His will with all faith in Him as our savior who cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

I want to emphasize this so it's not glossed over: It ought to terrify us when we read: "Blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for land polluted by bloodshed except by the blood of the one who sheds it. You are not to defile the land where you live, where I dwell,..." How much blood is on our land America due to abortion alone, not to mention the other crimes of murder that go unpunished? Now euthanasia is coming onto the scene? The LORD will bring judgment for this. We ought to be crying out for His mercy every day!

I've been contemplating the death penalty lately, which NH recently abolished, and especially in light of reading Numbers 35, I believe it should be reinstated and administered by the State. On a practical level, a murderer is someone who intentionally with premeditation strikes with iron (gun/knife), a stone, a wooden object, or the hand and causes the death of their victim, and there are at least two witnesses to the crime. This person, no matter who they are or who their victim is, should be put to death by the State to prevent blood guilt from accumulating on the land. I believe abortion falls into this definition, and 2 Kings 24:3-4 demonstrates this clearly. On the other hand, if there is only one or fewer witnesses, or the killing is accidental and without enmity or intention, then the person is still guilty of a crime, but does not warrant the death penalty. He ought to stand trial and if the intent and premeditation can't be shown by two or more witnesses, he ought to be preserved alive from execution. If crafting a new state law for NH, Numbers 35 explains that the manslayer must remain in custody until the death of the High Priest, and of course this has deeper spiritual meaning that I'll get to. For our practical purposes, I don't know that there is a parallel in American society. Thus, I'd cite Numbers 4:3 as justification for a 20-year max, with the standard parole procedures in place. In Numbers 4:3, there in a census conducted of the Levites (including High Priest) who serve in the tabernacle of meeting, only those 30-50 years old were counted—20 years.

The LORD had set aside a specific inheritance for each of Israel's tribes, and it is fairly demarcated so that all will be satisfied. No tribe will lose inheritance due to circumstances, and no tribe will gain unfairly against the others. The LORD makes everything right, whether we are male or female, slave or free. In Ezekiel 47:21-23, we learn how this applies to us. There, the LORD says: “'Thus you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance,' says the LORD God.” As we read in Romans 11, Ephesians 2 and other passages, we must be grafted-in to Israel to receive our inheritance through Yeshua! Additionally, the Levites would live among all the tribes of Israel and would minister to them in their midst. Paul said in Titus 1:5: "appoint elders in every city as I commanded you." This is a lasting principle of the faith.

As a continuation of our discourse in Numbers 27, in Numbers 36 God was certain to clarify the wholeness of His instruction so that we do not get confused by earlier passages. I think this is a great lesson for us on how important it is not to take any particular verse or passage or even chapter of Scripture out of context, because it all fits in with the whole. We cannot understand Numbers 27 properly without Numbers 36. We cannot understand what Paul means in his writings without considering his clarifying statements and the whole of his message, as well as the rest of Scripture. None of Scripture contradicts, but it must be read and understood as a whole in order for us to receive God's wisdom and proper understanding—so we can apply God's Word to our lives. In Numbers 27, the LORD made it clear that the daughters of a man without sons could inherit his property, but now we learn that these daughters would need to marry within their own tribe so that the inheritance would not be mixed with another tribe's inheritance. This clarification preserves the concept of spiritual headship of a husband over his wife, and the need for a woman to submit to him in all matters relative to the Kingdom of God (so long as he is faithful). Ultimately, the LORD intends for property to be passed down through the sons. A woman is meant to receive her husband's inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Let us pray for men to rise up in boldness of faith and surrender themselves to the LORD!

Deuteronomy 1, Deuteronomy 2

By the end of Numbers and beginning of Deuteronomy, there were two months remaining in the 40th year. The LORD would move Israel into the Promised Land with the 2nd Generation at His appointed time, in the same way that He will return at the appointed time and bring His people into the Promised Land forever. We ought to read Deuteronomy as a sermon to both the second generation of Israelites and faithful New Covenant believers who are about to enter the Promised Land. As Moses began his sermon, he explained the structure God set up to lead Israel, with leaders of 1000s, 100s, 50s, and 10s in each tribe. The judges would go to God themselves to understand how to handle each matter by applying the law God gave to Moses, and they would escalate the problem all the way up to God Himself—for Moses would ask God for a ruling—if it was not otherwise understood. Now we have Yeshua as our only mediator before the throne of God. The LORD did all that He promised, but He also turned His back on the disobedient, and wouldn't even listen to their prayers. When the first generation died out, the LORD began to defeat His enemies, using Israel as His sword. He would build their confidence in Him and prepare them for total conquest of all evil.

Israel wanted to rest forever by Mt. Sinai, the place where God spoke to them—who wouldn’t want to do this? Our hearts as a people ought to stay put when the LORD has given us His Word to enjoy the blessing that He has given to us. But the LORD doesn’t want us to bury the talents He has given to us, but to use them to multiply His glory. He wants us to go out, to be on the move, to change, to grow, to reach other people and to conquer the land that belongs to the enemy so that we can obtain the promises that He has given to us. Our faith is not passive. We do not just accept Yeshua for our salvation and then sit still. Salvation is the beginning of our road toward the Promised Land, which is the Kingdom of Heaven. Before He ascended into Heaven, Yeshua told us to go out and make disciples of ALL nations, which refers to the 71 people groups—to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to teach them the commandments of God. Our faith must be active, or it will die in the wilderness of the world that is perishing.

The story of God's move to cleanse Canaan and the surrounding lands is both historical and spiritually prophetic, and at the very foundation of reading this story we must understand that God is good; He is light and there isn't a single bit of darkness in Him at all. Everything that God created was not just "good," but it was "exceedingly good." Any evil or darkness in the world is not from God, but is rather the product of rebellion against God; either rebellion from created divine beings or rebellion from created earthly beings.

God used the children of Lot and Esau, although flawed, to cleanse the lands of Ammon, Moab and Edom of the giants that had lived there. They rid their lands of evil, but alas these nations would each succumb to the evil eventually. The giants themselves were the descendants of rebellious heavenly watchers who took human wives; and the spirits of all these creatures are still living today as "demons" or "evil spirits." The giants hated God and hated His creation and wanted to destroy it, and thus God sought to destroy them and everyone aligned with them. Today, the demons hate God and hate His creation and want to destroy it, and thus God sought to destroy them and everyone aligned with them through faith in His Son Yeshua, who sets the captives free. God certainly calls out humans from their bondage, but the heavenly beings do not get another chance. To understand the cleansing of these lands, we have to understand that these men and giants were fully hardened in their evil, just as the demons are today. The prophetic Word teaches us how thorough we must be in our spiritual warfare; for even Yeshua said in Matthew 12:43-45 that a cleansed soul can be overtaken by even more evil it it is not filled with the Holy Spirit.

God gave Israel a preview of what they were being asked to do by commanding them to destroy the Amorites and Og of Bashan and his people. Both the Amorites and the people of Bashan were giants. Jude quoted from Enoch 1:9 and called Enoch a prophet, giving credence to the book that explains how then the giants described in Deut. 2 are descendants of the Nephalim conceived when rebellious divine watchers married human women and had children by them. Now that Israel had done their duty on the outskirts of the land, God would prepare them through Moses's last sermon to cross the Jordan and remove the evil ones from Canaan. When He finished his sermon (Deuteronomy), he would climb the mountain to die, and then the angel Michael would contend with Satan directly for his body (Jude 1:9). Israel would go on to cleanse the land, though not completely. Those remaining would be thorns for Israel. During the time of the people's visitation, they rejected their deliverer Yeshua, just as they had earlier rejected Moses, and thus they would face desolations. But God always preserved a remnant of His people, and He still does. We must be among the people of Israel to inherit the Promised Land, when God will completely cleanse the land of evil.

Deuteronomy 3, Deuteronomy 4

At the time Israel was taken out of Egypt, each nation worshipped Divine Watchers, created by God, which had been set over each one of them. See Deut 32:7-9 and Psalm 82, which respectively explain the set-up and how each of these Watchers rebelled against God Most High Who created them by accepting worship for themselves instead of directing worship to the Creator alone. The Book of Enoch details this history, also. In Deut 4:34, Yahweh explained through Moses how He was different than these other so-called "gods." We read: “Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation with trials, with signs and wonders and with war and with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terrors, as Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” The answer is "no," because no other God had such power, authority, and dominion to take His chosen people for Himself out of another nation, but God the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them could indeed fulfill His desires. Jer 32:27 explains: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?" Yeshua, our God who became flesh and resurrected from the dead, has all power and authority in Heaven and Earth, and Psalm 82 and John 10 explains He will destroy the Watchers like men because they failed to do their duty to serve God. On the Last Day, Yeshua will resurrect His righteous followers—His chosen people—to everlasting life and devote all else to destruction.

God is jealous in that He will not share our love and affection with anyone or anything else; His commandment is that we put Him first before all, especially before these created divine Watchers or any of their minions. We cannot love God and mammon, a word that is often mistaken to mean money, but actually means anything of heaven or earth that is not God. If we put anything before God, He allows us to pursue whatever it is that we have loved more than Him, but He also allows us to experience the consequences of that decision. In rebellion, we will only find despair and want, and it will not be satiated apart from God. Yah, who has told us what is good, also allows us to discover on our own that He is the only one who can completely fulfill the desire we have in our hearts for eternity. When we are in the isolation of false pursuits and like the prodigal son recognize it would be preferable to confess our sins and turn back to the LORD, He will be waiting there for us—even running toward us with open arms. Moses prophesied: "from there you will seek Yahweh your God; and you will find Him if you search after him with all your heart and being." Our jealous God desires our entire heart and being. Moses added: "...In the End of Days, you will return to Yahweh your God and listen to what he says; for Yahweh your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors which he swore to them.”

Deuteronomy 3 is an incredible account of the LORD's victory over the children of the rebellious watchers, which I also explained in yesterday's commentary. The children spread out from there into Bashan in the northern region and into Canaan into the southern region of Heshbon. Og was the last of the Refa'im in Bashan; He was a giant, a child of the fallen watchers. Sihon the king of the Amorites was another hybrid bastardization of God's creation. These are among the ones who frightened the first generation of spies who went into southern Israel. The LORD was beginning His promised victory, a victory He desired to share with His children Israel. Before Israel crossed the Jordan, the LORD allowed Moses to witness this great victory over Og in the north and Sihon in the south to give him a taste of God's glory that would be further revealed throughout the land. Moses understood, writing: "Your eyes have seen everything that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings. Yahweh will do the same to all the kingdoms you encounter when you cross over. Don’t be afraid of them, because Yahweh your God will fight on your behalf." It is faith in Yahweh that allows us to participate with Him in spiritual battle and victory.

Moses instructed Israel to listen to the laws & rulings of the LORD. He reminded them of their youth, when the LORD spoke from the midst of thick darkness in fire, smoke and lightening. He said the LORD's instruction is for our good; so that we can live and take possession of His promised Kingdom. This was a physical reality for Israel, and also a spiritual reality to the followers of Yeshua. The law is given for wisdom and understanding and to attract others to the LORD when they observe His people keeping His instruction. When we truly love the LORD Yeshua, He will help us keep His commandments, leading us to make disciples and teach them with the same instruction. He warns us to be careful not to fall away into lawlessness, so that we do not lose the glory of God that has been given to us. We ought to hold the LORD in awe, and desire Him with every fiber of our being so that our children can follow after us and do the same. We must be careful not to fall after sin as the Israelites who were destroyed outside Ba'al Peor, but rather remain loyal to Yeshua and follow Him leaving all else behind. Yeshua, showing His jealous nature, stated clearly: "whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple" (Lk. 14:33). Our God is unchanging.

With all God's victories Moses witnessed at the end of his life, I can understand why he would ask the LORD again to go into the land, having seen it all. This is important: The LORD said responded to Him, “Much for you,” which is often translated “Enough!” And then: “Do not ask me again about this matter.” Rather than a statement of weariness; God was offering Moses a statement of encouragement. In my interpretation, God was explaining to Moses that He had given him more than he could ever know. Moses, a prophet of God who knew Yeshua intimately, would inherit the true Promised Land. He did not need to cross over into the worldly land he had just surveyed, for what value did it have in eternity? In Hebrews 11:26-27, the writer said Moses “esteemed the reproach of Messiah greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. … he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” Moses obeyed God to his last breath, even though he didn't get what he wanted in this world. He got something better for doing this. The resurrected Moses stood with Yeshua on the Mt. of Transfiguration.

And so, as his sermon continues, Moses communicates his position of faithful expectation. He would soon climb the mountain to his earthly death, promised to all men on account of sin, but he would await an eternal prize in Yeshua on account of his faith. From this position, he advised his brothers and sisters to follow after God and not their own desires. He even warned them: “You shall not add to the Word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I am commanding you.” Sadly, Israel both added to and took away from the law through their oral tradition, which has since been recorded in the Mishna and Talmud. Yeshua rebuked them for this in Matthew 15:3 and Mark 7: “Why do you yourselves also break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” Modern Christians have done the same thing, rejecting the commandments of God in order to uphold the traditions of the elders. God commanded us through Moses not to do this, and His true remnant are obedient and faithful children.

When we keep the Torah with the Holy Spirit of Yeshua guiding us so we understand what is True, we become God's chosen people—those who "keep the commandments of God and faith in Yeshua," according to Revelation 14:12. Moses said: “so keep and do them ... for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’” What glory we have in Yeshua to understand the Word He demonstrated to us and therefore follow Him as He commanded on account of our trust in Him! There is nothing new under the sun, Solomon wrote, and so this is still true today. “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him?” There is none. In Messiah Yeshua, we are grafted-in to Israel, a kingdom of kings and priests, and no one else has a direct relationship with God besides us. No one else has a god who lives inside them, helping them to keep His instruction for their own good. How blessed we are to know Yeshua!

Among the LORD’s most serious warnings in today's reading is His instruction to keep our faithfulness to Him and not corrupt ourselves by going after other gods. We cannot make “any figure, a representation of male or female, a representation of any animal that is on the earth, a representation of any winged bird that flies in the sky, a representation of anything that crawls on the ground, or a representation of any fish that is in the water below the earth. And be careful not to raise your eyes to heaven and look at the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the heavenly lights, and allow yourself to be drawn away and worship them and serve them…” These are things that both we and our ancestors are guilty of, and even most churches today fall into such idolatry. For example, the very idea of Sunday worship is idolatry in this exact sense—it is a worship of the sun. The Lord’s Sabbath is the seventh day, which is Saturday. We cannot mix the holy with the profane. The LORD warns us to “be very careful yourselves.” Paul wrote in Acts 17:29-31 that God once overlooked our ignorance, but now calls on everyone everywhere to repent, because judgment is coming when the Son returns in His glory. He wrote in 1 Cor. 10:14: "flee from idolatry."

Moses also made it clear how the LORD knew we would mess things up. He wrote prophetically: “when you act corruptly … and do what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God to provoke Him to anger…” It’s clear, the LORD is going to judge us, He’s going to scatter us, and He will not allow us to live in the land He has given us. However, in the midst of our distress, if we “seek the LORD [our] God,” we will “find Him if [we] search for Him with all [our] heart and all [our] soul.” We read: “When you are in distress and all these things happen to you, in the latter days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not abandon you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.” Here's Moses's message, and this applies to you and me: when we sin, we ought to confess our sins and repent, and the LORD will forgive us. He died on the cross for this. We read: “You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him.”

Here's the conclusion of the matter: “Therefore know today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, so that it may go well for you and for your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.” Yeshua said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” He later identified these commandments as the ones He gave us in the beginning—the ones He gave through Moses. He said, these commandments are the Father’s. If we do this, He will give us a helper, the “Spirit of Truth.” He will help us in all things in all ways to understand, know and keep the commandments so that we can love God and love one another all the days of our lives. Let us have willing hearts as we seek the LORD, and He will bring us into that “Promised Land” that is not a part of this world—it is part of the kingdom that endures.

Yeshua said, in Mt. 5:17-18: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." This Torah that God wrote on tablets of stone is now written on our hearts in the New Covenant. The New Covenant is more strict, not less strict. Yeshua said in Mt. 7:21-23 that those who "practice lawlessness," meaning to intentionally violate or haphazardly disregard the law, will be cast away from Him when He returns. He will judge us by the Word that comes out of His mouth, which is literally this law that we're reading here. 1st John 2:4-5 reads: "He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him." Yeshua said in John 14:15, verifying: "If you love Me, keep My commandments." Yeshua is God. We do not have more than one God. These commandments in Torah are Yeshua's commandments, the ones from old, as 2nd John reads. Because we love God, we keep His commandments to please Him. If we think we love Him, but don't keep them, we are mistaken. "Sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). The New Covenant is better because Yeshua's blood heals us when we repent, but we ought to "go and sin no more."

We cannot add to the law (the sin of the Scribes and Pharisees) nor can we take away from it (the sin of the Gentile Christians), for man cannot change what is eternal for all of God's people. God, on the other hand, can and does change certain applications of His law through the prophets. One example is the LORD's disdain for sin sacrifices, because they are the result of sin, which He hates. He prepared a body—the body of Yeshua—to replace the sin sacrifice. Yeshua did not, as He said, replace or destroy the law. On the contrary, He gave it full meaning and application. This law given to Israel is the very righteousness and love of God. Other nations who understand and follow the law would be blessed by it, just as Israel was. This was fulfilled, also, in Yeshua. As nations come in to worship Yeshua, Paul instructed new believers to set aside their old ways and take on the Way of Yeshua. Let us therefore appeal to Yeshua, for now He speaks to us directly and we no longer have any other man as mediator. He will separate the wheat from the chaff and the sheep from the goats upon His return. Only those who are authentically faithful by following the law will be brought into the Kingdom of God (Rev. 14:12).

Deuteronomy 5, Deuteronomy 6, Deuteronomy 7

Moses delivered the ten words to Israel a second time, noting that they heard God speak these words themselves, which frightened them. They were children at the time. Israel's leaders asked Moses to mediate between them and God, and God said it was good. In this way, Yeshua is “a prophet like unto Moses,” an eternal mediator between the Invisible Father whose holiness would consume us in an instant and our own temporal lives of flesh, which must be atoned for by His blood. If we are careful to obey God’s commandments, we show our love for Yeshua—what He has done for us and what He promises to do. We don’t obey out of blind obligatory duty as Israel did in the wilderness, but out of a deep desire and commitment to serve the LORD and put Him first in our lives. We have a better way in Yeshua, who puts His Holy Spirit in us to help us obey when our heart is aligned to God's will, and this is the walk of faithfulness in God. If we do not obey, we walk the road to death. And yet, God calls to the unfaithful to repent and He forgives sin, because He is merciful.

The Ten Words are a great summary of the whole of God's commandments, but surely they are not the extent of them. We are commanded to 1) Confess that Yahweh/Yeshua is God; 2) Not worship anything at all besides Him; 3) Not use His name falsely in prophesy or vanity; 4) Keep the seventh day set apart and holy for the LORD, resting from all our work, while making sure no one else is doing work for us; 5) honor our parents with respect and obedience when young and care for them in their old age; 6) not murder, but also avoid anger in the heart; 7) not commit adultery, but also avoid lust with the eyes; 8) not steal, but also avoid desire of what doesn't belong to us; 9) not testify falsely about another person; and 10) not covet anything that the LORD has not given us, but rather be content and grateful for what we have been given. These 10 commandments are summed up by the greatest commandment—to love the LORD our God in Deut. 6—and the second greatest—to love our neighbor as ourself in Leviticus 19:17-18. They are also summed up in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, Micah 6:8 and so many other places. But they are also powerfully valid on their own and explained by all of Torah, the Prophets, the Gospels and the Epistles.

The sh’ma (שְׁמַע) of Deuteronomy 6 is what Yeshua called “the greatest commandment.” Sh’ma is translated in English as “hear,” but it’s true meaning is “hear and obey.” Like all of Scripture, it has spiritual meaning that unveils Truth much deeper than the literal surface meaning that may be misused. In brief, to love the LORD with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, we first understand that He is ONE God, not three. Our one God eternally exists and reveals Himself as the Father (יהוה), the Son (Yeshua), and the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), but He is not three gods. Many Jews reject Yeshua as the Messiah because of the pagan manner in which the "Trinity' is often explained. God absolutely expresses Himself as three powers, and Scripture shows us how this happens in both the Old and New Testaments, but we must remember that His ways are not our ways. We may wonder how the Son is subjected to the Father and yet they are equal; this is because they have one will and they are one being—not two. Just as our own hand is subject to the will of our mind, but is part of one body, so too is the Son subject to the will of the Father, and they are one.

As the sh’ma continues, we come to understand that to love God, we must keep His commandments. Yeshua told us the same thing, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” It’s not blind obedience, but rather obedience from our desire to please the one we love. It's also not a private obedience, for God said we shall teach the commandments to our children and speak of them in our house, when we go out of the house, before we get up in the morning and as we lie down at night. Yeshua told us the same thing in Matthew 28: “make disciples of all nations … teach them all the things I commanded to you.” To bind them as a sign on our hand means that everything we say or do must reflect obedience to God’s commandments. To put them as frontlets on our forehead, means everything we think ought to reflect obedience to God’s commandments. We must “renew the Spirit of our mind” and “take every thought captive,” as Paul wrote. By writing them on our doorposts and gates, we understand in our hearts that everything that happens on our property is in obedience to God. Our whole lives must reflect our commitment to God. This is the heart of the greatest commandment.

In Rom. 7:12, Paul wrote: "So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." Yeshua chose Paul to teach the law to Gentiles who didn't know it. The Truth is eternal, and we read similarly in Deut. 6:25: “It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to obey all these commandments before Yahweh our God, just as he ordered us to do." Our LORD Yeshua said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (Jn. 14:15). He even cited Deut. 6:4-8, calling it "the greatest commandment," and it is also the first. In Deut. 5, we read: "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves." To be saved we must confess with our mouths: "Yeshua is Yahweh" (Rom.10:9). This is the same commandment. To acknowledge God is the first commandment, and intermixed with it is our duty to love Him by keeping His commandments, because He has rescued us from bondage to sin and death. We're meant to have relationship with Him, for He has given us grace to know Him. We have a faithful God, who "extends grace to those who love Him and observe His commandments ... but he repays those who hate him to their face and destroys them." (Deut. 7:9-10). It's relationship: to obey is love, to disobey is hate.

When Israel feared the LORD's Voice, we ought to share this sentiment. These commandments are life to us, and thanks be to God we are free from sin through Messiah Yeshua so that we can obey His Voice and "go and sin no more." We have to be careful lest we ignore His Voice and risk death, for our God is a consuming fire, and "since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." (Hebrews 12:28-29). The LORD agrees with this sentiment, as Moses reported: "Yahweh heard what you were saying when you spoke to me, and Yahweh said to me, ‘I have heard what this people has said when speaking to you, and everything they have said is good. Oh, how I wish their hearts would stay like this always, that they would fear me and obey all my commandments; so that it would go well with them and their children forever.'" Yes, I pray that our hearts remain reverent to the LORD, not obeying Him out of blind fear with a veil still over our eyes, but obeying Him in love because we can see without the veil through Messiah Yeshua (2 Corinth. 3). Let these commandments serve as a mirror to us that convicts us to become increasingly like the image of God every day.

It is because of what God has done for us that we give Him our love. When our children ask us why we keep God’s commandments, we might have said before Messiah, “‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. … He brought us out of there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.” Now we can say, “We were slaves to Satan in the World, and the LORD freed us from the slavery to sin with a mighty hand by giving His own life on the cross for us, and then He rose from the dead to make a way for us into His Kingdom.” Because of what the LORD has done and what He has promised to do, this is why we commit ourselves to keep His commandments faithfully with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. This is also how we can face our enemies without fear and still stand firm in the faith. We ought to remember all of the great things God has done for us in this life—all of the miracles He's done that we've experienced—and then we can face whatever new challenge may be in front of us. Testimony is such a powerful tool to build our faith in the LORD.

As we go throughout the wilderness and take possession of the temporal lands that the Lord our God gives to us as strangers in a strange land, dwellers in temporary dwellings, we ought to know that God will go before us and drive out His enemies from before us. That doesn’t mean that we won’t have to face them. This entire plain of existence is dedicated toward facing trials and tribulations so that we can learn to be the men and women that God has designed us to be. Yeshua came and told us that we ought to love our human enemies. God wants their hearts, also, and by living our lives fully reflecting God’s commandments, we show God’s love for them. If they reject God’s heart for them, this is their own choice and will ultimately lead to their destruction, but it is our duty to withstand the temporal pressures of our enemies so as to convict them of God’s Truth and hopefully bring them to repentance. We are a chosen people, God’s personal possession, and He has suffered and died to redeem us. Serving Him in everything we say and do is the least we can do for Him.

When we are walking in love, trust and obedience to the LORD, we can defeat the enemies of darkness. We must remember that other people are not our enemies, but they are victims, for our enemy is NOT "flesh and blood," but our enemies are "principalities ... powers ... rulers of the darkness of this age ..., [and] spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ep. 6:12). Nonetheless, we cannot intermarry with the unfaithful, and nor can we worship with them during our Sabbath celebrations, because they are under the control of the enemy. The LORD has commanded us: "Do not make any covenant with them. Show them no mercy. Don't intermarry with them." If we disobey, these unbelievers will turn our hearts away from the LORD, not the other way around. When Yeshua ate with tax collectors and sinners, he went out to them and taught them the Truth. He instructed them to "believe" and to "sin no more," but He did not call them in to follow Him until they turned themselves toward Him. He told many to depart from Him. We must keep this in mind. We cannot bring anything "detestable" into our house. Spiritually, we have the power in Yeshua to cast out demons, but the people who are caught up by them have to be willing to cast them off.

Deuteronomy 8, Deuteronomy 9, Deuteronomy 10

God’s Holy Spirit wrote the commandments on stone as He now writes them on our hearts, and we need to “circumcise” our hearts so that they no longer contain sin, but focus alone on the will of the LORD. “What does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?” Amein.

In Deuteronomy 7, it's clear that God is serious that we cannot mix the holy with the profane, or the believer with the unbeliever. Paul wrote the same thing. We cannot even mix pagan practices with our faith, for this is an abomination to God. We must depart from all that is evil. The LORD doesn't just want us to sit back isolated in our safe space. He said we must go out and take ground from the enemy. Yeshua said: the gates of hell will not prevail against the Kingdom of God. It is our duty as faithful followers of Yeshua to be bold and courageous and to stand against every spiritual power, principality or host of wickedness and set the captives free from their midst. When we take ground from the enemy and fully follow the LORD with all of our heart, He will bless us greatly.

In Deuteronomy 8, the LORD was clear that we must not depend on the things of this world for our life, but our life comes from every Word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. He is the Bread Who comes down from Heaven, in this Torah, through the prophets, through His spoken Word, through His demonstrable example, and through the aligning instruction of His Holy Spirit. Let us not be proud in our own eyes, but fully surrender to God and His Word.

In Deuteronomy 9, the LORD reminded us that it is by His grace alone that we are saved. Don't let any one of us ever be found saying, "It is not because of your righteousness, or because your heart is so upright, that you go in to take possession of their land; but to punish the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out ahead of you, and also to confirm the word which the LORD swore to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore, understand that it is not for your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess. 'For you are a stiffnecked people!'" It is not because of our righteousness, but because God is faithful to His promises and He will reward those who turn their hearts to have faith in Him and keep His Word. The LORD disciplines and chastens those He calls as sons, by His grace, as we read in Hebrews 12:7-11, and He leads us along His narrow path from the time of Abraham to this very day. In the OLD Covenant, it was strange for a Gentile to be saved, but now in the New Covenant, all Gentiles can be saved through Messiah Yeshua as grafted-in children of Israel. Everything we read in Israel's history is a prophetic template for what we experience in our walk with Yeshua today. We face the same giants in our lives that the Israelites did, but now at the Spiritual level, and God is still strong enough to drive them off when we have faith. Because of our faith, we ought to work ever harder to walk according to the commandments, because they are life to us.

Deuteronomy 11, Deuteronomy 12, Deuteronomy 13

Deuteronomy 11 and 12 are a great example of how we cannot take one verse out of context and practice isolational analysis of that one verse, for the context around the verse is critical for understanding God's message to us. I'm going to show you a few examples.

The LORD says: "Therefore, you are to love Yahweh your God and always obey his commission, regulations, rulings and commandments. Today it is you I am addressing—not your children, who haven’t known or experienced the discipline of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his strong hand, his outstretched arm, his signs and his actions which he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to his entire country."

If we were to take this passage at face value, we might say that the commandments and the whole Word of God only apply to this generation of Israel—and not even all of Israel. This verse at face value says that just this first generation that is entering the Promised Land has to keep the commandments. The idea is clearly absurd. The LORD later reveals that the commandments and the whole Word of God applies to anyone who calls upon His name and seeks His blessing.

The LORD said: "Therefore, you are to store up these words of mine in your heart and in all your being; put them on your hand as a sign; put them between the frontlets of your eyes; TEACH THEM CAREFULLY TO YOUR CHILDREN, talking about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up; and write them on the doorframes of your house and on your gates — SO THAT YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN WILL LIVE LONG IN THE LAND YAHWEH SWORE TO YOUR FATHERS that he would give them for as long as there is sky above the earth."

Through Yeshua, we are grafted-in to this promise by becoming part of Israel, as we read in Ephesians 2, but without Yeshua, we are strangers and foreigners and have no place in the Kingdom of God. We receive the promises of God to Israel as well as the responsibilities of Israel when we call upon the name of Yeshua.

Another example has to do with food laws, which we've read about clearly articulated in Leviticus 11, and they will soon be repeated in Deuteronomy 14. You might look at a verse such as Genesis 9:3, which reads: "Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you," and assume there is some sort of "Noahide covenant" that applies to us and allows us to eat all animals, even snakes and scorpions, but somehow the law of God does not apply to us that limits us to certain animals for food. This is self-serving theology and it comes from a place of misinterpreting Scripture in context. All of Scripture applies to us. God even said directly: “Everything I am commanding you, you are to take care to do. Do not add to it or subtract from it.” Should we obey the voice of God or the voice of man? As for me and my house, we shall serve the LORD. I want to show you the example next, and it looks an awful lot like Genesis 9:3.

In Deuteronomy 12, we read: "you may slaughter and eat meat wherever you live and whenever you want, in keeping with the degree to which Yahweh your God has blessed you." AND "When Adonai your God expands your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I want to eat meat,’ simply because you want to eat meat, then you may eat meat, as much as you want." Does this mean we can eat pork or shellfish? Absolutely not! And the context makes this clear. First of all, we have to "keep with the degree to which Yahweh... has blessed us," meaning that we have to obey His commandments. We also have to understand that "meat," in Deuteronomy 12 and Genesis 9, are defined by God in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. But if we look closer, the context is right here within the text. After we read, "you may slaughter and eat meat wherever you live...," the LORD says, "the unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer." The clarity becomes even stronger when He says, "IF the place where Yahweh your God chooses to place His name is too far away from you; then you are to slaughter animals from your cattle or sheep, which Yahweh has given you., and eat on your own property, as much as you want. Eat as you would gazelle or deer; the unclean and clean alike may eat it." This is straightforward: Gazelle, deer, cattle and sheep are clean animals, and people may eat the meat of clean animals whether the people have gone through the ceremonial cleansing necessary for sacrificing meat in the tabernacle. But blood, you see, defiles CLEAN meat. It is imperative we recognize this, because when James gives Gentiles coming into the faith four things they MUST do IMMEDIATELY upon becoming Christians in Acts 15, he explained they cannot eat meat with its blood, that has been strangled or that has been sacrificed to an idol, and then he also prohibits ALL sexual immorality, noting that Christians will learn the rest of Torah as they attend services each Sabbath day. As in Deuteronomy 12, so in Acts 15: the meat Gentiles must eat is clean meat, for that is the definition of meat, and new Christians must be careful not to eat clean meat that has been defiled. This is all Torah, and it is consistent throughout.

The LORD also makes it clear that we may eat clean meats on our property and we do not have to rely only on meat that has been sacrificed in the Tabernacle or Temple. To be clear, the text says: whether we are clean or unclean, we may eat clean meat. God was explaining that it doesn't matter whether we are a priest or a common Christian, we may now eat meat on our property according to the Levitical laws of Leviticus 11. Note: It is critical that we remove the blood from meat, for blood makes clean meat, unclean.

While Israel was instructed to destroy all of the idols that they discovered in the land, we can read the Spirit and Truth of these verses and note that in America, it is our duty to remove all idols or possible idols from our property. An idol is anything that is not God that we give power to, have an attachment to, or worship. I have thrown out many items that I used to treasure and I have asked for God’s forgiveness in holding on to them. I’m sure He will reveal more such items in time.

Deuteronomy 13 is an expansion of the second and third commandment, to not worship any other god and to not use the LORD’s name in vain. Whether we encounter Christians following pagan traditions, saying they honor God, or pagans literally leading others directly into the worship of other gods, both types cannot be allowed in our church communities. As Christians, these are the enemies Yeshua asked us to love by sharing with them the Truth of Scripture, but also dusting off our feet and walking away if they will not hear. To practically put someone to death, we excommunicate ourselves from them, or them from us, whichever makes more sense in the context. The Torah specifies that even if these people are family members or close friends or neighbors, they cannot dwell among us. This is how serious false prophesy is! A wolf in sheep’s clothing will literally devour a flock and send everyone astray. They must be removed. This is an imperative that the modern church simply does not take seriously enough. Even Jesus said that we must leave “houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands,” for His name’s sake, and then we “shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” I pray for everyone I love to come to a full knowledge of the Truth, for this is the path to eternal life. But I do take very seriously this teaching, because we cannot allow the holy place to be defiled, and the holy place is the heart the LORD is preparing for His Kingdom and all with ears to hear. To love the LORD, this is the first and greatest commandment, and we must put it first.

The LORD is quite clear that idolatry or mixing the worship He has asked for with worship of our own devising or based on men's traditions will lead to death. We want to be sure to bring our gifts into the place God has decided to put His name—to honor Him. Today, God rests within us, and within the community of believers who seek to please the LORD, and it is in this community—in Spirit and in Truth—where we ought to bring our gifts and offerings to share with one another. We have to be careful not to add to nor take away from God's law, for only He has the authority to amend His Word. No man, no Apostle, and no pope was ever granted authority to change the law of God. Yeshua Himself, who is God, said not one jot or title would be canceled. We must be careful to keep the commandments of God, especially as we are learning the ropes. Pleasing God ought to be our number one desire.

There may come a time when a family member or close friend suggests some occult activity—even yoga or attending another religion’s meeting place to check it out. Our answer must be “absolutely not,” but we can’t stop there. We also have to try and prevent that loved one from sinning. If the loved one goes off to do such evil, we cannot associate with them any longer until they desire to return to the LORD, lest we ourselves become corrupted.

Deuteronomy 14, Deuteronomy 15, Deuteronomy 16

I wrote about Deuteronomy 14 yesterday, and I really want to point you all back there for it gives the heart of this chapter, but there are a few things to add. Deuteronomy 14 is a second witness to what the LORD said is OK to eat and what is not OK to eat in Leviticus 11. All things are established on a testimony of two or more witnesses, and these laws defining what is food and what is not food are firmly established and also confirmed, and not one jot or title will be abolished until the Earth and Heaven are no more. We must guard ourselves against the interpolation of New Testament verses that do not mean what many commentators say they mean, for the LORD Himself said that not one word ought to be added to or subtracted from this Torah forever. He said this again in Matthew 5. We might try to come up with a fleshly explanation for these laws—that certain meats contain toxins or other problems that modern cooking techniques have somehow solved. While such teachings are simply untrue on the surface, they are also not even the reason for these laws. The LORD has made clear His reasoning: “because you are a holy people for Yahweh your God.” My parents sometimes said, “Because I said so” as a reason for me to do something, and this is God’s version of doing this as our Eternal Father. He wants us to be a people set apart to Him through Messiah Yeshua, and this is one of the ways He has commanded us to set ourselves apart. He asked us to obey. My response: Yes, LORD! Nothing but blessings result and I’m not missing anything. I promise!

My family kept the Shmittah year in the growing season of 2022 and our gardens turned into fields. One observer even noted that he didn’t think anything would ever grow there again because of how difficult it would be to reestablish the gardens. Not only were the gardens simple to reestablish, our produce in 2023 was still stocking our storage shelves for two years after. The LORD provided SO much, just like He said He would. As we come into the knowledge of the Truth further, we will ask the Holy Spirit to show us how to obey the LORD in new and even better ways. All I know is that every time we give Him our heart, He returns blessings. He is a good, good Father, and when we listen to Him, He pours on His love in ways that were previously unimaginable. When we bring our gifts to each Sabbath celebration to share in celebration of the eternal feast that is coming, there is always enough and often an abundance, no matter who shows up. There is peace and joy—and nothing but peace and joy—that result when people who are honoring the LORD come together to worship Him bringing their blessing for the LORD freely out of the love they have in their hearts for Him and His people.

The LORD wants humble servants who desire to please Him, not robots who blindly obey without understanding. We ought to be generous, loving and join the LORD in Spirit and in Truth every Holy Convocation Day He commands, starting with the weekly Sabbath. Isaiah 56 makes it abundantly clear this commandment applies to Gentiles.

The Passover, the Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles are eternal festivals to the LORD, but He also desires us to keep the Day of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement. We ought to celebrate with great joy, and never come empty-handed before His altar. God desires and deserves our first and our best.

Yeshua said: "Do this in memory of me," when He shared the unleavened bread of Passover on Passover with His disciples, and also raised the cup of wine for His disciples to join Him in the New Covenant. His commandment: DO THIS: keep the Passover feast, which was a shadow of what had come, the Passover Lamb, the Unleavened Bread, who was sacrificed on our behalf. He commanded us to memorialize Him by keeping the feast. We can read the metaphor into the feast, and it's certainly there, but we're also commanded to keep the feast, for this is what God has commanded. Yeshua, who is God, did not do differently.

That leads to this: Where is the place God has chosen to put His name? That location has changed. It was the Tabernacle in the wilderness, then it was Shiloh, and then some say it was Mt. Gerizim, others say Jerusalem, but Yeshua set things straight in John 4:21-24: Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well: “believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain [Mt. Gerizim], nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. ... the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth.” In 2 Cor. 3:3, Paul wrote: "You are a letter from Messiah." Jeremiah 31:33 prophesied, the law would be written on our hearts and God Himself would sit on the throne there. Paul wrote: "Don't you know you are the temple of God" (1 Cor. 3:16). Today, we keep the feast as a Holy Convocation, because God commanded it in Lev 23. Where two or more are gathered in His name, there He is also. But we aren't to do this whenever we choose, but only on His appointed days, because God desires us to keep HIS feasts, not our own. We ought not be so presumptuous to believe we know better.

Some say the Passover, the 7th Day of Unleavened Bread, the Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles can only be celebrated at the Temple, but that isn't what Scripture says. We read: “You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, but at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt. And you shall cook it and eat it at the place that the LORD your God will choose.” Thus, the sacrifice should not be made in any of the towns the LORD is giving us, but the memorial ought to take place at "the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it." When God came in the flesh, He told us that place is no longer Jerusalem, but wherever the Body gathers, for the LORD has chosen to put His name on us and now we worship in Spirit and Truth. Because Yeshua—our Lamb of God—was the last sacrifice for sin, and has replaced all Temple sacrifices, we no longer sacrifice lambs. But we ought to eat unleavened bread, drink from the fruit of the vine, and share bitter herbs in memory of our risen Lamb, for this is what He commanded!

When we bring offerings to the LORD, whether offerings of our time and service or offerings of food that we bring to the feasts, from the Sabbath to the Passover, from Pentecost to Tabernacles, we ought to bring our first and best. Malachi wrote about how the people were bringing damaged goods as offerings, and God asked: "Would you offer these damaged goods to your governor?" We're talking about the God who created the Heavens and the Earth and everything in them, the God who came in the flesh and showed us how to live a perfect life, the God who died and rose from the dead so our sins could be forgiven through Him, and the God we can follow into eternal life. Is He not worth our first and our best? How could we say otherwise? Why does God even need to remind us? Because we repeatedly serve our own interests and follow after our own heart and He does not want to destroy us in our sins, but He desires for us to repent and live according to His Way with Him forever. He wants a deep and lasting relationship with us, and in that relationship, He wants to be treated with the same love that He has offered to us. How could we take such love for granted?

The LORD is jealous—He requires worship. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4rth commandments explain. The Greatest Commandment explains. Such worship of Yeshua is required for salvation. If we do not confess that Yeshua is Yahweh, we cannot be saved, but it's more than this, we also have to believe in our heart that He is risen from the dead (Romans 10:9). We have to make Him LORD of our life, which means His rule is what matters to us, and not the rule of another, including self-rule. We can't sit on our own heart's throne and be saved; we have to surrender the throne to Yeshua.

If anyone comes into the church and takes one of the little ones away from this understanding, Yeshua Himself said it would be BETTER for such a person to be thrown into the depths of the sea with an anchor around their ankle. This is the one who does what is wicked before the LORD, by worshipping other gods, worshipping themselves, practicing sorcery of any kind, or doing anything at all that puts trust in some other "spiritual" power besides the Holy Spirit of God. These people cannot worship with us, for their idolatry will spread like a cancer and destroy the church. When the rebellious are removed, the remainder of the people will know to follow God.

We are to appoint pastors to judge between the holy and the profane as well as the clean and the unclean within our local faith communities, and all matters ought to be judged according to God's Word. Pastors also ought to apply their judgments impartially. It is a pastor's role. The pastor had better not set up idols in the church or make a memorial for himself in the church, for God hates this. Paul wrote in Titus 1:5: "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you—" The Word of God is the same, yesterday, today and forever. He became flesh and dwelt among us. He dwells in our hearts when we surrender our lives to Him and His Way.

Deuteronomy 17, Deuteronomy 18, Deuteronomy 19, Deuteronomy 20

When we give an offering of time, money, prayer, praise, or anything at all to the LORD, we can’t give our second best. We need to give Him our first and our best. If there is anyone in our midst who is sacrificing to idols or putting their devotions in anything other than Yeshua, we need to remove that person from among us. We cannot allow idolatry to take hold within the church, or it will destroy everything. It has done this, and it always will. So many churches have fallen away from God because of it.

In Deut. 17 into 18, the LORD explained what He expects of His kings and priests, and we are ALL kings and priests in Yeshua (1 Peter 2:9). As kings, we cannot be foreigners—we can't be unbelievers. We can't multiply horses—fancy cars, or jets. We can't return to Egypt—sin. We can't acquire MANY wives—God commanded us men to have one wife in Genesis. We can't acquire excessive wealth. We ought to have a copy of Torah and read it every day as long as we live, so we know how to honor God and keep His commandments, and then we can teach others.  As priests, we have no inheritance among our brothers, meaning that this world is not the kingdom we should care about, but our inheritance is with God in His Kingdom. We have a right to the provision the LORD has given to us, and we ought to be grateful for it. We ought to be highly motivated to serve the LORD, and we ought to warn one another to avoid the abominable practices of the world, such as sacrificing our sons and daughters to Satan at Planned Parenthood. The LORD heard His people Israel and sent a prophet like unto Moses, and His Word we must listen to, because it is the Word of God. We CANNOT listen to any prophet that says anything contrary to Him.

In Deuteronomy 18, Moses explained that when Israel asked Moses to mediate between God and them at Mt. Sinai, God said it was a good idea. He then said He would later send a prophet like Moses who would mediate between God and the people in a superior manner. This prophet like Moses is Yeshua, and He referenced this section in His teaching. The LORD will require all humankind to listen to our Messiah Yeshua when He comes again—every eye will see Him. Moses also warned about false prophets who speak in the name of the LORD but their prophesies fail. We ought to ignore them.

In Deuteronomy 19, the LORD spoke about two or three witnesses being needed to accuse anyone of wrongdoing. This is a good principle to employ to any matter of the law, but it also serves as a solid hermeneutic principle. Two or three Scriptural references on a topic help to establish a Truth principle, so long as that principle doesn't contradict other Scripture. God takes justice seriously within the community.

The innocent must be given refuge and the guilty must be judged, but remember that judgment belongs to the LORD and He shall repay. How then do we parse judgment being brought "before the LORD, before the priests and the judges in office at the time"? First, our judgment of the law is understood through the Apostolic doctrine of the New Testament, which prophetically replaced the Sanhedrin of Israel. The Jerusalem Council became the final judge on matters, and then the Apostles recorded their judgements on all major matters in Scripture. Among those matters, Paul told Titus to appoint judges (pastors) in every city to rule over matters of importance according to the Word of God. Additionally, God's appointed governments can also bring righteous judgment upon a person. The punishment for murder is death, and God has said there is to be no mercy for the guilty. The death penalty ought to be used far more frequently, and both murder and violence would be reduced, if not go away. Bloodguilt would also be removed from the land itself, postponing judgment.

Practically speaking a pastor must remove those who willfully sin from within the church, especially those who mix the holy with the profane. To allow such sin in the church can lead the whole congregation astray and  quench the presence of God, who does not dwell amidst evil. No one ought to be removed without two or three witnesses, for two to three witnesses establish a matter, so long as they are not false witnesses. A local pastor ought to be associated with other communities so weightier matters can be brought before a larger council of overseers, and the council's judgment, so long as it is aligned with God's Word, must be followed. When existing overseers appoint rulers over congregations, they must be men God calls and they must be truly faithful. These men can't be concerned with worldly might, possessions, or wealth, and they should also be men with one wife. Polygamy is prohibited. He should fix his heart on doing the will of God, which is according to His Word. This is so important that he will need a copy of the Scripture to study day and night, without missing a single day. He must remain humble and not turn away from the Torah. His sons also ought to be obedient.

The pastors ought to be sustained by the offerings brought by the congregation rather than to seek their own wealth in the world. Their duty is to put service toward God first before all else. We must not learn the ways of other cultures or religions, and we certainly must avoid the occult in every way—these things are all abominations to the Way of Christ. It is great evil to pray to or call upon the dead, especially those who died in the family or in the faith. These familiar spirits are demons, and praying to them is an abomination to God. Rather than these demons, we must listen to the prophet like unto Moses that God has risen up from the dead; namely, Yeshua the Messiah.. If we do not have faith in Him, there is no hope for salvation—not for the Jew and not for the Gentile. Faith in Yeshua is the only way we might be justified. But when we come into this faith, if we are not obeying the Word which He taught, we will be held to account—in other words, we will be destroyed. Only the prophets or teachers who speak according to God's Word ought to be heard, and Yeshua was certainly such a prophet, but He was so much more than a prophet. He is the Son of God, one in being with the Father! To not listen to this one is death.

As the Torah continues, I find it wonderful to consider that someone giving false witness against his brother ought to suffer the fate they were trying to bring about through their false testimony. What amazing justice! If a man bears false witness against his neighbor, accusing him of murder that he did not commit, and he is found out, the accuser ought to be punished in the same way as he intended for the one he falsely accused. That means the death penalty for a false accusation of murder. This is justice, and I do really wish that our government executed justice in this way. We would have a lot less crime—maybe even none at all, and nor would our society be falling apart as it is today on account of false and baseless accusations. The LORD is good, and the law of the LORD is truly perfect, and our society would be quite a better place if we followed it.

In Deuteronomy 20, the LORD encouraged justice in any situation where a foreign nation asserts itself against Israel. Any nation that blesses Israel will be blessed, and any nation that curses Israel will be cursed. We are grafted-in to Israel as followers of Messiah Yeshua. We absolutely DO NOT replace Israel. And so this protection applies to those who truly follow Yeshua also, so long as we also pick up the responsibilities of being a child of Israel. Whether the enemy is physical, material, spiritual, emotional or psychological, we cannot be afraid of the enemy. If the enemy sends a delegation and submits, then we may rule over whatever might have brought us into bondage. We may indeed make peace with all enemies who submit to the will of God, for to teach God's will is to love our enemy. However, if our enemy attempts to destroy us, we must completely annihilate the enemy and take no prisoners. All forces of evil must be removed from our lives. We must preserve all who are bearing fruit in our enemy's camp.

The LORD wants men who wholly trust in Him, without fear, and who are not distracted by anything, such as a new wife or an engagement, to go to war for Him. His attention to details like this show His love and also shows His commitment to fully destroying the enemy. If we are unfortunate to face a just war, this ought to be the goal of any armed forces. Israel's battles against the Canaanites were a hybrid of physical and spiritual battles. They battled men, but those men were the progeny of fallen watchers who had done all manner of evil against the LORD. Destroying every trace of evil was the only way for Israel to take the land for the LORD. We should also consider the allegory for spiritual warfare here, for we cannot in any way be frightened or distracted when we face the spiritual hosts of wickedness and the principalities of darkness in the present age. We must fully trust in the LORD and rely on His command, for He is the LORD of Hosts and He is in charge of all battles against the darkness. As light bearers, we need to be fully committed to following our Commander In Chief, Yeshua, and trusting in His command, and in faith we will have total victory in Him; no evil spirit shall remain that has not been cast down.

In the ministry, we cannot be weak, easily discouraged, or fearful. John wrote that the cowardly will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:8). Torah explains that those fearful, who desire to plant their field, or who desire to take their wife ought to return home from battle and not fight with their brothers, but this should not be interpreted as a positive for those leaving the battle field. Yeshua said in Mark 10:29-30: “Assuredly, 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 My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, withpersecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life." Said another way in Luke 14:33, Yeshua said: "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." It's not an option for us to NOT be Yeshua's disciple if we have any hope to be with Him in His Kingdom. We must be strong and courageous, we cannot be afraid, for the LORD our God will be with us wherever we go. He will never leave us nor forsake us, but let us not leave Him.

Deuteronomy 21, Deuteronomy 22, Deuteronomy 23

In Deuteronomy 21, we learn that innocent blood must be atoned for. America is under judgment because we have abandoned the death penalty and we have allowed and encouraged abortion. God takes this so seriously that He teaches that when we cannot identify the guilty party to a murder, we should make a sacrifice in the closest city to ensure repentance is made. Blood for blood is the law, and Yeshua died so that our sin might be wiped clean for us, but He did this so that we can go and sin no more, not so we can keep on sinning and disrespect His offering. If we do not repent, judgment will come on the whole land as it did on Sodom, Gomorrah, and all the Canaanite lands that Israel conquered. Read Ezk. 14:12-23. When any land sins against the LORD persistently, the judgments of the sword (war), famine, pestilence (COVID-19, etc.) and beasts of the earth (tyrannical government) will come upon that land. Only individuals like Daniel, Noah and Job can keep themselves from this judgement through enduring faithfulness. Pray for repentance and speak the Truth of God's Word boldly in our land, for we have spilled inconceivable amounts of innocent blood.

We should not take a brand new convert as a wife and should be certain that we are equally yoked and have like faith prior to marriage. We ought to be careful not to be deceived by outward appearances. A betrothed woman later rejected cannot be treated as an object. She is a human being owed a vow of love and provision.

The law regarding the man with two wives, one unloved and the other loved, may correct a previous error of happenstance, caused by the deceiver Laban. God explained: Judah, the eldest of Jacob and Leah (minus the three elder sons who sinned), would be the firstborn and ruler of Israel. David and Yeshua would come from him. Ephraim would not retain firstborn status, being the son of the firstborn of the loved wife Rachel, even though Joseph's sons retained the double portion.

A stubborn and rebellious son—such as I was as a late teenager— must be removed from the community, so he does not corrupt the whole—he deserves to be taken to the gates of the city and be stoned to death. Praise Yeshua for His mercy and grace! In modernity, the son ought to be sent away for remediation or even allowed to be punished by the law, as appropriate. True repentance is the only way a rebellious son may remain in his father's house.

One who is hung on a tree for a capital offense is cursed, but he also must not remain on the tree overnight. Such was the case for our LORD Yeshua, who was cursed for our sins, transgressions, and iniquities so that we might be redeemed. He was not left hanging on the tree until evening, but was brought down and lain in Joseph's tomb before sunset in obedience with the law. Yeshua indeed died as the accursed one of Israel, as prophesied, to remove the condemnation from all who believe in Him and endure in following Him in all of His ways.

Romans 8:1 reads: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Messiah Yeshua, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." It's clear as we read this statement in context that to live "in Messiah Yeshua" is to follow Him according to His righteous law with the Help of His Spirit that lives in us. Romans 8:6-7 makes this quite evident. Unfortunately, the writing in Galatians is much less clear on these points (Even Peter said Paul's writing is confusing in 2 Peter 3:14-18).

We can rest assured that Yeshua took on the curse that was due for us, so that now we can walk free from condemnation, so long as we turn from sin and become slaves of righteousness.

In Deuteronomy 22, we come to understand how we ought to be mindful of our neighbor's property and make sure anything lost or lent is restored in full. We ought to go out of our way to help a neighbor in need. We ought to be stewards of wildlife and mindful of conservation while engaging in agricultural development for human needs. We are responsible for the harm that comes to others due to poor construction or dilapidation of our homes. We should not mix the holy with the profane. It is unlawful to remarry a divorced spouse, and divorce ought not happen in the first place. Men ought to honor and cherish their wives, or they will be held to account. Adultery is a sin that ought to bring excommunication, and only upon full repentance should anyone guilty of this sin be restored. Rape is punishable by death, for it is akin to murder, but the woman is innocent. Those engaging in premarital sex ought to marry for life.

There is nothing new under the sun, and I could comment substantially concerning the demonic religion of transgenderism that has been forced on the world today. It is quite clear that a woman ought not wear men's clothing and a man ought not wear women's clothing. It's an abomination to the LORD and should not be tolerated among us. It is clear the LGBTQ+ lifestyle is against God’s law. It is an abomination to the LORD. We might be tempted to say that we are not qualified to call attention to these sins, on account of our own sins, but this misses the point of Yeshua's teaching on judgment. If we are free from condemnation in Messiah Yeshua, and we are "in Messiah Yeshua," we are no longer living in sin but have turned from it to live righteously. At this point, we can indeed point out the speck in our neighbors' eyes, though only God will judge us eternally by this same measure. David gave example of this in the midst of his prayer of repentance. We read in Psalm 51:12-13: "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You." Once we are cleansed, it is our duty to live righteously and teach righteousness to others.

Regarding sexual depravity, the law is just, and we have an example in John 7:53-8:11 of Yeshua enforcing it without partiality. There, the men brought a woman caught "in the very act" of adultery before Him to trap Him, and asked whether she should be stoned. We don't know what Yeshua wrote in the sand, but we do know that the men were aware of the woman's sin. How could that be? Were all of the accusers guilty of adultery with her? When a man and a woman are caught in adultery, the penalty is death for them both. Why weren't they accusing the man? Were they all guilty? God hates partiality (Leviticus 19:15). In the New Covenant, the penalty is the second death for unrepentant adultery, meaning eternal judgment in Hell. This is a far worse punishment, as explained in Hebrews 10:29, for those who insult the spirit of grace. However, the woman in John 7-8 must have had a repentant heart, for Yeshua forgave her sins, something only God could do by His own authority. In doing this, Yeshua showed us one of the most valuable lessons in the New Testament: Because we have been saved by grace, we ought to "go and sin no more," as He told the woman.

The woman who does not call out in the city when a man seduces her is a woman who desires to engage in the act, and by not calling out she is guilty and he is guilty. This isn't rape. It's fornication or adultery, and the punishment is death for both. It's the second death in the New Covenant—without repentance. However, the girl who is in the countryside taken by a man is free of any wrongdoing, while the man in this situation is put to death. Not only does the LORD call rape a sin punishable by death, He likens it to murder. "The situation is like the case of the man who attacks his neighbor and kills him." The LORD is just and His law is good, righteous and holy. The section concludes: When two are caught in the act of fornication, when neither are married or betrothed, this fornication is an act that requires marriage. The man owes the girl's father a dowry and they cannot get divorced from this marriage all of their days. The two have become one flesh, as we read in Genesis, something the LORD Yeshua later referred to directly. For those of us with past sins, we ought to repent and go and sin no more. The LORD's grace is abundantly available for those who change their ways and follow Him from the point of confession.

A man is not to have relations with his father's wife. Read 1 Corinthians 5 and 2 Corinthians 3 if you don't believe the LORD takes these acts seriously any longer. Such a man ought to be tossed out to Satan, apart from the church, so by this judgment he might come to repentance. Upon such repentance, he is welcomed back with forgiveness, but apart from that positive ending, he is to remain as a tax collector and a sinner (Matthew 18). We MUST have humble and contrite hearts to follow after Yeshua, going and sinning no longer, doing the things that He did, walking the way He walked. Our salvation by grace is only the beginning of our walk with Him, and it is by no means the end goal. May the Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son sanctify us all to obey His Torah and walk in all of His ways.

When we look at Acts 15 where James said new Christians ought to avoid "sexual immorality," he was referring to that which is described in these chapters as well as in Leviticus 18 and 20. Scripture defines Scripture; it is a light to our feet and a lamp to our path, showing us the way we should go.

When we consider the commandments against mixing an ox with a donkey, two kinds of thread or two kinds of seed, we ought to recognize three completely different illustrations to explain metaphorically that we ought not mix the holy with the profane, the believer with the unbeliever, and create a situation where two are unequally yoked, where the wheat grows with the tares, or where the righteous are with the unrighteous. There may also be a deeply prophetic meaning here against the genetic manipulation we're now seeing in our times, just like in the days of Noah. It is prohibited by Scripture.

The beginning of Deuteronomy 23 outlines three areas where men are not allowed in the assembly of Yahweh, which spiritually means the Kingdom of God. Two have clearly come to a conclusion: One who is born of two people who ought not marry and those of the Ammonites or Moabites down to the 10th generation. Ruth was a Moabite woman, and married Boaz, and became a mother of David and eventually Yeshua Himself. It's critical to understand that Ruth, by clinging to the God of Israel, was no longer a Moabite woman. She became a mother in Israel. The man with crushed or damaged testicles would be made whole through Yeshua, as we learn in Isaiah 56: "my salvation (Yeshua) is about to come and my righteousness (Yeshua) is about to be revealed ... and the Eunuchs who keep from defiling the Sabbath" will be considered "higher than sons and daughters" in the Kingdom of God. God has redeemed His people, even the fallen, through the blood of Yeshua. This reveals an even deeper Truth; namely, while the nations were cast away from God's grace at Babel—"strangers and foreigners with no hope," as Paul wrote in Ephesians 2—they have been brought near and made one with the nation of Israel through Yeshua's sacrifice. This is worth 7 Hallelujahs!

Yeshua taught Torah when He said: “you shall love your enemy.” See what Yeshua wrote here through the stylus of Moses: “You shall not loathe an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not loathe an Egyptian, because you were a stranger in his land.” Even their sons can enter the assembly of the people through Messiah.

There's too much to write concerning why the perception of separation between Jews and Gentiles persists, but it comes from both sides: The Jews created tradition that limits Gentile access and requires certain non-Scriptural procedures for converting to Judaism (Paul discusses this in great detail in Galatians), and Gentiles who were cowardly, inclined toward pagan tradition, or antisemitic refused to take on the Biblical commandments of God by labeling them Jewish. In Romans 11 and Ephesians 2, Paul explained that Yeshua came to make all people one in Him—that is, anyone who accepts Him as God who came in the flesh, died for our sins, and rose to pave the way for us to follow Him into eternal life. We all follow Him for salvation and glorification, by walking in the Way He walked.

This Torah law obviously applies: "When you enter your neighbor’s field of growing grain, you may pluck ears with your hand; but you are not to put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.” In Matthew 12, Yeshua and His disciples were picking the heads of grain on the Sabbath as they walked through their neighbor's wheat field, and the Rabbis accused them of doing work on the Sabbath. Based on the Torah principle here in Deuteronomy, they were not doing work nor violating the Sabbath.

Ritual prostitution and homosexuality were practices among those worshipping Baal Peor in the months leading up to Moses's sermon in Deuteronomy. This was raw for the children of Israel listening to Moses, for thousands of their brothers had just fallen in the wilderness to this deception. The LORD reminded Israel not to engage in this abominable behavior. Sadly, many in America and across the whole world have reengaged in such ritual prostitution, even bringing it to the level of religious observance. There is a whole month—June—that is dedicated to worshipping the goddess Ishtar who is behind these practices along with Baal Peor. Anyone taking part in these practices is directly rebelling against God, not just by worshipping their own sexual depravity, but holding up "Pride" as a virtue, when God has made it clear that He will resist the proud but give grace to the humble (James 4:6, Proverbs 3:34). In Romans 1, Paul said even those who approve of those practicing these things, even if they don't practice them themselves, will be judged by God. Without repentance, this judgment will be final. It is incumbent on us as Christians to lovingly rebuke anyone who says they are Christian but honor this demonic activity.

As grafted-in members of Israel, we ought not charge interest on any loan to a fellow Christian or even a non-believing Jew, but we are permitted to charge interest against unbelievers. This is a great illustration of our relationship in the world as grafted-in members of physical Israel. As members of spiritual Israel, God will judge us according to our heart's desire to keep His commandments and profess faith in Yeshua, and so there remains a judgment for the people of God. Our job is to encourage one another in the meantime to practice righteousness rather than lawlessness so that we can be counted among His people. We also ought to show compassion toward the poor among us by allowing them grace when lending to them and giving them an opportunity to work for their sustenance. Providing jobs to people in our companies, even if they have fallen short in their own lives, is one way we fulfill Torah. It is also evident that the poor must work for their wages, for even Paul has said, "If you do not work, you shall not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). This principle is laid out here in Torah.

The LORD cares for the order of the natural world. It is cruel to take both a mother and her young to cultivate a farm or for a meal, but we must take only the young when we are seeking animals for our use. The mother herself can have another brood.

The LORD cares about how we care for our property. If we build anything on our land that leads to another’s injury or death, we are responsible for that. The law is clear. Thus, we should add protective measures to our property to prevent injury or death.

Modern hygiene may make life far more sanitary, but the law of God was even more advanced than us. The LORD instructed us to bury our human waste outside of civilization so it does not make anyone sick or profane the land on which we live and worship the LORD. Perhaps we ought to consider where and when we read the Word, also?

We are not to return slaves to their masters, according to God in His Torah, but in the case of Paul and Philemon, Paul sent Onesimus back voluntarily in the hope that Philemon would be moved to free him voluntarily and consider him a brother in Messiah instead of a slave. It was a major opportunity for spiritual growth that was fully aligned with Torah, and Onesimus realized he was a slave of Christ in reality and ought to submit Himself to Messiah in all things, not concerning himself with the things of this world.

Deuteronomy 24, Deuteronomy 25, Deuteronomy 26, Deuteronomy 27

Yeshua taught us that God gave Moses the law of divorce not because he condones divorce, but because of the hardness of our hearts. This does not mean that the law of divorce is no longer valid. Rather, in this time when the hardness of men’s hearts has never been harder, such laws are sadly necessary. The Truth remains: “What God has joined together, let no man separate.” Now, “If we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Messiah Yeshua the righteous.” I know someone who married his ex-wife who had been with another man. Clearly, had he asked me advice, I would have pointed him to Deuteronomy 24. But now he has done it, and he is bound to her again.

Torah doesn't allow a married man to take another wife, so the law of taking a dead brother's wife applies to the unmarried man. However, in spirit and Truth, we ought to take care of our brother’s wife and children should he come to an untimely end. Also, the LORD desires each of us to have an inheritance in Israel, and so He preserves our name even in death. The LORD cares so much for the inheritance that a woman who grabs and potentially injures a man's testicles ought to be severely punished.

God is clear that we ought to take care of the poor and needy and not exploit their situation. We should be mindful of the needs of those who borrow from us, rather than hold things over their head. I personally consider what anyone borrows to be a gift and I never expect it back. It might be a surface-level understanding for us to leave fruit and veggies in our gardens for passers by to glean, but in spirit and in truth we ought to offer from our abundance to the poor and needy we encounter who have truly fallen on tough times. In the idea of gleaning, we ought not disregard God's commands against theft or laziness.

A newly married man ought to build up his new home for at least a year. Kidnappers and similar villains like pedophiles must die to purge evil from the midst of Israel. A proven and repentant man might be granted some community again, but not without lifetime consequences that rightly treat him with caution. Those who are proud or rebellious against God's leaders ought to be removed from the congregation for at least one week, like Miriam. We are to be merciful to those who are less fortunate than us. We ought to pay our employees and creditors on schedule and not delay what we owe. Each man will face judgment for his own sins. We ought to give special mercy to orphans and widows. We ought not take every penny from our efforts, but share profits with those who help us in our work.

The LORD wants us to celebrate with Him using our first and our best, not our leftovers. And we ought to give top quality to the poor, for Yeshua said: “whatever you do to the least of your brothers, you do unto me.” We fight our battles in this life by humbly remembering the depths from which God has raised us up. When we remember what the LORD has done for us, it is easier to believe that He will fulfill His promises in the future, and we will be victorious by the Name of the LORD in all that we do according to His will.

Remember the LORD's judgment on Amalek when we read about King Saul later. The king refused to obey the voice of the LORD in Deuteronomy 25 to annihilate Amalek in judgment against the nation's murderous heart. Amalek spiritually represents those men who hate Israel without a cause, and these will ultimately face the judgment of God.

The blessings and curses on Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerazim are historical truth. The children of Israel obeyed God in this way. In 2022, archeologists found evidence of curses written on a piece of lead on Mt. Ebal. There have also been discoveries of an altar made of natural stone that was not hewn, just as God had commanded. Just as Israel pronounced back in the day, so too is true for anyone who is in Messiah: “Cursed is anyone who does not fulfill the words of this law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’” As James wrote in the first part of his letter: “we must be doers of the Word and not hearers only.” The Word is the law given to God by Moses AND the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and He showed us how to keep His law. Both are witnesses to us, and as we know, “by two or three witnesses, a thing shall be established.” Blessed are those saints who endure by keeping the commandments of God and faith in Yeshua.

The LORD desires for us to set up memorials to remember His commandments as well as the consequences for violating them. His written Word is more accessible to us than it has ever been in human history. It is easier than ever to remember the LORD's commandments and do them, and yet our hearts are desperately wicked. The moment that we become followers of Yeshua, His Holy Spirit writes the Word of the law on our hearts so that we can follow it with the help of His Holy Spirit. God provides blessings for those who obey and curses for those who rebel. Curses come for creating idols, dishonoring parents, moving a boundary marker, misleading the blind, twisting justice, committing sexual immorality, violence or murder, abortion, and all other blatant violations of Torah.

Deuteronomy 28, Deuteronomy 29

The LORD brings the blessing of everlasting life to those who love Him and keep His commandments, but He will bring curse upon curse on the people who turn their backs on Him and His commandments. Regarding Israel specifically, the land would serve as a witness to God’s Word, whether Israel is blessed or cursed will depend on how well they obey God. We will know that God is God because of what He does to Israel according to His promises. As grafted-in members of Israel through Messiah, we too will know God’s promises are real on account of the blessings and curses He brings upon us. Judgments are meant to bring us to repentance so that we turn back to obeying God. It is Godly sorrow that leads to repentance and thus salvation through Messiah, but worldly sorrow will lead to death. We should praise God always, and bring Him sacrifices of thanks and praise, no matter what is happening to us, for this alone leads to His blessings now and eternal life with Him forever.

The blessings and curses of God apply to all of God's creation, before and after Messiah's sacrifice. Deut. 28 is a sign post for us to understand the mercy and judgment of God in our lives, because we must repent and return to Him to be blessed. In Deut. 28:63, we read: "Now just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to ruin and destroy you; and you will be uprooted from the land that you are going in to possess." This is an eternal Truth. In the same way, we read the LORD say, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" in Hebrews 13:5, and in Matthew 28:20: "I will be with you always, even to the end of the age," but He also said in Matthew 7:23: "Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness." Similar to Deut. 28:63, Yeshua said in Mt. 7:21: "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘LORD, LORD,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." We can understand that we are not under the curse if we are in Messiah Yeshua, for we read in Romans 8:1: "there is now no condemnation for THOSE WHO ARE IN Christ Jesus." But Yeshua said Himself, "If you love Me, keep My commandments," and this brings the blessing (John 14:15-18). If we don't obey, the curse results. Read 1 John 2:3-6, but especially verse 6: "by this we KNOW THAT WE ARE IN HIM." For blessing, we must keep His commandments, His Word, the love of God, and walk as Yeshua walked.

Deuteronomy 28 is truly a picture of God's mercy and His desire to bless His people, and this is evident in how hard He works to redirect His wayward ones back to Him. Judgment is meant to cause confession and repentance. He will send seven layers of judgment before He hardens the hearts of the rebellious for destruction. He is not willing that any should perish, but is longsuffering and desires that all will come to repentance (2 Peter 3). But not everyone will heed his call. Many will suffer the consequences of the condemnation they have taken on themselves by not believing in Messiah, and the disobedience that follows. "He who does not believe is condemned already" (John 3:18). Obedience necessarily follows faith, for "faith without works is dead" (James 2). The curses are meant to be judgments of warning out of God's deep love for us. We must not let His suffering and death be of no effect for us, but rather we ought to fully embrace Him and all He represents. The difference is blessings for faithfulness and curses for rebellion. This is God's economy.

Many of us are witness to the many blessings of God in our lives, and so we tell our children about them and testify to every stranger who will listen. The covenant the LORD made with Israel, He also makes with us through Messiah Yeshua, and so we have to be careful to be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves (James 1:22). Consider this warning from Moses in like manner: “Now when someone hears the words of this oath and in his heart considers himself blessed, thinking, ‘Shalom will be mine, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart’ ... Adonai will be unwilling to forgive him. For then the anger of Adonai and His jealousy will smoke against that person." We can't walk in our own wicked ways, following our own wicked heart, for the LORD has given us His Word to follow and His Way as an example. While there is much mystery in the fullness of God, He has revealed this Torah to us for our good, so that we might follow it, as we read: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever—in order to do all the words of this Torah.”

Yeshua took on the curse of the law Himself. His father and mother even took him as a young child into Egypt, something God promised would never happen to Israel unless they were living under the curse. He has freed us from this curse of the law, if we give Him our life. We are still subject to this curse when we disobey God and turn our back on Him. The New Covenant is far superior in every way to the Old Covenant, but its elements are eternal and have been replaced only by Yeshua as our way back to God, if we so choose Him, and not a false Yeshua or another Gospel. The Yeshua of the Gospel said: "If you love Me, keep My commandments." He did NOT say "because of what I did, you can do whatever you want and you don't have to keep my commandments"—this is what Satan said to Eve in the garden, and he says the same thing from pulpits at many Christian churches today. God said this: "I am not making this covenant and this oath only with you [Israel]. Rather, I am making it both with him who is standing here with us today before the LORD our God and also with him who is not here with us today." This covenant is eternal, and anyone who was a stranger and foreigner has been assumed into the "household of God" (Israel) through Yeshua (Ephesians 2). What a blessing indeed to be wiped free of the curse of the law, so that we can follow the law in Messiah and be led to everlasting life by His Holy Spirit.

Importantly, God has revealed His Torah to us. He has revealed His correction through the prophets. He has revealed Himself and the intent of His heart to us by coming in the flesh as Yeshua. He has revealed His salvation through His death and His redemption through His resurrection. While we may have many questions about the things God has not revealed yet about His ultimate plan, such as the "day or hour" of His return or what the Millennial Kingdom looks like or what the New Heaven and New Earth will be like and what we will do when we live in it, He has revealed all of these things I've mentioned, and these things that have been revealed belong to us and our children forever so that we can observe all the words of this Torah. To those who know Yeshua (Jesus), to those who truly know Him, this is what it means to follow Him and there is nothing but blessing in doing so. The ultimate blessing will be life eternal in God's Kingdom, and the joy in this is not being there but in being there with Him, the one whom we love most and above everything else in this world. Our relationship with Yeshua grows stronger with every act of obedience, because it is action that shows our love for Him.

Deuteronomy 30, Deuteronomy 31

Both in Deuteronomy 30 and 31, the LORD acknowledged His omniscience by stating His knowledge of Israel's future apostasy, which would result in judgment. The LORD also knew that Adam and Eve would sin. These two acknowledgments also reveal that God also had a redemption plan from the beginning to solve the problem. He predestined our salvation through Yeshua, who would serve as the propitiation for our sins. The LORD also knew that the misery we would experience—not because He had caused us to suffer, but because we ourselves brought on our own suffering through disobedience. He allows us to wander and experience want so that we learn to desire Him and the blessings He gives. He gives us a way back through confession, repentance and faith in His Word. In this testimony of two—our faith in the LORD and our obedience to Him—God would fully restore us and make us better than our fathers. In Yeshua, we all have an opportunity to repent and follow after Him into eternal life. How much worse will it be for those who reject Him? How much better for those who turn to Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength?

Moses commanded us to “be strong and courageous” when we face our enemies, for “the LORD your God is the One who is going with you. He will not desert you or abandon you.” He will fulfill His promises, and in fact, He has already done so within His eternal continuum that is without time or space. He commands us: “Do not fear and do not be dismayed.” He expects us to trust in Him alone, and to endure through this life until we can join Him in eternity.

The LORD calls for our repentance when we go astray. He desires our hearts and gives us His so we listen to His voice according to all He has commanded us, for when we do this the LORD will return us from everywhere we might have been scattered into His Kingdom.

Two times we read: "Then Moses wrote down this Torah and gave it to the priests ... and to all the leaders of Israel." AND "Moses kept writing the words of this Torah in a book until he was done." There are several other witnesses to this fact, but even in this testimony of two the matter is established, "for all things are established on the testimony of two or three." There was no such thing as the "oral tradition" or "oral law," as the Jews claim, and there is no other law outside what Moses wrote down in this book. Moses literally wrote down the whole Torah, and it was not written by anyone else afterward. It may have been copied later by scribes, but Moses recorded the Torah according to the Word of God. This means that the Hebrew writing actually precedes the writing of any other literary work, which is contrary to what historians claim. The Word of God is true, and it is the oldest and most accurate account of the world's history and God's relationship with man that there is. We ought to consider every Word of it as if it is life to us, because it is. Moses offered the Torah as a witness against God's people, whether they would love Him and keep His commandments and live, or choose to disregard Him and die.

The LORD prophesied right here in Deuteronomy that He would later circumcise the hearts of New Covenant believers so  we will love the LORD with all of our heart and being and live. He also said that the commandments He gave through Moses are "not too hard for you, it is not beyond your reach"—so long as He is helping. He continued, "the Word is very close to you—in your mouth, even in your heart, therefore, you can do it!" Through Yeshua, He planned to write the law on our hearts through the Holy Spirit. On the one hand we have life and good, and on the other, death and evil. He commanded us to "love Yahweh your God, to follow His ways, and to obey His commandments, regulations and rulings, for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers and Yahweh your God will bless you in the land." Yeshua said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." John wrote: "this is the love of God, that you keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome." As Yeshua fulfilled all of the commandments, He also asked us to walk in the way He walked, to pick up our cross and follow Him. We are to fulfill the commandments also, and the message of Scripture has not changed, but is consistent from the beginning to the end.

On Moses's 120th birthday, he anointed Joshua and laid hands on him to commission him as his replacement to bring Israel into the Promised Land. Joshua is a prophetic template for the second coming of Yeshua, for Yeshoshua/Yeshua will bring us into the Promised Kingdom of God. He also wrote down all the words of Torah in a book, gave it to the priests and elders, and commanded that we read it at least once every seven years to ALL of God's people. Leaders must read day and night. We must be strong and courageous in our faith, because the discouraged, unbelieving and cowardly will not inherit the Kingdom of God. God will never leave us nor forsake us. He will always come with us when we abide in His Word. Our faith requires our courage and obedience to do God's will in our lives. There will be rebellion in our lives around us, but God will indeed rescue some of us out of it and lead us back to Him through obedience to His commandments and trust in Yeshua.

Deuteronomy 32, Deuteronomy 33, Deuteronomy 34

Yeshua is our rock, His ways are perfect, and all His ways are just! I will proclaim the name of Yahweh! Declare the greatness of our God! He is trustworthy, righteous and True. Let His teachings come upon us by His Holy Spirit as rain that waters the Earth and brings forth fruit from its trees.

The Song of Moses is clear: the LORD’s works are perfect and all His ways are just. He is faithful and true. Any suffering or evil in this world is our doing, because we have not fully trusted His ways and have turned aside after false hopes and self-interests. Let us be grafted-in among His people Israel who do His will and trust in His ways, for He guards His people even in a barren land. Let us not find comfort in His blessings, but rather the occasion to offer praise and thanksgiving to the Most High, for all things that are good reflect His glory! He may bring judgment against us rebels, but He heals those of us who humbly turn back to Him. Like Moses, we won’t make it into the Promised Land in this life, but in the life to come God’s Kingdom awaits us, and those of us who endure will be brought in through Messiah Yeshua.

In Revelation 15:3, the Lord revealed that the Saints woudl sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb from Deuteronomy 32 at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. This is the day when all Saints will be raised up, whether sleeping in the grave or alive in Messiah, and the gates of Heaven will be closed to everyone else. Yeshua is the one who put every Word in the mouth of Moses, and He is the one who commanded Moses to write down the Word in Torah. And He is the one who became flesh and dwelt among us to interpret His Word through His words and actions, leaving us with a testimony of two: the written Word and His own example. This is the Rock that we can build the Lord’s House upon, for we are the Temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us when we love Yeshua and keep His commandments. His work is perfect and all His ways are just. He is a God of faithfulness, and He will save those who are faithful to Him, but destroy all those who stand against Him and His ways. Blessed be His name!

The LORD gave each nation a heritage following Babel and divided all the nations of the Earth according to the number of Israel's population; He assigned the nations each their own divine overseer—a principality, if you will—, but Yahweh Himself oversaw Israel, the least significant of all people, to make them a people unto Himself. He would come forth Himself from among them and bring the nations back to Him, sentencing the gods to die like men who failed the nations they were commanded to watch (Psalm 82). Yeshua is the judge who went down into Sheol to proclaim His victory over them, and He has triumphantly united all peoples to Himself through His death and resurrection. Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners, but grafted-in to this fertile Olive Tree through faith in Messiah Yeshua. (Ephesians 2).

The right hand of God, Yeshua Himself, brought a fiery law for us, and it burns up all that is unrighteous and purifies those who rely upon Him. May the LORD help Judah so she no longer has to fend for herself. Levi failed in his calling to teach Israel Torah, but Yeshua brought a new priesthood as the King of Righteousness and King of Peace who would elevate all the nations. May Benjamin's son Paul live securely in the eternal throne room for he truly rests between the shoulders of the Most High, and may Joseph ride on the eternal hills with the LORD's favor shining upon Him, destroying all who stand against God. Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Asher and Naftali will receive their inheritance, but Dan's prognosis does not look promising as a lion cub from Bahan, the very place where the divine overseers rebelled. As for all of Israel, God will ride on the clouds of Heaven when He returns to rescue her from the rebellion of all the Earth. Let us be counted among the Olive branches, for Israel is a people saved by the LORD, by the double-edged sword that proceeds with fire from out of His mouth, which is the Word of God. The kingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdom of the LORD and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever! Amein.

Moses gazed upon the promised land but couldn’t enter on account of His rebellion. He took credit for the work of God Himself, rather than give God the glory. If there is anything good that we ever do in this life, ALL of the glory belongs to God alone. Now Moses did not enter as an archetype so that Joshua could bring Israel in. In the same way, obedience to the law cannot save us, only faith in Messiah, for it is His grace alone that redeems us from our sin and gives us the opportunity to dwell in His Kingdom. Yet, we read in Hebrews 11:24-26: “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Messiah greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” Moses, who lived by the grace of Messiah because of his heart commitment to the will of God, will be in the promised land that God will give to all faithful servants as their reward.

According to Jude, the angel Michael contended with Satan for Moses's body, and Michael won. God Himself buried Moses in an unknown place. Until Yeshua, there would not arise another prophet like Moses whom the LORD knew face to face, with all the signs and wonders the LORD set forth before Him in the sight of all Israel. Moses appeared at the Transfiguration with Elijah alive in Yeshua. Let us not forget the testimony of two needed for our endurance as Saints: obedience to God’s commandments and faith in Messiah. Moses is an example to us in this life of what it means to give up everything we have to follow Messiah. We won’t receive our reward in this life, but in the eternal Kingdom that awaits us in the world to come.

To the LORD this creation is but seven days and our lives just a moment. We ought to number our days because once they are gone so is our opportunity to serve and know God. May we grow a heart of wisdom, taught by God to Moses, and keep faith in Messiah Yeshua so we can endure in the life that is everlasting.  May our work be established before the LORD for His glory.

Joshua 1, Joshua 2, Joshua 3, Joshua 4

Joshua was commissioned to replace Moses as the mediator between God and man, and God advised him that Moses had died gazing out on the land he would never step foot in—not a day in his life. While Moses had fallen short, he remained faithful to the LORD all the days of His life, knowing that this life was not His end goal. In Hebrews 11:26, we read, "Moses regarded disgrace for the sake of Messiah as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward." His reward will not be given apart from us on the Last Day, but he indeed ran the race all the way to the end. We look up to Him as our model: keep your head down, recognize this life does not have any reward for us, do what the LORD requires, for the next life is our reward.

Joshua’s Hebrew name is Yehoshua (יְהוֹשׁוּעַ), the long-form of Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ), the name of our LORD Jesus. It is not a coincidence that Yehoshua brought Israel into the promised land in a miraculous way, for in a similar miraculous fashion, Yeshua will bring His people who trust in Him and keep the commandments of God, into the Kingdom of God. And then we will watch the LORD defeat His enemies in battle.

Just as the LORD was with Moses, so He would be with Joshua, and so would He be with us, so long as we heed these words: “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the Law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may achieve success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” This is a commandment, not a suggestion. The cowardly will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:8). We must be bold in our faith for the LORD!

Joshua would take Moses's position as mediator in Israel, and he would be the one to bring Israel into the earthly promised land. The early days of Israel's conquest are prophetic for the Last Days when Yeshua will lead us into the eternal Promised Land and destroy the spiritual hosts of wickedness for once and for all. There will be people in the world, like Rahab and her family, who align themselves with God and therefore become a part of Israel in the eternal Kingdom, but the great majority of the world will be destroyed when the end comes.

Rahab the prostitute is remembered in the Hall of Faith of Hebrews 11. Though a Gentile sinner in a heathen village, she saw what God did for Israel and she believed. Her faith set her free from her sins and allowed her to be grafted-in as a daughter of Israel, just as our faith in Yeshua does for us today. She didn’t just believe, though. She acted out her faith by providing for the people of God and doing what she could to protect them from the tribulation of man. She kept her word and lived according to the Truth from that point forward.

When judgment looms on a land, as it did on Jericho, the people of the land know it is coming in the same way we might still ponder our future right now in America. It's a false hope to think God will redeem a nation that has turned its back on Him. He won't. In the midst of our coming judgment, we must be like Rahab and cling to the LORD, doing His will in all things, even it means risking our own lives. We must be prepared to bring everyone into our household—the church—so that when judgment comes, we will be brought out as a part of Israel. When God is in our midst, because we love Him and keep His commandments, there is nothing that can stand against us. We will pass through impossible boundaries to make it into His Kingdom, because the LORD has said He would do this for His people at His appointed time.

The waters parted for Joshua just as they had for Moses. Israel set up a memorial on the other side, which stood for some time to remind the Israelites what God had done for them. We have similar memorials throughout our country, some of which the enemy has recently torn down. The memorial itself is helpful while the people remain godly, but they lose their effect when parents do not teach their children the commandments of God. Thankfully, mine taught me, and now that I am older, I will not depart from them, so help me God, but look around. How many are there? Despite the formidable enemy mounting all around us, and the hatred that will come our way on account of the name of Yeshua and God’s commandments that we guard, we must follow Yeshua out onto the waters and watch them part before us. Just as the Jordan River didn't part until the Levites stepped into the raging stream, we can’t walk on water until we take the first step outside the boat. We MUST step out in faith FIRST before the LORD will come into our midst and do His mighty work. We MUST surrender to Him in faith before He will deliver us. The LORD requires that we prove our faith through action, and then He will fulfill His promises.

The Ark of the Covenant went first into the river with one man from each tribe and it came up last out of the river. The LORD will be the first and the last, He will lead us forward and He will be our rear guard. The LORD commanded Joshua to set up a memorial so the children of Israel would remember what He had done for them. Every memorial that we have in this life should be a remembrance for the LORD, and we should create such memorials only at His command. Anything else is an idol. The people crossed the Jordan on the 10th of Aviv/Nisan, which is the day the Lamb ought to be inspected prior to Passover. This is the day Joshua was considered the ruler of the people, and likewise Yeshua will be held up high as the ruler over Israel when He delivers His people into the Kingdom of God.

Joshua 5, Joshua 6, Joshua 7, Joshua 8

When Yeshua brings us into the Promised Land, the enemies will hide in caves and say to the mountains, fall on us, just as you see the Amorite and Canaanite kings doing. When we are brought into the Kingdom, the LORD will provide His people with the full measure of His Holy Spirit, fully circumcising the flesh from our hearts for the last time, just as Israel circumcised their men upon entering the land. Any remaining sin will be cut away. The Marriage Supper will be both a Sabbath and a Passover, on the very same day, "a High Sabbath," and every time we celebrate Passover and the weekly Sabbath we look forward to it. The Sabbath Passover of Israel when they came into the land prophetically points to this day. The following day, the day after the Sabbath—a Sunday—was the first celebration of Firstfruits, when Israel ate the fruit of the Promised Land. Yeshua was raised from the dead on Firstfruits, for He is the Firstfruits of the Resurrection. We will celebrate Firstfruits in the Kingdom as the first day of eternity. The manna stopped when the people ate the first bread from the land, just as our reliance on the promises of God will be fulfilled on our first day in the Kingdom. We will forever be with the King from that point on.

Let's further consider how the fall of Jericho is a prophetic template for the Last Day. See Rev 11, particularly verse 15: "Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our LORD and of His Messiah; and He will reign forever and ever.” The two witnesses who had been slain are led into the Kingdom first, and then all of the Earth is wiped out, leaving behind only those who worship the LORD. In Joshua, the two witnesses went into the city to remove Rahab and the assembly she had gathered, then grafting them into Israel. Rahab is recorded in Matthew 1:5 as the wife of Salmon, mother of Boaz, grandmother of Obed, great-grandmother of Jesse, and great-great grandmother of King David. His seed would never die out, but He would always have a king on the throne of Israel. This King, who endures forever, is Yeshua. Yeshua, who is prophetically foretold in Joshua, will return to lead His people into the Promised Land, to miraculously pass over an insurmountable barrier between Heaven and Earth with all of the people of Israel, and to bring out everyone who belongs to Israel from the world before destroying the world and bringing in the Kingdom of our LORD.

Israel celebrated Passover when they first came into the LAND, which is something foretold by Yeshua at the Last Supper (a Passover Seder). He said, "for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Lk 22:18). The fourth cup of the Seder is the cup of the kingdom, and the prophetic template for God's kingdom had come. The marriage supper was foretold by this Passover celebration outside the walls of Jericho. We will eat the Passover supper in the Kingdom with Yeshua right before He comes to destroy the world and bring in His Kingdom. He stands ready, with the double-edged sword, outside the city, ready to lead His army to burn up all who do not keep the commandments of God and have faith in Him. He gave no partiality to the man Joshua and the people of Israel when He approached them, answering the question, "are you for us or against us" with a "No." He is only for those who follow Him—those who forsake everything else besides Him. With His sword, He will separate "soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow" for He "is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). All who come before Him will bow down and say, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD God Almighty!"

And to be clear, while Joshua prophetically points to Yeshua, the Commnader of Yahweh's armies IS the pre-incarnate Yeshua. This Angel commanded Joshua to worship Him (to take off his shoes). This is the Angel Who would lead the battles against Jericho and Ai, and the Angel Who would defeat Israel when anyone within the camp sinned against the LORD. This is a lesson we need to understand. We cannot allow sin to fester within our Sacred Assemblies or even in our hearts, or we will not have success in our battles for the LORD. Sin must be identified and dealt with. The LORD used Israel to bring judgment on the people of Jericho, and such judgment was absolute. Anyone in the city who had not followed Rahab and her family in faith to worship God would need to be destroyed, and so would all of the material things in the city. Anything of value would be preserved for God, and for God alone. What Achan did can be likened to the sin of Lot’s wife. They looked back. They considered the things of the world more important than obedience to God. For this, death was the only consequence. We cannot love God and mammon.

Circumcision was a sign for the Old Covenant, which is not the same thing as the law. The men entering the promised land needed to do this thing to show their commitment to the law written on stone, and there in the land after two victories, Joshua read the whole law of Moses that was written on stone a second time so that they could all hear it. In the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit circumcises our hearts, and receipt of the Spirit is the sign of the covenant. It is a seal that guarantees that we are counted among the people of God, and the law of Moses is also written on our hearts. The written letter certainly does kill the one who sins and violates it, both then and now, but the Spirit, which cuts the sin out of our lives, also helps us to sin no more when we pursue the LORD’s will in all things with all of our hearts. Keeping the law, as interpreted in Spirit and Truth through the prism of love, modeled by Messiah Yeshua, ought to be our greatest desire. To follow Torah is to follow Yeshua.

Jericho was a fortified city with some of the best defenses and armies of people that Israel destroyed with ease with God by their side, because they were obedient to the voice of the LORD, but Ai, a small little hamlet with no defenses was able to destroy the men of Israel because one man within the camp had disobeyed God. This is how seriously the LORD considers sin within the Body of believers. The sin must be removed, or the rebellious one's sin will begin to spread like cancer. This is why God does not tolerate a Church that tolerates sin. A lawless church will begin suffering at the hands of the enemy. Paul wrote about this at the end of Rom 1, particularly in verse 32, where we read about those "who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things [rebellious sin] are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." Achan had rebelled against the commandment of God, and because of this, all of Israel failed to stand against the enemies of God. So too we will fail to drive out powers and principalities of darkness and the bondage that holds us when we tolerate sin. Paul instructed us in 1 Cor 5 to "put away from yourselves the evil person." This was Achan.

Prophetically speaking, the destruction of Jericho took place during the Feast of Yom Teruah—the Day of Shouting or the Day of Trumpets. At the Last Trumpet, the Kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of the LORD and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever. The world will never be rebuilt in the way it was before its final judgment, but now it will be refreshed and inhabited by God's people forever. The New Jerusalem, which represents God's Church—His people Israel—will descend from the Heavens and inhabit the New Heaven and the New Earth forever and ever. The King Yeshua will be known throughout the whole land. The Trumpet will not be blown until the appointed time, and no one knows the day or the hour when the New Moon will be sighted, calling in this Most Holy Day. Those who have the mark of God—who are written in the Lamb's book—will be brought into Israel forever to be with the king, like Rahab the Harlot and her household, who was redeemed by God, and all who knew the LORD was coming but did not change course to align with Him will be destroyed. The final judgment of God will be upon the world and His wrath will destroy all who oppose Him. That is what the fall of Jericho prophetically represents.

Joshua 9, Joshua 10, Joshua 11

In Deuteronomy 20:10-13, the LORD made His law known about how to approach certain nations around them: "When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it. And when the LORD your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword." We can see both of these realities play out in the people of Gibeon, who made peace with Israel and became servants, and the people of the other nations, who made war with Israel and were therefore anihilated. With most of the Canaanite nations, Israel removed the memory of the people from off the Earth. But when a people submits to God and His people Israel like Gibeon, they are welcomed in to serve Him as grafted-in servants among the rest of the nation.

That being said, when Joshua allowed Gideon to live without consulting the LORD, he created a stumbling block for Israel. While the LORD had commanded Israel to rid the land of all of its inhabitants, Israel was now bound by oath to allow some of them to live. The LORD will use this for good, as He later said in Judges 3:1-3; He left some of the peoples alive to test Israel and train them up for war. We still have Satan's demons around us now for the same reason, to test us, and to train us up for war, so we can fight on the LORD's side with confidence and trust in Him, and He can include us in the final battles leading up to His Kingdom. Those who fail to stand in trust with the LORD amidst these spiritual hosts of wickedness will not make it, for the cowardly will not inherit the Kingdom of God. We have to stand firm against these forces of wickedness, with all trust in the LORD that He will deliver us.

Joshua 9-11, while truly historical writings, are also a prophetic template for the Last Battle when Yeshua will return and destroy all of His enemies on the Earth. Just as Joshua's call for the sun to stand still for a whole day came to pass, Yeshua will destroy all of His enemies on the Earth in a single day—the Last Day. All of the kings of the Earth will conspire against Yeshua and His armies, but they will fall altogether—the King will simply open His mouth and speak the Word of God, and all who are not aligned with it will be burnt up at once. Just as the LORD sent giant hailstones to destroy the enemies of Israel in these battles, so too will God send great hailstones as one of His great plagues against His enemies on the Last Day. And the people of God will have peace on the earth forever more. There are many references in Revelation to this day, so it is helpful to review it while studying Joshua.

Joshua and all of Israel at the command of the LORD destroyed all of the giants of Canaan and the human men who had defiled themselves completely in total opposition to God and all of His ways. The prophetic template "Day the Sun stood still" illuminates the extraordinarily long Last Day, which will enable all things to be accomplished that the LORD desires. One day in Heaven is like 1,000 years on the Earth, according to 2 Peter 3. Joshua/Yehoshua, a prophetic template for Yeshua, was completely obedient to the LORD God and fulfilled His will, cleansing the Promised Land from evil, just as Yeshua will burn up all evil on the Last Day, coming on the clouds with thousands of His Holy Ones. Gideon is a template, like Rahab, of those Gentiles who graft themselves into Israel as servants to the LORD. They will become a part of Israel and inherit the land right alongside their new brethren. When the LORD is on your side, the enemy stands no chance. When we act according to the will of God, all will be accomplished in His name. Praise and glory be to His mighty name Yeshua!

Understand that God brings judgment on unrepentant and persistent sinners, and for more than 400 years covered by storytelling, we hear that the Canaanites grew worse and worse to the point they were aborting their children and sacrificing them to idols, committing witchcraft and sexual immorality. They were so bad that even their children had become depraved and were committing abominable acts. Frankly, they were doing what you see going on in America today, and without full repentance, we will see the same end unless we repent and come to the LORD for mercy like Rahab or like the Hivites. As you read in Romans 1, God will harden the hearts of those who have already chosen to rebel against Him so that He can show other people what will occur if they do not stay away from sin. And Israel was obeying God, executing His judgment on this evil land. The prophesy of Balaam had come to pass: “blessed are those who bless Israel, and cursed are those who curse Israel.” The Hivites acted shrewdly and were rewarded for their willingness to serve God’s people. All the kings and people who came against Israel, no matter how fortified their armies, were utterly destroyed. Israel’s sword was God’s judgment that came down upon them.

Joshua 12, Joshua 13, Joshua 14, Joshua 15, Joshua 16, Joshua 17, Joshua 18, Joshua 19, Joshua 20, Joshua 21

Oh how I truly wish I had time to investigate the true history of Joshua 12-21; the history of the people groups that lived before Israel destroyed them and the symbology of their names, and the significance of each of the named 31 kings. There is so much meaning here, so much understanding. God willing, the day will come for further study.

12-13: Israel defeated 31 kings in the Promised Land because the Canaanite nations had mixed with the giants and had learned to worship demons. The LORD desired to utterly destroy such a perversion of His creation, just as He had done in the flood and just as He will do again at the End of Days. The LORD, while explaining that several peoples remained in the land, told Joshua that he should allot the land to the tribes so they could simply walk into those lands and possess them. This was a promise of God. All Israel had to do was obey for certain success. The LORD said, "I Myself will drive them out from before the sons of Israel." All we have to do is step out in faith, and we too can make demons scatter, because the LORD is with us.

Ultimately, the LORD will drive out His enemies from the Earth, and Yeshua will give an inheritance to all of His people, whether Jew or Gentile. In the Kingdom of the LORD, which is Israel, the LORD Yeshua said He would prepare a place for us among our brethren, for the LORD is the inheritance of all who call upon His name and keep His commandments. We read in Ezekiel 47:22 this prophesy: "It shall be that you will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who dwell among you and who bear children among you. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel." He has gone to prepare a place for us among the children of Israel. And yet, there remains among us chaff that will grow up next to the wheat we produce. It would actually be destructive to the wheat to tear out the chaff ahead of the harvest. Just know that the day will come when the chaff will be burned in the fire and the wheat will be collected into the barn, and that barn is Israel, where the LORD dwells.

14-15: The story of Caleb showcases the true faith of a man and the faithfulness of God. Imagine being Caleb, a man who believed in God's promises and believed Yahweh had given the Promised Land to Israel, but who had to suffer 40 years in the wilderness with all of his brothers and sisters who doubted the LORD. I imagine the enemy came to Caleb and tried to convince him to give up his faith as he watched his entire generation die, but Caleb never gave up his faith. He endured until the end. Now, 40 years later, he was 85 years old and he so believed in God's promises that this Jew asked Joshua for the most difficult land of all to conquer. He sought to go up into the fortified mountain cities of the Anakim, who were giants, so he could drive them out of the land. Like Yeshua said, with faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. Can wee be as humble as Caleb, who said: "Perhaps Yahweh will be with me, and I will drive them out, just as Yahweh has spoken.” If we can have this same faith with this same humility, we will have the same results: "Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he followed Adonai the God of Israel fully."

The sons of Anak were giants; their mothers were human and their fathers were rebellious watchers. They were the very reason God called Israel to cleanse the Promised Land. Their pedigree and their influence on the Canaanites had to be annihilated, because they were directly in rebellion against God Most High. Now 85 years old, Caleb went up to these fortified heights and took them from these powerful giants, because the LORD was with him. The best land in all Israel now belonged to the man with the best faith, and this is a lesson for us that we cannot miss. Matthew 11-12 comes to mind, for Caleb had been persecuted for his faith, but his reward was great in the Promised Land. Even more so, Matthew 6:19-21 comes to mind, for Caleb didn't store up treasure in Egypt or the wilderness, but desired the Word of the LORD, and he was thus rewarded according to that Word.

Likewise, Caleb's younger brother's son exhibited faith alongside him, and went up to take the land next to Hebron. Caleb gave his daughter to the man who stood up with him in faith. His daughter asked for land with water, and Caleb granted it to her. The LORD Yeshua said, ask anything in my name and it will be given to you. When the church asks for living water, the Holy Spirit of Truth, the wisdom of God, and we pursue it with all of our hearts, it is granted to us. This is what's going on here on a prophetic level.

The tribes of Judah and Benjamin failed to drive out the Jebusites from Jerusalem, but King David would later do this. Ephraim would fail to drive out Canaanites from Gezer, where they became forced laborers. There were other communities that didn't get taken in the initial conquest, but Joshua assured the tribes of Manasseh, for instance, that all they had to do was go and take the land and Yahweh would give it to them. The LORD later said he left some of the people among Israel to test them, to know if they would keep His commandments or not. Through testing, the LORD understands whether our hearts will remain with Him or whether we will fall away from Him and trust in demons, instead.

16-17: I perceive a little bit of entitlement coming into play from the children of Joseph, whose father received a double inheritance, and this is a lesson for us as Christians. We ought not take for granted the grace we have in our salvation through Messiah Yeshua, for we too receive a double inheritance. We are saved from the condemnation of sin here and now and given the Holy Spirit as a down-payment of our eternal reward, and if we endure in faithfulness by walking according to Torah in the same way our Master Yeshua fulfilled the Torah, then we will receive eternal life and rewards of many treasures in the life to come that we could only dream about here in this place.

Our job as Christians is to fulfill the Great Commission, to make disciples of all people, to baptize them as willing disciples for Yeshua, and then to teach them the commandments of God from Torah so they can keep them. To do this, we have to clear the forest of the Canaanites with their iron chariots, which are the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age, the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, through our "ministry of reconciliation," which is to bring all whom the LORD provides to us under the authority and in faith to Yeshua. Joseph's children were warriors, and so they were given this land where they would need to do battle. We are called to be warriors, and to do spiritual battle for the LORD day in and day out, even going up to the very gates of Hell at Bashan and proclaiming victory for our LORD Yeshua, provided He sends us there.

18-19: God forbid this question is ever directed toward us: “How long will you be slack about going in to possess the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you?" Here is the commandment that God has given us from Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Doing the will of God in our lives is a matter of faith. If we believe in Yeshua—in what He has accomplished for us as well as what He has promised—then we ought to do as He commanded, which is to go forth and make disciples of all people groups, to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to teach them the commandments of God so that they too can do them. The LORD will be with us always, even to the end of the age. "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Galatians 6:9).

At Shiloh, Joshua sent seven more tribes out to map out their inheritance, and then all would be perfect. The children of Israel obeyed the LORD through Joshua at this point. They were living in the Promised Land and conquering it, just like the LORD had said they would. How could they not believe the MOST HIGH who delivered on all that He said he would do. Simeon, Benjamin and Dan received smaller inheritances. Simeon was ruthless with his brother Levi, who did not receive an inheritance except the LORD Himself. Dan had to fight to obtain more land, and yet he is not named in Revelation among the tribes inheriting the eternal Promised Land. We can see a prophetic template here of the tribe's ultimate demise. Benjamin was humble, the youngest, and the father of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. Much more could be said. For now, we should take note of these chapters for they are reference points for all the rest of Scripture and will help us understand.

20-21: Joshua, who like Caleb was given a city for his inheritance among his tribe Ephraim, fully executed the commandments of the LORD by appointing territory to each of the tribes of Israel; appointing cities of refuge in Kedesh, Shechem, Kiriath-arba (Hebron), Bezer, Ramoth and Golan; as well as appointing 48 towns and surrounding pasture lands for the Levites spread throughout the entire kingdom. The spread of the Levites like this sets a Biblical precedent to have local synagogues, perhaps in every city, to serve the people according to the Word of the LORD. In Titus 1:5, the Apostle Paul relatedly told his disciple, "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you..."

With the cities of refuge, the LORD established a justice system to prevent sin. Clearly emotions run hot in the midst of a life lost by accident. The LORD allows refuge for the unintentional manslayer to prevent sin from multiplying into even more sin. In the city of refuge, a manslayer would await trial, and only with two or more witnesses could they be judged guilty of murder. The LORD had already commanded that His people refrain from bearing false witness. If everyone were to obey God’s commandments, the guilty would be properly punished by death and the innocent would be restored. Our justice system used to work like this and there was much less sin then.

It interests me that the LORD made a special mention of the cities of refuge again. Justice is so important to the LORD that He makes special provision for the innocent so they are not punished for unintentional sin. Any of the falsely accused should take note that God is looking out for them and ultimately God’s justice system is all that matters. Consider the hardships of Paul and the other Apostles in the New Testament. They counted it joy to be punished for crimes they didn’t commit because they knew God had a city of refuge prepared for them in Heaven.

When we read that the LORD gave rest all around, fulfilling His Word, we ought to note this purpose for the Book of Joshua. When we pray, we can look back to Joshua to see: “Not one good thing that the LORD had spoken of to the household of Israel failed to happen; it all took place.” This is also true for us. When we look to Jehoshaphat’s prayer in 2 Chronicles 20, Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9 and even the LORD’s prayer in Matthew 6, we can see how each prayer begins by praising God and all of the things He has accomplished for His people. Each of these prayers continue by stating in faith all of the things God has promised to us. It is this type of faith in Yeshua’s accomplishments and promises that gives us strength to face the challenges and spiritual battles in our lives. The LORD will do all that He has promised at the appointed time for those who love Him and therefore do what He has commanded. When we ask for the LORD’s will to be done in our lives, He will answer our prayers according to His will to accomplish His purposes. His will is always best and worthy of praise, even when we don’t understand the steps to get there.

Joshua 22, Joshua 23, Joshua 24

Today we see the implementation of memorials, which are not idols but reminders, so that Israel would not forget God and His commandments as the generations passed. God had implemented tzi-tzit (fringes) as a memorial in Num 15, so that all who follow God would remember to keep His commandments in the face of pressure to walk away. Still, these memorials ought to put us on guard, as we see exhibited by the majority of Israelites when their brothers across the river erected a replica of the altar to remind them of their unity with Israel under God. The thoughts and intents of their hearts was not worship, but remembrance. It's hard to pass our faith on to the next generation, but pass it on we must, and any way we can think to teach God’s commandments to our children is good, so long as God is the only one we worship in the name of Yeshua.

And so, we see here that a replica of the altar is an acceptable witness as was the memorial stone Joshua set up—these memorials help remind the people of their covenant with God. This is the spirit by which any image of anything in Heaven or on Earth may be made. However, the moment an image like this is used for prayer, ceremony, or worship, it is an idol and it must be destroyed.

The LORD said: “I gave you a land where you had not worked and cities you had not built, and you live there. You eat fruit from vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’ “Therefore fear the LORD, and serve him truly and sincerely. Put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD! If it seems bad to you to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you are going to serve! Will it be the gods your ancestors served beyond the River? or the gods of the Emori, in whose land you are living? As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD!”

This passage can be spiritually interpreted so that we also hear the LORD saying: I came in the flesh and taught you how to live by My Word and My example, and I died sinless on the cross to free you from condemnation, and I rose from death to my place at the throne in Heaven to make a way for you to obtain eternal life; therefore put away your own practices and your own thoughts and your own ways and follow Me by keeping My commandments, My Word and My Way so you may live. As for me and my house, we shall serve Yeshua!

Before he died, Joshua gave Israel the covenant that we must all partake in: “Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.” This is no different than Revelation 14:12, which commands the saints to endure by keeping the commandments of God (fear the LORD) and the faith in Yeshua (serve/worship Him in sincerity and truth). We must cast off our pagan ways to do this, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinth 10:21: “You cannot drink the cup of the LORD and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the LORD's table and of the table of demons.” Joshua’s words here are echoed in Yeshua's great commission in Matthew 28. In Joshua, we read: “choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served … or the gods … in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.” We must teach the Gospel, baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teach (and keep) the commandments of God.

We also see that Joshua wrote down the words we’re reading and added them to the Torah, just as Moses had written the Torah. He wrote: “And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.” It is important to note that the Torah and Book of Joshua are a memorial to God’s Truth, which we must live out by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is our instruction manual for life, though we cannot and should not only read the letter literally. While these things did literally happen historically, we must read the Spirit of the law, understanding the lessons of Truth that God has preserved for us. There is no oral law, no Catechism, no Commentaries, and no Talmud that can ever teach us the Truth like the words in this Torah, which spiritually includes Joshua. We must always put the Word of God first whenever we are attempting to understand the will of God. He has promised those of us who believe to bring all things to remembrance that we need to live.

After many years in the land, Joshua brought the congregation together and reminded them of their history concerning how the LORD had been faithful to them and their fathers since the time God called Abraham out of Babylon. He exhorted them that they must worship and love Yahweh alone, for this is the first and greatest commandment the LORD gave us. He reminded them to remain separate from the pagan world around them. He reminded them that if they compromised their faith, the LORD would turn His back to them. All of this is also true for you and me in our relationship with Yeshua. Joshua died at 110 and Israel remained faithful to Yahweh until the second generation out of Egypt all died. How quickly generations can fall away from the LORD without diligence to teach our children the Truth with confidence, priority, and sincerity. And so let us turn from our wicked ways to follow Messiah Yeshua without compromise, and teach our sons and daughters to do the same.