2025 Early Biblical Accounts

2025 Early Biblical Accounts

Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Genesis 3

The Word of God made the heavens and the Earth and all that are in them, and this Word became flesh as the Seed of Adam that was promised to reverse the curse put on Man on account of sin. In Isaiah 46:9-10, we're instructed: "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,’..." The light of God, which is His Word, was also available from Day 1, and the darkness could not overcome it. NOTE: "God saw everything that He made, and behold it was very good." There was no sin or death in God's creation, there was no suffering, no persecution, and no pain. It was a perfect garden in which Mankind walked with God and had dominion over the Earth. How long did this last? Some say 33 years, to match the life of Messiah Yeshua. Regardless of this unknown, the story is told and we must understand that God is good, He is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

God rested on the Seventh Day—"rested"—a "Shabbat (שָׁבַת)"—the very first Sabbath. From that day forward, every seventh day—the Day of the LORD set apart as holy for Him—has been remembered by God's people. God planted the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden as an act of love. God knows the end from the beginning, and so He knew the redemption in Messiah Yeshua would come. He also did not want His people to blindly follow Him. These trees represent the free will given to Man as an act of love by God. God wants us to choose a relationship with Him rather than force us to be obedient slaves. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13, "love does not force its own way." The Garden was planted in a part of Eden, because it was Adam's job rule over the Earth; he was to cultivate the land that was not cultivated and become a co-creator with God. In other words, he was called to share the relationship of doing the will of God with others who would come after him. Eve came from Adam, and thus man and woman exist as one flesh, a complementarian relationship where both are equal in God's eyes but fulfill unique roles. They were naked but not ashamed, which is the state of innocence clothed by God's righteousness.

The Nachash (serpent) was shrewd—a Beast of the Earth—a sorcerer who distorts and a liar, who kills, steals and destroys. Later Bible passages explain. Rev. 12:9 indicates he is also known as the Dragon, the Adversary (Satan), or the Devil. You can see that this Adversary to God and Man worked in the very beginning in the same way he still does; namely, seeking to cultivate a group of people who would worship him instead of God. To accomplish this, he simply needed to convince man to sin against God's law, and he did it by deceit: "You will not surely die." God's Word said that indeed, sin leads to death. To obey God's Word is to worship God, and to disobey God's Word is to worship Satan. In the Devil's deceit and usurpation, he literally stole dominion of the earth from Adam that only Messiah Yeshua would restore. Eve was promised a Seed who would redeem Mankind. Adam was told he would have to make things right with difficulty, by repenting and turning back toward God. When he went out to sow the seed of the Word, he would face both thorns and thistles, which are demons and false prophets. It is difficult to break through that noise, but this is the task given to Man, now outside the garden but aiming to return by God's grace.

Genesis 4, Genesis 5, 1 Chronicles 1:1-4, Genesis 6

Following Cain's birth, when we read Eve say, "I have acquired a man from the LORD," the word "from" is not in the original Hebrew, which reads, "(קָנִ֥יתִי אִ֖ישׁ אֶת־ יְהוָֽה)," Kaneti Ish et-Yahweh. The word "et (אֶת)" is not meant to be translated. "Et" makes an important syntax notation that the subject "Ish (Man)" is directly tied to the object "Yahweh (God)." Why translators added the word "from" is unknown, but the original Hebrew literally says, "I have acquired a Man Yahweh." This is significant. God had given Eve the promise that her Seed would redeem mankind, and indeed Yeshua would do this, but Eve mistakenly believed that Cain would be the Messiah. More importantly, this is the first proof in Scripture that the Messiah would be God in the flesh. Now, perhaps, we know why the word "from" was incorrectly added to the sentence? It's interesting also that Eve recognizes that Cain is not the Seed/Messiah after he murdered his brother Abel, because she declaratively said, "For God has appointed me another Seed in place of Abel—since Cain killed him.” Now, she understood that Seth would be the Seed, or at least the one whose progeny would bring Messiah about. Men began to call on the name of the LORD in Seth's day. He was a godly man.

In Cain's story we have several lessons to glean. We have to be mindful of our heart toward our brothers, because, yes, indeed we are our brothers' keepers. Additionally, we do not want to allow the sun to go down on our anger, but rather we ought to master our emotions so we do not sin. The flesh is warring against us, constantly seeking to pull us away from the Way (the doorway), but we cannot allow ourselves to be pulled away. Why didn't God enjoy Cain's gift? I think it was because he gave it "in the process of time," rather than giving God his first and his best. We ought to give God the first and best of our increase. These laws of God are eternal, established even as early as the first generation. Cain continued to sin, not receiving the forgiveness of God. Abel's blood cried out from the earth, just as the souls cry out from under the altar of God in Revelation 6. Those who do the will of God and are persecuted or martyred for it will receive a special place in God's kingdom.

The written account of Adam (genealogies) provides evidence that indeed Adam himself wrote a part of our Scripture. His family history tells the story of the coming Messiah. Adam (אָדָם) meaning: Man, Seth (שֵׁת) meaning: Appointed, Enosh (אֱנוֹשׁ) meaning: Mortal, Kenan (קֵינָן) meaning: Sorrow, Mahalalel (מַהֲלַלְאֵל) meaning: The Blessed God, Jared (יָרֶד) meaning: Shall Come Down, Enoch (חֲנוֹךְ) meaning: Teaching, Methuselah (מְתוּשָׁלַח) meaning: His Death Shall Bring, Lamech (לָמֶךְ) meaning: The Despairing, Noah (נֹחַ) meaning: Rest, Comfort.

In brief, Man appointed mortal sorrow; the blessed God shall come down teaching; His death shall bring the despairing rest and comfort.

What a beautiful story God tells us in so many layers of His Word.

As far as Methuselah is concerned, the flood began at his death. Noah was called out to be a shepherd to teach the Truth of God's Word so others could be saved. Only his sons and wives heard the voice of God through his words and entered the door of the Ark, which is Yeshua. The fallen elohim (divine beings) had taken human wives and taught their children things from the spiritual realm that God did not intend for Man to know. They were spreading throughout the earth bringing great evil in those days. The Book of Enoch explains the details of this history, and I highly recommend giving it a read. These fallen beings didn't just affect their own fate or that of their forbidden wives and children, but they also impacted all of Mankind. God noted: the thoughts and intents of the hearts of men was only evil continually. God help us, for Yeshua said the Last Days would be like the Days of Noah. I pray that the LORD helps us to endure in our faith, despite all of the many hardships that will certainly come. I pray we are humble enough to submit to God so we too can go through the Door when Yeshua returns to bring us Home. Noah had 120 years to prepare and to preach. We do not have that long. How urgent is the call to repentance!

Genesis 7, Genesis 8, Genesis 9, Genesis 10, 1 Chronicles 1:5-23

Noah took 7 pairs of clean animals and 1 pair of unclean animals onto the ark, making a clear distinction. Animals that could survive off the ark were not brought on board. 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.

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. May we all choose repentance according to God's will! 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.

God shut Noah and family onto the ark, and once more God will decide when the grace offered through Messiah Yeshua is no longer available to us. We have an urgent faith, for no one knows the day or the hour. 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 when Yeshua returns and judges all, separating the sheep from the goats (both clean animals). We must prepare our hearts by keeping the commandments of God and the testimony of Yeshua, for this is the Way in through the narrow gate today. If this day you hear His voice, harden not your hearts. The goats will say LORD, LORD, but He will say, "I never knew you" and the door will be shut even as the foolish virgins approach without enough oil for their lamps. Let us be like the wise virgins who not only produce fruit for God's Kingdom but also endure in our faith during times of trial and tribulation, which presses those olives into oil for our lamps. The story of Noah ought to remind us of this more than anything else, for this is what Yeshua said to remember about this story.

The story of redemption is also explained here by parable. On the ark, Noah sent out a raven the first time, which "kept going to and fro until the waters dried up from the earth." Note in Job 1:7, Satan reported that he had been “going to and fro on the earth..." When will the waters dry up? Noah sent the dove out 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, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but 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 demise in Genesis 3. Also, there was no place yet to establish His dominion on the Earth. When Noah sent the dove out the second time, it brought back a freshly plucked olive leaf in its mouth. When Yeshua returns, He will bring His people Israel, those who have the testimony of Yeshua and keep God's commandments, back into His Heavenly abode to celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and then the wrath of God will completely remove all sin from the Earth. It is only when Noah sends out the dove the third time that she does 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 New Jerusalem descends from the heavens and God and the Lamb forever provide its light.

Genesis 11, Genesis 12, Genesis 13, Genesis 14, 1 Chronicles 1:24-27

Genesis 11 is extremely important 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 these rebellious spirits 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.

But God has always called a people to Himself from among the nations, and at this time the LORD would call out a portion for Himself from the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It wasn't Abraham's genealogy that made Him special, but his heart condition. When the LORD called Abraham to abandon the pagan ways of his fathers and rather take up the Godly way of his ancestors Noah and Shem, he obeyed the LORD by faith. The LORD intended to make Abraham into a great nation through the promised Seed/Messiah, on account of his faith. It was the faith that would create the great nation, not the genealogy, for many men would come from Abraham who would further rebel against God. Just think of Esau as a prime example, or even many among the children of Israel. Additionally, note from Genesis 13 yet another division of the land. When Abraham and Lot's people and herds became too large to cohabitate in peace, Abraham gave Lot the choice of which land he desired. Lot chose what appeared to be the best land, fertile land, land that would give him much prosperity, but instead it was full of heinous sin. Think of the lukewarm Laodicea from Revelation, a people who perceived they were rich but were instead pitiable, blind and naked.

Lot indeed suffered greatly from making this worldly choice, and was taken captive by the enemy even, but Abraham the man of God went and pulled him out of the fire. As part of this deliverance mission, Abraham indeed offered up a tithe of his increase to a pre-incarnate Messiah-like figure named Melchizedek, the king of righteousness and the king of peace. Abraham had not only settled on the less attractive land, but the text describes that "Abram moved his tent from place to place." Hebrews 11 explains that Abraham sought a Heavenly city whose builder and maker was God rather than any earthly paradise. We ought to emulate this faith. Abraham went down to Egypt even to avoid a famine, describing his wife as his sister. This was not a sin, for his wife indeed was his sister in the faith, and indeed she was also a half-sister. Remember that there were not all that many people back then, and those people who were living were separated by 70 languages, so such relationships were necessary. Pharaoh was the one who almost sinned by adultery, but God sent plagues upon the Egyptian king in prophetic reference to the later experience of Israel in Egypt. Also, Abraham, like Israel would later, plundered the Egyptians through his life-preserving maneuvers.

Genesis 15, Genesis 16, Genesis 17

The LORD is our shield and great reward. Our faith in Him and His promises redeems us and guards us from all condemnation, and an intimate relationship with Him is our greatest reward. How could we ask for anything if we have such intimacy? Abraham asked for an heir, which was not an unreasonable request—I once asked for the same, and God delivered threefold. Abraham's most important heir would be Yeshua, for indeed all who have faith in Him will become luminaries in the heavens, and the multitude of redeemed brothers and sisters will be just as numerous. It was because Abraham understood spiritually that from Him would come the promised Seed and all of His offspring that his faith was counted as righteousness. In other words, He had faith in Yeshua and this justified His soul. 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.

Sarah doubted the LORD's promise to give Abraham a son through her, and so she suggested her servant, perhaps even in frustration. A woman of 90 years old who had not yet conceived would have to be very tired of hearing that she was going to bear a son. Her predicament gives more fullness of meaning to the phrase: "Wait upon the LORD." How long do we wait for God's deliverance before we grow weary? Can we even hold a candle to the light of Sarah's patience? But it was not Sarah's sin to make this suggestion to Abraham regarding Hagar; rather, it was Abraham's role to reject Sarah's suggestion as unlawful and he failed his wife as well as God here. In fact, we all suffer the consequences of this sin. Nevertheless, God forgave Abraham and He also watched over Hagar, who suffered unnecessary burdens on account of the rivalry that Abraham's actions caused. Again: How important it is to wait on the LORD?!? God will always fulfill His promises, though it might take longer than we might expect or desire. Like Hagar, we might be off by ourselves caught up in our deepest woes of life when the LORD comes looking for us—to redeem us. Let us be as astute as she to recognize His hand in those moments.

And so the LORD returned to Abraham 13 years later and explained that Sarah was meant to be the one who bore the promised Seed. Note the LORD's first challenge to Abraham: "Walk before Me and you will be blameless." It wasn't enough for Abraham to simply believe the LORD, but He also had to be sanctified so he could become more like the image God had created Him to be. The covenant of circumcision was established to symbolically represent the cutting away of the flesh from our lives—our fleshly desire, thoughts, and self-directed errors—so that we could receive the Holy Spirit's direction. Abraham wrestled with the LORD's pruning at first, asking the LORD to bless the errant work of his own hands. The LORD confirmed that He would indeed work all things together for the good for those who love Him, and who are called according to His purpose. Ishmael would be used as part of God's plan, but Abraham would still need to repent. By circumcising his flesh and the flesh of his men, Ishmael included, Abraham showed that he was willing to do even the most painful things that God had commanded him to do because he trusted the blessing that would come from such obedience. Now Abraham would be ready to see the birth of God's promised miracle.

Genesis 18, Genesis 19, Genesis 20, Genesis 21:1-7

Abraham's hospitality toward the LORD 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. By the end of today's reading, we understand that God indeed fulfilled His promise to Abraham at the appointed time. Isaac, the promised Seed, would indeed bring laughter into Sarah's bosom.

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. 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.

Lot, for his own part, showed evidence that Abraham's deliverance earlier had set him on the path of life. The hospitality he showed God's messengers was very similar to that which Abraham had exhibited earlier. The messengers even advised Lot to go and spread the Gospel to his son-in-laws, and he obeyed, but they didn't take him seriously. Judgment is coming upon the world, so the call is urgent to trust in Yeshua and follow Him in all His ways. How many scoff at this today to their own destruction? Lot's wife looked back at her life in Sodom and desired it, even as she was being saved. Yeshua warned us to remember Lot's wife. If any of us think more highly of our former life before knowing and following Yeshua than the life we have in relationship with Him, we will likewise not make it into the rest the LORD has allotted for us. When God's messengers 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, flee from the world that is perishing, for your God is offering a new life everlasting with Him.

Lot's daughters had picked up too much from the city they fled from. Though Lot had dragged them out of destruction, they had not yet adopted their father's faith. Their sins brought about two nations that were by-in-large slated for total destruction, with only a handful of exceptions. This is evidence that a father and 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. The text makes it clear that Lot did not know that his daughter's had done this to him. I wonder if they departed from him or whether he died before he even found out? We are not told.

Abraham again had to hide his wife from the people around him. Sarah must have been exceedingly beautiful, even in her old age. The LORD delivered Sarah to her husband and Abraham again prospered from the repentance of a Gentile people around him.

Genesis 21:8-34, Genesis 22, Genesis 23, Genesis 11:32, Genesis 24

In Galatians 4, the Apostle Paul explained that Hagar was the wife representing the fleshly path, while Sarah was the wife representing the Spiritual path, and it's true that Sarah would never have even borne a son had it not been for the supernatural power of God. She was menopausal. It was necessary for Abraham to send away that son that he acquired through his own effort (and God would provide for Him here in this world), while embracing the son that God gave to him and to all of us to be a prophetic sign for the coming Seed/Messiah of the Most High God. God would provision this Son and His offspring for eternal life.

In settling his dispute with Abimelech, Abraham offered a flock of sheep and cattle so he could enjoy the well of living water that he himself had dug. This is an example of how we ought to love our enemy. Even though he now purchased the well twice—first through his labor in digging it and a second time with his sheep and cattle—Abraham still lived as an outsider in the land, because he knew his eternal home was in the Kingdom of God.

Perhaps because of Abraham's past failings or to determine whether his faith was true, God tested our Patriarch by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac, his miracle son. In Hebrews 11:19, we learn that Abraham obeyed, considering that God was able even to raise Isaac from the dead. But did God ever intend for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on a pyre? Though we can't be sure, I believe God is consistent in His Word and never intended this. Just as Jephthah in Judges 11 didn't actually sacrifice his daughter as a burnt offering but simply consecrated her to a life of prayer, so too was Abraham commanded to dedicate Isaac as a prophetic patriarch for the people of God. To make a burnt offering, as we learn in Psalm 141:2, Revelation 5:8, and Revelation 8:3-4, is akin to prayer to the Most High. Did Abraham, recalling his pagan upbringing, misunderstand? Next, in another prophetic nod to Yeshua, Isaac dutifully went along like a lamb being led to the slaughter until God stayed Abraham's hand and provided a ram for the sacrifice. Despite the misunderstanding, God was certain that Abraham would do whatever was commanded of him and for this God renewed His promise with Abraham and greatly blessed both father and son. We ought to model his faith.

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. 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.

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. One day, He will fully crush these gates when He raises the dead, some to the resurrection of everlasting life and others to the resurrection of everlasting condemnation, and death itself will be defeated forever. The myriads of Saints who would be called the children of Abraham are those who keep the commandments of God and their testimony concerning Yeshua, just as Abraham himself did. These will inherit the Kingdom of God.

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.

Genesis 25; 1 Chronicles 1:28-34

Abraham indeed was a father of many nations, but only through Sarah was born Isaac, from whom would come Jacob/Israel and the Promised Seed. Isaac received the birthright and the inheritance of Abraham. Through Hagar, Abraham fathered Ishmael and his 12 sons. Through Keturah, Abraham fathered 16 nations, including Midian. Prior to this, Moab and Ammon came through Lot. Afterward, Edom would come from Esau.

It's interesting that Rebekah was also barren at first, but Isaac prayed to the LORD to open her womb and the LORD answered that prayer relatively quickly (20 years). Had Abraham failed to pray for Sarah? It's unclear from the text concerning Abraham, but one thing is certain: Isaac prayed and God opened Rebecca's womb.

Note that Jacob and Esau were twins inside Rebecca 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.

The LORD's Word spoke to Rebecca the prophetess and told her: the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob). It was the Word of God—not Jacob, nor Esau, nor Isaac, nor Rebecca—who would determine the fate of these two people groups. Jacob holding onto Esau's heel prophetically signals the coming Messianic age that will follow the age of this world in the flesh.

Genesis 25:27-34, Genesis 26, Genesis 27, Genesis 28:1-5

Jacob, following up on the prophesy of the LORD to Rebecca, sold a one-time meal to Esau for his birthright. In doing this, Esau "despised his birthright" and, in turn, Jacob cherished it. We have to be carful 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 would 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. The answer was still "no." He lost out.

Next, Isaac went to bless Jacob, believing he was Esau. Rebecca, in obedience to God, commanded his son Jacob to receive the blessing from Isaac, and Jacob rightly obeyed his mother. Isaac was wrong in his desire to bless Esau—he knew God's prophesy through his wife. He was acting presumptuously, which is sin, because he enjoyed Esau's game. Rebecca showed us that it is right to obey God and not man when the two commands contradict, even though the consequences may bring persecution. She was a righteous woman without sin in her obedience to God over her husband. Jacob was also righteous in obeying his mother who was obeying God. He took what was already his; indeed, what had already been sold to him. His brother Esau was a scoundrel—a thief, even—in seeking the blessing even though he had sold his inheritance. He had the idea that you could live like hell and still inherit heaven. This is not possible. The lawless will indeed be cast off, and even Isaac recognized this as Esau mourned before him, begging for a blessing. Isaac explained that the blessing had been rightly given to Jacob. He even confirmed it later before sending Jacob off to get a wife from Laban. Esau had taken wives from the pagans, deeply troubling his parents.

When the text says Isaac trembled exceedingly, it is a testimony of two indicating that he "charad (חָרַד)," which is to shudder with fear or terror, including the fear of God or a reaction to a divine encounter. In other words, Isaac was rebuked by God in his encounter with Jacob, who had been sent in by his wife Rebecca the prophetess, and Isaac knew it. This was not trembling with anger that we should be reading here in the text; rather, it is trembling in fear of God. He repented! This is why we say we worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and not the God of Abraham and Jacob. Isaac was the only one in the wrong here for trying to bolster his son Esau who was stuck in a life of lawlessness. Read Romans 1, particularly the end of it. Those who approve of those who practice lawlessness are just as guilty as the lawless themselves; they are just as doomed for destruction. Thanks be to God for Rebecca and Jacob who were able to pull Isaac out of the fire and lead him to repentance.

Earlier, we can see the Philistines had filled in Abraham's wells, just as demons will work overtime in our lives to quench the Holy Spirit's guidance of our path in Messiah Yeshua. Pay attention to how these wells were filled in with earth. We quench the Holy Spirit by filling in our thoughts and actions with worldly affections. Isaac, as a true prophet of God, had re-dug those wells as we too must go out and ensure the work of the enemy is undone. By doing this, he was rejected by the king of the Philistines and sent out. I think of Paul in Acts 16 who was beaten and imprisoned after removing an evil spirit from a slave girl. By staying around to preach the Gospel, he also saved the prison warden and his whole family. Even still, the leaders made him leave the town. God's people don't have room among pagans; they don't want to hear the truth. But Isaac continued to dig well after well for the living waters to flourish—though with controversy at every stage—until eventually he found a place to build around living waters. Eventually the Philistines came and made a covenant with him, hoping to avoid destruction at the hands of God. This was akin to confession and repentance. God took ground for His Kingdom through Isaac's journeys.

Genesis 28:6-22; Genesis 29; Genesis 30:1-24

God Himself blessed Jacob with an inheritance; now both Jacob and His Seed would receive the same blessing as Abraham and Isaac. Those who bless Israel would be blessed and those who curse Israel would be cursed. Jacob, for his part, desired nothing more than food, clothing, and safe passage along the Way. He has a pure faith and desired to give God his first and his best.

Laban was a scoundrel and tricked Jacob into working for him for 20 years. Even after Jacob labored for Laban's daughters and paid for his dowry and possessions with 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.

The LORD saw Leah, the one Jacob did not desire, and blessed her greatly, while he withheld fruit from Rachel's womb until much later. The LORD did not care for this rivalry between Leah and Rachel and His eternal law indeed prohibited 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.

Genesis 30:25-43; Genesis 31; Genesis 32:1

God favored Jacob who humbly served Laban for 20 years, despite Laban's deception and harsh treatment. 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.

Genesis 32:2-33; Genesis 33, Genesis 34, Genesis 35:1-27

When Jacob went up to see Esau, he feared the prospect of his brother coming with 400 men. The last thing Esau said regarding Jacob was his intent to murder him, and now this might take place. From a human perspective, Jacob had every reason to fear his brother Esau's intent, but from a spiritual perspective his fear was misplaced. God had commanded Jacob to rise up and bring his family and possessions to Canaan, where God said he would bless him. This was a matter of faith. Why would God send Jacob to his death when He was very clear that blessings would come from obedience. Jacob would have to wrestle with this doubt, and in fact he did wrestle with God while he slept. We all must do this at some point in our walk. God says one thing, but our human desire is to do another. We are ALWAYS in the wrong when we do this. Yes, Jacob prevailed in His wrestling match, but that doesn't mean that his position of fear prevailed. In fact, Jacob would not let God go until He blessed him. In other words, Jacob would not abandon His prayer until he knew that God was going to fulfill His promises. God prevailed in this match, and Jacob simply overcame his own human weakness. He became Israel, a man who strives after God, and so too should we.

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. Even Yeshua Himself said we must be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jacob was living this out. When the two brothers met, Esau's desire for earthly riches was fulfilled, even though he feigned denial. Esau was embarrassed by his brother's kindness; probably because his intent was to murder Jacob with his 400 men. He showed his brother affection, but this was a veiled attempt at manipulation. Esau was still vying to reclaim what he lost. When Esau asked his brother Jacob to follow him, he was attempting to reclaim his birthright and take his brother off the right course. When Jacob politely declined this coup attempt, Esau even offered to leave his men with Jacob. For what end? It was about control, and Jacob wasn't having it. Jacob indicated he would travel at his own pace along his own Way, which was the Way of Messiah Yeshua. No other way would do for the man of God. He went to a place called Sukkot, because like Abraham and Isaac, Jacob didn't seek a permanent dwelling in this life but looked for the Kingdom that is coming.

When Jacob and family settled outside Shechem in their tabernacles, he paid for the land with 100 pieces of money. This is a lesson that we ought to give to Caesar what is Caesars, and give to God what is God's, so to speak. There is no reason for us to be assuming 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.

Dinah found herself overcome by the pagan nation and she fell into captivity by it, but Simeon and Levi's approach to bring violence against the world was not righteous. Jacob was working on a slow conversion, despite the wrong done to his daughter, by asking the men of Shechem to be circumcised. Circumcision is a sign of cutting away the flesh. Just read Romans. Paul speaks about this very thing as the Way of Christ. 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 strongly rebuked his sons and even 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: absolutely! Judah received first born status because of these three rebellions against Jacob. This is how seriously Jacob considered these sins against God.

When God called Jacob to come to Beth-El, He instructed Jacob to make an altar to the God who appeared to him on his way to meet Esau. That God was Yeshua, the visible manifestation of the Most High, and the altar was to be a place of worship and prayer. We can see here that the name "El" is associated with God Most High the Creator, and many anthropologists are confused by this, but they shouldn't be. It's important that Abraham called on the name of "Yahweh El Olam," or "Yahweh God the Eternal One" in Genesis 21:33, and Jacob worshipped the same God of His fathers Abraham and Isaac. Yahweh is literally a verb that means "He who is." 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 simply verb form; it's "I am" verses "He is." We call Him Yahweh as a description of who He is. Thus, El is Yahweh, and Yahweh is El, not to be confused. More importantly, when Jacob called for His family to worship God, he said very importantly: "get rid of the foreign gods that are among you." \

This is truly a critical point not to gloss over: "Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Cleanse yourselves and change your clothes." The word here is "Elohe (אֱלֹהֵ֤י)," which means "god of." It's a derivative of "Elohim," which refers to either "gods" in the plural, or the magnificent ONE God that is "Yahweh El Olam," who is manifested as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The phrase, then, "get rid of the foreign gods" is literally, the gods of "נֵכָר nekar," or the gods of foreigners or heathens. These foreign gods were "תָּוֶךְ tavek" or "among" them, as they are also among us. These divine beings are real and they are 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 has been a calling for all of God's people from Adam to today. The second commandment is that we do not create an image or form by which to worship God. Jacob knew this commandment and instructed his family to worship God Most High alone, who is the one who appeared to him and even wrestled with him, the same God of his fathers. When we cleanse ourselves, we can only do this through the blood of Yeshua, who redeems us from all of our sin. When we change our clothes, we put on the righteousness of Christ. This is the only way we can appear before God Most High to worship Him, and Jacob teaches us this very important commandment.

Genesis 36:1-43; 1 Chronicles 1:35-54; 1 Chronicles 2:1-2;

While there are anthropologists 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. The Bible offers what is most likely 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. The questions this prompts me to ask are these: How can I grow closer, become more pleasing, and develop a deeper understanding of the one I love?

Genesis 37; Genesis 38; Genesis 39; 1 Chronicles 2:3-6, 8

Jacob's book focused in on Joseph, his son, because the prophet knew that his son's life would be a template for the life of Yeshua the Messiah, the step-son of Joseph. He also told of Judah, for similar reasons, for Yeshua the Messiah would also be the son of David, who was the offspring of Judah. Joseph's life reflected that of the suffering servant, who never failed to serve God even when falsely accused and thrown into the pit. We won't see the culmination of Judah's character until later, but even this part of his story recognizes Tamar, a mother of the LORD, who was wronged according to God's law regarding widowhood. The LORD saw to it that she would give birth to Perez, an ancestor of our LORD. Joseph himself was a prophet like his father Jacob, and his dreams foretold the future when all of his family would bow down to him as king. He might not have understood his prophetic dreams at the time, but Jacob kept them in mind and when they ultimately came to pass, he praised God. Joseph never lost faith, regardless of what happened to him. He lived as a man of sorrows, but ultimately this humbled man would be highly exalted.

Genesis 40; Genesis 35:28-29; Genesis 41

Joseph continued to be an interpreter of dreams, a prophetic gift from the LORD. We have to be careful with dreams. 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.

Joseph continues to serve as a prophetic template for Yeshua. In the pit, He was "crucified" next to two other prisoners, one who was given hope for his humility and the other who was condemned in his pride. It's a picture of Yeshua's crucifixion next to the two thieves. Later, Joseph was risen up from this "grave" and elevated to the second highest position in the land, and the whole world came to him for deliverance, just as Yeshua now sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for the sins of the whole world. Let us come humbly before Him and trust in His mercy.

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.

Genesis 42; Genesis 43; Genesis 44; Genesis 45:1-15

There is a special point in the text that 10 of the brothers went down for grain in Egypt, and the number 10 is significant here. 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 them 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. We must sacrifice ourselves for the benefit of others.

In the story's fullness, Judah showed us why he was given the 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. It’s important to look past the worldly aspect of the story to understand the spiritual message, but even in the worldly element there is Truth. Jacob’s favoritism in this story has a purpose but also makes sense. Rachel was the wife he chose. Leah was not. God gave Leah blessing because she had no choice in the matter and she dutifully served her father and husband’s will, even though she was unloved by them both, and in doing this she and God were united in love. But Jacob isn't errant, but rather dutiful. He was tricked into marrying her, but cared for her anyway. In any case, Joseph and Benjamin were the children of Jacob’s true love, and this sets up the spiritual interpretation.

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.

Genesis 45:16-28; Genesis 46; Genesis 47:1-27

Israel was given a special set-apart land to live in while the Egyptians were made servants of Pharaoh, because of the work Joseph did to save all the lands from death. Likewise, Israel is set apart for the LORD, because of the faith God's chosen people have in Yeshua, and if there is any other people who persist they shall become servants. We must be grafted-in to Israel through Yeshua to be given the fat of the land, which is the Kingdom of God.

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.

The Egyptians despised shepherds, who represent those who spread the Gospel. This verse sets up Egypt to be symbolic for the world and Goshen as the Heavenly City of New Jerusalem. We ought to strive to be pilgrims in the world, like Jacob, striving only to enter the Heavenly City to be with Yeshua and those who love Him. Also, we can be in the world but not of the world, just like Israel in Goshen.

Genesis 47:28-31; Genesis 48, Genesis 49, Genesis 50

There's so much prophesy in these last few chapters. Jacob and Joseph both desired to be buried in the Promised Land knowing that they would then be awakened in the land upon the resurrection.

Jacob offered Joseph a double portion of the inheritance through his sons Ephraim and Mannaseh.
 
We see Jacob grammatically refer to God as One with the Angel of God, showing us that our pre-incarnate Yeshua was present and even redeemed Jacob from his sins. Jacob blessed his grandsons referring to three manifestation's of God's power, showing us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Jacob's blessings for Joseph and Judah were very positive in referring to the Messiah who was to come two times, first as the suffering servant and next as the conquering king. Jacob's blessings for Benjamin seem to prophesize the Apostle Paul, who devoured Christians in the beginning, but shared all of his bounty (the grace of Yeshua) with them in the end.

Joseph's brothers feared retribution, which made Joseph mourn their fear and doubt. His mercy was confirmed for them and he comforted them after the loss of their father.

Job 1, Job 2, Job 3, Job 4

Job was a righteous man who did not sin against God in any meaningful way. Now granted, there is no man without sin and we all fall short of God's glory, but that's not what happened here with Job. It's important to recognize Job's righteousness here, which God points out by His own Word, because what it means is that God allows calamity to fall on the righteous. According to Hebrews 12, He does this to test us, because He considers us His sons, to bring us even closer to trusting in Him. Throughout the entire book of Job, this man passed the test and ended his life righteously also. As we read through this book, please note that Job's friends know God's Word, but they grossly misinterpret it. The ratio here is worth noting, for it may just be that one out of every four men who love God are actually understanding His Word correctly, but we shouldn't be so formulaic with God's Word. James 3 says, "Not many of you should become teachers..." This is more along the lines of what God's teaching us here. James 3:1 applies to Job's friends, who fancy themselves Bible scholars, but they receive a strict judgment because they simply get it wrong. We should be careful discerning what is true or not from what they say. They are usually off.

Job twice passed the test, even in the midst of severe emotional trauma. Imagine losing all you have and your children and your health. This is tribulation beyond imagination. And yet He praised God, saying, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. Adonai gave and Adonai has taken away; blessed be the Name of Adonai.” Can we give God glory even in the mist of our "First World Problems"? When we lose a job or our house? When we get into a fight with our spouse, or worse? Yes, even if we lose a child? Can we still praise God like Job? We must! Think about this from God's perspective, if that is even possible. God was not hesitant to take everything He had given to Job away from him. Everything! Except his life. God regarded Job's soul as worthwhile to test, because He knew Job's heart and knew that Job would give Him glory. He also knew He would bless Job abundantly for his faithfulness. Job didn't know this relative to this life, but he had faith in the everlasting life that would come after. His faith was so strong, there was no doubt in Him about the goodness of God. We really need to meditate on these things. God's goodness has nothing to do with what He gives us in this life. We must understand that God's goodness transcends this life and this world. His goodness endures forever, and we might endure with Him when we trust in Him.

I can't even imagine how much Job's wife must have been grieving over the loss of her children and the state of her husband. Perhaps we can empathize with her. We probably should. That empathy MUST end; however, when it comes to her statement to her husband, which actually could possibly be one of the most evil statements recorded in the whole Bible. She told her husband: "Curse God and die." She may as well have said "Go to hell!," and meant it. You can't possibly say something more horrible to another person. God have mercy on her soul! Job responded to this evil with grace by literally calling his wife back to sanity. “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Should we accept the good from God and not accept the bad?” He didn't call her a fool. He said what she was saying was foolish. He was right. Without repentance, she would be doomed, but Job was calling for her to confess sin and repent. He was giving her the Gospel. And then he asked her a question to ponder; whether we should not "rejoice always" and "pray without ceasing," whether in the midst of the worst trials of life or great blessing. Both are from God and both ought to lead us closer to Him. Job didn't only NOT sin, he showed us how to correct someone in error.

Job 5, Job 6, Job 7

Eliphaz offered one piece of wisdom in the midst of his insults, and this is the Truth: “Behold, happy is the one whom God corrects, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He inflicts pain, but He also binds up; He injures, yet His hands also heal” (Job 5:17-18 TLV). It's a hard saying, but consistent with Scripture. One has to be a man seeking the Truth to hear and understand this saying.

In the midst of complete misery, Job pleads with the LORD to take him out of it in whatever possible way, including death. He offers up an important inquiry: "Teach me, and I will be silent; explain to me how I have been wrong." A specific answer to this question would warrant repentance, but there are no specifics that follow. This is one way we discern that our suffering is not on account of judgment. The LORD is quite specific when He rebukes us for wrongdoing, but general suffering without reason is from the enemy. Job is experiencing the latter kind. He asks further, "Why do You not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity?" Indeed, the LORD would do this very thing, as Job later realizes in answer to this inquiry. See Job 19:25.

Job 8, Job 9, Job 10, Job 11

Allow me to illustrate how Job's friends are in complete error in their thinking, while Job, on the other hand, is not:

In Job 1:8, God said, “'Have you considered My servant Job, that THERE IS NONE LIKE HIM ON THE EARTH, A BLAMELESS AND UPRIGHT MAN, ONE WHO FEARS GOD AND SHUNS EVIL'?" To reiterate: God said this directly in His Word that Job is BLAMELESS and UPRIGHT/RIGHTEOUS!

In Job 8:1, Bildad said: "If you would seek God and plead with Shaddai, if you are pure and upright, even now He will awaken for you and restore your righteous abode." Really? There is nothing in the Word of God within context that supports this.

In Matthew 5:45, Yeshua said, "For [God] makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." In Hebrews 12:7-8, we read "If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons."

In Job 8:20, Bildad said: "Surely God does not spurn the blameless or strengthen the hand of evildoers.” This is just Scripturally false.

Solomon bemoans the fact that God does this very thing in Ecclesiastes 7:15: "I have seen everything in my days of vanity: There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, And there is a wicked man who prolongs life in his wickedness."

Job said the same thing in Job 9:22: “It is all the same, therefore I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’”

Remember Ezekiel 14:14. Job is named as one of three righteous men who would be preserved from judgment amidst the masses of unrighteous men facing judgment.

Here's the reality of Job's heart that we read in Job 9:2-4: “Truly I know it is so, but how can one be righteous before God? If anyone wished to contend with Him, he could not answer Him once in a thousand. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and come out whole?”

Even though faced with complete and total nonsense from Bildad, Job answered with humility and praised the glory of God! How could anyone resist God, the one who created us and literally exists as the very definition of love? We ought to emulate our brother Job, who understands the proper relationship with God, as we see here in Job 9:32-35: “For He is not a human being, like I am, that I could answer Him, that we could go to court together. There is no arbitrator between us, who could lay his hand on us both; who could remove His rod from me, so that His terror would not frighten me. Then I would speak and not fear Him —except it is not so with me.”

Job's only thought is to ponder the reason for God's testing. He wants to understand. It is hard to bear, harder than anything any of us can imagine. Few of us have lost like Job has. He ponders: "You know that I am not guilty, yet there is no one to deliver from Your hand?" But he responds with the right, humble heart that we all ought to possess: "If I am guilty, woe to me! Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head."

Zophar simply repeated Job's questions with an accusatory tone.

There is one key scriptural principle to reemphasize relative to the book of Job: It is sinful to accuse people of sin and look for a reason for their suffering and not find any. This generalized accusation is what the devil does, and it’s what Job’s friends are doing also—perhaps inspired by the accuser. On the other hand, it is righteous act, and—in fact—spiritually necessary to correct people who are indeed sinning (see Ezekiel 33, for example). That is an act of love that leads to repentance and reunification with the spirit of Christ.

Job 12, Job 13, Job 14

What a rebuke: "Without a doubt you are the people and wisdom will die with you!" Job is basically telling his friends that they are the ones (their type) who will crucify Messiah Yeshua, who is Wisdom personified. On account of unwarranted accusations, the people nailed Him to the cross. Just like Messiah Yeshua, this righteous Job had become a laughingstock. But they don't know what they're doing. Yeshua said, "forgive them Father, for they know not what they do." Job will ultimately pray this very thing. "Those whose feet slip" (fall into sin) indeed have "contempt for calamity," for they don't understand that God uses all things for good. Those who are secure in God understand that His hand holds us up and allows us to slip; He both destroys and rebuilds, and builds up but then tears down. In all this we ought to trust God and walk in righteousness like Job rather than stagger around in the darkness of sin and misunderstanding. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:14-15: "we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—"

It's possible for us to misread Job's dialogue in Chapter 13 as contending with God, but this is not the point. Job is simply saying that he desires for God to judge his friends' accusations against his righteous way of life.

Check out this parallel: Job said: "If only you would keep completely silent! For you, that would be wisdom." Solomon wrote in Proverbs 17:28: "Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive." Clearly, this is directed at his friends. The very next thing Job says to them is this: "Hear now my argument; listen to the contentions of my lips," and then: Will you speak unjustly/deceitfully for God? In Wisdom, Job then asked a series of rhetorical questions, the regular M.O. for Yeshua: "Would it turn out well if He examined you?" The answer is "yes" if we can answer like Job: "Even if He slays me, I will wait for Him;..." Job knows He will be vindicated by God. He has faith to go along with His righteousness. We too ought to be confident in our redemption and then follow up on it with obedience. And, we also ought to constantly search ourselves so that we might remain in alignment with God's Truth, as Job does here: "Show me my transgressions and sin."

Our lives are so short, as the writer of Hebrews explained (9:27): "...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,..." Job agrees: "do You fix Your eyes on such a one and bring me for judgment with You?" "No one can make oneself pure before God," he writes, and adds: "Man dies and is powerless." Thank God for our Redeemer, who lives! He is the answer to this problem. Job knows it as we'll later see this later in Job 19:25, but here he prays as we should also: "conceal me until Your wrath has passed! Oh that You would set a time for me and then remember me. If a man dies, will he live again?" Read Psalm 27. Job's words also align with the Gospel. It's all here. He knows the answers are "yes, and amen." We wait for our relief in Yeshua. Job said, "You will call and I—I will answer You." Do we answer the call? Job concludes: The LORD "will long for the work of [His] hands." He knows the LORD will come for His faithful and righteous servants and offer redemption. He concludes: "For then You will number my steps; You will not keep track of my sin; my transgression will be sealed in a bundle and cover over my iniquity." He plead for the LORD to give Him hope, and indeed the LORD would provide hope in Yeshua.

Job 15, Job 16, Job 17, Job 18

Eliphaz has the heart of a Pharisee, saying to Job: "You even do away with reverence and hinder devotion before God. For your iniquity prompts your mouth and you choose the tongue of the crafty." The Pharisees said to Yeshua in Mt. 12:24: "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Ba'al'zebub, the ruler of the demons.” In Mt. 15:2 they said: “Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?" Here's the point: It is not irreverent to question God with earnest prayer, so long as we never doubt His sovereignty and His love for us and we maintain our trust in Him and walk in His ways. Job was not wrong in anything he did, but rather righteous in His trust of God, but Eliphaz is holding him to the errant standards of men.

Eliphaz's rhetoric to Job is telling: "What do you know that we do not know? What do you understand that we do not understand?" If Job was not humble, his answer would be: "EVERYTHING!" In 1 Cor. 1, Paul explained: "God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence."

Job says regarding the enemy (Satan): "He gnashes at me with his teeth; my enemy looks at me with daggers in his eyes." And so we know that these words are also directed at Satan: "Surely now He has exhausted me; you have devastated my entire household." We can conclude, then, when Job explains "People open their mouths against me," he refers to his friends who are also empowered by the voice of Satan. When Job says, "He has made me His target; His archers surround me," this makes me think about Paul's counsel in Ephesians 6:16: "above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." Job does just that—his faith in Yeshua the Messiah is clear. We read: "Even now my witness is in heaven, my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend; as my eyes pour out tears to God; he contends with God on behalf of man as one pleads for a friend." Job knows Yeshua and he knows the Gospel! His faith is sure.

Job continues in C17: "My spirit is broken, my days have cut short, the graveyard awaits me. Surely mockers are with me, my eyes must gaze on their hostility." After explaining the majesty of His creation, God said in Is. 66:2: "But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My Word." God said He would look at men like Job for redemption by His grace. Consider also the power of Job's statement relative to "mockers" and its wider implications: Ps. 35:16: "Like the profane mockers in feasts, they gnashed their teeth at me." 2 Pt. 3:3: "knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts," Ps. 1:1: "Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;" Proverbs 1:22: "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?" Prv. 3:34: "Surely he mocks the mockers, but he gives grace to the humble." Yes, Job is up against those who are perishing, but his great desire is not to spurn them but pull them up out of the fire so they can repent and walk with God. This is the battle all men of God face.

Because of Job's understanding of the battle, he asked God: "Make then a pledge for me with You." God indeed answers Job and gives him grace through Yeshua, and because of the grace God gives Job answers correctly: "But the righteous one holds to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger. “But turn, all of you, come now! I will not find a wise man among you." Because of grace, we must repent and follow God's Way, which is His law.

Bildad the Shuite wonders: "Why are we regarded as beasts and stupid in your eyes?" This is the same exact thing that unbelievers say to Christians today; things like: Why do you hate me? Why can't you just accept my lifestyle? What makes you think you're so much better than me? The answer to this is simple: We don't hate you, but we can't accept your lifestyle because God has said in His Word to follow His way, and that is the Way we follow. If you confess your sin and repent to walk with God, you also will be blessed by the grace of the eternal One!  But woe to those who call evil good and good evil, for they will indeed perish with the wicked.

Job 19, Job 20, Job 21

Job is clear: Our chastisement and difficulties are on the Earth, but our lives on Earth are  not what we ought to concern ourselves with. Despite any hardship we face here, we know, like Job, that Yeshua lives. He was resurrected from the dead. Our faith in Him gives us the promise of Eternal Life, when we follow Him in all of His righteous ways and do the Word, rather than just hear it. Job said: "I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end, He will stand on the earth." This is Yeshua and only Yeshua that He is speaking about. He also understands proper eschatology: "Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes, I and not a stranger." Paul wrote the same thing in 1st Corinthians 15:42-44: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." If we keep the commandments of God, we will stand before Yeshua forever and ever, because following the laws leads us to Christ, who has redeemed us from our sins.

Zophar focuses in on the wicked, and their end in judgment, so Job replies that his focus is on the wrong plain. Both the righteous and the wicked will face trouble in this world, and both will face blessing. Our station in this life is irrelevant for our eternal destination. The troubles we face here or lack thereof does not speak whatsoever about what will later happen to us. Both will sleep in the grave and await judgment. Job declares rightly: "Do you not recognize their accounts that the wicked are spared for the day of calamity that they are brought to the day of wrath? Who declares his conduct to his face?" Yeshua is the answer to this question. Yeshua, by His Word, will judge us all. By His SWORD, that comes out of His mouth, He will divide the righteous from the wicked.

Job 22, Job 23, Job 24, Job 25

The LORD tests the ones He loves, like Job. When we have a heart that loves Him and trusts Him, we will come out as gold through the fire. God's Word is life to us and it does not change, and God does everything perfect according to His purposes, which are always good. How could we not fear Him from our imperfect standpoint?

As Solomon wrote in Proverbs 25:2: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out.” We may be in the dark when it comes to God's will and purposes, but when we search for Him we will find Him when we search for Him with all of our heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

While ultimately those who seek God will be preserved, the wicked will be destroyed.

Job 26, Job 27, Job 28, Job 29

Job asked, "Whose spirit has come from your mouth? 1 John 4 reads: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God...." While Job has said, "I know that my Redeemer lives," his friends reject this idea. Thus we know that Job is true, but his friends speak with the "spirit of error." And while we might know God, like Job, we can only imagine His glory and fall short.

Job asks rhetorically, "Who has deprived me of justice?" Surely not the LORD, he says, for he will not set aside his integrity and he will maintain his righteousness. The enemy of God will dwell in unrighteousness, but what hope do they have in such a choice? The unrighteous will be judged by the sword, which is the Word of God. Upon the resurrection, all will be lost for such a person. The East wind will come as a judgement upon him or her, for the LORD Himself will come from the clouds in the East.

The fate of man is to explore, to work in the midst of gloom and despair, attempting to restore things to order, and he searches out hidden things, but without God nothing can be complete. Where can wisdom be found? Where is understanding? In our mortality, we cannot find it, because it comes from God and His Word alone. "God understands its way and He knows its place." Only by building a relationship with God can we grow in our wisdom and understanding, and we do this with fear. Yes, "the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding." This is the very meaning of life and what brings advantage to us on the Earth.

While we may bemoan difficult times on the Earth, as Job certainly did in Chapter 29, it is only intimate friendship with God that matters; to do the work that God has called us to. Job desired a full restoration here. It was his deepest desire. He expressed loneliness in his testing  alone. He desired to serve God. He desired to help his fellow man. He desired to be restored so he could return to this work.

Job 30, Job 31

When fools come to counsel the righteous and wise, there is strife and affliction to bear. It is in these times we must "love our enemy," by speaking Truth to them and treating them as we would anyone else, just as Job did. It is in these times that we cry out to God and ask for His help. When we are suffering, we ought to ask God to deliver us. With faith, He will do so at the appointed time, for His promises are certain.

Like Job, we ought to make covenants with our eyes, for these are windows to our soul. We have to guard our gates and make sure nothing enters into our bodies—not even sounds or images—that could poison our souls. For our bodies are the temple of God!

Our lives ought to strive toward the Way of God, defined in His law, as Job gives examples of in Chapter 31. We ought to be able to say, like Job: If I have sinned, "let Him weigh me with honest scales ... let me sow and another eat," and so on. The LORD has defined the blessings and curses that come respectivly from obedience and disobedience in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. Job was evidently preaching from this understanding. We ought not put confidence or hope in anything other than the LORD.

Job 32, Job 33, Job 34

Elihu, with haughtiness, exploded with hypocrisy and shallow foolishness. After saying he would bring something new to the table, he actually did the same thing as the other three and accused Job of wrongdoing. He says, "I am full of words, and the spirit within me compels me..." What spirit might that be? It is not the Spirit of God, because it speaks in error. Indeed, Elihu even takes Job's words out of context, not understanding that the desperate man Job was just looking to understand why he was suffering. We as readers know that God allowed Satan to chastise him, just as Yeshua allowed Satan to "sift as wheat" the heart of Peter. It was not because Job had done anything wrong, but to make Job into an even stronger man (read Hebrews 12) as well as to glorify God in the process. God tests the ones He loves so that we can be sanctified and become more like Him.

I think about the Pharisees and what they said to Yeshua when Elihu said to Job, "What man is like Job, who drinks mockery like water, who keeps company with evildoers, and walks with wicked men?" Matthew 9:11: “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” In Matthew 9:12, we read: "Yeshua said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.'" Job, despite Elihu's flailing foolishness, was living out the Gospel and doing what was right.

God's ways are not our ways, and while God is pure justice, goodness, and Truth, we may not always understand what He allows. Our humility in this serves us well. The LORD gives and the LORD takes away. Blessed is the name of the LORD.

Job 35, Job 36, Job 37

In Job 1:8 God Himself said that Job was righteous and blameless, "that there is none like him on the earth," because he fears God and shuns evil. This is an indisputable statement. Secondly, God confirmed this description of Job in Ezekiel 14, where again God in His own words explained that we must be like Job if we expect to escape judgment in the End Days. Besides him, only Daniel and Noah are mentioned. They are our three examples of how to live righteously amidst tribulation. In James 5:11, we have Yeshua's own brother confirm that Job is an example for us, for "indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the LORD—that the LORD is very compassionate and merciful." Job's story indeed shows us that we are not living for blessing in this life, but blessing in the next, and Job did not fail to worship and praise God even in the midst of the worst possible torture a man could ever endure without dying. Job wished for death, so that he could be with God not so that he could be no more. But he endured through suffering anyway—the worst one can imagine.

Job's three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, were theologically wrong with their arguments and their approach. They were miserable comforters, but even worse; they were false teachers. Nevertheless, God forgave the three of them when they repented, as we will read. The whole book of Job is presented as a trial, with Job declaring his innocence and his friends declaring guilt. When the section concludes in Job 31:35, "Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, That my Prosecutor had written a book!," the case is closed on Job's end.  Also when we read in Job 32:1, "These three men ceased replying to Job, for he considered himself right," the case is closed on his friends' end. God was supposed to be the next one to speak to either acquit Job of the accusations or declare him guilty. As we will see, Job is acquitted, though he is also shown the glory of God and the purpose for his suffering. Job's friends are convicted and repent. Elihu, however, spoke out of turn presumptuously for God without standing in the court room. God doesn't even answer the youth, for better or for worse, which ought not reflect well on Elihu—it erases his counsel. He shouldn't have even opened his mouth.

As discussed in the previous chapters, Elihu continued the same false accusations of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, which lacked wisdom. Elihu entered the scene as a fool. Proverbs 17:28 reads, "Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive." Elihu opened his mouth and proved a fool! In Job 32:2-5, he showed contempt, he expressed anger, and it's even possible that he was drunk (32:17-22). He showed absolutely no self control with his words, particularly with his meaningless rambling, which shows he does not have the fruit of the Spirit. On top of this, he disrespected his elders. Traditionally, youth would remain silent and defer to the judgment of the elders. In a book like Job, especially written when it was, a youth would not be portrayed as a wise counselor. Both Job and his three friends have rested their case. It was foolish for a youth to jump in and speak at this point, for at this point only God could properly respond to the two sides of the discussion. Elihu was so presumptuous that he said in Job 36, "Be patient with me a bit longer and I will show you that there is more to say on God’s behalf." Did God say Elihu was His spokesman? Absolutely not!

Elihu has incorrect theology. He rhetorically asks: “If you sin, how does it affect Him? If your transgressions are many, what do you do to Him? If you are righteous, what do you give Him, or what does He receive from your hand?" The implied answers are "It doesn't" or "nothing," but this is Biblically false. When God ultimately speaks, he asked Job about Elihu in Job 38:2: "Who is this who darkens counsel, speaking without knowledge?" God is not some distant creator who doesn't care about His creation. In Truth, God cares deeply for our righteousness as well as when we sin. The entire Bible testifies to this. How many times does God say, "return to Me" or even, "if you love Me, keep My commandments." Psalm 139 notes: "O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways." Look at what He told Jeremiah, in C1:V5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you...” God knows us intimately and it deeply affects Him when we sin against Him as well as when we repent. Yeshua said in Luke 15:10, "I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

And to be clear, Job NEVER said "My righteousness is greater than God's." This is a false accusation from Elihu. We can stand in God's presence with a clear conscience, IF we have a clear conscience and are living righteously, like Job is, and ask Him why certain things are happening to us. God deeply desires this type of relationship from us. James 1:5 reads: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." Philippians 4:6 reads: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Hebrews 4:16 reads: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Job would ultimately find mercy from God in his time of need because he boldly came before his throne of grace with all faith in the righteous innocence of his heart and asked for wisdom. Job is a perfect example for us, while Elihu is yet another accuser, speaking out of turn. He even accuses himself when he states: "The godless in heart harbor anger." In Job 32:2, Elihu had unrighteous wrath against Job because he misunderstood Job's defense.

Further, Elihu expresses, "the Almighty, we cannot find Him! He is great in power and justice, and abundant righteousness He does not oppress. Therefore people fear Him; He does not regard all the wise of heart.” The Almighty is certainly unsearchable in all His ways, and He has a depth of wisdom and knowledge that are past finding out (Romans 11:33), and this is simply because God is eternal and we are finite beings. We see this in Isaiah 55:8-9, "My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts," and Psalm 145:3, "Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable," among many other verses. This, however, does not mean that "we cannot find Him," and nor does it mean that "He does not regard all the wise of heart." Elihu, like the Devil, speaks with a forked tongue. We know that God also said in Jeremiah 29:13, "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." and in Isaiah 66:2, He said, "on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My Word." Yeshua said in Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Job is asking to understand the LORD's justice, and He will receive an answer. Not only that, He will be rewarded greatly for His faithful endurance. Elihu, on the other hand, is completely forgotten and overlooked by God for the fool that he is.

Job 38; Job 39; Job 40:1-5

The LORD is the creator of all that is awesome and wonderful, known and unknown. How could we ever possibly understand all of His ways? He is eternal, and in Messiah Yeshua we will have eternity to get to know God increasingly, and yet we will still never know all there is to know. What a wonderful reality that can only give glory to God! The Kingdom of Heaven is beyond wonder!

As I noted pertaining to Elihu, the LORD asked Job: "Who is this who darkens counsel with words without knowledge?" It wasn't Job giving counsel. Elihu was the one who gave counsel to Job out of turn. Job simply offered his own defense. Thus, this first answer is a rebuke against Elihu, I believe, and yet Job also benefits from the wisdom that God shares in His response.

When God directs his attention to Job in Job 40:1, he directly addressed Job's question with rhetoric that can be translated, "Shall the one who wrestles with God instruct Him? Let him who argues with God answer!" The man Job answers as he did two times before—with humility: "Indeed, I am unworthy—what can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth." Just as when Jacob wrestled with God and prevailed, receiving the blessing, so too would Job. God's answer to Job's inquiry was straightforward: Some things are beyond your understanding and you will simply have to accept that. And yet, there is great wisdom that God has given Job with His answer; indeed, God will answer us when we seek Him, and He will show His glory in our lives. What an honor indeed to humble ourselves before Him, even when some of His ways are unsearchable. In His response, God confirmed Job's first statement: "The LORD gives and the LORD takes away. Blessed be the Name of the LORD." In no way did Job ever curse God with his lips, but he indeed did wrestle with understanding the reason for his tribulation. Don't we all? This is not sin.

Job 40:6-42; Job 41; Job 42

God testified two times that Job did not speak wrongly about Him, which firmly establishes proper understanding of this book. Consider Job 42:7, where God said to Eliphaz and his two friends: "you have not spoken about Me what is right, like My servant Job has," and also Verse 8: "My servant Job will pray for you, for I will accept Job’s prayer and not deal with you according to your folly because you have not spoken correctly about Me, like My servant Job.” God Himself testified that Job spoke what was right and also that He would accept Job's prayer, but that Job would have to pray for his lawless friends. John 9:31 reads: "We know that God does not hear sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him." How could anyone be redeemed with this principle firmly established? Yeshua answered in Mark 1:15: "Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” To repent is to turn to live according to God's law, and the good news is that Yeshua died and rose to redeem us from our sins, so that we are not held accountable to them. Paul wrote in Romans 8:1: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Messiah Yeshua...," and in Romans 3:31 he wrote that "we establish the law" through our faithfulness to God.

God's rhetoric was meant to keep Job humble; not to humble him. Job was already humble. God knows the nonsense that Job's friends had been spouting, so when He asks, "Would you really annul My judgement?" and "Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?," both Job and God know the answer is "No." Only God has an Arm, whose name is Messiah Yeshua; He alone can redeem, and Job knows this, as stated in Job 19:25: "I know that my Redeemer lives." God can bring every proud person low, but it was Job's friends that God humbled while Job himself clearly remained humble in his own heart. He said, "I despise myself, and repent on dust and ashes.” As followers of Yeshua who are living according to the law of God due to love for our Savior and Redeemer, who has cleansed us from our sin, we must remain humble. We do not proudly boast in our redemption, but boast in Messiah who redeemed us. We do not boast in our righteousness, but boast in the law and the lawgiver that are righteous; that He loves us enough to give us such instruction to follow. In stating that he followed God's law and also that He knew His Redeemer lived, Job expressed wisdom: we ought to obey God, but we still need to be saved because even a blameless life is not sufficient.

Behemoth, most likely a sauropod, and Leviathan, a fire-breathing carnivore of some kind, are untamable. How much more the Creator who created them and us? Indeed these creatures lived at the same time as men, which is Biblical Truth to ponder against the false witness of today's pseudo-science of "millions of years" that lacks any provable evidence. Even Peter prophesied about today's pseudo-science in 2 Peter 3. God ordered all things and He owns all things, and we read the Truth in His Word. Also, we are debtors, as Paul noted in Romans 8:12, but our debt cannot be repaid. Messiah paid our debt, but we should consequently turn to further obey out of gratitude lest we accumulate more debt. This is where Job's humility truly shows us the Way we ought to live. He expresses Truth while praising God: "I know You can do all things; no purpose of Yours can be thwarted." This is quite similar and spiritually equivalent to his earlier statement: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” His heart was still fully subservient to the Creator, as it had been throughout his suffering.

Where Job seemed to accept responsibility as the one who "darkens counsel," consider thinking about this verse more critically. Remember, Job offered his own defense, seeking to understand whether he had sinned, and he asked God nothing more than to explain the reason for his suffering. Here, Job simply admitted his own insufficiency to know God's purposes: "Surely I spoke without understanding, things too wonderful for me which I did not know.” This is humility! In another sense, Job was also assuming responsibility for this sins of his companions, in the same way he had earlier prayed for his children as they held nightly feasts (Job 1:4-5). He didn't ponder for a moment that God might have been speaking about another. If you read Daniel 9:3-12, you will see that another "blameless" man that God held up as an example for us in Ezekiel 14 "prayed to the LORD and made confession ... we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled..." Daniel had done no such thing, but he still included himself in the prayer for his fellow believers who did. We too ought to have this heart—the heart of the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14, who said, "have mercy on me a sinner"—even if we are living righteously in every way.

The rationale follows: Job said to God: "I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye has seen You. Therefore I despise myself, and repent on dust and ashes.” When we fathom how Holy, Awesome, Perfect, and Good that God is, we simply cannot stand before Him. This doesn't excuse us from walking righteously, but it absolutely shows us the need for Messiah Yeshua and the grace that He offers. Job fully embraced the testimony of two found in Rev. 14:15: only those who endure in obedience to God and faith in Yeshua will be saved. Job's friends had to change course; they needed to change their lives to reflect God's instruction, and Job the "servant" of God was called to minister to them and teach them, as a prophetic template for Messiah Yeshua and as a picture of what we are called to do as ministers of reconciliation and disciple makers for the LORD. This righteous man Job would offer prayers and sacrifices for his friends, and there is no greater love than the one who gives up his life for his friends. On account of Job's endurance through every trial and tribulation, God greatly exalted him and gave him twice as much blessing as before, which is symbolic of the eternal life he and those who model him will enjoy.

Exodus 1; Exodus 2; 1 Chronicles 5:27-29; Exodus 3; Exodus 4:1-17

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 that 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.

As Exodus gets started, Moses explained his own history and how it lines up with the history of his family that was passed down to him, likely through Jacob and then Joseph. We don't know how the family history was passed down from Joseph to Moses, but we do know it happened because the Bible records the "written accounts." The environment in Egypt shifted during Moses's early days because a new Thutmose dynasty took over that was not descended from the Hyksos dynasty that knew Joseph. Thutmose the first had driven out the Semitic Hyksos dynasty that likely knew Joseph. One of the Amenhoteps was likely the Pharaoh during the Exodus itself. There are few great resources that get into this history more accurately than the accepted timeline, which is off by a bit more than 200 years. Let me know if you'd like references. We see the ideas of Ramses in Exodus here, but that was likely a textual update from later scribes who passed on the Torah. The land of Goshen was not known to later Israelite readers and thus the update to link it to what would have been known as modern Ramses is likely. The region is the same.

Chapter 1 really highlights the cruelty that was brought upon Israel, because they had thrived in Egypt. 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.  

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 do use the name Yahweh when referring to the Father. The pronunciation Yehovah or Jehovah is likely due to the incorrect vowel markings, and a newer version Yahuah is also likely poorly sourced. 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.

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. We too should be careful that our humility does not cross over into disobedience. 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. Our testimony of two—obedience to God's commandments and faith in Yeshua—is foretold by the Torah story in Exodus through Numbers, retold in Deuteronomy. Moses's story becomes a prophetic template for the first and second coming of Yeshua. Yeshua, after all, is the prophet like unto Moses. As we read through these passages and the miraculous story of Exodus, it's important to be looking for Yeshua on these pages, for He is in every passage.

Exodus 4:18-31; Exodus 5, Exodus 6, Exodus 7:1-13

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.

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 7:14-29, Exodus 8, Exodus 9

The plagues of God all sought to discredit and embarrass the Egyptian worship of their pagan gods. The water turned to blood discredited Khnum, the guardian of the river's source; Hapi, the spirit of the Nile; and Osiris, who claimed the Nile as his bloodstream. The frogs discredited Hapi, a frog goddess, and Heqt, related to fertility. The lice upset Seb, the earth god of Egypt. This 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.

The flies discredited Uatchit, the fly god of Egypt. This was the first plague not to affect the Israelites in Goshen. Was this a confirmation by the Holy Spirit that God's people would be redeemed from the wrath of God and God's enemies would fully experience it? I believe so. The next plague, the disease against the cattle was a direct affront on Ptah, Hathor, Mnevis, and Amon, the Egyptian gods associated with bulls and livestock. The boils were an affront against Sekhmet, the Egyptian goddess of epidemics as well as Serapis and Imhotep, the Egyptian gods of healing. The Egyptian sorcerers couldn't even make it into the court. The hail with fire were a direct attack against Nut the Egyptian sky goddess, Isis and Seth, the agricultural deities, and Shu, the god of the atmosphere. In all of these plagues, Pharaoh was still hardening his own heart. His stubborn heart would not allow him to repent before the LORD. He may have confessed sin, but he refused to repent. Let this be a lesson for us all, for it is true that confession leads to forgiveness but only repentance leads to new life in Messiah Yeshua. We have to turn to do the will of God. Pharaoh would not do that.

While Pharaoh refused to repent, that is not the case for some of the Egyptians. Before the hail came down, we read: "Whoever feared the word of Adonai among the servants of Pharaoh had his own servants and cattle flee into the houses, but whoever disregarded the word of Adonai left his servants and cattle in the field." This is as direct a reference to repentance that one can see in the story of Exodus. Those who had faith in the Word of the LORD consequently acted on that faith and obeyed the Word of the LORD. This could not be more critical. We know later in the story that "a mixed multitude" went out with the Israelites in the Exodus. This mixed multitude were former Egyptians who had repented to walk with God. They became a part of Israel. This is a prophetic picture of what heathen converts to Christianity would later do. Ephesians 2 makes it clear that the two—Jews and Gentiles—become one in Christ. There are not two different groups of people, there is only Israel. 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.

Exodus 10, Exodus 11, Exodus 12

As the plagues of the LORD against Egypt continued, we can see that He was still warring against the demons that the Egyptians worshipped that were holding His people Israel captive, and God would certainly have the victory. The locusts were an affront to Serapia, the Egyptian protector from locusts. Pharaoh again confessed his sins following this plague, but didn't repent. Much more importantly, we can see here that God has finally hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he explained why: "so that I might show these My signs in their midst, and so you may tell your son and your grandchildren what I have done in Egypt, as well as My signs that I did among them, so you may know that I am Adonai." 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 plead with Pharaoh to give in to the LORD, lest they be destroyed, but Pharaoh's pride would now lead to his fall for the glory of God. Pharaoh did not listen to the cry of his minions. He had gone all in, and so God was going to totally destroy him.

The next plague, darkness, was an affront to Re, Amon-re, Aten, Atum, and Horus, the Egyptian sun gods, as well as Thoth, the Egyptian moon god. It was dark in Egypt but light in Israel, for God is light and provides light for and through His people! As we know from sound eschatology, in the End, the world will experience the wrath of God while the saints of God live among them in the world but set apart and protected from the wrath. Psalm 27 from David presents a good image of this event also.

Finally, the death of the firstborn was a judgment against all of Egypt's gods, including Pharaoh himself. In Exodus 1, Pharaoh had killed the sons of Israel. Now the LORD has killed the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. The blood of the lamb is the only thing that releases Israel from bondage. The LORD will use the baptism in the Sea of Reeds to demolish the enemy.

With the final plague, God established the Passover as an everlasting memorial for what He did for Israel in Egypt, what He would do through Messiah Yeshua on the cross, and what He was still planning to do in the End of Days. 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.

God ordered Israel to plunder the Egyptians, and He would later use this bounty to build His tabernacle. Because of the riches of the Kingdom that are offered to us through Yeshua, we must give what we have been given to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to all with ears to hear. "To whom much is given, much is expected."

This time in Egypt is a direct prophetic template for what Yeshua would accomplish for us, and He indeed commanded us to "keep the feast" "In memory of [Him]." There are so many more prophetic references, and yet there are still more to come, for while Passover is fully fulfilled in Messiah Yeshua, it has yet to be fully fulfilled, for as Yeshua said Himself 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.” He was speaking about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. This same future fulfillment was also prophetically referred to as Joshua kept Passover on a Saturday/Sabbath the day He brought Israel across the Jordan into the Promised Land.

Exodus 13, Exodus 14, Exodus 15

The LORD's first purpose for Passover was for His people to remember the deliverance He gave them from Egypt. The second memorial would be their entry into the Promised Land. Both memorials would have prophetic significance. The third memorial was the deliverance that Yeshua bought for all of Israel by His blood, while the fourth would be when He brings us into His Kingdom forever and we celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. These four memorials are represented by four Kiddish cups during Passover, during which the fruit of the vine is drank. The unleavened bread is eaten 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 that He was sinless when He sacrificed Himself for us, but also that we must be sinless now that we have been redeemed by Him. "It is because of what Adonai did for me" when I came out of sin. This is why we ought to "keep the feast" in memory of Yeshua, for it is a sign on our hand and on our forehead; namely, the very mark of God. He redeemed us by His blood, and so we are debtors to surrender to Him our lives, which is represented by our own blood. For this, He grants us eternal life.

The LORD led Israel by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, which represents the prophetic power of God's anointing as well as the Holy Spirit given to Moses. 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, words and metaphors can have positive and negative connotations; 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 first in a non-consuming fire on the burning bush; Yeshua told Nicodemus in John 3:8 that the Holy Spirit leads us in unpredictable ways. This imagery elucidates how God led Israel with the Spirit of prophesy.

The LORD led Israel 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 (Red Sea). Both a mountain range and the sea stopped Israel from proceeding as the Egyptians approached. Study a topographical map of the area, and Scripture's description becomes evident. Archaeological finds of God's name YHWH (יהוה) written in caves along that path in proto-Hebrew (????) are prevalent. Though we can't say definitively that the crossing was at Aqaba, I believe it likely. This interpretation places Mt. Sinai in modern Saudi Arabia, which was ancient Midian. Not coincidentally, local Saudis do indeed still identify a mountain by that name in the area as expected. 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 like Elijah did in 1 Kings 19:13?

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? God saved Israel from the fiery anger of Pharaoh's pursuit, and the people had been delivered from bondage by the blood of the Lamb, as 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. But through the baptism of the Sea of Reeds (1 Corinthians 10:2), God washed the bondage of their 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 to destroy them. So too will Satan conceive of many ways to destroy us, despite our freedom in Christ. We must not let him by continually remembering the cross and how it sweetens the bitter waters.

Exodus 16, Exodus 17, Exodus 18, Exodus 19

The LORD established the Sabbath as a way to test His people whether we would obey His commandments or not, because we desire "flesh" 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, we will face negative 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 He is like Israel in the wilderness and trust in ourselves for our provision? Do we crave something else besides God's Word for our sustenance? Aaron kept 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 God's Promised Land, which is our union with Messiah Yeshua in His Kingdom.

The first time Israel thirsted for the living water of God, Moses had to strike the rock to bring forth this water. Yeshua had to be struck down also during His first coming. However, later when Moses again delivered water to Israel, He was not supposed to strike it. Rather, He was called to speak to the rock in the same way that we too must call out to Yeshua to be saved. He will give us living water and bring us into His eternal Kingdom with Him when we simply have faith and therefore obey Him. If we strike Yeshua upon His second coming, we will not make it into the Promised Land.

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. But Moses faced the enemy with worship of the LORD, keeping his hands held high to God with the help of his brethren. We too need such encouragement to endure in our faith.

The Amalekites would become a perennial enemy of Israel, but God would continually defeat them as a sign for the faith of Israel.

When Moses approached Sinai in Midian, 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, because it was from God. Thus, there is evidence that even the leader must have oversight over his leadership 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. Likewise, our faith communities must have such division of duties so the lead pastor does not get burnt out. The largest matters ought to be brought to the lead pastor, but the smaller matters ought to be handled among smaller discipleship groups. The Biblical model of Messiah Yeshua was first borne out in Midian at the foot of Mt. Sinai.

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 by the law, and once we know Yeshua, we keep the law the way He teaches 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 those 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.

Exodus 20, Exodus 21

"And then God (Elohim (אֱלֹהִ֔ים)) spoke all these words." This is not the law of Moses, this is the law of God, and if you read this law, everything in it applies to you and me today. For those who call themselves Christians and worship our Creator, and say they follow Jesus, how could they also say it's OK to murder, to commit adultery, or to steal? These are sins that lead to death—the second death. It is also a sin that leads to death to worship God using idols (to pray in front of statues, for instance, or to pray a rosary), to worship anything that is not God, such as oneself, a favorite child, a wife, a career, and etc. It is sin that leads to death to say you speak for God and understand His Word and then falsely interpret it, for this is what it means to speak the name of the LORD in vain; this is false prophesy. It is sin that leads to death to covet something that doesn't belong to you, to dishonor parents, or to speak falsely about someone else for their benefit or their harm in a court of law. It is sin that leads to death to not keep the seventh day Sabbath for the LORD, for the LORD made this day for us so that we could be with Him in His presence and put aside our own ways.

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, "Christ 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 Christ, 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!

The people were afraid to hear the law from God, because it was convicting them to death. They asked for Moses to mediate. Later, God explained that what the people asked for was good. He sent us Yeshua to forgive us from our sins and provide us with a way to know God intimately. Now, when Yeshua dwells in us, because our desire is to obey Him, He helps us walk according to His law by the power of His Holy Spirit.

The copious ordinances of God are also beautiful, and we ought to follow them. There are some of them that are mistranslated, so please ask me if you have questions about any of them. Most of them are straightforward and all of them, when properly understood, show unequivocally how much our God loves us.

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. When He 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, "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).

Exodus 25, Exodus 26, Exodus 27, Exodus 28

There are two keys to today's reading. First, God told Moses "See that you make them [everything] according to their pattern being shown to you on the mountain." This means that Moses was commanded to construct a model of the Heavenly throne room here on Earth, a place for God Himself to meet with His people. Second, God had prepared Moses and the people for this meeting place. Not once, but three times God had commanded Moses and the people to loot the Egyptians. Think about the planning that went into this from God's perspective. The Egyptians had acquired all this wealth, the gold, the silver, the bronze, the fine linens and so on, and God made it so they would be willing to give it to the Israelites, their slaves, when they asked for them. Likewise, the slaves of Satan who are set free by Christ will plunder everything of value that the enemy once held captive. But then, the LORD would ask the Israelites to give their best back to Him for the construction of the meeting place. What a powerful image! This is a place to meet with God, our Creator! The people willingly gave of their riches for this purpose. Then, God invited them to come in to be near to Him in this place that He had prepared well before Israel left Egypt.

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 them. That building's construction is almost complete, and when the last believer is built in, Messiah will come.

Exodus 29, Exodus 30, Exodus 31

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. All the components of the Tabernacle had to be consecrated also, and so too do all the people of God whom He calls in to become a part of His Temple through Messiah Yeshua. The prayers of the saints rise up as sweet smelling incense to the LORD on account of Yeshua's blood of atonement, and the light of Yeshua shines through His people in this dark world, just as the light of the menorah in the Holy Place. But we may not mix our prayers with any traditions of men or devotion to demons, for this unauthorized incense will lead to death. The basin for washing is 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 of the world from our weekly work. Every census taken of the people requires a tribute of a half shekel to be paid by each to God.

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 not 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. 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 be 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 trust in Him and wait on Him for His leading. We must wait on the LORD indeed. 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. God gives us a little taste of Heaven when we come in near to Him on His Most Holy Day.

Exodus 32, Exodus 33, Exodus 34

The golden calf incident 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 promised to take Israel into the Land of Promise, and He would honor His Word, but with the second generation who trusted in His Word. 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. When Moses went up to the Tent of Meeting, the people worshipped God, who appeared as a pillar of cloud. Likewise, when Yeshua intercedes for us on His Sabbaths and Feast Days, we must come near and worship.

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.

As Moses went up to see the LORD, the LORD explained His nature to him: “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.” We can rest assured in Yeshua's grace, but we had better continue in His Mercy, lest we fall into iniquity, transgression and sin and receive destruction. 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 this is 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 in His way, and by no other design. The veil of understanding is taken away with faith in Yeshua.

Exodus 35, Exodus 36

The LORD shows us a principle of His law in these chapters, that by a testimony of two or three witnesses, every matter is established. The LORD tells us, and then He shows us, and then He tells us again. He wants to make sure we understand that His way is simple, easy and light, it is not burdensome. We have the Sabbath, it's a time of rest so that we can be with God. We're not even to kindle a fire to do any work, whether metallurgy or cooking or whatever. He then shows 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 to spread the Gospel on the Sabbath, for that is the time to come in and be with the LORD in worship. But on the other days He provides us with what we need and then we give it back to Him and it brings abundance of joy and peace in our lives. The whole walk with God is a like an upward spiral staircase, where we simply repeat the same steps but at increasing levels of intimacy with Him as we approach His throne room. Our offerings must be given freely. Our obedience also must be out of desire and love, rather than by coercion or fear.

Exodus 37, Exodus 38, Exodus 39:1-31

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 showed him on the mountain, and 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 (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.

Exodus 39:32-43; Exodus 40; Numbers 9:15-23

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.

When the work was done in that place, the cloud of God covered the tabernacle and the glory of God filled up His people in the Tabernacle. The presence of God will go with a people who are set up properly to do His will, His way, in full obedience with willingness of heart. And then, the LORD will lead His people according to His will. If the cloud remains, the people remain and do the work of the LORD where they are. If the cloud is taken up, then they move with the LORD wherever He is taking them. The cloud by day and fire by night is the spirit of prophesy and the Holy Spirit of God, directing God's people in the way they should go in all of their journeys here in this wilderness that is life on this Earth. The Promised Land awaits the select few who endure until the end. Our passage in Numbers adds: "At Adonai’s Word they would encamp, and at the Mouth of Adonai they set out. They obeyed Adonai’s Order by Moses’s hand.” The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are present in this description, for we obey the Word who became flesh, being led by His Spirit, at the command of the Father, and we ought to have a pastor who is teaching us to do this very thing.

In John 3:5, Yeshua said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 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.” In Romans 8:14, Paul wrote: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." And in Galatians 5:25, Paul wrote, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit." There is an example of what this means in Acts 16:4-10. When we combine these lessons with our lesson in Exodus and Numbers, it is clear that the entire Tabernacle ought to be one as the Spirit of God moves us. When the Spirit says "build a community here," "go evangelize there," or "get yourself right with my Word so I can dwell among you," we had better obey. God dwells in the praises and thanksgiving of His people, He cherishes our prayers like a sweet-smelling aroma, and He looks for us to produce His light as He dwells among us, nourishing us by His bread, which is the Word of God.

Numbers 7

Each Tribe of Israel sent the same offering to the Tabernacle to consecrate it to the LORD, even though the tribes had different numbers of people in them. This was not a representative offering, but more of an offering that showed each Tribe's value as equal in the eyes of God. The LORD loves each of us the same and has a purpose for each one of us. Do we bring to Him the portion that we owe Him—the same love as each of our brethren? We ought to make sure we are contributing to our faith communities and also giving to God His due.

Numbers 8, Numbers 9:1-14, Leviticus 1, Leviticus 2, Leviticus 3

When it came to the Menorah, Yahweh said, "the seven lamps are to illuminate the area in front of the menorah." Yeshua said in Matthew 5:14-16: "You are the light of the world. ... In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." In Revelation 1, Yeshua stands amidst the Menorah, which is the Assembly of Faithful believers.

When it came the Levites, they were sprinkled with pure water (and blood) and shaved. Peter said in 1st Peter 1:2: "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Messiah Yeshua: Grace to you and peace be multiplied." We are a kingdom of kings and priests.

There were many sacrifices from 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." The law's purpose is our obedience, not our disobedience met with sacrifice. This is why Yeshua came, to serve as the one-time sacrifice so that we can turn toward obedience. 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?"

Passover is so important to the LORD, a feast forever, that if we miss it on account of being incapacitated or caught up in sin, that we ought to purify ourselves and memorialize the feast one month later. Yeshua said, "Do this in memory of me." Paul said in 1st Corinthians 11:28-32: "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world." We must be fully repentant, having confessed all our sins, and we must have total faith that Yeshua is God and that He died for our sins and rose for our redemption before we can come in to celebrate this Most Holy Feast in remembrance of Him.

A sacrifice can be either from the sheep or the goats, we learned today. Thus, any sacrifice of sheep or goats in Torah can instruct us in our understanding of our faith in Yeshua. Note also that both sheep and goats are clean animals, but Yeshua will separate the sheep and the goats at the last day. Both are Christians, but only the sheep that follow Him and obey the law like He did will enter the Kingdom to be with Him.

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.

Leviticus 4, Leviticus 5, Leviticus 6

If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD's commandments, if the priest/pastor sins, if the whole congregation sins unaware but then becomes aware of it, and when any of the common people sins unwittingly, they are guilty. Even if we are unaware or ignorant of our sins, we are still guilty of them and worthy of eternal damnation. In order to properly preach the Gospel to anyone, this Truth MUST be grasped and taught. What need is there for Yeshua if we are repeatedly forgiven for our repeated sins? As we know, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Heb. 10:4), and so the sacrifices here have indeed been replaced by the one-time sacrifice of Yeshua, and this was prophesied: As we read in Psalm 40:6 (Septuagint): “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me." Yeshua's One Time sacrifice indeed was sufficient for the forgiveness of sins, unintentional or otherwise. But do we who have been cleansed desire to sin again and crucify the LORD repeatedly on His cross? GOD FORBID! In Hebrews 6:4-6, we learn it is impossible for those "once enlightened" who have "tasted the heavenly gift" and have received "the Holy Spirit and tasted the Word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame." Paul wrote in Galatians 2:17, "Messiah is not a minister of sin."

Leviticus is the heart of God, and also the heart of the Gospel, and we ought to read it as such. When the bull was sacrificed its blood was smeared on the horns of the altar of incense. Do we not go to prayer with the blood of Yeshua smeared on us? Is it not He 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 simply expected. If we dwell on grace, we can easily get lost in the idea that we no longer need to obey. 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."

As we read further, the LORD repeats the commandments again and repeats one-by-one the need for a sacrifice to atone for violating them. This sacrifice is Yeshua. Again, I ask, do we want to nail Yeshua to the cross over and over again? Do we celebrate His suffering on account of sin and death or do we celebrate His resurrection that conquered sin and death? This is a serious question we ought to meditate on regularly. Those stuck on the cross are 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. And so we worship not the slain and bloodied Messiah, but the risen and living conquering king who has shown us how to live a blameless life. We are covered by His righteousness, because we depend on His living Holy Spirit to lead us in righteousness. How can we sin after hearing a charge of an oath, other than by bearing false witness against our neighbor? 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 Adonai..." In 1 John 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 and always WAS and always WILL BE "merciful and gracious, longsuffering, 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) Translation: Jesus offers grace to those who confess their sins and repent, but to those who "practice lawlessness" (Mt 7:21-23), He will bring eternal damnation. 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 Adonai’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 Adonai.” 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 oftwo 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 are we to expect? The answer is simple: eternal death. 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).

What if we commit a faithless act against the LORD by dealing falsely with our neighbor? We not only must confess our sin and repent, but we also have to pay restitution and restore what was lost with a penalty. The High Priest Yeshua has made atonement for the humble man who confesses, repents and repays according to the law of God.

The fire of the sacrificial altar burns continually, for God is an eternal fire and He consumes all that is impure. In the judgment, He will consume all impurities in those who are covered by Yeshua's blood and utterly consume anyone who is not. This is why the Great Commission is an urgent responsibility of anyone who calls Yeshua LORD!

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." 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]."

Leviticus 7, Leviticus 8

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.

In Leviticus 8, we see Moses Himself anointed Aaron and his sons, performing the priestly duty. Earlier, Israel had asked Moses to intercede as mediator between them and God, lest they die. Earlier in Exodus, God said that Moses himself would be a God to Pharaoh and like God to Aaron, even, and Aaron would be his prophet. And yet Moses also prophesied by giving the very Word of God to God's people. Earlier still, the Israelites asked Moses spitefully, "who are you to rule over us," but indeed as we will see, God corrected Miriam and Aaron when they challenged Moses's role as King over Israel. And while Moses was not God in the flesh, he was to serve as a prophetic template for Yeshua, the "prophet like unto Moses." Yeshua was not just a prophet, but also King, Mediator, High Priest and indeed, God in the flesh. What wonderful insight the LORD provides us through Moses on whom we ought to expect as our LORD and God, Messiah Yeshua. And 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.

Leviticus 9, Leviticus 10, Leviticus 11

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!

As we come in to worship Yeshua, we MUST NOT mix the holy way of God with the profane way of men. If we think we have a better idea on how to worship than God described in His Word, then we will be destroyed. If we lose brethren on account of their falling away, and we could have stopped it, then we certainly will not be accepted before the LORD without repentance. Aaron's humility following the death of his sons expresses his understanding of this.

1 Tim. 4:1-5 confirms God's Holy Food Laws, for 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. There isn't a single properly translated New Testament verse where God reversed His food laws. Leviticus 11 applies to everything we consume. To obey God in this way sets us apart as Holy, for He commanded, "You should be holy, for I am holy." In 1 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." This statement refers to obedience to Leviticus 11.

Leviticus 12, Leviticus 13, Leviticus 14:1-32

Many wonder why a woman is unclean for twice as long when she gives birth to a girl as for when she gives birth to a boy. 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.

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 sin.

Consider the parable of the two birds: the one 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 to the blood of Yeshua, which He gave on the cross for our purification, and carry with us the Holy Spirit to sanctify 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 that harms them. Even if you try, you can't really 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 bird that is released 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 14:33-57; Leviticus 15; Leviticus 16

Regarding the leprosy of a home—in practical terms, mold and mildew—I wrote yesterday. A house must be cleansed of such illness so the inhabitants remain healthy. The spiritual element is found referenced in 1 Peter 2:4-5: "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 demons come 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.

When there are bodily fluids that taint us or our garments, we must purify ourselves. It's simple: take a shower and wash your clothes and bedding. This is good hygiene. But there is also a spiritual element here: 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.”

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"—it's true—but 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, when we memorialize the Day of Atonement as God commanded, especially. 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.

Leviticus 17; Leviticus 18; Leviticus 19

When we eat meat, we should thank the LORD for the gift by offering up a prayer to Him. We must not eat any meat with blood in it, for the life/soul of all living beings are in their blood. We must worship the LORD alone and not mix the holy with any profane worship.

We must be set apart as holy from the people of the world who focus on fleshly pleasures. We must be sexually pure, one husband with one wife, and honor the life that comes from that union. No other sexual union is acceptable, and by sexual immorality a people becomes impure.

The LORD repeats the commandments another time in Leviticus 19, but adds a key commandment: We ought to love one another as ourselves. This means that we ought to correct our neighbors who are in sin, but also leave vengeance to the LORD, who will repay. We must avoid the counterfeit spiritual practices of the New Age movement and other witchcraft.

Leviticus 20, Leviticus 21, Leviticus 22

The LORD commands Israel and the outsiders among her not to offer a child to Molech, and anyone who does this shall be put to death. Even more, those who tolerate this practice without verbally protesting it and preventing it, if possible, is also to be put to death. Let's be clear: this law is about abortion. Under no uncertain terms, offering your child to Molech means sacrificing them for your 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, and the couple must not engage in any type of perversion. Relations are off limits during a woman's period. Yeshua has clarified for us that divorce is permissible in the case of sexual immorality, and 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. Some of God's laws, like the food laws, don't appear to have purpose, so many ignore them to their peril. God has now told us twice that we ought to follow these laws to set us apart from other people. Picture Him saying: "Because I said so."

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?

Leviticus 23; Leviticus 24; Leviticus 25:1-23

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.

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.

It is absolutely true that all of these Holy Days are fulfilled in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus Christ. There is no doubt about this! However, all of these Holy Days have a historical fulfillment in the historical, parabolic story of Israel, and all of these Holy Days also have a future fulfillment in the Kingdom of God that is yet to come for all who are counted among His children.

Take Passover, on its own, for example. Yeshua said during His last Passover Seder, "Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” He drank the third cup with His disciples, which is the "cup of salvation"—the cup that instituted the New Covenant. But the fourth cup of the Seder is the "cup of the kingdom," and He said He would not drink this cup until He returned to bring the fullness of His plan to those Saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Yeshua, and thus our patient and enduring obedience to this testimony of two is essential (Revelation 14:12). The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is both a Passover Seder and a Sabbath celebration, just like the first day that Israel celebrated both the Sabbath and the Passover and the First Day of Unleavened Bread on their first day in the Promised Land. The next day was First Fruits, the day they first ate the fruit of the land—the prophetic template for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and eternity. Scripture is nothing other than completely consistent Truth that shows us one Way into the Kingdom of God, which is through Yeshua, who is the very embodiment of the Torah that we must follow.

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!

The LORD indeed has given us land to dwell in. Whether you have an apartment, a house with an acre, or a large estate, the LORD has given to each according to what we can handle, and He expects us to produce fruit from this ground. We had better give our land a rest every seven years, and let it go wild. The LORD will bless us beyond our imagination when we follow His law in this way. I have personally experienced this. The year prior to the Shemitah year, the LORD gave us enough grain for two years. We let the land rest. The year following the Shemitah, we had our best harvest ever.

Leviticus 25:24-55; Leviticus 26

The LORD so loves His people that He will not allow them to become slaves in their own land, even if by their own error they fall into poverty. The Jubilee sets a standard that releases all slaves from their bondage. Yeshua Himself came in a year of Jubilee to announce His ministry to set all of the captives free from the bondage of sin and death in the chains of Satan. All who accepted Him received this freedom, and still do to this day. The final Jubilee is coming when we will be set free from the captivity to this world and will inherit our eternal inheritance in the new Heaven and new Earth. I look forward to this promise of God.

Leviticus 26 is a first witness for Deuteronomy 28, and both explain the blessings and curses of God. The LORD brings blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, and this has been the case forever and did not change with the coming of Yeshua. While the curse of eternal condemnation is no longer a concern for those who repent, for those who are not in obedience they are still practicing lawlessness, and still condemned. We must be in Christ to live in the blessings of God, but to be in Christ means that we are denying ourselves and taking on the righteousness that 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 absolutely every single aspect of our lives. We stop doing things that God says not to do, and we start doing the things that He desires, because we love Him. This brings the blessings, both in this life and in the life to come. To deny Christ is not just to deny the testimony of His death and resurrection, but also to deny the instruction of His Word and turn one's back on it. We need a testimony of two to receive the blessing: testimony in Christ and obedience to His Torah.

Leviticus 27; Numbers 1

The LORD is about to give us symbology for the coming redemption we all would receive through His Son. While the people of Egypt lost all their first born to the 10th plague, Israel's first born were preserved by the LORD; 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, as in, for a life of prayer. We are about to see how the LORD will set up an exchange for this request for the children of Israel. He would take all of the Levites in service to Him instead of the first born from every family. The difference in numbers would be paid for with the people's redemption value, which we will soon read. The symbology is this: Ultimately, we were all bought with a price—the price of Yeshua's blood on the cross. He gave His blood in exchange for us, so that we might be redeemed. Yet we too are debtors, as Paul explained in Romans 8:12. We have a debt we cannot repay, and so we ought to dedicate our own lives to prayer and service to the LORD on account of this.

Numbers 2; Numbers 3

Within the context of Numbers 2, the people of Israel were arranged 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, according to the Word of God, as they walk toward the Promised Land.

As referred to in comments for Leviticus 27 and Numbers 1, the first born of Israel were counted as was the entire tribe of Levi, and the first born were redeemed by the Levites. We read: "Set the Levites apart for me in place of all the firstborn of Bnei-Yisrael, and, all the livestock of the Levites in place of the firstborn of the livestock of Bnei-Yisrael. I am Adonai.” We also read: "To redeem the 273 firstborn of Bnei-Yisrael exceeding the number of the Levites, you are to collect five shekels for each, based on the shekel of the Sanctuary, which is 20 gerahs." Hebrews 12:22-24 speaks to this image, as we read: "you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and ASSEMBLY OF THE FIRSTBORN who are REGISTERED in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Yeshua the Mediator of the new covenant,..." Yeshua took the place of the Levitical priests by sacrificing Himself, and we are of "the assembly of the firstborn" because He redeemed us.

Numbers 4,  Numbers 5

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.

 When someone has leprosy, which represents sin, they must not come in to worship with the community. To allow someone to come in to worship in the community with sin in their hearts will potentially defile the entire body of believers. This law sets up the idea of a woman who is potentially unfaithful to her husband. It is so important for a community that each marriage be pure 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. 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.

Numbers 6, Numbers 7, Numbers 8, Numbers 9

The Apostle Paul had taken a Nazirite vow, and then ended it as indicated in Acts 18:18, but 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. Paul was single, which probably made it easier for him to do this, bu it is still an admirable act of faithfulness.

The princes of Israel all brought the same gifts to dedicate the Tabernacle, regardless of the size of the tribe they came from. This is symbolic of each person brining in their spiritual gifts to share with the Body of Believers, who are the new Temple of God in the New Covenant. See 1st Corinthians 12. We each ought to bring in our share.

Pastors, like the Levites who they replaced, ought to cleanse themselves from sin before coming in to lead their congregation each Sabbath. Yeshua said that if we have anything against our brother, we first ought to make things right with him before bringing our gift to the altar. We cannot bring willful sin into the camp if we expect the LORD to hear our prayers, for the LORD only hears the prayers of those who are repentant before Him. Ideally, those doing deacon work should be between 25 and 50 so they are able bodied, but even after 50 they ought to assist in the congregation.

Passover is such an important Holy Day that when we miss it due to defilement or a trip that keeps us away, we have an opportunity to make it up the following month. It is during the Passover Seder that we memorialize the death and resurrection of Yeshua, by drinking the fruit of the vine and unleavened bread in memory of Him, just as He commanded. 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.

Numbers 10; Numbers 11; Numbers 12; Numbers 13

N10: 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 has 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.

N11: 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, and it wasn't good enough? They were given eternal sustenance in the manna, and 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 if 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! For those not satisfied with Yeshua, the LORD will give us so much meat that it will drive those people away into spiritual death. 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 neglect or walk away from the Bread of Life.

N11, part2: 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 (N11:29), which means to rightly divide the Word and understand how to apply Scripture to their lives. God said He would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh, and so this day would certainly come through 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 be false prophets.

N12: 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, but that doesn't mean Moses gave up his role as spiritual leader. He was indeed the anointed by the LORD to lead Israel, and anyone questioning that leadership was indeed presumptious. 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).

N13: When Moses sent out the men to spy out 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 report! What came next 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. The majority doubted, 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. If we side with the faithful, we will make it into God's kingdom. If we don't, we won't.

Numbers 14; Numbers 15

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, and Joshua and Caleb taught the Truth and would be rewarded for it with entry into the Promised Land. They did their jobs. All of the adult people followed the false prophets and thus were denied the Promised Land, but their children who would witness their destruction and trust in God regardless would enter it, and they would be led by Joshua and Caleb. It's true that Moses interceded as a mediator for the people, convincing the LORD to preserve them for His own glory, but rest assured they were not saved. The LORD allows the wheat to grow with the tares until the Day of harvest, and then He gathers the wheat into His barn and burns up the tares. So too would the generation of lawless doubters walk with the faithful for 40 years until the last Day, when the faithful would enter the land and the last of the lawless would be destroyed.

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."

The Sabbath was so important for the community that God desired a violator to be put to death so he would not affect the whole. Likewise, we cannot have anyone doubting among us as we worship on the Sabbath. The LORD commanded men to wear tassels with a cord of blue to remind them to keep the commandments specifically after one had violated the Sabbath yet again.

Numbers 16, Numbers 17, Numbers 18

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 Him, for He is worthy. Moses was the prophetic template for Yeshua, and Aaron in his High Priest role was as well, and God utterly destroyed those who opposed them, for they served the LORD.

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 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.

Numbers 19, Numbers 20, Numbers 21

The red heifer sacrifice was a mystery to 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. A paradox? This is the only sacrifice that incorporated the animal's blood, which reveals the 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 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 so was, presumably, 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." 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 completion. God is holy and eternally alive and death is the punishment for sin, and so death creates a stain on us when we are around it. It reminds us of our sin, but 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 rest. Relatedly, 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 Himself 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.

Interestingly, 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 and produce water. On the plus side, God kept His promise to Israel and delivered the water they needed. On the minus side, Moses disobeyed and beat the rock, taking credit for the water himself. God gave him this 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. He also communicated the law, which could not bring Israel to the land of promise, but Yehoshua (Joshua), a representation of the 2nd coming of Yeshua, would bring the 2nd generation into the land on account of faith. The last time Moses drew water from a rock, God told him to beat the rock and it worked. It worked the second time, too, but with the terrible consequence of broken trust. We need a trusting relationship with Yeshua to make it. We can't follow God's Word like a formula and expect results. We must build a relationship with the LORD and listen to His Word on account of faith.

By this point, Israel was traveling in the wilderness for a while. God would build up the faith of the 2nd generation by carrying them past the obstacle of Edom to defeat King Sihon of the Amorites on one side of the land and Og, king of the Bashan, on the other side. The boundaries cleared of evil, the land was ready to be cleansed. Before this, Israel grumbled about its setback from Edom; they would again face the consequences of disbelief. God sent fiery serpents to take out those who doubted until the remainder called out to God for help, and God hears the cries of those who call out to Him with faith. This is when He commanded Moses to set up a bronze serpent for the bitten to look upon for healing. In John 3:14-15, Yeshua likened His coming death on the cross to this bronze serpent. He would become sin for us (the serpent's bite), so we could be set free from sin by looking to Him in faith. Those who survived the fiery serpent episode had restored their faith, having trusted in this seemingly bizarre commandment because God said so. 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 God said so. Life and victory come from such faithful obedience.

Numbers 22, Numbers 23, Numbers 24

Balaam called Yahweh His God, even though he practiced soothsaying. He also noted he could only prophesy what God put into his mouth. His greed, according to 2 Peter 2:15, is what did him in, which a later chapter will unveil, but at the first, he is seemingly obedient to God. I suspect he is spiritually similar to many Christians today who practice syncretism and mix the holy with the profane. Balak is truly wicked, attempting to destroy a whole people who are peaceably living in the wilderness, but Israel 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 their recent rebellions, Israel had been restored to righteousness and all of their rebels were destroyed, and so too can we be restored when we repent. In Israel's untouchable state, Balaam prophesied properly about the nation, that they would be blessed and so would any other nation that blessed them, but whoever curses Israel will be cursed. He prophesied about the coming Messiah, and about Israel's role bringing forth God's Way for the whole world. We enjoy this promise today.

Numbers 25, Numbers 26

We read in Num. 31:16 that 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 the story of Num. 25, when the people began to have relations with the women from Moab and Midian and worship Baal of Peor, a demon. The lesson is that we must endure in our faith and not get taken over by the temptation for worldly wealth, as Balaam was, and also that we must not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Any compromise from the Way of the LORD will lead 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. In Rom. 1:32, Paul explained that even tolerating sin can lead to death. 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. Phinehas was blessed 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. Be on guard!

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. Importantly, these were not the same men. We read: "Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the kohen 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. It's a precursor of the Great Commission in Mt. 28, when Yeshua told His New Covenant followers to baptize new disciples according to faith in the Father, Son & Holy Spirit and then to teach them all that He commanded. This too would be in preparation for entering the Promised Land.

Numbers 27, Numbers 28, Numbers 29

The daughters of Zelophehad provided a template for what happens when men are not available to lead a house in Israel. The daughters are indeed entitled to the inheritance to continue their father's name. The LORD also set up additional measures to ensure a man's inheritance would not be abandoned in the land, but rather the land would be passed along in the family and would endure in Israel.

Moses, because of his own rebellion against the LORD, would not enter the land. The LORD would not allow it. He laid hands on Joshua to take over his ministry, and He willingly accepted the LORD's judgment. Joshua, a prophetic template for the second coming of Yeshua, would lead Israel into the Promised Land just as Yeshua will do for all of His people on the Last Day.

The food offerings brought for each of God's Holy Feast Days, from the Sabbaths to the New Moons and the annual festivals, demonstrates the heart we ought to have when we come to celebrate at the LORD's altar. We ought to be willing to contribute to the LORD from the first of our increase and the abundance of our months to share with our brethren during these feasts. These are times to enjoy with our brethren in the presence of our LORD.

Numbers 30, Numbers 31

Numbers 30 is an important principle for a father and husband to remember, especially when involved 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 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!

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.

Numbers 32, Numbers 33

Reuben and Gad found the land of their possession to be to the east of the Jordan in Gilead, but they promised to go into the land to fight alongside their brethren. 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 serves as a good reference to compare to Bible maps, but be aware that the locations and path of Israel's travels are disputed, so let us not dispute over doubtful things.

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 a flood, God intended to use Israel to cleanse the land, for God brings judgment with the sword and with the beasts of the earth, as well as with the famine and the pestilence. Each of the tribes had an animal associated with it—for instance, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah—and conquering kingdoms are the "beasts of the earth" that are among the judgments of God. God was intent on judging Canaan, but He would also 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.

Numbers 34, Numbers 35, Numbers 36

The boundaries of Israel are much larger according to God than what we see on the map today. One day, when Messiah returns, this land will be restored to the people of Israel who have been resurrected into life through faith in Yeshua.

Caleb was the only prince of his tribe of Judah that had been a man coming out of Egypt, while Joshua would be the ruler of the whole nation. The others came of age in the wilderness. We too come of age in the wilderness, but blessed are we, who not seeing, still believe, as Yeshua said to Thomas.

The Levites would live among all the tribes of Israel and would minister to them from cities in their midst. Paul said in Titus 1:5: "appoint elders in every city as I commanded you." This is lasting a principle of the faith.

The cities of refuge provided manslayers an opportunity to live on despite having accidentally taken a life, but murderers were to be put to death without exception. Those who take life purposefully ought to be put to death, even now. But those who do so accidentally face punishment, but have a chance for redemption in this life. On a spiritual level, the LORD is clear that manslayers could not be redeemed until the death of the high priest. Our high priest Yeshua died on the cross, and then rose, freeing all who have committed grievous sin from separation in His Kingdom. That being said, the Torah principle remains that there ought to be a separation for those who have committed certain sins or crimes in this life, especially as the governing authorities of our land provide for.

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 on account of 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!

The daughters of Zelophehad would need to marry within their tribe so that no tribe's inheritance would be mixed with another's. Ultimately, while a woman could inherit her father's property if she has no brothers, the LORD indeed intends for property to be passed down through the sons. A woman would receive her husband's inheritance.

Deuteronomy 1, Deuteronomy 2, Deuteronomy 3:1-20

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 heavenly 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 beings 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 the people 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 also, the descendants of rebellious heavenly beings and human women. 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 from Canaan itself. Moses gave this sermon one month prior to the end of the 40th year of wandering. 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 and would ultimately lead to the fall of Israel and even Judah. 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 Israel, and He still does. We must be among the people of Israel to inherit the Promised Land. Once more, the LORD will completely cleanse the land of evil.

Deuteronomy 3:21-29; Deuteronomy 4; Deuteronomy 5

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 today. 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. We will keep them to please God if we love 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, which means to go and sin no more.

Deut. 3 concludes with God's Word to Moses, who would not receive a reward in this life because he sinned against God through pride. All the begging in the world wasn't going to move God's mind, because the Old Covenant had no worldly forgiveness for rebellion. He could not at that time enter the Promised Land. He would enter on another Day, because God knew Moses's repentant heart, and Moses would benefit from the New Covenant through his faith. God sent Michael to contend with Satan directly for his body (Jude 1:9), for Moses would be saved through Yeshua. He repented. He plead with the LORD. It wasn't enough for this life, but it would certainly be enough for the next. Hebrews 11 confirms. In verse 24-29, Moses chose to suffer affliction esteeming the reproach of Messiah greater riches than this world, and he looked to the reward. He forsook Egypt, and all of this world, for the next; he kept the Passover, he led Israel through the Sea of Reeds and to the gateway of the Promised Land. We read in verse 39-40: "All these [including Moses], obtained a good testimony through faith ... they shall not be made perfect apart from us." On that Last Day, Moses will be risen and will live with Yeshua forever, along with all His faithful.

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 commanded the times of ignorance to be set aside so that all men everywhere would repent (Acts 17). 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).

The commandments are simple: 1) God is One, and we must worship Him alone. 2) We shall not create an idol of any kind through which to worship God. 3) We must not speak falsely about God's Word. 4) We must keep the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath. 5) We must honor our mother and father. 6) We must not murder. 7) We must not commit adultery (any sexual immorality). 8) We must not steal. 9) We must not bear false witness in a court of law against our neighbor, for good or ill, and 10) We must not covet anything that God has not given to us, but rather we ought to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and offer praise and thanksgiving toward God for what He has given us. The law of the Spirit is such that we will do the positive that the law teaches us to do, rather than avoid the negative. But let us not think the negative doesn't apply. Yeshua said to be angry with another is to commit murder and to look with lust is to commit adultery. He added: we ought to chop off our hand if it causes us to sin. In relationship to sexual sin, you can imagine the reason for this. Those who watch and react to pornography are practicing such lawlessness. The law, now on our hearts, is far more serious than when it was written on tablets of stone.

Deuteronomy 6; Deuteronomy 7; Deuteronomy 8; Deuteronomy 9

The greatest commandment of all, according to Yeshua in Matthew 22:34-40 and Mark 12:28-34, is the Sh'ma found in Deuteronomy 6: “Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Yeshua is Yahweh! Our God is one! We are to remember this always and worship Him in everything we think, say and do, and we are to teach His commandments to our children and our children's children. We should bring the Gospel message and the commandments of God with us to the market, to our workplace, and in everything we do outside the home. Prayer and worship ought to be the first thing we do in the morning before we arise and before we go to sleep. Yeshua and His commandments ought to be first in all, before anything else, or we are not fit to be His disciples.

In Deut. 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 in 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, though. Rather, He said we would 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 Deut. 8, the LORD is 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 m outh of the LORD. He is the Bread Who comes down from Heaven, in this Torah, through the prophets, through His spoken Word, 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 Deut. 9, the LORD reminds 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 because of my righteousness that Adonai has brought me in to possess this land." 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. In the case of Israel, the LORD used the nation to destroy the wicked nations that were in the land, and He now uses us to defeat the wicked spirits that keep people in bondage. But it all by His power according to His faithfulness that we have any hope at all.

Deuteronomy 10, Deuteronomy 11, Deuteronomy 12, Deuteronomy 13:1

The LORD requires the people of Israel to walk in the commandments of God and love Him, to serve Him with all our heart and soul, for doing so will be good for us and will bring blessings into our lives. Such obedience is the only hope we have to live in God's Promised Land, which is in the Kingdom that is yet to come. In Ephesians 2:11-13, Paul explains that Gentiles were once cut off from any hope at all under the Old Covenant, and it was impossible for them to know God in this world, because they were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise. But now in Messiah Yeshua those who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. In verse 19, Paul continues, "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God," As he also wrote in Romans 11, we are now grafted-in to Israel through Yeshua, and have the opportunity to know and love God and therefore walk in the commandments of God, which will be for our blessing. With believing, faithful Gentiles, Israel is now a much larger nation, certainly with members as numerous as the stars in the heavens.

Now that we are part of Israel through Yeshua, we should indeed remind our children about the discipline of the LORD; that which He did for our fathers in the wilderness, and that which He did to the enemies of our people Israel, for He will do things like this in our lives, too. I've experienced some of them—both blessings and curses. We do not want to subject Yeshua to an open shame by continuing in sin or rebellion against the LORD's commandments, for this will ensure our destruction with the other enemies of God, but we are not under a curse if we are obedient to the Spirit of Truth, which is the Word of God. Obeying God's commandments is proof of our salvational faith, and both are required for us to make it into God's Promised Kingdom. The Kingdom will be a land of unthinkable blessing, but the LORD will only allow those who truly love Him to dwell with Him there. He will not dwell among those who openly disregard His Word.

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. The LORD has given us the freedom to eat clean meat within our property, so long as we pour out the blood and don't do anything else to make clean meat unclean. The same commands are articulated by James in Acts 15 to Gentiles coming into the faith, for all of the things listed there either defile our bodies, which are the Temple of God, or make clean meat unclean. The rest of the law will be discerned as we learn from the Tanakh and the Apostolic writings each Sabbath Day. 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.

Deuteronomy 13; Deuteronomy 14; Deuteronomy 15; Deuteronomy 16:1-17

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.

We cannot associate or attempt to communicate with the dead. We are commanded to eat certain meats and to not to eat other animals that are not considered food. We cannot be cruel to animals. We ought to tithe to our faith community and make sure our pastor is taken care of.

We ought to cancel debts owed to us every seven years, and servants should move on from our employment after seven years. If they choose to remain after seven, they should remain for the rest of their career. We ought to eat the firstborn of our herds and flocks, and give thanks to the LORD.

There are three times a year when we ought to make sure to go before the LORD and praise his name: the feast of Passover and its associated convocations, the feast of Pentecost, and the feast of Tabernacles and its associated convocations. These are the times when the LORD invites us to come near, and we should not disappoint Him, for he is our God! We ought to bring gifts before the LORD to share with one another, to enjoy His presence together.

Deuteronomy 16:18-22; Deuteronomy 17; Deuteronomy 18; Deuteronomy 19; Deuteronomy 20; Deuteronomy 21:1-9

D16: We are to appoint pastors to judge within our local communities all the matters of God's Word, and they 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.

D17: 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 God's people appoint rulers over their 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.

D18: 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.

D19: The LORD so cares about mercy that He set up cities of refuge for people who accidentally caused harm to others. Unintentional sin can be forgiven in the death of the High Priest, which occurred once for all time in Messiah Yeshua. Rebellious sin leads to eternal death, and it may be that one with a hardened heart has no hope for salvation, but all things are possible with God. God's justice is so awesome that He calls for a false accuser to be punished with the punishment he sought for the falsely accused. Think about this in context of Satan; He will be indeed hung on the gallows he intended for God's holy people.

D20: 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.

D20 cont.: 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.

D21a: Innocent blood must be atoned for. There will be an account for all innocent blood spilled.

Deuteronomy 21:10-23; Deuteronomy 22; Deuteronomy 23; Deuteronomy 24; Deuteronomy 25

D21b: You should not take a brand new convert as a wife, but you should be certain that you are equally yoked and have like faith prior to marriage. Do not be deceived by beauty. A betrothed woman later rejected shall not be treated as an object; she is a human being.

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. Judah, the eldest of Jacob and Leah (minus the three elder sons who sinned), would be the firstborn and ruler of Israel, God clarifies here. 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 must be removed from the community, so he does not corrupt the whole.

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).

D22: 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.

D23: A chapter expressing that God does indeed set some of the laws up temporarily for a reason. See 1 Corinth. 5, which aligns with Deut. 23:1: It is abominable for a man to have his father's wife, yet the one committing this sin was welcomed back upon repentance (see: 2 Corinth. 2), and only after repentance. While God did not allow eunuchs to enter His Church initially, on this point He certainly changed His mind after a time. See Isaiah 56 for evidence. Likewise, no Ammonite or Moabite was to enter the assembly until after the 10th generation, but Ruth came in as a sign this prohibition was ended for those who clung to the God of Israel. Egypt only had to wait three generations. We ought to love our enemies, such as Edom, pray for those who persecute us and spitefully use us. Other laws on cleanliness are just common sense. Do we dare go into God's presence in church without cleansing ourselves and wearing something clean and tidy that that shows respect? Should we act like animals and leave refuse everywhere, or dispose of it properly? We probably should not be reading the Word in the bathroom. Cult prostitution is an evil pagan practice that we must avoid. We must not charge interest to our brothers and sisters in the faith. We may glean fruit from a neighbor's property, but not take a basket home without paying. Yeshua plucked grain walking through a field on the Sabbath. Such gleaning was not work and there was no property violation.

D24: A man may divorce a woman who has committed sexual immorality, but he may not remarry her later. 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.

D25a: A man may be flogged only 40 times for wrongdoing. The Rabbinical law to not exceed 39 lashes takes away from the most severe punishment, which is sin, and may even bring excess to punishment when fewer lashes were needed according to a judgment. In other words, the punishment ought to fit the crime, and no cruel and unusual punishment ought to be given. A man ought to take care of his late brother's wife and children. A man's family jewels are to be guarded, even in the midst of an altercation. A woman who fights dirty ought to be held severely accountable. We ought to treat everyone the same when doing commerce. Amalek, representing those men who hate Israel without a cause, will ultimately be completely destroyed.

Deuteronomy 26; Deuteronomy 27; Deuteronomy 28

D26: We ought to bring our first and our best to the LORD, and 10 percent of our increase ought to be given to the LORD in the ministry He has called us into. An additional 10 percent ought to be given every three years. We affirm our faith in the LORD by walking in His ways, keeping His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listening to His voice. We become part of His treasured Holy people Israel, set high above all the other nations, by trusting in Him and keeping His Word.

D27: On Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerazim, God commanded memorials to be set up for the blessings and curses of God; blessings for those who obey, curses for those who rebel. It's straightforward. 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.

D28: 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 Adonai rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so Adonai 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.

Read through Deut. 28 and meditate on God's mercy and His desire to bless us, and then read about His desire for His wayward ones to return. 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 all will. 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.

Deuteronomy 29, Deuteronomy 30, Deuteronomy 31

D29: 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 Adonai our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever—in order to do all the words of this Torah.”

D30: 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.

This is a prophesy of the freedom we have in Messiah Yeshua and the resurrection of the dead on the Last Day: "Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the heavens, from there Adonai your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. ... into the land that your fathers possessed, and you will possess it; and He will do you good and multiply you more than your fathers." It is specifically during this last gathering when God will "circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants—to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you might live." God will at that time destroy our enemies and those who persecuted us and did not repent.

God's commandments are not too difficult, nor are they far off from us; they are in our mouth and in our hearts, so we might do them. Obedience brings life and good, while disobedience brings death and evil. Heaven and earth are witness to us, so let us choose life and cling to the LORD.

D31: 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 land. He also wrote down all the words of Torah in a book, gave it to the priests and elders, and commanded 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. We will have rebellion in our lives, 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; Psalm 90

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.

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.

Deuteronomy 33; Deuteronomy 34; Joshua 1; Joshua 2

D34: Like Jacob before him, Moses prophetically blessed all of the sons of Israel. These blessings are worthy of intense study and each have meaning for the Apostolic age, but I'll leave that for another day. Judah and Joseph received the most prominent blessings, Judah as the one with first born status, and Joseph the one with the double portion.

D35: Moses peered out on the Promised Land he dutifully led the second generation toward, but he would not go in until Yeshua comes to raise the dead on the Last Day. 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.

J1&2: Joshua would fulfill the role of mediator next in Israel, and he would be the one to bring Israel into the 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. I preached on Joshua 2 in my sermon today. Feel free to check out from our YouTube page for the Fourth part of my series called "Elementary Principles of Messiah Yeshua."

Joshua 3; Joshua 4; Joshua 5; Joshua 6

J3: It wasn't until the 12 men of Israel walked into the Jordan River, which was overflowing at its banks, that the water heaped up upriver and the nation walked across on dry land. 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.

J4: 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; on the Day that He delivers His people into the Kingdom of God.

J5: 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 here. 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 when they entered the land. Any remaining sin in us will be cut off. 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 now we look forward to that day. 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, and as He said here to Joshua, He will say to all people on that day: He is neither for us or against us—He is the Word who stands with God alone, and we will worship Him when we see Him.

J6: Prophetically speaking, the destruction of Jericho takes 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 Christ, 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 7; Joshua 8; Joshua 9; 1 Chronicles 2:7

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 Ai, who made war with Israel. Israel besieged the city of Ai and even set up an ambush to totally annihilate the men and remove the memory of the people from off the Earth outside of this lesson. When a people submits to God, they are welcome in to serve Him among the rest of Israel. When a people rebels against God or His people, they will be completely annihilated. This is the lesson of Ai and Gibeon.

The lesson of Achan is also straightforward. We cannot have a rebellious man among us in the Church. If we do, that man will cause the whole body to suffer. In fact, the rebellious one's sin will begin to spread like a cancer and affect others and lead them astray. This is why God will not tolerate a Church that tolerates sin within—in fact, He will leave such a church and all its members will begin suffering at the hands of the enemy. Paul wrote about this at the end of Romans 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 was failing 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 the sinners around us when we tolerate sin in our Churches. Paul instructs us in 1 Corinthians 5 to "put away from yourselves the evil person." This is exactly what happened to Achan, and it was good.

Joshua 10; Joshua 11; Joshua 12:1-6

Joshua 10-11, while truly historical, are also a prophetic look forward to 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 12:7-24; Joshua 13; Joshua 14; Joshua 15:1-19

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. 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.

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 this humble, though: "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." Later, Caleb's daughter showed similar faith.

Joshua 15:20-63; Joshua 16; Joshua 17

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. Unfortunately, several of the tribes left the Canaanites among them and they would later come in to cause damage within the ranks of Israel. We cannot allow demonic activity to remain in our churches, or the demons will eventually find a way to disrupt the work we're doing for the LORD. We must have the faith and trust in the LORD to fully drive them out.

Joshua 18; Joshua 19:1-48

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).

Joshua 19:49-51; Joshua 20; Joshua 21; 1 Chronicles 6:39-66

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..."

The LORD is faithful to His people Israel. We read: "Not one good thing that the LORD had promised to the house of Israel failed. All came to pass." We can be certain that the LORD will fulfill His promises. He is faithful. Because of this, we should walk righteously according to God's Word in courage and faith with confidence that the LORD will fulfill all of HIs promises so that we can be a part of the eternal inheritance He has promised for His people.

Joshua 22; Joshua 23; Joshua 24

Joshua dismissed the Reubenites, Gadites and half-tribe of Manasseh to the east of the Jordan because they had kept their word to help Israel conquer the land. Joshua learned his lesson from the wilderness and very quickly addressed a potential issue that soon followed; they had built a visible altar on their side of the river to remind them to worship Yahweh. Ultimately, it was not an issue that they built a memorial, but it would have been an issue had they used it for prayer or worship. We ought to remember this when we have memorials around our homes to remind us of Yeshua and the work He has done. The moment we look on these items for prayer or worship is when we commit idolatry, but if we use them to remind us to pray to the One in Heaven, there is value in that.

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.

Judges 1, Judges 2, Judges 3

The children started strong, with Judah leading the charge against the Canaanites taking their land completely, but even Benjamin failed to take the land allotted to them; the tribe left Jerusalem in the hands of the Jebusites until King David of Judah took the city many years later. Salvation is from the Jews, Yeshua Himself said. All the other tribes failed to fully take the land allotted to them. Though they started by forcing the Canaanites to labor for them, ultimately they intermarried with them and began to worship their gods. This would lead to a vicious cycle of sin and repentance that would carry on until the very Last Day. The lesson for us is that we cannot give any place to the devil, for he will use every opportunity he can to break us down until we cave to his evil desires. Only in the righteousness of our faith in Yeshua can we overcome the evil with good.

The Angel of God, a pre-incarnate Yeshua, came to explain that His children must break down the strongholds the enemy builds in our lives. He said because we have failed to drive out the enemy, He allows the enemy to remain and become a thorn in our side. Paul mentioned that even he had a thorn in his side in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, to buffet him and keep him humble, for in his humility God's grace would be sufficient to overcome any weakness in him. Our lack of faith in God's Word always leads to demons tormenting us; we can either choose to agree with God's Word or to agree with God's enemies. But God will even allow the demons to test us, as part of the curse of rebellion, to see if we will repent and keep His Word. Let us renounce evil and do good, because of our faith in Yeshua.

The LORD would continue to test Israel by allowing enemies to achieve victory over them when they turned their back on the LORD. This, in turn, would drive Israel back to the LORD, who would redeem them from their enemies and bless them. This is quite reminiscent of our own experience.

Judges 4, Judges 5, Judges 6

Things had gotten bad in Israel. There was no man in Israel willing to lead, so God used a woman to redeem Israel and she was successful, because she knew and trusted the LORD. Barak was weak and would not go to battle without Deborah, and so God took the victory away from him and gave it to a Kenite woman, a daughter of Moses's father-in-law. These Kenites had been devout to the LORD all along, and given the opportunity, Yael blessed Israel by destroying Sisera, the head of Jabin's army, Israel's enemy. Israel had rest for 40 years, a transition period.

Isaiah 3:12 confirms that women ought not lead: "As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths.” Deborah was an exception to the rule.

Deborah and Barak together praised God for the victory, which only He could have fashioned. She prophesied regarding the LORD: "Let all your enemies perish, LORD. But may those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might." Indeed, in the resurrection on the Last Day, the enemies of the Israel of God will perish as all who know Yeshua will be risen up like the sun in its might.

Subsequently, Israel fell again into sin and so God used Midian to correct His people for many years. Then God called Gideon, the youngest and weakest in his tribe of Manasseh, to redeem Israel. God shows His strength through our weaknesses, and so He would do through Gideon. The man was devout, hiding his wheat harvesting in a wine vat to keep the grain from Israel's enemies, and He offered up the first and best to the LORD when He appeared and called Him. He saw the Angel of God and lived, the pre-incarnate Yeshua. God then called Gideon to destroy the idols of his countrymen, and he did so, though with fear, acting out in the night. His act was not hidden, for the LORD brings all things to light, and this forced Gideon to grow in his trust of the LORD. His sanctification was still underway, for Gideon tested the LORD to make sure that it was truly the LORD calling Him to lead Israel. Even James instructs us to "test the spirits" to see if they are from God. Gideon was right to be cautious, and the LORD was faithful to him, leading him to victory step-by-step.

Judges 7, Judges 8, Judges 9:1-21

God reduced Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300 to face 135,000 Midianites who had dominated Israel, and through Gideon's faith one man chased 1000 (more or less) right out of the land, just as God had promised. They started with torches within empty potters vessels for water and shofars— symbolic for the Holy Spirit of God, the brokenness of man (the earthenware vessel meant to contain the Holy Spirit) leading to repentance, and their bold faith in God that led them to be doers of the Word rather than hearers only. The enemy was terrified of God's people who had dedicated themselves to the LORD, for with God all things are possible and all of our enemies will be scattered by such faith and trust in God.

The men of Ephraim were jealous of Gideon and his 300, desiring the glory from defeating the enemy. Perhaps they looked back Joshua's conquest when all Israel fought together? God said this time would be different; He said 300 would face the multitude so the glory would belong to God and not man. Gideon offered a soft word, implying that Ephraim could enjoy even greater victory by simply helping his 300 finish the job against Midian, and this satisfied the critical. When Israel triumphed, Gideon told these men that God would have the glory and would rule over them. Having gained their respect, Gideon did not take the crown for himself but urged them to worship the King of kings, instead. Two other communities failed to assist when Gideon asked for reinforcements, and they received just deserts for their callous disregard for their countrymen. As Moses and Joshua had once warned the fathers of these men—if they did not come to help their brothers take the land for Israel, they would be destroyed like the doubters in the wilderness—so now would these men face destruction. It is imperative that we answer the call of God when He calls us and not wait for when we believe the timing is right. We have to be ready to go when God calls.

Gideon's 70 sons were destroyed by a foolish son of his concubine, a warning to all the nations not to allow false teachers to rule over us. If we fail to heed this warning, we may just burn up when Messiah returns to speak the Word of God from out of His mouth to judge all who ever lived. Jotam is the prophetic Messianic figure in this later story, calling his antichrist brother and all who followed him to account.

Judges 9:22-57; Judges 10; Judges 11

Jotam was a true prophet of Israel, for all that he said was going to come of Abimelech and the men of Shechem came to pass. Avi-melech means Father-King, which was clearly a misnomer for this rebellious one. God repaid him for his evil, and his pride certainly did lead to a fall—the fall of a millstone onto his head.

Verses 6-8 of Judges 10 tells us everything we need to know about repentance. After being delivered and enduring for several generations, the children of Israel fell again into idol worship and sexual sin. God used the Philistines and the Ammonites to judge Israel and subjugate them under bondage. If we ourselves fall away into the bondage of sin, we can expect for the LORD to allow our enemies to defeat us in battle. We will be spiritually oppressed when we rebel against the law of God. But even when Israel prayed to the LORD, crying out to Him, saying "we have sinned against You," the LORD did not hear Israel's prayer. So too will the LORD ignore any of us who prays for forgiveness but continues to sin. It was not until Israel put away their foreign gods and turned back to worship the LORD in the Way He instructed that God answered their prayer. True repentance requires not just words but action that proves those words to be true.

The story of Jephthah is prophetic template for the coming Messiah, from beginning to end. It is also a widely misunderstood story. I produced a sermon on Judges 11 back in July 2024 that gets into the story in significant detail. Please read the transcript: https://storage2.snappages.site/ncm201u3w4/assets/files/20240713_JephthahsShadow_PDF.pdf

Judges 12, Judges 13, Judges 14, Judges 15

The men of Ephraim were again jealous that Jephthah had not called them out to battle, just as they had been toward Gideon, but it was the men of Ephraim who were lax in answering Jephthah's call. God allowed Jephthah and the men of Gideon to defend themselves against the Ephraimites on account of this. They used different accents to differentiate between friend and foe. Civil war is never a good thing, but the LORD here defended the ones who had done His will.

Manoah and his wife encountered a pre-incarnate Yeshua, who prophesied the coming of Samson, who would be an archetype for Yeshua, who would save His people Israel.

Like Yeshua who, except in the beginning, was known mostly by Gentiles over the history of Christianity, Samson would fall for a Gentile woman for the good of His Kingdom and people Israel. His marriage to the Gentile would be stymied by the enemy, and she would be martyred. But God would use this tragedy to bring glory for Israel.

There would come forth honey from the carcass of a lion, just as Yeshua would bring sweet grace for all who believe in Him from His death on the cross.

Samson would be handed over by Israel to the enemy to be destroyed, but he stood strong and defeated 1000 with the jawbone of a donkey. Yeshua will as one man destroy all the host of wickedness by the Word that comes out of His mouth.

Judges 16, Judges 17, Judges 18

Delilah acted as a temptress like Satan who does not let up until finding a kink in our armor. We have to be stronger than Samson and turn to prayer amidst such temptation.

In death, Samson destroyed his enemy, much like Yeshua destroyed the enemies of God by His death on the cross.

In the midst of Israel's idol worship, the tribe of Dan resorted to stealing idols to set up their first community in the Promised  Land. Rest assured, Dan would not last among the tribes.

Judges 19, Judges 20, Judges 21

There was no king in Israel in those days and we know the king is God. Israel had forgotten their King, and Benjamin was so deprived they were like the men of Sodom. They raped a man's concubine until she died. Her husband demanded justice and sent parts of her dismembered body to each of the 12 tribes, rendering them all unclean. Benjamin also received a literal piece of her, but did not feel the weight of this abomination. The rest of Israel gathered to judge their brothers, but Benjamin would not turn over the murderers for judgment, making themselves guilty. Israel went to bring justice, and the LORD permitted this, but the battle was hard fought and many died from Israel. Was this judgment from God against all Israel, because everyone was doing right in their own eyes? They didn't follow the King, they followed their own hearts. God ultimately used the 11 tribes to bring judgment against Benjamin, but not before Benjamin brought God's judgment against the rest of them. Benjamin was so badly beaten that 600 men were left, but the tribe was preserved through unusual means. Had the LORD gotten their attention? What about ours? The LORD works out all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Ruth 1, Ruth 2, Ruth 3, Ruth 4  

During the time of the judges, a famine that led to destruction of a Jewish family ultimately led to restoration of the same family in Bethlehem, the house of bread where Yeshua would be born. The humble man Boaz was willing to give of himself to restore the woman of Israel Naomi and her daughter in-law who was now known to be her supporter. The Moabite woman Ruth clung to her mother-in-law of Judah in Israel, and would not return to her own gods or her fathers' ways following the death of her husband. She desired to be grafted-in to Israel forever. Her sister-in-law Orpah returned to the pagan ways, abandoning her chance to be redeemed in Israel.  

It was the Barley season, around Passover, when Boaz offered to give Ruth and Naomi of his harvest and shelter them under his wing. Naomi saw God's blessing in Boaz's care, and sent Ruth to claim him as her kinsman redeemer for the sake of Naomi's husband and sons. Another man was meant to redeem Ruth, but he failed to do it because she was a foreigner. Boaz gladly took this role, married Ruth, and gave life to the grandfather of King David. The people of Bethlehem said of Boaz this powerful blessing: "May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamor bore to Judah, through the seed that Adonai will give you by this young woman." The Seed is Yeshua, who came down from Adam, through Seth, through Noah, through Shem, through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, through Judah and Perez and ultimately through Boaz and David, the son of Jesse. Gentile women were grafted-in to Israel and thus become a part of Israel.