- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Sept 15, 2018 17:27:59 GMT -8
This week’s readings:
Date of reading- 9-15-2018/6 Tishre 5779
Name of Par’shah- 53. Ha’azinu, Listen
Par’shah- Deu 32:1 – 32:52
Haftara- 2 Sam 22:1-51
Brit Chadashah- Rom 10:14-21, 12:14-21; Heb 12:28-29
D’rash: There is a common theme running through our readings this week:
Hebrews 12:28-29 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
Note it say “acceptable worship,” not just any worship. But our readings from the TNK read like they are from a sort of a pre-Apocalyptic tradition, the basis for Revelation in Jewish literature. The depiction of Elohim as a fiery avenger whose sword cuts men low is typical of this tradition in both Biblical and extra-Biblical texts:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
However I want to (sort of) break from the practice of connecting the common thread as it is so evident in the readings, and focus on some key texts which I believe either interesting or, more importantly have a message for us today. To start, speaking of Jacob and the nation as a whole:
Deuteronomy 32:12 the Lord alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.
As we’ve noted a few times before in our readings, pagans worshiped the gods of the land in which they dwelt. Their gods did not go with them; although what generally happened is that their worship practices tended to meld, making their gods and worship similar to both. I suppose there is some kind of comfort in that. You have some things that are familiar, but you also have these new gods, hopefully more powerful or understanding than those of the lands from which you were driven. Christianity, and sadly some Messianics have tried to do this with HaShem, however He said:
Malachi 3:6a “For I the Lord do not change;
The God of Israel is a God of His people:
1 Kings 8:23 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart;
But there is judgement for those who forsake His laws:
Deuteronomy 32:28, 32-33 “For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them. … For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison; their clusters are bitter; their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps.
This so reminds me of our own society, I don’t think I even need to dwell on the similarities. And there is a price to be paid:
Deuteronomy 32: 20 And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
However both in our par’shah and out haftara, as is always the case, there is redemption both for individuals who are faithful and for the nation when they return to HaShem:
Deuteronomy 32:36,41 For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. … if I sharpen my flashing sword [Hebrew the lightning of my sword] and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me.
2 Samuel 22:47-48 “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me,
There is in our haftara an interesting word picture I want to pursue:
2 Samuel 22:6 (YLT) The cords of Sheol have surrounded me, Before me have been the snares of death.
I’ve used this before,, since it occurs a few times in scripture. All of the Christian resources I looked at focus on the definition of a chord as a rope, or something that binds (such as nationality). However in Hebrew sources there is an interesting thread (pun not intended). The word translated as chord is חבלי chevleh. There was no definition for this in my Hebrew dictionary, however I did find the following terms:
chevleh ledah חבלי לידה- birth pangs
chevleh mashiach חבלי משיח- pre messianic tribulations
These definitions from my Webster’s Hebrew Dictionary hint at the meaning of chevleh as being umbilical chords and not just ropes. And this is according to Dr. Danny Ben Gigi, a Hebrew linguist exactly the meaning in many places in the Bible.
We see this in the NT:
Luke 22:44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
If this follows the pattern of use in the TNK, the original Hebrew manuscript might have read “Being wrapped in the umbilical chords of death” referencing the agonies of both birth and death.
For use in our own haftara, we need to look at two words, חבלי chevleh and חבלי mavet. Though not combined here, whenever we see these words in the same passage they deserve a look, because this is a recurring theme in the the Bible. For example:
Psalm 116:3 (YLT) Compassed me have cords of death [חבלי חבלי chevleh mavet], And straits of Sheol have found me, Distress and sorrow I find.
So in 2 Sam 22.6 we see an interesting word-play. We see death portrayed both as a snare such as one might put out to trap an animal, but the connotations of an umbilical cord are there as well. Death and birth, two similar agonies, yet in both is this picture of something that sustains us until the transition is complete. This is a clear implication that there is something after this life, as we will be born into new life:
Romans 6:4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
That reads like a mixed metaphor, but I believe it is equating our newness of life here to that in the resurrection:
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
We serve a God who will redeem His people, both here and in the hereafter.
Mekorot: Bible quotations from the ESV unless otherwise noted, Webster’s New World Hebrew Dictionary, God’s Secrets Only Hebrew Can Reveal (Dr. D BenGigi), Rav S, my father and others
Date of reading- 9-15-2018/6 Tishre 5779
Name of Par’shah- 53. Ha’azinu, Listen
Par’shah- Deu 32:1 – 32:52
Haftara- 2 Sam 22:1-51
Brit Chadashah- Rom 10:14-21, 12:14-21; Heb 12:28-29
D’rash: There is a common theme running through our readings this week:
Hebrews 12:28-29 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
Note it say “acceptable worship,” not just any worship. But our readings from the TNK read like they are from a sort of a pre-Apocalyptic tradition, the basis for Revelation in Jewish literature. The depiction of Elohim as a fiery avenger whose sword cuts men low is typical of this tradition in both Biblical and extra-Biblical texts:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
However I want to (sort of) break from the practice of connecting the common thread as it is so evident in the readings, and focus on some key texts which I believe either interesting or, more importantly have a message for us today. To start, speaking of Jacob and the nation as a whole:
Deuteronomy 32:12 the Lord alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.
As we’ve noted a few times before in our readings, pagans worshiped the gods of the land in which they dwelt. Their gods did not go with them; although what generally happened is that their worship practices tended to meld, making their gods and worship similar to both. I suppose there is some kind of comfort in that. You have some things that are familiar, but you also have these new gods, hopefully more powerful or understanding than those of the lands from which you were driven. Christianity, and sadly some Messianics have tried to do this with HaShem, however He said:
Malachi 3:6a “For I the Lord do not change;
The God of Israel is a God of His people:
1 Kings 8:23 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart;
But there is judgement for those who forsake His laws:
Deuteronomy 32:28, 32-33 “For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them. … For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison; their clusters are bitter; their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps.
This so reminds me of our own society, I don’t think I even need to dwell on the similarities. And there is a price to be paid:
Deuteronomy 32: 20 And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
However both in our par’shah and out haftara, as is always the case, there is redemption both for individuals who are faithful and for the nation when they return to HaShem:
Deuteronomy 32:36,41 For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. … if I sharpen my flashing sword [Hebrew the lightning of my sword] and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me.
2 Samuel 22:47-48 “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me,
There is in our haftara an interesting word picture I want to pursue:
2 Samuel 22:6 (YLT) The cords of Sheol have surrounded me, Before me have been the snares of death.
I’ve used this before,, since it occurs a few times in scripture. All of the Christian resources I looked at focus on the definition of a chord as a rope, or something that binds (such as nationality). However in Hebrew sources there is an interesting thread (pun not intended). The word translated as chord is חבלי chevleh. There was no definition for this in my Hebrew dictionary, however I did find the following terms:
chevleh ledah חבלי לידה- birth pangs
chevleh mashiach חבלי משיח- pre messianic tribulations
These definitions from my Webster’s Hebrew Dictionary hint at the meaning of chevleh as being umbilical chords and not just ropes. And this is according to Dr. Danny Ben Gigi, a Hebrew linguist exactly the meaning in many places in the Bible.
We see this in the NT:
Luke 22:44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
If this follows the pattern of use in the TNK, the original Hebrew manuscript might have read “Being wrapped in the umbilical chords of death” referencing the agonies of both birth and death.
For use in our own haftara, we need to look at two words, חבלי chevleh and חבלי mavet. Though not combined here, whenever we see these words in the same passage they deserve a look, because this is a recurring theme in the the Bible. For example:
Psalm 116:3 (YLT) Compassed me have cords of death [חבלי חבלי chevleh mavet], And straits of Sheol have found me, Distress and sorrow I find.
So in 2 Sam 22.6 we see an interesting word-play. We see death portrayed both as a snare such as one might put out to trap an animal, but the connotations of an umbilical cord are there as well. Death and birth, two similar agonies, yet in both is this picture of something that sustains us until the transition is complete. This is a clear implication that there is something after this life, as we will be born into new life:
Romans 6:4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
That reads like a mixed metaphor, but I believe it is equating our newness of life here to that in the resurrection:
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 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. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
We serve a God who will redeem His people, both here and in the hereafter.
Mekorot: Bible quotations from the ESV unless otherwise noted, Webster’s New World Hebrew Dictionary, God’s Secrets Only Hebrew Can Reveal (Dr. D BenGigi), Rav S, my father and others
