- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Feb 10, 2023 18:08:31 GMT -8
This Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Exodus 24:1-18
Haftara- Isaiah 60:1-61:9
D’rash: This reading is the ratification of the kethubah, or marriage covenant between God and His people. An important topic, but I’m not going to talk about that. Instead I want to focus on other things in this parashah
Exodus 24:6-8 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
This is an obvious picture of the salvific blood of HaMoshiach Yeshua, as well as the blood of the sacrifices which only covered both the sins of the nation and the individual until Yeshua came. Sin must however be repented or the blood of neither does any good. In the words of Yeshua Himself:
“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” Matthew 4:17.
Ezekiel 18:20a,21 “The soul who sins shall die. … But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
“All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and “we will be obedient”” is נַעֲשֶׂ֥ה וְנִשְׁמָֽע na’ahse v’nishma, which contains the word shema שְׁמַע. Therefore the rabbonim to this day teach a person is first to hear, then to obey.
“Repent” in Hebrew is תְּשׁוּבָה teshuvah. From Chabad: “Teshuvah is comprised of three ingredients: regret of misdeed, decision to change, and verbal expression of one’s sins. …, The word Teshuvah in Hebrew may be read “tashuv hey,” literally “returning the letter Hey.” The last letter Hey of the Tetragrammeton … is synonymous with Shechinah, which is how G‑d manifests Himself as a sovereign within the creation. … The Hebrew word for Jerusalem, the holy capital, is Yerushalayim. This word is in fact a composite of two words: Yirah Shalem, meaning “a perfect state of awe.” When the Jewish nation stands totally cognizant of that the Shechinah rests in Jerusalem. This was the state in Temple times.”
What a picture! We have the cloud in which God’s presence is set, and the three biblically mandated elements of teshuvah: regret, change, and admitting you have sinned. Then we have returning not just to God, or even just to Yeshua (which we believe to be how God manifests as human); but to that state of awe and reverence Adam must have felt walking with his Elohim in the Garden. Avinu, Our Father (Is 64:8) wants that kind of relationship with us:
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
John 3:16 “[For this is how God loved the world], that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
That last, although known to us all should fill us with the kind of awe the above quote speaks about.
Exodus 24:9-11 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
Growing up I often heard how lucky I was my father was a pastor. I didn’t think so at the time, however looking back yes, I was. I learned more than I thought sitting (very) still on those old hard Baptist pews. But from experience I can tell you just being in a particular family guarantees nothing.
Here we see נָדָב֙ וַאֲבִיה֔וּא Nadav and Avihu were there on Mt. Sinai and saw El HaKabodh, The God of Glory (Ps 29:3) . Looking at the Winchester Leningrad Codex I was intrigued to see that the name אֲבִיה֔וּא Avihu both begins and ends with the letter א aleph. Parsing the letters I came up with “the first or mighty one who sees and whose mighty hand brings the house together.” The four sons of A’aron and Elisheva- Nadav, Avihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar were to become kohanim, priests before Adon (Lev 8). But almost immediately Nadav and Avihu, the two eldest and thus senior brothers will be killed for bringing strange fire before the Lord” (Lev 10:1). Their father A’aron had just been made the Cohen Ha’gadol, or High Priest (Ex28). In our parashah (above) they had been granted a glimpse into heaven and seen the feet of God Himself. Yet the senior sons were themselves consumed with fire because of the “strange fire” they brought before the Lord. God’s instructions for how we are to worship Him are meant to be obeyed! But there is another lesson here.
Looking back, by my fathers wishes I was supposed to be a Baptist minister. But trust me, growing up with this expectation was no picnic. I rebelled for years, starting in High School and lasting well through my twenties. We are commanded to use judgement, particularly with other believers:
1 Corinthians 5:12-13 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges [Or will judge] those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
Never assume that just because of position, circumstances, or even experience and knowledge anyone is born again or even still walking with Go’el Yisroel, the Redeemer of Israel (Is 49:7). Starting with me, you should all be like the Berea’s and check everything with scripture:
Acts 17:10-11 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
And please, ya’ll be like jimmie here (who is never shy about calling me on things, and who is responsible in part for the length of my “I Found Out I Was wrong” thread); but if you think I am wrong, tell me and we’ll discuss it; and we’ll likely both learn from the give and take.
However I looked further and found another meaning of אֲבִיה֔וּא Avihu, which can also mean “He Is Father, Whose Father Is He.” From אב av, father, and הוא hu- ‘he.’ The only Avihu in the Bible is one of the four sons of A’aron and Elishevah; the others being Nadav, Eleazar, and Ithamar:
Exodus 6:23 Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
Apparently אֲבִיה֔וּא Avihu was to be heir apparent to his father A’aron as cohen ha’gadol. He and all his brothers would likely be included when Moshe and the elders went up and ate at the Lord’s table (Ex 24:9-11, above). In doing so they entered into a covenant relationship with Elohei, My God, Chêleq My Portion (Ps 142:5). But they also “saw the God of Israel,” which no man can do without dieing. Yet “he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel.” How could this be? I would surmise they saw God as a man; probably as Yeshua.
Exodus 24:12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”
Moshe and Yehoshua are called to come further up the mountain. Here it says Moshe will be given “the tablets of stone, with the law (תֹּרָה torah) and the commandment (מִצְוָה mitzvah).” These would be the עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים aséret ha-dvarím, the “Ten Words,” or more famously the “Ten Commandments” (Ex 20:10-7, or alternatively Ex 34:1-27). Both terms there have stronger connotations of “instructions” than “laws.” According to my Vines Expository Dictionary, “תֹּרָה tôrâh signifies primarily “direction, teaching, instruction.” It also says the term מִצְוָה mitsvâh can be a synonym for תֹּרָה tôrâh, instruction. I would take this as a reinforcement of both Torah and the Ten Commandments as instructions, handed down by YHVH Elohim, the Lord Your God (Gen 27:20) Himself.
Earlier Moshe had given the people all the ordinances or just decrees. This should give further insight to what is being handed down by God:
Exodus 24:3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances [all the just decrees] And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.”
A note about seeing God: Judaism does not deny that He can take physical form, even that of a man as in our reading. However they are loathe to describe Him as a human- possibly because of our belief He manifest as Yeshua (per the notes in the JPS TNK).
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK; Vines Expository Dictionary of NT and OT; Abarim Publications; Chabad.org: Dr. FT Seekins: my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Ex 25:1-26:30
Haftara- Is 66:1-24
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
Parashah- Exodus 24:1-18
Haftara- Isaiah 60:1-61:9
D’rash: This reading is the ratification of the kethubah, or marriage covenant between God and His people. An important topic, but I’m not going to talk about that. Instead I want to focus on other things in this parashah
Exodus 24:6-8 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
This is an obvious picture of the salvific blood of HaMoshiach Yeshua, as well as the blood of the sacrifices which only covered both the sins of the nation and the individual until Yeshua came. Sin must however be repented or the blood of neither does any good. In the words of Yeshua Himself:
“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” Matthew 4:17.
Ezekiel 18:20a,21 “The soul who sins shall die. … But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
“All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and “we will be obedient”” is נַעֲשֶׂ֥ה וְנִשְׁמָֽע na’ahse v’nishma, which contains the word shema שְׁמַע. Therefore the rabbonim to this day teach a person is first to hear, then to obey.
“Repent” in Hebrew is תְּשׁוּבָה teshuvah. From Chabad: “Teshuvah is comprised of three ingredients: regret of misdeed, decision to change, and verbal expression of one’s sins. …, The word Teshuvah in Hebrew may be read “tashuv hey,” literally “returning the letter Hey.” The last letter Hey of the Tetragrammeton … is synonymous with Shechinah, which is how G‑d manifests Himself as a sovereign within the creation. … The Hebrew word for Jerusalem, the holy capital, is Yerushalayim. This word is in fact a composite of two words: Yirah Shalem, meaning “a perfect state of awe.” When the Jewish nation stands totally cognizant of that the Shechinah rests in Jerusalem. This was the state in Temple times.”
What a picture! We have the cloud in which God’s presence is set, and the three biblically mandated elements of teshuvah: regret, change, and admitting you have sinned. Then we have returning not just to God, or even just to Yeshua (which we believe to be how God manifests as human); but to that state of awe and reverence Adam must have felt walking with his Elohim in the Garden. Avinu, Our Father (Is 64:8) wants that kind of relationship with us:
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
John 3:16 “[For this is how God loved the world], that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
That last, although known to us all should fill us with the kind of awe the above quote speaks about.
Exodus 24:9-11 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
Growing up I often heard how lucky I was my father was a pastor. I didn’t think so at the time, however looking back yes, I was. I learned more than I thought sitting (very) still on those old hard Baptist pews. But from experience I can tell you just being in a particular family guarantees nothing.
Here we see נָדָב֙ וַאֲבִיה֔וּא Nadav and Avihu were there on Mt. Sinai and saw El HaKabodh, The God of Glory (Ps 29:3) . Looking at the Winchester Leningrad Codex I was intrigued to see that the name אֲבִיה֔וּא Avihu both begins and ends with the letter א aleph. Parsing the letters I came up with “the first or mighty one who sees and whose mighty hand brings the house together.” The four sons of A’aron and Elisheva- Nadav, Avihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar were to become kohanim, priests before Adon (Lev 8). But almost immediately Nadav and Avihu, the two eldest and thus senior brothers will be killed for bringing strange fire before the Lord” (Lev 10:1). Their father A’aron had just been made the Cohen Ha’gadol, or High Priest (Ex28). In our parashah (above) they had been granted a glimpse into heaven and seen the feet of God Himself. Yet the senior sons were themselves consumed with fire because of the “strange fire” they brought before the Lord. God’s instructions for how we are to worship Him are meant to be obeyed! But there is another lesson here.
Looking back, by my fathers wishes I was supposed to be a Baptist minister. But trust me, growing up with this expectation was no picnic. I rebelled for years, starting in High School and lasting well through my twenties. We are commanded to use judgement, particularly with other believers:
1 Corinthians 5:12-13 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges [Or will judge] those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
Never assume that just because of position, circumstances, or even experience and knowledge anyone is born again or even still walking with Go’el Yisroel, the Redeemer of Israel (Is 49:7). Starting with me, you should all be like the Berea’s and check everything with scripture:
Acts 17:10-11 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
And please, ya’ll be like jimmie here (who is never shy about calling me on things, and who is responsible in part for the length of my “I Found Out I Was wrong” thread); but if you think I am wrong, tell me and we’ll discuss it; and we’ll likely both learn from the give and take.
However I looked further and found another meaning of אֲבִיה֔וּא Avihu, which can also mean “He Is Father, Whose Father Is He.” From אב av, father, and הוא hu- ‘he.’ The only Avihu in the Bible is one of the four sons of A’aron and Elishevah; the others being Nadav, Eleazar, and Ithamar:
Exodus 6:23 Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
Apparently אֲבִיה֔וּא Avihu was to be heir apparent to his father A’aron as cohen ha’gadol. He and all his brothers would likely be included when Moshe and the elders went up and ate at the Lord’s table (Ex 24:9-11, above). In doing so they entered into a covenant relationship with Elohei, My God, Chêleq My Portion (Ps 142:5). But they also “saw the God of Israel,” which no man can do without dieing. Yet “he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel.” How could this be? I would surmise they saw God as a man; probably as Yeshua.
Exodus 24:12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”
Moshe and Yehoshua are called to come further up the mountain. Here it says Moshe will be given “the tablets of stone, with the law (תֹּרָה torah) and the commandment (מִצְוָה mitzvah).” These would be the עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים aséret ha-dvarím, the “Ten Words,” or more famously the “Ten Commandments” (Ex 20:10-7, or alternatively Ex 34:1-27). Both terms there have stronger connotations of “instructions” than “laws.” According to my Vines Expository Dictionary, “תֹּרָה tôrâh signifies primarily “direction, teaching, instruction.” It also says the term מִצְוָה mitsvâh can be a synonym for תֹּרָה tôrâh, instruction. I would take this as a reinforcement of both Torah and the Ten Commandments as instructions, handed down by YHVH Elohim, the Lord Your God (Gen 27:20) Himself.
Earlier Moshe had given the people all the ordinances or just decrees. This should give further insight to what is being handed down by God:
Exodus 24:3 Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances [all the just decrees] And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.”
A note about seeing God: Judaism does not deny that He can take physical form, even that of a man as in our reading. However they are loathe to describe Him as a human- possibly because of our belief He manifest as Yeshua (per the notes in the JPS TNK).
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK; Vines Expository Dictionary of NT and OT; Abarim Publications; Chabad.org: Dr. FT Seekins: my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Ex 25:1-26:30
Haftara- Is 66:1-24
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
