Tag: Yeshua

Prophesying to the Dry Bones…

Shema line 1 Shema line 2

Ez. 37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out [a]by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of IMG_20151205_073732866_HDRthe valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord [b]God, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, HEAR [shema; שְׁמַע ] the word of the Lord.’ 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause [c]breath to enter you that you may come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Last Shabbat, I posted a quick note about a global praying of the Shema asked for by a Rabbi on behalf of Judah and the need for the Mashiach to be revealed.  In that post I stated that in addition to being a prayer, Continue reading “Prophesying to the Dry Bones…”

Some thoughts from Joseph….

My longtime readers know that the Joseph portions are my favorite.  Two years ago, I wrote a number of detailed posts considering the life of Joseph as a prophecy of Yeshua.  Those three parts are here, here and here.  Very important!

Later I added, Jesus said, “Walk like an Egyptian!”, kind of an odd twist.

Each time I have studied the Joseph portions, I have considered Joseph and not so much the characters around him.  This time I am trying to shift my focus and see the past him to understand other bits….

Today I have two interesting, but yet unexplored thoughts to share.

  • Gen. 37:2.  Joseph’s bad report was of Bilhah and Zilpah’s sons, not Leah’s as I had previously understood….  Interesting.  How does that change my thoughts on Reuben?  Hmmmm.  And, why the sons of the concubines and not Leah?  There is a reason, but why?
  • Gen. 38 seems an odd interjection in the prophetic image Joseph projects, unless this story, too, is prophetic of Judah during the last 2000 years.  I really need to ponder this one, but on initial examination it appears to have legs.  This is a delicate matter to explore as we must consider the history of Judah apart from Joseph/Yeshua, but it may be a worthy endeavor.

More as I have time to ponder.

Thoughts?  Ideas?  Comments?

A few more ‘Memra’ verses in this portion….

Yesterday, I posted a Scripture image from my YouVersion account demonstrating an example of the use of ‘Memra’ from Deuteronomy.  We have argued on this blog before for the presence of Yeshua in the Torah, one example of which is the ‘Memra.’  Read up on that to better understand the next few verses.

NOTE: Deuteronomy 26:17 also has an alef-Tav as this image demonstrates....
NOTE: Deuteronomy 26:17 also has an Alef-Tav as this image demonstrates….

Certainly, Yeshua, the Memra, stood on Mt. Sinai!

Well, here are a few more ‘Memra’ verses from this portion that are fascinating and again compel us to ask, “When Yeshua (Jesus) says, ‘If you love me, then keep my commandments,’ what are his commandments?”  (Answer to the question at the end of the post…)

Picking up with yesterday’s verses, these almost have a story line as they are interspersed through Deuteronomy 26-28,

Deu. 26:16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 You have today declared the Memra de Yeya to be your God, and that Continue reading “A few more ‘Memra’ verses in this portion….”

Homogeneity v. Variety

We have dairy goats and one of the wonderful benefits, besides them regarding us as

Coffee 'n' cream...
Coffee ‘n’ cream…

family and their very best friends…, is fresh milk and cheese.  Certainly, the milk is better than anything from the grocery store, but the special joy is cracking open a jug for my coffee and scooping the cream off the top.  Mmmmm.

The reason the cream can rise to the top is because the milk has not been ‘homogenized.’  Homogenization is the process of ‘beating the milk (into submission)’ so that all fat globules are sufficiently broken up to be scattered throughout the milk (if not previously scooped off the top and used for butter or sold as whipping cream). The result is that the milk is the same identical flavor and consistency from the top of the jug to the bottom….  a disappointment if you like the real variety within milk as it occurs naturally.

The key point of the illustration, as I was pondering it upon waking yesterday morning, is the effort and force necessary to homogenize the milk.  It is not done easily or naturally.  The way Yehovah made it, it is milk – with variety, built in.

Recently, I have been pondering how much Yehovah loves variety within the bounds He has created…

the beetlesConsider: Continue reading “Homogeneity v. Variety”

How to KNOW you love God…

Ever wondered how to KNOW if you or someone around you loves God?  It is actually, very simple.

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and [a]observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.  I Jn 5:2-3

Pretty simple.

The word ‘observe’ is more properly translated (as the superscript testifies) ‘DO.’  Further, Continue reading “How to KNOW you love God…”

Jesus on ‘Works’ and ‘Eternal Life’

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Full context here.)

What must I DO to inherit eternal life?judge

DO.

This verse begins a recounting of a conversation in the life of Messiah.  A conversation wherein Yeshua (Jesus) says what much of Christendom doesn’t want to hear.  Let’s pay attention to the Rabbi.

Rabbi Yeshua replies,

“What is written in the Torah? How does it read to you?”

Recall what He said in Matthew 5:17-19…

Given the opportunity to say, ‘All ya gotta do is believe…’ and Yeshua does not.  Rather, He points to the Torah!  The lawyer replies, quoting Torah commands that sum up the whole of the Law,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

Without hesitation, Yeshua answers, Continue reading “Jesus on ‘Works’ and ‘Eternal Life’”

One Law, Water, Light and Bread

I was reading a post by Peter over at the OMJ blogspot when a comment he had inserted into a quote got my attention.  While the post was about John 7 and 8 from a Hebraic perspective, the comment said,

[Peter’s One-Law Note:  the Bible compares Torah to light and water.  Light because it says “Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet, a Light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).  Water because it says bread and water“Let my teaching fall like rain”(etc).  In John 7:37-39, Yeshua, referencing Isaiah, said “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”  The quoted passage (Isaiah 55) says that G-d will also summon foreign nations to these waters of Torah.  And Zechariah says that the nations who fail to observe Sukkot will have no rain!  The deeper meaning of course is that they can’t have the rain (i.e. teachings of Torah) if they’re not present at Jerusalem to hear the teachings of Torah being taught by the King]

And, it triggered a thought about the metaphors and ‘One Law.’

Those who oppose One Law say that the Jews are responsible for all of the Torah, but only some of it applies to the Gentile.  Continue reading “One Law, Water, Light and Bread”

Moses was right…

On several occasions in the Torah we see Moshe having a conversation with Yehovah concerning Israel’s obstinance.  Numbers 14:11ff relays one such conversation, while Exodus 32:9-14 relays another.

9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are [a]an obstinate people. 10 Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.” 11 Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your [b]descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your [c]descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

Moshe’s defense in both instances cited is that Yehovah would defame His Name among the nations if He went back on His word or broke His oath.  Essentially, if God does NOT keep His promises to physical Israel, then He is a liar!

Some may claim the promises Continue reading “Moses was right…”

An update and a couple nuggets from Ki Tavo

Before sharing a couple (Ki Tavo, Deut. 26:1-29:8)  nuggets from last week’s Parsha, I wanted to give a quick update and prayer request fro friends and family who read my blog.

Several weeks ago the house we were renting was sold and we were given a 20 day notice to be out.  Due to our having livestock (dairy goats) and MAJOR construction project in the area sucking most all rentals off the market, we have been ‘homeless.’  One family from our fellowship has taken us in while we hunt housing, however, an approaching major surgery for one of them will cause us to move to stay with another dear family.  The situation has radically challenged all of us in terms of space, harmony, etc.  But, stretching is good, even if uncomfortable for the moment.

While we search for a house, we are praying several things:  Buy?  Rent?  Go mobile?  Honestly, we are open to anything, but need Abba to give us some clear direction as to HIS will.  This has been a good time of ‘soul searching’ and surrender.  Please pray with us for HIS clear direction and answer to one of several ‘fleeces.’

One of the negatives of this whole situation is that I am staying considerably farther from work for my twice a day commute, and my eldest is farther from college, meaning we both spend a lot more time in the road as well as my wife and I house searching, etc…  Therefore, I have not had time to write and at time not even had the focus to read or write, but the passion is still very much there!  My desire is to regain stability so I can better focus and rededicate to the passion of studying and sharing what I am learning.  Thanks for your prayers.

On to the parsha.

While I plan to share more deeply in another post, this first thought, here is a basic sketch that jumped off the page at me…  On several occasions in the past I have read an interesting phrase in Scripture that recently has taken a turn in meaning.  Here is a verse with the phrase, Continue reading “An update and a couple nuggets from Ki Tavo”