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SIMCHAT TORAH  (Bible Joy) 


   We have finished our Torah study cycle and are starting over.  In many synagogues and Messianic Congregations worldwide, those who have Torah scrolls have rolled back the scrolls to Genesis to start again next week in our study of God's Word. 

    We also did this at our congregation in San Salvador.  We did something very special.  All members of our congregation lined up and each one took some foreign nation's flag from a chest and held it to their heart.  Then, we marched around the sanctuary and prayed for that specific nation.  Each person would pray for the nation whose flag was in their hands.   

     The Israeli flag was in front and we marched around the room 7 times.  Then, all sat down and the scroll was forwarded to the end of Deuteronomy, and the last verse in Deuteronomy was read, or rather chanted.  Then, the scroll was re-rolled back to Genesis, and the first verse of Genesis was chanted.  A mother and her daughter helped in re-rolling the scroll back to Genesis.

     The "Joy of the Bible" is meaningful, in that the Bible plays an important role in our lives.  B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth).


We are only "visitors" and "sojourners" on this planet.  We were made "perfect" and "sinless" yet when man sinned, we lost fellowship with God.  The Bible helps us find our way back to God through a personal relationship with Yeshua/Jesus.  The "Torah" (instruction) points us in the right direction, to help us find "the mark" on the target.  The commandments help us live a righteous lifestyle before God and our fellow man.  The Bible also teaches us history and errors, mistakes made by our predecessors, and warns us not to commit the same mistakes as in the past. 

     We have 66 books written by inspired writers from all walks of life, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to give us hope.  We have the written word and the Living WORD.  His spirit helps us understand what is written.  So that when we breathe our last, in this world, we will be welcomed by HIM in the World to Come, in the New Jerusalem.

    There is an interesting fact about the Hebrew Bible.  In the Hebrew Bibles that include the vowel points (Nikudim) there are also musical notes below and above the Hebrew letters.  Those are "C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and Middle C" So, if we know what markings are which notes, then, we can actually "play' the Torah on the piano or harp.  The musical code was found by Susana Haik Ventura, a French Musicologist, and was passed down to a friend of mine who plays the harp and, in turn, gave me a copy. 

     It is interesting that the very last word in Deuteronomy is "Israel" and the first word in Genesis is "In" (The beginning).  (Deuteronomy 34:12) and (Genesis 1:1)  In Hebrew, the word is "Israel" and in Genesis "B'reisheet.   The last letter in "Israel" is of course, the letter "l" and the first letter of Genesis is "B" (in)   Now, when we join the "L" with the "B" we have the word "Lev" which,  in Hebrew, is the word "heart". 

     Is there symbolism here?  One could say that "In the beginning" God had "Israel" in his "heart".  He had the whole world in his heart, and Israel would be the "light to the nations"   The letter "B" in the Hebrew Bible is enlarged, as it is the first letter in Genesis, it is emphasized.  "B" stands for "Blessing" it also symbolizes "house" and "unity or division"

     What can we say about Genesis then?  In the "beginning," God created planet Earth as a "house" for mankind, plant, and animal kinds.  In the "beginning" before sin entered the world, the world was indeed a "blessing" for all.  death did not exist, only "unity" co-existence in a human-plant-animal world.  After sin entered, there was "division" The perfect environment was "split' and "divided" death now came onto the scene, for all living things.

     The very first verse in Genesis has a lot to say:   "In the Beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth"  In English, there are 10 words.  Ten is the number of completion, the number of Torah.  In Hebrew, the verse reads "B'reisheet Bara Elohim Et HaShamayim V'et HaAretz".  There are 7 words, 7 being the perfect number of God.  We have the "action" of "creation" (Bara) we have "Space" (Heavens/HaShamayim) "Time" (B'reisheet/In the Beginning) and "Matter" (HaAretz/the Earth)   The word "Bara" means "creating something for a specific purpose" (not just throwing something out there and leaving it on its own) 

     Yet, the very first word is interesting;  "B'resheet" (In the beginning).  But what is the "beginning?"  the beginning of what? Everything has a "beginning."  So, this is the "beginning of what?"  One could say;  "the beginning of creation, the beginning of "time" as we know it.  God steps out of eternity past, speaks into existence all that was created, sets into motion the planets, the moon, etc, to create what we know as "time" (seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc) in order to relate to HIM in special days and times, seasons (moedim). 

     what can we say?  We have two timelines.  The infinite line, which goes from eternity past to eternity future, yet in the middle, we have the "finite" timeline which starts in Genesis 1:1 and ends in Revelation, when we read about "New Heavens and a new earth".

     Another aspect or idea;  There are 7 words in the first verse of Genesis.  Within the 7 words, six of the words contain the letter "Aleph" which is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  The word "aleph" can also mean 1000 (Eleph) but in Hebrew, it is still spelled the same.  Could the 6 Alephs in the first verse symbolize 6 thousand years for man on this earth? and then one thousand years for Messiah Yeshua to rule (The Millennium) equaling 7 thousand years?   Well, just an idea to throw out here.  Next week, we will go more into Genesis.

     

Shalom, and pray for peace in Israel, that the war will end soon.

To answer the question;  "if someone doesn't celebrate this festivity, or the ones that follow, does that mean the person is less a believer, or...not as Holy?  Of course not.  We all have the decision to celebrate or not.  We can choose to follow or not to follow. 

The choice is ours.  God still loves ALL of his children, and always will.

Numbers 29:1-6 and the "Day of Trumpet Blowing"

29 “‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you are to have a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work; it is a day of blowing the shofar for you. 2 Prepare a burnt offering to make a fragrant aroma for Adonai — one young bull, one ram, and seven male lambs in their first year and without defect — 3 with their grain offering, consisting of fine flour mixed with olive oil — six quarts for the bull, four quarts for the ram, 4 and two quarts for each of the seven lambs — 5 also one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. 6 This is to be in addition to the burnt offering for Rosh-Hodesh with its grain offering, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to the rule for them; this will be a fragrant aroma, an offering made by fire to Adonai.

In the Messianic Jewish circles, we know this time as "Rosh HaShannah" or "Yom Teruah" (Head of the Year) and (Day of Blowing the trumpet). But is it only for Jews, or for all believers? In Leviticus 23, God is proclaiming these feast days, or days of celebration as "my feasts." They were given to the Children of Israel first, but more were added to the Community of Israel. All believers have been "grafted in" to the Olive Tree. If these are "God's feast days" then they are for ALL who love God and who want to follow His Word.

The sacrificial animals in the passage above all are "Shadows" of Messiah Yeshua. They all point to Yeshua/Jesus who gave His life on Calvary's cross and took away the curse of sin and death. The bull symbolizes God as "All-powerful and mighty" as the bull was one of the most powerful animals of the herds in those days. The ram symbolizes the substitute for Isaac when Abraham offered him as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. Isaac symbolizes all of us and the ram, our LORD and Savior who took our place. The 7 lambs, "7" is the number of perfection, and the lambs are "The perfect Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world." The grain offering = Yeshua, the Bread of Life; the oil = the Holy Spirit. The male goat reminds us of Yom Kippur, when two goats were presented. One was sacrificed and the other was sent away carrying our sins. This symbolizes "The Lamb of God who took upon the sins of the world and sent away our sins, never to return. The drink offerings consisted of wine, symbolizing the blood of Yeshua.

As we can see, these are all the "shadows" of Messiah, who fulfilled them all. The blowing of the trumpet (Israel had silver trumpets) and also the shofar (rams horns and horns of an African antelope, a Kudu) were used during this time. Today we use the rams' horns and antelope horns. The sound of the trumpet is a "wake-up call" to announce "the King is coming.

The first 4 feast days (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Shavuot) were fulfilled in the first coming of Messiah Yeshua. The death of Messiah, who was the unleavened Bread of Life, the First Fruits of resurrection, and the Coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost/Shavuot. The fall feasts are; Yom Teruah or Rosh HaShannah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles. These proclaim the 2nd coming of Messiah, who will come to be crowned King of this earth and all the universe, who gave his life for atonement of our sins, and will come to "tabernacle" among us for One Thousand years and for all eternity. (I guess Yom Kipper can be considered fulfilled at Calvary too).

The 4 sounds of the trumpet, and the sounds of "Tekia, Teruah, Shevarim, and Tekia-Gedola" are heard on Rosh HaShannah. They are the "wake-up" call for all to anticipate the second coming of Messiah, a time to cry and sob for our sinfulness and to repent, a time for sadness at the passing of the year, and joy for the coming of this new year.

There are two major "new years" in the Bible, Passover marks the month of Nissan, and the "religious" new year. Rosh HaShannah marks the new agricultural year, and the new "calendar year" We are now in the year 5784 (after the creation of the world). Just like in the Gregorian calendar, there is the new solar year, January 1st, there is a "School year" which marks the beginning of school, and probably other "new years"

The final trumpet sound "Tekia Gedola" reminds us of when the church will be taken up after the dead in Christ are risen first. We know this as the "rapture" or the "taking away of..." all believers in Messiah; "At the final trumpet call" the "Tekia Gedolah"

It is customary to eat apples dipped in honey on Rosh HaShannah and to dance praise and worship songs. It is a time of joy, we want the king to come, and to come soon. Maybe this year, or...the next.



Ben Avraham

The Fig Tree and Yeshua Ministries in

El Salvador

Parashah: Ki Tetze” (when you go out) DEUT 21:10-25:19


There are many "highlights" in these chapters, many commandments that we can look at and perhaps relate them to situations in our modern day and time.

In this Parashah we see a lot of common-sense mitzvoth that are for today, and we can also see some mitzvoth that we need to take a good look at to see how we can apply them, perhaps not so much literally, but spiritually and morally. In some cases, both. According to some rabbis, there are about 74 commandments within these 5 chapters, many are still for today. (We need to look at the “big picture”)

But I would like to take a look at the first verse that says; “When you go out to war against your enemies…” The word “enemies” in the original Hebrew is “o’y’Veykha” In English, we see two “y” s In Hebrew, those are two “yods” In ancient Hebrew, the “yod” was a “hand”. A hand holds a weapon to fight in a war, such as a knife, sword, spear, bow and arrow, sling, etc.

The rabbis of old comment that the reason for two “yods” is that we fight against two kinds of enemies, the enemy from without, meaning another person who wishes to do us harm, or harm our families, or fight against our country, and the enemy from within, meaning the “Yetzer Hara” the sin nature, perhaps even bodily diseases. Since we all have that sin nature, it is a constant fight against the enemy inside, and only through the Holy Spirit can we put it underfoot. Like the meaning of the word; “Tzadik” (one who hunts or controls his monkey) the “monkey” being the sin nature.

Verse 10 talks about taking a captive woman from the enemy and making her your wife. Well, I wouldn’t recommend that very much, you might end up with your throat cut when you are sleeping. In Biblical times an Israelite soldier had the right to take a woman who was from an enemy city, once captive, and make her his wife if he chose to do so. We might ask ourselves why? Well, the soldier just might like the way she looks, but what is the “bigger picture?” The Israelite soldier shows the captive woman “compassion”. She has lost her family, her city is in ruins, and her “gods” have abandoned her. All she has now is this “soldier” who is from the nation of Israel who has brought her to his camp, his tent, and to his “One God”. Soon she will see the difference between the false gods she left behind and the one and only God; Adonai-Elohim.

Perhaps she was ill-treated in her city. But here she is shown compassion. She is allowed to mourn her loss, and in time, she will learn about Adonai and perhaps even love her Israelite husband. At first, it seems to be a bad thing, but in time, it turns into a good thing. This also can be a situation with our own wives, when things happen and she is having a bad day, depressed, something has happened at work, or a family member has passed away, etc...It is up to the husband to be kind and considerate, and give her some space and just "be there" for her.

Looking at this from another standpoint, we were at once a time in the enemy’s camp. We were in the camp of HaSatan, and our “bridegroom” (Yeshua) paid the price of ransom and bought our freedom with his own blood. Now he takes us “his bride” to his encampment. All believers are part of the “bride of Messiah” Baruch HaShem! And we will be HIS OWN for all eternity.

Vs 18 talks about the “wayward son” in that, if he is rebellious and defiant, refusing correction, his parents have the right to take him to the “shoftim” (judges) and they would order him to be stoned. Rebellion had a death sentence connected to it. We never read in scripture that this actually happened, but it was still written down as a commandment “in case” family rebellion occurred.

Try to stone a rebellious child today and you will definitely be standing before the man! (and off to prison you will go). If, as parents, we train up a child in God’s Word, and read him or her Bible stories instead of fairy tales about ghosts and Boogiemen, then, when the child grows into a youth, he or she will have a solid foundation before him/her. It is not about being stoned with rocks, it is all about following the ROCK of ages!

Vs 22: Those who have received the death penalty could not be left “hanging around” from either a rope, a cross, or a stake. They had to be taken down and buried. In ancient times, a person who received the death penalty many times was displayed to the public, hanging from a rope for all to see. The dead person was taken and left hanging but had to be taken down and buried before the end of the day. Yeshua was taken down from the cross and buried in a tomb. We see many crucifixes today with Yeshua still on them, the fact is that he did NOT remain on the cross, but was buried and arose on the third day. We worship a risen Savior and not one who is still on the cross

It is also good to mention the verse: "Cursed is all who hang on the tree" (Galatians 3:13; Deut 21:22) Yeshua received the curse of sin, and bore the curse for us all. Remember that the cross was made from wood, which came from a tree.
Chap 22; 1-4. To help someone find a lost item is a big mitzvah, being the item a lost animal such as a dog or a cat, or a wallet, important papers, etc. Unfortunately, we live in an age of worldly materialism. The ideology is “Finders keepers losers’ weepers.” That is the philosophy of the lost world, not born-again believers. If one finds a wallet with money inside, and there is an ID, we must return it to the person, money intact! Not minus the cash. Taking the cash and returning the wallet empty just makes one a thief’

Vs 5; “A woman must not put on a man’s apparel, not a man, woman’s clothing” In Biblical times, clothing was generally the same; long, flowing tunics tied with a cloth or leather belt or sash and on the feet, sandals. There was, however, a difference between men’s and women’s tunics, perhaps in the material, color, and design being used. Today we see “unisex” clothing such as blue jeans, but even in blue jeans, there are “women’s” jeans. A man had better not put on a skirt unless he’s a Scotsman with a kilt and bagpipes. Let us abide by this commandment. Anyway, a woman looks better in a dress than in pants. (my opinion only).

Vs 8; Common sense tells us that when we build a roof, and it is the type of roof where one can go up and sit down and enjoy the coolness of the evenings, one must build a fence or a wall that surrounds the roof, to keep one from falling off in case one gets too close to the edge. The Torah can be like a roof and the commandments the fence that surrounds the roof, they keep us from “falling off into sin”

Vs 9; Prohibition of mixing seed, wool, and linen, mixing work animals. These all can be considered “unequally yoked” as an ox is stronger than an ass. It tends to pull stronger and the ass will just slow it down causing undue strain on both animals. Such is an unequally yoked marriage, it strains both parties and causes undue stress and tension. Mixed seeds will take out more chemicals from the soil leaving the soil useless. Wool will shrink in the hot wash and linen will not. Wool comes from an animal (sheep) and linen comes from a plant (cotton). A garment made with both wool and linen will be ruined and will be pulled apart. An unequally yoked marriage or even business partners will “pull apart” when put in “hot water” if you get my drift. Mixing a believer with a non-believer will bring on different goals, ideas, philosophies, mannerisms, etc. One will serve God the other will serve the world. The Torah makes a difference between “Kadosh” and “Non-Kadosh” the holy and the unholy.

Vs 12: “You shall make Tzitziot (tassels) on the four corners of your garments” This is still for today and speaks about our relationship with Messiah Yeshua, our relationship with the Torah and the commandments. It also connects us with our Jewish culture. The number of windings and the blue thread is 7,8,11, and 13 which are significant. (7+8=15) (Yod + Hey) and 11 (Vav=6, and Hey = 5) YHVH and “Echad” (ONE in unity) (13)

Chapter 24 addresses divorce, if a woman is found in “uncleanness” as some texts state, the man can divorce her. This word is connected to “nudity” and could even go as far as saying, the husband finds the wife nude with another man, (adultery) the word in Hebrew is “Ervat” (uncleanness) yet Yeshua teaches that forgiveness is more important than “putting away the wife” but…the exception remains “adultery” yet even this can be forgiven, marriage is important, and Satan will do everything in his power to destroy marriages.

24:14 “You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a STRANGER (foreigner) in one of the communities of your land” Very important to know, that ALL workers, including immigrants, with or without work visas, should be respected, helped, and not HARRASSED! Hello!! The USA was founded by immigrants, Let’s do our best to pray for them, respect them, and help them. Verse 17 says; “You shall NOT subvert the RIGHTS of the stranger…” Every immigrant has the right to the “pursuit of happiness and well-being in this country called the US of A. If the immigrant is an unrepentant criminal, that is a different story. The chapter also talks about the farmer and his crops. He should let the needy take what they need and not consider it stealing. We should not look at everything with $ in mind, we should share the blessings that the LORD has given us and share them with others.
25:4; “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is threshing.” In other words, every employee has the right to his or her lunch break. The ox can work and eat at the same time since its work is demanding.

25:5-10 talks about the “Levirate marriage” when a man dies and leaves no sons, the man’s brother (if single) must marry the man’s widow so as to raise up children. Well, would this be a good thing today? There are some who would say yes, and others would say no. I’ll let you decide, If I were single and, in that situation, if I wasn’t going with anyone, well…. maybe I’d go for it, why not? (especially if she was pretty). I guess it would be good because the marriage is kept within the family.

25:13 talks about “diverse weights” very important to conduct “honest business transactions” not crooked and unfair. Unfortunately, we live in a world of greed and there are people out there, scammers, that want to get over on you. Be careful, especially on the Net.

We are approaching the "High Holy Days." We need to be in a state of repentance, and of "returning to God" and making amends if we have offended others. Shalom. (I'll be out of the country for two weeks, I'll be back on September 12th)

Ben Avraham