mordekhi v yisraela

Torah: B’resheet (In the beginning), B’resheet (Genesis) 1.1-6.8
Haftorah: Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 42.5-43.10
Suggested Messianic Writings reading: Revelation 22.6-21

Shalom,

“בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, B’resheet bah-rah Elohim…, In the beginning G-d….” Torah begins with the simple understanding that G-d is. Torah has no need to take a few chapters explaining if Elohim exists, or how He came to be. No justification needed; all we need to know is “In the beginning G-d….”

Creation is a mystery. Was it a literal 24/7, or were the days “long”? I personally have come to believe that each day of creation was a long-day – that is, the Creator did His work throughout the billions of years that are allotted for time travel across the universe. Not that He needed the time, but that is just how large the universe is. Contrary to short-day creationist thinking, one can believe in the long-day creation concept without being an evolutionist. I do not believe in evolution. It took a lengthy study and a new paradigm development to accept this teaching, and if one can refrain from throwing the baby out with the bath water, it is a fascinating concept, and doesn’t take away anything from the creativity of the Creator. The Hebrew term יוֹם yom (“וַיְהִי בֹקֶר יוֹם אֶחָד, vay’hee bo-kehr yom ekhad, and there was the first day”) usually translated “day” does not necessarily have to be a 24-hour day, but can also be used “figuratively (a space of time defined by an associated term)” per Strong’s definition. In the NASEC(1) definitions yom also be understood as “age;” BDB(2) lists one definition of yom as “a period of time”.

But the length of time of creation is not the thrust in this writing. Our concern is just with the fact that Elohim created. Nothing “just happened;” if there was a “big bang” it was from the hand of Elohim, and was not simply a gaseous explosive cosmic event. The AHLB(3) gives this definition for בָּרָא bah-rah, create: “The fattening or filling up of something. The filling of the earth in Genesis 1 with sun, moon, plants, animals, etc. And the filling of man with life and the image of God.” This definition helps to give the ArtScroll translation of the first few verses perfect sense: “In the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth – when the earth was astonishingly empty, with darkness upon the surface of the deep, and the Divine Presence hovered upon the surface of the waters – God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” If the verses of creation are chronological, then the earth was created before the sun; also this “light” was created before the sun. Another thought is that this initial created “light” must not have been the light of the Creator Himself, but some form of an outward light separate from the “person” of Elohim. One hopes that when we step into eternity, there is a large-screen set up somewhere so that we can watch a replay of all the events of creation, as well as the rest of Scripture, and history itself.

So whatever it looked like, “God said, ‘Let there be light;’ and there was light.” And however long it took, evening and morning came to gather, and there was “יוֹם אֶחָד, yom ekhad, day one”. E-khad is defined by the AHLB as, “Two or more coming together as a unity. The sharp edge of a blade is the coming together of the two to one point.” This is the same term found in the Sh’ma (D’varim/Deuteronomy 6.4): “Sh’ma, Yisra’el! ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI ekhad [Hear, Isra’el! ADONAI our God, ADONAI is one].”

The Jewish rabbis and sages have struggled with this word ekhad, and have explained it off one way or another. As Sha’ul discusses in 1 Corinthians 3, the Jewish people in particular have a [spiritual] veil over their hearts, which is preventing them from seeing Yeshua as their Messiah, and it must be our prayer that the veil be removed. On the whole, the Jewish nation rejected their Messiah (although they are NOT in any way to be labeled as “Christ-killers; there is a vast difference); “The stone [Yeshua] that the builders [Israel] rejected has become the cornerstone” (Ps 118.22, repeated several times in the Messianic Writings). Ekhad means “a unit of one”. Yokhanan (John) 1.1-5 relates this about creation: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

We don’t know at what point in “time” Lucifer rebelled against his Creator, but we do know this: when “The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” Sha’ul expounds on this in his letter to the Colossian congregation of believers, “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son (1.13)… For by him [Messiah Yeshua] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. He existed before all things, and he holds everything together” (1.16-17). “Let there BE light” – this indicates an ongoing action. I figure that when Lucifer fell, he had to have a location to be placed into until the final judgment, and that is the “domain of darkness”. And man was about to be created, and he would need a location to be placed in. This would have to have been the “domain of light”.

But early in the Garden, man got curious and wanted to check out the darkness, and it must have looked appealing. Seems it still does today. So essentially man, with his free will, chose to walk into the “domain of darkness,” where Lucifer, now hasatan, the adversary, was lurking about. There were men who “crossed over” (which is the definition of the word “Hebrew;” BDB defines “Hebrew” as “one from beyond”) out of the darkness from time to time – the patriarchs, the prophets – but overall, mankind tended to continue walking in the darkness. Since most of humanity had turned away early on from the Creator to worship the creation, He chose one man (Avraham) to begin a people (Israel) who would bring His light to the world. Israel only partly fulfilled that calling by maintaining the Tanakh through the centuries, so the Creator had to come Himself into the physical realm of man and offer that light to man. He came first to Israel to help this people find their way back into the light of the Creator. Many did, many more did not accept that offer; some turned totally away, others peered out at the edge of the darkness, yet would not venture completely out. When people turned to Yeshua as their Messiah and Redeemer, they found a way out of the domain of darkness. Some unfortunately wandered back into the darkness, others walked with one foot on both sides without a solid direction, with unclear eyesight, but others remained fully in the light and begin reflecting that light onto others who are still within the darkness. And the cycle goes on.

I hope that you who are reading this can now proclaim with me, “Barukh HaShem! ‘He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son’”! Thank G-d that in the beginning, He said, “Let there be Light”.

שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May Israel be unveiled and step out into the Light. Romans 11.15: “For if their casting Yeshua aside means reconciliation for the world, what will their accepting him mean? It will be life from the dead!”

1  New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance
2  Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions
3  Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible

Torah: V’Zot HaBrachah (This is the blessing), D’varim (Deuteronomy) 33.1-34.12
Haftorah: Y’hoshua (Joshua) 1.1-18
Suggested Messianic Writings reading: Rev 21.9-22.5

Shalom,

This is the final reading in the cycle of Torah, and it ends as somewhat of a cliff-hanger. The great leader of Israel, Moshe, passes away in the final chapter and is buried outside of the Promised Land, but Israel remains encamped on the far side of the Yarden (Jordan) River. Their final destination is yet to be reached.

ADONAI Himself buried Moshe, and D’varim 34.6 says that no one knows where his grave is. But Torah does not end in a mourning note, but in a note of anticipation – there is more to come. Y’hoshua (Joshua) was filled with the Spirit from a personal anointing from Moshe, and the people of Israel were ready to follow him. Thus the sages of old chose the first chapter of the book of Y’hoshua as the Haftorah reading to follow this final Torah section. And a new chapter in the saga of Israel is about to be written.

Torah closes with the fact that as the written Torah was put together, there had not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moshe, whom ADONAI knew face to face. Thus we know that Y’hoshua, as great a leader as he was, was not the prophet like Moshe that ADONAI would raise up from within Israel (D’varim 18.15). Maimonides and other sages closed the book of Torah at this point, with the mistaken assumption that one would never arise like Moshe, in essence skimming over the promise of D’varim 18.15.

Various sects within Judaism have raised up men whom they believe to be the Mashiakh (Messiah) of Israel. From a Messianic organization in Israel comes this information: “In the 21st century, there are three rabbis with tens of thousands of followers who believe that they are the Messiah. 1) Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe who died 15 years ago at the age of 92, in New York, has tens of thousands of followers around the world who believe that he is the Jewish Messiah. 2) Rabbi Nachman, the Bratslav Rebbe (Rebbe means head rabbi) who died in 1810 is also a false Messiah. Even though he lived 200 years ago, more than 20,000 Jews from Israel and around the world visit his gravesite in Uman Ukraine every Rosh HaShannah to have their sins forgiven. 3) Yisrael Dov Odesser known as “Saba” (Saba is Hebrew for “grandfather”) also died 15 years ago, at the old age of 106. He had asked his followers not to call him Rabbi, but to call him Grandfather. He is buried in a Jerusalem cemetery, and Jews regularly visit his gravesite to have their sins forgiven as well. Saba was part of the Bratslav Chassidic sect and a disciple of the Rabbi Nachman.

“At busy intersections throughout Israel you will see Nachman Bratslavs handing out literature to people in their cars, as they are waiting for the light to turn green. The followers of Rabbi Nachman also stop their vans in the middle of the highway and start dancing and singing. They are usually singing a song about the Rabbi Nachman which they believe brings redemption to the world. I saw one of them dancing in between the cars yelling, ‘We are now in the end of days. The end of the world is coming soon!’”

In Luke 21:8 Yeshua said, “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.” In Matthew 24:24 Yeshua said, “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah! or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible.”

The One not only like (compared to), but greater than Moshe (Hebrew 3.3: “Yeshua deserves more honor than Moshe”), did indeed arise in Israel – the One, the only One, who fulfilled all of the prophecies concerning His coming and the nature of His being. This One came in human flesh, lived as a man, was brutally put to death by his detractors, but resurrected into eternal life, returned to His Father in Heaven, is now awaiting the day when once again He returns to this planet to rule and reign, His followers serving under Him. This we know to be Yeshua of Natzeret (Nazareth). While we await His return, the Ruakh HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) is our daily helper, teacher, strength and guide.

And this is why we pray for the shalom of Yerushalayim. The Nachman Bratslavs and the other groups of Hassidic Jews, as well as all of the Orthodox rabbis and also the rabbis who are not as “religious” – they all need an encounter with Yeshua just as Rabbi Sha’ul (Saul, also known as Paul) of old had. It has been and is just as Sha’ul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1.22, the Jews need a sign. But it goes deeper than that. From 2 Corinthians 3.14-17, “What is more, their [Israel’s] minds were made stonelike; for to this day the same veil remains over them when they read the Old Covenant; it has not been unveiled, because only by the Messiah is the veil taken away. Yes, till today, whenever Moshe is read, a veil lies over their heart. ‘But,’ says the Torah, ‘whenever someone turns to ADONAI, the veil is taken away.’ Now, ‘ADONAI’ in this text means the Spirit. And where the Spirit of ADONAI is, there is freedom.”

Further, “The god of the olam hazeh [this world] has blinded their minds, in order to prevent them from seeing the light shining from the Good News about the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4.4). Let’s emphasize this: Sha’ul is NOT saying that the reading of the “Old Testament” only is the cause of the veil over the heart of the Jewish person. No, but rather, as we see from this writing of Sha’ul’s, the veil is removed when someone turns to the Spirit, the Ruakh, of God. And the Ruakh comes to one who has accepted the salvation gift of Yeshua. The veil remains when the Spirit is not allowed access to the heart. We should also clarify here that someone may have a gift and a calling from ADONAI that is a gift of the Spirit at large, so to speak, a creative gift, but that does not mean they have the salvation gift of the Spirit.

Sha’ul gives direction in 2 Corinthians 10.3-5 on how to pray for those who are strongly opposed to the idea of Yeshua as Messiah; in other words, here is how to pray for the Jewish people (as well as any of your resistant unsaved loved ones): “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful [spiritual warfare] for the destruction of fortresses (strongholds). We are [spiritually] destroying speculations [destroying arrogant reasonings, destroying human logic] and every lofty thing [destroying pride, destroying lofty opinions, destroying barriers] raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought [every deduction, every perception] captive to the obedience of Messiah.” So you see, we are to pray for stubborn mindsets and spiritual blockages to be knocked down, so that the “eyes of the heart” will be open to receive spiritual truth.

Torah has never ended. Torah is renewed with each year’s reading cycle. The written word also continued on with the Prophets and the Writings. Followers of Yeshua also have the Messianic Writings (New Testament). Yeshua Himself is the embodiment of Torah – He is the living Torah, the entire truth of the Creator in One special man. Yeshua, fully God, fully man. From the creation of Adam to the death of Moshe, from Y’hoshua to the prophet Mal’akhi (Malachi), on to Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist), the Greater One was still coming. He came, and for us serving him these days, we await His return. “Amen! Yes, be coming, Lord Yeshua!”

שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May Israel turn to seek the face of the true “greater Moshe”.