Moses Never Forgot He Was A Hebrew

This chiasm in Exodus 2:11 shows that Moses never forgot he was a Hebrew, and it was inevitable that he would eventually rebel against Pharaoh's rule.

...and for the search engines:

• He went out to his people
• Looked on their burdens
• Witnessed their abuse
• A Hebrew, one of his people

The Structure of Jacob's House

These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah... (Genesis 46:18)

The house of a nomadic patriarch included his wives, his children, his servants, and their children. If he had multiple wives, each of them had her own sub-house made up of her own children, her personal servants, her handmaids, and her handmaids’ children, especially if they were also the patriarch’s concubines. If an infertile (or under-fertile) woman gave her servant girl to her husband as a concubine, the servant’s children were born free and belonged to the free woman as if they were her own. Inheritance in such situations was undoubtedly complicated, especially if the free wife had natural children of her own later. The conflict between Ishmael and Isaac is a good illustration.

In this passage, the children of Jacob’s four wives are listed first according to their mothers and then by their birth order. Leah’s children are given first and listed in age order, followed by Zilpah’s, Rachel’s, and finally Bilhah’s. This illustrates the internal structure of Jacob’s house according to his wives. Zilpah and her children were a subdivision within Leah’s house, because Zilpah was always Leah’s servant even while a concubine to Jacob. The same is true of Rachel and Bilhah.

On another level, this organization illustrates another structure within the nation of Israel. When the Hebrews left Egypt, they brought with them a mixed multitude of gentiles who came to be associated with one tribe or another, eventually becoming indistinguishable in every way. They were attached to Israel by faith in God’s promises and by their presence at Sinai. How tribal identities were determined or assigned I have no idea, but that they were, I have no doubt. By the time Israel entered the promised land, there was no more mixed multitude, but only the twelve tribes plus Levi.

Chiasm around the Covenant of Jonathan and David

A chiasm in 1 Samuel 17:58-18:1 surrounding the covenant of Jonathan and David, the adoption of David into Saul's house, and Jonathan's recognition of the transfer of power to David.

• 17:58 – David the son of Jesse
• 18:1 – David spoke to Saul
• Jonathan and David’s souls bound up together because Jonathan loved David as himself
• 18:2 – Saul took David that day (adopted) and wouldn’t let David go back to his father’s house
• 18:3 – Jonathan and David cut a covenant, because Jonathan loved David as himself
• 18:4 – Jonathan gave David his robe, clothes, sword, and bow
• 18:5 – David acts as the son of Saul

A Chiasm in Psalm 81 - God Is Waiting

All of Psalm 81 has some really cool and subtle references to God's grand redemption plan using Yoseph as a prefiguring of Yeshua, the "Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world." I'm pretty sure that Asaph, the author, is also overlaying the Fall and Spring feasts in order to reinforce the same message: Israel's release from bondage in Egypt was decreed even while they were at the heights of power, just as mankind's release from bondage to sin was decreed before Adam was even formed, let alone sinned.

Maybe I'll write more about that later.

In this chiasm, Israel's betrayal is framed by God's redemption, including a promise to forgive them when they repent. There's also an implication of Israel's role as a nation of prophets and priests to the whole world. God wanted to open their mouths and fill it with his voice. He wanted (wants!) them to be a conduit for his message to the world, but they were unwilling to hear it.

They will not always be unwilling. Joseph's brothers didn't immediately recognize him or understand the language he spoke, but he revealed himself to them when he was ready. So too will Yeshua reveal himself to his brothers, most of whom are as yet unable to recognize him.

• V6 – Relief from burdens
• V7 – God’s response to Israel’s call of distress in Egypt
• V8 – God calls Israel to hear him
• V9 – Don’t serve false gods
• V10a – I am your God and rescuer
• V10b – Open your mouth & I will fill it
• V11a – But you didn’t listen to my voice
• V11b – You would not submit to me
• V12 – God let Israel serve themselves
• V13 – God calls Israel to hear him
• V14 – God’s response to Israel’s repentance and call of distress in the world
• V16 – Rewards from God

Jacob's Concubines and Wives

...He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives... (Genesis 37:2)

Jacob's concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah, were concubines, but also fully his wives. The Hebrew word used here literally just means "woman," so translating it as some other word in English is a judgment call requiring the translator to make some assumptions about the original intent. Moses might have been just calling Bilhah and Zilpah Jacob's women, but it is the same word used in other passages to refer to Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Keturah, Rachel, Leah, and all of the other wives of the Bible, so the word "wives" is perfectly justified in this verse.

A concubine was not just a spare sex partner, but had rights and responsibilities in her husband's house. The primary difference between a concubine and any other wife in the Bible is that a concubine is also a slave. Keeping in mind that Biblically a slave has more rights than free men in most other ancient cultures, it certainly isn't an ideal relationship, but it's not the horrifying lot anti-patriarchs make it out to be either.

A Chiasm: Until the Time of the Gentiles Is Complete

There is a large chiasm that spans the entire length of Torah portion Vayetzei, Genesis 28:10-32:2 (32:3 by rabbinic reckoning) with Jacob's encounters with angels on either end and the birth of Joseph in the center.

For the search engines:

A: 28:10-12 – Jacob encounters angels
---B: 28:13-19 – A covenant and a stone pillar
------C: 28:20-22 – God watches over Jacob
---------D: 29:1-12 – Jacob journeys and meets Laban
------------E: 29:13-14 – Laban lauds family ties with Jacob
---------------F: 29:15-30 – Jacob negotiates wages with Laban
------------------G: 29:31-30:24 – Rachel and Leah compete for children
---------------------H: 30:25-26 – Joseph is born & Jacob is ready to leave Laban
------------------G: 30:27-43 – Jacob and Laban compete for sheep
---------------F: 31:1-13 – Laban renegotiates wages with Jacob
------------E: 31:14-16 – Laban repudiates family ties with Jacob
---------D: 31:17-32a – Jacob journeys and is pursued by Laban
------C: 31:32b-43 – God watches over Jacob
---B: 31:44-55 – A covenant and a stone pillar
A: 32:1-2 – Jacob encounters angels

One possible interpretation for the focus being on the birth of Joseph and the desire for Jacob to return to the Promised Land might be in Jesus' statement concerning "the time of the Gentiles" in Luke 21:24.

Jacob has been exiled from the Promised Land due to a conflict with Esau (associated by the ancient rabbis with Rome) and scattered into the world, which is represented in this story by Laban. While in exile, Jacob has been cheated, shuffled about, and persecuted, yet he has prospered. His material wealth continues to grow against all reason and he survives against all attempts to assimilate or destroy him.

Today, multitudes of gentiles are being grafted into the nation of Israel. Jacob would even stop this if he could, but he has no control. The great expansion of Israel's children by adoption from the nations is an act of God, like the conception of Joseph. These new Israelites are rediscovering the Hebraic roots of their faith, repenting from idolatry, and learning to keep the Laws of God.

Jerusalem is still under the control of gentiles and Israel is still mostly scattered among the nations, but that time may be drawing to a close. (I'm not saying that it is, only that it may be.) If so, then as Ephraim and Menasseh are filled, Joseph is being prophetically born, and Jacob is preparing to return home.

The mass exodus from the nations will not be without tribulation. The people of God will be pursued by the nations they are leaving and, as in the Exodus from Egypt, they will bring the remnants of their inherited idolatry with them.

Nevertheless, God will be with Jacob and will see him back to the Promised Land successfully. As Paul wrote in Romans, individual branches might be pruned, but the whole tree will be saved because God has promised it.

-----

Check out my growing list of chiasms and parallelisms here.

A Chiasm in Genesis 7:20-24 on the Death of All Life

The Flood was like a drastic, last-ditch medical therapy that kills off a disease, but nearly kills the patient in the process. 

Throughout Scripture, states of uncleanness can only be remedied by repentance, water, and time. Since there was no repentance coming from the people who lived before the Flood, God repented himself from having made them, and then he sent water and time to cleanse the earth from the uncleanness of their depravity.

The chiasm in this passage separates the death of all living things from the rest of the passage by two literary walls of water. The first wall is measured by depth, the second by time.

Chiasm on Matza and Houses in Exodus 12:18-22

Keep this out of the house. Keep yourself inside the house.
Cut that person off. Kill this lamb.
Don't eat that. Eat this.

During the week of Unleavened Bread, some things are forbidden in your house and some things are required.

Exodus 12:18-22

• V18-19a – A time in which something is not to be found in your house
• V19b – If anyone eats leavened bread, he is to be cut off from the people
• V20a – Don’t eat anything leavened
• V20b – In your houses
• V20c – Eat unleavened bread
• V21 – The elders of the people are to select lambs according to the families and kill them.
• V22 – A time in which you are not to be found outside your house

Tangent: Many English translations of this passage make it appear that there is a switch from singular to plural in verse 21: select the "lambs" and then kill the "lamb". This is misleading because only the first instance, the plural, actually uses the Hebrew word for lamb, which is tson, a collective noun. The singular of "Passover lamb" only uses the Hebrew word for Passover, which is pesach. The word "lamb" in the latter instance has been inserted by many translators.

Parallels Between Transfiguration and the Wedding at Cana

Check out these parallels between the Transfiguration on the Mount and the Wedding at Cana.

The Transfiguration is described in Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13, and Luke 9:28-36. The Wedding at Cana in Galilee is described in John 2:1-12.

Giving of the Law	Transfiguration on the Mount	Wedding at Cana in Galilee
On the 3rd day	After 6 days	After 3 days
Moses went up the mountain with Joshua.	Jesus went up the mountain with Peter, James, and John.	Jesus went to the wedding with his mother Mary and his disciples.
The Law was given on Mount Sinai, probably in Arabia, not the Sinai Peninsula.	The Transfiguration probably took place on Mount Tabor in Galilee.	The Wedding took place at Cana in a valley near Mount Tabor.
Moses said, "Listen to the prophet to come."	God said, "Listen to him."	Mary said, "Listen to him."
Moses was transfigured.	Jesus was transfigured.	Water was transfigured.
Hebrews fell on their faces, terrified.	Disciples were very tired, but later fell on their faces, terrified.	The wedding guests had "well drunk."
The glory of God appeared.	The glory of God appeared.	Jesus manifested his glory.
Moses came down the mountain with Joshua and the tablets.	Jesus came down the mountain with his disciples.	Jesus went to Capernaum with his mother, brothers, and disciples.
?	The disciples kept silent.	The servants kept silent.
?	Jesus said not to speak of it until after the resurrection.	Jesus asked Mary why she involved him since his time had not yet come.

The primary point of the Transfiguration seems to be to demonstrate to Yeshua's inner circle that he was the prophet Moses had promised in Deuteronomy 18:15, but I don't know why there are so many parallels with the wedding at Cana. There are too many elements in common for this not to be significant. Sinai was a wedding and the Covenant a marriage ketubah. I'm sure there must be a clue there.

Individual Attention

A chiasm in Numbers 4:49 emphasizes that Moses assigned a specific task to each of the 8,580 Levites counted in the census of men from 30-50 years old.

• According to the commandment of YHVH through Moses
• They were listed
• Each one with his task of serving or carrying
• They were listed by him
• As YHVH commanded Moses 

Surely it didn't require 8,580 men to pack up and carry the Tabernacle. It was elaborate, but as far as Temples and the like went, it really wasn't very impressive. None-the-less, God had a place and a job for every one of them.

Now zoom out from this one small tent to the entire planet with thousands of cities, millions of organizations and businesses and ministries, and billions of people. There is far more work to do than people to do it.

If God knows the names of all the stars and the numbers of the hairs on your head, surely he knows you as well, and he has a place in his Kingdom specifically for you.

Have the Dietary Laws Outlived Their Purpose? a dialogue

Friend: When the Lord removes and nullifies the purpose of a Law, does it also remove and nullify the existence and enforcement of the same Law?

 I think it's a very dangerous thing to suppose that God has removed or nullified the purpose of a law unless He explicitly says so. God's Law is very elegant (I'm an IT person, so forgive me if I'm not using the word "elegant" the same way most people do), in that it doesn't waste words, but makes every word serve multiple purposes. (See here for something I wrote on that last year: http://www.americantorah.com/2016/05/13/the-elegance-and-depth-of-torah/). If we say that the purpose for any particular commandment has been removed, we are supposing first, that we understand every purpose that God described, and, second, that God described every purpose for that commandment. Neither supposition is warranted unless God explicitly said so, and I'm not aware of anywhere in Scripture where He did that.

(Usual objection: Thus he declared all foods clean..." Context, context, context. But that's for another post.)

Friend: Leviticus 20:24-26 is the passage of scripture that defines the law concerning unclean foods and its purpose:

 Is it? From Leviticus 11:

• "they are an abomination to you..."
• "They shall be an abomination to you..."
• "you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination..."
• "they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination..."
• "shall be an abomination to you..."
• "By these you shall become unclean..."
• "It is unclean to you...."
• "These also shall be unclean to you..."
• "these you shall not eat, for they are an abomination..."
• Etc.

There are multiple passages that define clean vs unclean animals including the whys and wherefores

Friend: Leviticus 20: 24-26 says, "But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine."
As stated in the passage above, the only purpose the Lord stated for not eating certain foods (ie. "unclean meats") was for Israelites to remember to separate themselves from the Gentiles. 

From Leviticus 11, you can see that that isn't entirely accurate. God also said he didn't want them to eat unclean animals because they are "abominable" and "unclean". Apparently, there's something about their meat that God really doesn't like.

But about that separation... Paul wrote, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2) In other words, God wants us to be separate from the unbelieving world, just like He told the Israelites in the Wilderness. Even if that were the only purpose for the commandment--which it isn't--how then can we say that the purpose (separation from the world) has been removed when Paul said that the purpose of separation from the world still remains?

Paul also said that the distinction between Jew and Gentile is removed in Christ, which is what God told Peter also. But did either of them say that the distinction between believer and unbeliever has been removed in Christ so that the unrepentant and rebellious sinner is just as "saved" and part of the Kingdom as the repented and submissive servant of God? No, of course not. The distinction hasn't been removed, but amplified. We are to be in the world so that we can serve God in it, but separated in our behaviors and attitudes.

"11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:11-13)

In Ephesians 2 and in Romans 11, Paul says that believing gentiles have been grafted into the tree of Israel, not the other way around. If we are to be separate from the world and if we are now made part of Israel, how exactly has the need for separation been removed? It hasn't in any way.

Friend: Let us keep this passage in mind as we consider Peter's explanation of his vision as described in Acts 10:9-17; In Acts 11, Peter explains his vision to the other brothers in Jerusalem:
"And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying, I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me: Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven. And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me. And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house: And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."

And that is exactly my point. Peter explains the vision. No one whom God has cleansed and brought near (adopted into the commonwealth of Israel) should be kept out by man-made traditions and ceremonies that God didn't command. All who call on the name of Jesus and repent from their sins are made clean and whole, no matter who their parents were, and no one has the authority to exclude them. This was the point of Peter's dream, not what a person should or shouldn't eat. God used unclean animals to illustrate the point because Peter was thinking of fellowship with men in the same category as eating unclean animals.

Why Is Rosh Hashanah Called Rosh Hashanah

The Feast of Trumpets (aka Rosh Hashanah) begins at sunset tonight (9/20/2017)!

Rosh Hashanah means "head of the year". On the Hebrew calendar, it's the first day of the month of Tishri. Although i's popularly known as the Jewish New Year, any rabbi will tell you that the actual beginning of the year is 6 months earlier on the first day of the month of Nisan. Biblically, Tishri 1 is called Yom Teruah, which literally means "Day of Shouting", but is more commonly translated as "Feast of Trumpets".

So why is this day called Rosh Hashanah or New Years?

1. It's thought to be the anniversary of the creation of Adm and Eve.
2. Debts are to be forgiven, slaves released, and family land restored in the month of Tishri.
3. The shemitah year is counted from the month of Tishri.
4. Traditionally, kings were coronated on this date.
5. Prophetically, Yom Teruah signifies the start of the reign of Messiah on earth.

Every culture maintains multiple annual cycles without contradiction. In America, we have fiscal years, election years, and school years. Even though the school year for the class of 2018 starts in September of 2017, everyone knows that New Years Day is January 1st and nobody gets them confused.

A Little More on the Name of God

Accents & pronunciations change over time. Even if you know exactly how a word was spelled three hundred years ago, you cannot know exactly how it was pronounced. For example, Americans, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, and Brits, who were once a single people and still speak the same language, all pronounce the same letters differently. If you picked up an English text written by a 17th century Virginia planter you could not pronounce the written words exactly as he did, even though you could read and understand them plainly.

Now consider the tetragrammaton, YHVH. If a little time and geography make it impossible for English speakers today to know exactly how a familiar English word was pronounced just three centuries ago, how much more is it impossible for English speakers today to know how a Hebrew word was spoken two or three thousand years ago? It's not just a different language separated by millennia. It's an entirely different alphabet with no vowels! Even if we could be 100% confident about what vowels should go between the consonants, nobody alive can know exactly how to pronounce the consonants, let alone the assumed vowels.

There are only two ways to know how to pronounce YHVH for certain: 1) Go back in time and hear it pronounced by Yeshua or one of the prophets; 2) Get a direct revelation from YHVH himself.

Anything else is just academic speculation and anyone who tells you otherwise is just blowing hot air.

Chiasm in Numbers 3 Highlights the Central Role of the High Priest

This chiastic structure in Numbers 3:12-41 highlights the central role of the High Priest in the function of the Levitical system and in the redemption of Israel.

• V12 - I have taken the Levites instead of the firstborn
• V15 – Count the Levites 30 days and older
• V16 – Counted by the command of YHVH
• V21-26 - Gershon (West)
• V27-31 - Kohath (South)
• V32 – Eleazar, the priest, runs the show
• V33-37 - Merari (North)
• V38 - Moses & Aaron with Kohanim (East)
• V39 – Counted by the command of YHVH
• V40 - Count the firstborn of Israel, 30 days and older
• V41 - Take the Levites for me instead of the firstborn

For more info on chiasms: The Briefest Introduction to Chiasms.

Has Israel Been Rejected

Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of hosts is his name: "If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever." Thus says the LORD: "If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 31:35-37)

Does the sun still give light by day? The moon and stars light by night? Can the heavens be measured or the earth’s core explored?

Then neither have the seed of Israel been rejected. As Paul pointed out, gentile believers in Yeshua are grafted into the tree of Israel, not the other way around.

Certainly, many branches of the original tree have been cut off. (Though they can be easily restored.) Many other branches have not. This is because it has always been true that, "he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, whose circumcision is that of the flesh, he is a Jew who is one inwardly, whose circumcision is of the heart". Paul’s words were not a new revelation, merely a summary of one of the central messages of the Torah and the Prophets and of the greatest command: Love YHWH with all your being.

What is a Yehudi but one who praises God? Yehudim who do not acknowledge their God and his role as their only savior will be rejected individually for that failure, as revealed in the Torah. Again, this is not a new revelation or a unique feature of the new covenant. It is a fact common to all relationships with the Creator.

This does not mean that the nation of Israel has been rejected. On the contrary, God repeatedly promised that such would never happen!

(By "nation of Israel" I do not mean the political entity consisting of the Knesset, prime minister, etc. I mean the people of Israel. A nation does not consist of its governors, ideology, or political forms. It is a people.)

And if that's not enough, here's more from Jeremiah...

The Nashville Statement

You've probably heard about the Nashville Statement already. I finally got around to reading it yesterday, and I can't, for the life of me, figure out why any Christians are upset about it. I reaffirms doctrines that have been commonly held by Christians all over the world for two thousand years. It contains no surprises, nothing revolutionary. I might quibble with a few word choices here and there, but overall, I think it's very Biblical and sound. It's not insulting or hateful in any way. It sets out Biblical principals in a straight forward manner.

What could be so offensive about that? Hmm. Maybe it's actually God and God's Law that people don't like. Do you think?

Yeshua had a word or two about those people who call themselves the people of God (whether Christians or Jews) yet reject everything that God said is right and just. (See Revelation 2:14-16, 2:20-23, & 3:9.)

You can read the Statement here.

For all have sinned...

The things that people get the most emotionally charged about are almost never the things themselves, but what fear the thing inspires (whether rational or not) or what it reveals about themselves. It's not really about slavery, whatever anyone might think. Chattel slavery has been gone from America for 160 years, and barring a complete technological and civil collapse, it isn't coming back. The people who are upset to the point of violence about statues staying up or coming down need to take a good, hard look in the mirror, because that's where the real problem will be found, not in a statue. Sounds like psycho-babble, I know. That doesn't make it wrong.

I'll have more thoughts about this in my newsletter tomorrow (8/22/2017).

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A Chiasm in Psalm 70: Those Who Love Your Yeshua

A chiasm in Psalm 70 contrasts those who hunt after God’s anointed, David, with those who seek after God.

• V1 – Prayer for quick deliverance
• V2-3 – Those who speak their own triumph in attacking God’s anointed will turn away empty handed because they have been defeated.
• V4 – Those who speak glory to God will rejoice in their deliverance (Yeshua).
• V5 – Prayer for quick deliverance

The Hebrew word for deliverance (or salvation, depending on your translation) is Yeshua, the Hebrew name of Jesus.

Some implications of this Psalm & chiasm:

• Those who act in pride will be shamed and disappointed, while those who act in humility will rejoice and be delivered.
• One cannot simultaneously seek God’s glory and one’s own.
• One cannot simultaneously love Yeshua and hate Yeshua’s anointed.
• Speaking against God’s anointed is the same as speaking against God.
• If you love Yeshua & seek God's glory, then those who seek to destroy you make themselves to be enemies of God as well.

A Chiasm on Obedience to All the Words of God

A chiasm in Deuteronomy 9:3-16 highlights the consequences of sinning against the commandments of God, by whatever medium you received them. The nations of Canaan were destroyed because they refused to heed God's Law and Israel was exiled for a time for the same reason. Repentance from sin will bring them back.

A: V3-4 – God is a fire, so don’t sin against him
----B: V5 – God destroys the nations for their wickedness
--------C: V6 – God gave the land to Israel despite their faults & stubbornness
------------D: V7-8 – Israel sinned from when they left Egypt
----------------E: V9 – 40 days & nights to get the stone tablets
--------------------F: V10a – The finger of God
------------------------G: V10b – All the words of God
--------------------F: V10c – The voice of God
----------------E: V11 – 40 days & nights to get the stone tablets
------------D: V12 – Israel, whom Moses brought out of Egypt, sinned
--------C: V13 – God knows Israel’s faults & their stubbornness
----B: V14 – God threatens to destroy Israel for their wickedness
A: V15-16 – God is a fire, yet Israel sinned against him

My Favorite Fairy Tales

These are a few of my favorite things not to believe in:

• Anthropogenic climate change
• Democracy
• Technocracy
• Feminism
• Flatearth
• Sacred-namism
• Imaginary Hebrew (Yahusha, Yahawashi, Yahuah, Yashraal, etc.)
• KJV-onlyism
• Equality
• Homeopathy
• Medical ex cathedra
• Vegetarianism
• Chemtrails
• Lizard people
• Aliens
• The Religion of Peace™
• The next election is the most importantest election ever
• Transgenderism
• Big Foot
• Every mass shooting is a false flag event
• Russians/Jews/Nazis/Masons/Illuminati are controlling everything
• Darwinian Evolution
• British Israelism
• African Israelism
• And its corollary, the Black Jesus
• Khazars converted to Judaism
• Dispensationalism
• Hypercalvinism
• Progressivism
• Socialism
• Globalism
• Papism
• Noahide Laws
• Egalitarianism
• Teetotalism
• Astrology
• Spiders are your friends
• Pharmacosoteriology
• Serpent Seed/Seed of Cain
• DidIMissAnIsm

I'm probably wrong about one or two of these. I mean, I can't be right about everything all the time, right? But I could be wrong.

John Didn't Invent Baptism

John's baptism marked a change in status from disobedient to obedient, the meaning of "repent & be baptised". Repentance is necessary for forgiveness. Baptism is a public confession of past sins & a vow of future obedience.

Baptism wasn't a new thing with John. It was an ancient tradition even then & integral to keeping Torah. Immersion was required by Torah for many normal life conditions & before entering the Temple.  (See Leviticus 15-17, for example.)

(Mark 1:4-5)

More than I Can Bear

These two things are more than I could ever bear alone:

• The sorrows of the world.
• My gratitude to my God, my wife, my parents, my teachers.

I hide behind the rock that is my Savior. Where I cannot stand, he cannot be moved.

If Anyone Teaches Contrary to the Words of Jesus

Paul gave this instruction to Timothy who was on a mission to establish congregations among former gentiles in Ephesus:

If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. (1 Timothy 6:3-5)

So what are the words of Yeshua?

• Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:17)
• Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)
• Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, *without neglecting the others*. (Matthew 23:23)
• If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
• Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. (John 14:21)
• If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. (John 15:10)

Chiasm in Psalm 67

This chiasm in Psalm 67 emphasizes God's justice to all peoples. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom," indeed, but those peoples who fear Him and keep His commandments do not need to fear His justice, for all nations will be judged righteously and fairly.

• V1-2a - God bless us & make himself known to all the earth
• V2b - Salvation among all nations
• V3 - Let the peoples praise God
• V4a - Let the nations sing & rejoice
• V4b - God judges all peoples fairly
• V4c - God guides the nations
• V5 - Let the peoples praise God
• V6a - The earth shall yield a harvest
• V6b-7 - God bless us & let all the earth fear him.

An alternative (and probably more correct) breakout brought to my attention by a friend on Facebook:

• V1 - God bless us and make his face shine on us
• V2 - Your way be known on earth and your saving power among all nations
• V3 - Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you!
• V4a - Let the nations be glad and sing for joy
• V4b - You judge the peoples with equity
• V4c - Guide the nations on earth
• V5 - Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you!
• V6 - The earth has yielded its increase. God shall bless us.
• V7 - God shall bless us. Let the ends of the earth fear him!

A Differently Spelled Gospel

"Our father died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the Lord, in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's brothers." (Numbers 27:3-4)

A man's name is more than the label on his birth certificate. It is who-he-is, the sum total of his character, his legacy, the whole crater he makes in this world. So, too, God's Name isn't just a collection of sounds & letters.

Yeshua said to "preach the gospel & make disciples of all men". He didn't say "preach paleo-Hebrew & make all men transliterate the Father's name thusly".

People who fight over the correct English(!?) spelling & pronunciation of YHVH have completely missed the point. If they believe that such things are the same gospel proclaimed to the nations by Peter & Paul, then they are the subjects of Paul's warning to the Galatians against those who teach "a different gospel...who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ."

They have elevated trivia above truth.

"Jesus died for your sins" is not the Gospel

The Gospel isn't "Jesus died for your sins." That's only part of it and not even the main part. The Gospel is "the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Jesus's death and resurrection were necessary to make the Gospel a reality.

Because of the Gospel, the good news that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, repent, accept Yeshua as King, and be immersed as a testament to your own death and resurrection into new life as an obedient citizen of the Kingdom. Then go and teach others to do likewise.

Common-Sense Interpretation of Scripture

Reading the Bible literally or allegorically will get you into all kinds of error. The Bible is both literal & allegorical, sometimes at the same time. Knowing which passage is which is usually just a matter of a little common sense, but sometimes it's more difficult. It can require some study, prayer, and wisdom.

It's also important to keep in mind that all 66 books were written by actual people for the benefit of actual people. This means that it was written using human languages including idioms, cultural and contemporary allusions, puns, sarcasm, and even jokes.

If your interpretation of a passage doesn't take all of this into account, there's a very good chance that your interpretation is wrong. Even if you have considered all factors and put in a lifetime of study, if you aren't willing to entertain the idea that you could be wrong...you probably are.

About that Heifer...

The laws concerning the red heifer don't make a lot of sense to us, and God didn't put a lot of ink in Scripture to explain it. He told us what to do, but not why. I can think of four reasons for this off-hand:

1. The spiritual mechanism behind the red heifer might be beyond our comprehension. Explaining them might be impossible or just confusing.
2. Some knowledge might be deliberately withheld from mankind because it's too dangerous for us to have. The Torah concept of witchcraft appears to be related to accessing or using forbidden knowledge and the hows and whys of the red heifer might fall into this category.
3. God just wants us to trust him on some things, to obey without knowing why. It's a test.
4. It could send us off on irrelevant bunny trails. Leaving distracting information out keeps us focused on what's important.

Also check out this video from Jon Behrens on the mystery of life and death in the red heifer:

Jesus can never be a Levitical priest

There are different kinds of priests: Aaronic, Melchizedek, familial, all believers... There can be overlap between some of these priesthoods. For example, a believer in Yeshua can also be a Cohen (rabbinical opinions are irrelevant to the fact). However, each priesthood has a different functional domain, and, although the activities within those domains might overlap, the membership of some of the priesthoods probably do not. I doubt that a Levite can ever be a priest in the order of Melchizedek and vice versa, because the kingship in Israel belongs to Judah, not Levi, and a Melchizedekian priest must also be a king. Therefore, within Israel, only a king from the tribe of Judah could be a Melchizedekian priest. Someone like Yeshua.

Some priesthoods can be bestowed. Others can only be inherited by blood. The Aaronic Priesthood isn't open to just anyone. You absolutely must be a genetic descendant of Aaron. It isn't just a spiritual calling. It's a physical, genetic one. Neither Yeshua, Paul, Christian priest, nor Jewish rabbi are qualified to act as an Aaronic priest.

Read Paul as Paul

People who reject Paul's letters because they seem to be counter to Torah are victims of one of two groups of false witnesses concerning Paul:

1. The same who accused Paul of teaching against Moses in the first century. They were wrong then and they're wrong today. They have misunderstood Paul's rejection of anti-Torah traditions as a rejection of Torah itself.
2. Antinomians and Marcionists who themselves reject Torah and twist Paul's writings in support of their own errors.

Don't do that.

Read Paul as if he was a Jewish rabbi more or less in line with the Pharisees of his day, because that's how he defined himself. You will be amazed at how the apparent contradictions between his letters automagically resolve themselves.

Witch Doctors and Faith Healers

Sometimes I get the feeling that people discussing divine healing are like shamans discussing cancer. A shaman might stumble on an effective treatment and invent a theory as to why it worked, plausible sounding, perhaps, but not even remotely accurate. When it doesn't work for someone else, he can blame it on curses or interference from a strange rock formation near where an herb was found, or on a planetary alignment.

Likewise, a faith healer might lay hands on one person who is healed and blame a lack of faith or a familial curse when another person isn't, and be just as wrong as the shaman. Every explanation I've heard about why healing doesn't happen the same way every time just sounds like so much hand waving to me.

Why aren't people healed when they ask for healing? Did they use the wrong tone of voice? Should they have commanded instead of asking? It doesn't seem to make any difference as far as I can tell. I believe God can heal. I believe he does heal. So why doesn't he heal every time or at least more often? I wish I knew.

Days, Months, Seasons, and Years

In the past, when you did not know God, you served as slaves beings which in reality are non-gods. But now you do know God, and, more than that, you are known by God. So how is it that you turn back again to those weak and miserable elemental spirits? Do you want to enslave yourselves to them once more? You observe special days, months, seasons and years! I fear for you that my work among you has been wasted! Galatians 4:8-11

All Saints' Day
Halloween
Lent
Epiphany
Candlemas
Valentine's Day
Yule
Ash Wednesday
Samhain
May Day
Easter
Mardi Gras
Etc., etc...

Timeout for Grammar Nazi

THE PREPOSITION AS ADVERB

Many prepositions, such as about, outside, past, and before, can be used as either an adverb or a preposition.

An example using "behind" as an adverb: The boy fell behind.
And as a preposition: The boy fell behind us.

Sometimes, two prepositions can be used consecutively, one as an adverb and another as a preposition.

Example: The boy climbed up onto the roof. 
"Up" is used as an adverb, while "onto" is used as a preposition.

Here's another example showing incorrect and a correct usage:
Wrong: Get your nose out my business.
Right: Get your nose out of my business.
"Out" is used as an adverb, and "of" as a preposition.

If you are going to use an adverb-preposition combo like these, please get it right. Don't make me write another one of these posts.

13+ Surprising Things That Will Still Exist in the Millennial Era

The Millennial Kingdom is often portrayed as an era of perfect peace and harmony, but this is very far from what scripture portrays. Here are a few things that you might be surprised to learn the Bible says will be present in the world while Yeshua reigns personally in Jerusalem.

• Animal sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem
• The Biblical feasts celebrated in Israel
• Levitical priesthood functioning at the Temple
• Drought
• Famine
• War
• Social class
• Economic disparity
• Sin
• Death
• Labor
• Trade
• Nations
• etc.

Some of these things are good, some are bad, but Yeshua will allow them all to continue after his triumphant return. God has his own purposes for allowing these things and he hasn't seen fit to explain his reasoning to us. Maybe he never will.

A Chiasm in the Induction of the Priests

There is a chiasm in Leviticus 8:1-5 dealing with the conveyance and execution of God's instructions for inducting Aaron and his sons into the Levitical priesthood.

What can be gleaned from this? I don't immediately know. I'll have to come back to it another day.

The First and the Last Plagues of Egypt

First Plague	Tenth Plague
Death from below	Death from above
Death from water	Death from spirit
Testified of the murder of Hebrew sons	Took the lives of Egyptian sons

Easter...Eostre...Ishtar?

Easter (still called Passover by almost all non-English-speakers) is a paganized "strange fire" version of Passover and, in my opinion, nobody should be celebrating it as such.

However, this post is about the name, and not the date or the method.

I have yet to see any credible evidence that the word "Easter" has any connection to the word "Ishtar". If I recall correctly, a single, short statement by Bede, made long after the described festivals of Eostre had disappeared, is the sum total of evidence for that claim. And he didn't even claim that the Angles had renamed "Passover" to "Easter". He actually wrote that they had named a month after the goddess many centuries before and, since Passover was observed in that month, the name of the month had come to stand for the feast.

Maybe Eostre was the name of a pagan goddess and maybe it wasn't. The weekday names that we inherited from those people are definitely derived from pagan gods, so it seems likely that they followed the same pattern in naming the months. However, we aren't renaming our national holiday after Julius Caesar when we call it "July 4th" instead of "Independence Day," so the use of "Easter" as a label for "Passover" isn't in itself proof that the Angles renamed Passover in honor of a pagan deity or merged the feast of Eostre with the feast of Passover. It's much more likely that they took the entire adulterated Passover package directly from the Roman missionaries who had already hopelessly confused its observance with their own pagan religions.

I'd love to see an ancient manuscript, carving, or...something...dating from 500 that says "The Germanic peoples worship a deity they call Eostre, which is their version of the Greek Aphrodite and the Babylonian Ishtar and they now combine the feast of this goddess with that of Passover." But I don't think such a thing exists. A single statement hundreds of years removed from the event is worthless as evidence. Until such evidence is produced, all we have is speculation.

If you are judging someone based on their use of a pagan-derived month name while you continue to use pagan-derived day names, and if you are judging someone based on speculation without hard evidence...then you probably have bigger problems than they do.

And if your best reply to my skepticism is "Ditch the lies!!1! Stop worshiping Constantine!!!", then I'm just going to ignore you. If you have actual, primary source evidence, I welcome it. If you don't, then...are you claiming to be a prophet with divine knowledge of the past?

Update: Here's the original and only historical source for "Easter" coming from the name of a pagan goddess:

Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated "Paschal month", and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rithe by the time-honoured name of the old observance.

Bede, The Reckoning of Time, "Chapter 15, The English Months"

Easter in a Few Other Languages

Pazko
Paske
Pasques
Paskha
Pascoa
Pasti
Pasg
Paskah
Pashke
Pasen
Pasqua

The exact languages aren't the point. The point is that only Germanic peoples and their converts use the name "Easter".

The rest of the world is fully aware that Easter is a counterfeit Passover. They didn't even bother changing the name.

Obedience != Salvation by Works

You can't save your soul by keeping the Torah. I have never taught otherwise. Sometimes I feel like I have to brand it on my forehead to keep reminding people that I already know this. No matter how many times I say or write it, people have a Pavlovian response to the words Torah and Law.

Teaching obedience, whether one teaches obedience to the instructions of Moses, Jesus, Paul, or God Himself, is not teaching salvation by works.

(I just happen to believe they all taught the same thing.)

Let me illustrate the point with a short video...

Materials of the Mishkan

If you're following the annual Torah readings, then you've been reading about the Tabernacle (aka Mishkan) for weeks. Here are some of my thoughts on the metaphorical meaning of some of the physical materials:

• Gold = righteousness, purity, divinity
• Silver = blood, atonement, redemption
• Bronze = repentance, judgment
• Wood = flesh, life, humanity
• White linen = purity, simplicity
• Blue = Heaven, God, divinity, the Kingdom of God
• Scarlet = mankind, earth, blood
• Purple = heaven+earth, God+man, Messiah Yeshua

And some of the numerical values:

• 2 - Division, separation, revelation of truth
• 4 pillars - Life, light, the entirety of anything, messiah.
• 5 pillars - God's actions to establish relationship with his people. Torah, divine grace.
• 7 branches on the Menorah = 7 spirits of God and the holiness inspired and aided by the anointing and indwelling of the Ruach haKodesh.
• 10 curtains = Orderly government. Covenant and creation.
• 11 curtains = Incomplete Israel. The 12 tribes with one missing, whether through betrayal (of the one missing, as in Judas, or the cause of one missing, as in Joseph), sin (e.g. Dan), or exile.
• 12 loaves for the Shewbread Table = 12 tribes of Israel, living in righteous submission.
• 50 loops and clasps = The critical number of righteous men and/or years to establish a sustainable community and/or restoration of righteousness in a city.

Consider also these sets of two:

• Two Arks of the Covenant were originally made, one by Moses and one by Bezalel
• Two sets of two tablets came down from Sinai and one set was placed in the Ark.
• There might have been two jars of manna.
• Two poles were set in each of several of the Mishkan furnishings
• Two cherubim were set atop the Ark.

Two witnesses? Two media on which the Torah is written (stone and flesh)? Two choices (life vs death)? The first letter of the Torah (bet)?

Some numbers associated with the Temple:

• Two sets of 200 bronze pomegranates = an appeal for mercy from God's judgment

Tripartite Government in Torah

Tripartite government is a consistent pattern in Torah.

• Familial blessings are divided into priest, king, and land. Under normal circumstances, all 3 would be inherited by the firstborn son, but it wasn't unheard of to split them up. For example, Levi received the priestly blessing, Judah the kingly, and Joseph the double-portion.
• Authority in the wilderness was divided between Moses, Aaron, and the Elders. The lines of responsibility were blurred since all 3 had both legislative and judicial powers, but the executive power was almost exclusively held by Moses.
• In the construction of the Mishkan (tabernacle), responsibility was divided between the sons of Aaron (of Levi, the priest's tribe), Bezalel (of Judah, the king's tribe), and Oholiab (of Dan, whose name means "judge").

A Giant Chiasm in Exodus 25-40 Centered on the Golden Calf

This chiasm tells us three things at the very least:

1. There is a right way and a wrong way to approach God. We cannot bring God down to us through the use of statues, icons, amulets, etc. He comes to us only in the time and place of His choosing and we have to meet Him there or not at all.
2. God's instructions (aka Torah) protect us from error. The Israelites made the calf because their hearts were unable to receive Torah directly. The stone tablets are an interim measure until we are able to receive the full Word of God as He intends. If we keep Torah faithfully, we will not resort to idolatry.
3. Shabbat, quite apart from the rest of Torah, also protects us. If we keep Shabbat in the way that God intends, we will be drawn closer to Him. Shabbat is as near God's presence is time as the Mishkan was in space.

Update: This chiasm is actually a little bit bigger than the image shows and spans six parshot.

• Exodus 24:15-25:2 (Mishpatim) - Glory of God, Moses, Sinai, fire, 40 days and nights on the mountain, in the sight of all the people
•  Exodus 25-30 (Terumah-Tetsaveh) – Mishkan (right way)
•  Exodus 31:12-17 (Ki Tisa) – Shabbat
• Exodus 31:18 (Ki Tisa) – Stone tablets
•  Exodus 32 (Ki Tisa) – Golden calf (wrong way)
• Exodus 34 (Ki Tisa) – Stone tablets
• Exodus 35:1-3 (Vayakhel) – Shabbat
• Exodus 35:4-40:33 (Vayakhel-Pekudei) – Mishkan (right way)
• Exodus 40:34-38 (Pekudei) – Glory of God, cloud, Moses, Mishkan, fire, day and night in the wilderness journeys, in the sight of all the people

And here is a 4th lesson from this additional point: The close presence of God isn't cozy. Even Moses couldn't approach God in all His glory without being destroyed by it.

Judeo-Christian Is Christian

For 1500 years Christian political & religious leaders tried to excise the "Jew" from Christianity. Gutenberg, with the assistance of Wycliffe, Tyndale, Luther, Lefèvre d'Étaples, and others, put an end to that by putting the Jewish scriptures--from Genesis to Revelation--into the hands of the people so they could read it for themselves.

The only way to take the "Judeo" out of "Judeo-Christian" is to take the Bible away from the people. Well, the cat's out of the bag, and there's no way to put her back in. Jesus was, is, and will always be a Jew, and "Christian" without "Judeo" is a half-pagan, clay-and-iron monstrosity that needs to be crushed.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with modern Judaism or the Talmud. It has everything to do with a Jewish Savior and a collection of divinely inspired writings penned almost exclusively by Jews. Any "Christian" system that denies its Jewish roots cuts itself off from its own nominative founder and messiah.

Restitution, not Vengeance

"An eye for an eye & a tooth for a tooth" was never meant to be understood literally. It's about restitution, not vengeance.

 The basics of Torah are simple and easy to understand, but there is also profound depth and an assumption of minimal mental competence. Torah was written for adults able to make logical connections, not for children who need everything spelled out.

“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." (Exo 21:22-25)

Points to consider regarding this commandment:

• It is directed at people who have come before a court of law for an injury done to one person by another.
• It sets the financial penalty to be imposed by judges on a guilty party.
• It does not command anyone to remove another's eye, tooth, hand, or foot, nor to burn or strike anyone.
• Although it has applicability in principle, it is not directed at people involved in private disputes of any kind that have not been brought to court.
• It does not mandate that the injured person must accept the payment ordered by the court. 
• It does not mandate that the injured person bring the case to court at all.

A Chiasm in the Beatitudes

The Beatitudes don't represent different kinds of people so much as characteristics of a Christ-like character. Here are a few observations you might find interesting:

Yeshua presented the Beatitudes in a thematically chiastic structure. The first and last are thematically connected by the Kingdom of Heaven, the 2nd and 7th by a childlike characteristic, the 3rd and 6th by a condition of the heart, and the 4th and 5th by true righteousness.

The Beatitudes also represent a progression from a discovery of one's own sinful state to the ultimate selfless state of martyrdom.

1. The poor in spirit have realized their sinful state.
2. The mourners experience intense regret for their sin.
3. The meek are ready to approach the throne of Grace and receive the salvation that God offers despite their unclean state.
4. The newly penitent hunger to learn and exhibit righteousness.
5. The pursuit of righteousness reaches its culmination in the desire to give mercy just as we have received it.
6. The pure in heart are guiltless, having suppressed the evil inclination by the Spirit of God.
7. The peacemakers are ready to go into the world and spread the good news of forgiveness and salvation from sin.
8. The perfected follower of Yeshua is always ready to give his life for the Kingdom. He will be hated by the world because the world hated Yeshua first. The wicked cannot tolerate even the presence of the truly righteous.

Did Paul say the Sabbath & Kosher laws don't matter?

Colossians 2:16  Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of food and drink or with respect to a festival, a New Moon, or Sabbath days. 

Paul was absolutely NOT saying that Christians are free to ignore God's instructions concerning eating, drinking, and His appointed times. He clearly stated just a couple of sentences earlier that he was talking about man-made traditions that men had added to God's commandments and not the commandments themselves.

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to the Messiah.

His point was that we don't need to expend a lot of energy worrying about whether we're doing it all exactly right. We're not priests entering the Holy of Holies. We aren't going to be struck dead if we eat something God told us not to or if we don't understand exactly what God meant by "labor" on the Sabbath. Only God gets to set the rules--not theologians--and He is eager to forgive our mistakes.

Don't worry if you aren't tying your tzitziyot exactly the way some rabbi says you should or about whether or not tuna is kosher. (It is. ;-) ) Focus on obeying God's commandments, not man's, and on walking as Yeshua walked. It's not complicated.

A Chiasm Showing Moses' Family as a Microcosm of Israel

There's a chiasm in Exodus 18:1-11 that reveals Moses' family as a microcosm of the nation of Israel coming out of Egypt. Jethro brings Moses' wife and sons into the wilderness to meet Moses, while Moses brings God's bride and children into the wilderness to meet him at Sinai. See here for more info.

A Case in Point

Concerning unbelieving Jews, Paul wrote "For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. THEY ARE ISRAELITES, AND TO THEM BELONG THE ADOPTION, THE GLORY, THE COVENANTS, THE GIVING OF THE LAW, THE WORSHIP, AND THE PROMISES. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen."

Whatever else Paul wrote about the Jews must be reconciled with this very clear, unambiguous passage.

Handling Apparent Conflicts in Scripture

When two Biblical passages appear to conflict, you have three options:

1. Adjust your interpretation of one or both passages.
2. Reject the Bible as hopelessly muddled and contradictory.
3. Reject one or both of the Biblical books that contain the offending passages.

My advice is to always err on the side of caution and go with option 1, giving God the benefit of the doubt by interpreting the passages in a manner that makes Him both truthful and faithful.

This especially applies to any passages related to God's covenants and promises.

Update: For some Common Sense Bible Study, check out http://jaycarper.com/biblestudy.

What the Good Samaritan Did and Did NOT Do

But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ (Luke 10:33-35)

What the Good Samaritan did:

• Have compassion.
• Care for a stranger.
• Pay other people for services.
• Pay for a stranger to stay at an inn.
• Use his own personal resources.
• Inconvenience himself.

What the Good Samaritan did not do:

• Invite the man to live in Samaria.
• Invite the man to come home with him.
• Anything at all with multitudes of people.
• Take anyone's time, money, or resources against their will.
• Put himself in physical danger.
• Put his family in danger.
• Start a war against bandits.

Words Are Shadows of the Reality

Alphabets and vocabularies change. The shapes and pronunciation of letters change. New letters are invented and old ones abandoned. New words are coined while old words fall out of use. Slang becomes proper usage, while what once was proper becomes stilted and archaic.

Letters and words are just symbols. It's the meaning behind them that is important. Don't get so hung up on shadows that you forget the reality.

The Only Unacceptable Routes Are Standing Still or Going Backwards

Exodus 13:17

Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war… Ambition and drive can be good things. Sometimes people need to be pushed and a forward motion is the best plan, but a husband, father, leader, pastor must also think of his people and not drive them faster than they are able to go. Some lessons are very hard to learn and to accept. We must always be moving forward, improving our positions, but sometimes we have to move in a circuitous route or at an easy pace. The only completely unacceptable routes are standing still or returning to Egypt.

Exodus 13:18

But God led the people about... The people did not go where they wanted, and God did not lead them by the easiest route. He led them where he needed them to go. Israel, God's bride, was not in charge. She could make requests of him, but she could not issue demands without risking her own destruction. Following the example of Israel and her Husband, wives should follow their husbands even if that road leads into the wilderness or through the territory of giants.

The Sabbath Was Made for Man...

The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, so it's ok to change it so it works for you and keep this day instead of that one.

Marriage was made for man, not man for marriage, so it's ok to change it so it works for you and keep this woman instead of that one.

The Bible was made for man, not man for the Bible, so it's ok to change it so it works for you and keep this book instead of that one.

That's how it works, right?

If you want to know more about how to keep the Sabbath, I wrote a 5 part series on it: All About the Weekly Sabbath.

Bible Teachers Should Be of At Least Average Intelligence

• Jacob's dreams of stars & wheat were not literal. Stars & sheaves didn't bow to him in real life.
• Pharaoh's dreams of cows & wheat were not literal. Skinny cows didn't really turn canibal by eating fat cows.
• Daniel's dreams & visions of statues & beasts were not literal. Kingdoms aren't literally chimeric beasts & kings are real people, not horns.
• Jeremiah's vision of figs wasn't literal. It was about people, not figs.
• Ezekiel's vision wasn't literally about bones being reassembled & covered in real flesh. It was about the restoration of Israel as a nation.
• Peter's vision wasn't about eating anything. It was about people.
• John's vision of beasts & bowls wasn't about beasts & bowls. It was about kings, nations, calamity, & judgment.

Visions in the Bible are almost never supposed to be interpreted in a hyper-literal sense. Metaphor is the rule, not the exception. This isn't spiritualizing the Bible or explaining away any mysteries. This is just common sense that any reasonably intelligent person should be able to discern for himself.

Anybody who says the earth is square because Revelation 7:1 says there were four angels at the four corners of the earth has no business teaching others about the Bible. It doesn't make him a bad person. It just makes him unqualified to be a teacher. Anybody who says the earth is flat because the Bible seems to say so, but won't go on to say the earth is square, is likewise unqualified to be a teacher. He can't even be honest with himself. How is he supposed to be honest with you?

Update: For more on Common Sense Bible Study see http://jaycarper.com/biblestudy.

Another update: Believing absurd things doesn't necessarily mean someone is unintelligent. I know many very smart people who are simply unable to think clearly about certain topics. 

Past Failures Are No Barrier to Future Success

There's a chiasm in Exodus 6:10-30 centered on the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi.

When God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh, Moses objected that he was a man of "uncircumcised lips," as if God didn't know what He was doing. God still used him to set His people free from Egypt. Centuries earlier, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi had disqualified themselves from the family role of Firstborn through terrible behavior, yet God still used them to found three of the twelve tribes of Israel. 

It doesn't matter what you've done or said. It doesn't matter what you think you can or can't do. God still has a use for you. There is a place for you in His Kingdom. Don't think so highly of yourself that you could ever do anything to thwart God's plans.

• V10-11 - God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh
• V12 - Moses’ uncircumcised lips
• V13 - God told Moses and Aaron to bring Israel out of Egypt
• V14a - These are the heads of their fathers’ houses
• 14b-25a - The children of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi
• V25b - These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites
• V26-27 - God told Moses and Aaron to bring Israel out of Egypt
• V28-29 - God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh
• V30 - Moses’ uncircumcised lips

God Never Forgets or Annuls a Covenant

A: V2 - I am YHWH

    B: V3-4 - I made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob to give them the land

        C: V5 - I have heard the people groaning under the Egyptians

            D: V6 - I am YHWH

        C: V6-7 - I will rescue the people from Egypt

    B: V8a - I will fulfill the covenant I made with Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob

A: V8b - I am YHWH

This chiasm in Exodus 6:2-8 demonstrates that God cannot forget or annul a covenant because faithfulness is an inherent aspect of His character. If He is YHWH and He never changes, then He will never forget His covenants.

Even more interestingly--and one of those characteristics of the text, which testifies to its divine origins--is a second chiasm embedded within the second half of the first:

A: V6 – I am YHWH
    B: I will bring you out
        C: I will deliver you from slavery
            D: I will redeem you
                E: V7 – I will take you to be my people
                    F: I will be your God
                E: You will know that I am YHWH your God
            D: Who brought you out of Egypt
        C: V8 – I will bring you into the land
    B: I will give it to you for a possession
A: I am YHWH

A Chiasm in Exodus 4:14-31 Showing the Love of God for Israel

A chiasm in Exodus 4:14-31 that highlights faith, obedience, and God's love for Israel.

V14 – The anger of YHWH against Moses
---V14-16 – Moses and Aaron are to speak to the people
------V17 – Take your staff for the signs
---------V18 – Moses going to Egypt to visit brothers
------------V19 – Go to Egypt. All the men are dead.
---------------V20 – Moses, wife, and sons on the donkey. Messianic reference.
------------------V21 – Speak to Pharaoh. Refusal and consequences.
---------------------V22 – Israel is my firstborn son
------------------V23 – Speak to Pharaoh. Refusal and consequences.
---------------V24 – Moses, wife, and sons at lodging place. Messianic reference.
------------V25 – Foreskin, feet, bridegroom of blood.
---------V27 – Aaron going to wilderness to visit Moses
------V28 – Moses told Aaron about the signs
---V29-30 – Moses and Aaron speak to the people
V31 - YHWH visited and showed mercy on the people who believed.

The Point of Everything Is Restoration

There is a chiasm in Genesis 44-45 centered on Joseph's drawing his brothers near. In this story, Joseph is a figure of Messiah who came to suffer and die so that his brothers might be restored to a right relationship with Him. This is really the whole point of the sacrificial system, the priesthood, the Torah: to bring us close to God.

Why is it all necessary? Why can't God just fix everything to the way he wants it? I don't know. That's above my pay grade.

A: 44:18-23 – Joseph talks with his brothers

    B: 44:24-32 – Jacob holds onto Benjamin (but lets him go)

        C: 44:33-34 – Judah begs to be allowed to stay with Joseph

            D: 45:1 – Joseph sends everyone away from him

                E: 45:2 – Egyptians heard Joseph weeping.

                    F: 45:3 – I am Joseph. My father is alive.

                        G: 45:4 – Come closer.

                    F: 45:4-5 – I am Joseph. God has preserved life.

                E: 45:6 – Famine in Egypt. 

            D: 45:7-8 – God sends Joseph away from Jacob

        C: 45:9-13 – Joseph invites Jacob & company to live with him

    B: 45:14 – Joseph embraces Benjamin

A: 45:15 – Joseph weeps and talks with his brothers