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...