Soil from Stone: 2018

Parallelism in Genesis 12:11-17

V11 – When Abram was about to enter Egypt

He said, “You are a beautiful woman.”

V12 – Egyptians will say, “This is his wife.”

They will kill me and let you live

V13 – Say you’re my sister so it will go well

I will be spared for your sake

V14 – Abram entered Egypt

Egyptians saw she was beautiful

V15 – They praised her to Pharaoh

Sarai taken into Pharaoh’s house

V16 – For her sake, Pharaoh dealt well with Abram

V17 – Pharaoh was not spared for her sake, but Abram was

Chiasm in Genesis 12:6-13:18

I had originally mapped this chiasm from 12:14 to 13:4, but it's much larger. The most interesting thing about this is how it covers much of the same text as a parallelism in chapters 12-14. (See here.)

12:6 – Abram stopped at the Oak of Moreh

12:7 – God promised to give Canaan to Abram

12:8 – Abram moved to Bethel

12:14 - Abram traveled from Egypt to Bethel

12:16 - Pharaoh gave livestock & servants to Abram

12:20 - Pharaoh sent Abram away with his wife & all he had
13:1 - Abram left Egypt with his wife & all he had

13:2 - Abram rich in livestock, silver, & gold

13:3-4 - Abram traveled from Egypt to Bethel

13:11-12 – Abram moved from Bethel

13:14-17 – God promised to make Abram a great nation & to give him Canaan

13:18 – Abram stopped at the Oaks of Mamre

Abraham's faith was strengthened by every test. The continual growth of his material wealth was only a mundane reflection of his spiritual development.

Chiasm in the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

10:22-32 - Descendants of Shem

11:1 – One language and the people migrated together

11:3-4 – Let us make bricks (laban, which is lamed-bet-nun) and build a city so we won’t be dispersed

11:5 – God came down.

11:6 – God saw their pride and how it would progress

11:7a – God came down.

11:7b-8 – Let us confuse (v’nablah, which contains the root nun-bet-lamed) their language so they will be dispersed and stop building the city.

11:9 – Many languages and the people scattered

11:10-26 - Descendants of Shem

An alternative arrangement of this chiasm, which I kind of like better:

10:22-32 - Descendants of Shem

11:1-2 - One language and the people migrated together

11:3 - The people determined to build

11:4 - Then they said, "Come, let us..."

11:4 - Build a city, become great, remain united

11:5 - YHVH came down to witness their city and tower

11:6 - People united, will become great, do anything

11:7 - "Come, let us..."

11:7-8 - Stop the people from building

11:9 - Confuse the language and scatter the people

11:10-26 - Descendants of Shem

Common worship, language, and culture can be great unifying forces. Nimrod and the Babylonians were aware of this and tried to leverage it, but they aren't enough. The Tower of Babel was a pre-figured counterfeit of the Temple of Jerusalem. The only truly worthy and enduring unifying force is the true worship of the only true God.

Update 2023-10-20. The chiasm extends earlier into chapter 10 and to the end of chapter 11, encompassing the genealogy of Shem, at the very least. I've updated the diagrams above to show this.

HT: Tim Hegg at TorahResource.

Parallelism in Genesis 12-14

12:1-2 – Promise of land and descendants

12:4 – Abram commanded to move

12:6 – Abram went to the oak of Moreh at Shechem

12:7 – Built an altar

12:11-20 – Conflict with a king, Sarai taken and returned, wealth obtained

13:14-16 – Promise of land and descendants

13:17 – Abram commanded to move

13:18 – Abram went to the oaks of Mamre at Hebron

13:18 – Built an altar

14:1-24 – Conflict with kings, Lot taken and returned, wealth refused

Interestingly, this parallelism overlaps a chiasm in Genesis 12:6-13:18. See here.

Timeline of Jacob's Life

A table showing Jacob's age at various events in his life.

Event	Jacob's Age
Esau married two Canaanite women	40
Jacob flees Esau & Betrothal to Rachel	77
End of Leah's 7 years & Marriage to Leah & Rachel	84
End of Rachel's 7 years & Birth of Joseph	91
Jacob leaves Laban	97
Joseph is sold by his brothers	108
Joseph is brought before Pharaoh & Beginning of the 7 years of plenty	121
Beginning of the 7 years of famine	128
Jacob stands before Pharaoh	130
Jacob dies	147

My first thought on laying this out was "Why did Jacob wait so long to find a wife?" Evidently, like his mother Rebekah, he knew the Canaanite women were unacceptable, but he wasn't willing to strike out on his own without direction from his parents.

My second thought was "Jacob was 77 years old when he fell in love with Rachel," and she returned his love! People were longer lived, so he remained healthy and virile much later than men do today, but women also married young. Rachel was likely between 15 and 25, probably somewhere in the middle.

And my third thought was "All 6 of Leah's sons were born between when Jacob was 84 and 91. Could Leah really have had 6 children in just 7 years?" But my mother had 5 children in 5 years, so why not? Breastfeeding tends to suppress fertility, naturally spacing children out every couple of years, but it doesn't always work that way.

Things that make you go "hmm."

Thematic Connections: Jacob and Laban vs Israel and Egypt

The Flood, Sodom, and Egypt.

Lot and Rahab.

Joseph and Jesus.

Moses and Deborah.

Yom Kippur and the Blessing of Jacob and Esau.

There are parallels everywhere. Now check out this one!

Jacob and Laban	Israel and Egypt
Jacob was initially received by Laban with joy	Jacob was initially received by Pharaoh with joy
Jacob married the daughters of Laban	Joseph & other Hebrews married Egyptians
Jacob cared for Laban’s livestock & benefited	Israel cared for Pharaoh’s livestock & benefited
Laban prospered because of Jacob	Egypt prospered because of Israel
Laban hated Jacob when he saw how much Jacob prospered	Pharaoh hated Israel when he saw how much they prospered and multiplied
Laban cheated and oppressed Jacob	Pharaoh enslaved and oppressed Israel
Laban was impoverished by his enmity against Jacob	Egypt was devastated by their enmity against Israel
Laban treated his daughters and their children by Jacob as foreigners	Egypt treated the mixed multitude with Israel as foreigners
God told Jacob to leave Israel and went with him	God told Israel to leave Egypt and went with them
Jacob, with his wives and children, left Laban in a hurry with Laban’s wealth	Israel, with the mixed multitude, left Egypt in a hurry with Egypt’s wealth
Jacob crossed a body of water to escape Laban	Israel crossed a body of water to escape Egypt
Rachel stole Laban’s idols	Israel took Egypt’s idolatry with them into the wilderness
Laban pursued Jacob after 3 days and caught up with them after 7 days	Pharaoh pursued Israel and caught up with them at their 3rd-day camp
God intervened to keep Laban from harming Jacob	God intervened to keep Pharaoh from harming Israel
Laban claimed ownership of Jacob’s children	Pharaoh claimed ownership of Israelite children
Laban changed Jacob’s wages 10 times	Egypt was inflicted by 10 plagues
Jacob’s existence as a family separate from Laban was confirmed at a monument on a mountain	Israel’s existence as a nation separate from Egypt was confirmed on Mount Sinai
When Jacob went to Laban, he set up a single stone. When he left, he set up a pile of stones	When Israel entered Egypt, they were small. When they left, they were a vast multitude
God saw Jacob’s distress and passed judgment in his favor in the night	God saw Israel’s distress and passed judgment in their favor in the night
Laban blessed Jacob and made a covenant of peace with him	Pharaoh cursed Israel and he was destroyed with his army.

This pattern is the pattern of God's people in exile and in return. God dropped a pebble and the ripples extend from one end of time to the other.

Chiasm in Acts 6 on the Appointment of Deacons

v1 - Disciples increasing; conflict between Hellenists and Hebrews

v2-4 - Selection of pool of deacons to be confirmed

v5 - Stephen and seven others finally selected

v6 - The deacons are selected and confirmed

v7 - Word increased, disciples increased, and priests became obedient

The early followers of the Way had a recurring problem with more fundamentalist Jews (called "the Circumcision", including members of both the Pharisees and the Sadducees) treating Hellenists (less traditional Jews who had adopted more Greek culture) and former gentiles as common or second-class citizens. In this situation, the local congregation was dominated by the Circumcision who made sure that their own widows were given preference in the distribution of charity.

When the Hellenists complained, the Twelve agreed that it wasn't right and asked the other disciples to nominate some men from among themselves to manage care of the widows. They nominated Stephen and six others who were confirmed by the Twelve.

The passage (Acts 6:1-7) is arranged chiasticly. On its own, that's not so remarkable; it's a logical arrangement and could have been entirely unconscious on Luke's part. Except for that bit about the priests becoming obedient to the faith. It seems out of place, but is clearly intended to be part of this passage. So what did Luke mean by including it?

The opening point of the chiasm includes the growing number of believers and the resulting conflict between the Jews and Hellenists. The nature of a chiasm is that the final point mirrors the first point or at least corresponds to it in some meaningful way. The final point in this chiasm again includes the growing number of believers, but instead of adding the conflict, it adds the resolution to the conflict: a large number of priests, who were predominantly Sadducees, became obedient to the faith.

The priests in v7 were either the same as the Jews in v1 or else they were instigators of the problem, advising those who had been handling the distribution unfairly before. In either case, they were impressed by the way the disciples managed the situation, and placed themselves under the spiritual authority of Twelve in response.

A Chiasm in Deuteronomy 31

It is immediately clear in reading this chapter that there are things going on in the text, but the precise patterns are difficult to pick out. I checked out how a few others have broken it out, but none of them looked quite right to me. I'm not convinced that I have it right either, but I think it's not far from the intended arrangement.

Let me know what you think.

A: V1 – Moses speaks to Israel

B: V2 – Joshua succeeds Moses (v3-5a - God punishes the Canaanites)

C: V5b – Keep the commandments of God

D: V6a – Israel, be strong & courageous because God is with you
D: V7-8 – Joshua, be strong & courageous as you lead the people because God will be with you

C: V9-13 – The Law, the Ark, & the reading of the Law at Sukkot

B: V14 – Joshua succeeds Moses (v5-21 - God punishes Israel for their sins.)

A: V22 – Moses taught Israel the song

V23a – Joshua succeeds Moses

V23b – Joshua, be strong & courageous as you lead the people because God will be with you

V24-28 – The Law and the Ark

V29 – Israel will rebel and be punished

A: V30 – Moses taught Israel the song

I believe that these might be some of the intended points: God speaks to his people through prophets, but most especially through Moses and Yeshua, represented in this passage by Joshua, aka Yehoshua. God has shown us immeasurable favor by redeeming us from slavery to Egypt and sin, by making us into a people, destroying other peoples and fighting for us so that we would have a place in his Kingdom. But in order to avoid the same fate as those other peoples, we must listen to Moses and Yeshua. We must follow their lead, read and study the commandments, walk them out every day of our lives, and teach them to our children so that we will remain securely in the Kingdom.

This interpretation is speculative, only a drash. I think it's and supported by the rest of Scripture, but whether or not it was intended in this passage is another matter.

On the surface, of course, Deuteronomy 31 is talking about ancient Israel living in the land, and that meaning is primary. They rebelled, just as God predicted, but they (we!) will repent (are repenting!) and be restored eventually.

A Chiasm & A Parallelism in Deuteronomy 26:14

The small chiasm in Deuteronomy 26:14 concerns bringing tithes of the land to God and ensuring that those tithes are brought in a condition that honors God and can be accepted by him.

I have not eaten of my tithes while in mourning (for the dead)

I have not stored away any of these tithes while unclean

I have not given any of my tithes for the dead

Spiritual uncleanness results from contact with death, whether through the loss of life force (e.g. menstruation and other sexual discharges and dysfunctions), through the loss of life itself (e.g. physical contact with the dead or their graves), or through spiritual association with death (e.g. ancestor worship, necromancy, and the honoring of false gods). This is why uncleanness is sandwiched between mourning and death. Anything dedicated to God should not be contaminated with unclean things and activities, not because they are sinful--some are and some aren't--but because God is most holy.

Uncleanness is the opposite of holy. It interferes with our spiritual communion with him, which is a possible reason that God says the flesh of pigs and other unclean animals is abhorrent to him and ought to be to us. He likes to spend time with us and spiritual uncleanness gets in the way.

This chiasm is immediately followed by a couplet (a simple, 2-part parallelism):

I have hearkened

To the voice of God

I have done

What God has commanded

To truly hear God is to obey. It doesn't matter if what God says makes sense to us or not. He always has reasons, and he is under no obligation to explain them to us. Our job is to trust him and to love him, and both trust and love require obedience to his commands. If God doesn't want his tithes tainted with death and mourning, then we need to make sure we give cheerfully and without reference to the dead.

Not even to the "sainted" dead.

Solomon on Facing Adversity

There are three things a person needs to face adversity without faltering:

Fellowship – Proverbs 18:1-2 says that if you are willing to break fellowship in order to swim against the tide you will be on your own without support and counsel. Sometimes it’s necessary, but be sure to count the cost before you dive in.
Faith – Proverbs 18:10-12 says that you can trust in God’s promises. Material wealth can buy strong walls, financial hedges, and even politicians, but ultimately God owns it all. With a single word, he can bring all you own to dust. His name is your only sure fortress.
Fortitude – Proverbs 18:14 says that the spiritually strong can stand against injury and illness, while the spiritually weak are defeated without a single enemy.

Some Challenges of Reading the Bible in English

The Apostle Paul wrote,

For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
(Philippians 1:8 KJV)

What a curious thing to say. Paul wants Jesus to eat us all!

No, really. It says so right there.

Wait. That's not what Paul meant, you say?

Well, of course not. It doesn't make any sense. It's easy to see that the original intent isn't what it seems to be in plain English, so we know that Paul was using an expression that just didn't translate well. With a little thought, we can work out that he actually meant "with the heart/affection of Jesus".

Every language uses metaphors and colloquialisms that can be difficult to translate. In the case of Philippians 1:8, the King James translators used English words that people of the 17th century were likely to understand, but that have changed meaning over the centuries or fallen out of usage altogether.

When reading the King James Version and other older English Bibles, we need always to keep in mind that the original text must undergo two translations before it can be understood: Once from Greek and Hebrew into early Modern English, and once again from early Modern English into our own dialects.

Even more importantly, whenever we read *any* English Bible, we must always be aware that the text has already undergone one or more translations from the original, and if we sometimes need to pause in order to understand one another's English, how much more difficult is it to understand a foreign text separated from us by thousands of years and largely unknown cultural differences?

You don't need to be a linguist, anthropologist, or philologist to be able to understand the Bible, but you do need to be aware that the words you read are usually only a close approximation to the original intent, and sometimes they are only educated guesses. You also need to be aware that English words often have multiple meanings or implications that were never part of the original intent of the Biblical texts.

If you're interested in learning more about the Bible, its English translations, and how to study it, go over to Common Sense Bible Study at AmericanTorah.com.

Sorry, This Is My Reality, Not Yours

Many self-help gurus and two-bit philosophers insist that we are each able to shape our personal realities by force of will.

If I can change my reality by simply altering my thoughts and desires, and you can change your reality by altering your thoughts and desires, then at the very moment that our wills diverged from each other's, so too did our realities. You and I are not living in the same universe.

Neat, huh? It gets better.

Nobody on earth views the world in exactly the same way. Everyone thinks a little differently. Everyone wants something different. Therefore...

Everyone is living in a separate universe.

It then follows that all of the people you see walking around and interacting with your own pretend reality aren't actually real people at all, or, at best, are merely the shadows of people who only fully exist in universes of their own making.

Nobody is real. Nobody exists. Except you.

.

.

.

.

Of course, that's all complete bunk. There is one reality, and you're stuck in it with all the rest of us schmucks. No way out. No escape. You can't even get out by dying. If you die, you just move on to another mode of existence in this one and only reality.

Truth, facts, reality... These things can't be changed by fantasizing new facts. There is one God, one way of eternal salvation, and only two human genders. Everything else is just wishful thinking. Deal with it.

7^4 + 4 = Watch, Wait, and Obey

Numbers 9:17-23 is an odd text. It repeats the same information over and over and over, just shuffling the words a bit each time. Reading it is almost as bad as reading a list of begats, but even more baffling. However, if you break the passage down a bit, some interesting patterns emerge.

There are four sets of statements that are each made seven times.

The cloud remained over the Tabernacle
...the cloud settled...the cloud remained...the cloud remained...the cloud was...the cloud remained...the cloud continued...the cloud remained...
The people set out
...the people set out...the people set out...they set out...they set out...they set out...they set out...the people set out...
The people remained in camp
...the people camped...the people camped...the people remained...Israel did not set out...they remained in camp...Israel remained in camp...the people camped...
At the command of YHVH
...at the command of YHVH...at the command of YHVH...according to the command of YHVH...according to the command of YHVH...at the command of YHVH...at the command of YHVH...at the command of YHVH

And four times, it says that the cloud lifted.
...when the cloud lifted...when the cloud lifted...when the cloud lifted...when the cloud lifted...

What is the point of all this repetition? I'm sure that there are other patterns in this text, especially if I were able to read and understand the original Hebrew, but one possible message is this: When God tells you to go, go. When God tells you to stay, stay. However long he tarries, be content with where God has put you. However briefly he keeps you in a particular place, be content with the impact you were able to have in that short time. The important thing is to keep your eye on God and to obey him in whatever he says.

If you are living every day in obedience to God, his presence remains with you. God can't live in a defiled and disobedient heart, but if your heart is right--even if you slip now and then as we all do--God will be right there in the center of your life's camp, no matter where that is.

If you are watching for his signs, listening for his voice, studying the words of Moses (see verse 23), then you will be ready to move when the cloud lifts and you will recognize the Messiah and be ready to lift him up before all the world.

Psalm 107 and the Grand Finale

A reader pointed out to me that Psalm 107 contains this really neat parallelism:

The pattern established in four parallelisms (v1-7, v8-14, v15-20, v21-30) is

A - Thank God for all the good things he does.
B - Ungrateful people get into trouble, but...
C - If they humble themselves and repent
D - God delivers them from trouble and brings them to a better place.

In the conclusion, the Psalmist changes it around a little:

v31-32 - Thank God for all the good things he does.
v33-34 - God can turn good things bad.
v35-38 - God can turn bad things good.
v39 - When bad things happen to good people
v40-41 - God turns it around so that all things work to good for those who believe in him.
v42 - Righteous people see this and give thanks to God in all circumstances. Wicked people ought to just keep silence lest things get even worse for them.
v43 - The wise will understand without having to see it in action and will meditate on the enduring love of God.

The same elements are present in the conclusion as in the preceding parallelism, except for one: The ungrateful people who get themselves into trouble. They are there by implication (the princes in v40 and the wicked in v42), but their doubt and foolishness isn't described explicitly.

Maybe the Psalmist's point in leaving that out of the final stanza is that eventually the pattern of sin and restoration comes to an end. The righteous will be permanently elevated and the wicked will come to a permanent end.

A Caution against Getting Carried Away by Eschatological Hysteria

The return of many Jews to the land & the formation of the State of Israel might, or might not, be the beginning of the fulfillment of certain prophecies. A word of caution, though: Pay attention to these events, but don't be dogmatic about any particular interpretation of prophecy.

If the State of Israel is destroyed & the Jews scattered again, it won't mean that God's promises aren't good. It will only mean that some people were wrong about their interpretations of prophecy and current events.

To know what will be, learn what has been. Study Scripture, especially God's interactions with the patriarchs. God has foreshadowed the end from the beginning.

A Set Apart Community

Leviticus 19:1 – Torah is called "The Law of Moses" or simply "Moses," but make no mistake. These are the words of God given through Moses. They are not the words of Moses.

v2 – "All the congregation," meaning men, women, and children. The Torah is about living in harmony with God, the world, your community, and yourself. This section is primarily concerned with living in community with fellow believers. Paul referred to it as the Body of Messiah. We are to be different than the world (k'doshim) because we are a part of God's people. Our standards must be different because his standard are different. When God follows a command with a statement like "I am YHWH," he is emphasizing that we are to follow his rules because we are his. Not because we belong to the First Church of Whatever or because we are Jews or Chrisians, but because we have been adopted into God's house. We live in his house, so we follow his rules.
v3 – If Yahweh is your God or if you want to live among God's people, then keep the sabbath. If Yahweh is not your God or if you don't want to live among God's people, then "Do what thou wilt."
v4 – If that other guy is your god, then you can make all the idols you want. "But as long as you live under my roof…"
v5-8 – Peace offerings must always be voluntary. Obedience is mandatory, but going the extra mile is better. Peace offerings are meant to be extravagant community events. They are not meant to be used for regular meals.
v9-10 – Leave something for the poor and the transient, but don't just hand it to them if they are able to work.
v11-14 – Don't cheat each other or be sneaky with each other. There is no place for maneuvering in God's house.
v15 – Don't play favorites. Don't brown nose and don't play Robin Hood, either. There is nothing wrong with being rich, and it's not your job to cure poverty. LBJ was a fool.
v16 – Don't be a tattletale, a gossip, or a slanderer. Mind your own business.
v17 – Confront evil (tactfully and quietly when possible) because it would be hateful to allow your neighbor to continue ignorantly in sin.
v18 – Be forgiving and turn the other cheek. I.e. be slow to anger.

A Double Chiasm in John 5:19-30

Yeshua described his role in the world in a chiastic structure:

V19 – The Son does only what the Father does.

V20 – The Father does great works, and will do greater for the Son.

V21 – Marvel: The Father raises the dead, so does the Son

V22a – Father judges no man
V22b – Father gave judgment to the Son

V23a – All should honor the Son, as they honor the Father

V23b – Failure to honor the Son is failure to honor the Father
V24 – Life for those who hear and believe, not judgment.

V25 – Hour is coming for the resurrection of the spiritually dead

V26 – Father has given the power of life to the Son of God
V27 – Father has given the power of judgment to the Son of Man

V28 – Hour is coming for the resurrection of the physically dead

V29 – Life for the righteous and judgment for the unrighteous

V30 – The Son does only what the Father wills.

Reconsidering Organized Religion

These things do NOT represent Hebrew Roots any more than Westboro Baptist represents all Baptists.

Sacred Name (Jesus comes from Hail Zeus & if you don't spell it right, you're a heretic, etc.)
Made up Hebrew words & names.
British Israelism & other branches of Christian Identity.
Real Israelites are black. Everyone else is a wannabe.
The earth is flat and if you don't get it, you're just a dupe of UN satanists
Everything is pagan, including the Pope's hat & your mom's apple pie .
Jews are Khazari-demon hybrids.
Calculating the Sabbath according to the phases of the moon because that's the way pagan Babylonians did it.
Refusing to use the traditional Jewish month names because they're of Babylonian origin.

The people who believe these things aren't necessarily bad people. Everyone believes things that are wrong. Everyone has hatred, deception, and ignorance in their hearts.

I just want to point out that these beliefs have NOTHING to do with the Hebrew Roots movement and everything to do with fallen human nature. All of these beliefs can be found in every other religious group and even among atheists, and most Torah-observant Hebrew Roots people don't believe any of those things.

What a repulsive mess. As much as I hate to admit it, this is the kind of thing that highlights the value of organized religion. When everyone does what's right in his own eyes, God turns away and the rest of the world looks on in horror.

A final word of caution to my Torah-observant brothers: You can be the most knowledgeable person in the world on any given subject, but once you begin conflating opinion and emotion with fact, all of your knowledge becomes a noose of confusion, and the more knowledge you add, the tighter it is drawn about your neck.

Messiah's Brook in Psalm 110

The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."...The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
Psalm 110:5-7

Yeshua confirmed that the Lord or Adonai spoken of in Psalm 110 is the Messiah, himself (Matthew 22:44), and the meaning of much of the Psalm is clear: shattering kings, judging nations, etc. But what does the final verse mean?

He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

What brook is meant and why does it cause him to lift up his head?

It could refer to Yeshua's death and resurrection. In Genesis 40, Joseph interprets the dreams of two men and tells them both that Pharaoh will lift up their heads, one to be restored to service in the royal court, the other to be executed. "He will drink from the brook" could allude to Yeshua willingly accepting the cup of his fate (Matthew 26:39) and "he will lift up his head" could allude to the same thing again or to his subsequent resurrection and restoration to his place in Heaven.

However, this would break with the previous prediction of violent judgment that clearly must refer to Yeshua's return to judge the nation and set up his throne in Jerusalem. I won't say that it must be wrong--prophecy often ignores time scales and literal orders of events--but I think there is a much more plausible interpretation.

Consider these prophetic passages that discuss the same topics as Psalm 110:

And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground...And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow. Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire; his breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction...Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
Isaiah 30:23-33

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east)....Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep....Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the [Dead Sea]; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes."
Ezekiel 47:1-9

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:24

The gist of these prophecies is that when Messiah Son of David comes to set up his throne in Jerusalem, he will judge the nations with a thoroughness and violence not seen on earth since Noah. Rulers will be deposed, nations uprooted, and--most importantly--wickedness cleansed. The judgment of God is like a river that flows from the Temple, washing away the filth of oppression and sin, restoring life to the land as it goes. God's judgment even brings life to the Dead Sea, turning the saltiest body of water in the world into fresh water.

Psalm 110 describes Messiah's return in the end days as filling the nations with corpses, yet he pauses to drink from the brook along the way, and this drinking causes him to lift up his head. The brook referenced here isn't a metaphor of his own death. It is the overwhelming flood of God's wrath that brings relief to the land and to the righteous in Yeshua. He lifts up his head because he is refreshed and restored alongside his people whom he loves more than his own body.

The Weak and Worthless Elemental Principles of Pagan Rome

After a series of violent conflicts between Rome and the Jews in the late first and early second centuries, the gentile converts to the Jewish sect alternately known as the Way, the Nazarenes, and the Christians, pushed hard to distance themselves from the hated upstarts. Since most of the Empire couldn't tell the difference, it took a long while to make the break final. To put everyone's minds at ease, the gentile Christians decided to change all of their holidays so they could celebrate on the same days as the polytheistic Romans. Then they switched to a Sunday "sabbath" because only those dirty Jews kept God's seventh day Sabbath.

Eventually, the Christians began to look so much like the Jovians that they kind of forgot what the big fuss was about. Peter took over the robes, halo, and statue of of Jupiter. Mary ousted Juno. And Joseph, poor Joseph... Well, Joseph faded into the shadows as an eternally cuckolded almost-husband of Juno...I mean Hera...I mean Mary.

Roman Catholicism is little more than a Latinized Jewish makeover of Roman paganism. Sure, it has lots of ancient traditions and cool hats, but it's missing a lot of Bible. Even more importantly, it's missing the one and only very Jewish Messiah.

It's time to finish the job that the original Protestant reformers began.

Keep the Sabbath, God's Sabbath. Keep the feast days, God's feast days, not the replacements foisted on the illiterate, superstitious masses by the Abomination of Desolation in Rome. Keep the commandments and reject the weak and worthless elementary principles of Rome, because as wise Solomon once wrote, to fear God and to keep His commandments is the whole duty of man.

A Model of a Model of a Model

Exodus 25:1-40

And they shall make an ark... On one level the Ark of the Covenant is the symbol of the Father in the Tabernacle and the Temple, while the Menorah represents the Holy Spirit, and the Showbread Table represents the Son. (On another level, the entire Tabernacle is a model for every individual.) Likewise, the Heavenly Father is an example for earthly fathers, the Holy Spirit is an example for earthly mothers, and the Son is an example for earthly children, especially the firstborn son of his father. The details of all three articles are significant for every single person, as we occupy a spectrum of traits and roles, and we can never say that one person or one gender can never be allowed to fill the role of another. But the characteristics of the Heavenly Father as revealed in the Ark more precisely apply to fathers than to anyone else, and likewise the characteristics of the Heavenly Son as revealed in the Showbread Table apply to firstborn sons. The Menorah is specifically a pattern for women, but also for all types of deacons, servants, and helpers. The instructions contained in Exodus 25 are repeated in minute detail in Exodus 37, demonstrating the great weight which God assigns to these things.

I am certain that all of the precise measurements have important meanings, both spiritual and mundane (Ezekiel 43:10-11), but I will not pretend to know what all of those meanings are. The best that I can do is to prayerfully consider these instructions and the teaching I have received and ask God for understanding. What mistakes I make are purely my own. I do not claim this to be prophecy or infallible revelation from God. The same is true for the instructions concerning the Showbread Table and the Menorah.

Exodus 25:9

...after the pattern of the tabernacle... The stuff of the wilderness tabernacle was not made according to a design only written on paper or fashioned into a small scale model. It was patterned after the real Tabernacle in Heaven in which Yeshua serves as our divine High Priest. That Tabernacle is a shadow of something yet higher: God himself. It is also an image after which we are to pattern ourselves, both as individuals and as families.

Exodus 25:10

...shittim wood... According to Scofield, wood represents humanity, and John Gill wrote that acacia (translation of shittim) wood is decay resistant. According to Easton's Bible Dictionary, it is also a gnarled, thorny tree like a hawthorne from which it would be very difficult to obtain a significant amount or length of lumber. Our flesh is often twisted and gnarled, making it very difficult for us to work toward creative purposes. A father should, as far as possible, avoid the things that corrupt the flesh: drunkenness, licentiousness, excessive leisure, fear, et cetera. The raw material out of which he is made must be cultivated and trained in order to produce lengths of lumber sufficient to make anything of real substance and size.
(See Exodus 25:13 and 15:23.)

...two cubits and a half...a cubit and a half...a cubit and a half... I know that the dimensions of the Ark and the other articles of the Tabernacle are recorded for our benefit, but at present I can only make wild guesses as to what we are to learn from them. I offer this small bit of speculation only as one possibility and not as anything certain. The volume of the Ark, at least as measured by these external dimensions, is five and five-eighth cubic cubits. Five could represent life as creatures "that hath life" were first created on the fifth day or it could represent the five books of the Torah. Eight represents new beginnings or rebirth. The Ark was the heart of the Tabernacle. Within it were the stone tablets, while the staff, and a jar of manna were placed before it. When we have God's Law (the tablets) written in our hearts, when we have made him our supreme authority (the staff), and when we have put our faith completely in him (the manna), then we will have life both in this world (five cubits) and eventual resurrection into eternal life (five-eighths cubit).
(See 1 Kings 8:9 and Hebrews 9:4.)

Exodus 25:11

...overlay it with pure gold, within and without... Gold represents purity and righteousness. A father must exemplify righteousness in his family, not just in his actions ("without") but in his heart and mind ("within") as well.
(See Exodus 25:13 and 25:24.)

...a crown of gold round about. A father is to rule his house with righteousness, according to the laws of God, and not of man, or else this crown would be of wood instead of gold. However, this is not exactly the same word usually used for a royal crown, but it is the root of that word. Zer is used here, whereas nezer is the usual word for a royal crown.
(See Exodus 25:24 and 25:25.)

Exodus 25:35-36

…one beaten work of pure gold. The six side branches of the Menorah were assembled in sets of two, one on the left and one on the right. The pairs of branches were made out of a single piece of gold with a ring in the center connecting it to the stem. Each pair represents a pair of inextricably linked character traits, and each side balances the other. The fear of God is balanced against knowledge of God’s promises and love. Understanding of God’s creation is balanced against wisdom in its proper use. Strength is moderated by good council. These spirits only engender a right relationship with God if they are in proper union and order. If strength is not complemented by council, then they separately beget tyranny and manipulation. If worldly understanding is not united with wisdom, then they separately beget pride and foolishness. If fear is not united with knowledge, then they separately beget legalism and licentiousness.

Updated: 2/13/2018

Progressives vs Conservatism

I tweeted this yesterday (1/24/2018):

Someone reasonably asked why I thought that conservatives are any better than leftists. (I should have said "progressives", as it's a more accurate and descriptive term.)

Progressivism assumes several things that are diametrically opposed to Torah:
1) Humanity can be forced to change its fundamental nature through pressure applied by a wiser elite.
2) It denies what the Bible says about human nature and the sovereignty of God.
3) It relies on mass violence, theft, and the manipulation of people's basest instincts of greed to accomplish its ends.
4) It denies the right of people to continually reap the material benefit of their own labor and--possibly even more importantly--the costs of poor judgment and refusal to labor.

Whether by re-education, bullets, or eugenics, progressivism seeks to replace God. It repeats the lie of the serpent in the Garden that man can become his own god.

Conservatism has its flaws because it is usually unaware of what it is attempting to conserve. Some of the values our culture once held are clearly terrible and ought to be forgotten. We still have a long way to go. However, conservatism's primary goals aren't to remake human nature or to steal from one person or group to give to another. Its primary goals lie in maintaining an outwardly just society through the rule of law, in maintaining the foundations of a peaceful and orderly society: family, faith, respect for authority, etc.

I say "outwardly just" because conservatism does nothing in itself to address the inward state of anyone. It does, however, create an environment where more people will hear the Bible taught and see it lived than progressivism ever can.

Rank and file leftists frequently have some good intentions: equity of justice, mutual respect, etc., but the philosophy as a whole assumes the supremacy of man and the ultimate inconsequentiality of God. The nominally good motives of many leftists are necessarily applied in a manner that elevates man above God, and it reveals them to be either wicked at heart or hopelessly deluded.

Stand by the ways. Search and ask for the ancient paths." -Jeremiah 6:16

Progressivism is diseased in its very foundation and it only leads to death, while conservatism is only infected with residual corruption that isn't necessarily inherent in its nature. Some things really are worth conserving, and I'll take imperfect over degenerate every time.

The Symbolism of Rings in Scripture

Throughout history rings have been used to symbolize affinity, devotion, and authority, as well as stores of value. Hebrews gave earrings, nose rings, and bracelets as signs of betrothal. Egyptians and Canaanites both wore earrings and nose rings to symbolize devotion to their deities. Lifelong slaves wore earrings as symbols of their master’s authority. Tribes wore rings of various kinds to advertise their belonging. Rulers wore signet rings, crowns, and torques as statements of wealth and authority.

In the Bible, a nezem (earring or nose ring) can be functional as a store of value, ornamental, or symbolic. Some examples of symbolic uses of rings:

Genesis 24:22 Eliezer gave Rebekah an earring and two bracelets as a sign of betrothal to Isaac.
Exodus 32:2-3 Aaron told the Israelite men to surrender the earrings of their wives and children for use in the golden calf. He did not ask for idols, amulets, necklaces, or other jewelry which would have contained a much greater amount of gold.
Judges 8:24-26 Gideon asked for the earrings of the slain Ishmaelites and used them to make an idol.
Ezekiel 16:11-12 God gave bracelets, a nose ring, earrings, and a crown to his bride.
Hosea 2:13 God used earrings in a double entendre to refer to the ornamentation of a harlot and the symbols of idolatry.
Job 42:11 According to the Septuagint, each of Job’s friends gave him an “unstamped” gold earring. Most translations only say “earring.” I suspect the ancient translators of the Septuagint meant to emphasize that these were not religious tokens. The need for such an emphasis would be significant in itself.
Proverbs 25:12 A wise authority figure is a carved earring in an obedient ear.

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