Parallels Between Moses and Yeshua

YHWH your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen...
Deuteronomy 18:15

Who is the prophet like Moses? Yeshua. Like Moses and greater.

Consider these elements from Moses' life and how they are mirrored in Yeshua's:

Moses	Yeshua
Hebrews oppressed by foreign power	Hebrews oppressed by foreign power
Conceived miraculously	Conceived miraculously
Born to deliver his people	Born to deliver his people
Babies killed by jealous king	Babies killed by jealous king
Mother knew he was special	Mother told he was special
Prepared for clay-lined basket by a woman	Prepared for burial by women
Drawn out of the water (symbolizes Spirit)	Conceived by the Holy Spirit
Basket watched by a girl named Miriam	Tomb watched by a woman named Miriam
Rescued by Egypt	Rescued by Egypt
Raised by Hebrew parents in Egypt	Raised by Hebrew parents in Egypt
Visited & gifted by kings	Visited & gifted by kings
Lived with adopted father	Lived with adopted father
Said to have grown up in two ways	Said to have grown up in two ways
Killed an oppressor of Israel	Killed the character of oppressors of Israel
Rejected by Israel	Rejected by Israel
Hidden in the wilderness for 40 years	Hidden in the wilderness for 40 days/many centuries
Rescued Yitro’s daughters from bad shepherds.	Rescued Judah and pagans from bad shepherds.
Looked like an Egyptian to his Midianite cousins.	Looks like a gentile to his Jewish brothers.
Turned water into blood	Turned water into wine
Three days to the Red Sea	Three days in the grave
People threatened to stone him	People threatened to stone him
Betrayed by Korah	Betrayed by a close associate
Denied by Miriam and Aaron	Denied by Peter
Returned to Egypt after a long absence.	Will return to earth after a long absence
Forty days on the mountain and people thought he wasn’t coming back.	Extended period in Heaven and people thought he wasn’t coming back.
Confronted Pharaoh and brought plagues at second coming.	Will confront powers of evil and bring plagues at second coming.
Moses, the voice of God, and the glory on the mountain. Face glorified.	Yeshua, Moses, and Elijah on the mountain with glory. Figure glorified.
Moses intercedes with God for the people	Yeshua intercedes with God for the people
Song of Moses sung to celebrate deliverance	Song of Moses sung to celebrate deliverance

Parallelism in Matthew 21 on the Authority of Yeshua and His Disciples

 

• V1 - Yeshua approaches Jerusalem via House of Unripe Figs
• V2-7 - Yeshua claims authority over Jerusalem
• V8-11 - Jerusalem acknowledges his authority
• V12-13 - Yeshua claims authority over Temple
• V14-16 - People acknowledge his authority over Temple
• V17 - Returns from House of Dates via House of Unripe Figs
• V18-19 - Yeshua has authority over fruit of Jerusalem
• V20-22 - Disciples have authority over mount Zion
• V23-25 - Yeshua's authority questioned by the priests
• V26-27 - Priests' authority threatened by people & Yeshua

Bethphage was between Bethany and Jerusalem. The first time Yeshua entered Jerusalem in v1, he was coming from Jericho. The second time in v17, he was coming from Bethany, but both times he had to pass through Bethphage, even though the second half of the narrative doesn't make that explicit.

Bethphage means "house of unripe figs" and Bethany means either "house of dates" or "house of misery". Since fruit figures prominently in this story and literary structure, I suspect that Matthew and Yeshua mean for us to understand it as "house of dates".

Notice that both halves of the parallelism follow this pattern:

1. Approaching Jerusalem

2. Authority over Jerusalem/Zion

3. Authority over the Temple/Priesthood

By entering Jerusalem the way he did, seated on the donkey, Yeshua claimed to be a deliverer and King of Israel. By sitting on the cloaks of the Twelve Disciples and accepting the accolades, cloaks, and palm branches of the people, he also accepted the submission of the people of Jerusalem to his authority. He then entered the Temple and asserted his authority there by driving out the merchants and money changers and reasserting its intended role as a house of prayer for all nations. In turn, the people again acknowledge his authority by bringing their sick for healing and crying out "Hosanna to the Son of David!" 

In the second half of the parallelism, Yeshua repeats his assertion of authority over Zion by inspecting the fruit of the land and cursing an unproductive tree. Even though this was spring time and well before the season for ripe figs, there should at least have been immature fruit buds forming. (Based on my personal experience with fig trees in my yard, which I admit are not the same variety and might behave differently.) This tree might represent the people of Israel outside of Jerusalem, but I believe it is much more likely that it represents the religious leadership of Judah, which he was replacing with the Twelve Disciples.

Yeshua caused the Sadducees and Pharisees to wither away and he destroyed the Temple to keep them from continuing to defile it. In historical terms, this withering happened almost immediately, about 40 years later. In their stead, he appointed the Disciples to leadership over the people, evidenced by using their cloaks as a saddle on the donkey which, in turn, rode over the cloaks of Jerusalem. (See 2 Kings 9:1-13.) The disciples didn't become a replacement priesthood, but they did take over as God's national teachers and judges.

Two related resources:

A chiasm in Mark 11 on the cleansing of the Temple and the withering of the fig tree.

Video teaching on Yeshua's Triumphal Entry, the two donkeys, and the coats and palm branches...

A Chiasm in John 5:19-30 on the Relationship of Father and Son

 Here's an interesting literary structure in John 5:19-30 on the relationship between the divine Father and Son:

• 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 and repentance 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
• V28-29 – Marvel: The hour is coming for the resurrection & judgment of the physically dead
• V29 – Life for the righteous and judgment for the unrighteous
• V30 – The Son does only what the Father wills.

The Ancient Rabbis on the Messiah in Isaiah 53

In case anyone ever tries to tell you that Jewish rabbis have never understood Isaiah 53 as referring to the Messiah...

"The Rabbis said: His name is 'the leper scholar,' as it is written, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God, and afflicted."

Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin, Folio 98b

"Our righteous Messiah has turned away from us; we have acted foolishly and there is no one to justify us. Our iniquities and the yoke of our transgressions he bears, and he is pierced for our transgressions. He carries our sins on his shoulder, to find forgiveness for our iniquities."

R. Eliezer, Machzor Kol Bo

Maimonides wrote that '[The ancient Jews] believed that leprosy was one of the characteristics of the Messiah, for which they found an allusion to the verse: "stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted", that is by leprosy.'

Maimonides' Epistle to Yemen

Short Video Lessons from the Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel of Matthew is the most Jewish of four canonical Gospels, clearly presenting Yeshua's teachings as commentary on how to live according to Torah (God's Law), and his life and mission as the Messiah, the physical son of David and the spiritual son of Yosef, come to give his life for the sake of his people.

Beginning in 2018, I recorded forty (and counting!) short video teachings on the Gospel of Matthew, explaining the parables and commonly misused teachings of Yeshua. I have also connected most (all?) of these videos to one or more of the annual Torah portions, which you can find on each of the parsha pages at American Torah or by checking the American Torah playlists at YouTube and the topical tags at American Torah's Rumble channel. (Don't forget to subscribe while you're there!)

Short Lessons from the Gospel of Matthew:

• The Book of the Genesis of Jesus, Matthew 1:1
• Joseph and Mary Divorced Before They're Even Married!?, Matthew 1:18-19
• Is Hosea 11:1 about Jesus or Israel?, Matthew 2:13-16
• Matthew 3:1-2. What is the Gospel?, Matthew 3:1-3
• The Righteousness of Jesus' Baptism in Matthew 3:13-15, Matthew 3:13-15
• Father, Son, and Spirit in Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 3:16-17
• Matthew 4:1-4 and Bread from Stones, Matthew 4:1-4
• Matthew 4:23-25 and Jesus' Syrian Fan Base, Matthew 4:23-25
• Who Are the Poor in Spirit in Matthew 5:3?, Matthew 5:3
• How Does Salt Lose Its Saltiness? Matthew 5:13, Matthew 5:13
• Is Matthew 5:19 Only for the Jews?, Matthew 5:19
• Matthew 5:21-24 and Yeshua on Harboring Anger against a Brother, Matthew 5:21-24
• Matthew 6:24 - Everyone Serves Multiple Masters, Matthew 6:24
• Matthew 7:1 - When Is It OK to Judge?, Matthew 7:1
• Matthew 7:12 - Is the Golden Rule Really Universal?, Matthew 7:12
• Who Are the Workers of Lawlessness in Matthew 7:23?, Matthew 7:21-23
• Lead Like the Centurion - Matthew 8:5-13, Matthew 8:5-13
• Strange Tidings from the Sea of Galilee in Matthew 8:28-34, Matthew 8:28-34
• Did Jesus Blaspheme in Matthew 9:1-8?, Matthew 9:1-8
• Matthew 9:14-17 and the Three Fasting Parables, Matthew 9:14-17
• Matthew 9:32-33 and the Demon-Possessed Mute, Mathew 9:32-33
• Who Are the Lost Sheep of Israel in Matthew 10:6?, Matthew 10:5-7
• The Wisdom and Kindness of Serpents (Matthew 10:16-20), Matthew 10:16-20
• Matthew 10:40-42 and the Risks of Rewarding Righteousness, Matthew 10:40-42
• The Greatest, the Least, and the Violent in Matthew 11:7-14, Matthew 11:7-14
• Choose Your Yoke, Matthew 11:29-30, Matthew 11:29-30
• The Rules of Sabbath in Matthew 12:1-14, Matthew 12:1-14
• What Is Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?, Matthew 12:31-32
• Tares in the Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:24-30
• Parable of the Householder's Treasure in Matthew 13:51-52, Matthew 13:51-52
• Four Lessons from Herod and Herodias in Matthew 14:1-12, Matthew 14:1-12
• The Gospel in the Feeding of the Five Thousand (Matthew 14:13-21), Matthew 14:13-21
• Matthew 15:1-20 and What Defiles a Person?, Matthew 15:1-20
• Prophetic Significance of Feeding the Four Thousand in Matthew 15:32-39, Matthew 15:32-39
• Signs Pointing to God, Matthew 16:1-12, Matthew 16:1-12
• What are the Keys to the Kingdom in Matthew 16?, Matthew 16:13-20
• Thematic Connections of Jesus Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-9, Matthew 17:1-9
• Jesus and the Temple Tax in Matthew 17:24-27, Matthew 17:24-27
• Matthew 18:15-20 - If a Brother Sins Against You, Matthew 18:15-20
• Yeshua on Marriage and Divorce, Matthew 19:3-9
• The Wealth and Poverty of Self-Sufficiency, Matthew 19:16-26
• Authority Relationships in the Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew 20:25-28
• Jesus Will Open Your Eyes if You Let Him, Matthew 20:29-34
• The Two Donkeys of the Triumphal Entry, Matthew 21:1-11
• Religious Leadership and Withered Fig Trees, Matthew 21:17-22
• Bad Tenants and Bad Vines, Matthew 21:33-46
• Who Is the Guest without Wedding Garments? Matthew 22:1-14
• Marriage and Resurrection, Matthew 22:23-32
• Did Jesus say to obey everything the Pharisees said? Matthew 23:1-12
• The Revelation of the Wicked, Matthew 23:13-39
• Apostacy, False Prophets, and the Gospel, Mathew 24:3-14
• Has the Abomination of Desolation in Matthew 24 Already Happened?, Matthew 24:15-22
• Don't Be Deceived, Matthew 24:23-28
• Sun, Moon, Stars, and the Sign of the Son of Man, Matthew 24:29-31
• No One Knows the Day and Hour, Matthew 24:32-51
• Matthew 25:31-46, Who's in and who's out?, Matthew 25:31-46

A Chiasm in Matthew 5 on the Spiritual Nature of the Law

 

A - v2-12 - Spiritual application of Torah
-- B - v13-16 - Righteousness that glorifies God
---- C - v17a - Don't think that Yeshua will abolish the Law or Prophets
------ D - v17b - Yeshua didn't come to abolish them
-------- E - v18a - Until Heaven and Earth pass away
---------- F - v18b - Not an iota or dot will pass from the Law
-------- E - v18c - Until all is accomplished
------ D - v19a - Relaxes the least commandment and teaches others so
---- C - v19b - Does and teaches the commandments
-- B - v20 - Righteousness that glorifies man
A - v21-48 - Spiritual application of Torah

A few things that can be learned from this chiastic arrangement:

1. "Until Heaven and Earth pass away" and "Until all is accomplished" are not two possibilities for when the Law will pass away, but two descriptions of the same event. In other words "all" will not be accomplished until heaven and earth pass away.
2. Verses 13-16 are meant to exemplify a kind of righteous behavior that glorifies God. This righteousness is juxtaposed with that of the scribes and Pharisees in verse 20, which serves only to glorify men.
3. The Beatitudes in verses 2-12 concern the inner character of the perfectly righteous man, while the "You have heard it said" statements in verses 21-48 are specific instructions on how to become that righteous man. Both sets of statements are examples of literary anaphora, a form of parallelism in which the first word or phrase is repeated in each statement in order to connect them together.
4. Verses 17-20 are usually treated as a discrete passage with a complete message in itself, but this misunderstands Yeshua's real message. The Beatitudes are Torah. Letting the light of your righteous deeds shine before men in order to glorify your Heavenly Father is Torah. So long as there is a need for peacekeepers, for mercy, for endurance of persecution, there is a need for the Law. Only when the need for those qualities has vanished--when wickedness, covetousness, and hatred have been abolished--will the Torah, also known as the Law of Moses, no longer be necessary to teach and convict mankind.

For more on chiasms--including how to identify, map, and interpret them--check out The Chiasm Course!

Moses & Yeshua, leading the way to God

In the traditional Torah reading schedule, 1 Kings 7:27-8:21 is read together with Exodus 38:21-40:38 (aka Pekudei).

Exodus 40:34-38

Even Moses, the man who spent 80 days talking to God on Sinai, could not go into the Holy Place when God’s presence was too strong. How much less are we able approach God directly? Moses (and the High Priest) was a type of the Messiah, Yeshua. Only they could approach God here on Earth, and even then not whenever they felt like it.

Since there is no Temple or Tabernacle here on earth now, Yeshua is our only High Priest in the Tabernacle in Heaven. He is the cover over the tabernacle of our hearts and our mediator before the Father, and, being infinitely greater than Moses, Yeshua is able to take us where the Law could not.

1 Kings 8:8-9

When the priests placed the Ark into the Temple for the first time, they pulled the staves part way out so they extended through the veil into the main sanctuary. This either indicates that the staves were not parallel with the veil as in most depictions, but perpendicular. When the Ark was carried in the wilderness and into battle, God’s throne could face either forward or back towards the people.

It was probably very dark behind the veil, and the priest might have used the staves to feel his way to the Ark. Alternatively, their position could represent how God reaches through the veil to us, because we cannot reach through it to him. I prefer the latter explanation, but I don’t know what is correct.

Another interesting thing is that Kings says only the two tablets of the Law were in the Ark at this time. It could be that the Philistines removed the rod and the pot of manna when the Ark was in their possession, or it could be that those things were never in the Ark at all. Some believe that they were placed before the Ark instead of inside of it. In a way that makes much more sense, since the Ark was quite short compared to a walking or shepherd’s staff as Aaron’s must have been. The idea that the rod represents God’s authority and guidance, while the manna represents God’s providence is not harmed either way. They are in our hearts with God’s Law or they are before our hearts, while the interior is reserved as a special place for the Law. Either way works for me.

Chiasm in the betrayal of Yeshua by Yehudah

• V1 – Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, called Passover
• V2 – Priests and scribes wanted to kill Yeshua, but feared the people
• V3 – Satan entered (filled?) Judas, one of the twelve
• V4 – Judas met with the priests about betraying Yeshua
• V5 – The priests filled with gladness, agreed to give him money
• V6 – Judas wanted to betray Jesus, but feared the people
• V7 – The day of unleavened bread arrived, when the Passover is to be killed

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.