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Latest Podcasts in Biblical Basics
Now Is The Time w/Rabbi Steve Berkson | Unity & Division in the Body | Part 8
With the absence of division, unity is revealed. This teaching focuses on how we should treat each other as the Body of Messiah. Rabbi Steve Berkson takes us first to Matthew 5:43 where we see Yeshua teaching to love not only each other, but also those who may be...
Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 32 – (Torahfying cont & The Dust of Jacob)
Our Footsteps series has considered the signs of Messiah’s coming within key verses of the Song of Songs. Our most recent text is a prophecy of the final wilderness “of the people” and the Mishkan (Tabernacle) of Israel:
What is this coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense
with all the scented powders of the merchant? (So 3:6)
Israel emerges from the wilderness of the peoples in Clouds of Glory. When we look for evidence of how Yeshua is working among us to gather us, the Wilderness Mishkan is a logical place to look. Last week, we took a close look at the “two witnesses” of fire in the wilderness that amazed and terrified the surrounding nations. There was the fire of two altars that never went out, one of sacrifice and one of incense, each with its column of smoke. There was a pillar, or column, of cloud by day and one by night, the night pillar revealing fire in the darkness. And according to the sages, the two tablets in the Ark of the Covenant produced two tongues of fire that cleared the area of the encampment of serpents and scorpions when the cloud and Ark stopped. Sound familiar? Hint: Acts Two.
This description of the “two witnesses” sounds very much like the Midrash’s description of how the Mishkan settled down:
“And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.” (Re 11:5)
The Midrash Rabbah to Shir 3:5 describes why the nations marveled at the Israelite camp in the wilderness:
“When Israel was roaming from encampment to encampment in the Wilderness, the Pillar of Cloud would sink in the evening and then the Pillar of Fire would spring up, and the smoke of the burning pyre atop the Outer Altar would rise straight up, unaffected by the wind, and two darts of fire would issue from between the two staves of the Ark and incinerate the snakes, fiery serpents, and scorpions before the Israelites. [commentary to Ex 40:38]
Mark Call – Parsha “Pinchas” (Numbers 25:1-30:1) teaching from Shabbat Shalom Mesa
More often than some might suspect, the weekly Torah portion reflects uncannily well the issues and events in the world today. And especially this week, parsha Pinchas (Numbers 25:10-30:1) inspires us to ask the question, "just what does it MEAN to be 'zealous' for...
Torah Teachers’ Round Table – Tanakh Edition – Ezekiel ch 1
The Torah teachers have now started the in-depth study of the Book of Ezekiel, and chapter one. And there is certainly a lot of imagery.
“Come out of her, My people” Show ~ Mark Call weekly
By now it's pretty clear that there is a deliberate, well-planned, systematic destruction of not only the Rule of Law, but the national and world economy, food supply chain, and energy infrastructure. While the greatest mass bioweapon deployment in history takes...
Now Is The Time w/Rabbi Steve Berkson | Unity & Division in the Body | Part 7 – Problems/Solutions
In this the first of two parts, straight from the mouths of those in the Body of Messiah comes a lively discussion about some of the problems that may be prohibiting the unity in the Body that is so greatly desired. Rabbi Steve Berkson moderates this forum of ideas,...
Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 31 – (Footsteps are Torahfying)
In last week’s teaching, we examined Isaiah’s prophecy in couplets:
“The pronouncement concerning Edom:
One keeps calling to me from Seir,
‘Watchman, how far gone is the night?
Watchman, how far gone is the night?’
The watchman says, ‘Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.’” (Is 21:11-12)
The third couplet urges the inquirer to ask twice, or “come back again.” Return from the second exile, the long exile of The Red One, Edom of Seir.
In a layer of Jewish understanding about King Messiah’s hiding place, Isaiah implies that not only are those in exile calling, anxious for the night of exile to end, so is Messiah, who has been tying and untying the bandages of the sick outside the gates of Rome, anxiously awaiting the Father’s appointed time for his return, to “come back again.” The midrash is not to be taken literally, but illustratively.
Mark Call – Parsha “Balak” (Numbers 22:2-25:9) teaching from Shabbat Shalom Mesa
Perhaps ironically, the parsha named 'Balak' in the Torah (Numbers 22:2-25:9) -- because that name of the king of Moab appears right up front in the text -- is really more about Bilaam (aka 'Balaam' in some English translations) -- who would be the ancient equivalent...
Torah Teachers’ Round Table – Tanakh Edition – Jeremiah completion – Ezekiel intro
This week the Torah teachers finally wrap up the study of the Book of YermeYahu (Jeremiah) and the final chapter 52, and introduce the next Book to be examined in detail, that of the prophet Ezekiel.
Now Is The Time w/Rabbi Steve Berkson | Unity & Division in the Body | Part 6
What is this “yoking” thing about? We see Yeshua telling His followers to take His yoke, we see Paul talk about not being unequally yoked. In this lesson Rabbi Steve Berkson teaches about taking on the yoke–what it meant then and what it means now, and why it is...
Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 30 – (Come Back Again)
In the last episode, “How Far Gone is the Night?”, we put forward a prophetic verse from Isaiah to help us understand the final beast kingdom. Here it is in its couplets:
“The pronouncement concerning Edom:
One keeps calling to me from Seir,
‘Watchman, how far gone is the night?
Watchman, how far gone is the night?’
The watchman says, ‘Morning comes but also night.
If you would inquire, inquire;
Come back again.’” (Is 21:11-12)
This is important because the last beast performs his deceiving signs “in the presence of the first beast.” The first beast is Babylon. This explains why Babylon the Great is “fallen, fallen.” The image of the beast King Nebuchadnezzar set up for the nations to bow down and worship was one image. Because Daniel had interpreted his gold-silver-bronze-iron dream of the image as the successive beast empires, the King of Babylon thought by forming the image ALL of gold, his kingdom would endure forever. He thought all he needed to do was bring in representatives from all the nations to bow to it. Of course, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego would not bow, and the king temporarily repented. He’d have to be turned into a crazy beast to be completely broken (Da 4:33).
Likewise, in Revelation, human beings who will not repent or who will only repent superficially and worship the image of the beast will be completely broken. If Babylon the Great falls, then all the beast empires fall with it, including its systems among the nations of the world upon which the iron-and-clay feet stand. From the Babylonian head to the Persian chest to the Greek lower torso to the Red Roman iron legs, the Beast will fall. It is empires and nations, yet ONE image, which helps us to understand how the last beast’s signs are performed in the presence of the first. The feet don’t rome too far from the head. Sorry. Couldn’t resist a pun.
Edom is Rome, the last beast kingdom, and its feet are standing upon the earth mixed with the clay, the peoples of the earth. It will be shattered by the Stone of Israel, and all the beast kingdoms that attached to the golden head of Babylon will fall. The night watchmen, who represent those skilled in knowing the times and seasons that turn in their cycle, are experts in the moedim. The moedim were set in place on the fourth day of Creation when the sun, moon, and stars were put in their place “for the sake of the moedim,” often translated as “seasons.” The night watchmen watch these stellar movements every “night,” or exile.
Parsha “Chukat” (Numbers ch 19 thru 22:1) teaching from Shabbat Shalom Mesa
The parsha this week may be one of the most 'appropriately named' in the Torah, because 'chukat' may be translated as "statute," but it REALLY means, "do this because I say so!" Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship for a two-part look at parsha 'Chukat'...
