Tag: Passover
Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 152 (Walking on Water Part 3 – When You Walk on Water, Remember This)
When You Walk on Water, ?Remember This – Part Three
In Walking on Water Part Two, we looked in depth at the Gospel of Matthew 14:22-33 account of Yeshua walking on water. The “fourth watch of the night” was our key phrase, helping us to understand the elation, terror, and sinking feeling Peter might have had as he processed:
a) Sababa! Yes! I can walk on water like it’s dry land! It’s like the Exodus!
b) Oy vey! It’s the last watch of the night, and the wind will allow the waters to return to normal at daybreak! I could be killed like Pharaoh’s army!
Yeshua, however, had authority over the wind frightening Peter with its ability to destroy armies and pound them into the abyss of a watery grave. Yeshua’s authority over the angels of the four winds and all other principalities and powers is a second key to understanding why Peter might have had that sinking feeling that his solid footing in the water might collapse.
One example is the destruction of Sodom and three other cities of the valley at sunrise. Oddly, the text describes Lot and his daughters as arriving in Zoar when the sun came up, yet, this is when the angel took them by the hand to depart Sodom! How could they be in two places almost simultaneously? It was humanly impossible to escape to Zoar that fast unless there was a supernatural quality to the angel’s “hand” that saved them.
Likewise, Yeshua took Peter’s hand when Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” Yeshua walked him to the boat, and John adds a detail: “So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going” even though the text states they were three or four miles along the water. (Jn 6:21)
This, too, would be impossible if Yeshua’s hand of salvation weren’t supernaturally fast transportation. A boat is a symbol in Scripture not only of international commerce, but of how nations and continents are connected and interconnected. The fact that walking on water occurs on the Galilee is also symbolic. Galilee came to be known as “Galilee of the Nations” not only because of the diverse people groups that lived there during epochs of history, but because of Isaiah’s prophecy:
But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. (Is 9:1-2)
While Peter made the connection between the Exodus past and a prophesied Exodus of the future, the Book of Acts suggests he didn’t completely internalize the commission to the Gentiles until much later. Perhaps he assumed that Isaiah’s prophecy was intended only for the lost Israelites among the nations who were to be restored by Messiah.
Indeed, the deportation of many Israelites and Jews occurred from that very area, yet the Greater Exodus will also draw many from every nation, tribe, and tongue just as it did in the first Exodus. All those who call on the Name of YHVH will be saved then as Peter demonstrated.
In Part One, we parsed the Hebrew text of Exodus 14:21 to see that the English translations of how the water was swept back all night didn’t do justice to the text:
“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back…”
But let’s read the literal words:
“And stretched Moshe his hand over the sea and will walk YHVH the sea…”
For modern English grammar purposes, let’s read: “and YHVH will walk the sea.”
It explained why Yeshua, the arm of YHVH, walked on water and why Peter believed it might be Yeshua instead of a “ghost”…and why he, too, might walk on water:
The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land,
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In Part One, we consulted the Creation text of Genesis One to see that the parting of the sea was not only into two walls as artistry usually depicts, but it was like walking through a water tunnel. Water above, on either side, and below. And if below, why did Peter consider water walkable, or “dry land”? Again, the Hebrew text explains:
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided.
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“And made the sea to dry land and split the water”
Incredibly, supernaturally, the Salvation of YHVH split the water and made the sea dry land. Made the sea dry land. Made the sea dry land. You’ll remember that some day if you are among the generation alive at the time of the resurrection. He will make the water into dry land and split the water, just as John prophesies that he will “split the sky”:
“The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” (Re 6:14)
If that weren’t incredible enough, the Revelation continues along a strange thought found in the ancient Jewish commentaries on the crossing of the Reed Sea. We accept that Yeshua will catch the righteous dead and living into a “cloud” to meet him in the air, or sky, but we are resurrected, not just “ghosts” swirling and booing in the wind. We will have substance, and so will the cloud, just like the water of the Reed Sea.
If the water is somehow transformed into substance to provide that supernaturally swift last-watch-of-the-night ride to safe haven (literally) for the saved, then the rabbis’ comments concerning one of the miracles at the Sea make sense:
“The waters were split” [14:21]. All the waters of the world were split when the sea was split. Ten miracles occurred at the sea. First, that it split. Second is that it was made like a dome or a roof and Israel walked under the water. The water was under, on the sides of and over Israel. Third, it was dry under them, so that Israel should not smear their feet with mud. Fourth, for the Egyptians, the earth was all mud and slime and they sank into it. Fifth, the water was congealed and hard as stone. Sixth, the water was not congealed completely, but it was congealed a section at a time. It was like large boulders, in the expectation that when the Egyptians would drown, the hard water would smash their heads, like stones. These pieces were on top of each other, like a brick wall. (Tze’enah Ure’enah, Commentary to Beshalach)
The commentators describe changes in the substance of the sea. In the first miracle, the waters split, but not only the Reed Sea, but all the waters of the world so that the world could witness the salvation of Israel. Too fantastic? Not so much when we see that Yeshua walks on water on the Galilee in the territory of Galilee of the Nations! Prophetically, all nations would one day see the glory of the Father and how much He loves His creation, especially those who seek His Son.
Rahab tells the Israelite spies this forty years later: “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt…” (Joshua 2:10)
He didn’t just part the waters, He dried them! And the nations knew it!
The fifth and sixth miracles are a little harder to swallow until we read John’s prophecy of what happens once the sky is split in Revelation:
“Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (Re 6:15-17)
The pursuit of the righteous by the wicked among the nations will be swallowed up by great miracles at the Sea of the Peoples. They’ll first get all mucky and confused (already there!), then they’ll realize that the safe path for the saved by the Blood of the Lamb is not safe for those under the Wrath of the Lamb. It’s turning to smashing rocks!
Peter lost faith when he saw the wind, and he had to call on Yeshua. Remember this. When it looks like the angels of the four winds, or princes and principalities, or spiritual darkness in high places (and low ones!) are bringing destruction, our confidence is in the right arm and saving hand of YHVH, Yeshua. For Peter, the time of destruction was too close for comfort. He knew that the “dry land” he walked on could turn to stones of destruction at any second.
We, too, should not be distracted by the spiritual forces being used to shepherd us into safe haven. A time will come when it seems darkest that “immediately” we’ll find ourselves transported in a watery cloud of dry land nicknamed “Capernaum,” the place where Yeshua docked their boat (Jn 6:21). Capernaum in Hebrew is Kfar Nachum, or “City of Comfort.” Yes, it has the same two-letter Hebrew root, nach, as Noah. Yes, you will walk on water with Messiah.
Remember this when it seems Yeshua is nothing more than a ghost.
Remember this when he takes your hand and walks you through the water to a City of Comfort like the parable of Lazarus being escorted by angels to comfort while the rich man endured torment.
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (He 11:1)
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 151 (Walking on Water Part 2 – Sink or Walk on Water?)
Sink or Walk on Water?
Part Two
In Walking on Water Part One, we looked at the following account of Yeshua walking on water:
But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!” (Mt 14:24-33)
Last week, we found one answer as to why Yeshua walked on water. We’ll look at some other answers next week, but our second question was, “Why was Peter afraid of the wind?” Hadn’t the wind been blowing just as fearfully up until then? He didn’t think about that before he crawled out of the boat?
Knowing what Peter knew about the dangerous time of the morning watch, the last watch of the night, we can venture an educated guess. To know what Peter knew, we refer to the Torah:
“When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.’” (Ge 19:15-16)
The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. (Ge 19:24-28)
Yeshua came to rescue the disciples from the windstorm in the last watch of the night [in Roman calculation, the fourth watch; in Hebrew calculation, the third watch]. From the texts above, we can see that the last watch of the night before the dawn is a dangerous time. Especially back then, who could know the precise moment when the sun would break the horizon, ending the last watch and beginning the timeframe of morning?
When the morning dawned, destruction could begin, rescue could end, or righteousness could view the destruction from afar, or “the place where he stood before the LORD.”
In this account of Genesis Nineteen, Peter could see the traditional explanation of the destination of three groups of people: the righteous (Abraham), the lukewarm (Lot and his wife and daughters), and the wicked (the cities of Sodom). Yeshua reminds the Laodiceans in Revelation of the danger of remaining in the category of the lukewarm, who ultimately cannot stand in the same place as the righteous in the Kingdom. It doesn’t mean they are not rescued, but it does mean they are not in good “standing” relative to the righteous.
At the crossing of the Reed Sea, Peter has this reference for destruction following the last watch of the night:
So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen (Ex 14:27-28)
The last watch is a time of uncertainty. No one knows exactly when the day will break. Peter knows the east wind that divided and congealed the water will cease blowing and the water will return to its liquid state at daybreak.
Perhaps in that moment he believes he, too, is “appointed to wrath” with the destruction of Israel’s enemies by the one coming from Edom with vengeance. The disciples acknowledge Yeshua as the “Son of God” when he saves Peter. It was a teaching moment for Yeshua to remind the disciples that not only did they believe in him as Messiah, they followed him completely. They were not appointed to a place of wrath, but to obtain a final salvation like their father Avraham, who stood in a righteous place of faith. What they’d just experienced was simply a little test, a tribulation. Yeshua asks, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
“…and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” (1 Th 1:10)
“…hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.” (1 Th 2:16)
“For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ…”(1 Th 5:9)
The plan was never to save as few people as possible, but as many as possible, including the Gentiles. The disciples’ commission was to go to the nations and proclaim this compassionate salvation so that the Gentiles could choose to also stand in the place of righteous faith like THEIR father Avraham as well:
“…and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised…For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…” (Ro 4:12, 16)
How could Peter preach to the Gentiles if he was doubtful that Yeshua would save him from the wrath upon the wicked? Before we blame Peter for being so unsure about his own salvation, how many times have we questioned our own relationship with Yeshua?
Or how many put more faith in their job security, ammo, food prepping, or withdrawing from personal evangelism in order to protect themselves from the coming wrath on the wicked rather than in Yeshua’s ability to make us stand in a place of righteousness or take us by the hand to walk us to our rescue?
We, too, sometimes doubt if we are making our “calling and election sure” or if Yeshua will save us from a time of vengeance upon the wicked. The Prophet Isaiah gives a chilling prediction and a comforting reassurance, just as Lot’s family received “the compassion of the Lord”:
“…For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come. I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; so My own arm brought salvation to Me, and My wrath upheld Me.” (Is 63:4-5)
Both the saved tribes and Gentiles will be saved from the vengeance and wrath on the wicked or the lukewarm who choose to remain in wickedness rather than flee from it, holding onto the hand of Yeshua. It is Yeshua’s job to uphold the relationship of those who are saved for the Father. He is the Father’s “own arm” of salvation.
When we are too focused on our ability to hold Yeshua’s hand instead of his ability to hold ours, we falter in obedience, either failing to perform his Word out of despair to protect ourselves or proudly believing others don’t deserve to receive salvation and withdrawing our “righteous” selves from their presence. Neither response is the faith of Avraham, who ran to welcome guests so that he or recue his nephew so he could demonstrate the faithfulness of El Shaddai to His creation.
The people who laugh at your commandment-keeping today will come seeking you in a time of trouble.
The people to whom you could have ministered will arise and accuse you at the end of days. (Lk 11:30-35)
Yeshua tells Peter that he needs to practice his faith. Everyone has a little faith, but not everyone exercises it in a day of trouble, which is only a tribulation, not the inescapable wrath of the Lamb, which will leave no rock unturned in the search to root out the wicked from the earth.
We can learn from Peter’s doubt in the actual test of his faith. In fact, it’s a relief to know that men who literally walked with Yeshua didn’t get things right on the first try.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:16, Paul made a sobering prediction: those who hinder the process of proclaiming salvation to everyone will suffer the very wrath they presume they will escape! Not everyone is a great evangelist, but by practicing, exercising our faith in the Word, we will proclaim Messiah until he returns. A life lived faithfully according to the Word will never hinder those who could be saved. It will invite them to the Shabbat table so that they may see that the Lord is good.
The question is, are we practicing our faithfulness in front of those who have yet to receive Yeshua as the Messiah? Do we engineer our Shabbats, the Feasts of YHVH, kosher eating, etc., so that they do not bring attention to us, or do we let that light shine? If we don’t shine, thinking self-preservation is preferable to the salvation of others, how will they ever make the stand of righteousness that Avraham took?
Avraham stood in a very secure place, only seeing the smoke of Sodom from afar. He suffered no loss from the fires of Sodom (1 Co 3:13). Not like Lot and his family, to whom the smoke was probably clinging, and they suffered a huge loss in their rescue even though it was “the compassion of the LORD”: (1 Co 3:15; Jude 1:23): “…save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.”
Such a salvation was the result of keeping a low profile with friends and family, so much so that Lot’s sons-in-law thought he was joking when he finally spoke up, and the townspeople were furious at him.
The wrath of the Lamb was the risk Peter thought he was taking when he looked at the wind and waves in the last watch. We, too, can be distracted by the news, war rumors, economic woes, political maneuverings, and the abominable behaviors akin to Sodomite living with no boundaries, but we don’t have to worry about Yeshua’s wrath if we take his hand. He is the outstretched compassionate arm of YHVH, the Living Word of our salvation. Spiritual darkness in high or low places has no claim over our salvation, and we will be tested until we grow in our faith in Yeshua.
In Part Three in the next newsletter, we’ll take a look at another significant fear Peter likely had when he looked at the wind and waves. It will extend the idea of the danger of wrath and judgment coming at the dawning of the day. It will reinforce the prophecy that Messiah will come from Edom when he comes in wrath upon the Beast and the nations who serve him, for to come from Edom is to come from the east like the east wind that blew all night to make a way of rescue for the Israelites at the Reed Sea.
Yeshua’s authority over the angels of the four winds and all other principalities and powers is a key to understanding why Peter might have had that sinking feeling that his solid footing in the water would collapse.
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah Part 150 (Walking on Water Part 1)
Passover:
Walking on Water
More specifically, Chag HaMatzah, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Before I explain that, let’s begin with a not-rhetorical two-part question:
Why did Yeshua walk on water?
Why did the wind scare Peter?
Last week’s newsletter established the underpinnings of the WOW season (Walking on Water). Review:
The last watch of the night is a last opportunity to flee false security. It is the last opportunity to flee the people whose wicked agenda vexes the righteous Holy Spirit within. If one waits until the morning’s dawn to flee, he flees with nothing. Only the deeds of the righteous can follow them into the eternal Kingdom of Messiah, for those are the only eternally true and fit deeds.
The overturn of the cities of Sodom likely took place at Passover, for Lot baked unleavened bread for the angel of wrath.
The Wrath of the Lamb struck the cities of Sodom right at dawn, when Lot and his daughters reached safety and the last watch of the night becomes the past. Likewise, at dawn, after the strong East Wind completed its work of arranging the waters, the Israelites traveled through the waters to reach safety.
?The Israelites still had the flesh of the Passover lamb, bitter herbs, and matzah in their bellies. Having obeyed YHVH’s instructions, they were protected from the Wrath of the Lamb on Egypt and Pharaoh. All they had to do was Walk on Water, to escape to freedom. WOW!
So back to our question: why did Yeshua walk on water?
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Mark Call – Parsha “Bo” teaching from Shabbat Shalom Mesa
Parsha “Bo” (Exodus 10:1 – 13:16) describes the last three of the ‘Ten...
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Babylonian Eclipses, Planetary Alignment & Revelation 1 Vision
UPCOMING FEBRUARY 2025 SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS! Originally posted Mar 25, 2024 but we are getting very close and world events seem to be ramping up the closer we get to Feb 2025. Are ancient eclipses during the fall of ancient Babylon connected with present day eclipses over the United States? The answer and where these ancient eclipses occur WILL surprise you! Is the upcoming planetary alignment of ALL seven planets connected to John’s vision of the revealing of Y’shua Messiah in Revelation chapter 1? Watch this video all the way to the end to be amazed at the possibilities and then pray about what you and your family can do to get ready physically and spiritually… just in case.
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah 109 (Days of Elijah: Three Warnings Pt 2)
The Last Three Warnings
and
Shabbat HaGadol
The Days of Elijah begin with Passover. Join us as we explore the role of Shabbat, especially Shabbat HaGadol, and the three foot festivals as a warning for Bride to prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom. Together we’ll unpack the language of zealous striking in the feasts. This Pt 2.
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah 108 (Days of Elijah: Three Warnings Pt 1)
The Last Three Warnings
and
Shabbat HaGadol
The Days of Elijah begin with Passover. Join us as we explore the role of Shabbat, especially Shabbat HaGadol, and the three foot festivals as a warning for Bride to prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom. Together we’ll unpack the language of zealous striking in the feasts.
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah 107 (That’s So Lame)
THAT’S SO LAME
With the eclipse so recent, literally putting a point on the new year of the feast cycle at the New Moon (Rosh Chodesh), it seemed proper to emphasize this year’s pilgrimage through the feast. This is true specially in the United States where the eclipse bisected an already very divided nation.
The eclipse gave us a glimpse of a wedding ring, which for believers in Yeshua, is the covenant, particularly Shabbat, the sign of our betrothal. We protect its holiness while we await the Bridegroom’s return. During each eclipse, we have a dramatic reminder.
For Americans, at the very least, I take this as a warning. Repent. Be set-apart. No more lukewarmness toward the feasts and Shabbat.
Pray.
Pray for the world, but especially Israel and our nation.
The new moons are a zikaron, or remembrance. It is an appointed time for Adonai to “remember” us, which means to purpose an action pertaining to us.
Attend Shabbat and each feast with like kind and like mind. Gather however you can. Each year at Pesach, you may have have started the journey through your last “sealing” on earth as we know it. It is your protection to the tribulation that accompanies those final days. Even as I write this, the ancient beasts of Babylon and Medo-Persia are crouching at the door.
In apostolic times, the Biblical feasts were seen as a seal of protection to those who celebrated them. Seven feasts, seven seals. Sound familiar? You can find the details in Creation Gospel Workbook Six.
We are living in a miracle so great that almost everyone is missing it…even those who are the miracle! What is even greater than the Exodus? The Greater Exodus! Israel being gathered from all the nations to return to her covenant, the Living Torah, and her Promised Land of covenant.
Isn’t that greater than the Reed Sea parting? After all, it’s been almost 2000 years since a large group of people dared to proclaim Yeshua the Messiah and walk in obedience to his Torah simultaneously. As with the wilderness journey, the arguments and chaos frequently obliterate the miracle-consciousness.
First, however, before the journey home, the “moral” return begins in the lands of exile. Before we walk and leap on the way to celebrate the foot festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot, we need healing. Thousands upon thousands are being healed of enmity against the Word and their Jewish brothers and sisters walking in the covenant.
In ancient times, Jeroboam put up barriers on the highways of Israel to prevent the tribes of the Northern Kingdom from journeying to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. By separating brothers, which is the seventh and most wicked of abominations, the northern tribes quickly lost their identity among the nations. To undo this separation has to be a work of the Ruach HaKodesh.
To reiterate how the Ruach works to knit together like kind, rather than scatter and separate, I’m including Chapter Two of Standing With Israel: a House of Prayer for All Nations. It describes how prayer brought Jew and non-Jew together at the time of the afternoon prayer and Temple sacrifice. This prayer is named after the sacrifice, the Minchah. It is also called Shemoneh Esrei, or Eighteen, after its eighteen individual prayers.
STANDING WITH ISRAEL: A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS
CHAPTER TWO
JEW AND GENTILE: PETER AND CORNELIUS
The Shemoneh Esrei, whatever its form evolving in the Second Temple era, is a common prayer for both Jews and “God fearers” in Acts of the Apostles. Peter and John observe the hour of prayer: “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.” In Acts, Peter and John are still accustomed to praying in the Temple at the appointed hour, and they encounter a lame man, likely a Jew, at the hour of Minchah prayer, the ninth hour. This is three o’clock.
The lame man’s inability to walk in the life of the covenant people makes him poor. He asks alms at the Beautiful Gate (Yaffa Gate), and receives silver and gold of the Kingdom, which is strength to walk into the Temple of Israel as a strong man. His waiting for alms at the gate parallels the common term for a non Jew who practices some of the Torah, but who has not yet converted to Judaism; he is a “proselyte of the gate.” Although he is a native-born Israelite, there is yet a barrier between him and the inner Temple courts, for none blemished in body could enter into those precincts.
The correlation to Minchah prayer and the poor lame man is found in Jewish law. In Berachot 34b of the Talmud, the code of Jewish law and commentary, we read, “The Minchah has the same high degree of holiness which is generally brought by a poor person.” The reason is that a poor man may have to fast his daily bread in order to afford his offering, so his Minchah has a heightened degree of holiness.
Adonai’s concern for the poor is evidenced by the many provisions in Leviticus for the poor man to bring an offering of reduced cost, whether turtledoves and meal in place of flesh, or a single lamb instead of several. This poor man’s Minchah request for help from the disciples of Yeshua is endowed with special favor from his Father in heaven.
Peter and John’s Shemoneh Esrei prayers of faith at the 3 o’clock hour of Minchah minister healing to the poor lame man. This restored Jew sees the beautiful feet of Peter and John, who bring him the good news of Messiah Yeshua. He no longer has to sit outside the Beautiful Gate like a Gentile, separated from the joy of the “foot festivals,” the pilgrimage feasts of Adonai, but he can walk, leap, and praise Adonai in the Temple.
Yeshua is the Beautiful Gate to the House of God. By faith in the blood of the Minchah Lamb, who was sacrificed at the hour of prayer as an everlasting memorial, the restored Israelite can enter the Temple on strong feet. The cripple is reunited with his Jewish brothers and his Messiah in the life of the covenant. He affirms the blessing of the Shemoneh Esrei, “Blessed are You, O Lord, who heals the sick of your people Israel.”
Cornelius is also in Minchah prayer when he is visited by the angel. “He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.” While many English readers would picture Cornelius as kneeling in prayer with clasped hands as Christians do today, the true picture would look much different.
Cornelius learned of the One God of Israel from Israelites; therefore, he learned how to pray from Israelites! Picture Cornelius standing in his home facing Jerusalem. He takes three steps back, then three steps forward, symbolically stepping into the Presence of Adonai. He begins to pray, “My Adonai, open my lips, that my mouth may declare your praise…”
Cornelius’ Minchah prayers are accompanied by acts of kindness to the Jews of his community. He offers not only the sacrifice of his lips, but good deeds of the Torah. The text calls Cornelius a “God-fearer.” A God-fearer is a Gentile, a “proselyte of the gate,” who has accepted the one God of Israel and who has begun to keep some of the commandments.
Cornelius the God fearer also observes the Jewish hour of prayer: “And Cornelius said, ‘Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing.” In the waning decades of the second Temple, the hour of prayer is the ninth hour. This places the prayer “between the evenings,” between noon and sundown, three o’clock, the time of unity for day and night.
Even the time of month when Cornelius prayed is evident. Rabbi Munk reminds us that “The Torah ordains ‘On your days of rejoicing and your holy days and on your month’s beginning, you shall blow the trumpets over your offerings that they may be to you a memorial (zikaron) before your God.”
Just as the Jews place goodwill money offerings in the Temple trumpets to accompany their prayers, Cornelius’ good deeds are offered with prayer, and together they ascend as a memorial offering, a zikaron, for the angel says, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.”
Cornelius’ Minchah prayer and gifts to the poor parallel Peter’s Minchah and gift to the poor, not silver and gold, but healing. Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the lunar Biblical month, is a day appointed for sacrifices of prayer and good deeds to be an especial zikaron to Adonai. This may be Cornelius’ exact day of prayer.
When one is fasting as Cornelius says he is the day of his visitation, a significant benediction of the Shemoneh Esrei is inserted. The fasting benediction is a fervent plea to Adonai to answer the prayer:
Answer us, Adonai, answer us, on this day of our fast, for we are in great
distress. Do not pay attention to our wickedness; do not hide Your Face
from us, and do not ignore our plea. Please be near to our cry; please
comfort us with your kindness – before we call to You answer us, as it is
said: ‘And it will be that before they call, I will answer; while they are
speaking, I will hear.’ For You, Adonai, are the One Who responds
in time of distress, who redeems and rescues.
The answer to Cornelius’ fervent Minchah prayer is that indeed, while he is yet speaking, Adonai hears and answers. Cornelius is rewarded with not only acceptance of his zikaron offering of prayer, but redemption for his whole household, and the gate is opened for the unification of the Jew and Gentile in the Commonwealth of Israel. The Orthodox Jewish translation of the New Testament plainly connects the zikaron (remembrance) to the unification of Jew and Gentile through the sacrifice of Messiah. Paul urges the Ephesians to
Have zikaron (remembrance) that you were at that time unrelated
and separate from Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, having been alienated
from the citizenship in the Am Berit, from Yisroel, being strangers to the
Beritot HaHavtacha, lost, and having no tikvah (hope) and without G d
in the Olam Hazeh. But now in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua,
you, who formerly were in the outermost courts, have been brought
near by the kapparah of the dam of Moshiach. Therefore, then, no
longer are you zarim and aliens, but you are fellow citizens of the
Kadoshim and bnei bayit members of the household of G-d.
The KJV translates the same passage:
Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh…that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ…For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one…that in Himself He might make the two into one new man…for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household…
Paul’s placing of believing Gentiles within the Am Berit, or as most English translations read, the Commonwealth of Israel, and the Gentiles’ inclusion with the bnei bayit, or Children of the Household, gives credence to Rabbi Munk’s comment on a portion of the Minchah Shemoneh Esrei:
“The third group (of prayers) comprises the spiritual preconditions for the reunion of the nation of Israel under the rule of G-d. According to the prediction of the prophets, the spiritual and moral foundation will have to be laid before the rehabilitation of our people can take place.” Cornelius’ commandment-keeping, acts of kindness to the Jews, and participation in a “Jewish” prayer lay the moral foundation for the rescue and reunion of Israel under the rule of God.
Apathy, hatred, and jealousy among Israelites is so lame it prohibits entry to the House. Where do we think we’re going?
A lame person cannot fully engage the Shabbat and feasts, a Beautiful Gate into the Presence of our Father at His feasts. He is separate from the House. We are being healed. Rise up and walk. Walk to Shabbat. Walk to the Passover seder with a staff in your hand, ready to collect the seven seals of Yeshua’s kingdom. They are seven beautiful gates, and each week, the Shabbat gate protects you and beautifies you for the Bridegroom while you journey between the feasts.
Healing is available for Jew and non-Jew. One household. One House. A foot-festival is approaching quickly.
The zealous spirit of Elijah says, “The King is coming.” Prepare.
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah 106 (Getting Stoned)
Getting Stoned
Biblically, that is.
Torah contains many commandments. Some of those are positive, “you shalls,” and some are negative, “you shall nots.” Most frequently, the negative commandments carry tangible punishments such as restitution, whiplashes, hanging, or even stoning. Sometimes no punishment is prescribed, or a vague phrase, “he shall be cut off from his people.” It has been speculated to be banishment or shunning, and some sources say this is a Divine punishment, not a human one.
Let’s take a closer look at stoneable offenses, which will help us to understand a Divine punishment in John’s Revelation.
“You shall also say to the sons of Israel: ‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.’” (Le 20:2)
“Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.” (Le 20:27)
“Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death….Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel did, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.” (Le 24:16, 23)
“Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day…Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.’ So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.” (Nu 15:32-36)
Idolatry, dark arts, blasphemy, and desecration of the Shabbat are the most explicit of the commandments that carry a death penalty of stoning. An additional commandment against adultery is linked to idolatry:
Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. But they, righteous men, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. ‘For thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Bring up a company against them and give them over to terror and plunder. The company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will slay their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire. Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be admonished and not commit lewdness as you have done. Your lewdness will be requited upon you, and you will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’” (Ezekiel 23:44-49)
The Ezekiel passage is addressed to two nations in their state of apostasy, Oholah (Northern tribes of Israel) and Oholibah (Judah). They are also called mystically “Babylon” and “Egypt” because they carried with them the adulteries/idolatries of Egypt and Babylon and continued to practice them. Their example was a message to other “women,” or nations.
The vital transition in Revelation is that first Israel is warned through the “moedic memos” to the Seven Assemblies of Revelation. Next, those nations from which they carried the adulterous idolatries are judged. The smaller to greater pattern may also be seen in Zechariah 14:17 when he prophesies that the commandment that initially was specific to Israel of going up to Jerusalem for the foot festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot will extend to the other nations in the millennium.
It then explains why John prophesies in the Revelation to the world that they will suffer the same sentences applied to Israel for the “stoning” offenses. As those nations transition to King Yeshua’s rule over the earth, they, like Pharaoh, will suffer stoning for stubborness concerning control of Israel and the commandments of Adonai.
To understand how stoning was performed, we have to erase our memories of high school reading assignments such as “The Lottery” or news images of men stoning women in Afghanistan. While throwing stones at someone until they are dead is one way of stoning, the Biblical method is rarely explained outside of Judaism.
The Jewish understanding of how to perform stoning is rooted in Moses’ warning at Sinai to protect the people from the hailstones by which they would be stoned if they approached the mountain:
“And you shall set bounds around it for the people, saying, ‘Guard yourself from ascending the mountain or touching its edge; whoever touches the mountain shall surely die. A hand shall not touch it, for he shall be stoned or he shall be cast down; whether animal or person he shall not live; when the blast of the ram’s horn is drawing out, they will ascend the mountain.” (Ex 19:12-13)
Judicial orders of stoning in ancient times consisted of first, pushing the guilty one off a high place, such as a cliff. This was the “casting down.” If the person were to somehow survive the fall, then he or she would be stoned, sometimes placing a heavy rock on the chest to prevent breathing. First the fall, second the stones.
Exodus 9:25 was a plague of hail in Egypt which affected unbelieving man and beast: “Now therefore send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die.”’” (v. 19)
This is just after a pestilence upon the beasts of Egypt (but not of the prepared Hebrews) which knocked them off their feet (Re 2:22-23). Likewise, those following the idolatrous teaching in Thyatira, which corresponds to the fourth feast of Shavuot, will be thrown on a sickbed and afflicted with pestilence for eating things offered to idols. Egypt and Babylon. Fallen, fallen. The unprepared “believers” and the rebellious world: fallen, fallen.
This equivalency sounds very familiar from the Revelation of John, which describes those who conform themselves to the image of the beast.
The nations are judged at the blowing of the shofar at Yom Teruah in the fall, whereas Shavuot, the conclusion of Pesach, is the warning to the righteous among all nations to prepare. If prepared by “holiness and washing” (Ex 19:14), they will be prepared to cross the boundary and ascend the mountain at Yom Teruah without fear of stoning or being cast down.
Put that in the context of ascending into the cloud, “going up” as the resurrection, then it makes sense why Israel could not ascend until a specific shofar was heard, the Great Shofar of Yom Teruah that accompanies Yeshua’s return.
It is the plague of the Seventh Angel, corresponding to Shabbat and Sukkot, that stones the nations of the earth. If we read the context of Revelation 16, it references Babylon, recalling the Tower of Bavel when mankind agreed to challenge the boundary of heaven to achieve eternal life. Their attempt to approach the mountain without holiness and washing results in this:
“And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.” (Re 16:21)
Egypt and Babylon were the sources of the idolatry-adultery of Israel and Judah. Egypt handed off the authority of the serpent to the first beast kingdom, Babylon. Israel and Judah will be judged first. The righteous among them will wash themselves and their “clothes” (garment of salvation, robes of righteous deeds) and be prepared to go up to the mountain at Shavuot (not saying they will).
The nations and the lukewarm among Israel and Judah will hear the Great Shofar at Yom Teruah, yet not be prepared to ascend. If they try, they will be “stoned.” What would keep them from ascending, or worse yet, being “stoned”?
Adultery/idolatry, dark arts, blaspheming, and profaning Shabbat are all associated with the punishment of stoning.
Warn, judge, cast down, stone.
Yeshua uses the language of Yom Teruah, when he comes like a thief in the night, to warn the world to be “awake” on Judgment Day. Yom Teruah is the opening of the books, and Yom HaKippurim is the closing ten days later, a period known at the Terrible Days, the Great and Terrible Day of Adonai:
“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.” (Re 16:15)
The preparation for Shavuot at Sinai to receive the Torah included washing one’s clothes. This warning was given through Moses. The Torah.
The clothes must then be “kept,” or guarded, shamar. This guards the person’s body. Likewise, the preparation for Yom Teruah is to stay awake: “Awake you sleeper, arise from the dead…” The warning is to “keep” one’s clothes, which were washed to prepare for Shavuot, all the way to the Great Shofar, the Resurrection of the Dead at Yom Teruah.
Discerning the Body of the Bride on Shabbat is to guard the first of the moedim, to guard one’s clothes. Guarding one’s clothes from Re 16:15 has a Hebrew cognate, shamar, which is also used in the “wedding ring” of Shabbat as shamor et yom ha-shabbat:
“Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.” (Dt 5:12)
??????? ???????? ????????? ??????????? ????????? ??????? ?????? ?????????
It is because of this warning of stoning at Shavuot that Jewish scholars scrupulously read guidelines concerning stoning offenses in the Torah. “He shall be stoned or he shall be cast down” (Ex 19:13 Artscroll) explains how the death sentence is executed.
If a person is observed committing a stonable offense, he should be warned, just as the Israelites were warned to wash and keep themselves and their garments until the Presence was revealed on the mountain.
The beast will try to “ascend” in rebellion, not obedience, with the stonable offense of blasphemy:
There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. (Re 13:5-6)
Adultery/idolatry, dark arts, blasphemy, Sabbath-breaking.
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts. (Re 9:20-21)
The offender is warned first. If he does not repent (stop), then he is judged. When he is found guilty, he is stoned. The very presence of believers who obey the Word of Adonai and proclaim Yeshua’s testimony serves as a warning to the nations. Those “lukewarm” believers who are a little like obedient Israel and a little like the rebellious world will be assigned a place with unbelievers, at least for a time. (Lk 12:46)
They failed to warn the idolators, magic-workers, blasphemers, and Sabbath-breakers. Maybe they’ve even engaged in it themselves like the Thyatirans. What we do, how we walk before others is the testimony of Yeshua that can warn the world and protect them from falling down and from the hailstones of judgment. Why wouldn’t the Master be angry when He returns if His own witnesses have treated His Shabbat casually?
Those sentenced by the court to be stoned are
First pushed down from a high stoning place. The fall may kill them.
Should he survive the fall, he will be stoned with stones.
Yes, as Israel is judged, so will the nations follow quickly:
“The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell…” (Re 16:19)
First they will be warned like Pharaoh with plagues. Then they will fall. Then they will be stoned.
Have you entered the storehouses of the snow,
Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,
Which I have reserved for the time of distress,
For the day of war and battle? (Job 38:22-23)
The message to Laodicea, the Seventh Assembly, is to not think that being “lukewarm” concerning the Shabbat would adequate covering to survive the Presence that is encountered at the resurrection of the dead in the cloud on the Mountain.
It isn’t.
It wasn’t in the wilderness, and it won’t be when we hear the Great Shofar. Yeshua gives the warning:
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.” (Re 3:15-19)
Every Shabbat could be the most important Shabbat of your life. We’ve been warned. Don’t get stoned. Why else would the most important number in Revelation be seven? We’ve seen the Words. We’ll hear the sound. Soon, we will see the sounds.
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah 105 (One Size Fits All)
One Size Fits All
“Tzav”
“One Size Fits All!”
We’ve probably all been duped by that assurance! Sure it fits, as long as you don’t mind sleeves so long you could make it into a straitjacket!
One size definitely doesn’t fit all. Do we trust the ad enough to order it online? Do we hire a personal shopper who knows our taste, our height, our weight, body shape, even arm length?
How about prayer? Does one size fit all?
That’s a common question even though it is not usually worded that way.
Frequently I hear objections to Jewish prayer as vain repetition. It’s an uninformed way of looking at it, but we often simply repeat what someone who we respected told us. As we allow the Ruach HaKodesh to turn our spiritual life upside down repeatedly, that may be one area that turns.
To help coach new-to-Torah believers in the basics of Jewish prayer, I’ve written books such as Standing With Israel: A House of Prayer for All Nations, Messianic Shabbat Service, and Creation Gospel Workbook Six: Hebrew Prayer and Worship Traditions. Rather than cover that ground again, I thought I would reiterate one of the principles of Hebrew prayer.
Although the basic daily, feast, and Shabbat prayers are fixed and do not change, they do not need to. The Temple service was the same. Fixed. As the daily prayers took the place of the Temple services after its destruction, they too, were fixed.
There is room in the Amidah prayers for spontaneous, personal conversation with Adonai. The point of Hebrew prayer is that the person is transformed with each prayer. When I pray the Amidah in the evening, I am not the same person who prayed it that morning. The conversation with Adonai changed me. As immersion into Messiah Yeshua makes me a new person, so does the fire of the Ruach burn me on the altar each day.
This is why it is so difficult to advise someone on which siddur (prayer book) to purchase. It’s kind of like picking out someone else’s clothes, especially if you don’t know them personally. I’d need to know several things:
1. Do you want Hebrew text, English, or both?
2. Do you want an English transliteration?
3. Do you need a daily siddur, Shabbat siddur, or a combination of both?
4. Do you want a Messianic siddur?
5. Large print, or are you good with a font the size of a gnat’s tattoo in the pocket size?
You get the gist.
This week’s Ulpan-Or newsletter on the Torah portion is an excellent illustration of the personal relationship with prayer. The ashes from altar that burn down from the previous day are symbolically placed beside it. Today’s sacrifice will be a new one. Today’s prayers will be new because we are new, re-born of fire and water. With their permission to reproduce, I’ve included Ulpan-Or’s lesson below:
TORAH PORTION “Tzav”
This Shabbat we will read Torah Portion “Tzav”.
In our Torah Portion Tzav, G?d instructs Moses to command Aaron and his sons regarding their duties who offer the offerings on the altar in the Sanctuary.
The fire on the altar had to be kept burning at all times.
It is interesting to notice that each and every morning, the first order of the day in the Holy Temple was for the priest to remove a small portion of the ashes from the altar and place it on the floor just next to the altar.
Why particularly the priest had to start each day with removing ashes from the previous day?
What was the purpose of this ritual?
The purpose of this ritual was not merely to tidy up the ashes left over from the fire that had burned all night. The priest only had to remove a very small symbolic amount of ash.
And, in fact, after the first priest would remove a small portion of the ashes, the other priests would place the remainder of the ashes in a large heap in the center of the altar.
Why is it so important that it’s the first ritual performed in the Temple, – the first step in the service of G?d?
What is the significance of lifting and removing the symbolic amount of ashes?
Let us think. What are ashes?
These are what is left over from the previous day’s service.
Your yesterday, may have been perfect.
Yesterday, you may have achieved a lot with your talents and strengths.
But, …. That was yesterday.
However, if you do the same thing today, you do not grow spiritually.
If you repeat what you did yesterday – then you are merely stuck in the past.
You remain the “Old You”.
So, the ashes that represent “the old me” must be removed, in order to clear the way for “the new me,” that today will actualize today’s greater potential.
That’s why the first step in serving G?d each morning is the realization that that the ashes that represent “the old me” must be removed, in order to clear the way for “the new me,”
One must tell himself – Tomorrow will be totally different – not just “a bit different,” The next day’s potential would be so much greater.
Unlike in the Beatles’ song “Yesterday”, one should not long for yesterday, but rather look onward for a better tomorrow.
Remembering the exodus from Egypt is so central to Judaism.
Egypt in Hebrew is Mitzrayim – ?????, and it means “constraints.”
So, if today you are in the same spiritual space that you were in yesterday, you are in Egypt – you are constrained.
The verse in the Torah insists that you “remember the day you left Egypt all the days of your life.”
Each morning when we wake up, we need to remember to symbolically remove the ashes of yesterday and not limit ourselves to the person we were yesterday.
As Dr. Joe Dispenza says in his book: “Breaking the Habit of being yourself: “If you want a new outcome, you will have to break the habit of being yourself, and reinvent a new self.”
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My Passover Haggadah: An Extended Experience of its Depths, Shadows, and Realities
Each year at the season of Passover, multitudes of millions of Jewish people from all over the...
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Dr Hollisa Alewine – Footsteps of Messiah 104 (Whiplash)
Violence in Eden: Whiplash
Although its connection to Yom HaKippurim (A Day like Purim) is more easily heard, the story of Purim in the scroll of Esther holds references to all the feasts. In fact, Purim holds a key to Passover that is very practical. It has to do with how the danger started: evil words. Chametz. Leaven. When Queen Esther calls the Jews to fast with her against the evil, it is during the days of matzah! The antidote to the violence of evil words is holy words, words spoken in prayer and fasting. By fasting and praying with unleavened tongues, the power of evil was broken.
In our “Benjamin Will Not Bow” newsletter, we searched back to Eden to find the source of slander, gossip, and separating brothers in conflict. Ezekiel describes the Edenic violation as a kind of violence. Indeed, today, when people profess hatred toward others, it often leads to actual violence. It “spreads out” two human beings made in the image of Elohim that were not created to be apart.
Ezekiel 28:12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,“You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared.14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there.You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire.15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.16 By the abundance of your trade (rakal) you were internally filled with violence (malu chamas), and you sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God and I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.17 Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you.
It is rather odd that “trade” led to “violence,” or chamas. Perhaps there is more to the word than is translated. What is “trade” in Hebrew?
Rakhal- “…go about, from one to another”
There is much debate on the identity of the “King of Tyre.”
In this type of prophecy, the “villain” may be an archetype of a certain sinner. The tip-off is that it is anachronistic, completely out of the time period. Just as often it will work on the positive side, such as a later person coming “in the spirit of Elijah,” for instance.
This violent violator walked among ”fiery stones” until he was cast out because of his “trade,” rakhal. The same accusation is made against Babylon in Revelation. The Adversary, the serpent, goes back and forth between Adonai and His People to accuse.
The trafficker has two connotations: go about for spice trading and slandering. A High Priest is to go about with spices for atonement, not leverage to accuse Israel.
On the other hand, false witness was trafficked to convict Yeshua.
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES. (1 Co 5:6-13)
If only Adam and Eve hadn’t associated with an immoral “person,” the slanderer! Why are we so hesitant to confront a slanderer? We’re not supposed to even eat with one…it’s quite a sour fruit even though it looks juicy.
A “reviler” as Paul describes is G3060 ???????? loídoros
The KJV translates Strong’s G3060 in the following manner: railer (1x), reviler (1x).
Its Hebrew cognate is from din, judgment:
madon ??????
?????? H4066 from H1777; a contest or quarrel:—brawling, contention(-ous), discord, strife.
One who quarrels is one who is both arrogant and “leavened,” prone to distort the truth. The serpent in the Garden was a trafficker of falsely twisted information.
Slander is a reviling truth to separate humans from Elohim and one another. It’s probably not the whole story, just enough to deceive. We must remove these things before Passover. It is chametz!
During the search for leaven, and especially the seven days of Matzah, beware of slander, gossip, and lies. If you have to tape your mouth shut and wear noise-canceling headphones, do it!
Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil,
who spreads strife. H4066 (Pr 6:14)
?
A perverse man spreads ?????? strife, H4066
And a slanderer separates intimate friends. (Pr 16:28)
?
Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
So is a contentious H4066 man to kindle strife. (Pr 26:21)
?
An arrogant man stirs up strife, H4066
But he who trusts in the LORD will prosper. (Pr 28:25)
Stirring up strife is evidence we don’t trust Adonai in the situation. It is “tongue-leaven”:
So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? (Ja 3:5-11)
It is so clear from James’ warning that pride is what sets the stage for the evil tongue and all the abominations that follow. Is Passover just about finding leavened products in our homes, or is it about finding the arrogance that leavens us?
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
16 You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD.
17 ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor but shall not incur sin because of him.
18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. (Le 19:15-18)
Are there any other commandments in Scripture that we so predictably apply to other people?
You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people…[Sefer HaChinnuch to Le 19:16]
The Jewish sages explain:
“This means that if we hear a person telling something bad about his fellow, we should not go and tell him, ‘So and so is saying this-and-this about you’ unless it is our intention to remove or avoid injury or to stop a quarrel. Our Sages of blessed memory said of the word rakkil (talebearer, slanderer): rakh, soft (kind), to one, and harsh to another. Another meaning: do not be as a Rokhel (peddler), loading up with words and going to peddle them…evil gossip and its partner, slander…bring death to the one who says it, the one who receives it, and the one about whom it is told-but most of all to the one who receives it…he is as one who violates a royal command…”
This explains the violence done by the serpent. He “peddled” words to Eve. To this day, he “peddles” words back and forth from human beings to the Throne, most regrettably, even back and forth from the people of Adonai to His Throne. He accuses us because we continue to load up his peddler’s cart with our word-poisons against one another.
The same tongues that could make peace instead create distance, killing relationships. Just as Adam and Even were separated from the Presence in the Garden, so we continually hide our faces from one another. One day, the Adversary will have no more words from our lips to peddle, and he will be cast down to earth.
This is our goal in preparing for Passover. Make peace. It will not make itself, for peace must be made. Peace is not a spontaneous miracle, but humility in two parties who build it together. Adonai makes peace in the Heavens; it is our job to make peace on earth.
What is the Torah’s punishment for a slanderer? It requires no whiplashes from the beit din, but instead, Adonai Himself is thought to send agents of judgment with “whiplashes.”
Whiplashes are frequently the punishment for violations of the mishpatim, mostly for violation of a negative commandment. Whiplashes can be both literal by human hands or through Divine judgment:
If there is a dispute between men and they go to court, and the judges decide their case, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, then it shall be if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall then make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of stripes according to his guilt. He may beat him forty times but no more, so that he does not beat him with many more stripes than these and your brother is not degraded in your eyes. (Dt 25:1-3)
In the case above, the dispute has a clear innocent person and guilty person. Righteous and innocent. Even the punishment must not be degrading, a mercy the wicked did not extend to the righteous. Slander, however, incurs Divine whiplashes. Consider this slander committed by the ten evil spies concerning the Land itself. By using the truth about the Land of Israel, they turned the hearts of the people against it!
According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition. (Nu 13:4)
Moses didn’t give anyone a whipping over the slander and the peddling of malicious talk. Yet, just as in Eden, the sentence was death. The slanderers would die off in forty years, a year for a day. These were Divine “whiplashes.” It is as if Adonai knew the degree of malice each man arrogantly kindled with his tongue, and He set the forty-year death time-table accordingly. Some were executed sooner, some later in the journey. In the graphic below, you can see that whiplashes are sometimes seen in Scripture as the words of a malicious tongue, yet also the judgment of Adonai Himself.
Yeshua describes it this way:
And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. (Lk 12:42-48)
When is it okay to be a tattletale? Mordechai demonstrates: When the truth will save a life. By telling of the plot to assassinate the king, he saved his life. Queen Esther does it more boldly: she accuses wicked Haman in his very presence and saves the lives of all the Jews in Persia!
The assassins and wicked Haman both set out to do the same thing with their tongues: kill. Given time, they would have completed the killing task that their tongues began. They arrogantly decided who had a right to live. So it is with slander. We arrogantly decide who has a right to live and begin to flog our enemies with gossip and slander to kill their reputations.
In Vayigash, Judah atoned for Benjamin, not knowing he was innocent of the charge. In Esther, Benjamin (Mordechai and Esther are Benjaminites) atones for Judah. Atonement can be a painful thing because peacemaking carries a risk of personal loss.
So when we see a peddler’s cartful of words rolling our way, we know what to do. Even though the king was an unwitting receiver of the slander against the Jews, he did receive some lashes. The trouble it started resulted in a number of deaths when he granted the Jews the authority to defend themselves against attackers. The king is supposed to protect his people, not set them up for harm. He received the words, and death happened.
How much more will those suffer who know better than to receive the words, yet they purchase the juicy fruit of slanderous lips. Like Yeshua said, it’s violence, beating up fellow-servants. And they thought it cost them nothing. Free fruit juice.
Whiplash is coming when that cart skids to a stop before the King and Judge of all the earth. May we unload any apples of our own in that cart before Passover.
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