The Ten Remembrances

The Ten Remembrances

1. CORONATION: In the Scriptures, the shofar is sounded at the coronation of a king. The blast of the shofar announces the newly crowned King and proclaims his ascent to sovereignty. We see this well illustrated in the coronation contest for David's throne (1 Kings 1:39). Psalm 47:5 and 98:6 also illustrate the shofar blast as a coronation acclamation. Thus the shofar blast of Rosh haShannah might be construed to be a proclamation of coronation, specifically, the coronation of the King of the Universe. According to ancient Jewish tradition, the first day of the seventh month is the yearly anniversary of God's completion of creation. As such, it is also the New Year's Day of the Biblical Calendar. This New Year's Day aspect is reflected in the festival's common Hebrew name: Rosh haShannah. Rosh haShannah, as previously mentioned, means, "Head of the Year." The first day of the seventh month then marks and remembers the anniversary of the completion of creation as well as the day that God became King over that new creation. Therefore, sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the coronation of the King of the Universe, and it symbolizes our acceptance of God as King.

2. REPENTANCE: Rosh haShannah marks the beginning of a ten day countdown to the Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). Because the Yom Kippur is judgment day, the shofar is sounded as a reminder that judgment is very near and the time for repentance is short.

In Temple times, the priesthood sounded three trumpet blasts every morning to announce the opening of the Temple gates (Edersheim, 1992). So too, it is believed, that the first shofar blasts of the Feast of Trumpets announce the opening of the gates of Heaven. This is traditional Rosh haShannah image is fully employed in Revelation 4:1 when the Apostle looks and sees a door standing open in heaven and then hears a voice like a shofar say, "Come up here . . ."

In this tradition, the gates of Heaven are opened to receive our prayers of repentance and remain open until the conclusion of the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement service is concluded with one long shofar blast which announces that the gates of heaven have closed and judgment is complete. Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the need to repent before judgment is made.

3. SINAI: When God descended onto Mount Sinai in Exodus 19, a heavenly shofar sounded loud and long. The sound of the shofar at Sinai was one of the miraculous signs that accompanied the giving of the Torah and the invitation to covenant. Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the day at Mount Sinai when Israel accepted her covenant with God: the Torah.

4. WARNING: In ancient Israel, a watchman blew a shofar to sound an alarm when danger was approaching, much the way civil defense sirens are used in our modern world. When the Israelite heard the sound of the shofar, he knew to take warning of some imminent danger. Ezekiel employs this image by comparing the words of the prophets to the sound of the shofar warning. Ezekiel says, "The listener who heard the voice of the shofar and did not taking warning, and a sword came and took him, his blood will be on his own head." (Ezekiel 33:4, see also Jeremiah 4:19-21). That is to say, "If a person heard the words of the prophet but did not take warning from them, it will be his own fault when the trouble comes." Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the need to take warning from the words of the prophets.

5. TEMPLE: In the Ancient Near East, the shofar was blown as a battle cry during sieges and assaults. When the soldiers heard the shofar, they knew to initiate the attack. The prophets invoke the battle cry of the shofar as they repeatedly warn of the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. For a good example of this at work consider the following passage:

"I have heard the sound of the shofar; I have heard the battle cry. Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the shofar?" (Jeremiah 4:19-21)

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the destruction of the Temple and a reminder to pray for its rebuilding.

6. THE BINDING OF ISAAC: A shofar trumpet is made from the horn of a ram. The most famous ram in the Torah is the ram of Genesis 22 which was sacrificed in Isaac's stead. Perhaps that is one reason that the Torah reading for the second day of the Feast of Trumpets is Genesis 22. The prayers of the Feast of Trumpets are filled with references to this story. The binding of Isaac is a central theme of the festival liturgies. As the congregation prays for forgiveness, they appeal to God for mercy and grace on the merit of the binding of Isaac.

Therefore, we find many prayers like the following one in the Festival of Trumpets prayer book.

"Remember for us, LORD, our God, the covenant, the kindness, and the oath that You swore to our father Abraham on Mount Moriah. Let there appear before You the Binding, when Abraham, our father, bound Isaac, his son, upon the altar . . . so may Your mercy suppress Your anger from upon us . . . and may you mercifully remember today the binding of Isaac for the sake of his offspring. Blessed are You, LORD, Who remembers the covenant." (Scherman, Nosson and Zlotowitz, 1985).

In the Talmud the question is asked, "Why do we sound the shofar on the Feast of Trumpets?" It is answered, "Because God said: 'I will thereby recall in your favor the Binding of Isaac and regard it as though you yourselves were bound before me.'" (Rosh haShannah 16a)

The following midrash further ties the relationship between the Feast of Trumpets and the binding of Isaac.

'After he had bound his son, Abraham then said: "You promised me seed through Isaac, yet when You commanded me to sacrifice him I restrained my most natural emotional instincts, and did not hesitate. So, too, when my descendants sin and thereby become oppressed, may you remember this binding. May it be considered before You as if Isaac's ashes were gathered upon the altar and his blood was sprinkled upon the altar, and may you forgive their sin." God answered him on that day on which God would judge all [that is The Feast of Trumpets], that if future generations wish Him to recall for them the merit of the binding of Isaac and forgive them, they should sound the shofar. "What is the shofar?" asked Abraham. "Turn around and see it," God answered. Thereupon Abraham looked up, and behold a ram!' (Scherman, Nosson and Zlotowitz, 1994).

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the binding of Isaac and a prayer for mercy on the merit of a sacrificed son.

7. FEAR: As stated above, the ancient Israelite watchman blew a shofar to sound an alarm when danger was approaching a city. When the city inhabitants heard the sound of the shofar, they were frightened of what unknown danger might be about to befall them. Amos employs this image of the fear inspired by the shofar blast when he says, "If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble?" (Amos 3:6).

The danger which approaches on Rosh haShannah is God himself as he readies the heavenly court for judgment. In Jewish observance, the intervening days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement are called the "Awesome Days." They are to be days of intense soul searching and repentance and even fear as we prepare to enter the presence of the judge of all creation. Amos reminds us to fear the judgment of God as we would tremble at the sound of the watchman's shofar.

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance to fear God.

8. JUDGMENT: The prophet Zephaniah reminds us that the "day of the shofar" is a day of wrath, darkness, gloom and alarm. Indeed, it is the Day of the LORD (Zephaniah 1:14-16). According to the Feast of Trumpets traditions, the heavenly court is convened on the Feast of Trumpets.

Because the Feast of Trumpets is the Torah New Year's Day (that is the anniversary of the completion of creation) it is also the end of the heavenly fiscal year. As at the end of our calendar year, New Years Day is the day when the ledgers must be settled. On the Feast of Trumpets, the books of judgment are opened and all the deeds of each person are reviewed by the heavenly court for judgment. Ten days later, on Yom Kippur, everyone's name will be written and sealed for final judgment in either the Book of Life or the Book of Death. This imagery is reflected in Revelation 20:12-15 where John sees the ultimate and final Day of Judgment. On the Day of Judgment, Yom Kippur, the righteous are written in the Book of Life. The wicked are written in the Book of Death. The intervening days between Rosh haShannah and Yom Kippur are traditionally regarded as prime-time to sway the heavenly court's decision through serious prayer, repentance and acts of charity.

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on the Feast of Trumpets is a remembrance of Judgment at the hands of heaven.

9. INGATHERING: Perhaps the most famous shofar reference out of all the prophets is Isaiah 27:13. "And it will be on that day when a great shofar will be blown, the perishing in the land of Assyria and the exiles in the land of Egypt will come, and they will worship before the LORD on the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem." This verse is a prophecy of the great Ingathering of all Israel. The Ingathering is to commence with the return of Messiah. It is anticipated and prayed for three times a day in the tenth blessing of the daily prayer.

"Sound the great shofar for our freedom, lift up a banner to gather us together from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are you, LORD, who gathers in the exiled of his people Israel."

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the ultimate Ingathering of Israel.

10. RESURRECTION: The tenth and final reason Rav Saadiah Gaon gives for the blowing of the shofar on the Feast of Trumpets is to remember the resurrection of the dead. The Sages understood the words of Isaiah 18:3 to be a prophecy directed to the dead. "As a banner is lifted on the mountains, you will see, and as a shofar is sounded, you will hear." This was understood to mean that when the final shofar was blown, the dead would rise and see and hear again. The Jewish legends of the coming of Messiah include a great shofar blast which wakes up those sleeping in the dust. An Eighth Century midrash fills in the details of how this might be accomplished:

"And how does the Holy One, blessed be He, resuscitate the dead in the world to come? We are taught that the Holy One, blessed be He, takes in His hand a Great Shofar . . . and blows it, and its sound goes from one end of the world to the other. At the first blow the whole world shakes. At the second blow the dust breaks up. At the third blow their bones gather. At the fourth blow their members become warm. At the fifth blow their skins are stretched over them. At the sixth blow they become alive and stand up on their feet in their clothes . . ." (Patai, 1988).

The Apostle Paul concurs in 1 Corinthians 15:52. In that passage he explicitly states, "The shofar will sound, the dead will be raised."

Therefore, the sound of the shofar on Rosh haShannah is a remembrance of the future resurrection of the dead.

Goodman, Phillip. 1992. Rav Se'adiah Gaon's 10 Remembrances. The Shavuot Anthology. Philadelphia - Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society.
http://www.hebrewperspectives.com/http://www.hebrewperspectives.com/

THE FIRST PENTECOST

THE FIRST PENTECOST

I HAVE ASKED THE QUESTION, “WHEN WAS THE FIRST PENTECOST?” MANY TIMES. THE MAJORITY OF THE TIME THE ANSWER IS IN THE BOOK OF ACTS.

THE FIRST PENTECOST HAPPENED AT MOUNT SINAI IN THE BOOK OF EXODUS.

WE ALWAYS LOOK AT THE SYMBOLISM OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL CROSSING THE RED SEA AS A TYPOLOGY OF BAPTISM. UPON CLOSER EXAMINATION WE FIND THERE IS SO MUCH MORE.

IN EXODUS CHAPTER 19 WE COME TO THE PART OF THE STORY WHERE THEY ARE ABOUT TO HAVE THEIR “SINAI EXPERIENCE”.

FIRST LETS LOOK AT SOME MEANINGFUL SCRIPTURES: LEVITICUS 23:4 “THESE ARE THE FEASTS OF THE LORD, EVEN HOLY CONVOCATIONS, WHICH YE SHALL PROCLAIM IN THEIR SEASONS.”

THE HEBREW WORD SHAVUOT IS PENTECOST. SHEVA IS THE ROOT OF THIS WORD. SHEVA MEANS 7. SHAVUOT MEANS SEVEN 7’S OR 49 DAYS. IT COMMERATES THE GIVING OF THE LAW ON MOUNT SINAI. SHAVUOT IS KNOWN AS PENTECOST BECAUSE IT COMMENCES ON THE 50^TH DAY AFTER THE SEVEN WEEK PERIOD OF COUNTING THE OMER.

A HOLY CONVOCATION IS MIKRAH CHODESH IN HEBREW. IT MEANS ASSEMBLY OR REHEARSAL. WHAT IS A REHEARSAL? LIKE A WEDDING REHEARSAL. THIS FEAST WAS A REHEARSAL FOR THE PENTECOST WE KNOW BEST IN THE BOOK OF ACTS.

IN LEVITICUS 23:4 WE SEE THE WORD SEASONS WHICH IN THE HEBREW IS MOADE’ WHICH MEANS SET TIMES. GOD HAS SETS TIMES PROCLAIMED FOR ASSEMBLY OR REHEARSAL.

CONTINUING WITH SCRIPTURE: LEVITICUS 23:5 TALKS ABOUT PASSOVER BEING ON THE 14^TH DAY OF THE HEBREW MONTH NISAN.

VS. 6 SPEAKS OF OBSERVING THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD FOR 7 DAYS.

VS. 7 SPEAKS OF THE FIRST DAY A SABBATH WHERE THERE IS NO SERVILE WORK.

VS. 8 IT IS MEASURED FROM SABBATH TO SABBATH 7 DAYS.

VS. 10 SPEAKS OF THE REAPING OF HARVEST OR FIRSTFRUITS KNOWN IN THE HEBREW AS BIKKURIM. IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT WHEN THE FIRST OF THE CROP CAME TO HARVEST A RIBBON WAS TIED AROUND THE STEMS TO SHOW IT WAS FIRST, (A SIGN) EVEN IF THE REST OF THE CROP WERE TO PERISH THE FIRST STILL BELONGED TO THE LORD.

VS. 14 IT IS A STATUTE FOREVER TO ALWAYS GIVE GOD THE FIRST.

VS. 15 SPEAKS OF COUNTING 7 SABBATHS BE COMPLETE.

VS. 16 FIFTIETH DAY IS A DAY OF NEW BEGINNING.

THERE IS MENTION ELSEWHERE IN THE BIBLE OF PENTECOST. DEUTERONOMY 16:9-12. SEVEN WEEKS IS THE FEAST OF WEEKS.

VS. 16 SPEAKS OF MALES ATTENDING 3 TIMES IN A YEAR. IT WAS A REQUIREMENT TO BE AT PASSOVER, PENTECOST, AND TABERNACLES.

NUMBERS 28.26 SPEAKS OF IT BEING A HOLY CONVOCATION. A REHEARSAL.

EXODUS 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year's end.

YOU WILL NOTICE THERE ARE DIFFERENT NAMES FOR THE FEASTS.

And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

PENTECOST IS KNOWN BY:

THE FESTIVAL OF SHAVUOT.

THE FESTIVAL OF REAPING.

THE DAY OF BIKKURIM.

YOM KAHAL OR THE DAY OF COMMUNITY.

THE DAY OF ASSEMBLY OR ATZERAT.

ATZERAT MEANS CONCLUSION OR EIGHTH DAY. PENTECOST IS THE COMPLETION OF PASSOVER.

AT THIS POINT I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION THAT GOD DOES EVERYTHING IN CYCLES.  ECCLESIASTES 1:9

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”

THE JEWISH PEOPLE OBSERVE A READING CYCLE WHICH STARTS WITH GENESIS AFTER THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. THERE IS ALSO AN EIGHTH DAY CELEBRATION OR ATZERAT CALLED SHEMINI ATZERAT WHICH MEANS “EIGHTH DAY OF THE ASSEMBLY”.

THAT DAY IS ALSO CALLED SIMCHA TORAH OR REJOCING IN THE TORAH. IT IS A CELEBRATION OF SINGING AND DANCING WITH GOD’S WORD HELD HIGH AND IT IS PASSED AROUND AND KISSED.

DEUTERONOMY 18:15-16 “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;

According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.”

THIS IS A DAY OF INGATHERING WHERE NO SERVILE WORK IS DONE. IT IS A HOLIDAY (HOLY DAY). THIS IS THE DAY THEY ASSEMBLED TO RECEIVE THE LAW AT MOUNT HOREB. MOUNT SINAI HAS TWO PEAKS ONE OF THEM IS NAMED HOREB. WHEN MOSES STRUCK THE ROCK AT HOREB THEY WERE AT THE VERY SPOT WHERE THEY HAD RECEIVED THE LAW.

I WALKED INTO A CHURCH ONE DAY UNANNOUNCED. I BEGAN TO THINK IF I WOULD BE ASKED TO PREACH. THEN I BEGAN TO THINK WHAT WILL I PREACH ON? I THOUGHT SINCE I WAS UNPREPARED I COULD JUST PREACH ACTS 2:38. I HAD GRABBED MY WIFES BIBLE BECAUSE I WANTED A SMALLER BIBLE TO CARRY THAT DAY AND WHEN I OPENED IT THE WHOLE BOOK OF ACTS WAS MISSING. WHAT DO I DO NOW? THAT’S WHEN IT CAME TO ME. I WILL JUST GO TO THE FIRST PENETCOST.

EXODUS CHAPTER 19:1, “In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai.”

THE THIRD MONTH ON THE HEBREW CALENDAR IS SIVAN AND THEY ARRIVED ON THE SIXTH DAY OF IT. THIS IS THE BIBLICAL ROSH CHODESH OR THE HEAD OF THE MONTH.

VS. “For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.

ISRAEL HERE IS PLURAL AND CAMPED IS SINGULAR. (THEY WERE OF ONE ACCORD). THEY WERE UNANIMOUS IN PURPOSE.

VS. 4 “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.” THE SAGES BELIEVE THAT GOD BROUGHT THEM OUT SWIFTLY AND MIRACULOUSLY AND THAT GOD HEALED THEM AND SUPPLIED THEIR EVERY NEED.

VS. 7-8 “And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.

 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.”

HERE WE SEE THEM COMMITING TO GOD, SAYING THEY WILL DO WHAT GOD WANTS THEM TO DO. THEY WERE DOING A 180 DEGREE TURN. LEAVING EVERY ASPECT OF EGYPT (SIN) BEHIND.

VS.10 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,”

THE WORD SANCTIFY HERE IS NOT LIKE WE HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED TO MEAN SEPARATE, ALTHOUGH WE DO SEPARATE FROM THE WORLD. SANTIFY HERE IS THE HEBREW WORD MIKVEH WHICH MEANS BAPTISM.AND WAS ALWAYS BY TEVELAH (IMMERSION).

IT WAS INDEED A GREAT THING WHEN, IN THE WORDS OF MAIMONIDES, A STRONGER SOUGHT SHELTER UNDER THE WINGS OF THE SHEKHINAH, AND THE CHANGE OF CONDITION WHICH HE UNDERWENT WAS REGARDED AS COMPLETE. THE WATERS OF BAPTISM WERE TO HIM IN THE VERY TRUTH, THOUGH IN A FAR DIFFERENT FROM THE CHRISTIAN SENSE, THE BATH OF REGENERATION. TITUS 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

AS HE STEPPED OUT OF THESE WATERS HE WAS CONSIDERED BORN ANEW, IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE RABBIS, AS IF HE WERE A LITTLE CHILD JUST BORN (YEB.22A;48B, AS A CHILD OF ONE DAY (MASS. GER. C. II). BUT THIS NEW BIRTH WAS  NOT A BIRTH FROM ABOVE IN THE SENSE OF MORAL OR SPIRITUAL RENOVATION, BUT ONLY AS IMPLYING A NEW RELATIONSHIP TO GOD, TO ISRAEL, AND TO HIS OWN PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. IT WAS EXPRESSLY ENJOINED THAT ALL THE DIFFICULTIES OF HIS NEW CITIZENSHIP SHOULD FIRST BE SET BEFORE HIM, AND IF, AFTER THAT, HE TOOK UPON HIMSELF THE YOKE OF THE LAW, HE SHOULD BE TOLD HOW ALL THOSE SORROWS AND PERSECUTIONS WERE INTENDED TO CONVEY GREATER BLESSING, AND ALL THOSE COMMANDMENTS TO REDOUND GREATER MERIT. MORE ESPECIALLY WAS HE TO REGARD HIMSELF AS A NEW MAN IN REFERENCE TO HIS PAST. COUNTRY, HOME, HABITS, FRIENDS, AND RELATION WERE ALL CHANGED. THE PAST WITH ALL THAT HAD BELONGED TO IT, WAS PAST, AND HE WAS A NEW MAN, THE OLD, WITH ITS DEFILEMENTS, WAS BURIED IN THE WATERS OF BAPTISM.

On the occasion of [the giving of] the Torah, the [Children of Israel] not only heard the Lord's voice, but actually saw the sound waves as they emerged from the Lord's mouth. They visualized them as a fiery substance. Each commandment that left the Lord's mouth traveled around the entire camp and then came back to every Jew individually. The English translation concludes the Ten Commandments story, "And all the people saw the thunder and lightning." (Exodus 20:18) But the original Hebrew of Exodus 20:18 says something quite different. In the Hebrew, the verse literally reads, "And all the people saw the voices and the torches." Most translations smooth out the Hebrew by translating the word 'voices' as 'thunder,' which agrees with the context of the thunder and lightning at Mount Sinai. But the Hebrew really says, "They saw the voices and the torches." What does it mean, "...the people saw voices"? How does one see a sound? How does one see a voice? What are the torches and from where did they come?

In Deuteronomy, Moses retells the story of hearing God's voice at Sinai. In ten different passages, he reminds Israel that they heard God's voice speak to them "from out of the fire." Repeatedly he says, "You all heard the voice speaking from out of the fire."

One ancient Jewish legend explains that as God's voice spoke, it split into a multitude of sparks going forth. His voice came to them as fire. Therefore, the torches of Exodus 20:18 are explained as the fiery words of God that came to each person individually. Consider the following passage about God's fiery voice from an ancient Jewish legend: Another intriguing piece of Jewish, interpretive folklore explains that Israel not only saw the voice of God, they also heard it in every language. According to that explanation, the Bible says, "All the people saw the voices..." because God's voice spoke in many different voices [languages] at Mount Sinai. It is believed that as God spoke from Mount Sinai, His voice spoke simultaneously in all the languages of the world Ezekiel the prophet foresaw this when God declared through him, "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances." (Ezekiel 36:27) Jeremiah the prophet foresaw this when God declared through him, "Behold, I will make a New Covenant...I will put My Torah within them and on their heart I will write it, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jeremiah 31:33) In Acts chapter two, Peter and the other disciples were gathered to celebrate Shavuot. The Holy Spirit fell upon them in the form of flames of fire, and these torches of fire came to rest on each individual disciple. To the average Jew familiar with Jewish tradition, the miracle would clearly point to the legend of God's fiery voice at Mount Sinai! In addition, after receiving this fiery spirit, the disciples found themselves proclaiming the Gospel in every language. (In Hebrew, the same word is used for 'tongues' and for 'languages'.) The miracle of speaking in all languages is another definite allusion to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

Just Believe

How did people ever get to believing in just believing? Well you can blame the Greeks. Our western culture today is influenced by a Greek mindset. If you have ever seen the movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" you will remember the father saying, "Give me a word and I will tell you the Greek word it comes from."

There is of course truth to this. The Bible was translated to Greek because it was the predominantly influential culture. The Bible is still a Jewish book written by Jewish people and inspired by a Jewish God who was manifest in the flesh. Jesus not only knew the culture, but He lived it better than any other Jew. He fulfilled the law and showed us how it can be done. 

The Hebrew mindset is more concrete whereas the Greek mindset is abstract. The Jews related everything to what they could see, feel, and touch. That is why when it was translated you have many physical aspects describing God, i.e. hand, face, arm...

Just believing came from Greek thinking whereas Hebrew thinking requires belief and action. That is why Peter could command people to be baptized in Jesus name. 

  Mark 16:16 >>

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he thatbelieveth not shall be damned. Photo has a small excerpt of a lesson from Sandy Bruce

Where is the blame?

There is a classic tale of the gentleman who purchased a plane ticket from New York to Los Angeles. The man was quite finicky about traveling, and asked the agent for a window seat. Somehow, he was not placed by the window, rather in the aisle.

During the entire trip, he fidgeted and squirmed. Immediately after the long journey the man went straight to complain.

“I specifically asked for a window seat,” he exclaimed. “Your agent in New York assured me that I would be getting a window seat. Look at this stub. It placed me right in the aisle!”

The customer relations agent in Los Angeles was not fazed. Unfazed she asked the man, “Did you ask the person in the window seat to trade places?”

This time the man was irate. “I was not able to!”

“And why not?”

“There was no one in the seat.”

People often blame the ramifications of their doings on everyone else but themselves.
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky

Marriage in the Hebrew Letters

The letter zayin (ז) is a male letter in marriage. Zayin means, "to provide", a mans job is to provide. The first time the zayin appears in the Torah is the word (זרע) zerah and means seed. The man provides the seed of Creation. The female letter in marriage is the gimmel (ג) which has 3 meanings, camel, to give, and to wean off. Why 3? What do they have in common? What is the greatest kindness you can do for somebody? Is it giving?
The purpose of giving is to give until the person doesn't need you anymore. (Rabbi Kraft). Give to someone in order for them to be independent. So, in the letter gimmel we see that we can give until we reach the point where we can stop giving.
Gimmel is a female letter. The woman gives, and gives, and gives. Man provides the seed and the woman gives to the point where independence is achieved.
To bring the zayin together with the gimmel we need a connection. The letter vav (ו) looks like a hook or a nail. Insert it between the zayin and the gimmel and you get the word for married couple in Hebrew (זוג) zoog.

The Hand of God in man & woman

The Hand of God in man & woman

We Cry Abba

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Romans 8:15

The first word of the Hebrew language is אב (Av, Father). It is first in the alphabetical sense, coming first in any Hebrew dictionary. It is cognate to the Aramaic Abba, which was transliterated (as opposed to translated) in the verse above from Romans.



Meaning of Av (Father)



In general, Av signifies the idea of the founder, author, source or origin of something. No more fitting word could be set as the fountainhead of the aleph-bet. Like the Bible itself, the aleph-bet begins in the beginning, and it bears the title of its Author, God.

Being composed of an Aleph and a Bet, it encodes the ultimate purpose of the Aleph-bet. It was designed to guide us to our Aleph Bet – Av – our heavenly Father. This is the wisdom of the divine. It is the alphabet created by the everlasting God, the Alpha and Omega, the Aleph and Tav, to reveal Himself to us. Glory to God in the highest!



Luke 2:13-15



13And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

Yet there is more. Analyzing the symbolic force of the elements of word Av yields a deeper meaning of the design:

אב (Av, Father) = א (Aleph, Leader/Guide) & ב (Beyt, House)

Until recent times, the obvious implications of this simple analysis would have met little or no opposition. The timeless teaching is that the Father is the Head of the House. It is encoded in the intrinsic structure of the Hebrew language.

The idea of the Father as the Leader of the House applies equally to the natural as to the spiritual. Just as the heavenly Father rules the House of Faith, so the earthly father, made in the image of God, should rule his own house, as it is written, "A bishop then must be ... one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)"



The Meaning of Aleph

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28

The name Aleph relates to a number of Hebrew words, such as ox, tame, teach, guide, chief, ruler, and thousand. Though this set may appear somewhat diverse at first glance, these ideas actually cohere quite compactly. The natural object that gave rise to Aleph's name is the ox, which also gave rise to the modern form of the Latin letter A, which is an inverted hieroglyph of the head of an ox. While certainly the root of Aleph’s name, this is by no means the primary meaning of the root as revealed by Scripture and the Hebrew language, especially in light of aleph, in the sense of ox, occurring but twice in the Old Testament. A much more significant word, which itself gave rise to aleph as the word for ox, is alluph , meaning tame, docile, or trained to bear a yoke. Rabbi Ginsburgh, in his explanation of the Aleph’s inner meaning1, takes up this image and explains that the modern shape of Aleph "pictures the yoke of the ox" symbolizing the "yoke of heaven" that we take upon ourselves when we sincerely submit to the leadership and teaching of God. This familiar similitude reflects the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, cited above.

These words of Christ echo the etymology of the Aleph's name. Domesticating an ox is a special case of the more general concept of teaching, and just as one who cooks is called a cook, so alluph denotes both the act of teaching and the one who teaches. Thus, a teacher, leader, or guide is also called alluph, and this word is used by the Jews to refer to Rabbis who have attained great knowledge of the Torah. God applied it to Himself when he called Israel to return unto Him, asking "Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide (alluph) of my youth?"

The leadership of the father, as head of a family or tribe, is one of the primary uses of alluph in the Bible. In Zechariah, this word is translated thrice as governor. The greatest density of alluph occurs in Genesis where thirty-two "dukes of Edom" are listed, duke being a Middle English word derived from the Latin dux, denoting a leader, ruler, or commander. This root appears in many English words such as induce (to lead on, urge), produce (bring forth for display, exhibit), and seduce (to lead astray). Most modern versions of the Bible translate alluph in these verses as chief, an exception being the NRSV which translates it as clan because the ruler of the clan or tribe was also called the ruler of thousands. This accords with the division of the people established by Moses when he "chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens." Here, as everywhere else in the Old Testament, the word translated as thousands is (elephim), the plural of (eleph, a thousand.)

Jesus refered to Himself as being the aleph and the tav.
In the Hebrew (av) spells father and (ben) spells son. If the two words are combined so that they share the same beit(2nd letter of aleph-bet),you get (eh-vhen) which spells stone. Father and Son come together to become "stone". "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." Romans 9:31-33

Psalm 118:22



The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

The Tunic of God

The Tunic of God
We learned last week that the veil was rent allowing us access to the Tree of Life. The veil with its cherubim woven into it were the angelic depiction of the angels barring access to the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life.
That veil is known as the Tunic of God. Jewish custom during the days of Jesus were that if a father lost a son to death he was required to rend his garment.
Genesis 37:34 >>
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Job 1:20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Matthew 27:51 >>
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
God's Tunic was rent over the loss of the Son.
John 19:24 >>
They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

What Is The Purpose Of Man?

We have learned in previous blogs that Adam is a combination of The Divine and the human being. The aleph meaning God and the "dam" (pronounced dom) means blood.
What is the purpose of an animal? The Hebrew word for animal is behema, you may have heard or used the word behemoth. Bet (ב), hey (ה), mem (מ), hey (ה). What does it mean? It basically means, "in it is what it is". They do exactly what they were made to do. An animal can never be more than what it is.
Lets rearrange Adam a little bit then. What happens when we take the mem (מ) and place it in front of the aleph? We get mem (מ), aleph (א), dalet (ד) which gives us the word maode (pronounced maw- ode) and means more. Mans purpose is to be more than just a creation. We have to refine ourselves and become more.

In the beginning was the Word

The Jewish sages teach that before God created the heaven and the earth (בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ:), He created the Hebrew aleph-bet.
Reading from right to left, we see that it says, "In the beginning (bereshit בְּרֵאשִׁית)....God (Elohim אֱלֹהִים) created (bara בָּרָא) the (et אֵת).
The reason for the bara before the Elohim is because it is translated as, "In the beginning of God's creating.....", but we know it as, "In the beginning God created...".
The point to this is that God created the word first. "In the beginning God created (et אֵת). The aleph (א) and the (ת) the beginning and the end of the aleph-bet and every letter in between.
This gives us even more insight into what John meant by, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

ADAM

Adam consists of three Hebrew letters. The aleph (א), the dalet (ד), and the mem (מ). First of all we see an aleph (א). An aleph numerically the number 1. It is made up of two Hebrew letters, the yud (י) and the vav (ך). There are two yud and a vav. The yud has a numerical value of ten and there are two and one vav with a numerical value of six for a total of 26.
Why 26?
It is the same numerical value of the word
Yud hey vav hey, the name of God. Yud is 10 hey is 5 vav is 6 and hey is 5. 26.
So we know there is only ONE God. (Deut. 6:4), and numerically aleph is one.
Whenever you see an aleph (א) in scripture it has to do with the Divine.
The first word in the Bible that starts with an aleph is Elohim which means God.
An aleph is a silent letter. Now think about that spiritually. It is something you can't get your hands around like the wind.
Writing out the letters of aleph are, (א( (ל) (פ aleph, lamed, pei.
The numerical value of aleph is one.
The numerical value of lamed is 30.
The numerical value of pei is 80.
Add it up and you have 111. One one one.
Everything going back to one.
If you take the three letters of aleph and spell it backwards you get, pei, lamed, aleph (פלא) which is the word wonder.
God is One and He is a Wonder to us.
Now getting back to Adam. We see with the aleph that the Divine is within man.
The second part of man is dam (דמ) which means blood. There is life in the blood.
Blood is the perfect way to describe who we are in a physical sense.
We have to have a blend of spiritual (א) and the physical (דמ), ADAM.