“For They Will Put You out of Their Synagogues” (Jn. 16:2)

Our Messiah Yeshua prophesied saying:

1 These things I have spoken to you, that you not be offended,
2 For they will put you out of their synagogues, And the hour will come, when anyone who kills you, will think that he offers an offering to Eloah.
3 And these things they will do, because they do not know either My Father or Me.
4 These things I have spoken to you, that when their time has come, you might remember
(Yochanan (John) 16:1-4 HRV)

These words of Yeshua were fulfilled around 90 CE when Samuel the Lesser was commissioned to add what came to be called the Birkat haMinim to the Eighteen Benedictions of the Amidah. The Talmud records the event this way:

Our Rabbis taught: Simeon ha-Pakuli arranged the eighteen benedictions in order before Rabban Gamaliel in Jabneh. Said Rabban Gamaliel to the Sages: “Can any one among you frame a benediction relating to the Minim?” Samuel the Lesser arose and composed it.
(b.Berakot 29a)

The fourth century “Church Father” Epiphanius speaks of this addition to the Amidah in his description of the ancient sect of the Nazarenes, saying:

Not only do Jewish people have a hatred of them; they even stand up at dawn, at midday, and toward evening, three times a day when they recite their prayers in the synagogues, and curse and anathemize them. Three times a day they say, “God curse the Nazarenes.” For they harbor an extra grudge against them, if you please, because despite their Jewishness, they proclaim that Yeshua is the Messiah…
(Epiphanius Panarion 29)

The Birkat haMinim as it appears today reads:

And for slanderers let there be no hope, and let all wickedness perish as in a moment; let all thine enemies be speedily cut off, and the dominion of arrogance do you uproot and crush, cast down and humble speedily in our days. Blessed are you, O L-rd, who breakest the enemies and humbles the arrogant.

However an old copy of the Birkat haMinim found at the Cairo Genizah reads:

For the renegades let there be no hope, and may the arrogant kingdom soon be rooted out in our days, and the Nazarenes and the Minim perish as in a moment and be blotted out from the book of life and with the righteous may they not be inscribed. Blessed are you, O L-rd, who humbles the arrogant.

This benediction was in the form of a curse on the Nazarenes, a curse which would have the designed effect of casting Nazarenes out of the Pharisaic/Rabbinic synagogues (Jn. 16:2) since Nazarenes who attended their synagogues would have been expected to recite a curse upon themselves.

From this time forward, whatever overlap their may have been between the Pharisaic/Rabbinic and Nazarene communities was totally severed, thus fulfilling Yeshua’s prophecy that they (Rabbinic Jews) would put the Nazarenes out of their synagogues.

Today we are seeking to put Yeshua back into the context of first century Judaism. Nazarene Judaism is a spiritual renascence, a revival, a return to the pure faith of first century Nazarenes. A return to the Tanak and to the root of the olive tree (Rom. 11).

As the prophet Jeremiah tells us:

Thus says YHWH, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it: And you shall find rest for your souls….”
(Jer. 6:16)

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Does Being “Saved” Make One Part of Israel?

In Genesis 15:6 we read concerning Avraham:

“And he believed in YHWH, and He counted it to him for righteousness.”
(Gen. 15:6)

The official Targum to this verse paraphrases:

“And he believed in the Word (Memra) of YHWH. And He counted it to him for righteousness.”
(Gen. 15:6 Targum Onkelos)

And Targum Psedo-Jonathan has:

“And he believed in YHWH, and had faith in the Word (Memra) of YHWH, and He reckoned it to him for righteousness.”
(Gen. 15:6 Targum Pseudo-Jonathan)

Of course we know that the Torah is the Word of YHWH (Is. 1:10; 2:3) and of course we know that Messiah is the incarnation of the Word (Jn. 1:1-3, 14; Rev. 19:13), a point which the first century Alexandrian Jew Philo of Alexandria also makes when he writes:

“The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live.”
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)

Philo of Alexandria made a very interesting comment about this verse (Gen. 15:6):

“It is best, therefore, to trust in God, and not in uncertain reasoning, or unsure conjectures. “Abraham trusted in the Lord, and it was counted to him for Righteousness” (Gen. 15:6) And Moses governed the people, being testified to that he was faithful with his whole house. But if we distrust our own reason (LOGOS, Word), we shall prepare and build ourselves a city of the mind which will destroy the truth.”
(Philo of Alexandria; Allegorical Interpretation, III, 228)

Although Philo’s native language was Greek and the Septuagint was his Bible, he was clearly aware, directly or indirectly, of the reading of the Targums to this verse, or at least a general tradition that in this verse Avraham’s faith is in the “Word” (Aramaic: Memra; Greek Logos).

Philo is telling us that the “Word” is also “reason” or “logic” (our English word “Logic” is actually derived from the Greek word LOGOS).

Our faith in Torah is rooted in Logic, and one important aspect of the Word is rational thought, logic. Philo is telling is that Avrham’s faith was also rooted in logic, it was faith in the Word… faith in rational thought.

Philo warns us that if we cast rational thought aside, we will find ourselves not having faith in YHWH but instead creating subjective constructs of our own imagination.

Remember, Avrham’s faith was a rational, logical faith. Avraham’s faith was faith in the Word.
Now let us look at Exodus 12:43-49:

And YHWH said unto Moshe and Aharon: ‘This is the ordinance of the Pesach: there shall no alien eat thereof;
but every man’s servant that is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat thereof.
In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone thereof.
All the assembly of Yisra’el shall keep it.
And when a stranger shall sojourn with you, and will keep the Pesach to YHWH, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
One Torah shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourns among you.’
(Ex. 12:43-49 HRV)

Now there are a number of things we can learn from this passage:

1. All the “Assembly” of Israel must eat the Passover.
2. No uncircumcised male can eat the Passover.

From these two facts we may conclude that:

If all the Assembly eat the Passover,
and if no uncircumcised males eat the Passover,
then no uncircumcised males are part of the Assembly.

This is an inescapable categorical proposition drawn from the plain statements in Exodus 12:43-49.

Now from Acts 15 we also know that one does not have to be circumcised to be saved. Thus we can add another fact to our reasoning:

3. Some uncircumcised males are saved.

Now if no uncircumcised males are part of the Assembly, and if some uncircumcised males are saved, Then some saved persons are not part of the Assembly.

Again this is an inescapable categorical proposition draws from the facts plainly laid out in Ex. 12:43-49 and Acts 15.

There are in fact some saved persons who are not part of the Assembly of Israel.

Therefore being “saved” and being part of the “Assembly of Israel” are not the same thing.

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The Long and Short Versions of Daniel

Many are not aware that there are two versions of our Book of Daniel, a long version and a short version. The short version, is the one that appears in most Bibles today.

The long version contains the following additional material:

68 additional verses between Daniel 3:23 and 3:24 (this appears in the Apocrypha as the “Prayer of Azaiyah and the Song of the Three Young Men”).

An additional chapter 13 (this appears in the Apocrypha as the “Book of Susanna”). It appears just prior to chapter 1 in the Greek version of Theodotion.

An additional chapter 14 (this appears in the Apocrypha as the book of “Bel and the Dragon”.

The Long version appears in Catholic and Orthodox Bible Versions.

The question is, which version is most original? Was material taken out of Daniel, thus creating a shorter version? Or was material added to Daniel, creating a longer version?

The Masoretic Text lacks these “additional” sections, but it is not certain that they did not exist in the original Hebrew and Aramaic of Daniel. On the other hand, the long version appears in the Greek Septuagint, Greek Theodotion, Aramaic Peshitta and many other ancient versions.

Among the Dead Sea Scrolls eight fragmentary copies of Daniel were found. None of these contained any of the additional sections, though only one actually excludes the text for certain. 1QDan(b) (1Q72) (one of the later Daniel mss. Found at Qumran 50–68 CE) spans Daniel 3:22-30 and does not contain the additional section. This is the only ms. that bears witness to the text running directly from 3:23 to 3:24. While none of the copies found at Qumran contain the additional chapters 13 or 14, none of them contain them bear witness to chapter 12 either. Yet another fragment (4Q551) is widely believed to bear witness to “Susanna” (Daniel chapter 13). Certainly the Qumran texts prove that the short version of Daniel existed as early as the First Century.

Of great interest is the fact that the long version appears in the Greek version of Theodotion (c. 200 CE). Theodotion sought to create a new translation, which updated the Greek text of the Septuagint to that of a pre-Masoretic Hebrew text. Theodotion not only included the “additional” sections, but with a Greek text which did not agree with the Septuagint. For example in the account of Bel and the Dragon (Dan. 14) in verse 10 the Greek word for “besides” in the Septuagint is choris while Theodotion renders the word ektos pointing to a single underlying Hebrew word. In Bel and the Dragon 1:14 (Daniel 14:14) the king is said in the Greek LXX to “seal (Greek: sphragisamenos) the door and seal it with the king’s signet.” The word “seal” probably points to an underlying Hebrew of chatham which was probably a scribal error for Hebrew catham (“shut”) which makes much more sense here.

The Book of 3rd Maccabees refers to Daniel citing material found only in the long version:

When the three friends in the land of Babylon
of their own will exposed their lives to the fire
rather than serve vain things, thou didst send
a dewy coolness through the fiery furnace,
and bring the fire upon all their adversaries.
(3Maccabees 6:6)

And made the midst of the furnace
as it had been a moist whistling wind,
so that the fire touched them not at all,
neither hurt nor troubled them.
(Song of the Three 1:27 (Dan. 3:50 long version))

If authentic, 3Maccabees was written around 217 BCE. Skeptics date it to the First Century. Thus we know that the long version of Daniel existed by the first century as well. (and by 217 BCE as well).

Some form of the original Hebrew and/or Aramaic may have survived in Jewish circles apart from the Masoretic Text. Forms of the stories of Bel and the Dragon in Aramaic appear in a midrash on Genesis called Midrash Rabba De Rabba, which also contains an entire Aramaic text for the Book of Tobit. Aramaic versions of all the “additions” are preserved in the Chronicles of Yerahmeel a 10th century chronicle by Jerahmeel ben Solomon, thought to have flourished in Italy around 1150 CE. Hebrew versions appear as well in the 10th century history of Yosippon.

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Messiah in the Torah- Ki Tisa

Torah Parsha Ki Tisa Ex. 30:11-34:35
Haftorah: 1Kings 18:1-18:39

This weeks parsha covers many subjects, including that of the half-shekel Temple Tax:

11 And YHWH spoke unto Moshe, saying:
12 When you take the sum of the children of Yisra’el, according to their number, then
shall they give every man, a ransom for his soul unto YHWH, when you number them: that there be no plague among them when you number them.
13 This they shall give, every one that passes among them that are numbered, half a
shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: the shekel is twenty gerahs; half a shekel for an offering to YHWH.
14 Every one that passes among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and
upward, shall give the offering of YHWH.
15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than the half shekel,
when they give the offering of YHWH–to make atonement for your souls.
16 And you shall take the atonement money from the children of Yisra’el, and shall
appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Yisra’el before YHWH, to make atonement for your souls.
(Ex. 30:11-16 HRV)

The half shekel is symbolic of Messiah who makes atonement for our souls. Just as Messiah only redeems the souls of believers, the half-shekel can only be accepted from Jews, as the Mishnah instructs:

A gentile and a Samaritan who paid the shekel– they do not accept it from them…. but vows and freewill offerings they accept from them. This is the governing principle: Anything which is vowed or given as a freewill offering do they accept from them. Anything which is not vowed or given as a freewill offering they do not accept from them. And so is the matter explained by Ezra, since it is said, “You have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our Elohim.” (Ezra 4:3)
(m.Shekalim 1:5)

Just as the half-shekel could only redeem the soul of a Jew (including proselytes), so also the Messiah only redeems the souls of believers.

Once again the redemption of souls by the half-shekel gives us a picture of our Messiah in the Torah.

As many of you know, we were victims of the Texas Snow-pocalypse just a few days ago. The full story of how we survived the Texas Snow-pocalypose is in a blog I wrote here..

We took a big financial hit and are still recovering. We had to (ironically) replace a lot of groceries, our power bill is past due and with rent due today!

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What is “Work” on Shabbat?

What is “Work” on Shabbat?
By
James Scott Trimm

This week’s Torah Parsha (Ki Tisa) gives us an important insight as to what constitutes “work” on shabbat.

We are told in the Torah that no “work” is to be done on the Sabbath, but I am often asked “What constitutes work?”

The word the Torah uses In regards to the prohibitions of Sabbath which is translated into English as “work” is the Hebrew word m’lawkhaw meaning “all and any kind of creative ‘generative’ endeavor, changes to the environment or any object.” (Lev. 23:3; Ex. 34:21; Ex. 16:21-30).

How do we define work?

ELOHIM rested from creative activity on Shabbat (Gen. 2:1-3). In Is. 58:13-14 “work” on the Sabbath seems to mean “doing your will” or “doing your own ways” or “wording words.” Thus resting from “work” on the Shabbat means to rest from creative activities and to rest from inflicting our own will on the universe.

The Torah gives us a very good clue as to how to understand the word “work” in this context.

The word m’lawkhaw (work) appears in Ex. 31:3 referring to the work of the artisans in building the tabernacle. This section of Torah is immediately followed by a reminder to rest from “work” on the Shabbat (Ex. 31:12-17). It seems then that m’lawkhaw in Ex. 31:12-17 must include the meaning of m’lawkhaw in Ex. 31:3. Thus the activities involved in making the Tabernacle are among those not normally permitted on Shabbat.

The Mishnah breaks the types of tasks performed in the building of the Tabernacle and the crafting of its artifacts into thirty nine categories of “work” as follows:

THE PRIMARY LABOURS ARE FORTY LESS ONE, [VIZ.:] SOWING, PLOUGHING, REAPING, BINDING SHEAVES, THRESHING, WINNOWING, SELECTING, GRINDING, SIFTING, KNEADING, BAKING, SHEARING WOOL, BLEACHING, HACKLING, DYEING, SPINNING, STRETCHING THE THREADS, THE MAKING OF TWO MESHES, WEAVING TWO THREADS, DIVIDING TWO THREADS, TYING [KNOTTING] AND UNTYING, SEWING TWO STITCHES, TEARING IN ORDER TO SEW TWO STITCHES, CAPTURING A DEER, SLAUGHTERING, OR FLAYING, OR SALTING IT, CURING ITS HIDE, SCRAPING IT [OF ITS HAIR], CUTTING IT UP, WRITING TWO LETTERS, ERASING IN ORDER TO WRITE TWO LETTERS [OVER THE ERASURE], BUILDING, PULLING DOWN, EXTINGUISHING, KINDLING, STRIKING WITH A HAMMER, [AND] CARRYING OUT FROM ONE DOMAIN TO ANOTHER: THESE ARE THE FORTY PRIMARY LABOURS LESS ONE.
(m.Shabbat 7:2)

Three of these are specifically mentioned elsewhere in Scripture:

1. Preparation and cooking of food.
(Lev. 23:3; Ex. 34:21; Ex. 16:21-30)

2. Kindling a fire.
(Ex. 35:3)

3. Carrying anything out of a “domain”.
(Jer. 17:21-22)

The Talmud examines these thirty nine categories, further breaking them down some of them into more detailed sub-categories (b.Shabbat 73a-75b).

As many of you know, we were victims of the Texas Snow-pocalypse just a few days ago. The full story of how we survived the Texas Snow-pocalypose is in a blog I wrote here..

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Yeshua and the Temple Tax

Yeshua and the Temple Tax
By
James Scott Trimm

This coming week’s Torah Parsha is Ki Tisa, which includes the section of Torah which discusses the Temple Tax.

We read in the Goodnews according to Matthew:

24 And when they had come into K’far Nachum, they that received the drachma came near to Kefa, and said to him, Does your rabbi pay the drachma?
25 And he said, Certainly. And as he came to the house, Yeshua prevented him, saying: How seems it to you, Shim’on? The kings of the earth: of whom do they receive tribute and custom? Of their own children, or of strangers?
26 And he said, Of strangers. Then Yeshua said to him: If so, the children are free.
27 But in order that we may not provoke them, go you to the sea, and cast the baited net, and take the fish that first comes up. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a litra: that take, and give to them for Me and you.
(Matthew 17:24-27 HRV)

This passage deals with the collection of the Temple Tax as prescribed in the Torah:

11 And YHWH spoke unto Moshe, saying:
12 When you take the sum of the children of Yisra’el, according to their number, then shall they give every man, a ransom for his soul unto YHWH, when you number them: that there be no plague among them when you number them.
13 This they shall give, every one that passes among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: the shekel is twenty gerahs; half a shekel for an offering to YHWH.
14 Every one that passes among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering of YHWH.
15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than the half shekel, when they give the offering of YHWH–to make atonement for your souls.
16 And you shall take the atonement money from the children of Yisra’el, and shall appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Yisra’el before YHWH, to make atonement for your souls.
(Ex. 30:11-16 HRV)

The Pharisees and the Essenes had a dispute over the meaning of these verses. The Pharisees understood these verses as prescribing an annual Temple Tax which was collected from everyone of twenty years of age or more, during the month of Adar:

On the first day of Adar they make public announcement concerning [payment of] sheqel dues… On the twenty-fifth [of Adar] they set up money changers’ tables in the provinces. On the twenty-fifth [of Adar] they set them up in the Temple. Once they were set up in the Temple, they began to exact pledges [from those who had not paid the tax in specie]….
(m.Shek. 1:1, 3)

Rashi writes:

When you take: Heb. כִּי תִשָׂא. [This is] an expression of taking, as the Targum [Onkelos] renders. [I.e.,] when you wish to take the sum [total] of their numbers to know how many they are, do not count them by the head, but each one shall give a half-shekel, and you shall count the shekels. [Thereby] you will know their number.

who goes through the counting: Heb. הָעֹבֵר עַל-הַפְקֻדִים. It is customary for those who count to pass the ones who have been counted one following another, and so [too the word יַעִבֹר in] “each one that passes under the rod” (lev. 27:32), and so [the word תַּעִבֹרְנָה in] “flocks will again pass under the hands of one who counts them” (Jer. 33:13).

However the Qumran community had a different Halachah. They taught:

…concerning the Ransom: the money of the valuation
which a man gives as ransom for his life shall be half
a shekel in accordance with the shekel of the sanctuary.
He shall give it only once in his life.
(4Q159 Frag 1; Col. 2; lines 6-7)

The key phrases here are “ransom for his soul unto YHWH” and “to make atonement for your souls”. The word for “soul” in Hebrew is NEFESH meaning “soul, life or self”. The Essenes taught that once a man ransomed his NEFESH (life), his entire life was ransomed.

When Kefa (who had come from an Essne background) was asked “Does your rabbi pay the drachma?”? He was being asked about this particular halachic issue. Kefa responds “yes” but Yeshua later instructs him saying that neither himself, nor Kefa nor apparently any of his followers owe the Temple tax because they are all “children of the King” already having redeemed their NEFESH.

Now if Yeshua held to this Essene Halachah then He would not believe that he or his followers owed the tax, if they had already paid it at least once in their lifetime. This would explain why Kefa said that Yeshua pays the tax, while Yeshua claims that he and his followers don’t owe the tax.

Yeshua then says:

But in order that we may not provoke them, go you to the sea, and cast the baited net, and take the fish that first comes up. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a litra: that take, and give to them for Me and you.
(Matt. 17:27 HRV)

This is very similar to a narrative found in the Talmud:

Joseph-who-honours-the-Sabbaths had in his victory a certain gentile who owned much property. Soothsayers told him, ‘Joseph-who-honours-the-Sabbaths will consume all your property. [So] he went, sold all his property, and bought a precious stone with the proceeds, which he set in his turban. As he was crossing a bridge the wind blew it off and cast it into the water, [and] a fish swallowed it. [Subsequently] it [the fish] was hauled up and brought [to market] on the Sabbath eve towards sunset. ‘Who will buy now?’ cried they. ‘Go and take them to Joseph-who-honours-the-Sabbaths,’ they were told, ‘as he is accustomed to buy.’ So they took it to him. He bought it, opened it, found the jewel therein, and sold it for thirteen roomfuls of gold denarii. A certain old man met him [and] said, ‘He who lends to the Sabbath, the Sabbath repays him.’
(b.Shabbat 119a)

It would appear that the fish had swallowed a litra which Kefa then found inside. Yeshua foreknew that YHWH had provided the Temple Tax for them in this manner.

So we learn two lessons from this account. We learn that the Temple Tax is due only once in a person’s lifetime, and we also learn that it is permissible to keep a stricter halacha in order to maintain unity with the larger Jewish community.

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The Full Armor of Elohim

The Full Armor of Elohim
By
James Scott Trimm

In the Hebrew text of 1^stMaccabees there are six additional verses embedded in the midst of 1Maccabees 7:33 (more correctly additional material which naturally breaks down into six verses) including three verses which parallel 2Maccabees 15:1-3. Especially interesting is the 6th of these verses which speaks of the full armor in referring to the Jews in Nicanor occupied Jerusalem, says:

And they put on the full armor,
and not chain mail and lances
but rather prayers and supplications.
(1Macc. 7:33a6 HRV)

We live in a Hellenistic (Greek based) culture. This culture has unfortunately colored our understandings of the Scriptures, often in ways we do not realize. The Hellenistic Roman culture has had a major impact on our own. The commentaries on the Scriptures that we read are all to often unduly influenced by Hellenistic, Roman cultural views. Many books even portray Paul as a Hellenist (he was, in fact an anti-Hellenist). Such is the case with the commentaries on the “Full armor of Elohim” (Eph. 6). Open up many of the main line commentaries and they will tell you how Paul wrote Ephesians in prison and was enormously impressed with the armor of the Roman soldiers. The commentaries will then discuss each element of the armor in terms of Roman armor and seek to draw allegorical implications from the nuances of Roman armor. There is just one problem with this. Paul is not talking about Roman armor at all, he is talking about ancient Hebrew armor! In fact, Paul does not even come up with the idea of the full armor of Elohim on his own, he draws it from the Apocryphal books of Wisdom of Solomon and 4th Maccabees, and to a lesser extent the canonical Book of Isaiah.

Paul mentions the full armor in three places.

The Armor of Light

In Romans 13:12 he calls it “the armor of light”:

12 Henceforth, the night is passed and the day is near.
Thus, let us lay aside from us the works of darkness
and let us put on the armor of light.
13 And let us walk in a manner as in the day,
not in reveling nor in drunkenness
nor in a defiled bed nor in envy and in strife.
(Rom. 13:12-13 HRV)

In 1Thes. 5:5-9 he again associates the armor with “light” and with our status as “sons of light”:

5 For you are all sons of light and sons of the day.
And you are not
sons of the night or sons of darkness.
6 Therefore, let us not sleep as others, but let us
be watchful and wise,
7 For those who are asleep sleep in the night,
and those who are drunk are drunk in the night.
8 But we who are sons of the day [should]
be watchful in our mind and
be clothed with the breastplate of faith and of love
and put on the helmet of the hope of life,
(1Thes. 5:5-9)

Throughout the New Testament there are extended metaphors revolving around light and darkness. Believers are called “sons of light” (Lk. 16:8; Jn. 12:36; Eph. 5:8; 1Thes. 5:5 see comments to Jn. 12:36). The full armor of Elohim is also called the “armor of light” (Rom. 13:12). The New Testament speaks of those “who walk in darkness” (Jn. 8:12;
12:35; 1Jn. 1:6; 2:11).

But what does this idiomatic use of the terms light and darkness mean? For the answer let us turn to the Tanak:

For the commandment is a lamp;
and the Torah is light…
(Prov. 6:23)

Your word is a lamp to my feet,
and a light to my path.
(Psalm 119:105)

To the Torah and to the testimony;
if they speak not according to this word,
it is because there is no light in them.
(Isaiah 8:20)

…for a Torah shall proceed from me,
and I will make my judgment to rest
for a light of the people.
(Isaiah 51:4)

So according to the Tanak the Torah is a light for our paths. Those that walk in the Torah walk in the light. This is why the New Testament speaks of those who walk in darkness (Jn. 8:12; 12:35; 1Jn. 1:6; 2:11). These are those who do not walk by the light of Torah. Of these John writes:

And if we say that we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness,
we are liars and we do not walk in truth.
(1Jn. 1:6)

Notice that John equates “walking in truth” with walking in the light. According to the Tanak, “the Torah is truth” (Ps. 119:142) thus if “walking in the light” means “walking in truth” then both phrases refer to walking in the Torah.

When we, as sons of light, put on the “armor of light”, we are putting on Torah as a garment!

All the Armor of Elohim

Paul’s most detailed treatment of the Armor is in Ephesians Chapter 6:

10 Henceforth, my brothers, be strong in our Adon and
in the might of his power,
11 and put on all the armor of Eloah, so that you may be able to
stand against the strategies of ‘Akel Kartza,
12 because your struggle is not with flesh and blood, but with
principalities and with authorities and with the possessors
of this dark world and with the evil spirits that are under
heaven.
13 Because of this, put on all the armor of Eloah that you
may be able to meet the evil one, and being prepared in
everything, you may stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, and gird up your loins with truth and put
on the breastplate of righteousness
15 And bind on your feet the preparation of the good news
of shalom.
16 And with these, take to you the shield of faith, by which
you will have power to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And put on the helmet of salvation and take hold of the
sword of the spirit, which is the word of Eloah.
18 And with all prayers, and with all petitions, pray at all times
in the spirit, and in prayer, be watchful in every season while
praying continually and making supplication on behalf of all
the set-apart-ones,
(Eph. 6:10-18 HRV)

Paul is clearly drawing from Wisdom of Solomon:

15: But the righteous live for evermore;
their reward also is with YHWH,
and the care of them is with the Most High.
16: Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom,
and a beautiful crown from the hand of YHWH:
for with his right hand shall he cover them,
and with his arm shall he protect them.
17: He shall take to him in his zeal all the armor,
and shall armor with him all his creation.
For the desolation of the detestable ones.
18: He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and judgment that is not false instead of an helmet.
19: He shall take holiness for an invincible shield.
20: His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword,
and the world shall fight with him against the foolish.
(Wisdom of Solomon 5:15-20 HRV)

Here Solomon not only discusses “all the armor [of Elohim]” but implies that YHWH shall arm us with his armor. It is this suggestion that prompts Paul’s concept of believers wearing “all the armor of Elohim”.

We as believers wear the armor of Elohim because we have a covenant with YHWH and one of the ancient Hebrew customs associated with entering a covenant with someone involved exchanging garments and swords with them (as in 1Sam. 18:4). We therefore are given the armor of Elohim to wear ourselves.

The concept of believer’s wearing this armor is also found in 4Maccabees 13:16:

Therefore put on the full armor of authority over the passions,
which belongs to the mind that fears Eloah.
(4Macc. 13:16 from the Aramaic)

The Torah defines the “fear of YHWH” as being Torah Observant:

“…that he may learn to fear YHWH his Elohim,
to keep all the words of this Torah and these statutes,
to do them.”
(Deut. 17:19 HRV)

“…that they may learn, and fear YHWH your Elohim,
and observe to do all the words of this Torah.”
(Deut. 31:12 HRV)

You may have heard the Channukah story of the martyrdom of Hanna and her seven sons, who refused to forsake YHWH and embrace Hellenism 4Maccabees tells us that she overcame seeing her seven sons tortured and killed before being tortured and killed herself (2Macc. 7; 4Macc 8-13), because she was wearing the armor.

The Four Strategies of HaSatan

In the Aramaic of Ephesians 6:11 there is a wordplay in the original Aramaic between the words TZEN’TA (“strategies”) and ZAYNA (“armor”). There is in the armor of Elohim a built in contrast between the four strategies of HaSatan illustrated in the Tanak, and the four fixed items of armor in the armor of Elohim.

The Helmet of Salvation
(Is. 59:17; Wisdom 5:18)

Isaiah mentions the “helmet of salvation” (Is. 59:17) while Wisdom mentions the “helmet of judgment that is not false” (Wisdom 5:18). They are the same because in Hebrew “salvation” and “deliverance” are the same word (“Yeshua”) and YHWH’s deliverance on the last day is based on his judgment that is not false.

The ancient Hebrew warrior’s head and ears were protected by his helmet. The helmet of salvation protects us from HaSatan’s strategy of “accusation”. This is the strategy we see illustrated in the Tanak in Zecheriah 3:1-5 where HaSatan is accusing Yahushua the High Priest.

In Revelation 12:10 we read:

“…the accuser of our brothers… who accused them
day and night before our Eloah.”
(Rev. 12:10)

The strategy of accusation includes both “slander” and “lashon hara”. “Lashon HaRa” (the evil tongue) is the sin of harming another person with words, even when they are true. Those who would never harm a person with a stick, but would not hesitate to harm them with words.

The Torah tells us:

You shall not go up and down as a talebearer
among your people; neither shall you stand idly
by the blood of your neighbor: I am YHWH.
(Lev. 19:16)

When HaSatan comes before the throne of Elohim with accusation, there can be little doubt that the accusations are true (why would he even try to lie to the All-Knowing One). The Torah requires two witnesses for a case to brought. Thus HaSatan is always on the look out for a collaborating witness. When we engage in Lashon HaRa we place ourselves in the position of becoming HaSatan’s collaborating witness.

One of the terms used as a title for HaSatan in the Aramaic “New Testament” is “‘Akel Kartza”.

‘Akel Kartza is a compound term.

‘AKEL means “to devour” or “to consume”.

KARTZA means “hunch of bread; carping; pulling to pieces; accusation; disparagement, biting words, biting, current destruction.”

The ‘Akel Kartza uses biting words and accusation to consume and devour and to destroy. He is a slanderous backbiter.

The ‘Akel Kartza and his minions use lies, slander, Lashon HaRa and accusation to attack believers and nibble away and disparage the Body of Messiah.

The ‘Akel Kartza is ever in our midst seeking to destroy and always seeking a willing ear for his slanderous biting words.

Kefa tells us that in the first century “untaught and unstable” persons were “twisting” Paul’s words to make it appear he was teaching things he did not teach (2Kefa 3:15-16). Paul also tells us that he was “slanderously reported” as saying and teaching things that he had not said or taught (Rom. 3:8). When Paul arrived in Jerusalem in Acts 21 he was immediately approached regarding these slanderous reports of his teaching (Acts 21:20-21).

This was HaSatan’s tactic in the first century and it is still his tactic today. He is still using the same playbook.

Today ‘Akel Kartza has unstable minions twisting words and giving slanderous reports to attack many teachers in the Messianic/Nazarene movement. The levels of slanderous reports from unlearned and unstable persons seems to be reaching an all time high.

We should not be surprised by this. The Scripture warns us that in the last days HaSatan will wage a special war against the “remnant” a group who “keep the commandments of Eloah and have the testimony of Yeshua” (Rev. 12:17).

Those who advocate Yeshua as Messiah and Torah Observance are therefore special targets of Akel Kartza and “slanderous reports” from “unstable” persons.

As believers we must be careful not to entertain the ‘Akel Kartza by entertaining Lashon HaRa (evil speech).

Happy are they which are persecuted
for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Happy are you when men shall revile you,
and persecute you, and shall say all evil against you
falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be glad,
for great is your reward in heaven,
for persecuted they the prophets .
-Matt. 5:10-12 HRV

The Breastplate of Righteousness
(Is. 59:17; Wisdom 5:18)

The “Breastplate of righteousness” is mentioned in Is. 59:17 and Wisdom 5:19. The Hebrew word for “breastplate” is SHIRYON (Strong’s 8302). This word more accurately refers to “chain mail”. Ancient Hebrew chain mail was made of tiny interlinked chains of brass. Since brass chains can easily become corroded and brittle. It was important that an ancient Hebrew warrior keep his chain mail clean, polished and shiny, otherwise it would develop weak spots and be susceptible to enemy attacks. This is just like our righteousness, we must keep our righteousness polished and shiny, otherwise it becomes weak and subject to attack by the enemy.

The Torah says:

And it will be righteousness for us
if we are careful to observe all
this commandment before YHWH our Elohim,
just as He commanded us.
(Deut. 6:25)

…if he walks in My statutes and My ordinances
so as to deal faithfully– he is righteous…
(Ezek. 18:9)

…it is those who obey the Torah who will be
declared righteous.
(Rom. 2:13– WOW! You mean Paul said THAT?!?!)

Wearing the breastplate of righteousness means to be careful to observe all the commandments before YHWH our Elohim. We must keep our chain mail of Torah righteousness clean, polished and shiny so as not to give the enemy a weak point to attack.

Our chain mail of Torah righteousness defends us against HaSatan’s attack of temptation. “Temptation” is the strategy of HaSatan illustrated in the Tanak in 1Chron. 21:1. In this passage of the Tanak, David is tempted to take a census of Israel. Paul tells us:

Because of this also, I could not endure
until I had sent to know your faith,
lest the tempter had tempted you
and our labor had been in vain.
(1Thes. 3:5)

If we are careful to observe Torah, we will be protected from the temptation of HaSatan.

The Belt of Truth
(Is. 11:5)

The belt of truth is taken from Isaiah 11:5. Ancient Hebrews wore loose fitting tunic like garments with skirt like bottoms. Belts were used to hold the loose fitting garment together. Hebrew warriors would gird up the skirt of their garment and tuck it under the belt to free up their legs for battle, preventing them from getting tripped up in their loose fitting garment. In the same way truth keeps us from getting tripped up by error.

our righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
and your Torah is truth.
(Psalm 119:142)

You are near, O YHWH,
and all your commandments are truth.
(Psalm 119:151)

This definition explains many phrases in the New Testament:

“Obey the truth” (Gal. 3:1)

“But he that does truth…” (Jn. 3:20)

And I rejoice that I found your children walking in the truth,
as we have received a commandment from the Father.
(2Jn. 1:4)

The Tanak definition of truth gives whole new meaning to Yeshua’s words:

For this I have been born, and for this I have
come into the world, to bear witness of the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.
(John 18:37-38)

Yeshua came to bear witness of the Torah, those who hear the Torah hear his voice. This leads us to another important saying from Yeshua:

Then Yeshua said to those Jews who believed on him,
you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free.
(John 8:31-32)

Paul, however, speaks of those “who changed the truth of Elohim into a lie” (Rom. 1:25) Now if Messiah came to bear witness of the truth then what has HaSatan to bear witness to?

The scriptures tell us:

He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not the truth in him. When he speaks a lie,
he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
(John 8:44)

…HaSatan, who deceives the whole world…
(Rev. 12:9)

When HaSatan speaks a lie, he is merely speaking his native language.

The Torah is truth and keeps us from being tripped up by Torahlessness (lawlessness). The Torah is a guide that keeps us free from error. The belt of Torah truth protects us from HaSatan’s strategy of deception. This strategy of deception is illustrated in the Tanak in Gen. 3:1-6 in which the serpent deceived Hava (Eve) Rev. 12:9 tells us HaSatan deceives the whole world. Yeshua said that HaSatan is the father of lies (Jn. 8:44). The belt of Torah Truth is our protection against HaSatan’s deception.

The Shoes of the Goodnews of Shalom
(Is. 52:7)

Isaiah never actually mentions “shoes” but he does have this to say about the feet of Messiah:

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace;
that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation;
that said unto Zion, Your Elohim reigns!
(Is. 52:7)

For an ancient Hebrew warrior shoes were important. Although not actually part of the armor, shoes protected a warrior’s feet from the oppression of sharp jagged rocks. Such sharp rocks could easily distract a warrior from the actual battle he was carrying on with the enemy.

The shoes protect us from HaSatan’s strategy of oppression. The strategy of oppression is illustrated in the Tanak in the book of Job in which HaSatan is allowed to oppress Job. In Acts 10:38 we read that Yeshua “healed those who were oppressed by evil”. The Apocryphal book of 4th Maccabees deals with martyrs who were oppressed under Antiochus Epiphanies. 4th Maccabees is a handbook on using the armor, especially in dealing with oppression. 4th Maccabees opens saying:

The word of philosophy that I am about to discuss before you:
If the true mind of shalom (peace) is sovereign to the fear
of Elohim. I am an upright advisor to you, that you should
pay earnest attention in philosophy.
(4Macc. 1:1 – from the Aramaic)

4th Maccabees then discusses the martyrdom of Eleazer saying:

No city besieged ever held out against
mighty vassals coming against its walls
and its various parts like this. He was
dressed in all the armor. For while his
soul was suffering, consumed by torture,
and by tribulation, and by burning, he
conquered the tribulation because of his
mind was fighting with the shield of truth.
(4Macc. 7:4 – From the Aramaic)

Finally 4th Maccabees discusses the martyrdom of Hanna and her seven sons saying:

Therefore put on the full armor of authority over the passions,
which belongs to the mind that fears Eloah.
(4Macc. 13:16 – From the Aramaic)

The Goodnews (“The Gospel”) is the “word of truth” (Col. 1:5) which is to be obeyed (2Thes. 1:8).The Gospel is the message Yeshua taught (Mt. 4:23) in fact it is a message he taught in the Temple ( Lk. 20:1).According to Mt. 4:12-17 this message was the “light” of Is. 8:23-9:1(9:1-2) and if we look at Is. 8:20, we see that this “light” is the Torah. Also according to Matthew 12:17-21, this message is the Torah as quoted in Is. 42:1-4.(Note that the Greek text of Mt. 12:21 ends the quote from Is. 42:4 before the phrase about Torah, however DuTillet Hebrew Matthew contains the whole quote. If we diligently search the Tanak we will find that the Torah is his “Word” (Is. 2:3; Deut. 17:19; 27:1-3; 27:26; 31:12; 32:45-46; 2Kn. 23:24; Neh. 8:9) and the Torah is truth (Ps. 119:142, 151). Obviously then the “word of truth” which must be obeyed is the Torah.

It is with the Goodnews (Torah) of Shalom (peace) that we are able to overcome the oppression of HaSatan. Through the Torah we can have the true mind of shalom and overcome oppression.

The Shield of Faith
(Wisdom 5:19; 4Macc. 7:4)

The shield of faith the first of the two mobile items of armor. As such it can be used to defend against attack. In Wisdom of Solomon 5:19 it is called the “shield of holiness”. “Holiness” is set-apart-ness and our set apartness comes from our faith. The Psalmist writes:

Remove the false way from me,
and graciously grant me your Torah.
I have chosen the way of faith;
I have placed your ordinance before me.
(Ps. 119:29-30)

The Torah therefore is the way of faith. The Torah is a shield which can protect us from any of the four strategies of HaSatan. In 2nd and 4th Maccabees we read the story of the martyr Eleazar (2Macc. 6:1-29; 4Macc. 7) Eleazer was a prominent Jew under the Helene rule. A day came when all of the Jews were to show their loyalty by eating meat
offered to idols at a public feast. Eleazar was not willing to do so, but because of his prominence, the authorities offered to allow him to sneak kosher meat into the feast and eat it instead, thus only appearing to eat meat offered up to idols. Eleazer refused, knowing that this would appear to endorse idolatry, despite the fact that the meat would be kosher. As a result Eleazar was tortured and executed. (This was the basis for Paul’s argument in 1Cor. 10:28). 4Maccabees tells us that Eleazer was able to stand fast his ground and not give into the torture or the threat of death because he had the armor and
the shield:

No city besieged ever held out against
mighty vassals coming against its walls
and its various parts like this. He was
dressed in all the armor. For while his
soul was suffering, consumed by torture,
and by tribulation, and by burning, he
conquered the tribulation because of his
mind was fighting with the shield of truth.
(4Macc. 7:4 – From the Aramaic)

The Sword of the Spirit Which is the Word
(Wisdom 5:19-20; 18:16)

The Wisdom of Solomon says:

“His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword,…”
(Wisdom 5:20)

Your all powerful Word leaped from heaven,
from the royal throne,
into the midst of the land that was doomed,
a stern warrior carrying the sharp sword
of your authentic command…
(Wisdom 18:15-16)

Paul writes in Hebrews:

For the living and strong Word of Elohim
is sharper than a two-edged sword and
penetrating until it separates the n’shoma
(upper-soul) and the ruach (spirit) also dividing
the limbs and piercing the bones which are
in them discerning the thoughts and
understanding of the heart.”
(Heb. 4:12 – HRV)

What does the Tanak say that the “Word of God” is?

Hear the word of YHWH… give ear to the Torah
of our Elohim,…
(Isaiah 1:10)

…For the Torah will go out from Zion;
and the Word of YHWH from Jerusalem.
(Isaiah 2:3)

Note that just as “Zion” and “Jerusalem” are synonyms in this poetic parallelism, so are “Torah” and the “Word of YHWH”. If we diligently search the Tanak we will find that the Torah is his “Word” (Is. 1:10; 2:3; Deut. 17:19; 27:1-3; 27:26; 31:12; 32:45-46; 2Kn. 23:24; Neh. 8:9)

The Sword of the Word is our only offensive weapon in our fight against HaSatan is the Torah. The Talmud says:

Whoever reads the Shema upon his bed is as though he holds
a two edged sword in his hand (to ward off evil spirits); as it
is said “Let the high praises of Elohim be in their mouth,
and a two edged sword in their hand” (Ps. 149:6)
(b.Ber. 5a)

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Submissive Wives and Women Teachers

Submissive Wives and Women Teachers
By
James Scott Trimm

And YHWH Elohim said: “It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make him a helper for him.”
(Gen. 2:18)

For many years now the traditional family structure has been under attack. Many women in the world today are seemingly determined to balance out the supposed deficiencies of husbands that they view as “spineless”. This Feminist way of the world has certainly spilled over into the Body of Messiah. The Torah is clear, the wife is to be a helper for her husband (Gen. 2:18) and he is to rule over her (Gen. 3:16). Paul speaks of this Torah based arrangement when he writes:

Wives be subject to your husbands as to our Adon,
Because the husband is the head of the wife,
Even as the Messiah is head of the Assembly;
and he is the life-giver of the body.
But even as the Assembly is subject to the Messiah,
So also wives [should be subject] to their husbands in everything.
(Eph. 5:22-27)

Wives be subject to your husbands,
according to that which is right in the Messiah.
(Col. 3:18)

And also the elder women… should be… causing those who are younger [women] … so that they be subject to their husbands…”
(Titus 2:3-5)

But I want you to know that the head of every man is the Messiah,
And the head of the woman is the man,
And the head of Messiah is Eloah….
A man… is the likeness and glory of Eloah;
But the woman is the glory of man,
For the man is not from the woman
But the woman from the man;
And neither was the man made for the woman
But the woman for the man.
(1Cor. 11:3, 7-9)

Kefa also alludes to this Torah based arrangement when he writes:

Likewise also, wives, be subject to your husbands…
For thus also, set-apart women from before,
those who trusted in Eloah, adorned themselves
and were subject to their husbands,
As Sarah was subject to Avraham and called him,
My master (see Gen. 18:12)…
(1Kefa 3:1-6)

The fact that YHWH has chosen husbands rather than wives to lead households does not infer that women are in any sense inferior to man in brain-power. This is simply a matter of recognizing YHWH’s order. Any other order is disorder and “Eloah is not the author of confusion”(1Cor. 14:33) Just as a craft can only have one pilot, a house can only have one leader.

Now there are two passages which have been misunderstood in the KJV to say that women should keep silent in the assembly and should never teach men. In fact these passages actually says that wives should learn from their husbands and not be so “presumptuous” as to try to “teach” or “instruct” their husbands. Paul writes:

Let a wife learn in quietness with all submission,
For I do not allow a wife to teach
nor to be presumptuous over the husband,
but she should be in shalom.
For Adam, was formed first (see Gen. 2:7) and then Havah (Gen. 2:22)
And Adam did not err, but the women erred
and transgressed against the commandment; (see Sira 25:24)
(1Tim. 2:11-14)

Since the wife is to be subject to her husband, and he is to rule over her, it would be proper for her to accept instruction from her husband, and presumptuous for her to attempt to instruct him. The woman’s intended role was to be a helper (Gen. 2:18) and after her transgression she was told that her husband would rule over her (Gen. 3:16).

Why does Scripture require the woman to submit to her husband and recognize his headship?

Man was created first (1Tim. 2:13; Gen. 2:7, 22) and woman was originally created as a HELPER for man (Gen. 2:20f) and not man for the woman (1Cor. 11:7-9)
Woman, not man, erred in the Garden of Eden (1Tim. 2:14; Sira 25:24) thus woman was commanded that her husband would rule over her (Gen. 3:16).
The Hebrew word for husband “Ba’al” means “Husband” or “Master”

Yeshua Ben Sira writes:

24 Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die.
25 For just as you do not let the water go and abound, thus do not
let the wicked wife go and sin.
26 And if she will not follow your direction, cut her off from your
flesh, and divorce her from your house.
(Ben Sira 25:24-26)

The woman who does not recognize the headship of her husband, does not subject herself to him, but seeks to instruct him rather than to be instructed by him, is guilty of a form of Z’NOT (commonly translated “fornication” but also simply “going astray”). YHWH’s definition of marriage is an institution in which the husband is head over the wife and the wife subjects herself to him as a helper. In fact the Hebrew word for “husband” (Ba’al) means “husband” or “master”. If a wife refuses to subject herself to the headship of her husband, no true “marriage” exists and the husband is free to give her a bill of divorcement.

Another passage that is commonly misunderstood on this matter is as follows:

Let your wives be silent in the assembly,
for they are not allowed to speak,
but are to be subject as even the Torah says. (Gen. 3:16)
And if they want to learn a thing,
let them ask their husbands at home.
For it is a shame that wives should speak in the assembly.
(1Cor. 14:34-35)

Again the KJV misunderstands the word here as “women” but the word is properly understood as “wives”. Notice that Paul states that his halacha on this matter is based on the idea that wives are to be subject “as even the Torah says”. The context here is that a synagogue had a dividing wall (m’chitzah) separating the men from the women. In order for a wife to ask her husband a question, she would have to stand up and speak over the m’chitzah (dividing wall) thus disrupting the meeting.

In fact in the Scriptures women served in the offices of Judge/Elderess (Judges 4:4-5; Titus 2:3) evangelist (Jn. 4:28-29, 39) shamish (Romans 16:1) prophetess (Acts 14:21; 21:9) and even emissary (Rom. 16:7). So while wives are to be subject to their husbands, women are certainly permitted to speak in the assembly and to serve in the above offices.

How we Survived the Texas Snow-pocalypse

Shalom Chaverim,

Last week was certainly an adventure, and it had me so busy that I am just now having an opportunity to tell you all about it. There are certainly lessons to be learned regarding preparedness.

Week before last we were all very excited. We were expecting snow! For those of you up north, that is just an annoyance, but this part of Texas (Dallas / Fort Worth) had not seen snow (or any measurable frozen precipitation) in over four years! My wife and I did not even know what our current neighborhood looked like with a blanket of snow. Many children in the area had not seen snow in person, or could not remember it. My adult daughter with cancer was excited to know she would see snow again in her lifetime.

My wife and I are generally prepared, we had a half cord of firewood on the back porch and food, knowing that the roads would be hazardous (Texans avoid driving on this stuff, we don’t have enough practice, and also know that the guy next to you doesn’t know how, even if you do).

Sunday came, and the snow came, and we were all very excited. My wife made video of our dogs playing in the snow. Children made snow men. The news began warning people that we might have rolling blackouts of 10 to 45 minutes at a time. No big deal, we had prepared for that. We had firewood and a lantern, and power banks for our cell phones.

Monday morning the outside temperature had gotten down to 5 degrees! That was temp for the record books here in Texas. Just then, at that 5 degree low, the power went out. We were not worried, because the rolling blackouts were only going to be 10 to 45 minutes. After 45 minutes we tried to contact Oncor (the electric delivery company), but the only method of reaching them that worked was the Oncor App. We used it to report the outage, and it gave an estimated repair time of 10:30 AM, less than two hours away at that time. So still we were OK, and we put extra wood on the fireplace fire. 10:30 AM came and went and still no power, and now the app says estimated repair time is “to be determined”. We are getting worried, as the forecast low for the coming night was a record setting low single digit (various forecasts had between 3 and 1 degrees).

At 4:00 PM Monday the power comes back on. My wife literally bursts into tears of relief, as she has been so stressed about facing the coming super low temps. I quickly put a post of spaghetti on to cook. But after only 20 minutes, the power goes out again. The spaghetti finished cooking on its own in the hot water and I warmed up the sauce in a saucepan by the fire.

Now the Oncor app gives an estimated repair time of 8:30 PM, which comes and goes and then the app says “being determined”. We are able to keep up with news with our cell phones and they are saying that power should be restored Tuesday afternoon or evening.

Monday night I manage to make dinner for us, from my childhood experience in boy scouts (when the BSA was still a great organization). I mixed ground beef, diced potatoes, green beans and corn (and seasoning) into a “blob” wrapped in aluminum foil, which I place near the hot coals of the fire. In Boy Scouts we called these “trail burgers”. They were really good.

Monday night into Tuesday morning was a trial. I was feeding as much wood into the fireplace as I could. The outside temperature plummeted to one degree below zero! (That set some kind of record). The fire from the fireplace was our only heat. That night our living room got down to 48 degrees! I never thought that I would be in my own home, literally burning firewood to survive! I knew there must be so many out there without a fireplace, or without enough firewood… that would literally freeze to death in their own homes! (More and more stories are coming out of those who did.)

Those without enough firewood, turned to burning furniture to survive!

Tuesday morning the app still says “being determined” but the news is shifting from power being restored that afternoon or evening, to “in several more days”. I did the math, and our firewood would run out by Wednesday morning. I called around, but everyone was out of firewood. We were also hearing stories that grocery store shelves were bare. Most restaurants were either without power, running out of food fast with huge lines, or closed because they were out of food. There was literally no firewood or food to be had. And on top of that, all hotels were either out of power themselves, or booked solid.

If all this was not bad enough, a second wave snow storm was headed into DFW Wednesday evening. The mayor of North Richland Hills made a video telling citizens to get out of there homes and find shelter somewhere.

I started thinking out of the box now. I thought of the cabins up at Lake Murray State Park in Oklahoma. They were just across the border into Oklahoma, about an hour and fifteen minute drive (under normal conditions). I called, and they had a cabin available. I booked it, and we packed as quickly as I could… we would be driving into the snowstorm heading our way! But we had to get out of Texas and away from the Texas power grid. The cabins have heat and a kitchen.

Lake Murray State Park used to be a “go to” spot for Sukkot events.

We drive into the snow on I-35 (the same highway where icy roads had recently caused a 120 car pile up and eight deaths.) About halfway there the snowfall became intense and visibility was very bad. On the way an 18 wheeler nearly hit us. We managed to make it to the lodge and rent a cabin. The road from the lodge to the cabin was almost impassible and visibility was low. At one point our tiers spun out and we were almost stuck. We pulled up to the cabin and the cabin itself is about twenty five feet from the parking spot. There is over six inches of snow on the ground and snow is falling very heavy. We trudged thru the snow to the cabin where there was warmth (then I made several trips unpacking the car. The cabin was rustic (pictured below after the snow began to melt). There was no actual phone line, and no wifi. The only phone or internet was thru our phones. But there was heat, there was power and there was a small kitchen. Here we were snowed in for a few days.

Many people in Texas froze to death waiting for the power to come back on.

An eleven year old boy, froze to death in his own bed.

One man froze to death in a recliner, while his wife holding his hand, barely held onto life.

The “rolling blackouts” never happened. Power failed to 25 percent of the homes in the state and then stayed off for several days.

City water pumps were also without power, and water mains burst, leaving many without water. Those that had water were being warned to boil it… but they had no way to do so without power!

This was a good lesson on how bad things can get in just 24 hours. Stores were picked clean, no food, no water, no heat, no power, no firewood and no hotel rooms! Sub zero temperatures outside and and another snow storm coming in!

The decision to leave home and head into the storm was a difficult one, but it very well may have saved our lives!

This ordeal also cost us money that we frankly did not have to spend! The rent on the cabin alone came to about $600! Plus we are having, ironically, to replace a lot of our refrigerated food.

If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.

Donations can be sent by paypal to donations@wnae.org.

Messiah in the Torah- Parsha T’tzaveh

Torah Parsha T’tzaveh Ex. 27:20-30:10
Haftorah: Ezekiel 27:20-30:10

In this weeks parsha (2/27/21) we read about the anointing oil, the vestments of the High Priest, the consecration of the priests, the daily offerings and the alter of incense.

Among these vestments is the “breastplate of judgement.”:

[15] And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.
[16] Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.
[17] And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.
[18] And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
[19] And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
[20] And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.
[21] And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.
[22] And thou shalt make upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen work of pure gold.
[23] And thou shalt make upon the breastplate two rings of gold, and shalt put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate.
[24] And thou shalt put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate.
[25] And the other two ends of the two wreathen chains thou shalt fasten in the two ouches, and put them on the shoulderpieces of the ephod before it.
[26] And thou shalt make two rings of gold, and thou shalt put them upon the two ends of the breastplate in the border thereof, which is in the side of the ephod inward.
[27] And two other rings of gold thou shalt make, and shalt put them on the two sides of the ephod underneath, toward the forepart thereof, over against the other coupling thereof, above the curious girdle of the ephod.
[28] And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.
[29] And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.
[30] And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.
(Exodus 28:15-30 KJV)

The Hellenist Jews called the “breastplate of judgement” (חֹ֤שֶׁן מִשְׁפָּט֙) the “oracle of judgment” (λογεῖον τῶν κρίσεων) (as in the LXX) where the word “oracle” comes from the Greek Logos.

Philo of Alexandria writes of the breastplate/oracle of judgment:

…the twelve stones arranged on the breast in four rows of three stones each, namely the logeum (the breastplate of judgment), being also an emblem of that reason (Logos, Word) which holds together and regulates the universe. For it was indispensable that the man who was consecrated to the Father of the world, should have as a paraclete, his Son, the being most perfect in all virtue, to procure forgiveness of sins, and a supply of unlimited blessings;
(Life of Moses II, 133-134)

This Greek word (paraclete) is also a Hebrew and Aramaic word also appears in the Mishna:

He who does even a single religious duty
gets himself a good advocate (or comforter Hebrew: paraklita)
he who does even a single transgression
gets himself a prosecutor.
(m.Avot 4:11a)

And in the Talmud it is used to refer to the sin offering::

R. Simeon said: For what purpose does a sin-offering come? —
[You ask,] ‘for what purpose does a sin-offering come?’
Surely in order to make atonement! —
Rather, [the question is:]
Why does it come before the burnt-offering?
[Because it is] like an intercessor (paraklita) who enters
[to appease the King]: When the intercessor (paraklita)
has appeased [him], the gift follows.
(b.Zev. 7b)

The Jewish Dictionary states:

…The sin offering is like the parclete (paraklita) before God, it interceded for man and is followed by another… a thank offering for the pardon obtained… the two daily burnt offerings are called ‘the two parcletes’…
Jewish Dictionary pp. 514-515

Yochanan, who identifies the Messiah as the Word (logos) in Jn. 1:1-3, 14 and Rev. 19:13 also says of Messiah:

1 My sons, I write these [things] to you, that you do not sin: and if someone should sin, we have an advocate (paraklita) with the Father, Yeshua the Messiah, the just [One].
2 For He is the propitiation for our sins, and not on behalf of ours only, but also on behalf of [the sins of] the whole world.
(1st Yochanan (John) 2:1)

So in today’s Torah reading, we see the Messiah as the Paraklita and Logos (Word), and as the heavenly High Priest procuring forgiveness of our sins, and a supply of unlimited blessings.

We Need Your Support!

The last two years have been a real trial for us, and the last two months especially so. As you all probably know, our lives have never been the same since my wife returned home from a nearly two month hospitalization and septic shock in 2018.

We need your help to continue the ongoing work, bringing the message of Messiah to the Jewish people, and bringing the message of Torah to the world. We need your help with the ongoing work of Scripture Restoration, as restore the original Hebrew of the “New Testament” books, a project which will bless all mankind, especially the Jewish people of Israel.

Help us to continue to do important work, like posting important Hebrew and Aramaic texts at Scripture Nexus

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