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Welcome

Well it is the holidays once again. The year seems to go by so fast, but in reality, we do a lot of living in those 365 days. We do a lot of good, make many mistakes, and hopefully, we make a lot of changes in our lives. As believers we are supposed to make changes in our lives. We need to mature and grow in our faith. We also need to bear much fruit, and that means we may have to have the Lord do some pruning.  John 15:1-2 says this, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” 

I think everyone likes to receive a fruit basket during the holidays, and as believers that is just what we need to give others.

Galatians 5:22-23,  tells us just what we need to put in that basket.  “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control.”

2 Peter 1:5-8 also tells us as we are adding to our faith we need to throw in a little bit of this,  “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;  and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Messiah Yeshua.” 

All of this makes for a great holiday fruit basket and a Happy New Year.

Mary 

We want to take a closer look at Mary, or we should call her by her Hebrew name, Miriam. Miriam was a common Hebrew name, I am sure because of Miriam the sister of Moses. Let’s take a look at this Miriam. Miriam was the daughter of Amram, the leader of the Israelites in ancient Egypt, and of Yocheved, both from leading families of the Tribe of Levi, Exodus 2:1. As such, she was also the sister of Aaron and Moses. The Torah refers to her as “Miriam the Prophetess” in Exodus 15:20 and the Talmud names her as one of the seven major female prophets of Israel. Micah 6:4, describes her alongside of Moses and Aaron as delivering the Jews from bondage in Egypt: “For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.” According to the Midrash on Micah 6:4, just as Moses led the men out of Egypt, so did Miriam lead the women. Similarly, just as Moses taught Torah to the men, so too, Miriam taught Torah to the women. There are several meanings behind the name Miriam, “bitter”, “water”, “rebellion” or “elevation” as follows: Bitter connotes the fact that Miriam was born during the beginning of Pharaoh’s bitter decrees, as in Exodus 1:14: “And the [Egyptians] embittered [the Jews’] lives with hard labor.” Miriam’s strong association with water includes her involvement in saving Moses at the Nile, Exodus 2:4,7-9, also singing praise to God after crossing the Sea of Reeds, Exodus 15:20-21 and the special well or spring of water called the “Well of Miriam.” In her merit, this well miraculously provided water for the Jews by accompanying them throughout their wanderings in the wilderness,  Exodus 17:6. 

We see that the name carries with it great honor. Matthew starts his gospel with the genealogy of Yeshua, starting with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and down throughout the generations to King David and Solomon and throughout the generations to Joseph and Mary who was the mother of Yeshua.

Luke 1: 26-38 gives us this insight, “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,  to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Miriam.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Miriam was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Miriam; you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call Him Yeshua. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,  and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Miriam asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth, your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  For no word from God will ever fail.”  “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.”

Let’s take a closer look at what the angel said to Miriam.  First , we see that Miriam was elevated, as her name means, when the angel called her “Highly Favored.” Second, if Miriam was a virgin then how did she conceive and have a child? Though this seems a mystery, is it really? In today’s modern world maybe we have the answer to this. Could Miriam have been a surrogate mother? This may seem like a shocking question, but in reality, is it? We know that Miriam was a virgin, and we know with God all things are possible. But in today’s world, we see that this could have been possible at some level. We know that Miriam carried a child, and Joseph was not the father, but as the angel said, “He shall be called the Son of the Most High.” We know that God created Adam and Eve without a mother, Genesis 1:24-27, so would it have been impossible for Miriam to have been like a surrogate mother to Yeshua?

John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Philippians 2: 5-8 also tells us, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Messiah Yeshua: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing   by taking the very nature of a servant,  being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself  by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross!”

Yeshua emptied Himself of His divinity and became a man, a flesh and blood man. Only God the Father could have done this, but not without the help of a human. He needed someone to partner with Him, and today God still needs man to partner with Him in the work of the Kingdom.  The angel told Miriam that the Holy Spirit would come upon her. This is what we saw on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down upon those 120 people like tongues of fire and filled them with the Spirit of God. As it were, they too, conceived, and gave birth to a regenerated people.

John 3:3-8 tells us, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Yeshua answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.  You should not be surprised at My saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Titus 3:5-7 says, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,whom He richly poured out upon us through Messiah Yeshua our Savior,  so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 also tells us,  “Therefore, if anyone is in Messiah, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

So if the Holy Spirit can do this to us who are already born, then He can do anything before we are born. We see that the Most High overshadowed Miriam. Well, this word was only used twice in the Bible, and here it was used regarding conceiving a child, so the question is still very applicable. We saw Miriam very much involved with her brother Moses as he drifted down the Nile. This takes us to the last two meanings of Miriam”s name. According to tradition since water is associated with “chesed” — kindliness — this meaning behind Miriam connotes her special acts of kindness in serving as a midwife, devoting herself to the needs of her suffering people and sparing Jewish infants from Pharaoh’s evil decree. Another meaning behind Miriam is in the spelling of her name “meri”, which means “rebellion.” Again, according to tradition, this connotes the way she rebelled against Pharaoh’s orders that the Jewish midwives kill all male infants, Exodus 1:16-17. She even rebelled against her father who initially exacerbated the decree by causing couples to separate so they wouldn’t have children. He did this in the name of sparing Jewish infants from death, until Miriam convinced him otherwise.    The name Miriam is associated with birth and life and even death. But we must always remember that God is our Father, and He will not share His glory with any one, as Isiah 42:8 tells us, “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to idols.”  Miriam was highly favored by God, but we are not to elevate her. Yes, she was the mother of Yeshua, the same as Joseph was His father, only earthly guardians, for He is the Son of the Most High, and they chose to be partners with God for the sake of the Kingdom. During this time that the church celebrates Yeshua’s birth, let’s remember this, God has chosen man to partner with Him in the work of the Kingdom, and so we too must be willing to do all that God asks us to do. Luke 1:38 says, “So Miriam said, “Behold, the servant of Adonai. Let it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel left her.” Also in Luke 22:42, this is the same response as Yeshua’s, “Not My will be done, but Yours.” This should also be our response when God asks us to lay down our lives for the Kingdom. We do this humbly before God, and we, nor anyone else, should be elevated for doing so except Yeshua our Savior, because He is the Son of the Most High.

Recipe Corner: Roast Leg of Lamb by Delish.com

Boneless leg of lamb  needs to be tied together in order for the meat to cook evenly. Give your meat at least an hour (or up to two) to come up to room temperature. This is helpful for two reasons: one, a cold leg of lamb will take longer to cook and two, a cold leg will potentially cook unevenly. 

INGREDIENTS

1/4 c. plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more greasing

3 cloves garlic, minced                    1 tbsp. minced rosemary, plus 2 sprigs

1 tbsp. minced thyme                      1 (6 lb.) leg of lamb

kosher salt                                         Freshly ground black pepper

2 heads garlic, cloves peeled          8 oz. cipollini onions                  2 lemons, halved

DIRECTIONS

• Heat oven to 400°. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup oil, garlic, chopped rosemary, and thyme.
• Place lamb in a large roasting dish, then season all over with salt and pepper.
• Brush herb oil all over lamb (you won’t use it all right now). Roast 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together whole garlic cloves, onions, rosemary sprigs, and lemons with 1 tablespoon oil, salt, and pepper.
• Reduce oven to 350°. Spread garlic, onions, rosemary, and lemon halves evenly around lamb, then coat lamb in more herb oil. Add ¼ cup water to roasting dish, then roast for 1 to 1 ½ hours more, until meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the roast registers about 145° to 150°.
• Let lamb rest 15 minutes before carving and serving.
• Enjoy!

Hebrew Corner:  The Month of Kislev

Kislev is the ninth month starting from the Passover. It is best known for the celebration of Hanukkah.  The month of  Kislev falls during the darkest time of year, during the winter solstice, so what better time than to light the lights and what better time than to let our light shine as Matthew 5:14-16 tells us,  “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

Hanukkah means dedication, and as we end the year with the month of Kislev, and begin a new, what better time than this for us to rededicate our lives to God? The people rededicated the Temple. They purified the Temple from the Abomination of Desolation, and they relit the Menorah, so once again God’s light could shine from it.  But  are we not the Temple of the Holy Spirit, as 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us? Has the oil run dry in our lives that we are no longer the light to the people around us?  Do we need to remove any false gods that we may tend to worship or put before God?  The month of Kislev, and the time of Hanukkah is a great reminder that we need to examine our lives and see if there is anything that has come between us and God as 2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us.  Kislev is also a month of hope. It is believed that Yeshua was conceived during the time of Hanukkah  which was considered by the people at the time to be a second Sukkot…Feast of Tabernacles being that God always does His work during these Biblical times. Since Yeshua being the Light to the Nations, and  the Menorah which represents Yeshua, this only makes sense. Hebrews 3:6 says this, “But Messiah, as Son, is over God’s house—and we are His house, if we hold firm to our boldness and what we are proud to hope.”  Romans 8:24-25 tells us about this hope, “For in hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, then we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”  Titus 2:11-14 tells us, For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in the present age,  looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, eager for good deeds.”

As we hope for longer days, and more light, so we also long for our salvation to appear.   This is the ninth month, the month of Kislev.

The imagery of Yom Kippur is the end time judgment, when God will separate the sheep from the goats. Also it is the imagery of a righteous Judge who will open the books of each of our lives. The question will be is your name  written in the Book of Life? The Fall Feasts are all about Yeshua’s second coming. We want to look at His first coming and then end with His second coming.

2 Chronicles 18:28 says, “So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead.  And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you put on your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.”

This Scripture reminded me of another king who disguised himself, and he too, went into the battle. Who was this king?  Psalm 24:8-10 asks the same question, “Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.  Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is He, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— He is the King of glory.”

The King is Yeshua!

Philippians 2: 5-7 says this, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Messiah Yeshua, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men.”

 Yeshua came and disguised Himself as a mere man, as a poor lowly servant. Our Messiah not only left His glory to come down to be a mere man, but He also emptied Himself of all that made Him God, the Creator of all things seen and unseen, and He took off His deity, and robed Himself in humanity. And so,we have a Messiah who can relate to our needs and our sufferings.

Hebrews 4:14-16 says,  “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Yeshua the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.  Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.”

When we look at our disguised King we see that He  came as a humble human being, born in a manger, among barn animals, laying in a manger of hay, certainly not fit for a king of glory. He was not a beautiful child, for all to gaze upon, No! The Scriptures tell us about this King in Isaiah 53:1-3,  “ Who has believed our message   and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot,    and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him,   nothing in his appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by mankind,  a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces    He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem.”

Yes, our King truly was disguised, and because of this He was despised. He was a common servant to the people. Matthew 8:20 records our King saying this, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 

The Child who was born in a barn, still had no place He called home. 

This King was crucified because when He tried to tell the people that He was a king they became angry and put Him to death. 

Mark 14: 65 says, “And some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists and say to Him, “Prophesy!” Then the officers took custody of Him and slapped Him in the face.”

Yes, they mocked Him and laughed at Him and on the top of His cross they placed a sign  that read, “Yeshua THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS,” John 19:19.

But what was not known was that the King’s mission was to win a great battle over His enemy. He came to pay a debt that we owed. This King of Glory who could have bought the whole world for us, came not to purchase our freedom with money , but with His own shed blood. You see when they crucified Him for saying He was a King, they did not know that through this, He would win the greatest victory ever. He would redeem us from the power of the evil one. He would deliver us from the kingdom of darkness and bring us into His kingdom of light, Colossian 1:13.

Let’s look at some of Yeshua’s parables in which He tells us a great story about Himself. Matthew 25 speaks of these different parables.  Take note that the parable begins with a shepherd, sheep, and goats and then for some reason it goes to a king, his servants, and a kingdom.  It is believed that the rest of this parable has been lost from Matthew’s gospel, but you can surmise that these two parables were closely related.

Let’s begin by looking at Matthew 25:31-33, “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.  And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;  and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.

Matthew 25:34-40 says,   “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;  naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?  And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?  And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’”

But the parable goes on to say in Matthew 25:41-46, “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;  for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;  I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’  Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’  Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’  These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

What a profound message. Yeshua who came, and was forsaken, is actually in every person that we meet. This parable was not just for the people of His day, but for all of us, throughout the ages. When God breathed into man, He breathed into Him life. You see God is the God of life, and we get our life from Him, and so, a little part of God is in each of us, to live for Him or to live without Him, is our choice, but we have the ability to live eternally if we choose to live in His life. This is what Yeshua conquered when He shed His blood. Sin separates us from God, but Yeshua made the way for us to be able to return to Him. 

This gives new meaning to the following.

John 13:34-35 says,  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

And this in Matthew 5:44-48,  “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Matthew 25:14-30, also speaks about the parable of the Talents. It is about a man who goes on a long journey and he trusts his servants with his possessions. When he comes back he asks them what they did with his possessions. We will begin in verse 21, “Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.  The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.’  His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’ “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have earned two more talents.’  His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’ “Now the one who had received the one talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed.  And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.’ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed? Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.  Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.  And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Today,  we are to carry on our King’s mission, the work of His kingdom. We are to love one another, even our enemies. Our king has given each of us His possessions, called  love, truth , kindness, gentleness, goodness, peace, patience, self-control, just to name a few, and we are to take these, and invest them in others, because one day our King is coming back again, and  He will no longer be disguised. And He will ask us what we did with what He gave us. Will we say, “When were you hungry or sick, or in need of food?”  “When did we not love you?” Or “I was afraid of you so I buried my talent.”

No! We want to hear, well done good and faithful servants, enter into My Kingdom.

One day we will see God as He is, there will be no more disguise,

 and 1 John 3: 2 tells us all about it.

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

1 Corinthians 2:15-16 tells us, “But the one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is judged by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of  Messiah.”

The writer first asks the question, “Who has known the mind of the Lord that he will instruct Him?” Do we really have the mind of the Lord? Can we know what God is thinking? What is Paul talking about here in this Scripture?

God says this to Job in Job 38:1-4, “Who is this that obscures my plans  with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man;  I will question you,  and you shall answer me.“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?    Tell me, if you understand.”

It doesn’t sound like God was pleased at Job and his friends when they thought they had all the answers, and yet Paul tells us that we have the mind of Messiah. Let’s take a closer look at this and see if we can find some answers. First we must understand that to have the mind of Yeshua we must first be a follower of Yeshua, and to be a follower of Yeshua, we must be a disciple of Yeshua. In Yeshua’s day a disciple meant that you learned everything from the one who you were following, in most cases back then, and even now, that would have been the Rabbi or teacher of the Scriptures. You would have examined his ways, how he thought about things, how he prayed, and lived his life in general. Today we would call it mentoring someone.

In Matthew 28:19-20 we see that Yeshua tells His disciples this, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

You see that Yeshua did not say, “Go and make converts, go and get parishioners, go and start new denominations or doctrines.” No! He said to go and make disciples, those who will imitate him. A few chapters later in 

1 Corinthians 11:1 we see Paul saying this, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Messiah.”

So to have the mind of Messiah, that would mean first that you are a disciple, and that in the true meaning of the word, would mean that you would know Yeshua in every aspect of His life, His ways, His beliefs, even His thoughts. So do we imitate Yeshua in our lives? Do we live like Him, talk like Him, practice our faith like Him? If not then you can not have the mind of Messiah. Your mind is full of your ways and beliefs and your actions are based on these things. So to have the mind of Messiah would  mean that we would believe what He believes because we would have to have the same point of reference to think like Him. Today, believers do not think like their Messiah. They do not even believe like the Messiah. Throughout the centuries our forefathers made so many changes to fit their doctrines, instead of their doctrine lining up with actual Scripture and meaning.  For instance, Yeshua kept the seventh day Sabbath which we would call Saturday, Luke 4:15-21. He also said that He was the Lord of the Sabbath, Mark 2:27-28.

Yeshua kept all of the Biblical Appointed Times of God as written in Leviticus 23, as we see just a few examples, Luke 22:8-20, John 7. 

Yeshua went about doing good, Acts 10:38. He kept the Commandments. He even said,  “If you love Me then keep My Commandments,” John 14:15. 

Yes, we can have the mind of  Messiah, if we walk in His footsteps, and follow after Him. If we love the Kingdom as much as He loved the Kingdom, as we see in the “Our Father”, Matthew 6:9-10, “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done,    on earth as it is in heaven.”

And we put on the yoke of the Kingdom which is the cross as Matthew 16: 24-25 tells us,  “Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it.”

Galatians 5:24 also says, “Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

To have the mind of Messiah we would also need the Holy Spirit, to walk and live in the Spirit, Galatians 5:16-25.

1 Corinthians 2: 6-16 says, “ Yet there is a wisdom that we are speaking to those who are mature enough for it. But it is not the wisdom of this world or of this world’s leaders, who are in the process of passing away.  On the contrary, we are communicating a secret wisdom from God which has been hidden until now but which, before history began, God had decreed would bring us glory.  Not one of this world’s leaders has understood it; because if they had, they would not have executed the Lord from whom this glory flows.  But, as the Scriptures say,  “No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no one’s heart has imagined all the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” It is to us, however, that God has revealed these things. How? Through the Spirit. For the Spirit probes all things, even the profoundest depths of God.  For who knows the inner workings of a person except the person’s own spirit inside him? So too no one knows the inner workings of God except God’s Spirit.  Now we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God, so that we might understand the things God has so freely given us.  These are the things we are talking about when we avoid the manner of speaking that human wisdom would dictate and instead use a manner of speaking taught by the Spirit, by which we explain things of the Spirit to people who have the Spirit.  Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God — to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit.  But the person who has the Spirit can evaluate everything, while no one is in a position to evaluate him.For who has known the mind of the Lord? Who will counsel him? But we have the mind of the Messiah!”

If this is so of you, then imitate the one whose wisdom you hold.

Psalm 84:12 says, “Lord Almighty,    blessed, is the one who trusts in You.”

Did you ever have a friend that you could not trust? I would say that if you did, that he wasn’t really a friend. A friend is a friend because you can trust him. 

Yeshua says this in John 15:15,  “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

Yeshua considers us a friend, and as a friend He tells us this in John 14;15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

So we have to ask ourselves this: How good of a friend am I?

If I am not a very good friend to God, then how can I expect Him to be a good friend to me? Well, Yeshua considered Judas a friend even though he betrayed Him. Psalm 41:9 says this referring to David’s enemy, but was also quoted when Judas betrayed Yeshua. “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”

Yeshua knew that one day Judas would betray Him, but still He treated him like His friend and at any time Judas could have changed his mind. God’s mercies are new every morning, Lamentations 3:22-23. God always gives us a chance to change our minds, to repent. So we know God is full of mercy. 2 Timothy 2:11-13 tells us this, “The statement is trustworthy: for if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

God knows that there are times that we may slip off the path. But if we are friends, then we know that God will grab hold of our hand to bring us back, if we truly are a friend to God. But what about when storms arrive in our lives and we find ourselves going through trials and tribulation,when the heat of the fire gets itself burning, and we are being tested in the fire? Then do we consider God a friend or a foe? Do we quickly forget His mercies and His faithfulness? Do we forget the love of God, and what He has given us through His Son, Yeshua, on the cross of Cavalry? Are we fairweather friends, only looking out for number one…Me? Are we like Judas, who goes as far as not only denying our God, but taking actions as far as walking away from Him or turning our backs and closing our ears, all because He loves us and so He must test us? Do we not know that the testing of our faith brings us closer to God, and makes us stronger to fight the spiritual battles, James 1:2-4 ? Do you not know that it is during these times that we must trust God, our friend, to know what is best for us?

If we were a friend, then we would also know our friend and to know Him is to love Him. He too, was put through the fire and was tested by God, and went through all kinds of trials for us as Hebrews 5:8 tells us,  “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”

Also Isaiah 53:3-6 tells us,  “He was despised and abandoned by men, a man of great pain and familiar with sickness; and like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we had no regard for Him. However, it was our sicknesses that He Himself bore, and our pains that He carried; yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted, struck down by God, and humiliated. But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; the punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all to fall on Him.”

Yeshua could have said “NO” to it all, He had the chance in the garden. Remember, Yeshua was a man who was tested like you and me, but He said,  “Not My will be done, but Yours.” Why? Because He trusted God. He knew that God was faithful. 

And God rewarded Him as it says in Philippians 2:5-11,  “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Messiah Yeshua, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,  but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.  For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,  so that at the name of Yeshua every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and that every tongue will confess that Messiah Yeshua is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

How about you? If you consider yourself as a friend to God, then why not trust Him in all things. 

Jeremiah 17:7 says it all, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

and whose trust is the Lord.”

There is a great song that was written by Joseph Scriven called, 

“What a friend we have in Jesus”

1.What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, 

all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!

2.  Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer!

Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer!

3.  Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge– take it to the Lord in prayer!

Do your friends despise, forsake you?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Having trouble trusting God? Take it to prayer. There is no greater friend than our Heavenly Father. You can trust Him with your life.

Welcome

January, another year, another new beginning, but let’s look at January another way.  January, the dead of winter. For many of us, winter only means cold and snow and shorter days. But God thinks otherwise. As we get old, we enter into the winter of our lives. We move slower, our hair turns gray, and we can begin to see our lives growing shorter and shorter.  But this is what God says in Isaiah 46:4, 

“I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age. I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior.”

Psalm 92:12-15 says, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,  they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord,   they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age,  they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;     He is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.””

Look what Abraham and Sarah, and even Moses, Joshua and Caleb, did when they entered into the winter of their lives, and they were just getting started.

Let this New Year be the beginning of great things for you.

The Wilderness, a Place of Death, a Place of Life.

We want to take a look at the wilderness, the place where Israel lived for forty years. The question is, how did they survive in a place that was so hostile to life?

A wilderness  by definition is a wild and natural area in which few people live.

When Israel left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, we see them celebrating their freedom. This is most understandable, but quickly  this all changed.

Exodus 15:22-24 tells us, “Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.  When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter; for that reason it was named Marah.  So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

It did not take long for the people to realize that they were now in the wilderness.

So why did God bring the people into the wilderness? Couldn’t He have taken another route? The clue may be in  Hosea 2:14-15, “Therefore, behold, I am going to persuade her, bring her into the wilderness, and speak kindly to her. Then I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will respond there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she went up from the land of Egypt.”

It seems that God likes to bring Israel into the wilderness. Hosea writes that God lures us, or brings us into a wilderness experience just to speak with us. We see in Matthew 4:1 that even Yeshua was led into the wilderness by God. “Then Yeshua  was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” 

Why the wilderness? Have you ever gone through a dry place in your life, a time when no matter what, things just don’t work out for you, or you just can’t seem to get that feeling you once had? Life has become a wilderness, not suitable to live in. When we get so low, that is when God begins to do a work in us. Life is all about dying. Yes, dying to self.  Yeshua’s whole message is about dying. It starts with denying oneself. Matthew 16:24 “Then Yeshua said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.’”

This begins the wilderness experience.  John 12:24, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Galatians 5:24 goes on to say,  “Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Galatians 2:20 takes us further.  “I have been crucified with Messiah; and it is no longer I who live, but Messiah lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Romans 6:5-7 says,  “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,  knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;  for the one who has died is freed from sin.”

Yes, the wilderness can bring death, but it can also bring life. Once we die to ourselves then we can be born again. There was a man named Nicodemus who came to Yeshua at night, most likely because he did not want anyone to know that he was interested with the Words of Truth. Still Yeshua received him just the same. John 3:2-3 tells us what he wanted to know,  “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Yeshua responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

How can one  be born again unless he dies to himself.    John 12:24 says, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

When a person dies then he enters into eternal life, so we too, if we die to the flesh, (ourselves) to have life, then we have life in Yeshua.When you turn your life over to God the Father, He becomes your Shepherd.

 Psalm 121 tells us just how Israel lived in the wilderness for forty years.

“I will raise my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who watches over you will not slumber. Behold, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your protector; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not beat down on you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time and forever.”

You see God brought Israel into the wilderness so that He could teach them to trust Him for all things.  Day and night God was watching over them. No wild beast attacked them, no enemy overtook them. The heat of the sun did not burn them, nor did the cold of the night cause them any harm. God provided food and water and their clothes or shoes never wore out as Deuteronomy 29:5 tells us,   “And I have led you in the wilderness for forty years; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.”

And yet the people still did not believe nor did they die to themselves. God was a Father to them, and He was a husband to them, and He was faithful to them, but they would rather have been slaves in Eygpt than to being free. This is how we are . Yeshua set us free from the bondage of slavery, (John 8:34-38)  and yet, we too, will not die to ourselves, but we would rather be slaves to this world ways. God brings everyone into the wilderness, so that He can speak to us, and show us that there is life, in death. Without dying we can not be born again. If we are not born again we will not see the kingdom of God.  It is not in saying a prayer. It is in dying that we will find life.

In the last line of the Prayer of St. Francis, he writes,  “And it is in dying to ourselves that we are born to eternal life.”

 Francis knew, because he too, was called into the wilderness. And he too, died there, only to be born again into a new life as a new creation.

Matthew 16:24-27 tells us, “Then Yeshua said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every person according to his deeds.”

Isaiah 35:1-10  says it well,  “The wilderness and the desert will rejoice,

and the desert will shout for joy and blossom; like the crocus it will blossom profusely and rejoice with joy and jubilation. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the exhausted, and make the feeble strong. Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; the retribution of God will come, but He will save you.” Then the eyes of those who are blind will be opened,and the ears of those who are deaf will be unstopped. Then those who limp will leap like a deer, and the tongue of those who cannot speak will shout for joy. For waters will burst forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert. The scorched land will become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, its resting place, grass becomes reeds and rushes. A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for the one who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, nor will any vicious animal go up on it; they will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, and the redeemed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

Is God calling you into the wilderness? Go, and I tell you,  die to yourself, and you too will see that you will be rejoicing in the victory, like Israel, when they came into  the wilderness singing and dancing and praising the Lord.

Recipe Corner:  Turkey and Broccoli Pastry Braids

By Taste of Home

Here is a simple meal you may enjoy

Ingredients:

• 1 cup finely chopped cooked turkey (about 5 ounces)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh broccoli
• 1/2 cup finely chopped sweet red pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup Miracle Whip
• 1/4 teaspoon dill weed
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. For filling, mix first 6 ingredients.
2. Unfold pastry onto a lightly floured surface; roll into a 15×10-in. rectangle. Transfer to a baking sheet. Spoon filling down center third of rectangle. On each long side, cut 8 strips about 3 in. into the center. Starting at an end, fold alternating strips over filling, pinching ends to join.
3. Bake until golden brown and filling is heated through, 20-25 minutes.
4. Makes 4 servings

Now I Live: 

Lord, I was dead, but now I live. Sin kept me away from You, but now You have forgiven me and You have given me life. I am a new creation and my soul rejoices. Your everlasting love touches the depths of my inner being. I give glory and praise to You for now I live.

Sandigram/The Path of My Life/Copyright 2010

Hebrew Corner: The Month of Tevet

Tevet is the 10 month on the Jewish calendar when counting from Passover. It is a winter month and it has 29 days to it. It corresponds to December-January.  The name, like so many of the names for the Jewish months, came about while the people were exiled in Babylon. It was during this month on the eighth day, that the translation of the Septuagint, (LXX) was finished. This is the oldest translation of the Torah. It is taken from the Greek Targums (translations). It is believed in the third century BC that King Ptolemy of Egypt gathered 72 elders, and placed them in separate rooms, and went to each one of them and asked them to translate the Torah into Greek. It was considered a miracle that all 72 elders translated the Torah in Greek exactly the same, all using the same Greek constructions. Because of the many layers of the meanings in the Torah that these men could have translated it several ways to bring out the truth of God’s Word. In the month of Tivet began a series of events that led to the destruction of the first temple. 2 Kings 25:1-2 says, “ Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. And in the ninth year of his reign, on the 10th day of the 10th month Nebuchadnezzar moved against Jerusalem with his whole army. He besieged it; and they built towers against it all around. The city continued in a state of siege until the 11th year of King Zedekiah.” God told Ezekiel to record this as we find in Ezekiel 24:2 “O mortal, record this date, this exact day; for this very day the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem”  It was during the month of Tevet that Esther was taken to the palace, and it is believed that the apostle Peter died on the 9th of Tivet. So many months hold tragedy for the Jewish people, but some months more than others.  Yeshua warned the people that there would be trials and tribulations and persecutions. In Mark 10:29-30, Yeshua said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.” In Acts 14:21-22 Paul tells us,  “And after they had preached the gospel to that city and had made a good number of disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,  strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God.” Let us always remember that God is with us in all of our trials. This is the 10th month, the month of Tevet.

“Clarion Call”

“Blow the trumpet in Zion;

    sound the alarm on my holy mountain.”(Joel 2:1)

It’s time for all people to awaken from their slumber. 

This is a time to see clearly the signs of the times.

                No.25            JudeoChristianClarion.Com        Is it Too Late to Start Over?

Once upon a time people had love and compassion for each other.  We saw it  in the son of a poor carpenter, whose  name was Yeshua (Jesus), which means “God’s Salvation”. His mother Mary called herself a simple servant of the Most High, but the angel who came to her called her “favored”. Lowly shepherds came to Yeshua at His birth, and wise men traveled from afar just to see Him, and to bring Him gifts fit for a king.   Yeshua grew in the wisdom of the Lord, and He chose 12 men whom He called His disciples,men who were not from the ruling class, but lowly fishermen. They went from town to town preaching and doing good. The town’s folks followed Him, but those who had prestige and power denounced Him. He spoke words of unity and love for one another, and He backed up His words with great signs and wonders. He fed the thousand with a few loaves and fishes, and He healed the sick, and brought sight to the blind. He spoke in parables, these were stories with deep truths. When He rode into Jerusalem the people cried out “Hosanna, in the Highest.” What they actually were crying about was for Him to save them for they knew He was the Son of God. Yeshua had such popularity that the ruling class of people felt threatened by Him, and they wanted to crucify Him, and they did it by false witnesses and lies. But they did not believe that the One they crucified was actually the Son of God. Yes, He truly was God’s Salvation. The grave could not hold Him nor could His enemies keep His words from spreading. It’s been over 2,000 years, and the same message has been preached up till now. Today more than ever we see that the false witnesses and the lies have resurfaced. Love has turned to hate. Doing good has been replaced with doing evil. Yeshua Himself predicted this would happen. We read in Matthew 24:4-13 this, “And Yeshua answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.  For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will mislead many people.  And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains. Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.  And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another.  And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people.  And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold.  But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved.” We see today that lawlessness has increased. Many people today no longer have to pay for their crimes, lawlessness is permitted and not punished. So everyone thinks now that they will no longer have to pay for their sins. There is white collar crimes and blue collar crimes and all sorts of street crimes, crime at every level. Because of crime we also see today that love has grown cold. People no longer go out of their way to speak  to each other, let alone help each other. Years ago people knew their neighbors, and spoke to their neighbors, and helped them out. Yes, we can come together, and we have come together in the past, but it takes a disaster to bring us together. We are more divided today than ever before in this country. Why can we drop our barriers during a disaster, but not at any other time? We could come together and pray, as we did during 911, but today you are not allowed to pray publicly.  After any disaster is over we go right back to being cold in our hearts, and not just toward each other, but we have turned cold toward God. This used to be a godly country. People lived by godly principles, in fact many of our laws are based on the Ten Commandments, which no longer can be displayed in public. The Son of God is mocked and God’s people are being persecuted. Our students are taught to rebel against God, and so we have lost a whole generation to Humanism, which simply says, there is no God, except you. If it feels good, do it! You owe it to yourself.  You deserve a break. What’s right for you, may not be right for me. Love and morals and having a conscience have all been lost. We no longer forgive one another and so we just continue to hate. Today if I don’t like what you believe or how you act, I just cancel you, but maybe first I will bully you. There is no civility any longer. But one day you  will need your neighbor, and the neighbor down the street will need you and if we keep fighting each other and calling each other names, we will destroy ourselves and this planet. Only God and His ways will help us to maintain a society where we can all co-exist, as we have for over 6,000 years. It has only been through love for our fellow man. Yes, we have had dark moments in history, but because God holds every day in His hand allows Him to be in control of our future. So is it too late to start over? The answer is No, it is never too late to return to God. If we return to God, He will return to us, and we will have a future. We will have enough food and water for everyone on this planet. Who do you believe, God who is not a man that He should lie, or do you believe man, whose hearts are cold, and can no longer feel, and could care less?

Click to access The-Armor-of-God.pdf

The Water

1 John 5:6-8 says this: 

This is the one who came by water and blood—Messiah Yeshua. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

So who is this water that testifies?

Jeremiah 2:13 says, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Jeremiah 17:13 tells us, “Lord, You are the hope of Israel; all who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away from You will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.”

Again, John 4:10 says, “Yeshua answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.’”

John 7:37-39 says, On the last day, the climax of the festival, Yeshua stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me! Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (When He said “living water,” He was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in Him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Yeshua had not yet entered into His glory.)

Revelation 22:1-2 tells us, Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. It makes sense now that even though God removed Himself, His glory—His living water—should still remain. When God made man, He made us to know just how important water is to our lives. Scientists have now discovered that Mars had rivers, and even a body of water ten times the size of the Great Lakes. But what happened to the water on Mars and the other planets? Why did the water dry up on all the other planets and not on the Earth? There is no doubt that there are mysteries to God, and maybe one day we will know the truth about them all. But as we look at what God has for us to know, we must take everything at face value and have faith.

Psalm 104:2-3a tells us, “The Lord wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of His upper chambers on their waters.” I think the answer is in this Psalm. When God created the universe, the universe was all together, and we know that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. We also know that God is fire, and He may have allowed the planets to be fertile and watered. But come the fourth day, when He created the sun, moon, and stars, He did just what the Psalm said He did: He stretched out the heavens. Like we read earlier, the galaxy grew into galaxies and the planets closer to the sun, well, the heat dried up the water and burned the vegetation; and the farther away from the heat of the sun the planets went, they grew cold and dark and lifeless, but the Earth was at just the right distance to maintain life. 

We see that God begins to separate our waters here on Earth. Did you know that God is a divider? Let’s take a closer look.

God the Great Divider

Genesis 1:6-8 tells us,  And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Genesis 1:9-10 continues, And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Psalm 104:5-13 tells us, He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at Your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of Your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place You assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds of the sky nest by the waters, they sing among the branches. He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of His work.

God has been dividing from the beginning. In the Havdalah (meaning “separated”) ceremony, at the end of the Sabbath, you say a blessing that goes like this: Deserving of praise are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who made a distinction between holy and common, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, between the seventh day and the six working days. Deserving of praise are You, O Lord, who distinguishes between holy and common.

Matthew gives us the words of Yeshua in Matthew 10:34-36: Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.

Matthew tells us about another time when Yeshua speaks about dividing, in Matthew 24:40-41: “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.”

And one last time in Matthew 25:31–42: But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. Before Him all the nations will be gathered, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

As God continued to divide throughout Scripture, let’s continue as we examine how God divided the water. So how did God divide the waters? Well, maybe by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is also known as the “wind.” 

We see in the story of the flood that God sent a wind. Genesis 8:1 tells us, “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and He sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.”

We see with Noah that he sent out the dove, and the first time the dove hovered over the water, for there was no place for it; and the second time the water had receded or parted, and the dry land appeared, and the dove came back with an olive branch. We will take a closer look at the flood later.

If the Holy Spirit was present then during the flood, did God also use the Holy Spirit, “the wind,” to separate the waters at creation like at the parting of the Red Sea? Yes, we see in the story of the parting of the Red Sea exactly the same thing as in the creation story. We know that Pharaoh was pursuing the Israelites and they feared for their lives. So let’s take a closer look.

Exodus 14:19-20 tells us, Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

We see here that God divided, once again, the light from the darkness.

Exodus 14:21-22 continues, Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

Again we see God dividing the waters to form dry land, and He used the wind to do it. And so the people crossed on dry land. 

Well, you may say, if the splitting of the Red Sea parallels creation, then where are the animals and the vegetation? The Israelites crossed with their livestock, and according to Jewish commentary it is believed that as they crossed there were fruit trees that lined their path so that they could eat from the trees as they crossed: a picture of the Garden of Eden. And you know that if you have the garden, you have to have the Adversary—which we do have in this story, for we know that Pharaoh’s army pursued, and they all drowned in the water. 

So after all that, we can come to the conclusion that the Holy Spirit, the “wind,” was hovering over the water and dividing it. Scripture will always point to the truth.

We also see that Yeshua had complete control of the wind and the waves in Mark 4:37-41: And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Shouldn’t the one who created have control over His creation? Yes, and all throughout creation we see that God had control as this great phenomenon was taking place with a fiery, fierce, and powerful exhibition of God’s Word and authority over His creation. He spoke and called those things that were not as though they were, as only He can.

God Separated the Light

But let us go back. As we continue we see in verses 3-5 that God continues His creation, as it says,

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

So God separated the light from the darkness. Now, many people feel that God was separating His kingdom of light from that of the kingdom of darkness, and that could be true, for 1 Thessalonians 5:5 tells us, “You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.” We will see later that this could only have been done symbolically for we will discuss, when did the angels fall?

But for now you may ask, “How could God separate the light from the darkness, since the sun and the moon had not yet been created?” We see that verses 1-5 are all on the first day. We know that God is all light, and when He removed part of Himself to make space it left a void, and the light that once was, was now gone, so only darkness remained. God spoke light into that void. And what was that light? Nothing other than His Word. 

It is believed that God spoke His Torah (teachings) in the 70 known languages at the time of Noah, at Mount Sinai, and then again at Pentecost. I believe that this was also the case at the time of creation. When God spoke His creation into being, it was His Torah, His great wisdom and understanding and knowledge, that caused all things to come into being. This is the Word that was made flesh, as it tells us in 1 Peter 1:20, “For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.” 

The rabbis also associate the light of creation with the Messiah: 

The Torah tells us, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’” to reveal that God will ultimately illuminate Israel with the light of the messiah, of whom it is written, “Arise, shine; for your light has come …”—the light being, of course, the Messiah … The verse “Let there be light” teaches that God created the world through this light, for immediately after these words the creation began. (Tz’enah Ur’enah on Genesis 1:3)

We see in verse 2 that the Spirit of God was present as God was creating. The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of Messiah. Philippians 1:19 says, “for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Yeshua Messiah this will turn out for my deliverance.” And 1 Peter 1:11 says that the prophets were given insight into the future through the “Spirit of Messiah in them.” The rabbis believed that the Spirit of God that was hovering over the waters was the Spirit of Messiah: “‘The Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.’ This was the Spirit of Messiah as it is written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him’” (Bereshit Rabbah 1:2, quoting Isaiah 11:1-2). It is interesting that the rabbis chose Isaiah 11 to make the connection between the Messiah and the Holy Spirit. Yeshua quotes a similarly phrased passage about Himself making this same comparison when he quotes Isaiah 61:1, recorded in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor.” His Word and His Spirit were all a part of the creation. 

If we look to the armor of God in Ephesians 6:17, we see that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word are one, and Yeshua tells us in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 1:1-5 tells us, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

And again, John 1:9-10 says this: “The true Light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him”

Not till day four did God create the rest of the universe as Genesis 1:14-19 tells us:

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

Sound

We said all that just to say this: in verse 3 we see that God, for the first time, spoke when He said “Let there be light.” Up until now, there was no need for God to verbally speak because in the spiritual realm, well, do they even talk? Or do they communicate by telepathic communications, mind to mind? 

We know that the speed of sound depends on the type of medium and temperature of the medium. We know that air is a gas, and not to go into a deep discussion, we know that our atmosphere and the whole galaxy for that matter is made up of gases. When God spoke, we know that His word went out like sound waves throughout the existing universe at the speed of sound, which is about 4.7 miles per second; or God may have spoken His words and they could have gone out like a supersonic jet that breaks the sound barrier, which was discovered many thousands of years later. So we see here that God not only created light but sound. 

We also find that according to quantum physics (which is the study of matter and energy at very small, nanoscopic levels, beginning with nuclei, atoms, and molecules, also called quantum particles), the universe is made up of lightwaves, like a big safety net of light. Light speed is calculated differently than sound. Light calculated in a vacuum travels at a constant, finite speed of 186,000 mi./sec. This means that in one year, light can travel a distance of 6 trillion miles. An interesting consequence of the speed of light is that we do not actually see things as they currently are. The light reflecting off of every object on Earth takes some time to reach our eyes. For the objects we encounter on a daily basis, this delay is almost nonexistent: when you are looking at an object 1 meter away, the light reflected off of that object takes about three-billionths of a second to reach your eye. This delay becomes more significant on a cosmic scale. For example, the famous North Star, also called Polaris, is about 323 lightyears away from Earth. That means light from Polaris takes 323 years to reach Earth. When you look up at this star, you do not see it as it currently is. The light reaching your eye in that moment took 323 years to get to you, so you are actually in a sense looking into the past. To reverse this perspective, a hypothetical observer on Polaris in 2020 looking at Earth would not see you or me; instead, they would see Earth as it was in the year 1697. According to NASA, a traveler moving at the speed of light would circumnavigate the equator approximately 7.5 times in one second. By comparison, a traveler in a jet aircraft, moving at a ground speed of 500 mph, would cross the continental U.S. once in 4 hours. 

So let’s read this again. Quantum theory tells us that both light and matter consist of tiny particles which have wavelike properties associated with them. Light is composed of particles called photons, and matter is composed of particles called electrons, protons, and neutrons. When God spoke, “Let there be light,” He also created sound and the foundation for the universe of light waves. Hebrews 11:3 tells us this according to the Amplified Bible: 

By faith [that is, with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and goodness of God] we understand that the worlds (universe, ages) were framed and created [formed, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose] by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. So in other words, everything we see is made up of quantum particles, and light holds it all together. God’s creation is so unbelievably awesome that every night we look at the stars and every day we see all that is around us, and all we can do is thank God that He so loved us that He created.

Naming Rights

Since the beginning of man, it has been thought that the one who gave a name had the power over that which was named. God named the day, night, and sky, and all of that gave Him sovereignty over time and space. We will see later that God allowed Adam to name the animals, and so God gave man dominion over them.

The Scriptures refer to named star constellations in Amos 5:8: He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the Lord is His name.

Job 38:31-33 also mentions constellations: Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” 

So once again we see Romans 1:20 to be so evident: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

It is believed that God used the stars to tell the gospel. But we must be careful, because the constellations have been used for the sake of the horoscope and other things that are not from God.

The Calendar

In the creation account we see that first came the evening and then the morning. God created time along with space, but we see that God’s time started with evening, and then came morning. God uses a lunar calendar, and this separates God’s people who are light from the darkness of the pagans who are void of God. Throughout history, pagan empires have created calendars in opposition to God. But God from the beginning of creation meant time to be based on His lunar calendar.

We also see that God named each day as “day one” and “day two” and “day three” and so forth. He never called them “Sunday,” “Monday,” or “Tuesday.” These are all pagan names. 

We also see that God created six days for man and one for Himself. Today we see that there are 24 hours in a day. That day is broken up into divisions: 60 minutes in an hour and 60 seconds in every minute. All of these are based on the number 6. We also know that many calendars, going back as far as early Babylon in Mesopotamia to the 3rd millennium BCE, used a 360-day calendar with 5 extra days, and along with the leap year this gives the basis for the number 6. The early Middle Eastern calendars only had two 6-month seasons—summer and winter. But one thing they all had in common was that the new month started at the new moon. 

Over history, man has not been able to get an accurate calendar to line up with the celestial and the seasonal, especially after the Flood. It was as though there was a movement between the lunar and the solar. Today the Jewish people still use a lunar calendar with each month beginning at the new moon, each month having 29-30 days. 

Today the Jewish calendar does not come close to what is considered  the correct date. They are about 200 years off.  We know that today on our calendar we are in the third millennium. So if the Jewish calendar has the right number of years, then there was only 3,740 years  before the Common Era instead of 4,000 years. Can this be right? No, it is not right, for no one’s calendar is correct. Over the decades and centuries and even millennia the counting of time has changed. Maybe God has made time fluid so that only He knows the times and the days. No one can calculate the coming of the Lord, for He will come as a thief in the night. 

But we do know that the moon was designed to mark God’s sacred times, or in Hebrew, Moadim. These sacred times from creation are for all of God’s people. The new moon brought in these celebrated times, as it tells us in Numbers 10:10, 

On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the Lord your God.

In Hebrew the new moon is called Rosh Chodesh, meaning, “head of the month.” We see that the new month celebration shall be continued into the reign of Messiah, for Isaiah 66:18-23 gives us this insight: 

For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see My glory, and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard My fame or seen My glory. And they shall declare My glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord. For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before Me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, declares the Lord.

So we see that all of God’s people will be celebrating the New Month celebrations and the Sabbath.

Biblical Feast Days

Leviticus 23 speaks of the Appointed Times of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles, as well as the seventh day of rest, the Sabbath. All of God’s times begin at sundown and go till the following sundown.

These feast days also tell of the gospel. Passover is the day that our Messiah became our Passover Lamb, unleavened, without sin, as 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 says, 

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Regarding First Fruits, Messiah is the first fruits from the dead, which we celebrate as the “Resurrection Day”—not Easter, which is named after a pagan god—as written in 1 Corinthians 15:20, “But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.”

The Messiah tells us that He will send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, in John 14:16, “And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever.” And in Acts 2 we see Him come with tongues of fire on Pentecost (Shavuot). All of these have been fulfilled. They are called the Spring Feasts. 

But the Fall Feasts are about Messiah’s second coming. The Feast of Trumpets is about the Messiah coming back as King of His Kingdom, with the sound of the trumpet. He will gather His people, as Matthew 24:31 tells us: “And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

The Day of Atonement is about the day of judgement, when all the books will be opened, as Revelation 20:12 tells us, 

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 

Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? If it is, then your eternal dwelling will be God Himself:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4)

The theme of the Feast of Tabernacles is “God with us,” Immanuel. This is why they believe that Yeshua was born on the first day of the feast and circumcised on the eighth day, which is called “Rejoicing in the word,” Simchat Torah.

The last Appointed Time is the Sabbath. The Sabbath represents eternity with God. 

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done. (Genesis 2:1-2)

As we see, the Sabbath was created for mankind as a whole, not just for a single group of people, as the Scriptures tell us in Mark 2:27-28, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” The Sabbath was made for man, and our Messiah is its Lord. As we saw in Isaiah 66, all of God’s people will be celebrating the seventh day Sabbath that was set apart from the beginning of creation.

Hebrews 4:9-11 says, There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the same pattern of disobedience.

The Sabbath was the crown jewel of all creation. It was here that God and His creation became one. So we see that when God saw that all was good, He rested on the seventh day and blessed the seventh day and made it holy (or you could say, He set it apart from all the other days). And so all mankind must also consider this day holy. The seventh day is not Sunday or Friday, but the seventh day to us today is Saturday, and it must be remembered and kept holy, for it is the Sabbath.

Many people believe that creation took place in 6 actual days, and others believe that each day equaled a thousand years. Psalm 90:4 tells us, “A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”

And 2 Peter 3:8 also tells us, “A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” So if one day to God is a thousand years, then you could say that creation took God 6,000 years to create.

Albert Einstein, with his Theory of Relativity, discovered that the further you travel in the universe, time becomes irrelevant. He also discovered that there is a point where the past, present, and future are all at the same time. Did Einstein discover the mystery of God? I’m not sure, but one thing we have learned from creation is that we must be people of light and not darkness. We must be people of the day and not night.

Einstein, who did not believe in God, wrote the following statement about death. It comes from a letter to the family of Michele Besso, his life-long collaborator and closest friend, and was written a few days after Einstein learned of his death:

Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.

Einstein did not reject the existence of time. Instead, he rejected the distinction between past, present, and future. This may seem like a minor difference, but it is not. Albert Einstein was closer to believing in God than he realized.

Psalm 19:1-6 tells us, 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Life

So let’s continue. Genesis 1:20-23 goes on to say that on the fifth day, God filled the waters with living creatures and He filled the sky with birds: And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

Life began on Earth as early as the third day. On the third day, God created vegetation and trees, all bearing seeds so that His creation could continue to multiply on the earth. And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. It is very interesting that in between creating the birds and fish and vegetation, He created the sun, moon, and stars. As we saw, the sun and moon and stars were not only created to separate day from night, but to mark the sacred times and days and years. Many of God’s Appointed Times reflect the different growing seasons, and so it makes sense that God placed the timing of His creation of these so-called “markers” right after He created the vegetation. It all falls in line with the timing of the harvests.

So now this takes us to the sixth day. Genesis 1:24-25 tells us this: “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Now that there was grass upon the earth, God created the animals, but God needed someone to take care of His creation.

Genesis 1:26-27 says, Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.

When God created man, He created him in His image. What does that mean? It means that God is a Spirit, and we too have an eternal spirit. He also made man with the ability to have knowledge and understanding. He gave us the capability of making decisions and having certain of God’s characteristics, like love. The rabbis interpret the statement, “Let us make man in our image” as a reference to God and the angels. They say that God consulted the angels in His creation of man as a sign of respect towards them. Rashi says in his commentary on Genesis 1:26, “From here we learn the humility of the Holy One, blessed be He. Since man was created in the likeness of the angels, and they would envy him, He consulted them.” Another interpretation says that the “us” is God and His Torah. “The Holy One, blessed be He, spake to the Torah: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” Interestingly, in this story the Torah responds with an objection: 

(The Torah) spake before Him: Sovereign of all the worlds! The man whom Thou wouldst create will be limited in days and full of anger; and he will come into the power of sin. Unless Thou wilt be long-suffering with him, it would be well for him not to have come into the world. The Holy One, blessed be He, rejoined: And is it for nought that I am called ‘slow to anger’ and ‘abounding in love’?” (Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer 11:5)

In no way does or should man be compared to an animal just because they were created on the same day. God cannot be compared to an animal, and if we are made in His image then we ought not be compared to an animal either—which also means that we did not evolve from one. Psalm 8 speaks of man and his place in creation: Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants You have established a stronghold against Your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of Your hands; You put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

We see clearly that man was made just a little lower than the angels and that man has the authority over all of God’s creation. There is an interesting rabbinic story about Adam and the angels. According to a passage in Bereshit Rabbah, a group of angels objected to the creation of mankind, seeing that humans would bring evil into the world:  R. Simon said: When the time came for the Holy Blessed One to make the first human being, The Ministering Angels made themselves into competing counsels, with one group opposing the other. Some of them said, “Don’t create humans,” and the others said “Create them.” So it is written: “Kindness and Truth met against one another, Righteousness and Peace faced each other.” The angel of Kindness said, “Create them, for they will do acts of loving kindness.” Then the angel of Truth said, “Do not create them, for they will be full of lies.” The angel of Righteousness said, “Create them, for they will establish justice.” The angel of Peace said, “Do not create them, for they will be in constant strife!” . . . R. Huna of Tzipori said: While the Ministering Angels were occupying one another with litigation and debate, The Holy Blessed One created them and turned to the angels saying, “What are you arguing about? Humans have already been created.” (Bereshit Rabbah 8:5)  Although through this parable the rabbis acknowledged these negative traits in humanity and our potential for wickedness, they also recognized the glory and authority that God gave humanity. They understood that we must use this gift correctly. One story says that when Adam was created, he had such a glorious appearance that the animals all tried to worship him. 

All the creatures saw him and became afraid of him, thinking that he was their Creator, and they came to prostrate themselves before him. Adam said to them: What (is this), ye creatures! Why are ye come to prostrate yourselves before me? Come, I and you, let us go and adorn in majesty and might, and acclaim as King over us the One who created us. If there be no people to acclaim the king as king, the king acclaims himself. If there be no people to praise the king, the king praises himself. In that hour Adam opened his mouth and all the creatures answered after him, and they adorned in majesty and might and acclaimed their Creator as King over themselves, and they said, “The Lord reigneth, he is apparelled with majesty” (Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer 11:9-10).  Part of man’s dominion over the earth includes the consequence of his sin: that the earth was cursed: Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, “You shall not eat of it,” cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.(Genesis 3:17-18)

Creation now longs for the redemption that will come in the Messianic Era when it will be restored again to the way it was in Eden, before the earth was cursed due to man’s disobedience:

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (Romans 8:19-22)

In the Kingdom, Messiah, as the second Adam, will then have the dominion over a restored creation. Isaiah 55:12-13 says, For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

And Leviticus 26:4-5 likewise says, Then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely.

In the meantime, mankind’s dominionship over nature does not mean he may rule as a tyrant. The rabbis emphasized that we are supposed to take care of the earth and be good stewards. Kohelet Rabbah 7:20 contains a short story that makes this point:  When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first man, He took him and led him round all the trees of the Garden of Eden, and said to him, “Behold My works, how beautiful and praiseworthy they are! All that I have created, I have created for you. Pay heed that you do not damage and destroy My universe; for if you damage it there is no one to repair it after you.”

So let us stop here and let’s look at chapter 2 of Genesis, where we see that the creation account is retold. Why is that?

Genesis 2:1 begins by saying, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.” 

Genesis 2:2-3 goes on to tell us that God’s work was finished: By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.

So God saw that all was good and He rested on the seventh day and blessed the seventh day and made it holy (or you could say, He set it apart from all the other days). This was God’s last Appointed Time that He created, and because God set the day apart, all mankind should also consider this day holy. Jewish theologian Abraham Heschel has famously referred to the Sabbath as a sanctuary in time. Just like the physical sanctuary of the temple was a holy place in physical space, the Sabbath functions as a holy place in time because it was set apart for that purpose by God. It is sanctified when we honor its boundaries. Since the Sabbath was inaugurated in Eden, it is an open invitation to all humanity. 

We see now that God’s creation is finished, and we can say that this Great Architect, this Master Builder, this Great Artist, has designed and built and painted a beautiful picture of Himself, a picture of His love. And to that, we can say with Him, “It is good”. Let us join in with the Psalmist as he writes in Psalm 57:9-11, I will praise You, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of You among the peoples. For great is Your love, reaching to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be over all the earth.

Genesis 2:4-6 continues, This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but a mist came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 

Because the Scripture tells us that no shrub or plant had sprung up yet since God had not yet sent rain, but mist came up from the earth, we can assume that this is referring to the beginning of the third day of creation, as it tells us in Genesis 1:9-13, 

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

The passage in Genesis 2 means that in the days of Noah people had never seen rain before, thus it really was by faith that Noah built the ark, as Hebrews 11:7. tells us,  By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

So how was the vegetation watered? Genesis 2:4-6 tells us: by the “mist”. Let’s stop here to look closer at this mist. 

The Dew of Heaven

This mist is also called “the dew” (tal in Hebrew), referring to the morning dew and the night time dew. In times of heat and drought the dew is very important. The dew is often called “the dew of heaven.” It was a blessing from God. 

When Isaac blessed Jacob, part of that blessing had to do with the dew. Genesis 27:28 says, “May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine.”

But to Esau we see there would be no blessing of dew, as in Genesis 27:39 it says, “Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, ‘Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, and away from the dew of heaven from above.’”

We see the manna came with the dew, as Exodus 16:13-14 tells us, So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground.

Numbers 11:9 likewise says, “When the dew fell on the camp at night, the manna would fall with it.”

We know that Yeshua (the Word of God made flesh) is the true manna from heaven, as He tells us in John 6:48-51, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.

We continue to see dew as a blessing. Deuteronomy 33:28 says, “So Israel dwells in security, the fountain of Jacob secluded, in a land of grain and new wine; his heavens also drop down dew.”

What was a blessing from God could also become a judgment from God, as we see in 1 Kings 17:1, “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.’”

And again in Haggai 1:9-10, “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of My house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.”

2 Samuel 1:21 likewise says, “O mountains of Gilboa, let not dew or rain be on you, nor fields of offerings; for there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.”

Proverbs gives us another take on the word dew in Proverbs 19:12, “A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.”

Here we see the dew as God’s grace or mercy.

Micah 5:7 tells us that God’s people will be like the dew bringing a blessing as they go throughout the world: “Then the remnant of Jacob will be among many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers on vegetation.”

Isaiah 26:19 speaks of the dew and relates it to the resurrection from the dead: “Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.”

So if the dew represents the redeemed of the Lord in the resurrection, then we can say that Romans 6:4 is also true, “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

We can say correctly that the dew of heaven is truly part of the covenant.

Male and Female 

Let us continue in Genesis 2, for it leaves us with questions. 

You notice in the first account of the creation of mankind that God refers to His creation in a generic manner, “male and female.” The creation of male and female has the Jewish scholars believing that this generic reference is because God created the first human to be both male and female as one being. The rabbis came up with the idea that Adam was created as an androgyne (an androgynous person, both sexes in one individual) by comparing the creation of humans in Genesis 1 with the creation of Eve from Adam’s rib in Genesis 2: whereas in Genesis 1 it says they were created together, in Genesis 2 Eve is created from Adam. So to resolve this, they posited that Adam was created both male and female in one body, and that in Genesis 2 God separated Eve and Adam into two beings. This is found in Bereshit Rabbah 8:1: 

Said R’ Yirmiyah ben Elazar: In the hour when the Holy One created the first human, He created him [as] an androgyne/androginos, as it is said, “male and female He created them”. Said R’ Shmuel bar Nachmani: In the hour when the Holy One created the first human, He created [for] him a double-face, and sawed him and made him backs, a back here and a back here, as it is said, “Back (achor) and before (qedem) You formed me” [Psalm 139:5]. 

Some of the rabbis objected to this interpretation, since in Genesis 2 God takes one of Adam’s ribs to create Eve. Those who supported the androgyne position appealed to Exodus 26:20, where the same root word translated “rib” in Genesis 2 refers to one of the sides of the tabernacle; thus, God took one of Adam’s sides, or halves, to create Eve.

This conversation is repeated in Vayikrah Rabbah 14:1:  Said Rav Shmuel bar Nachman: When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first man, He created him as an androgynous being. Reish Lakish [said]: When it was created, dual faces [together] were created, and it was cut, and two were made. [One] back was male, [one] back was female.

The myth of the androgyne may not be as far-fetched as it appears on the surface. An extremely rare anomaly during developmental stages in some species of animals causes them to become “bilateral gynandromorphs”: half of their body structure is male and the other half is female. These animals appear as if someone cut a male and female organism in half and sewed them seamlessly together. These gynandromorphs differ from hermaphrodites because they contain both male and female body structure combined rather than just male and female sexual organs. 

Remember that man was created in God’s image, which means that God, in all of His great power and might, is also gentle, loving, and kind. He is our father and also our mother, thus encompassing the nature of both male and female. 

The name used in this passage, ha-adam, is a generic term for humankind which encompasses male and female, but as one human being. It is believed that they were connected side by side or even back to back, but the female side of man was not good for him. In another stream of Jewish thought, the story goes that the woman’s name was Lilith, and she did not like her husband. In fact, she hated him and despised him. Lilith is a sort of a forerunner for darkness and evil, but God saw that this was not good. God had to replace Lilith. 

So God brought the animals for Adam to name but saw that they were not a suitable helper. Genesis 2:18-20 says, The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

Genesis 2:21-24 continues, So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’, for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

The woman was called Eve, but in Hebrew she is called Chavah, which means “to breathe, to live, to give life.” God separated the male and the female into two living beings, and only at marriage the two once again become one. In the retold story of the creation of man it tells us this: “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan contains a tradition that Adam was created with dust taken from the temple mount.  And the Lord God created man in two formations; and took dust from the place of the house of the sanctuary, and from the four winds of the world, and mixed from all the waters of the world, and created him red, black, and white; and breathed into his nostrils the inspiration of life, and there was in the body of Adam the inspiration of a speaking spirit, unto the illumination of the eyes and the hearing of the ears. (Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 2:7) Again we see one more name for our Creator: the Potter. The Scriptures repeatedly refer to God as the Potter and man as the clay, as we see here in Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O LORD, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand.”

This title is seen again in Jeremiah 18:3-6: So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand, Israel.” 

Paul tells the Corinthians this in 2 Corinthians 4:6-7: For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Messiah. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. And this brings us to another thought. If Adam and Eve were the first people created, and they had two children after leaving Eden (Cain and Abel), then why was Cain afraid of people killing him? Could this answer why there are two creation accounts of man?

Genesis 4:13-16 says, Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. Today You are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from Your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Who were these people that Cain was afraid of, and where did they come from if there was only Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel? I believe when we look at the first account of the creation of man, we see that they were made in God’s image, which is having an eternal soul; but in the second account, God not only made them in His image, but He breathed into them the breath of life. Even Chavah’s (Eve’s) name means “to breathe.” The breath of life in Hebrew is nishmat hayyim. This is important because we know that breath is also represented by the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of life. Here are just a couple examples.

2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness..” 

John 20:22, “And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

So, could the first creation account speak of the general populace of people? As Genesis 1:28 tells us, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” Then the second retold version would be the creation of Adam and Eve, who would be the family line in which the Patriarchs and the Messiah would come. 

We will continue to take a closer look into this, but first:

The Garden of Eden

Genesis 2:8-14 tells us, 

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

So was the Garden of Eden in Israel, with the Tree of Life planted in Jerusalem, the center? You may say, “But the Euphrates and Tigris rivers are by Baghdad in Iraq.” We must remember that we cannot look at our modern maps and think that this is how the land was back in the beginning. We also have to take into consideration the Flood and how much the landscape changed after that, so the flow of these rivers also could have changed. But we also must think about this: just how big was the garden of Eden, if every animal and every tree and shrub that was created was there? Besides all of those that exist today, there have been so many kinds of animals, vegetation, and trees that have become extinct, even like the dinosaurs. We know that Israel once owned Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Palestine. We will take a closer look as we go on.

We now see God as a gardener, planting a garden with fruit trees by four rivers in the east, a place called Eden. In the middle of the garden were two trees, specific trees which were called out from the other trees—one was the Tree of Life, and the other the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. 

Let’s take a closer look at these two trees. The Tree of Life was just that—it brought life. 

Proverbs 3:13-18 tells us this: 

Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.

Proverbs 3:19-24 continues, 

The Lord made the earth, using His wisdom. He set the sky in place, using His understanding. With His knowledge, He made springs flow into rivers and the clouds drop rain on the earth. My child, hold on to wisdom and good sense. Don’t let them out of your sight. They will give you life and beauty like a necklace around your neck. Then you will go your way in safety, and you will not get hurt. When you lie down, you won’t be afraid; when you lie down, you will sleep in peace.

We know that wisdom can only be the Word of God/Yeshua, as John 1:14 tells us, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” And the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, as we read in Ephesians 6:17, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” 

So is Proverbs saying that if we find wisdom, we will find the Tree of Life? Yes! Yeshua was in the middle of the garden just like He was in the wilderness, for we saw Him in the rock that followed the Israelites and gave them water, and in the manna that they ate, as we read in 1 Corinthians 10:3-4, “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Messiah.” 

Again in John 6:31-33,

“Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” Yeshua then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”

So how about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? If the Tree of Life was God’s wisdom that brought life, we see that the Tree of Knowledge brought death to Adam and Eve. In Romans, Paul tells us exactly that about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil:

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. (Romans 7:7-12)

Genesis 3:1-6 tells us, 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

The Fruit of the Garden

So we have one more question: was the fruit that Eve ate really an apple? Let’s consider this. There are 613 commandments in the Torah. It is believed that the pomegranate has exactly 613 seeds. So could the pomegranate, which is also round and red, be the fruit Eve ate, being that it represents the commandments? The pomegranate is a traditional fruit eaten at the Biblical Feast of Weeks, otherwise known as Pentecost. It is the commemoration of the giving of the Torah and the Holy Spirit. The pomegranate was on the priestly vestments, as we read in Exodus 28:31-35,

You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. It shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, so that it may not tear. On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the Holy Place before the LORD, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

Again the connection between pomegranates and death. Also, when you eat pomegranates with your hands it leaves a red blood stain. Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

Again in Jeremiah 2:22, “’Although you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is before Me,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

1 John 1:7 tells us (according to the Amplified Version), 

But if we [really] walk in the Light [that is, live each and every day in conformity with the precepts of God], as He Himself is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another [He with us, and we with Him], and the blood of Yeshua His Son cleanses us from all sin [by erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].

Maybe the apple was the fruit on the Tree of Life, because the apple is eaten at the Biblical Feasts of Trumpets to represent the sweetness of life. 

One thing we do know is that they took fig leaves to cover themselves. Genesis 3:7 says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Now, maybe the fig leaves were within arm’s length, or maybe they had just eaten those figs, but we see that after mentioning the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, now we see here fig leaves. This is very significant because figs are mentioned many times in the Bible. So what does this all represent? 

The Story of the Fig Tree

We see that after the reign of King Solomon the kingdom was divided into two—the northern ten tribes and the southern two tribes, as 1 Kings 12:20-24 tells us,

And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only. When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God: “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, for this thing is from Me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.

The house of Israel was referred to as an olive tree, and the house of Judah was referred to as a fig tree. We read in Scripture that both houses transgressed God laws and both fell into pagan practices. Jeremiah 24:1-10 gives us a hidden message:

After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be My people and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart. But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”

Did you catch the message? One basket was good and the other basket was bad, or should we say, evil. The baskets represent the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. 

In Matthew 21:18-20 Yeshua also has an encounter with a fig tree. 

In the morning, as He was returning to the city, He became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, He went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And He said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”

So what is the meaning of all of this? The fig tree represented the tribe of Judah. The tree was full of leaves—you would think that was good. It showed that the tree was alive and healthy, which the tribe of Judah was. But the tree had no fruit on it (figs), so Yeshua cursed it because no matter how healthy the tree was, it wasn’t any good without fruit. It shows the lack of spirituality of the tribe of Judah.

John 15:1-4, 6 tells us, 

I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. . . . If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

Matthew 21:43-44 continues, “Therefore I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Of course, we know that in 70 AD the curse of the fig tree quickly came, and the tree that was cursed withered very quickly, for John the Baptist said that the axe was already laid to the root: “Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). Other parables regarding the fig tree are in Luke 13:6-9 and Matthew 24:32-34. 

So we see that eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil had quite the impact throughout the history of mankind, but God did not leave us in such a desperate state, for He tells the serpent in Genesis 3:14-15, 

Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

And as we all know, the Savior, the Messiah Yeshua, came—and how did He die? On a tree! 

One more point. Genesis 3:21 tells us, “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” For God to make garments of skins implies that God sacrificed sheep to do that, symbolizing once again that Yeshua the Lamb of God would be sacrificed. How do we know that it was sheep? Because as we read in Revelation 13:8, the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. 

Where Is the Garden of Eden?

So let’s continue after that bite of fruit. If the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world, then could it be true what the Jewish scholars believe: that the Garden of Eden was created before the foundation of the world? Even though many other scholars feel that the Garden of Eden was mythical and did not exist, Scripture tells us something different. So where was the Garden of Eden? Could it have been in the heavenlies, as Revelation 2:7 tells us: “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the paradise of God.”

And yet, Yeshua Himself made reference to Eden in Luke 23:43. “Yeshua answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.’” Christians always make reference to the fact that we are going to spend eternity in heaven, so are they saying that Eden is in heaven? We say, find the Tree of Life and you will find Eden.

But to better understand the Garden of Eden, we must go to the Scriptures to look at the end of time to find the beginning. Here are a few clues on how it was at the time of creation.

Isaiah 11:6-9 tells us, 

And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The Garden of Eden will be as peaceful and bountiful as it was in the day that Adam walked with these same animals. In Judaism the process by which the world will one day be restored to Edenic paradise is called tikkun olam, “fixing/repairing the world.”

Regarding the bounty of the restored Garden of Eden, the second-century church father Irenaeus preserves a tradition from the earlier church father Papias.

Papias collected sayings which he claimed originated with the apostles. Unfortunately, Papias’ original works are lost, and all that remains of these sayings is what has been preserved by other authors who quoted him. One of these quotations is particularly interesting, touching on this topic of the Messianic Age. Irenaeus recounts one of the sayings that Papias attributed to Yeshua: 

The days will come in which vines shall grow, having each ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in every one of the shoots ten thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when pressed will give five-and-twenty metretes [approximately 264 gallons] of wine. And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, “I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me!” In like manner, He said that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear would have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds of clear, pure, fine flour; and that apples, and seeds, and grass would produce in similar proportions; and that all animals, feeding then only on the productions of the earth, would become peaceable and harmonious, and be in perfect subjection to man.

The quotation of Papias continues with an objection. Judas does not understand how such prosperity could be possible: 

And Judas the traitor, not believing, and asking, “How shall such growths be accomplished by the Lord?” the Lord said, “They shall see who shall come to them.” (Against Heresies, Book V, 33:4)

The reason that this is such an interesting saying is because it has parallels in early Jewish tradition. You may wonder, why does this saying use the specific figure ten thousand branches per vine? The reason is it is based on a Jewish style of interpretation which heavily relies on wordplay. We have seen a couple of examples of this interpretive style in earlier quotations from rabbinic literature. 

Here is how it works in the case of this saying attributed to Yeshua. Genesis 27:28 is part of a passage where Isaac is blessing his son Jacob. More than a blessing, it is a prophecy of the future. Isaac says, “Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and new wine.” The Hebrew word translated “abundance” in this verse is very similar to the word for “ten-thousandfold.” The idea of the talking grapes is likewise based on a wordplay in Genesis 49:12. Similar to the other verse, this one is part of Jacob’s blessing of his son Judah—the royal, Messianic line. This verse contains the phrase, “His eyes are darker than wine.” If you split one of the Hebrew words (chaklili) into three (chak li li), it could then be translated, “Taste me! My springs are richer than wine” (this being the grapes speaking). These two creative midrashic interpretations are brought together, connected by the prophetic, Messianic nature of their contexts, in the saying attributed to Yeshua by Papias.

This saying, and especially the interaction with the skeptical Judas, is very similar to a saying preserved in the Talmud. It is recorded that Rabbi Gamliel was teaching about the miraculous abundance and fertility that will take place in the Messianic Era: 

Rabban Gamliel sat and interpreted a verse homiletically: In the future, in the World-to-Come, trees will produce fruits every day, as it is stated: “And it shall bring forth branches and bear fruit” (Ezekiel 17:23); just as a branch grows every day, so too, fruit will be produced every day. A certain student scoffed at him and said: Isn’t it written: There is nothing new under the sun? He said to him: Come and I will show you an example of this in this world. He went outside and showed him a caper bush, part of which is edible during each season of the year. (b. Shabbat 30b)

Additionally, in the book of 1 Enoch there is a passage similar to the teaching ascribed to Yeshua by Papias. Speaking of the Messianic Kingdom and its Edenic qualities, it says:

And then shall the whole earth be tilled in righteousness, and shall all be planted with trees and be full of blessing. And all desirable trees shall be planted on it, and they shall plant vines on it: and the vine which they plant thereon shall yield wine in abundance, and as for all the seed which is sown thereon each measure (of it) shall bear a thousand, and each measure of olives shall yield ten presses of oil. (1 Enoch 10:18-20)

Again, there is a similar passage in 2 Baruch 29:4-8, which talks about the miraculous abundance of the Kingdom. Interestingly, within this fascinating passage we find the same teaching about the abundance of the vine, probably based on the same midrashic interpretation of Genesis 27. Also note the mention of dew, which we talked about earlier: 

And Behemoth shall be revealed from his place and Leviathan shall ascend from the sea, those two great monsters which I created on the fifth day of creation, and shall have kept until that time: and then they shall be for food for all that are left. The earth also shall yield its fruit ten thousandfold and on each vine there shall be a thousand branches, and each branch shall produce a thousand clusters, and each cluster produce a thousand grapes, and each grape produce a cor of wine. And those who have hungered shall rejoice: moreover, also, they shall behold marvels every day. For winds shall go forth from before Me to bring every morning the fragrance of aromatic fruits, and at the close of the day clouds distilling the dew of health. And it shall come to pass at that self-same time that the treasury of manna shall again descend from on high, and they will eat of it in those years, because these are they who have come to the consummation of time.

These were not just extravagant musings or fantasies. They are based on the words of the prophets who spoke of a future era of abundance in the Messianic Age.

Amos 9:13-14 speaks of the agricultural abundance that there will be in the Kingdom:

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.”

Likewise, Hosea 2:21-23 speaks of this same thing: 

“And in that day I will answer,” declares the Lord, “I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, and I will sow her for Myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are My people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”

Jeremiah 31:5 says, “Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit.”

Ezekiel 28:25-26 says, 

Thus says the Lord God: “When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest My holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they shall dwell in their own land that I gave to My servant Jacob. And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.”

Once again in Ezekiel 34:26-27, 

And I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them.

One final verse from the prophets is Isaiah 25:6, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.”

Yeshua also makes reference to the great feast in the Kingdom, which is a result of this miraculous abundance: “And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the Kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29). In another place He says, “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 8:11). This theme also shows up in the parables about the Kingdom, such as in Matthew 22, “The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son” (verse 2), and Matthew 25, “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast” (verse 10).

What we must understand is that when God created time, or should I say history, He created it in seven parts. The first part was pre-creation, when the Scriptures tell us, “In the beginning…” The second part was creation: “God created.” The third part was from Eden to pre-flood. The fourth part was from the flood to pre-Yeshua. The fifth part was post-crucifixion. The sixth part is the day of the Lord (called the end times), and the seventh part is the restored Eden, also called “The Age to Come,” which consists of the 1,000 year reign of Yeshua. These seven parts, or should we say “days,” coincide with the seven days of creation. 

Some commentators have understood that the six days of creation followed by the sabbath is a timeline of history. Psalm 90:4 says, “A day in Your sight is like a thousand years.” By this interpretation, history will be consummated after the earth has completed 6,000 years. The seventh day Sabbath in this sense foreshadows and represents the thousand-year millennial reign of Messiah. The early Christian writing Epistle of Barnabas passes on this tradition: 

Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, “He finished in six days.” This implies that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years. And He Himself testifies, saying, “Behold, today will be as a thousand years.” Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. “And He rested on the seventh day.” This means: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day. (Epistle of Barnabas 15:4-5)

So let’s look at this seventh day.

The Seventh Day: The Restored Eden

The reign of Yeshua is not in heaven, but right here on earth. Revelation 20:4-6 tells us,

Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Yeshua and because of the Word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Messiah and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

God promised King David that a descendant of his would reign on his throne forever, as 2 Samuel 7:16 tells us, “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever.'”

In 1 Kings 9:5, God passes the promise on to Solomon: “I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’”

Revelation 19:6-9 tells us of the great marriage feast that will take place for the redeemed in the restored Eden.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

So we see in Scripture what this will look like. Isaiah 2:2-3 says this: 

In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 35:8-10 tells us, 

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Jeremiah 31:12-14 tells us, 

“They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, and they will be radiant over the bounty of the Lord—over the grain and the new wine and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; and their life will be like a watered garden, and they will never languish again. Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together, for I will turn their mourning into joy and will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow. I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people will be satisfied with My goodness,” declares the Lord.

Revelation 22:1-2, says this: “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street.” Just like in Eden, we see again a river flowing through it. This river is also mentioned in Zechariah 14:8, “And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.” We see something similar in Ezekiel 47:12, 

By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.

Revelation 22:2-3 continues, referring to the trees by the river: 

On either side of the river was the Tree of Life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;

As we see, there will be no Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the restored Jerusalem because man has been redeemed and the stain has been washed away. Now the Law is within us, as Hebrews 8:10 tells us, 

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

But we will come and eat of God’s Word from the Tree of Life: “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them” (Hebrews 8:11).

Micah 4:2 also tells us,

Many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us about His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, even the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 2:3 is very similar: 

Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14:16-21 says, 

Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the plague He inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. On that day, “Holy to the Lord” will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord Almighty.

Isaiah 66:18-23 also says, 

“For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the Lord. “For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord.

As you see, the redeemed will be keeping the Feast of Tabernacles each year, because that is what this feast represents: dwelling with God for eternity. So this would be the fulfillment of this feast, along with the keeping of the New Moon celebration which brings in the new Biblical month. We shall also keep the seventh day Sabbath.

Hebrews 4:1-13 tells us this about the future Sabbath rest: 

Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in My anger, ‘They shall never enter My rest.’” And yet His works have been finished since the creation of the world. For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all His works.” And again in the passage above He says, “They shall never enter My rest.” Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This He did when a long time later He spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

1 Corinthians 13:8-10 tells us, 

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.

Many people feel that the day of perfection has arrived with the coming of Yeshua; but it is not His first coming that brought perfection, but His second coming that will bring perfection. With the restoring of Eden will come the restoring of Jerusalem.

And so Jerusalem shall become new, as Isaiah 54:11-13 tells us, 

O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones. All your sons will be taught of the Lord; and the well-being of your sons will be great.

Revelation 21:5-7 says this, 

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”

After the Age to Come, we will then enter into the “Hereafter.” The Hereafter happens after the thousand year reign of Messiah, also known as the restored Eden. Satan will once again be set free, and he will be cast into hell forever, and the second judgment takes place, and once again we see God creating. 

Isaiah 60:19-22 tells us, 

No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light; but you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory. Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane; for you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be over. Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. The smallest one will become a clan, and the least one a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.

Who is “the branch of my planting”? Isaiah 61:3 tells us this about God’s planting: “So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

Revelation 21:1 tells us, “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.”

As Revelation 21:9b tells us, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” Now once again we see here the bride in the age to come, but here she is the New Jerusalem. It continues in Revelation 21:10-27, 

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

The foundation stones to the New Jerusalem are like the ephod that was worn by the High Priest, as shown in Exodus 28:17-21, 

You shall mount on it four rows of stones; the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz and emerald; and the second row a turquoise, a sapphire and a diamond; and the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl and an onyx and a jasper; they shall be set in gold filigree. The stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names; they shall be like the engravings of a seal, each according to his name for the twelve tribes.

John 14:1-3 tells us about this New Jerusalem

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

So, are we the New Jerusalem?

Ephesians 2:19-22 tells us, 

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

Again in 1 Peter 2:4-6, 

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Messiah Yeshua. For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

We see from Scripture that there will be no sun or moon, for the glory of the Lord will illuminate it, and there will also be no sea. This means that the new Earth will not need to rotate around the sun, which means there will be no day or night, there will be no seasons, there will be no time. So you can basically say the Earth will not be round, because it will not rotate or spin around the sun or any other planet. There will be no sea, no tide, no weather, no atmosphere, no oxygen. 

Hebrews 1:10-12 tells us, 

You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they all will become old like a garment, and like a mantle You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end.

Philippians 3:20-21 tells us that we are being transformed, 

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Messiah Yeshua; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

We will continue to look at our transformation as we now take a look at Adam, because he is a big part of the garden of Eden.

Adam

So, who was Adam? I know that you will say, “He was the first man to be created.” Yes, but who was Adam? Adam was not just a mere man. We saw first of all that Adam was given the right to name all of the animals, which gave him the authority over all the animals. He was given the right to eat all of the fruit from the trees except the Tree of Knowledge, but He could eat from the Tree of Life. He was the keeper of the garden. He would walk with God in the garden. Adam was one more thing: he was king over God’s creation. The land, the water, the vegetation, the birds, the trees—he was ruler over it all. 

Adam and Eve were created as eternal beings. The glory of God was around them. The rabbis said that prior to their sin, Adam and Eve were dressed in heavenly garments of light and had a kind of protective skin around them made of the same material our fingernails are made out of. In Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer 14:3 we read, 

What was the dress of the first man? A skin of nail, and a cloud of glory covered him. When he ate of the fruits of the tree, the nail-skin was stripped off him, and the cloud of glory departed from him, and he saw himself naked.

The same thing is said in Bereshit Rabbah 20:12, where different rabbis give different interpretations about what the garments were—but instead of before the fall, they offer these comments about Genesis 3:21, where God creates garments for Adam and Eve after their sin:

“And the Lord God made for the human and for his woman clothing of skin, and dressed them.” In the Torah of Rabbi Meir we find written “clothing of light”—these garments of the primordial human resembled a torch: narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Rabbi Yitzchak the Greater says: This clothing was like fingernails, effulgent like pearl. Rabbi Yitzchak says: Like garments of the finest linen, like the kind that comes from Beit Sh’an. “Garments of skin” – because they clung to the skin. 

The idea of humans radiating light like this is also found in other rabbinic stories. For example, Devarim Rabbah 11 tells a story about when the angel of death, Samael, was sent to retrieve the soul of Moses. Note the description of Moses’ appearance: 

When he saw that Moses was sitting and inscribing the Ineffable Name, and that the splendor of his appearance was equal to that of the sun, and that he resembled one of the angels of the Lord of Hosts, Samael began to fear Moses.

Heavenly beings or humans who are in close contact with God having an appearance of light is found in various places in Scripture. Exodus 34:34-35 says, 

Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining.

When Yeshua was transfigured, “His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (Matthew 17:2). Those who partake in the resurrection will also shine when we receive our glorified bodies, perhaps in the same way that Adam and Eve did. Daniel 12:2-3 says,

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Yeshua likewise says that the righteous will have shining, glorious bodies in the resurrection: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43).

It was this light of glory that covered Adam and Eve so that they did not know that they were naked until they sinned and the glory of God left them. They were now mortal beings without the glory, and now their flesh was subject to death. The crown was now lost to the evil one. Scripture tells us in Psalm 8:5, “Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!”

When Adam sinned, Satan became the ruler of this world. 

John 14:30 says this, “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”

2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us, 

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Messiah, who is the exact likeness of God.

The Second Adam

After the first Adam sinned, God had to redeem man by sending the second Adam, that is, the Messiah. The idea of a heavenly Adam was not necessarily an innovation of the followers of Yeshua. The Hebrew phrase Adam Kadmon means “primordial man.” We recognize that Adam is the name of the first person that God created, and adam is the Hebrew word for “man” in general. Adam’s physical creation is described in the book of Genesis, as we know. However, the Rabbis questioned how it could be that a physical man was created in the image of an incorporeal God. The writings of the Zohar suggest that the physical man was created from the blueprint of a primordial, spiritual man, and it was this heavenly Adam who was the image of God; thus mankind is the image of God insofar as he was the imprint of this original heavenly Adam. So according to this Jewish interpretation, Adam was the first corporeal man, but he was preceded by a blueprint or ideal, spiritual man, Adam Kadmon, and created in this man’s image. 

This idea took varying forms in different schools of thought, and different Jewish mystics applied more or less of God’s attributes to Adam Kadmon as the image of God. These ideas didn’t fully develop until the Middle Ages, but some scholars believe that they existed in some form during the first century. The Hellenistic Jew Philo seems to speak of the same idea in his discussion of the creation of man. He contrasts Genesis 1 and 2. According to Philo’s allegorical method of interpretation, in Genesis 1 we see a description of the heavenly man, who is born or begotten in the image of God rather than created. This heavenly man is neither male nor female, but is the perfect representation of the Logos, the Word. We know that Yeshua as the Divine Word was present from the very beginning rather than begotten on the sixth day, but Philo’s interpretation is still interesting for its parallels. He then says that in Genesis 2 we see the earthly man who is constructed out of clay. Other scholars point to possible glimpses of this theology of a heavenly Adam in early rabbinic literature, such as Bereshit Rabbah 8:1, which says that when Adam was created, he was so large that he filled the entire world. 

Some scholars believe that the New Testament passages that compare Yeshua and Adam might have some common features with this school of thought, with the understanding that Yeshua was the Word even before creation, through whom all things came into being.

Colossians:1:15-20 tells us this about the second Adam, 

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.

Philippians 2:6-11 also says, 

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Messiah Yeshua is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Hebrews 2:14-17 tells us, 

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Like the first Adam, He will be the ruler of creation as Hebrews 2:5-9 tells us,

For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that You remember him? Or the son of man, that You are concerned about him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of Your hands; You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing that is not subject to Him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to Him. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Yeshua, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

Sin entered the world through Adam, as Romans 5:12-17 says, 

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Messiah Yeshua, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Messiah Yeshua.

Yeshua died on the cross to redeem man of his sin, as Hebrew 2:10-13 continues. 

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise.” And again, “I will put My trust in Him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.”

1 Corinthians 15:20-22 tells us, 

But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah all will be made alive.

We continue to look at the likeness of both Adams as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:40-47, 

There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.

As all mankind have been born like the first Adam, we will one day all rise again in the resurrection, and we who believe will be like the second Adam, our Messiah, as 1 Corinthians 15:48-49 tells us, “As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.”

As we see here in Colossians 2:15, the second Adam, our Messiah Yeshua, won the victory over all the evil forces in the heavenly realm. “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

Because of the victory of the second Adam, Messiah Yeshua, we too can have victory over the evil forces. 

As Ephesians 6:10-13 tells us, 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Luke 10:18-20 speaks of the power we have over the devil, and also our victory. 

He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

The crown that Adam lost, Yeshua our Messiah retook, and one day we all will wear the crown of glory. 1 Peter 5:4 tells us, “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

Leviticus 8:9 speaks about a crown that was to be placed on the High Priest Aaron’s head: “He also placed the turban on his head, and on the turban, at its front, he placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.” This is because Aaron represents Adam going into the Holy Place. After Adam was crowned, he entered the Holy Place, God’s presence in the garden. So too Aaron, after being crowned, ministered in the tabernacle. This represents Yeshua, the heavenly High Priest, who will one day wear the crown as He sits on the throne in the Kingdom. 

Zechariah 6:12-13 talks about the priest who sits on the throne, that is, Yeshua: 

Then say to him, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord. Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the Lord, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.’”

Zechariah 9:9-10 talks about Yeshua the Messiah and the peace that His earthly reign will bring: 

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; and the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; and His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

This passage was fulfilled in part when Yeshua rode into Jerusalem on a donkey prior to His crucifixion, and one day the rest will be fulfilled: His Kingdom will reign over all the earth.

And the last victory will be over death itself, as 1 Corinthians 15:53-55, tells us, 

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”

If Yeshua is the second Adam, and we are the Bride of Messiah, then we can be compared to Eve. In preparation for the creation of Eve, Adam falls into a deep sleep: “So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh” (Genesis 2:21). This is a foreshadowing of Yeshua’s death, since sleep is used as a euphemism for death, as in John 11:11-14:

After saying these things, He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Yeshua had spoken of his death, but they thought that He meant taking rest in sleep. Then Yeshua told them plainly, “Lazarus has died.”

In this sleep, Adam’s side was pierced to remove a rib, just like Yeshua’s side was pierced: “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water” (John 19:34). Through this sleep (death) and the removal of the rib, God created a wife for Adam, just like believers become Yeshua’s wife through His death:

Husbands, love your wives, as Messiah loved the church and gave Himself up for her. . . . Because we are members of His body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Messiah and the church. (Ephesians 5:25, 30-32)

All things will come together, as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:23-28, 

But each in his own order: Messiah the first fruits, after that those who are Messiah’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the Kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

One day the part of God that was drawn back to create space will be filled in, and there will be no need for time. Then as Isaiah saw in his vision, God’s train will once again fill the temple as we used for our example, the space that was created for man. We will live in God’s presence for eternity. For the Scripture tells us in John 14:20, “You will know at that time that I am in My Father and you are in Me and I am in you.”

So, one day we will all be in the Father, who will cover us with His glory, which is His presence, for our Messiah Yeshua is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

Psalm 36:5-9 tells us, 

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, Your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is Your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.

The Fall of the Angels

But this all leads us to the fallen angels: when did they fall, and why did they fall? Now, we want to say at this time that when Satan and the angels fell, it had to have been right before Adam and Eve fell, because as we said, before this time God called His creation good. 

Ezekiel 28:12-19 speaks a mystery about the fall of Satan: 

This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.”

1. Were There Two Edens?

This Scripture in Ezekiel tells us that Satan, this angel, the image of perfection, was in the Garden of Eden. We know that the Jewish scholars believe that Eden was created before the foundation of the world. We read here that Satan was the guardian cherub who was on the mount of God, but we also see that after he sinned he was thrown to the earth. So can we surmise that Eden was located in the heavenlies? 

Remember what Yeshua told the thief on the cross? Luke 23:43 tells us, “And He said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.’”

Was the Paradise that Yeshua was speaking of the same Paradise that Satan once dwelt in? Is there a Paradise in heaven and a Paradise here on earth? Could it be the same situation as the sanctuary—one in heaven and a copy on earth? As Hebrews 8:5 tells us, 

They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

Let’s see if we can answer this question by taking a closer look into verse 14: “You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.” 

2. Holy Fire

The imagery in Ezekiel 28 takes us to the temple, as we see the image of Satan as the guardian cherub, or more specifically the “overarched” cherub, which makes us think of the golden-winged cherubs that guarded the Ark of the Covenant. God said to Moses that He would meet him between the wings of the cherubim, as Exodus 25:22 tells us, “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.” 

The ark is where the presence of God resided. In ancient literature, all deities did their business on mountains or in well-watered gardens. So I think that we can assume by the text that Eden is where God resided, and Satan was the angel that walked with God. 

So when we think of the fiery stones, this can only mean the holy mountain of God. We see that Mount Sinai, where Moses met God, was all ablaze with fire: “And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders” (Deuteronomy 5:23). We know that the bush was also ablaze with fire when God called Moses: “And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed” (Exodus 3:2). 

These fiery stones also give us the imagery of the Urim and Thummim which the priest would use when inquiring of the Lord. These stones would flash with a fiery light in accordance to the answer given by God. 

Psalm 104:4 even speaks of His angels as fire: “He makes the winds His messengers, flaming fire His ministers.” 

And of course, we know that God Himself is fire, as Hebrews 12:28-29 tells us, “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.” 

So we see by this imagery that yes, there could be two Edens. Years later, God had the Israelites construct a place on earth that would become another Eden, and that place was the Tent of Meeting which later became the temple. For we know that over the Ark of the Covenant there was a cloud of fire. Exodus 13:21-22 also tells us, 

The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

This pillar of fire was the same pillar of fire that rested upon the ark when the people would settle from their journey in the wilderness.

So, let’s continue on as we discuss the fall of the angels.

We read in Luke 10:18, “Yeshua replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’”

We see again in Isaiah 14:12-15, 

How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

We want to answer two questions: How could Satan have once laid low the nations? And isn’t Yeshua the one who is called the Morning Star? 

3. Let Truth Reign

In Ezekiel 28, Ezekiel has intertwined the imagery of the king of Babylon with Satan, comparing the fall of the King of Babylon to the fall of Satan. We know that the king of Babylon brought low the nations, as Isaiah 14:3-11 tells us, 

It shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: “How the oppressor has ceased, the golden city ceased! The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers: he who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he who ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted and no one hinders. The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Since you were cut down, no woodsman has come up against us.’ Hell from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming; it stirs up the dead for you, all the chief ones of the earth; it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. They all shall speak and say to you: ‘Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments; the maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you.’”

So that explains how Satan laid low the nations. But this also corresponds to the fall of the Harlot of Babylon in Revelation 18:9-20, 

And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, “Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more—cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them. The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, “Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!” And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, “What city is like the great city?” And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, “Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!” Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.

When one does not follow the true light, he will end up following the false light. 

Satan was not the angel of light, but only appeared as the angel of light to deceive mankind, as 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 tells us, 

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Messiah. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

In Roman astronomy, the name Lucifer was given to the Morning Star, which we now call Venus. The Morning Star appears in the heavens just before dawn, just before the sunrise. The name Lucifer comes from the Latin term lucem ferre meaning “bearer of light.” Isaiah was only implying that the two, the king of Babylon and Satan, were both deceivers. Today’s modern versions of the Bible have used the term “morning star” for Satan, but this term only refers to the Lord Messiah Yeshua and using it for anyone else is plain blasphemy.

In Revelation 22:16 Yeshua clearly says, “I, Yeshua, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” 

Numbers 24:17 tells us that Baalam prophesied about this star who would be the Messiah: “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall crush through the forehead of Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth.”

4. We All Have to Make a Choice

We have to ask ourselves, why did this beautiful, perfect angel fall? When God said he was the seal of perfection, we have to think: what does that mean? Back in the day when people would put a seal on their documents, it meant that they gave that document their utmost consideration and approval. We know that after every day of creation God said it was good, but of Satan God said His seal of perfection was placed upon him. 

How much more can you say than, “How could he have rebelled against God?” After all, God was his creator also. The angels, like man, have a choice, and when Satan made his choice to be like God, many angels made their choice to follow him.

In Revelation 22:9 the angel says this to John when he bows down to him: “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!” One day everything will be in Yeshua—man and angel and all will be in God. 

So the question is, why? Why did Satan fall? The story goes, in Jewish belief, that when God created Adam, Satan saw that God had a different relationship with man than with the angels. Man was made in His image and God loved Adam and Eve. God created and gave all of His creation into their hands and He crowned them with His glory. Satan became jealous. 

Wisdom of Solomon 2:23-24 says that it was the devil’s envy that brought death into the world: “God created man for incorruption, and made him in the image of His own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his party experience it.” 

Also, in the Latin Life of Adam and Eve, the first couple asks the devil why he is so intent on deceiving humanity and trying to make us fall. His response is that humans are the reason for his fall: 

It is for thy sake that I have been hurled from that place [heaven]. When thou wast formed, I was hurled out of the presence of God and banished from the company of the angels. When God blew into thee the breath of life and thy face and likeness was made in the image of God, Michael also brought thee and made us worship thee in the sight of God; and God the Lord spake: “Here is Adam. I have made thee in our image and likeness.” And Michael went out and called all the angels saying, “Worship the image of God as the Lord God hath commanded.” . . . And I answered, “I have no need to worship Adam.” And since Michael kept urging me to worship, I said to him, “Why dost thou urge me? I will not worship an inferior and younger being than I. I am his senior in the Creation, before he was made was I already made. It is his duty to worship me.” When the angels, who were under me, heard this, they refused to worship him. And Michael saith, “Worship the image of God, but if thou wilt not worship him, the Lord God will be wrath with thee.” And I said, “If He be wrath with me, I will set my seat above the stars of heaven and will be like the Highest.” And God the Lord was wrath with me and banished me and my angels from our glory; and on thy account were we expelled from our abodes into this world and hurled on the earth. And straightway we were overcome with grief, since we had been spoiled of so great glory. And we were grieved when we saw thee in such joy and luxury. And with guile I cheated thy wife and caused thee to be expelled through her doing from thy joy and luxury, as I have been driven out of my glory.

According to the Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer, the devil and his band of angels decided to cause the man to sin because they felt threatened by him. God proved Adam’s power when He gave him authority to name the animals: “When the ministering angels saw this they retreated, and the ministering angels said: If we do not take counsel against this man so that he sin before his Creator, we cannot prevail against him” (13:1). 

We know that Satan was also filled with pride, and we know what happens when one is full of pride, as Proverbs 16:18 tells us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Satan, even though he was the most beautiful angel and the highest ranking angel who stood before God, was not satisfied, for he too wanted to be God and have people bow down to Him. We see here the beginning of Humanism, the religion of Satan, which says we all are gods. Satan wanted to sit on God’s throne and reign over man and creation. So now Satan has become God’s adversary and the accuser of the brethren—for that is what the name Satan means, ”accuser,” proving to God that His mankind could and would also fall.

Satan comes to Eve as a snake to deceive her into thinking that if they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they too would be gods. This religion of Satan has come all throughout history to today. Let’s pick up the story in Genesis 3:1-7, 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Eve was not the only one that Satan tempted, as we see in Matthew 4:1-11, 

Then Yeshua was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Yeshua answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Yeshua answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will bow down and worship me.” Yeshua said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.

We see here a similar situation where Satan used food to tempt, and again his motive was to get Yeshua to worship him.

So here in chapter 3 of Genesis we see the fall of man, and we see the possession of the serpent by Satan. Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer 13:3 says that the serpent was possessed by the angel Samael, which could perhaps be understood as another name for the devil: 

A parable, to what is the matter like? To a man in whom there was an evil spirit. All the deeds which he does, or all the words which he utters, does he speak by his own intention? Does he not act only according to the idea of the evil spirit, which (rules) over him? So (was it with) the serpent. All the deeds which it did, and all the words which it spake, it did not speak except by the intention of Samael.

This was the first time, but not the last time, that Lucifer would possess someone or something. We know that Satan entered into Judas as John 13:26-27 tells us, 

Yeshua answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, He gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So if Satan was cast out of heaven why do we still see him in heaven? We must understand that God created the heavens, which consisted of three levels. Remember, Satan wanted to leave his position to sit on the throne of God which was above the heavenlies, as Psalm 113:4-6 tells us, “The Lord is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?“

5. The Accuser of the Brethren

As the accuser of the brethren, Satan has to come before God, the righteous Judge, to plead his case. We see him before God asking Him if Job was as righteous as God said He was. So God allowed Job to be put to the test. Job 1:6-12 says, 

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” 

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have You not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out Your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Again, in Zechariah 3:1-2, 

Then he showed me Joshua the High Priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

But Satan does not work alone, for one third of the angels fell with him in his rebellion. These angels are called demons; and just as before their fall, the devil’s army of angels also have rank, as we see in Colossians 2:14-15:

Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

And yet again in Ephesian 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

We see this in Luke 10:17-19, 

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”

Since we have looked into the beginning, let us now look at the end. Revelation 12:3-4 tells us, 

Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.

Revelation 12:7-9 continues,

Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

The time will come when the accuser of the brethren will no longer be able to come and stand before God. He will be thrown out once and for all.

Revelation 12:10-12 tells us, 

Now the salvation, and the power, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of His Messiah have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.

Knowing that his time is short, the devil will go out to deceive the nations. This is what he is doing today. Satan will possess the one that will be called the Antichrist or the Lawless One, for he will be against the Torah (God’s Word). We see throughout history many people who fit the description of the Antichrist—Nero, Constantine (who changed the Appointed Times to pagan days), Hitler, and so many more, as John tells us in 1 John 2:18, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”

This is what the last hour looks like,

Revelation 13:1-6 says this: 

And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

Satan will finally have his desire fulfilled as being ruler of the nations. He will deceive them as he did Eve and everyone else throughout the centuries. His religion of Humanism, which says everyone is a god, will come to an end with the fall of Babylon. Yeshua will conquer the devil, and as Revelation 20:2 tells us, “He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”

The Sacrifice That Covers Us

After Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, their eyes were opened and the glory of God stripped them bare, and in their shame they covered themselves with fig leaves. But God showed mercy and sacrificed animals to clothe them. 

So, if Adam and Eve made garments from the fig leaves, then why did God have to clothe them? And why did He have to sacrifice animals to do it? I mean, didn’t God just speak the world into existence? Why didn’t He just speak garments into being and have them appear on the spot? I guess the answer is that this was a foreshadowing of what God told the serpent in Genesis 3:14-15,

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 3:15 interprets this verse as a prophecy about the Messiah, although not in quite the same way as it would come to be understood in Christianity: 

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between the seed of thy son, and the seed of her sons; and it shall be when the sons of the woman keep the commandments of the law, they will be prepared to smite thee upon thy head; but when they forsake the commandments of the law, thou wilt be ready to wound them in their heel. Nevertheless for them there shall be a medicine, but for thee there will be no medicine; and they shall make a remedy for the heel in the days of the King Messiah.

In this interpretation the serpent, rather than being the devil as we understand it, instead represents the evil inclination. The Targum says that evil desires can be conquered by submitting to God’s commandments. Ultimately, however, it promises the ultimate victory only when the Messiah comes. 

We know that this was fulfilled when Yeshua came. Yeshua was the one who was going to crush Satan’s head, and in so doing Satan was going to bruise His heel. We know that this is what serpents do, because they slither upon the ground and when they lift their heads they snap at your heels. But our Messiah is high and lifted up, and He was able, and so He did crush his head. 

Yeshua’s sacrifice was a sin offering that made atonement for sin. The sin offering was made for sins committed in ignorance, or unintentional sins. This is interesting, because we see here that it may be committed out of ignorance. We see in Genesis 3:13 that God asks Eve this question: “Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’” 

As you see, He did not say, “You should have known better,” or “I told you.” The question was asked as if she didn’t realize what she had done. But God demonstrated that He would send someone who would make this sacrifice on our behalf once and for all. 

So let’s look at the crucifixion, after Yeshua had died. John 19:34 tells us this: “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” If Yeshua was already dead, then why did the soldier thrust His side? It was to show us that Yeshua died for the sin that took place at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve was created from the rib of Adam, and Yeshua was thrust through at His ribs. It was truly finished! Yeshua’s sacrifice on God’s altar, where He shed His blood for our sin, now covers us. The Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world, which was in the spiritual realm, now fulfilled it in the physical realm, and it was now truly finished.

Genesis 3:24 goes on to tell us, “So He drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the Tree of Life.” 

To understand this better we must look at the whole scenario. Adam and Eve, who had been immortal with the glory of God all around them, now faced imminent death. 

They could no longer come into God’s presence. You must realize the pain that Adam and Eve felt, and this is exactly what sin brings—pain, abandonment, and death. There would be no more walking with God in the cool of the evening. There would be no more garden with all of God’s provisions, but only toil and hard work and hardships. 

So we see that cherubs now guard the garden of Eden with flaming swords. We know that Satan was the “Arch-Cherub,” like the archangels that covered the Ark of the Presence in the Tent of Meeting. And what was in the Ark of the Presence? The Ten Commandments, the Tree of Life, as Proverbs 3:13-18 tells us, 

Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.

Scripture also tells us that the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, a Tree of Life for those who take hold of it. The Garden of Eden, which was peaceful and bountiful and held the Tree of Life which was for all those who would receive her, was now barred and guarded with flaming swords. This is the same Garden of Eden that was believed to have existed before the foundation of the world. It was now off limits to mankind. We know that the Mishkan, the Tent of Meeting, represented the Garden of Eden. We know that the most inner court, which was called the Holy of Holies, was where the presence of God resided, and it was so holy that even the High Priest could not enter it except for once a year, as Hebrews 9:6-7 tells us, 

Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the High Priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.

Hebrews 9:11-12 tells us . 

But when Messiah appeared as a High Priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

We see that the second Adam, Yeshua our Messiah, was also immortal and became like one of us, mortal. He was the glory of God, and became a servant. He too was cast out from the presence of God when He who knew no sin took upon Himself the sins of the world. He became our High Priest through His shed blood by which He became our atonement, and His shed blood now covers us.

Melchizedek

We find another High Priest, named Melchizedek. He too is a mystery.

Who was this man, and where did he come from? We read about a story where Abraham and Melchizedek meet after Abraham wins a great victory.

Genesis 14:17-23 says, 

Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all. The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself.” Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’”

There have been many theories about who this High Priest was. In Jewish tradition it is believed that Melchizedek was Noah’s son, Shem. Some people believe that it was Yeshua, but let’s see if that is really true.

Hebrews 7:1-17 tells us this:

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of Him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”

So we see that Melchizedek is the king of righteousness, king of Salem, and the king of peace. We know that the meaning of Jerusalem is “city of peace (shalom).” In Hebrew it is Yerushalayim. David writes in Psalm 76:2, “His tabernacle is in Salem; His dwelling place also is in Zion.”

We know that Melchizedek was in Jerusalem. So what was he doing there? We know that he had no genealogy, which means he was not a mortal man. He was a heavenly being resembling the Son of God. Now, people think this means that he was Yeshua, but this is not so, because the angels were also referred to as sons of God. One example of this is in Genesis 6:1-2, “When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.”

So we know that Melchizedek was a heavenly being in Jerusalem and that he was a High Priest. Now, we know that angels surrounded the Tree of Life in Jerusalem with flaming swords. The location of the Tree of Life had to be the place where the temple would one day be built—in fact, right where the Holy of Holies would be. This place was so holy that Melchizedek the High Priest was ministering to the Lord there. 

Abraham knew to give him a tenth, maybe because Abraham knew of him. Before the Torah was given on Mount Sinai, we see in the Scriptures many of the commandments being kept—for instance, Cain and Abel giving offerings to God, and here with Abraham giving a tithe. We know that the Torah is like the Tree of Life to all who take hold of it, and when God gave the Torah to His people at Mt. Sinai it was like releasing the Tree of Life from those flaming swords. That is why over the Ark of the Covenant the angels’ wings are arched: for man (the High Priest) to come into God’s presence once again. 

When Yeshua died, the last and final offering for sin, He made the way for all of us to enter into God’s presence and partake of the Tree of Life. By His sacrifice Yeshua tore the veil, as Matthew 27:50-51 tells us, “And Messiah cried again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. And at once the curtain of the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split.” Melchizedek was the foreshadowing of all of that which was fulfilled in Yeshua. 

Abraham was given that revelation in part with Melchizedek and in full at the binding of Issac. John 8:56-58 tells us, “’Abraham your father rejoiced to see My day; he saw it and was glad.’ So the Jews said to Him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old and You have seen Abraham?’ Yeshua said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.’”

Yeshua made the way for us to once again eat from the fruit of the Tree of Life and walk with our creator in the cool of the evening. 

So after all of that, we now see why God clothed Adam and Eve: for only in Messiah are we really clothed. Before Messiah, only the blood of bulls and goats could cover us, but now our righteousness in Messiah surpasses any animal sacrifice. 

One thing we must understand is that when Adam and Eve were told to leave the garden, the world entered into a dark period. With the presence of God removed from Adam and Eve, all mankind would now suffer. Only a few people would hear God’s voice. Only a few people had a revelation, and for the most part God only allowed this to happen after the flood, starting when He called Abraham. 

But then God, on Mount Sinai, gave His chosen people His revelation in the giving of the Torah, and with that God came down on the mountain with fire, as Exodus 19:18 tells us. “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.” 

But we see that Israel falls short and the darkness continues. Time and time again God has to remind His people through a word given by a prophet. But then there arose a prophet that Scripture said would be the light to the nations. Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” This was fulfilled by Yeshua’s ministry, as he quotes this verse in Matthew 4:16, “The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great Light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a Light dawned.” Yeshua came and He was the long awaited Light. He brought us the revelation that was lost at Eden, for He was the Word made flesh and dwelt among us.

Galatians 3:26-27 tells us, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Messiah Yeshua. For all of you who were baptized into Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah.”

Ephesians 2:13 tells us, “But now in Messiah Yeshua you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah.” Now we can be clothed in His righteousness

In Yeshua, the fulfillment spoken of in the garden was now complete. The serpent’s head has been crushed after the Redeemer’s heel was bruised, and the flaming swords which guarded the Tree of Life are now laid aside so all can come once again to eat from the Tree of Life.

The Mark of Cain

Adam and Eve now find themselves living outside of the garden. They have two sons, Cain and Abel. We are going to pick up the story at Genesis 4:9-15, where we find Cain just after he kills his brother. 

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, You have driven me today away from the ground, and from Your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.

God comes and asks Cain where his brother is. We know from verses 6-7 that God had warned Cain, something different than happened with Eve: “The Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.’”

God punishes Cain for His sin. We see no sin offering here because Cain was warned, and the deed could no longer have been done in ignorance. God cursed Cain and sent him off to be a fugitive, a wanderer. But Cain, who just killed his brother, now fears his own death. Now, you would have thought that Adam would have been the one to lament to God that he would no longer see His face after the exile from Eden, but here Cain does so, although he already was a fugitive and was hidden from God. Cain is just being a little hypocritical here with God, because he is only thinking of himself and not what he had just done to his brother. 

So what was this mark that God placed on Cain’s forehead? Well, we have to think about what Cain had just done: he killed his brother. The Torah teaches this regarding the cities of refuge in Deuteronomy 19:11-13: 

However, suppose a person hates someone else and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, and then flees to one of these cities. The elders of his own city must send for him and remove him from there to deliver him over to the blood avenger to die. You must not pity him, but purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.

The Code of Hammurabi, which is one of the oldest sets of laws, basically says, “An eye for an eye.” So we see why Cain was afraid that someone would kill him. This mark had to have been something that people would recognize and know meant that they were to leave Cain untouched. Remember what the Scripture tells us about Satan: he was the seal of perfection. So we can only imagine that the mark was some kind of seal. 

Let’s look at some Scriptures to back this up. First of all, we see that we too are sealed, as we read in Ephesians 1:13-14,

And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Messiah—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

And again in Revelation 7:2-3, 

Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He shouted out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given permission to damage the earth and the sea: “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

We see that the Israelites put the blood on their doorposts as a sign, as Exodus 12:22-23 tells us, 

Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

(As an aside, the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 4:3 says that the sacrifice of Cain and Abel was a Passover sacrifice: “And it was at the end of days, on the fourteenth of Nisan, that Cain brought of the produce of the earth . . . ”. If this is true, then it adds an interesting dimension to Yeshua’s crucifixion, which also took place on Passover. The author of Hebrews notes that the blood of Yeshua “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24), and maybe there is more to this comparison than has previously been recognized. While the blood of righteous Abel cried out to God in condemnation, Yeshua’s blood speaks forgiveness and cleansing for all those who come to be washed by Him.)

We see the rainbow was a sign in Genesis 9:13, “I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.”

Circumcision was a sign, as Genesis 17:11 tells us, “You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.”

Even the letter “A” was put upon people who committed adultery. This is in fact what the Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer says the mark was: one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. “What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He took one letter from the twenty-two letters, and put it upon Cain’s arm that he should not be killed, as it is said, ‘And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain’” (Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer 21). Alternatively, another tradition said that the word “Sabbath” was inscribed on him: 

There are some who say that the word “Sabbath” was placed as a sign upon his countenance, as it is said: ‘My Sabbaths, for it is the sign between Me and you, throughout your generations’ (Exodus 31:13), and that just as the Sabbath pleaded in behalf of Adam, it pleaded in behalf of Cain. Others, however, insist that He fastened a horn upon his forehead. (Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit 10.1)

We do know that Cain was not sealed or marked as one of God’s servants, but in fact as one of God’s enemies—an enemy who had God’s protection from his enemies. Why would God do this? Maybe God hoped he would repent, or maybe God showed mercy, or maybe He wanted Cain to live out his punishment. 

We also see in Revelation 13:15-18,

The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He also caused everyone (small and great, rich and poor, free and slave) to obtain a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. Thus no one was allowed to buy or sell things unless he bore the mark of the beast—that is, his name or his number. This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has insight calculate the beast’s number, for it is man’s number, and his number is 666.

Maybe Cain was branded with a mark or a letter, but either way we see that this was common.

Some traditions were passed down which tried to explain that eventually justice was served to Cain in the end. One tradition said that Cain was accidentally killed by Lamech, based on his outburst in Genesis 4:24, “If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” Here is the tradition as explained in the Midrash Tanchuma. This story is dependent on the tradition that the mark of Cain was a horn that grew out of his forehead: 

For one hundred and thirty years, Cain became an angel of death, wandering and roaming about, accursed. Lamech, his descendant in the seventh generation, who was blind, would go hunting led about by his young son. At the sight of game, the lad would apprise his father of its whereabouts. One time the lad said to his father: “I see some kind of beast in the distance.” Lamech sent his arrow in that direction, and Cain was slain. As they approached the corpse, the lad saw a horn protruding from the forehead of the slain creature, and he said to his father: “The corpse resembles a man, but a horn protrudes from its forehead.” Thereupon, Lamech cried out: “Woe is me, it is my grandfather.” In his grief, he clasped his hands together, and accidentally struck the child’s head, killing him. As it is said: I can slay a man by a wound of mine and a child by a strike of mine (Genesis. 4:23)” (Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit 11.2). 

While this tradition interprets Lamech’s declaration as one of mourning, it is also possible to interpret it as one of triumph, where Lamech is boasting of his capacity for violence in response to minor infractions, killing a man for merely hitting him. Yeshua reverses this declaration of vengeance, from avenging seventy-seven fold to forgiving even to seventy-seven times: “Then Peter came up and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Yeshua said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times’” (Matthew 18:22). 

An alternative tradition about Cain’s death is found in the book of Jubilees. This story emphasizes the idea of “measure for measure”, and Cain is killed with the same object he used to kill his brother: 

At the close of this jubilee Cain was killed after him [Adam] in the same year; for his house fell upon him and he died in the midst of his house, and he was killed by its stones; for with a stone he had killed Abel, and by a stone was he killed in righteous judgment. (Jubilees 4:31)

Giants in the Land

We are now going to look at Genesis 6:1-4, which speaks about another mystery:

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

This passage has led to a lot of questions and a lot of speculation throughout the centuries. Not all of the details are clear, and many have tried to fill in the gaps in different ways. Nevertheless, let’s try to break this down a little further and see if we can find out what this cryptic passage means. 

First, let’s note the context of this passage. These verses at the beginning of chapter 6 follow Adam’s genealogy in chapter 5. On the other end, directly following our passage we are told that mankind has become evil, and God instructs Noah that he is to build an ark. So it looks like this passage functions as a prologue to the flood. 

One of the first questions we can ask is, who are these sons of God? Even without leaving this passage we should notice that the “sons of God” are contrasted against the “daughters of men”. The fact that this is the case suggests that these sons of God are not sons of men. In other words, they are not human.

Some believe that this is not necessarily the case. They believe that “sons of God” should be understood in the sense of “children of God.” They believe that the sons of God were the righteous sons of Adam, the line of Seth, whereas the nondescript “men” and their daughters were the wicked descendants of Cain. John Calvin, for example, believed in this interpretation. An early Christian author, Julius Africanus, describes this view: 

When men multiplied on the earth, the angels of heaven came together with the daughters of men. In some copies I found “the sons of God.” What is meant by the Spirit, in my opinion, is that the descendants of Seth are called the sons of God on account of the righteous men and patriarchs who have sprung from him, even down to the Savior Himself; but that the descendants of Cain are named the seed of men, as having nothing divine in them, on account of the wickedness of their race and the inequality of their nature, being a mixed people, and having stirred the indignation of God. (Fragment 2) 

One of the famous Jewish commentators, Nachmanides (also called “the Ramban”), seems to also hold to something like this view: 

The correct interpretation in my eyes is that Adam and his wife are called “B’nei Ha-Elohim” because they were God’s creation and He was their father, they had no father but Him. And Adam bore children as it says, “And he bore sons and daughters.” Now these men, who were the first to be born to a human mother and father, were perfect in height and strength because they were born in the likeness of their father. As it says about Seth, “And he bore a son in his own likeness after his image.” And it is possible that all the children of the first generations—Adam, Seth and Enosh—were called “B’nei Ha-Elohim” because these three men were made in the image of God. But when the worship of idols commenced, men became weak and slack.

This interpretation, however, does not follow from a straightforward reading of the text. It requires us to translate the word for “mankind” as only one particular line of Adam’s descendants when there is no indication in the text that it should be limited this way. Many choose this interpretation simply because they are uncomfortable with the alternative, that the sons of God are not human. John Calvin says as much in his Commentary on Genesis: 

That ancient figment, concerning the intercourse of angels with women, is abundantly refuted by its own absurdity; and it is surprising that learned men should formerly have been fascinated by ravings so gross and prodigious.

But if this is what the Bible teaches, then who are we to say it is absurd?

Another alternative explanation is that the sons of God were judges or rulers. This is considered a possible interpretation because of the Hebrew word used. Elohim can mean God, but there is the possibility that it can also mean “judges” (as it is translated, for example, in the King James translation of Exodus 21:6), although it is debatable whether this is an appropriate translation. Nachmanides, in his commentary on Genesis 6, also talks about this possibility in addition to the view described above: “The sons of the rulers: According to this rendering those who were charged with establishing justice trampled it openly.” The Targums Onkelos and Pseudo-Jonathan also do this by translating “sons of God” as “sons of the mighty” or “sons of the great”, that is, the sons of the mighty men of that generation. This view suffers from the same critique as does the previous one. In addition it suffers if elohim should not be translated as “judges” or “mighty men”.

Another critique of these interpretations is that, if this passage really was referring to a mixing of human races, e.g. of Seth and Cain, it is strange that it would not mention both that the Sethite sons took Cainite women and also that Cainite men took Sethite women. Instead, it is entirely one-sided, with the sons of God going to the daughters of men. This contradicts the usual way that the Bible talks about the sinful intermarriage of God’s people with other people groups, as in Judges 3:6: “And they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.”

So, who were these sons of God? The most likely explanation is that they are angels. The phrase “sons of God” is explicitly used to describe angels in the book of Job. Speaking of the heavenly throne room, we are told: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them” (Job 1:6). Later in the book this connection is again made, when God is speaking of how the angels praised Him for His creation, “When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7).

Some contest this view by saying that the Bible never says angels are able to procreate, and they say that Yeshua implies the opposite in Matthew 22:30 when He says regarding the righteous in the world to come: “In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” But this critique does not hold. This passage in Matthew is the only one that says anything explicit about angels and procreation. Although Yeshua says that angels do not marry, and thus do not have sexual relations, He only says this is true of the angels in heaven. What about angels on earth, angels who have fallen from heaven? Further, He doesn’t rule out that angels are capable of procreation. He merely says that in heaven they don’t. Choosing not to procreate, of course, doesn’t imply that one doesn’t have the ability to procreate. Thus, there is no Scripture which rules out this possibility.

In fact, there is good evidence from the New Testament which supports the angelic interpretation. 

Jude tells us this: 

And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1:6-7)

Jude speaks of angels who left their proper abode (that is, heaven), and he explicitly says that they sinned “in the same way” as Sodom and Gomorrah. In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, human men sought to have intercourse with angels (Genesis 19:1-5). In Genesis 6, angels sought to have intercourse with humans. Jude says it is the same sin in both cases, just flipped around. 

This interpretation was popular among certain groups in the Second Temple period of Judaism. Two texts are particularly interesting on this subject: Jubilees and 1 Enoch. Before proceeding, it must be remembered that these are not Scripture and thus aren’t authoritative. They are interesting for the purpose of learning how ancient Jewish interpreters of Scripture filled in the gaps and interpreted the mysterious nature of Genesis 6:1-4.

Jubilees recounts a genealogy of Adam’s line, working off of the genealogy in Genesis. We are told that Mahalalel begets a son and names him Jared: “for in his days the angels of the Lord descended on the earth, those who are named the Watchers, that they should instruct the children of men, and that they should do judgment and uprightness on the earth” (4:15). There is a play on words with the Hebrew: “Jared” sounds like yarad, which means “to descend.” According to this tradition, the angels at first were ordered to come down to earth in order to teach mankind the ways of righteousness. We are introduced to a new term here: the Watchers. This term is also used in 1 Enoch. It is apparently used to refer to a particular class of angels. The term is found in the Bible in Daniel 4: “I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven” (verse 13).

Continuing in Jubilees, we find that the angels of God who were sent to instruct mankind in righteousness have on the contrary fallen into wickedness and brought great harm to the earth. It is as a direct result of the sins of these Watchers that God brings about the flood, but not before destroying the giants who are the Watchers’ offspring and then chaining the fallen angels in dungeons where they will be kept until the final judgment: 

And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the angels of God saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose and they bare unto them sons and they were giants. And lawlessness increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walks on the earth—all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts of all men (was) thus evil continually. . . . And against the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave commandment to root them out of all their dominion, and He bade us [the upright angels of the presence] to bind them in the depths of the earth and behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept) separate. And against their sons went forth a command from before His face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed from under heaven. And He said “My spirit shall not always abide on man; for they also are flesh and their days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” And He sent His sword into their midst that each [of the giants] should slay his neighbor, and they began to slay each other till they all fell by the sword and were destroyed from the earth. And their fathers [the Watchers] were witnesses (of their destruction), and after this they were bound in the depths of the earth for ever, until the day of the great condemnation, when judgment is executed on all those who have corrupted their ways and their works before the Lord.” (Jubilees 5:1-2, 6-10)

Jubilees 7:21-26 recounts the specific sins which led to the flood. It also tells us about three different classes of beings who were descended from the fallen Watchers: Naphidim (or Giants), Naphil (Nephilim), and Eljo (or Elioud). 

For owing to these three things came the flood upon the earth, namely, owing to the fornication wherein the Watchers against the law of their ordinances went a whoring after the daughters of men, and took themselves wives of all which they chose: and they made the beginning of uncleanness. And they begat sons the Naphidim, and they were all unlike, and they devoured one another: and the Giants slew the Naphil, and the Naphil slew the Eljo, and the Eljo mankind, and one man another. And everyone sold himself to work iniquity and to shed much blood, and the earth was filled with iniquity. And after this they sinned against the beasts and birds, and all that moves and walks on the earth: and much blood was shed on the earth, and every imagination and desire of men imagined vanity and evil continually. And the Lord destroyed everything from off the face of the earth; because of the wickedness of their deeds, and because of the blood which they had shed in the midst of the earth He destroyed everything.

A more focused narrative is attempted by the author of 1 Enoch, although several different strands of tradition are present in this single work. In 1 Enoch 6, we are told that the leader of the Watchers is named Semjaza. He and 200 other angels follow their lusts, going down to the earth to pursue human women. Contradicting this, other passages in 1 Enoch depict the angel Azazel as the leader of this group. These names and the idea that these particular angels sinned are preserved in fragmentary form in some rabbinic literature. We find a hint in Yoma 67b, amid a discussion about what the name Azazel means or refers to in Leviticus 16. This passage of Scripture explains the rituals required on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur: 

He shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting; and Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering; but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. (Leviticus 16:7-10)

One explanation that the rabbis offer for this act of sending a goat to Azazel is relevant here: “The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: Azazel is so called because it atones for the actions of Uzza and Azael.” Azael is an alternative name for Azazel. Uzza is probably the same as Semjaza (Semjaza literally means “the name Azza/Uzza”). This rabbinic phrase thus shows a familiarity with the tradition that Azazel and Semjaza, mentioned in 1 Enoch, sinned and fell. This is likewise preserved in the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 6:4:

Schamchazai and Uzziel, who fell from heaven, were on the earth in those days; and also, after the sons of the Great had gone in with the daughters of men, they bare to them: and these are they who are called men who are of the world, men of names.

Notice that this Targum replaces the word “Nephilim” in Genesis 6:4 with the names of two fallen angels, Schamchazai (an alternate transliteration for Semjaza) and Uzziel (possibly an alternate transliteration of Azazel), and explains that these angels fell (nafal, thus they are Nephilim) from heaven. This Targum was of the opinion that the Nephilim were the fallen angels rather than their offspring the giants.

In addition to bearing children who are giants, the fallen Watchers teach humanity to practice witchcraft: 

And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells [i.e., over 2 miles] who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood. (1 Enoch 7:1-5)

In addition, the fallen Watchers teach mankind how to make weapons, slay each other, decorate their appearances, and worship idols. The author then introduces us to four good angels: Michael, Raphael, Uriel, and Gabriel. They are each assigned a separate task in rectifying the actions of the fallen Watchers: God sends Uriel to warn Noah about the impending judgment which is coming due to the increase of lawlessness. He sends Raphael to bind Azazel and cast him into a great chasm in the wilderness. He commands Gabriel to destroy the children of the Watchers (the giants) by causing them to wage war against each other. He sends Michael to bind Semjaza and his associates “in the valleys of the earth” (1 Enoch 10:12). Azazel, Semjaza, and the horde of fallen angels are to be kept bound in their respective prisons until the final judgment at the end of time, after which we are told they will be cast into the abyss of fire. There are several places in Scripture that could support this. Isaiah 24:21 says, “On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth.” The “host of heaven” could be the disobedient angels. Likewise, 2 Peter 2:4 says, “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.”

Moving on to the next part of our passage in Genesis 6, we see that God limits the lifespan of humans because of the preceding actions. Some have suggested that this is because the union of angels and humans led to offspring that had particularly impressive longevity. Perhaps some of the humans happily obliged the angels’ advances in an attempt to gain immortality. God says that man is flesh, and this is the reason why He had to destroy the world in the flood, to prevent humanity from overstepping its bounds.

Verse 4 is equally cryptic: “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them.” This is the first time we are hearing about the Nephilim, but it seems like we are supposed to already know who they are. 

First, let’s focus on an ambiguity in the phrasing of the verse. It could mean that the Nephilim were simply around during the same time as the offspring of the sons of God. It could mean that they are this offspring. Or it could be that they are the sons of God themselves, the fallen angels. According to this last view, it is supposed that the name “Nephilim” comes from the root nfl, which means “to fall.” Thus, the angels fell to the earth from their heavenly estate when they succumbed to their temptations. Earlier we saw that this was the explanation given by the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. A similar explanation could be given if this term refers instead to the offspring of the sons of God, because they would be the children of the fallen ones.

There is Biblical support for the idea that the Nephilim are the offspring of the fallen angels and humans. There is only one other place in Scripture where the term “Nephilim” is used, and we find it in Numbers 13. This passage recounts when the Israelite spies were sent to go look at the Promised Land and report back to the people. When they come back, they tell some harrowing details:

So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:32-33)

This passage tells us that the Anakim or sons of Anak, a race of Canaanites, were one of the groups which made up the Nephilim. The passage here indicates that the Nephilim were human in form, but with much larger proportions. The inhabitants of the land, the Nephilim, are “of great size.” They are giants, and apparently this is because they are the descendants of the fallen angels.

This connection in Numbers 13 shows us that we can learn more about the Nephilim by looking at what the Bible says about the Anakim. So who were the Anakim? “Anakim” is the plural of Anak. We find that Anak was the father of a nation of giants. Anak had three sons named Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. 

Caleb defeated these three Anakim:

According to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. (Joshua 15:13-14)

Here we see that Caleb renamed Kiriath-Arba to Hebron after he drove out the Anakim who dwelt there. Originally this city was named after “Arba,” who was Anak’s father. Joshua 14:15 says that Arba was “the greatest man among the Anakim.” 

Joshua also destroyed many of the Anakim in the conquest. By the time he was finished, Anakim only remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod: cities which would later be inhabited by the Philistines.

And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain. (Joshua 11:21-22)

Joshua and Caleb, who alone of their generation trusted God to assist them in fighting against the Anakim, are the same ones who do in fact defeat them once God brings them into the Promised Land. 

In another Scripture, we are told that the Anakim are part of a group known as the Rephaim. “Rephaim” is sometimes translated simply as “giants”, but it could also function as a personal name, meaning a descendant of Rapha. Although we aren’t told about any individual with this name, we might assume that he was a giant who became the father of groups like the Anakim. Speaking of one of the lands of the Ammonites, Moses says, “The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim” (Deuteronomy 2:10-11). 

Later, in verse 20, it is again said of this land, “It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim—a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites.” There are many foreign names here, and it can get confusing to see so many unfamiliar terms. To recap and simplify: we know that there was a group of giants who were descended from angels. These giants were called Nephilim. Another name for these giants is Rephaim, and in fact this is a Hebrew word which is translated as “giants”. The Moabites knew of this group of giants, but they called them Emim instead. “Emim” is derived from the root which means “terror” or “fear”, and it doesn’t take too much imagination to figure out how they got this title. Likewise, the Ammonites called this group Zamzummim. This title is an onomatopoeia, or a word that sounds like what it represents. In English, an example would be “splat”: the word sounds like the noise we are describing with that word. Zamzummim is based on the root zamzum, which means one who makes a buzzing noise. It is not clear why they would be given this title. Some have connected this with Isaiah’s description of the noise which mediums or necromancers make: “the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter” (Isaiah 8:19).

In Genesis 14, we read about how some of the Canaanite armies defeated these giants: 

In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. (Genesis 14:5-6)

Here we see these different titles which we learned about earlier associated with different areas of the land: the Rephaim, the Zuzim (short for Zamzummim), and the Emim. This same group of kings led by Chedorlaomer who are described here as defeating the giants would later in Genesis 14 be defeated, with God’s help, by Abraham. 

Rephaim are sometimes connected with the afterlife, in Hebrew called Sheol. The term Rephaim in this context has been understood as referring to disembodied souls of the dead, as in Isaiah 14:9, “Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come; it arouses for you the spirits of the dead [Heb. rephaim], all the leaders of the earth; it raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones.” It could be, on the other hand, that this doesn’t refer to disembodied souls in general, but more precisely is meant to refer to the fallen angels and the slain giants, who were traditionally believed to be imprisoned in Sheol as we saw earlier. For example, Job 26:5 says, “The departed spirits tremble under the waters and their inhabitants.” In this verse, “departed spirits” is translated for rephaim. “Under the waters” would be a poetic description of Sheol, the place where souls are kept until the final judgment. The Greek Septuagint translation consistently translated “departed spirits” instead as “giants,” even here in this passage of Job, making the connection more explicit. (For other references, see: Isaiah 26:14, 19; Ezekiel 32:20-23; Psalm 88:10; Proverbs 2:18; 9:18; 21:16; 2 Peter 3:7, 2:4; Jude 1:13.)

Another similar idea is expressed in Jubilees and 1 Enoch, where the souls of the Nephilim become the evil spirits and demons who afflict the earth. Jubilees depicts Noah praying for relief from the afflictions of demons against his sons: 

And Thou knowest how Thy Watchers, the fathers of these spirits [the demons], acted in my day: and as for these spirits which are living, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring destruction on the sons of thy servant, my God. (verse 5)

1 Enoch 15:8-12 explains it explicitly:

And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. [As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling.] And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offenses. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them.

Relief is promised, however: the spirits of the giants will work destruction until the consummation of the age, the final judgment, and then they will be destroyed. As an aside, this sheds an interesting light on Matthew 8:29, where the demons cry out to Yeshua, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 

The struggles of the Israelites against the Nephilim raises the question: did these giants survive the flood? We have Nephilim before the flood, and we have Nephilim after the flood. How does this flush with the Scriptural fact that the flood covered the world and wiped out all flesh that wasn’t on the ark? There is no direct answer from Scripture. 

Some have mused that perhaps some of the Nephilim were able to survive the flood because of their great height. In Jewish tradition, many stories grew around the character Og, who was one of the Rephaim. We meet Og for the first time in Numbers 21:33-35. He is introduced as the king of Bashan: 

Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out with all his people, for battle at Edrei. But the LORD said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” So they killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no remnant left him; and they possessed his land.

Later, in Deuteronomy 3 we are told that Og was of a great size. He was a giant:

For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit. (verse 11)

The dimensions given here would make Og’s bed approximately 13.5 feet by 6 feet. Despite this fixed limit for Og’s height, legends grew about the size of Og, with some tales having him survive the flood because he was so tall. One story in Niddah 24b has Og’s thighbone measuring over 9 miles: 

It is taught in a baraita that Abba Shaul says the following, and some say that Rabbi Yoḥanan said it: I used to be a gravedigger. Once I ran after a deer, and I entered the thighbone of a corpse; and it was so large that I ran after the deer for three parasangs [1 parasang was about 3-3.5 miles] inside the thighbone, and although I did not reach the deer, the thighbone did not end. When I came back and related this to the Sages, they said to me: It was evidently the thighbone of Og, king of Bashan. 

Another tradition has Og survive the flood by hitching a ride on the ark. Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer 22:8 relates this legend: 

And all living things which were upon the face of the earth decayed, as it is said, “And every living thing was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground” (Genesis 7:23), except Noah and those who were with him in the ark, as it is said, “And Noah only was left, and they that were with him in the ark” (ibid.), except Og, king of Bashan, who sat down on a piece of wood under the gutter of the ark. He swore to Noah and to his sons that he would be their servant for ever. What did Noah do? He bored an aperture in the ark, and he put (through it) his food daily for him, and he also was left, as it is said, “For only Og, king of Bashan, remained of the remnant of the giants” (Deuteronomy 3:11).

So, one possibility is that at least one of the Nephilim survived the flood. But others have criticized this view. Genesis 7:23 says that every living thing that was not in the ark perished in the flood. This would rule out the option of the Nephilim being tall enough to escape the floodwaters.

Another possibility of how the Nephilim appeared again after the flood is that somehow their genetic material was passed on to later generations through Noah’s grandchildren. It is possible that the women Noah’s sons married had some Nephilim DNA, and thus the Nephilim could have reappeared after the flood as Noah’s descendants.

A third possibility is that there was a repetition of the events in Genesis 6:1-4, with angels once again having children with humans. Although it is not narrated by the Bible, it does not seem to be impossible either. Genesis 6:4 says that “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward,” which could possibly imply two separate waves of Nephilim, before and after the flood. 

Another possibility is that the Nephilim could have been transported off of the earth prior to the flood, returning afterward. Some see a connection between angelic/demonic appearances and UFO sightings. We know that angels can descend and ascend between heaven and earth, as in Genesis 28:12: “And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” It is therefore possible that the fallen angels took their children to some other place for a time until the flood was over.

Ultimately, the Bible does not give us any explicit answers about how there came to be Nephilim before and after the flood, so all of this is speculation.

Joshua did not completely eradicate the Anakim during the conquest, and they would prove to be a thorn in Israel’s side later on. Gath, Gaza, and Ashdod were the only places Joshua was not able to eradicate the Rephaim, and these were Philistine cities. The Philistines would be one of Israel’s chief enemies later on. The Philistine champion Goliath was from Gath. This is significant. It is not just a story of David defeating some random giant. This was one of the descendants of Anak who Israel was supposed to have driven out in the initial conquest of the land. It is as if now David will complete the process which Joshua began. 1 Samuel 17:51 calls Goliath a “mighty man” or gibbor, which is the same word used to refer to the Nephilim in Genesis 6:4. 

According to the standard Hebrew text, Goliath was six cubits and a span tall, which comes out to about 9 feet 9 inches. Goliath’s armor is said to be made of scales. This is possibly meant to mean chain mail, but the word used is the same as is used for example in Leviticus 11:9-10 to describe scales of fish. This connects Goliath with the seed of the serpent in Genesis 3:15. 

Regardless of any possible biological connection, the giants are presented in Scripture as being the spiritual offspring of the serpent, the enemies of God’s people. David crushed Goliath’s head just like it says in Genesis 3:15, thus this altercation is a foreshadowing of Messiah’s defeat of the devil. The “scaly” language could also be a reference to the Philistine god Dagon, who is believed by some to have been a half-man, half-fish deity. Just as Goliath falls face down and has his head cut off (1 Samuel 17:49-51), so too the god Dagon in his temple fell face down before the ark of the covenant and had his head cut off (1 Samuel 5:3-4).

2 Samuel 21:16-21 lists a few more examples of Rephaim who were still around in the days of David: 

And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.” After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants. And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down.

After the time of David, there is no more mention of giants. As far as we know, there are no more Anakim or Rephaim on the earth. The battle of the Israelites against the Rephaim is a foreshadowing of Yeshua’s conquest against the demonic, unclean spirits (which, in some streams of Jewish tradition, were in fact the spirits of the Rephaim) during His earthly ministry. Some have made the observation that it is possible something like the birth of the Nephilim will happen again just before the return of Yeshua. This is based on Luke 17:26, “And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man.”

The historical kernel of the Nephilim, the mighty men of old, could be preserved in pagan mythologies in a distorted form. After the flood, the first giant is Nimrod. He is called “mighty” in Genesis 10:8. This is the same Hebrew word used in Genesis 6:4 to refer to the Nephilim, the “mighty men”, gibborim. In fact, the Septuagint directly translates this reference to Nimrod as gigas, “giant.”

The Greeks had mythical stories about giants, using the same term gigantes as is used in the Septuagint. Josephus also makes this connection between the descendants of the sons of God and the giants of Greek mythology. Speaking of mankind before the flood he says, 

But for what degree of zeal they had formerly shown for virtue, they now showed by their actions a double degree of wickedness; whereby they made God to be their enemy, for many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants. (Antiquities of the Jews Book I, 3:1)

In the Greek tradition, the giants were born to the goddess Gaia (personification of earth) when the blood of the god Uranus fell on her. The term gigantes is believed to in fact mean “earth-born”. The giants were believed to live underground, and their presence there was used to explain volcanic activity and earthquakes. They were believed to be of great size and strength. One of the most famous events associated with the giants is their war against the Olympian gods (e.g., Zeus, Poseidon, and Athena), called the Gigantomachy. This was a battle for who would control the cosmos, and it is depicted in numerous pieces of Greek artwork. As would be expected, the giants were defeated. One of the most famous giants was Alcyoneus, who was almost immortal, but with certain conditions by which a particularly skilled hero might slay him. In one source, he is described as being as large as a mountain (Pindar, Isthmian 6.30–35). He is said to have destroyed twelve chariots at once by throwing a huge boulder at them (Pindar, Nemean 4.24–30). It is interesting that some of these giants are associated with snake imagery: some art depicts the giants as having legs made of snakes. Ovid calls them the “serpent footed giants” (Metamorphoses 1.182-184). This is similar to the idea that the Nephilim were the children of the serpent, the devil, if not physically then at least spiritually. 

Aside from stories about giants, mighty men or “gods” who do fantastic feats are also found in the mythologies of many different cultures, enough legends to fill many volumes. A very brief overview of some notable parallels will suffice here. 

In Greek mythology, Zeus is particularly well-known for his lust, explaining his title “father of gods”. Rulers in various places claimed that they were the offspring of gods who had procreated with human women. For example, Alexander the Great believed that he was a distant descendant of the Greek god Achilles, and in time he would come to believe that his father was not the human Philip of Macedon, but rather Zeus himself. Many of us are familiar with the figure Hercules, a hero and Greek god who is well-known for his feats of strength, such as descending to the underworld and capturing the three-headed beast-dog Cerberus. 

Likewise in Norse myth, the gods were exemplified as mighty warriors. The gods were human-like, but they also violated their proper domain, having children with beasts and giants. For example, the god Loki bears children with a giantess, and their offspring take the form of horrific beasts, such as Fenrir, a ferocious wolf who kills Odin in the final battle which consummates the universe. Thor is well-known as a warrior, slaying giants and monsters with his large war-hammer. One of the beasts he defeats is the gigantic sea-serpent Jörmungandr (also known as the World Serpent), another of Loki’s strange progeny. 

And in Vedic mythology, we could point to the goddess Durga, who rides on a tiger and has many arms, each holding a weapon. She is known as a warrior who kills various powerful demons. In this mythological system we once again find heroes who are the children of gods and humans. The great hero Arjuna was born when the god Indra procreated with a human woman. As a result, Arjuna is a great warrior and even survives a fight against the god of war Shiva. 

Again, these are stories that might be inspired by historical memories of the true accounts which are preserved in the Bible while nevertheless being tainted with the notions of idolatry and imagination.

The Prehistoric Age

People weren’t the only giants in the land. We read in Scripture that there were sea monsters. Genesis 1:21 tells us, “God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.”

When the Jewish midrashim (explanations of the Tanakh) were being composed, it was held that God originally produced a male and a female Leviathan, but lest in multiplying the species should destroy the world, He slew the female, reserving her flesh for the banquet that will be given to the righteous on the advent of the Messiah. This part, about eating Leviathan, is based on Psalm 74:14, “You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.”

As Rashi says in his commentary on this verse:

the…sea monsters: The great fish in the sea, and in the words of the Aggadah (B.B. 74b), this refers to the Leviathan and its mate, for He created them male and female, and He slew the female and salted her away for the righteous in the future, for if they would propagate, the world could not exist because of them. הַתַּנִינִם (hattaninim) is written. [I.e., the final “yud”, which denotes the plural, is missing, hence the implication that the Leviathan did not remain two, but that its number was reduced to one.] – [from Gen. Rabbah 7:4, Midrash Chaseroth V’Yetheroth, Batei Midrashot, vol 2, p. 225].

Psalm 104:26 says this: “There go the ships of the sea, and Leviathan (the sea monster), which You have formed to sport in it.”

But as we continue to look closer, we may see something different.

As Jeremiah 51:34 tells us, “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me and sucked me dry; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like the sea monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies; he has rinsed me.”

And Ezekiel 29:3, 

Speak, and you must say, “Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great sea monster, the one lying down in the midst of his Nile streams, who says to Me, “It is my Nile, and I made it for myself.”’”

And again in Ezekiel 32:2 

Son of man, raise a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you must say to him, “With a fierce, strong lion among nations you compared yourself, and you are like the sea monster in the seas, and you thrash about in your rivers, and you make water turbid with your feet, and you make your rivers muddy.”

According to Wikipedia, 

Leviathan (/lɪˈvaɪ.əθən/; Hebrew: לִוְיָתָן, Livyatan) is a creature with the form of a sea serpent from Jewish belief, referenced in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Job, Psalms, the Book of Isaiah, and the Book of Amos. The Leviathan of the Book of Job is a reflection of the older Canaanite Lotan, a primeval monster defeated by the god Baal Hadad. Parallels to the role of Mesopotamian Tiamat defeated by Marduk have long been drawn in comparative mythology, as have been wider comparisons to dragon and world serpent narratives such as Indra slaying Vrtra or Thor slaying Jörmungandr, but Leviathan already figures in the Hebrew Bible as a metaphor for a powerful enemy, notably Babylon (Isaiah 27:1), and some 19th century scholars have pragmatically interpreted it as referring to large aquatic creatures, such as the crocodile. The word later came to be used as a term for “great whale”, as well as for sea monsters in general

Yes, Leviathan may have been a code name for Babylon or Pharoah, as we have seen in these Scriptures, but Leviathan was also symbolic of Satan. 

Isaiah 27:1 tells us, “On that day, Yahweh will punish with His cruel, great and strong sword Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and Leviathan, the twisting serpent, and He will kill the sea monster that is in the sea.”

Job 26:5-14 speaks of this fleeing serpent and God’s power at creation.

The ghosts of the dead tremble beneath the water, with its creatures. Sheol is naked before Him; Abaddon lies uncovered. He stretches the north over chaos and suspends the earth on nothing. He binds up the water in His thick clouds, yet no cloud is torn apart by it. He shuts off the view of His throne by spreading His cloud across it. He fixed a circle on the surface of the water, defining the boundary between light and dark. The pillars of heaven tremble, aghast at His rebuke. He stirs up the sea with His power, and by His skill He strikes down Rahav. With His Spirit He spreads the heavens; His hand pierces the fleeing serpent. And these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint the echo we hear of Him! But who is able to grasp the meaning of His thundering power?

Revelation 12:1-4 says, 

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth.

And again, Revelation 13:1-2 tells us this: 

The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.

So we see the dragon at the sea to receive the Antichrist.

Sea monsters were not the only giant animals. What about Behemoth in the Old Testament, a powerful, grass-eating animal whose “bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron”? 

Job 40:15-24 says, 

Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly! Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit. Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron. It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword. The hills bring it their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. The lotuses conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround it. A raging river does not alarm it; it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth. Can anyone capture it by the eyes, or trap it and pierce its nose?

Among various Jewish legends, one relates that the righteous will witness a spectacular battle between Behemoth and Leviathan in the Messianic Era and later feast upon their flesh. Again according to Wikipedia, 

Later Jewish sources describe Leviathan as a dragon who lives over the Sources of the Deep and who, along with the male land-monster Behemoth, will be served up to the righteous at the end of time. The Book of Enoch (60:7–9) describes Leviathan as a female monster dwelling in the watery abyss (as Tiamat), while Behemoth is a male monster living in the desert of Dunaydin (“east of Eden”).

We see Behemoth sometimes identified as a hippopotamus and Leviathan as a crocodile, whale, or a snake; but were these creatures dinosaurs? And if they were, why did these giant animals exist? The word “dinosaur” comes from the Greek word which means “terrible lizard.” The current names for dinosaurs have only been since the 1800’s. So we want to briefly look into these giant animals and ask, “Why did God make them, and why did they become extinct?” 

If you ever went to Jurassic theme park, you know that there are not many types of dinosaurs. There are Brachiosaurus, Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, Spinosaurus, and Stegosaurus and even a three-horned one called Triceratops. But that’s not all! We also have the Pterodactyls, which were giant flying reptiles, and Plesiosaurs, which were water reptiles, and bird-type dinosaurs known as theropods. There were also Woolly Mammoths (and their cousin Steppe Mammoth) who stood 13-15 feet tall and had giant tusks. 

So you have to ask yourself, “Was all of mankind taller then what we are today?” There is the theory out there that says these huge creatures lived before the creation of man. Well, that is partly true for the animals were created before man, but it is not true that they became extinct before man was created because they were these terrible, violent animals that could not co-exist with man. God created a world that, in His own words, was good. Everything lived in harmony. We see this in the Messianic Age when all things will be restored. We know before the flood that man and animal were plant eaters, vegetarians, as we read in Job 40. We also read in Job about Behemoth, that it ranks first among the works of God. So we know that God created these mammoth creatures and it was not just folklore. But the question still remains, “Why?” 

We also know that they co-existed with man because Adam named all the animals, and even though we first named the dinosaurs in the 1800’s, Adam gave them a name in the garden. We also know that the animals were grass or plant eaters and they were not violent against man based on what we see in the restored Eden. The end will be like the beginning, and the beginning like the end. Before the flood, man was not a threat to the animals because animals and man only ate grass and plants. But after the flood, God told Noah that they could eat the meat from animals, and at that time man would have been a threat to them, for they became prey. Animals also turned from eating grass to eating each other, though not all. After the flood, the harmony of life ended.

Genesis 9:2-4 tells us, 

The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.

Well, one thought regarding the reason that man and animal could have been taller or larger than they are today is this: before the flood, all of creation was pristine—pure air, pure water, and what we would call organic food. Because of this, life’s duration was longer. We know that before the flood Methusalah lived to be 1,000 years old. But as Genesis 6:3 tells us “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’” Life drastically changed after the flood, and with the changes we see that throughout history all kinds of animals have become extinct, mainly due to environment and man. There are many reptiles and other species of animals they believe lived during the prehistoric age, but you would not know it because their size is so considerably smaller—like Horseshoe crabs and turtles, Komodo dragons, Shoebill storks, Bactrian camels, Echidnas (which are a cross between a badger, porcupine and an anteater. It lays eggs instead of giving birth), Musk oxen, Chambered Nautilus, White Rhinoceros, and even white polar bears and sturgeons, and so many more. It makes the prehistoric age not so prehistoric.

The Flood

 As we move on, we see a very low point in history. Of course, there have been many low points in history, but not even a thousand years after Eden we hear God expressing regrets. Genesis 6:5-8 tells us, 

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Genesis 6:9 tells us that God found one righteous man: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.”

All throughout history, God always had a remnant reserved for Him. Here are just a few Scriptures:

“God sent me (Joseph) before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance” (Genesis 45:7).

“Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18).

“Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, ‘Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved’” (Romans 9:27).

“In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice” (Romans 11:5).

We see that the Scripture repeats itself in telling us about the corruption on earth. Genesis 6:11-13 says, 

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 

The corruption multiplied after the sin of Eden. Paul tells us this about sin in Romans 5:19-21, 

For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Messiah Yeshua our Lord.

But as we saw, sin also came by way of the fallen angels. God needs to save His remnant, and to do that He needs to make a way for their salvation. 

The Story of the Two Arks: An Open and Shut Case

So we know the story, that God has Noah build an ark. In Genesis 6:14-16, God tells Noah how to make a boat—not just a little boat, but a huge boat called an ark: 

Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

We see later in history that God tells another man how to build an ark. God tells Moses how to build the Ark of the Covenant. Exodus 25:10-16 says, 

They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.

The Ark of the Covenant held the Ten Commandments. We forget that the keeping of the commandments is the keeping of the covenant agreement between us and God. But the purpose of the ark was to protect the commandments, just like the archangels protected the Tree of Life and the ark that Noah was building was to protect him and his family and all the animals. 

So why call it an ark? That is because an ark is a place of refuge, a shelter, a place of protection. You see, the Torah (commandments) is the Word of God. Yeshua is the Word of God. Yeshua means salvation. Inside the Ark of the Covenant was salvation. Noah’s ark was also salvation. “Preservation and deliverance from harm and ruin and loss” is the meaning of salvation. The ark protected them from the flood. It was salvation. 

Hebrews 11:7 tells us, “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” The ark represents Yeshua the Messiah who is salvation, and the door into the ark also represents Yeshua, for He tells us in John 10:9, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

It took Noah one-hundred years to build the ark, and at any given moment any person could have repented and would have been able to enter the ark with Noah and his family—but not a single one did. As Psalm 32:6 says, “Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.” 

1 Peter 3:20 stresses that God patiently waited while Noah built the ark, in case any would repent: “because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.” 

2 Peter 2:5, 9 tell us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness: 

If He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly . . . then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.

In Genesis 7:1-4, God tells Noah that he is now to enter the ark, for in seven days the flood waters will come. In the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, we are told that these seven days functioned as one last chance for the people to repent: 

For, behold, I give you space of seven days; if they will be converted, it shall be forgiven them; but if they will not be converted, after a time of days yet seven, I will cause rain to come down upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and will destroy all bodies of man and of beast upon the earth.

Similarly, the Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer says that the purpose of the building of the ark (a lengthy project) was to increase the possibility for repentance: “Rabbi Tachanah said: Noah made the ark during fifty-two years, so that they should repent of their ways. But they did not repent.” The people didn’t listen, and only Noah’s immediate family was saved. As Yeshua says, 

In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:38-39)

Genesis 7:16 tells us, “Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him.”

It is interesting that God shut the door and not Noah, but when we see the parables of Yeshua, who is the door, you may understand why.

Luke 13:23-24 says, “And someone said to Him, ‘Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?’ And He said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.’”

Matthew 25:7-13 tells us this: 

Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.” 

“No,” they replied, “there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.” But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. “Lord, Lord,” they said, “open the door for us!” But he replied, “Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.” Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Matthew 24:37-39 says, 

But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.

Genesis 6:17-18 goes on to tell us, 

Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark.

So you have to ask yourself, “Why did God totally destroy His creation?” We know that all He had to do was strike down those who were corrupt. But to destroy all the animals and the birds and even the trees? Why? Well, the answer is simple: mikvah!

The Mikvah

What is a mikvah? For one, the mikvah must be a natural flow of water. The flood certainly fits that description. In order to conform to Jewish law, a mikvah must contain 40 seahs of water. This parallels the 40 days/nights that the rain fell. 

We may better know the term as “baptism.” A person would immerse himself in a mikvah for several different reasons. The mikvah was symbolic of a spiritual cleansing. 1 Peter 3:18-22 tells us this:

For Messiah also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Messiah Yeshua, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

Romans 6:1-4 tells us this: 

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Messiah Yeshua have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

So we see that with spiritual cleansing comes a clear conscience and newness of life, spiritually being born again. Of course, the mikvah is only a symbol of this, only because it represents the womb and the grave. 

So that brings us to the next reason for the mikvah.

Symbolically, when Moses and the people went into the water, even though they crossed on dry ground, it was like a dying experience. But when they came out of the waters, it was like rising from the dead. 

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, death is considered unclean because death brings about decay, and decay is unclean. When God directed Moses about the Passover, He told him not to keep any till morning, as Exodus 12:10 tells us, “And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.”

The people were to be in a state of holiness, for God Himself was leading Israel out of Egypt. Even in the Haggadah (the Passover service) the people acknowledge that it was God and not an angel who brought Israel out of Egypt. There are too many Torah laws about clean and unclean to get into them now, regarding the sanctuary and God ‘s presence, but death is a big one. According to the Torah, anyone who touches a corpse or is near a corpse is considered ritually unclean. One had to perform a mikvah to be considered clean. Once again, this was symbolic. 

Here are a few Scriptures which explain the association between uncleanness and touching the dead. 

Numbers 19:11 says, “If you touch a dead body, you will be unclean for seven days.”

Numbers 19:14 tells us, “If someone dies in a tent while you are there, you will be unclean for seven days. And anyone who later enters the tent will also be unclean.”

Also in Numbers 19:16, “If you touch the body of someone who was killed or who died of old age, or if you touch a human bone or a grave, you will be unclean for seven days.”

And Leviticus 21:11-12 says of the High Priest, 

He must not enter a place where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even for his father or mother, nor leave the sanctuary of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil of his God. I am the Lord.

We know that the garden became unclean after the sin of Adam and Eve because sin brings death. God could no longer walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. The garden was a place were they ministered to God, just like in the sanctuary (the Holy of Holies) within the Tent of Meeting the priests ministered to God. How important it is for our sanctuary, the place where we meet with God, to remain holy. 

The bottom line is that the world needed to be cleansed, and the flood was the way God was going to bring about that cleansing. God created life. That life died spiritually through sin. God needed to bring about a renewal. Creation brought about life and sin brought about death, and so going through a mikvah would bring about cleansing, a spiritual rebirth. Like Moses and the people who went into the water and were symbolically dead, now after the flood they would reemerge as clean and new and alive. God wanted once again to have a people that He could walk with. 

Animals

Genesis 6:18-21 says, 

But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.

Genesis 7:1-3 says, 

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time. You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female; also of the birds of the sky, by sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.”

Why the discrepancy? In Genesis 6, God was speaking in general about every animal, bringing them two by two; but in Genesis 7, God was speaking about how the clean animals should be gathered by sevens, because the clean animals were for sacrifices. Again we see that the people had to have had some knowledge of the sacrificial laws.

But what about these animals? How did every kind of animal know to come?

It is believed that there were 35,000 species of animals on the ark. A study done by the University of Leicester calculated that according to the dimensions of the ark, it could hold 70,000 animals. It would seem impossible for Noah to gather so many animals. The rabbis believed that God sent angels to gather together the animals. The Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer preserves this tradition: 

Noah said to the Holy One, blessed be He: “Sovereign of all the world! Have I then the strength to collect them unto me to the ark?” The angels appointed over each kind went down and gathered them, and with them all their food unto him to the ark.

I have my own theory, and that is this: when we read about Eden, we know that God brought every animal before Adam to name, so we know that every animal lived in the garden. When Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, the Scriptures never say anything about the animals. Could it be that these same animals were the animals that came to Noah? The mystery behind the Garden of Eden is not fully understood. We know that there could not have been time like the rest of the world in the garden, and we see that most likely there was no death in the garden, so these would have been the same animals that Adam and Eve lived among. If the garden was in Israel (Jerusalem), then it would have been straight across from where the ark was. God’s angels could have led these animals right to Noah. 

The docile behavior of the animals on the ark is a glimpse of the peace which will be normal in the Messianic Age. As it says in Isaiah 11:6, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” This is what happened on the ark, and this is how it will be once again when Yeshua returns and establishes His Kingdom. 

So, this causes us to question: if Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day, and then God rested on the seventh day, and if a day is like a thousand years to God, then we must assume that there was no time in the garden—at least not like we know it, because when Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden they would have been over one-thousand years old when they left Eden, and Adam would have been almost two-thousand years old when he died. But if while they were in the garden there were people living outside of the garden, where life was going on normally from the sixth day of creation, then that would change a lot of our thinking.

Or maybe before the flood, time was different. We know time as sixty seconds equals a minute, and sixty minutes equals an hour, and twenty-four hours equals a day—but was it always this way? We do know that the earth’s orbit has changed over time. The gravitational pull of the planets, like Jupiter, Mars and Venus, has affected the earth. We have had shifting and axial tilts and we have gone from circular to elliptical paths over the millennia. We also know that the planets themselves have moved over the history of creation. We also know that moons have come and gone, or even were added over time. We know that when the flood came, it came with such a violent eruption of the earth’s core, and the dome that was covering the earth was all broken up. 

Hosea writes this in Hosea 9:5-6: 

The Lord God of hosts, the One who touches the land so that it melts, and all those who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises up like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt; the One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens and has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth, the Lord is His name.

It was this dome over the earth that was broken, and that allowed the rain to pour out over the earth. 

And again in Psalm 18:11, “He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him, thick clouds dark with water.” Some creation scientists believe that this dome was a vapor or ice canopy that collapsed during the flood, becoming another source of the water which covered the earth. 

You must ask yourself: if the planets all shifted during the flood, could the water that was in the universe be the rain that fell to earth?

Let’s look at other scriptures that tell us about God when He is angry. Psalm 18:3-18 says,

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death encompassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears. Then the earth shook and quaked; and the foundations of the mountains were trembling and were shaken, because He was angry. Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire from His mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down with thick darkness under His feet. He rode upon a cherub and flew; and He sped upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, hailstones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire. He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, and lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them. Then the channels of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at Your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay.

Matthew 27: 50-54 tells us what happened when Yeshua died. 

And Yeshua cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Yeshua, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Genesis 7:17-24 goes on to say, 

Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark. The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

The earth was now going through a death like none other. But in that ark, we see something—we see now Noah and his wife, who were like Adam and Eve, and the ark, like the Garden of Eden with all the animals around them. But also, instead of Cain and Abel and Seth who continued on after the garden, we now see Shem, Ham, and Japheth who continue on after the flood. Through the flood, God recreated as He had created in the beginning., as Genesis 1:2 tells us that there was chaos and the water covered the earth. 

Genesis 8:1-5 continues, 

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

We see another time when people were in a boat and a storm came up. Mark 4:35-41 tells us: 

On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Yeshua Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Do you think that there may have been times when Noah felt this way?

In our times of trials and tribulations, God provides an ark of safety for us, as Psalm 91:1-4 tells us, 

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

Isaiah 43:2-5a says,

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you.

Psalm 93 reminds us that God is in control. 

The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the Lord has clothed and girded Himself with strength; indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved. Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice, the floods lift up their pounding waves. More than the sounds of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty. Your testimonies are fully confirmed; holiness befits Your house, O Lord, forevermore.

Sukkot

The ark was also a sukkah. The word sukkah is translated as “tabernacle” or “a booth,” a temporary dwelling. The people in the wilderness lived in booths (tents), sukkahs. We see that at the time of the flood it rained forty days and forty nights. We also see that Moses ascended Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights when he received the Ten Commandments the second time. This happened after the sin of the golden calf when Moses broke the tablets in anger. The people needed atonement for this sin, and Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement. Today we prepare forty days before Yom Kippur. This represents those days Moses spent on Mount Sinai and his descending with the second set of tablets, representing God’s forgiveness and a second chance. 

In the days of the flood, those who were in that ark—that sukkah, that temporary dwelling—were also receiving forgiveness and a second chance. The festival Sukkot follows those days to represent God’s faithfulness, His protection in the wilderness, and His provisions. Right after Moses came down the mountain, they began to build the Tabernacle (mishkan). The sukkah reminds us of the clouds of God’s glory that surrounded Israel on their journey to the Promised Land. The ark was also covered by clouds, but in those clouds came the glory of God.

The clouds also represent the chuppah, the wedding canopy. Isaiah writes in Isaiah 4:5-6, 

Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.

We know that the ark was a shelter. We also know that a wedding is a making of a covenant. We see that God also makes a covenant with Noah, because now he and his family will continue what God had started with His creation. 

Genesis 9:8-11 says, 

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “I now establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

Every covenant has a sign. In a marriage it is a ring. So too with this covenant, as Genesis 9:12-17 says, 

God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

2 Samuel 22:10-17 says, 

He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under His feet. He rode on a cherub and flew; He was seen on the wings of the wind. He made darkness around Him His canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water. Out of the brightness before Him coals of fire flamed forth. The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. And He sent out arrows and scattered them; lightning, and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen; the foundations of the world were laid bare, at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils. He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

Like the cloud, the rain also represented the feast of Sukkot. The rain represented the Holy Spirit. We saw at the time of creation that the Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters. During the Sukkot, there was a ceremony called “the drawing out of water,” or “the water-drawing ceremony.” In the Talmud, we read, “Why is the name of it called the drawing out of water? Because of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, according to what is said, ‘With joy shall ye draw out the wells of salvation.’” 

Sukkot teaches us that in the Messianic Era, the earth will experience the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Joel 2:23 tells us this, “So rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the Lord your God; for He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as before.” 

Isaiah 12:3 tells us, “Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.” 

We see Yeshua coming to the feast on the last day. This day is called the Great Hosanna or Hoshana Rabbah, the Great Salvation. How appropriate that Yeshua, our Great Salvation, should come on this day—Yeshua, who had this conversation with the woman in John 4:7-14: 

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Yeshua said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Yeshua answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” Yeshua answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

Another significance of Sukkot is that it is considered the true time of the birth of Yeshua. 

When Noah entered the ark of salvation and the clouds came and poured out the rain of the Holy Spirit, God, Yeshua, and the Holy Spirit were there in this remaking of His creation. 

Sukkot is also called the Feast of the Ingathering. We see that this is what God did. He gathered up His remnant, including all of the animals. One day God will again gather up His people. Hosea 6:3 tells us this, “So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.”

Genesis 8:6-12 continues, 

Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.

The earth was now in its rebirth, and we see once again the symbol of the Holy Spirit hovering over the waters. But the earth never returned to its original state.

Genesis 8:20-22 continues, 

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

The earth had its mikvah, and it had its rebirth, and God now shows mercy upon the earth. He makes a covenant with Noah that is still in effect today, because God is a covenant-keeping God. He keeps His word to man.

The Noahide Laws

Genesis 9:1-7 goes on to tell us about what we call the Noahide laws. 

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”

We see here that God passes on these seven laws, that were originally given to Adam, to Noah. They are:

1. Establish laws.

2. Don’t curse God.

3. Do not practice idolatry.

4. Do not engage in illicit sexuality.

5. Do not participate in bloodshed.

6. Do not rob.

7. Do not eat flesh from a living animal.

These were the terms of the covenant which God was now making with Noah and his descendants. God declared that He would never again flood the world, and for their part Noah and his descendants would abide by a particular set of laws. The rabbis thought of these as universal laws that were incumbent on all of humanity, as opposed to the Torah which they felt was exclusively for God’s chosen people. They reasoned that there must be a standard which the other peoples are judged by, otherwise, as Paul says (understood in the general sense), “Where there is no law there is no transgression.” There must have been some universal law that, for example, the Canaanites were judged by. One of the rabbis referred to the punishment of the Canaanites in Deuteronomy 18:9-12 and deduced, “Evidently, the Canaanites were punished for these practices; and since God would not have punished them for an action unless He first prohibited it, these practices are clearly prohibited to gentiles” (b. Sanhedrin 56b). Since all of humanity is descended from Noah, and these are the laws designated for the Gentiles, this set of laws was termed the Noahide laws. 

It’s possible that an early tradition of the Noahide laws is preserved in the book of Jubilees. Some time after the flood ends and Noah’s sons have born children of their own, Noah observes that they are not walking according to righteousness, so he begins to instruct them: 

And in the twenty-eighth jubilee Noah began to enjoin upon his sons’ sons the ordinances and commandments, and all the judgments that he knew, and he exhorted his sons to observe righteousness, and to cover the shame of their flesh, and to bless their Creator, and honor father and mother, and love their neighbor, and guard their souls from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity. . . . “There shall be no blood seen upon you of all the blood there shall be all the days in which ye have killed any beasts or cattle or whatever flies upon the earth, and work ye a good work to your souls by covering that which has been shed on the face of the earth. And ye shall not be like him who eats with blood, but guard yourselves that none may eat blood before you: cover the blood, for thus have I been commanded to testify to you and your children, together with all flesh.” (Jubilees 7:20, 30-31) 

Additionally, according to this passage Noah also teaches his grandchildren about the proper way to give first-fruit offerings, passing on the instructions which he received from Enoch. 

This list of commandments preserved in Jubilees is different from the commands which the rabbis would later determine had been given to Noah, the seven commands which we listed above. The rabbis looked into the Scriptures and discovered seven laws which Gentiles (called “sons of Noah”) were obliged to follow. Two of these commandments were given in Genesis 9 (do not eat meat with the blood and establish courts of justice), and the others were drawn from other passages of Scripture: “The children of Noah were admonished regarding seven religious duties: setting up courts of justice, idolatry, blasphemy, fornication, murder, thievery, and concerning a limb cut from a living beast” (t. Avodah Zarah 8:4-6).

Although there was general agreement about these seven laws, there was also some dispute over whether there were other laws in addition to these seven: 

The Sages taught in a baraita: The descendants of Noah, i.e., all of humanity, were commanded to observe seven mitzvot [commandments]: The mitzvah of establishing courts of judgment; and the prohibition against cursing the name of God; and the prohibition of idol worship; and the prohibition against forbidden sexual relations; and the prohibition of bloodshed; and the prohibition of robbery; and the prohibition against eating a limb from a living animal. Rabbi Hananya ben Gamla says: The descendants of Noah are also commanded concerning the prohibition against consuming the blood from a living animal. Rabbi Hideka says: They are also commanded concerning castration, i.e., they are prohibited to castrate any living animal. Rabbi Shimon says: They are also commanded concerning the prohibition against engaging in sorcery. (b. Sanhedrin 56a-b)

In practice, these seven laws function more like general categories than as precise laws. A medieval explanation of the Torah and the rabbinic commentaries makes this point explicit: 

And do not err, my son, with this well-known tally of the seven commandments of the Noahides mentioned in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 56b); as truthfully these seven are [only] like general principles, but they have many details. (Sefer HaChinuch 416)

In fact, these seven commandments, once the details are fleshed out, become more than 60 precise commands.

The command concerning idolatry, in addition to its traditional definition of worshiping other gods or any created thing, also includes the prohibition of witchcraft and magic practices. This command also forbids the worship of any physical representations of God. 

“Blasphemy” encompasses the prohibition on taking the Lord’s name in vain (swearing false oaths). The rabbis determined that this applies to non-Jews based on the book of Job: Job is a non-Jew, and yet he knows that it would be a sin to blaspheme God. “His wife said to him, ‘Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!’ He replied, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’ In all this, Job did not sin in what he said” (Job 2:9-10).

The prohibition of murder is based on the command to Noah in Genesis 9:6, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image.” Murder is also condemned, as we have seen, after Cain kills his brother Abel. This command also prohibits gossip, which the Torah says is equivalent to making an attempt on your neighbor’s life: “You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:16).

What exactly qualified as fornication for Gentiles was debated among the rabbis. Some rabbis felt that Gentiles were obligated to observe all of the Torah’s laws governing sexual relationships. On the other hand, Maimonides, for example, said that the Noahide laws forbid six sexual relationships: with one’s mother, father’s wife, maternal sister, a married woman, an individual of the same sex, or an animal.

The prohibition of theft additionally includes all of the laws of the Torah which describe taking advantage of another person or cheating them in any way. 

The prohibition regarding a limb cut from a living beast refers to eating meat without cooking it, or eating meat without first draining the blood as God commands Noah in Genesis 9:3-4, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” The laws of slaughter are not as strict for Gentiles according to the Torah, since in Deuteronomy 14:21 a Gentile sojourner is not forbidden from consuming meat from an animal which died a natural death (rather than being slaughtered properly). An additional implication of this rule is that one should not be cruel to animals.

The final command is to establish courts of justice. This follows from Genesis 9:6, which decrees retributive justice for murderers. A surface reading would accommodate vigilante justice, so the rabbis determined that this requires a judicial system. Additionally, of necessity there must be some kind of legal system to enforce the other six laws, making it necessary to establish courts of justice.

Maimonides said, 

Anyone who accepts upon himself the fulfillment of these seven mitzvot [commandments] and is precise in their observance is considered one of “the pious among the gentiles” and will merit a share in the world to come. This applies only when he accepts them and fulfills them because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded them in the Torah and informed us through Moses, our teacher, that Noah’s descendants had been commanded to fulfill them previously. However, if he fulfills them out of intellectual conviction, he is not a resident alien, nor of “the pious among the gentiles,” nor of their wise men.” (Melachim uMilchamot 8:11) 

In other words, Maimonides is saying that the outward practice of these laws would be of no benefit to the son of Noah if they obeyed for the wrong reasons. According to Maimonides, the only obedience which is acceptable is that which comes from a pure heart which loves God.

Some scholars understand the decision of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 to be a variant form of the Noahide commandments. This passage records the deliberation of James and the other apostles and elders regarding the question of whether Gentiles need to be circumcised, that is, convert to Judaism, in order to be saved. As part of his concluding statement, James says the following: 

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. (Acts 15:19-20)

There are definitely some similarities here. It is a subset of rules applied specifically to Gentiles. The rules themselves are very similar, although there are only four in this list, versus the seven rules in the list developed by the rabbis. As mentioned earlier, some scholars draw a strong connection between the two ideas. The Jewish Encyclopedia says, 

On the initiative of Peter, and of James, the head of the Jerusalem church, it was agreed that acceptance of the Noachian Laws—namely, regarding avoidance of idolatry, fornication, and the eating of flesh cut from a living animal—should be demanded of the heathen desirous of entering the Church. 

Others believe that the four commandments in Acts 15 go beyond the universal Noahide commandments and advocate a stricter form of the commandments for Gentile believers in the Body of Messiah. A closer look reveals that the commandments given by the Jerusalem Council seem to be modeled after Leviticus 17-18 rather than Genesis 9: 

The first rule given by the Jerusalem Council is that gentiles are to abstain from things sacrificed to idols. We find here a connection to Leviticus 17:7-9, which forbids both the Israelites and the Gentiles who live among them from practicing idolatry: 

So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations. And you shall say to them, “Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people.”

The rule set forth by the Jerusalem Council goes beyond the mere forsaking of idolatry and makes consumption of food sacrificed to idols unlawful. This is something that the Israelites were specifically commanded not to do: “Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices” (Exodus 34:15).

A second rule given by James and the elders is to abstain from blood. This commandment is based on Leviticus 17:10: “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.” Again we see that the Torah commanded Gentiles who were living among Israel to abstain from consuming blood. 

The third rule decided upon by the meeting at Jerusalem was that Gentiles must abstain from things strangled. In other words, they were now being held to a higher standard of slaughtering meat. This is based on Leviticus 17:13: “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.” In order for meat to be eaten, the animal must be slaughtered in such a way that the blood is drained out. This means the Gentile believers are now being held to this Biblical standard of ritual slaughter.

Lastly we have the command to abstain from fornication. A long list of unlawful sexual relationships is listed in Leviticus 18, and the chapter is summed up in verse 26: “But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you.” 

Thus the four apostolic laws seem to be an additional requirement on top of the Noahide laws, which were already required of Gentiles in the days of the apostles. These specific observances which they advocated in Acts 15 seem to be based on the laws given in the Torah which regulated the behavior of Gentiles who wished to join themselves to the Israelites. The rules given by James and the elders would functionally drive a wedge between the Gentile believers and the pagan world in which they lived, while facilitating relationships between Gentile believers and observant Jewish believers. It would create an atmosphere where they could eat together and live together as the Body of Messiah. It would also set the Gentiles on the path toward Torah-obedience.

In mainstream Judaism, evangelism of Gentiles has not been a common practice. If a Gentile expresses to them a desire to become a Noahide, they will happily accept this but rarely openly encourage it. There have been some changes to this fairly recently. There is a movement within Orthodox Judaism known as Hasidism, and the most famous Hasidic group is called Chabad. A prominent leader of Chabad Hasidism, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, began a campaign to actively evangelize to Gentiles in the hope of getting them to observe the Noahide laws. He has said, “It is now the time for Jewish people to fulfill their Torah obligation to reach out to Gentiles, to encourage them to follow the Seven Mitzvot.” For Schneerson, this campaign was, among other aims, an attempt to bring humanity to a higher level of spirituality in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. In his own words, “We are so close to the Messianic Era, that now is the most appropriate time to prepare the world and make it fitting for Moshiach’s coming through Gentiles following their 7 Mitzvot.”

Returning to Genesis, we see that life now is able to go on despite its many flaws, but God has been faithful in keeping His covenant. When we see the rainbow in the sky it should encourage us that God is still with us, and He is faithful. Over the years this sign of the covenant with the world has been used for other reasons, and this is as much as a mockery of God as saying that we evolved from animals. The things of God are holy and we must keep them holy, for they represent Him. 

The Tower of Babel

So God laid down His bow and said that He would never destroy the earth again by a flood. Life went on after the flood, and so did the fall of man. But God shows Himself as a faithful covenant-keeping God. He has kept His word and His covenants throughout every generation. What we will continue to see in Genesis is that God may not bring about total destruction, but He still deals with sin. 

Genesis 11:1-9 tells us this: 

Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

The Tower of Babel was located in Babylon in the country today known as Iraq in the city we call Baghdad. For this reason, the rabbis connected the Tower of Babel to the Biblical character of Nimrod. In Genesis 10:10 we are told of Nimrod, “The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” Since Nimrod was king of Shinar, they suggest that he led the building of the tower. 

Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer records the words of Rabbi Akiva, who says of the builders of the tower: “They cast off the Kingdom of Heaven from themselves, and appointed Nimrod king over themselves” (Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer 24).

Josephus also preserves this tradition: 

Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence upon his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers! (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, 4:2). 

Nimrod had a bad reputation even divorced from these traditions. In Hebrew his name means “we will rebel.” Nimrod was interpreted as a person opposed to God mainly because of Genesis 10:9. This verse says that Nimrod was, “a mighty hunter before the Lord.” However, in Hebrew the word translated as “before”, if literally translated, would mean “in the face of”, signifying opposition. Regarding the description of Nimrod as a mighty hunter, Rashi says that Nimrod hunted for men’s souls: “He ensnared people’s minds with his speech and misled them to rebel against the Omnipresent.”

Why was God so concerned about the people building this tower? The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 11:4 preserves the tradition that they put an idol on top of the tower, the image of a man with sword in hand thrusting toward heaven: 

And they said, Come, we will build us a city and a tower, and the head of it shall come to the summit of the heavens; and we will make us (an image for) worship on the top of it, and put a sword in his hand to act against the array of war, before that we be scattered on the face of the earth.

Other traditions say that this was an image of Nimrod himself, and that he set himself up as a god to be worshiped. 

Was it because they wanted to reach heaven? We know that would have been impossible. Or did God see something that seemed too familiar? The people said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” 

First, the people wanted to make a name for themselves. What’s in a name? Remember Adam named all the animals and that gave him control and dominance over them. The builders of the tower wanted to make a name for themselves and not God. There was no glory in it for God. This is what Satan’s intentions were, to make a name for himself. This is the continuation of what Satan had begun in his revolt against God. The flood may have destroyed the people and the world but not him, for he too wanted to go up to heaven and sit upon God’s throne. This is what he did in the Garden when he got Eve to question God’s commands. He said, “If you eat from this tree God knows that you will become like Him.” This is Humanism, the religion of Satan. 

Humanism says we can all be gods. You see that the people did not want to be scattered, but this is just what God did to them. He scattered them and confused them by changing everyone’s language. God saw what man could do if they were united. 

Today we see this very thing happening again. We are trying to bring man together and unite us. This is globalism, the one world order. If God divided us then we have no right to unite us. Globalism is what the Antichrist will use to bring about his reign. God saw this at the Tower of Babel. 

The rabbis connected this incident at the tower of Babel with the final battle of Gog and Magog, when mankind will once again rebel against God. 

R. Aibu stated in the name of (R. Eliezer the son of) R. Yosé the Galilean: Mankind rebelled against the Holy One, blessed be He, three times. The first rebellion was this one [the Tower of Babel]; the second occurred in the days of Joshua, as it is said: They gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord (Joshua 9:2); and the third will transpire in the days of Gog and Magog, as it is said: The kings of the earth stand up and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord (Psalm 2:2) (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 18:8).

We have seen from the beginning how God created the world. We have seen how God recreated the world at the time of the flood. All of history has come and gone to this point, and we have seen the Creator of this world interact with His creation and how He made right the wrong of the Garden of Eden through the Messiah Yeshua. We see now in the book of Acts a window through which God reveals life at the time of the Tower of Babel:

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:1-12)

On the day of Pentecost God showed us that one day we will all understand each other because we will once again have one language and we will be united. But we also learn that it will be God who will bring this about and not man. The rabbis believed that originally, everyone spoke Hebrew, and that this only changed at the Tower of Babel. The Midrash Tanchuma says, “Originally, they had spoken to each other in Hebrew, the language with which the world was created” (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 19:1). Because of this, they believe that in the Messianic Age everyone will once again speak Hebrew: 

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: In this world My creatures opposed Me, and therefore they were divided into seventy languages because of the evil inclination, but in the world-to-come they will all be of one accord, calling upon My name and serving Me, as it is said: For then will I turn to the peoples one pure language that they may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent (Zephaniah 3:9). (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 19:2).

So let us now take a closer look into the religion of Satan called Humanism. At the Tower of Babel the people wanted a name for themselves. They did not build to bring honor to God, but to themselves. If we are not living for God then we are living for ourselves, and the worship of ourselves is the worship of the Evil One. When Yeshua was tested in the wilderness, what did He say to him? As we see in Matthew 4:8-10, 

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will bow down and worship me.” Yeshua said to him, “Away from Me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”

The Father of Lies has been telling a lie from the beginning—that we can be gods. We hear it today: “You deserve a break today,” “You owe it to yourself,” “You earned it,” “If it feels good do it,” “Experience all that life has to offer.” In Genesis we see that the lie he spoke to Eve was that it is okay to question the Word of God. Man cannot trust God because God lies. Satan lied when he said, “We can be like God,” “We all can be gods,” “If God cannot be trusted then He is not supreme and therefore there are no absolutes, no morals, no truth, and so this now allows us to rebel against God, because God was and is the liar.” We are now free from all restraints. 

Humanism’s emphasis is on secular concerns: “I am the center of the universe.” We have replaced the Word of God with science, philosophy, and man’s reason. We seek for man’s enlightenment and knowledge. 

Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:1-4, 

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

Paul also tells us in Romans 1:18-25, 

For [God does not overlook sin and] the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who in their wickedness suppress and stifle the truth, because that which is known about God is evident within them [in their inner consciousness], for God made it evident to them. For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense. For even though they knew God [as the Creator], they did not honor Him as God or give thanks [for His wondrous creation]. On the contrary, they became worthless in their thinking [godless, with pointless reasonings, and silly speculations], and their foolish heart was darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God for an image [worthless idols] in the shape of mortal man and birds and four-footed animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their own hearts to [sexual] impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin], because [by choice] they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

And again in 1 Corinthians 1:20-21, 

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

So what do Humanists believe? Let’s take a look at their own manifesto.

In 1933, the Humanist Manifesto I was published. Here are 15 key points.

1. It begins with there is no Creator.
2. Man is an animal and all life is a product of evolution.
3. Man has no immortal soul so there is no future judgement.
4. Religion is a by-product of evolution and social development. Secular Humanism must replace outdated concepts as in Christianity and Judaism.
5. There are no absolute values
6. Humanism rejects all religious morals and concepts of “right and wrong.”
7. Humanism is a religion.
8. Humanists are social engineers out to remake the world in their image.
9. Humanists want to create a heaven on earth through collectivistic (communist) socialistic utopia.
10. In that socialistic amoral utopia there is no room for traditional religion of any kind.
11. There is no faith or hope beyond this present world.
12. There can be no restraints put on humans in their pursuit for sensual pleasure (hedonism).
13. There is an emphasis on living for the moment.
14. Traditional religion and religious expression must give way to a global Humanistic one world religion.
15. Humanists have a collectivistic/Marxist view of economics.

In 1973, the Humanist Manifesto II was published with an updated blueprint for a new One World Order. Even though the manifesto was updated, not much has changed because Humanism was founded upon principles of self-empowerment, critical thinking, reason, curiosity, and doing good for the sake of the other. Humanism requires no authoritarian figures to control one’s thinking or motivate one’s actions because what is right for me may not be right for you.

Global Humanism

Today in the 21st century we now have a global Secular Humanist movement. Social media and the digital age has caused the Humanist movement to explode. Its creation resembles a semi-constitution, which enables those who participate to actively engage within the community. The understanding is that this religion (Secular Humanism) has been a powerful force in the world because it gives people a sense of contributing to something larger than themselves. However, the difference here is the shift from supporting a deity to supporting ourselves, based on our own common humanity. The model is as follows:

1. God does not exist: human beings do.
2. If we contribute to what actually exists, all of us will benefit.
3. Helping others will allow others to help each other.
4. Humanism is a self-preservation system as well as a system that moves us forward.

Today all restraints are off, and the Humanist feels empowered and free. The global effort has begun to control governments and laws and even has affected modern day religious thought. The years of pushing their ideas in the world of academia and the media with Hollywood at its side, about this new age of “the Human Right” and “Social Justice” and basically this: “All for one and one for all.” Socialism and even Communism that they have been pushing for decades has begun to pay off. 

Even if we realize it or not, Secular Humanism, or should I say the religion of Babylon, has played a part throughout history. We have seen the breakdown of every area of our lives. History has been repeating itself over and over again, but with greater influence as the population has exploded over the centuries. We see Paul’s words to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:1-4) about how the people will be in the end times is totally correct. Our walk with God has become cold. We see, in Revelation 2-3, Yeshua telling the 7 churches that they need to come back to their first love and do the things they did at first. He tells them they are holding on to the teachings of Baal and the Nicolatians (Humanism) and committing acts of immorality. They were tolerating the false prophetess Jezebel (Humanist teachings) who was leading them astray to commit immorality. Yeshua calls it Satanic teaching. He tells them that they are soiling their garments. They thought they were alive, but actually they were dead. Yeshua calls it all a lie. He tells them that they are lukewarm and that He will spit them out. They think that they are rich, but they are poor, miserable, and naked. He tells them that they need to repent. This was for the church then, and this is for the church now. So let us say, this is not something that we can take lightly. The Bible tells us to beware in 1 Corinthians 10:1-12: 

For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Messiah. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

We see that even with all the miracles and the mighty hand of God that moved in the lives of the Israelites, they still fell. Just like Adam and Eve who walked with God still fell, we can not take for granted such a great salvation. Satan’s counterfeit religion has come through the ages, and he has taken down so many before us because he is so crafty. Today, the world has a lot to offer, especially here in America. The church is not even close to what it was in the previous centuries. We have fallen into Humanism if we realize it or not. So many people believe that they no longer need the Ten Commandments. So many people are into Social Justice that they believe that they, and not God, need to bring about an equal world. Today the church is seeker-friendly and so politically correct that sin and repentance are no longer preached. We believe that we can not fall from grace, even though we see in the parables of Yeshua that that is not correct. The door will be closed to many who think they are standing but are not. Yeshua tells us in Matthew 7:21-23, 

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.”

We may go to church or to Bible studies, but do we seek God out for His will in our lives? Do we pray when we need to make a decision to find out what God thinks about it? I have known people who prayed for God to open a door and when several doors opened they believed that it was God opening every door, and so they chose whichever job had the better pay, never considering to ask God His will. This is all Humanism. We must learn to seek God out and to pray things through, and that takes time and even perseverance, waiting upon God and trusting Him. But if we do not, then we rely on our own intuition or our own resources, and that is all Humanism. Whenever we leave God out of our lives or He is not the center of our lives then it is Humanism. When we live outside of His Word, it is Humanism. When we start to think that something is owed to us, that is Humanism. We cannot earn anything, because God is the one who gives us everything, and when we start to think differently, that is Humanism. Humanism is now in the church. Today there are many preachers who do not even believe what they preach. They believe in same-sex marriage, they believe in abortion, they do not believe in a final judgment. They believe that God is only love and that He will not judge us or condemn us. Every denomination has made concessions and compromises to their creed of faith. Yes, every denomination. The heads of faith from all over the world have signed agreements, and heads of universities also. We must beware lest we fall. We do not examine ourselves to see if we are still in the faith as 2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Messiah Yeshua is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”

So now that we have seen how Humanism (Mystery Babylon) and its religion began, let’s go to the Book of Revelation and see just how this false religion will coexist with the Antichrist.

Revelation 13:1-10 tells us this about him: 

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

This beast is Babylon, a powerful one world government system by which its people are ruled by Humanism. Their king, who is worshiped and considered as God, is the Antichrist, Satan himself.

Revelation 17:1-2 tells us, 

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”

Revelation 17:3-7 goes on to say, 

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery: Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Yeshua. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns.”

Who is Babylon that the kings and the inhabitants of the earth will have this adulterated affair with her? And second, what are these waters by which she sits? God’s Word always interprets the Scriptures, and so we should not go outside of that interpretation. The Scripture gives us a riddle.

Revelation 17:8-18 explains, 

“The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come. This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers.” Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish His purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

Many people over the years have thought that the ten horns were ten nations and those ten nations made up the return of the Roman Empire. It is not so important to understand or to know who these ten kings are, or where these seven hills are, or who the Antichrist is. These things will be revealed in due time. But what is important is the call to come out from Babylon, because this one-world government along with its Humanistic false religion will be judged with everyone who has fallen into her trap.

Revelation 18:1-8 says, 

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given, pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’ Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”

Yeshua will come and He will conquer as Revelation 19:11-21 tells us, 

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Revelation 20:11-15 goes on to tell us, 

And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Isaiah writes in Isaiah 66:22-24, 

“For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure. And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me,” says the Lord. “Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched; and they will be an abhorrence to all mankind.”

Yeshua tells us this also in Mark 9:42-48, 

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

Revelation 14:9-12 says this,

Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Yeshua.

It appears that we will see those who are in hell for eternity as a witness, for their fire will burn forever. 

Conclusion

We have seen from the beginning the many sides of God and the many attributes of God and the different names of God, but this is only a small part of the picture. Every day we experience God, even if it is in a sunrise or a flock of birds. God’s hand is everywhere. Romans 1:20 tells us, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” 

One day the Judge will come to judge, and God who in peace laid down His bow will destroy all the earth as 2 Peter 3:3-7 tells us, 

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

Yes, this present age will come to an end and then we will enter into “the age to come,” the rule and reign of the Messiah; the restored Eden will also be fulfilled. And then there will be the “here after”, which is Eternal life. We see that God will once again, for the last time, not recreate His creation like in the day of the flood, but totally create a new heaven and earth. Revelation 21 tells us this, 

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 22:1-5 continues with this, 

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the Tree of Life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

God’s final creation will not have the sun or the stars, for there will be no night, only day, and there will be no summer or winter. There will be no time at all. There will be no universe, and once again there will be no atmosphere to cause rain or cold or heat. In fact, when you see the New Jerusalem like a square, you have to ask yourself if the world will no longer be round, for it will no longer be rotating around the sun. Maybe God will create it flat. We also see that the Feast of Tabernacles will be fulfilled, for God will dwell with man forever. For all eternity, we will drink from the River of Life and eat from the Tree of Life. The Alpha and the Omega will have fulfilled all that was written from the beginning, and He will be our source for all eternity. 

We are the ones who are being built up today, as 1 Peter 2:4-10 tells us, 

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Messiah Yeshua. For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

And again in Ephesians 2:19-22, 

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

We are the New Jerusalem, the fellow citizens in the household of God. 

John 14:1-3 tells us this: 

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Before the foundation of the world, this was God’s plan: that we would be a priestly people, a holy people. His desire to create all things was to bring us to this day, for His desire was to dwell with man, like in the original Garden of Eden where man was in His glory. Our new eternal bodies will live on for eternity as 1 Corinthians 15:40-49 tells us, 

There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

And it continues in verses 53-57, 

For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Messiah Yeshua.

We started in the beginning, and there is no better way to end this study then to end it with the last words of the Book. 

“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the Tree of Life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. “I, Yeshua have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the Tree of Life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Yeshua. The grace of the Lord Yeshua be with all. Amen. (Revelation 22:12-21)

IT IS FINISHED!

Isaac

“And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.”

Psalm 9:10

Not too much is said about Isaac. The greatest moment in his life was on that altar (Genesis 22). It took great trust in God and his father Avraham to let himself be bound as a sacrifice on that altar. Isaac, (Yis’chak), was well aware of his miraculous birth and the promises that were going to be handed down to him one day. To this day, it is customary for the Jewish father to pass down traditions and beliefs to the next generation. It is also customary for the father to bless the children, and we see Avraham doing this, but not before he does his parental duty in finding Isaac a wife. Her name is Rebekah. Rebekah also has the same experience that Avraham had: she is asked to leave her homeland and her father’s house and go to a land that she was not familiar with. since the future of the covenant would come through Rebekah, her faith also would have to be tested. She agrees to go, and once again, we see this custom of blessing in Genesis 24:60, “And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, Become thousands of ten thousands, and may your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them.” We see Yis’chak returning from Beer-lahai-roi where he would later settle (Genesis 24:62). It was probably part of an oasis to which sheep-breeders would come for water and pasturage.  It says that Yis’chak was out walking when he looked up and saw the caravan coming (verse 63). The Hebrew word here rendered as “out walking,” la-suach, is not clear in its meaning. The present rendering is based on the Arabic saha, meaning “to take a stroll.” Another tradition has Isaac chatting with his friends, a translation derived from the Hebrew siah, meaning “to talk.” This word siah can alternatively be translated as “a shrub,” which has led some to place him as strolling among bushes. The most popular rabbinic understanding has him praying or meditating. Whatever he was doing, he was going to meet Rebekah. Genesis 24;67 tells us, “Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; so Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” The act of taking Rebekah into his mother’s tent symbolized that she was the successor to Sarah as the matriarch of the family. Not too much is recorded about the first twenty years of their marriage. Issac appears to be just a transition between his father Avraham and his son Ya’akov. This lack of presence in the Scriptures certainly does not diminish his role as a patriarch and a pillar of the church. The scriptures tell us that Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah. She too was barren of children. This may have taken place to show that like his father, Isaac was a man of prayer and that God was a God who answers—and He did answer. Rebekah finds herself having much difficulty in her pregnancy, so she inquires of the Lord as to the problem going on inside of her (Genesis 25:22). Interestingly, Isaac and Rebekah lived in Beer-lahai-roi at the time; this was the same place that Hagar had her encounter with God when He revealed to her about her son. It’s here that Rebekah is told that she is having twins and that her younger son will receive the birthright. And so twins were born to Isaac. We will discuss these two boys later.  

Genesis 26 starts by saying, “There was a famine in the land….” Here comes another test for Isaac His first impulse is to go to Gerar and then to Egypt, just as his father had done before him, but God intervenes and tells him not to go. God re-establishes His covenant now with Isaac, but only if he stays in the land. This meant to Isaac that he would have to trust God for food for his family as well as for his livestock. Could God still prosper him in times of famine? “Yes” Isaac travels in the region of Gerar during the time of the famine. Just like his father, he lies about his wife, calling her his sister; the similarities are so great between Avraham and his son. Both had to learn that honesty is the best policy.  Isaac prospered and became very wealthy, but God kept him on course by allowing him to encounter many difficulties with the people of the region mainly over wells.  Even though Isaac was asked to leave the region of Gerar, the king himself comes to see Isaac to make a treaty on behalf of the people. With Isaac’s wealth and fame, and being the son of Avraham (who was a powerful and well known man in these parts, and whose wells they were disputing over), the King of Gerar wanted to be sure that his kingdom was safe and that this powerful man would not retaliate against them in the future. So he comes to Isaac and makes a treaty with him, an alah; this is a curse which accompanies a treaty sealed by an oath. The men sit down to eat, which is the custom when making a treaty, and they both exchange oaths and the curses that go along with this treaty if either one should violate it.  Isaac now moves to Beer-sheba, which is where Avraham settled after the episode with the binding of Isaac, where God visits him again and reaffirms the covenant one more time. As is the custom of his father, he builds an altar and calls out upon the name of the Lord. Finally, God blesses Isaac’s servants with a well that was not fought over, and he names the well Shibah. Isaac is walking in the covenant, a wealthy prominent person like his father Avraham, trusting God and living out the promises one at a time. 

Three worldviews of Isaac

Judaism: 37 years old at binding

• Dedicated as a sacrifice and so could not leave the God-given land
• Oldest to live of all 3 patriarchs
• Name was never changed
• Blind in old age due to the tears of the angels at his binding falling in his eyes

        Christianity: Isaac a type of Messiah

• Church stands on both the Son of Promise and father of the faithful
• Isaac = Liberty,  Ishmael = Slavery
• Islam: Prophet of Islam

• Described as father of the Israelites and a righteous servant of God
• Isaac, along with Ishmael, important for Muslims for continuing to preach the message of monotheism after their father Abraham.
• Isaac‘s name is mentioned 15 times in Qur’an.  the Qur’an states that Abraham received “good tidings” of Isaac, a prophet of righteousness, and God blessed them both. 
• This is where we will leave Isaac and now concentrate on his two sons. The Scriptures say, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever” (Psalm 52:8). It is this olive tree that we are grafted into.

            This is our heritage of trust.

Yis’chak: the Pillar of Trust

Jacob

“And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Luke 1:33

Jacob was one of the twins born to Isaac and Rebekah. The name is derived from the Hebrew word akev, which means “heel.” This was very prophetic in fulfilling the prophecy of Genesis chapter three, which was the first Messianic prophecy. We now find out who “the heel” is that Satan would bruise. Jacob, “the heel,” would later become Israel. We see that the people of “the heel” were called to bring light to the darkness (which is contrary to the kingdom of Satan) and would suffer, and of course the Messiah Himself would come from “the heel” and would suffer. His Hebrew name, Ya’akov, stems from the Semitic root -k-v, meaning “to protect.” Shortened from Ya’akov-El, “May El protect,” the name Ya’akov is a prayer for protection for this newborn babe, and we see that this has been the prayer throughout the history of this people.

Jacob is a quiet man, quite the opposite from his twin Esau, but right from birth he knew what he wanted. Holding on to his brother’s heel at birth gained him the name “the supplanter” (Hosea 12:3). Did Jacob know from birth his destiny, or was he really a supplanter? If you recall, his mother was told the future of this child before he was born (Genesis 25:23). The struggle for seniority and favor carried into their adult lives. Isaac favored Esau and Rebekah favored Jacob. Scripture tells us that God also favored Jacob over Esau  as Romans 9:11-13 tells us, “For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,  it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”  

Just as it is written: “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” .

This brings us to the selling of the birthright (Genesis 25:29-34). The birthright belonged to the firstborn. The firstborn son, along with the firstfruits of the soil and the male firstling of the herd and flock, belonged to the Lord. The firstborn son had responsibilities and obligations to the family and to his father. He was second-in-command in the family circle, so he also had rights and privileges that the others did not have. He would receive the greater blessing from the father and receive a bigger portion of the inheritance (a double portion of the inheritance for the firstborn is documented at Mari and Nuzi in the Middle Assyrian laws and in biblical law, as Deuteronomy 21:17 says, “On the contrary, he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of everything that he owns, for he was the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn.” 

According to ancient Near Eastern documents, the father had the right to disregard the birth order in determining his heirs.  In Genesis 49:3-4, 1 Chronicles 5:1, and Genesis 48:17-19  we see this to be true. We also see examples of this in documents from Nuzi, Alalakh, and Ugarit. An heir was also able to barter away his future inheritance. This transfer of inheritance rights is illustrated in a Nuzi tablet that records how a man parted with his future inheritance in return for three sheep received immediately from his brother. So we see Esau selling his birthright for some stew. We must note that Esau was well aware of the covenant blessings that would have been passed down to him; maybe he was not interested in the spiritual issues which allowed him to so easily give up his birthright. This could be why God favored Ya’akov over his brother.

The following is a sad example of what family life is like when we fail to communicate with one another. Isaac and Rebekah will take their favoritism to the grave. It is now time to give the parting blessings, and Isaac is determined to give his blessing to his elder son, but Rebekah knows that God has promised it to Jacob; so their failure to communicate creates a deception that each one of them will have to live with for the rest of their lives. Isaac asked Esau to prepare them a meal. This was closely connected with the act of imparting this final blessing. It was part of the ritual. Issac’s loss of vision was not only physical, but in this case spiritual as well. Rebekah and Jacob manage to trick Isaac into imparting the blessing to him and not to Esau. Isaac begins his blessing by saying, “May God give you of the dew of heaven and the fat of the earth” 

(Genesis 27:28). He blessed his son with nothing but the best of God. He blesses the fruit of the land and he blesses Jacob with political and military power and authority. He adds from the original covenant, “Cursed be those who curse you and blessed be those who bless you.” But to Isaac and Esau’s amazement, they find out that they have been had. Once a blessing is given, there is no taking it back. In verse 36, Esau resorts to bitter sarcasm that expresses itself in wordplay. He reinterprets the name Jacob, “to supplant,” and he makes a pun on the words bekhorah, “birthright,” and berakha, “blessing.” In using his father’s word laqach, “took away,” he uses the Hebrew stem l-k-h, which can mean “to take away,” or “to purchase.” He was actually saying that he sold his birthright, which apparently Isaac did not know. The lack of faith on the part of Rebekah and Jacob will now set up a lesson in faith for Jacob’s life. He flees for his life and never again sees his mother; but before he goes, Isaac confirms Jacob’s title to the birthright and he is recognized as the true heir to the Avrahamic Covenant. Unlike his brother, Jacob must not marry outside of the family. He travels to Paddan-aram, to his uncle’s house. During his travels, his journey of faith begins. His travels bring him to an unknown place where he spends the night. The Hebrew word used is makom, which is frequently used to insinuate a sacred site. While Ya’akov is sleeping, he receives a dream, a revelation. It was customary throughout the ancient world for someone to sleep in the area of a sacred temple in order to induce a deity to reveal its will, so the writer makes it clear that Ya’akov was not familiar with this place 

Genesis 28:10-12 tells us, .”Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.  He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”

The Hebrew pronoun for “it” is identical to the pronoun for “him.” Therefore Genesis 28:12 could read, “And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on him. And behold the Lord stood above him.” Just as Abraham saw a glimpse of the Messiah in his life, Jacob now gets a glimpse of the Messiah when he sees the ladder with angels descending and ascending on it.  Yeshua interprets the pronoun in Genesis 28:12 in the same way as He applies it to Himself when He says, “Truly I say to you, you will see the heavens open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). 

So where do we see Yeshua ascending and descending?

*For further information  regarding Yeshua  ascending and descending we have placed this information in the transcript.  You can go back and read the transcript or you can print off a copy of the transcript.

Descended

Ephesians 4:8-10

John 3:13

1 Peter 3:18-20

Ascended

John 6:62

Acts 1:9

1 Timothy 3:16

Will descend again

Acts 1:11

Revelation 1:7

John 14:3

Heaven opened up

Ezekiel 1:1

Mark 1:10

Acts 7:56

God now comes on the scene of Jacob’s life. In his dream, he sees a stairway of ascending and descending angels. The Hebrew word sullam in this passage is rendered here as “stairway;” this is unique to the Bible. It may be derived from the stem s-l-l, “to cast up a mound,” or maybe it’s connected with the Akkadian word simmiltu, “steps.” Sullam could therefore be a ladder or a stairway ramp. The inspirational stimulus for the image seems to be a ladder of ascent to heaven known from Egyptian and Hittite sources in which both divinities and the souls of the dead are provided with ladders to enable them to ascend from the netherworld to the abodes of men and the gods. Another explanation lies in the Babylonian ziggurat, the temple tower familiar from the Tower of Babel story. God reveals Himself to Jacob by using His divine name YHVH to distinguish Himself from the pagan gods who were called El. Here God confirms Jacob as the third patriarch and the heir to the Avrahamic covenant. Once again, God gives His word that “the heel” Jacob and his descendants would be the recipients of the land on which he was sleeping. Amazed that God would still have anything to do with him, he names the place Bethel. He takes the stone he was sleeping on and erects a pillar. Pillars (matzevah) would be set up to honor different gods, and the Torah makes it clear that this is idolatry; however, there were some pillars that were set up which were not idols, such as for burial markers or as a memorial to witness an occasion. Here we see him setting up the pillar as a witness to the dream and God’s promises to him. He pours oil over it to dedicate it and makes it a sacred place by naming it. The symbolic act of anointing with oil was used in the ancient Near East when making treaties or business deals. We see Jacob making a vow as if this were the case between him and God. An eighth century BCE Aramaic treaty inscription from As-Safira in Syria terms each upright stone on which a treaty is inscribed a ntsh. This is the Aramaic cognate of the Hebrew word matzevah, both words being derived from the same stem n-ts-v. That Syrian text designates these identical stones as bty-lhy, “abodes of the gods,” when they serve as witnesses to the treaty. 

It’s clear that matzevah is the generic term for an upright stone slab, irrespective of its function; beit Elohim, “God’s abode,” is a specific subcategory of the matzevah. It is so called because it symbolizes the divine presence that monitors the fulfillment or infraction of the terms of a treaty or vow. That the expression beit Elohim/El in this special, technical sense once had a far wider currency is proved by the fact that it found its way into Greek usage. Hellenistic writers mention “bethels,” baituloi, as certain sacred stones supposedly possessed by divine or demonic powers. Exodus 23:24 says, “You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their memorial stones in pieces.” There is plenty of evidence for a pagan god who would either have been believed to be the deified sacred stone or the watchful divinity thought to reside in the stone of testimony. Of course, in the mouth of Jacob the term beit’ Elohim means that the stone is a testimony to the Divine Presence. 

It goes on to say that he gave a tithe. The institution of tithe-giving to temples and to royalty is well-attested throughout the ancient Near East. Avraham had earlier paid a tithe of the spoils of war to Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem. Ya’akov vows to pay a tithe to God for all of his future blessings. At this point, it is not known who Ya’akov will give this tithe to.

After this memorable experience, Jacob continues his journey. The literal translation is, “He lifted up his feet,” a phrase found nowhere else. Most likely it means that the going was now easier. Jacob comes upon a well, the same well that Avraham’s servant came upon; but  the servant came with riches and a caravan, while Jacob was poor and all alone, the reason being that he could not receive from his father’s inheritance until he died. It was unheard of for a child to ask for his inheritance before his father died; this would have been disgraceful, as we see in the parable of the prodigal son. Jewish people love a good story, so should Yeshua have been any different? It wasn’t anything new or different that Yeshua spoke in parables. Rabbis in His day taught in this manner. In fact, the parables that Yeshua told were very common parables in that day, but Yeshua put a new twist to His stories. His had eternal meanings, and the endings were not always the way people thought they should end. Yeshua was a master storyteller, and He always held His audience’s attention; He always got a response.  Let’s look at one parable in particular; we call it “The Prodigal Son.” It should be called “The Compassionate Father and His Two Lost Sons.” This age-old parable has been the topic of many sermons, but let’s place this story in its proper setting. 

To get the true impact, we must look through Jewish eyes and hear through Jewish ears. These are the eyes and ears that heard it first.  The Pharisees and scribes have just been complaining that Yeshua was eating with sinners, so Yeshua tells them a story.

He said, “A certain man had two sons. And the younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me my portion of my inheritance.’” In the Middle East, this statement would have been a great insult to the father. This was not heard of. No one in that culture would have ever said this to their father. It was like saying, “Father, I want you dead,” or as we would say, “Drop dead!” This would have brought great sorrow to this family. Because of their community living style, he would have been cut off from the community. We here in the west do not understand the impact of this request.  But don’t run to the next line yet! You see, according to the traditions of the Middle East, the older son should have stepped in and dealt with his younger brother. This was his obligation to the family as the elder brother, but he remained silent. By now, Yeshua’ listeners are shocked. They can’t believe what they just heard. They thought for sure that this father was going to disown his son!  Well, this story only gets worse. The father willingly divides the inheritance with a double portion going to the elder son. According to Jewish law, if a father wants to give his children their inheritance before he dies (an act that he would have initiated), they could not sell that property until he dies so that he could still make a living from it. The younger son in the parable did not even give his father that security!

Yeshua tells a parable in Matthew 21:28-32 about two other sons who were asked to work the vineyard. One said, “Yes,” but then didn’t go, while the other said, “No,” and later did go. It showed that it is never too late to make the right decision, and so could have these two sons, but their relationships with each other and their father were not good.  The younger son leaves and goes far away from his family—so far away that now he is in a land that does not live like he lives: he is in a pagan land. “This son is not even living like a Jew! He is slopping pigs!” I can hear the crowd gasp as they heard Yeshua say it.  Now, a great famine has brought him to poverty and even starvation. These pods that the pigs were eating were carob pods. These were identified as the food of the poor. 

In Isaiah 1:20, the writer uses a play on words: chereb, which is a sword and charob, the food for the poor. Like Israel in the book of Isaiah, the poverty caused the son to repent. The saying, “When poverty causes the people to eat carob pods, then they seek God in repentance,” was a popular saying at the time of Yeshua. This is exactly what the boy did. He came to his senses. He repents due to his circumstances but not from his heart. The son now reveals his heart: “I will return to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned and am not worthy to be your son. Make me one of your hired servants.’” A hired hand was one who received pay, unlike a bondservant who did not. So this son devised a plan where he thought he could work for his father and receive pay but not be part of the family. He still thought of his father as a banker rather than a father. 

There were several parables during Yeshua’ time that dealt with wayward sons and fathers calling their sons to come back home. Here are just a few titles: “The Compassionate Father and His Runaway Son,” “The Compassionate Father and His Lost Son,” and “The Compassionate Father and His Obstinate Son.” So we see that the audience was well-acquainted with what Yeshua was telling them. But in Yeshua’ parable, the Father does not try to convince the child to return; He just patiently waits for him. Now is the time for the father to make it right—yes, the father. In the Middle East, this son would have been cut off from the community. He would no longer have been accepted or allowed to live among them. So the father sees him in the distance far from the village and he runs out to him. First the younger son humiliates the father with his request; then the older son humiliates the father by not being the mediator for the family; finally, the father humiliates himself in the community by running out to the son. It was disgraceful for an elder person to run, but this father put aside his pride to accept his son back. This story is so full of tradition and customs that the crowd was on a roller coaster of emotions. They could not believe that this man would have accepted this boy back, and as a son, nonetheless.  The younger son begins his speech, but he stops short of asking to be a servant because he truly repents when he sees his father’s actions toward him. The Rabbis believed that if you took the first step in repentance by making an opening as small as an eye of a needle that God would make the opening so wide that wagons full of soldiers and siege battlements could go through it. God is that loving. When people reject a relationship with their Creator, they, like the younger son, are saying to God, “Drop dead!” They want to travel to a faraway country and live their lives as if God did not exist. God, like this father, patiently waits for your return, always looking to see if you will take that first step toward repentance. Then He can run out to welcome you by putting on you His robe of Salvation, His ring which is the sign of the covenant, and shoes on your feet symbolizing that you are an heir and not a slave. So this father celebrates and calls the whole community together to show them that he has reconciled with his son and that they should accept him back. The father now has his younger son back, but what about the elder son who may not have left physically but left a long time ago in his heart? 

The elder son looks at the father as his boss and himself as his father’s servant. He can not see that his father has a great love for him and that he has extended his grace to him all along knowing that he has no regard or respect for him as a father. Yeshua ends His story here. He lets His audience come to the conclusion for themselves.

So let us continue with Jacob. Once at the well, Jacob discovers that he is in the right place at the right time. He meets Rachel, his cousin. He kisses her. This is the only instance in the Bible of a man kissing a woman who is neither his mother nor his wife. Even until today, Orthodox Jews will not even embrace or shake your hand if you are not of their immediate family. Jacob is welcomed by Rachel’s father and even offered a job. Everything was going great for Ya’akov… or was it? God now begins to do His work in Jacob. His love for Rachel has caused him to make the ultimate sacrifice of working for Laban for seven years. The seven year service was in lieu of the “bride-price” known as mohar in Hebrew and terhatum and biblium in Akkadian. The groom would pay the father a set price for the loss of her service and offspring, which will now belong to him. The biblium consisted of a ceremonial marriage gift to the bride’s family. We see this in Genesis 24:53, when Avraham’s servant gave them gifts. Once a woman was betrothed, she had the status of a wife “.And the servant brought out articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.”

Once the seven years end and the wedding ceremony is over, Jacob finds out what it is like to be deceived. The older sister had rights and privileges, one of which was being married first. What could Jacob say? He begins to see that same lesson that his father and grandfather had to learn: honesty is the best policy. The bridal week was seven days of feasting. This practice still remained during the second temple period, and even until today, many Jews celebrate for one week. It is known as sheva berakhot, named after the seven benedictions which are recited each day over a cup of wine after the festive meal. The perseverance of Ya’akov causes him to sacrifice another seven years for Rachel. God gives Jacob eleven sons and one daughter (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Dinah, and Joseph) during his stay in Haran.

Jacob is now ready to go back to his father’s home. God reassures him that He will be with him. Jacob’s patience and perseverance have paid off. God has blessed him with his family and with flocks and herds. Jacob consults his wives and they pack up and leave without saying goodbye. God was already beginning to prepare Jacob to meet his brother Esau. When Laban learns of their departure, he hurries to catch up with them. With God’s intervention, Laban does not retaliate, but makes a pact with Jacob So now come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me. (Genesis 31:44) 

Let’s take a closer look at cutting a covenant

1. A Standing Stone

A covenant is marked with a monument. First Jacob set up a stone as a sacred standing stone (matzebah) as he had done at Bethel. It functioned as a monument to memorialize the covenant, and it may have served other ritual purposes, like the stone at Bethel.

2. An Altar

A covenant ordinarily requires an altar. Jacob told his relatives to gather stones. They piled them into a heap that functioned as an altar. An ancient Israelite altar consisted of a heap of uncut stones. Laban named the heap Jegar-sahadutha, which apparently means “witness-heap.” Jacob named it Gal’ed which means “witness-heap” in Hebrew. Laban said, “May this heap (gal) be a witness (ed) between you and me.” They set up a pillar and called it mitzpah, which means “watchtower” or “overlook.” Laban said, “May the LORD watch (tzafah) between you and me.” This etiology accounts for two place names in Transjordan: Gilead and Mizpah.

3. Terms and Conditions

A covenant includes terms and conditions binding upon both parties. During the ceremony, both parties formally rehearse the terms. In this case, Jacob and Laban agreed not to pass the witness heap into each other’s land to do one another harm. Laban made Jacob swear not to mistreat his daughters or take any other wives. 

4. Invocation of a Deity

A covenant requires a deity to function as a warden, holding both parties responsible to their obligations and punishing them for breach of trust. Laban said, “May the LORD watch between you and me.” He said, “God is a witness between you and me.”

5. Oath

A covenant requires both parties to take an oath. Laban swore by “the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father.” Jacob swore by “the fear of his father Isaac.”

6. A Shared Meal

Jacob offered a sacrifice by cutting it up into pieces, thus we get the term “to cut a covenant.” A covenant ceremony concludes with a meal shared between the covenanting parties. Jacob hosted his kinsmen from Laban’s household. They ate of the sacrifices he had offered. The shared meal represents mutual good will between the two parties. 

(We will see in detail later the covenant process at Mt. Sinai.)

Jacob returns to the land of his father just the way he left it: with the presence of angels (Genesis 32:2). He names the place Mahanaim, meaning “the two camps,” for Jacob divided everyone into two camps in preparation for meeting his brother. The location of Mahanaim has not been identified, but it has a history in the life of the Jewish people. It was one of the Levitical cities of refuge. Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, was crowned king there. David fled there when he was fleeing from Absalom, and in Solomon’s day it was a district capital. Even though Ya’akov knows that the angels of God are with him and that God Himself said He would protect him, Jacob was greatly frightened and filled with anxiety over meeting his brother. After he divides his family and flock into two camps, Jacob goes off to be by himself. He, like his father, was a man of prayer. He begins by identifying God with Avraham and Isaac. He reminds God of what He has said over the last twenty years, covering his exile from beginning to end. After establishing the facts with God (which was more for Jacob’s  benefit than God’s), he gathers together an overwhelming gift for his brother and sends it ahead in waves so that his brother does not have time to really think about what is happening. Jacob crosses the ford of the Jabbok with his family and all his possessions, getting into position to meet his brother, not knowing how he will react. Again Jacobis left alone. Suddenly, a man appears on the scene, and he begins to wrestle with Ya’akov. Not knowing who he is wrestling with, he continues until daybreak. Finally he realizes that it must be one of those angels that appeared to him at Mahanaim and has been watching over them as they traveled. Jacob, a man of persistence, would not allow the man to leave him until he blessed him. The angel struck him on the hip bone, which caused Jacob to walk with a limp from that time on. The angel asks him his name and then proceeds to change his name to Yisrael. Just as his grandfather had a name change, so did he. Remember, names were significant and had great association with a person’s personality or destiny, so Jacob, who once was a supplanter, will now be Yisrael. The name Yisrael is associated with struggle and triumph in the face of overwhelming odds, but it can also mean “Prince of God.” A variant of the key verb in this passage yakol, meaning “strive,” or possibly “perseverance,” is found in Hosea 12:4, “In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he strove with God.” So in essence, Jacob was a man with great perseverance, and though his life was a struggle with many difficulties and problems, he prevailed and was granted victory. He was entitled a prince, a patriarch! This was certainly the highlight of Yisrael’s life. The man/angel could have been the archangel Michael whose name means “who is like God” and who is the defender of Israel.  Yisrael names the place Peniel, literally meaning “Face of God.” The idea of seeing God’s face and living obviously goes this far back in time, for God told Moses explicitly that man can not see His face and live. Yisrael knows that he has been with God Himself and He has made a radical change in him. Now Ya’akov/Yisrael is ready to see his brother. Day breaks and Yisrael looks up and here comes Esau. Despite all his fears, Esau embraces his brother and the healing of the past begins. Yisrael, still not sure of his brother’s sincerity, denies his request to travel together, so they part their ways. Yisrael, now back in the land of Canaan, sets up an altar of thanksgiving to God who has brought him back safely. Arriving in Shechem, he purchases a portion of land hoping to settle there with his family. Yisrael, the one who must struggle with difficulties, does so once again as he finds himself with the misfortune that comes to his daughter Dinah Genesis 34:1-2 tells us, “Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the region. When Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the region, saw her, he seized her and lay with her by force.”  Bringing disgrace to this family, her brothers take revenge, despite Shechem’s offer to marry her. Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s full brothers, devise a plan to slaughter all the men of this city. Yisrael, more concerned about his own well-being, addresses the issue with them, but the moral issue of what was done to their sister was more important to the brothers; yet God says, “Vengeance is mine.” On Yisrael’s death bed, he censors Simeon and Levi from his blessing for their acts of violence. Yisrael now leaves for Bethel as God commanded him. Jacob, after twenty years of serving Laban, now leaves with his wives and children and their livestock. This is like a scene from the Exodus. Like Moses leaving Egypt and heading out to return to Mount Sinai, Jacob is headed toward Bethel (the house of God), the place where he had the dream of the angels ascending and descending. This was the place where Jacob vowed to God that if He would protect him and prosper him and bring him back to this place, he would give Him a tenth of all he had. Well, the time had come, and Jacob was having his own exodus; but instead of Pharaoh pursuing him, it was his father-in-law. What Jacob did not know was that Rachel had taken her father’s idols; but what he did know was that they were returning to Bethel, the place he called the house of God. Genesis 35:2-3 tells us that Jacob instructs his household to put aside all foreign gods. He told them to purify themselves and change their garments. We also see this behavior in Exodus 19:10: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments.’”  How important was all of this? Like at Mount Sinai, Bethel was a holy place.  

Jacob knew that one could not enter into the house of God without renouncing any allegiance to any other god. 

In today’s world, we do not think about idolatry, and yet Paul tells us that immorality, evil desires, and greed are all forms of idolatry (Colossians 3:5). Basically, idolatry is anything that keeps you from walking in holiness and having an intimate relationship with God. It could be TV, sports, or the internet that keeps a person from prayer and God’s Word. 

It’s like 1 John 2:15-16 tells us: “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world.” 

Jacob tells his household to purify themselves. Paul tells the Corinthians in 

2 Corinthians 7:1, “We must cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and spirit.” 

1 John 1:19 tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

1 Peter 1:22 says that obedience to the truth purifies our souls.

After telling his household to cast off their idols and purify themselves, Jacob tells them to change their garments. The Torah speaks a lot of changing our garments in relationship to purity. This can mean immersion/baptism. 

Paul tells us to “lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12).

 He again tells us to “put on the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts”  (Romans 13:14). 

We are to “lay aside the old self and put on the new, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” 

 (Ephesians 4:22-24). 

We are to “lay aside the old self and put on the new”  (Colossians 3:9-10), 

and we are to “put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience… and beyond all these things put on love”  (Colossians 3:12-14).

How shall we prepare to enter the house of God? We must repent, be purified in Messiah, and change our garments, which is the taking off of the old self and putting on the new. As we know, Rachel did not take Jacob’s advice, and she lied to her father; and as the story goes, Jacob tells Laban, “Let the curse fall on whoever has your idols.” And so the curse fell on her and she died. The wages of sin is death. Let us prepare to go up to the house of the Lord by following not only Jacob’s advice but the Lord in whom we seek. Once again, Yisrael is fleeing the wrath of another. He remembers his vow to God, which he made in Bethel twenty years ago, and tells everyone to rid themselves of any foreign god. We see this same act of purification when the people were going to meet with God at Mt. Sinai. 

Exodus 19:10 says, “The Lord said to Moses: ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes” And when they were going to cross the Jordan into the promised land. “Then Joshua said to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” (Joshua 3:5). God does appear to Yisrael and once again blesses him. God also once again renames Ya’akov to Yisrael. He gives the blessing of fertility, nationhood, kingship, and territory. Yisrael is the true heir to the Avrahamic Covenant. Yisrael sets up a pillar and not only pours oil over it, but pours out a libation (Genesis 35:14). The Hebrew nesekh usually means a wine offering and is found nowhere else in Genesis.Yisrael now comes to a most difficult time: saying goodbye to Rachel. She is about to give birth to Israel’s twelfth and final son Benjamin, and in so doing, dies. Rachel, the one who Jacob persevered fourteen long, hard years for, is now dead.

This is where we will leave Yisrael. He is walking in the covenant of his forefathers. Scripture says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3), and “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:5). This was Jacob; the testing of his faith produced a man of character, perseverance, and hope: Yisrael.

This is our heritage to persevere.

Yisrael: the Pillar of Perseverance

Summary

Who is next? Who will God pass this covenant on to? Who will be God’s chosen? First of all, we see that it is God who does the choosing. He chose Avraham in the beginning and Isaac over Ishmael. God said, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated” (Romans 9:13). We see this with Yeshua. He said, “You have not chosen Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). And that it is by no merit of ours, “Not by works that any man should boast”  (Romans 9:10-12, Ephesians 2:9). Scripture tells us that Abraham received the promises of the covenant by faith before any work of his own, such as circumcision (Romans 4:1-3, 9-10).

This is God’s, unmerited favor, His goodness, His mercy. We are saved by faith. We see that it was through faith that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob entered into the covenant and received the promises. It was God that called them and brought them to this faith. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is a God of mercy; there is no shadow of turning with Him. So now we have seen in the Old Testament that God’s grace was in operation. God has not changed, His ways are still the same. But when faith comes, obedience always follows.

Moses

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the passing pleasure of sin, esteeming the reproach of Messiah greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26

We have seen that the patriarchs not only had revelations of the coming Messiah, but their lives paralleled His; and we see this to be  true with Moshe’s life. We want to look at a few of these parallels in his life.

We start with the text in Hebrews 11. We see here that Moshe rejected the pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Messiah as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. The question at hand is when did Moshe have this revelation of the reproach of Messiah? Nowhere in the five books of the Torah do we see that he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter—only here in the Apostolic Scriptures; and where in the Torah do we see that Moshe considered the reproach of Messiah except here in Hebrews? 

Did Moshe have a foreknowledge about the coming redeemer who would die for the sins of the world?  What we are seeing here in the Apostolic Scriptures is that the writer can see for himself the reflection of the Messiah Yeshua in Moshe. Here is another life which is being lived out without the one living it even knowing that he is a type, or better yet, an example—which in many ways we, as believers, should be the same example—of Messiah’s life.  The passage tells us that Moshe chose to endure ill-treatment with the people of God. The Midrash Rabbah sheds some light on this subject. “Now it came about in those days, when Moshe had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors” (Exodus 2:11). What is the meaning of, “looked on their hard labors”? It means that he looked upon their burdens and wept, saying, “Woe is me, for you would that I could die for you!” There is no labor more difficult than brickmaking, and he used to shoulder the burden and help each one (Exodus Rabbah 1:27). Both the author of Hebrews and the Midrash appear to have a common source, and that source may have been the oral teachings of Moshe himself. Even though the Torah never tells us these things, we are told that he saw the people’s hard labor and that he killed the Egyptian. The tradition in the Midrash was that Moshe longed to die on behalf of his people. Like Moshe, Paul tells us in Romans 9:3 that he wished that he was cursed and cut off from Messiah for the sake of his own people. Moshe, instead of taking the power and throne of Egypt, humbled himself, stripping himself of his royalty; he took on the form of a slave, being found in appearance as a Hebrew; he humbled himself even to the point of death. Paul tells us this same thing in Philippians 2:8 of Messiah. 

Moshe did so because he had a conviction of the unseen God and confidence in the things hoped for, such as the promises of God. He took on the burden, affliction, and suffering of his people, willing even to die for them, because he crucified his flesh and forsook the world by rejecting the riches and power that the world had offered him. We must remember that when Moshe was born, his mother saw that he was beautiful. What did she see in her child that made her know he had to live? Maybe like each of the matriarchs she too, knew that her child was destined to be the receiver of the covenant, even their deliverer, and maybe even their messiah. Moshe was drawn out of the water by Pharaoh’s daughter and given the name Moshe. This concept of being drawn out of the water has an implication of salvation, just like Yeshua, whose name means salvation. 

So Exodus 2:11-12 tells us that Moshe struck down the Egyptian. Stephen tells us his version, which again is the same Apostolic rendering as the book of Hebrews. It is not that Moshe had foreknowledge of the reproach of Messiah; rather, he took on the reproach of Messiah when he identified with the Hebrew people and attempted to redeem them. According to Stephen, Moshe intentionally left Pharaoh’s household to try to bring salvation to his people. Stephen explained that Moshe believed “God was granting them deliverance through him” (Acts 7:25). He said, “And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian” (Acts 7:24). Moshe is perceived as a murderer and therefore a sinner like everyone else, unworthy of God’s grace and the salvation that comes through him. The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and that includes Moshe. 

Moshe struck down the Egyptian while defending the life of his fellow Israelite. Saving someone from an attacker is not the same as a cold-blooded murder. Leviticus 19:16 says, “You shall not stand over the blood of your neighbor.” This means you shall not idly watch him die when you are able to save him. Stephen explained that Moshe struck down the Egyptian as the first act in his attempt to redeem Israel. He said, “And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand” (Acts 7:25). “He went out the next day and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other. And he said to the offender, ‘Why are you striking your companion?’ But he said, ‘Who made you a prince or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’” (Exodus 2:13-14).

Stephen explained to the Sanhedrin how Moshe took on the reproach of Messiah. He pointed out that Moshe, like Messiah, was sent as a ruler and judge over Israel and was rejected by his kinsmen. 

“On the following day, Moshe appeared to the Hebrew slaves as they were fighting together and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying ‘Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?’ But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? You do not mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?” (Acts 7:26-28).

Stephen interpreted the prophecy of Moshe, “God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren” as a prophecy concerning Messiah. By citing this prophecy, Stephen reminded the Sanhedrin that Moshe set the pattern for Messiah. Just as they had rejected the Messiah, Israel also rejected Moshe when they said, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us?” Stephen contended that their rejection of Yeshua did not discredit His Messianic claims. 

The same had happened to Moshe: this Moshe whom they disowned, saying, “Who made you a ruler and judge?” is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush (Acts 7:35). 

Like Moshe before Him, Yeshua called on the people of his generation to repent of hatred, fighting, and murder. “He supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand” (Acts 7:25).

 “Then Moshe was afraid and said, ‘Surely the matter has become known.’ When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moshe, but Moshe fled from the presence of Pharaoh” (Exodus 2:14-15).

 The Torah tells us that after Moshe had killed the Egyptian and realized the matter was public knowledge, “Moshe was afraid… Moshe fled from the presence of Pharaoh.” Stephen concurred with this remark: “Moshe fled and became an alien in the land of Midian” (Acts 7:29). 

The writer of Hebrews, however, objected to that literal reading. 

Moshe is shown in Hebrews 11:27 as having no fear for his life for it says. “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he persevered, as though seeing Him who is unseen.” 

 Moshe was willing to suffer and die for his people.  It was faith—not fear, that motivated him to leave Egypt . The Midrash claims that Moshe was afraid not of Pharaoh, but of the fact that the Hebrews had not accepted him as their deliverer, and he was afraid that they were not ready to be delivered. Moshe feared God more, and he went out by faith, trusting in God. 

We see this also with Yeshua in the garden when He asks the Father to remove the cup from Him. People also say that Yeshua was afraid of suffering and dying, but like Moshe, this was not true. Yeshua said that no man takes His life, but He lays it down freely (John 10:18). 

***To read further about the comparisons between Moshe and Yeshua, we have put a handout in our transcript. You can go back and read the transcript or you can print the transcript out.

The Comparison of Moshe and Yeshua

Fled to wilderness

Exodus 2:15

Matthew 2:20-21

Shepherds of Israel

Exodus 3:1, Numbers

John 10:10-11, Matthew 9:36

Knew God face to face

Exodus 3:1-10, Deuteronomy 34:10

Luke 9:34-36

Both Deliverers

Exodus 3:10

Luke 1:31-33

Moshe like God/Yeshua was God

Exodus 7:1

John 1:1-2

Did signs and wonders

Exodus 14:15-22

Matthew 14:22-32

Teachers of Torah

Deuteronomy 4:1-5

Matthew 22:16; John 3:2

Gave people bread from Heaven

Exodus 16:4-5

Matthew 14:19-20

Faithful to God

Numbers 12:5-7

Hebrews 3:1-2

Mediators of the covenant

Exodus 24:7-8

Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, 

Hebrews 9:11-15

Offered to die on behalf of people’s sins

Exodus 32:30-33

John 10:11-18

We saw  Moshe reject all that Egypt has to offer and go with the people of Yisrael (the “heel,” the ones who will struggle and triumph in the face of overwhelming odds, the people of perseverance). This is where we will pick up his story, Moshe the great deliverer and lawgiver. There has never been a person whose life so parallels the Messiah. So let us continue in Exodus 2:23 which tells us that the people of Yisrael were crying out in their bondage and God heard them and remembered His covenant with Avraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the fulfillment of the word spoken to Avraham by God, that the people would be slaves for four hundred years and then God would bring them back to the land He had promised them. God did remember His covenant and appointed  a leader to bring them back. He calls Moshe.

In Exodus 3, we find Moshe tending his father-in-law’s flock, and he comes to Horeb. Many texts seem to identify this location with Sinai, but there are also indications that they may not be identical. Thus, while reference to Mount Sinai appears frequently, mentions of Mount Horeb are rare and there is no reference to the wilderness of Horeb as there is to that of Sinai. Furthermore, an impression of some distance between the two is gained from the story of the water crisis at Rephidim as told in Exodus 17:1-7. Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”  But the people were thirsty for water there; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why is it that you have brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What am I to do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!”  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.  Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.  Then he named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”

The divine Spirit is said to have been manifest before Moshe, closeby “on a rock at Horeb;” yet Rephidim was the last station of the Yisraelites before entering the Wilderness of Sinai. We may be dealing with different strands of tradition, or Horeb may have been the name of a wider region in which Mount Sinai, a specific peak, was located; perhaps that peak eventually lent its name to the entire area. Horeb means “desolate, dry.” Its location has not been identified.

Once in Horeb, God speaks to Moshe in a burning bush. In Hebrew, the word is senah, and it occurs both here and in Deuteronomy 33:16 where God is poetically named “the Presence in the Bush.” Senah is most likely word play with Sinai, a hint of the Sinaitic revelation foreshadowed in verse 12. The bush in question has been variously identified as the thorny desert plant Rubus Sanctus, which grows near wadis and in moist soil, or the Cassia Senna shrub, known in Arabic as sene. Moshe is drawn to the bush, and when he turns to look, God calls to him: “Moshe, Moshe!”  In the Bible, repetition of a name often characterizes a direct divine call. “Here I am,” Moshe replies. The Hebrew word used here is hineni, the standard, spontaneous, unhesitating response to a call. “Remove your sandals from your feet,” God commands. In the Ancient Near East, removal of footwear (here probably sandals of papyrus or leather) was a sign of respect and displayed an attitude of humility. Priests officiated barefoot in the sanctuary; to this day they remove their footwear before pronouncing the priestly benediction in the synagogue service. “I am the God of your father…” This epithet, frequently used in the Book of Genesis, all but vanishes in Yisrael during the period of the Exodus, to be replaced by “the God of the Fathers,” the plural form referring to the three patriarchs. We go from the theophany at the burning bush to the divine call. God tells of the promise to bring the people back to their land and He goes as far as to describe the land. “Come,” God commands directly, “I will send you to Pharaoh, and you shall free my people.” God has now appeared to Moshe and has called him to be the deliverer. Moshe, not full of faith, questions God’s calling on his life. As with his forefathers before him, God reaffirms that He will be with him. That’s not good enough for Moshe; he obviously does not know God very well, and he asks for His name. “Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh,” is God’s reply; it is a phrase that has variously been translated as, “I Am That I Am,” “I Am Who I Am,” and “I Will Be What I Will Be.” It clearly evokes YHVH, the specific proper name of Yisrael’s God, known in English as the Tetragrammaton, meaning “the four consonants.” The phrase also indicates that the earliest recorded understanding of the divine name was as a verb derived from the stem h-v-h, taken as an earlier form of h-y-h, “to be.” Either it expresses the quality of absolute being, the eternal, unchanging, dynamic presence, or it means, “He causes to be.” YHVH is the third person masculine singular; ehyeh is the corresponding first person singular. The latter is used here because name-giving in the ancient world implied the wielding of power over the one named; hence, the divine name can only proceed from God Himself. In the course of the Second Temple period, the Tetragrammaton came to be regarded as charged with metaphysical potency and therefore ceased to be pronounced. It was replaced in speech by Adonai or Lord and rendered into Greek as Kyrios. Often the vowels present in Adonai would accompany YHVH in later written texts. This gave rise to the mistaken form Jehovah. The original pronunciation was eventually lost; modern attempts at recovery are conjectural. God’s response to Moshe’s query cannot be the disclosure of a hitherto unknown name, for that would be unintelligible to the people and would not resolve Moshe’s dilemma. However, taken together with the statement in Exodus 6:3, the implication is that the name YHVH only came into prominence as the characteristic personal name of the God of Yisrael in the time of Moshe. This tradition accords with the facts that the various divine names found in Genesis are no longer used, except occasionally in poetic texts; that of all the personal names listed hitherto, none is constructed of the prefixed yeho-/yo- or the suffixed -yahu/-yah contractions of YHVH; that the first name of this type is Yokheved (Jochebed), that of Moshe’s mother. Ibn Ezra points out that Moshe, in direct speech, invariably uses the name YHVH, not Elohim (God). Without doubt, the revelation of the divine name YHVH to Moshe registers a new stage in the history of Yisraelite monotheism. God’s continued dialogue requires some notice. First in Exodus 3:16, God says, “I have taken notice;” the root word being paqad, which echoes the dying words of Joseph as recorded in Genesis 50:24. This promise was handed down from generation to generation. God clearly wants Moshe to take the time to go through the promises that He has made, specifically the promise made to the patriarchs of the giving of the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and the Jebusites. God now was ready to fulfill this promise. Second, the dignified departure from Egypt promised in Exodus 3:21-22 was foretold in the original covenant with Avraham: “I will execute judgement on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth” (Genesis 15:14). This promise was fulfilled at the time of the Exodus. Early Jewish exegesis as reflected in Jubilees 48:18 and Philo of Alexandria as well as in the Talmud looked upon these spoils as well-deserved compensation to the Yisraelites for their long years of unpaid forced labor. It is also possible to interpret the development as being in accordance with the law of Deuteronomy 15:13-14 that requires the master to provision his slave liberally at the time of emancipation.

God now begins His deliverance and the fulfillment of His promises. Moshe takes his wife and his son and heads toward Egypt. When camping for the night, a strange but very significant thing happens to them. Verses 24-26 of chapter 4 is a fragmented narrative, but there are some conclusions that can be made. The phrase “sought to kill” in

 verse 24 echoes “who sought to kill you” in verse 19; “her son” in verse 25 recalls “his sons,” “my son,” and “your son,” in verses 20, 22, and 23, and the Hebrew for “encountered him” (va-yif-gesh-ehu) in verse 24 is identical with that for “met him” in verse 27. Besides these shared expressions, there is the issue of circumcision; following the reference to the firstborn, an artfully wrought literary framework for the entire narrative is provided, one that encompasses the struggle for liberation from Pharaoh’s oppression. That struggle begins with Moshe’s setting out to return to Egypt (verse 20), and its successful conclusion is signaled by the death of the Egyptian firstborn (12:29-36). This latter is followed immediately by the law requiring circumcision as the precondition for participating in the paschal sacrifice (12:43-49), which in turn is followed by the law of the firstborn (13:2, 11-15). The effect is a thematically arranged chiasm:

***To see the image you can go back and read the transcript or you can print it out .

In addition to the literary structure, there is also a functional correspondence between the blood of circumcision and the visible sign of the blood on the paschal sacrifice. In both instances, evil is averted on account of it

 (4:26, 12:7, 13, 22-23). 

The inseparable tie between circumcision and the Passover is plainly set forth in 12:43-49 and is also unmistakably operative in chapter 5 of the book of Joshua. It is related there that after crossing the Jordan into the promised land, a mass circumcision ceremony was performed as a prelude to the first celebration of the Passover feast inside the country (verses 2-11). 

Rabbinic exegesis gave midrashic expression to this association in interpreting Ezekiel 16:6: “When I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you ‘Live in spite of your blood.’ Yea, I said to you, ‘Live in spite of your blood.‘” The Hebrew phrase be-demayikh hayi, emphatically reiterated, was interpreted by the rabbis to mean “survive through your blood (plural)”; that is, the survival and redemption of Israel was assured because of the two mitzvot—that of circumcision and that of paschal sacrifice.

 Genesis 17:9-14, it should be noted, made circumcision the indispensable precondition for admittance to the community of Israel.

Misreading Paul

But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant. (Genesis 17:14)

During the apostolic era, many believers insisted that Gentiles also needed to receive circumcision. In other words, they believed that Gentiles needed to become Jewish before they were eligible for the kingdom. They probably argued their case on the strength of Genesis 17. The LORD says that circumcision is incumbent upon “every male among [the household of Abraham],” even a non-Jew “who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants… shall surely be circumcised” (Genesis 17:10, 12-13).

The apostles ruled against this opinion. They argued that God-fearing Gentile believers did not need to undergo circumcision unless they wanted to become Jewish and physically become part of Abraham’s household in a literal sense. Paul dedicated many passages of his epistles to this argument.

Some Christian interpretations teach that the commandment of circumcision has been canceled. Some say that circumcision was only a temporary commandment, but the Torah says that it is “an everlasting covenant” (Genesis 17:13). Some teach that the true meaning of circumcision is spiritual circumcision of the heart and that God never intended the commandment literally, but the Torah says, “You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin” (Genesis 17:11).

Where do people get the idea that circumcision no longer applies? The idea comes from a common misreading of the epistles of Paul, particularly the Epistle to the Galatians. Paul’s arguments concerning circumcision and Gentiles are explored in detail in other publications. Here, suffice to say that Paul argued that Gentiles do not need to undergo circumcision or conversion to become Jewish in order to attain salvation through Yeshua the Messiah. The arguments Paul puts forward in his epistles, however, are often misunderstood to imply that Paul dismissed circumcision for both Jews and Gentiles. For example, some people thought that Paul was “teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs” (Acts 21:21).

If Paul taught Jews not to circumcise their children, he was an apostate from Judaism. Of course, he did not teach Jews to abandon circumcision or Torah. He only argued against compelling Gentiles to receive circumcision as a means for attaining salvation and covenantal status. He even went so far as to discourage all Gentile believers from circumcision, but he encouraged Jewish circumcision. He personally oversaw Timothy’s circumcision, but he did not require Titus the Gentile to receive circumcision.  

In sum, the brief narrative in verses 24-26 underscores the paramount importance of the institution of circumcision and the surpassing seriousness of its neglect. We see Zipporah adamantly against having to perform this ritual. Zipporah was familiar with the rite of circumcision; the practice was widespread among the ancient Semites and was prevalent in Egypt. Verse 25 says, “She took the flint knife and cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched his legs with it.” It is unclear whose leg she touched with it. It may have been symbolic for the genital organs of the child. The act might signify: See, the foreskin has been cut off; the requirement of circumcision has been fulfilled! Or it may well be a reference to placing a bloodstain on the child because the Hebrew verb used here (rendered “touched”) is the same as that used for daubing of the blood of the paschal lamb on the lintel and doorpost in 12:22  (rendered “apply”). In both cases, the purpose would be the same: the blood would act as a protective sign against plague; the Destroyer would not smite.

She uses the term “a bridegroom of blood.” This is the traditional English rendering of the unique Hebrew phrase hatan damim, for which, so far, no parallel has been found in Ancient Near Eastern literature. If hatan possesses its usual meaning of “groom,” it would hardly be applicable to Moshe, who by now has been married for some time. Conceivably, it might be a term of endearment addressed to the child, but the meager evidence for such a usage stems from rabbinic, not Biblical, times. Hatan damim may be a linguistic fossil, pre-Israelite or Midianite, the meaning of which has been lost. However, it can hardly be coincidental that in Arabic the stem h-t-n denotes “to circumcise” as well as “to protect.” This latter is also its meaning in Akkadian. Hence, the enigmatic phrase could convey, “You are now circumcised and so protected by means of the blood—the blood of circumcision.” Curiously, p-s-h, the Hebrew stem behind Passover, can mean “to protect” also. Now Moshe was able to continue on to Egypt knowing that he was with God and God was with him.

Even though Moshe is a main character in the wilderness wanderings and the giving of the law, for the purpose of this study, this is where we will end with him. We see, once again, God’s grace in His election and calling of Moshe, but we begin to see another trend, and quite possibly, we have seen it all along. Even though God extends His grace and it was through faith that all have entered in, it was through obedience that they continued in their walk of faith.

The Bible says much about Moshe. Because he was the central figure in the wilderness and such a great prophet and deliverer, the Bible even says that all were baptized into Moshe and that he was the giver of the law (even though he was only the mediator), but one would come after him that was even greater; He would be the new mediator of the Renewed Covenant. “Moshe was indeed faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken of afterward” (Hebrews 3:5). Avraham was the father of faith, but Moshe was the father of faithfulness. Moshe is truly a pillar of the church.

This is our heritage to be faithful.

Moshe: the Pillar of Faithfulness

Conclusion

We have seen by the lives of these great men that they truly possessed the qualities that God requires of us today. We also see that they came to God just like each one of us comes today: in faith. They were all called by God and chosen by Him to fulfill His purpose. God imparted His grace to each one of them, and each of them were obedient to God because of their great faith in Him. As we have said, “God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Even today, God is referred to as the God of Avraham, Yis’chak, and Ya’akov. We also have seen that God is a covenant God. Today it is so common to make a covenant with someone and then break it; but when God makes a covenant, it is forever. God’s purpose is to have a redeemed people who will walk by faith and be faithful to Him. We see this all through Scripture. Most believers, if not all, would say that the Avrahamic Covenant is still in effect today because Scripture tells us that through faith we are the seed of Avraham and we now receive the blessings from that covenant. If this is so, then God would also have to be (and He is) faithful to every Jew, because He promised to Avraham, Yis’chak, and Ya’akov that His covenant with them would be forever. Part of the condition with Avraham was the “cutting of the covenant,” which means if any one party would violate the covenant, they would be done away with (as the “cutting up” of those animals that were sacrificed, Genesis 15:9-21). This will be discussed in further lessons. God would self-destruct if He would not keep His word. The theory that the Church replaced Yisrael can not be true because of the covenant with Avraham, and soon we will see the same to be true with Moses and the people of Yisrael. This now takes us to Mt. Sinai and the giving of the Mosaic Covenant.God is building a spiritual house which started with Avraham and it will continue until the Messiah returns, for He is the Cornerstone, and God Himself will dwell there  (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Mt. Sinai

You came down on Mt. Sinai and spoke from heaven; You gave them right rules and teachings, good laws, and commandments. You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, and You ordained for them laws, commandments, and teachings through Moses Your servant.

Nehemiah 9:13-14

The location and identity of Mount Sinai has been hotly disputed over the years. A significant part of the debate is this mountain’s relationship to Mount Horeb—whether they are the same location or two different places altogether. Currently, the most widely accepted location is in the Sinai Peninsula; in fact, the peninsula is named as such because of the Mount that is believed to be there. But is this the true location of Mount Sinai?

When Moses fled Egypt, we are told that he escaped to Midian. Scholars believe that Midian was located in the northwest Arabian peninsula on the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea. It was there that Moses shepherded the flocks of Jethro, who became his father-in-law. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham through his wife Keturah, whom he married after the death of Sarah.

One day when Moses was pasturing the sheep on the west side of the wilderness, he came to Horeb—the mountain of God (Exodus 3:1). It was there that Moses encountered the burning bush. Exodus 3:12 tells us “And He said, ‘Certainly I will be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you; when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.” Once again we see God speak to His servant, telling him that He is sending them and that He will be with them, and He will bring them back. 

As we see in Exodus 19, Mount Sinai is the mountain on which Moses received the Ten Commandments. While at first glance this may seem to contradict the previous promise that God would bring them to this mountain (referring to Mount Horeb), upon closer examination, we see strong evidence which supports the claim that they are in fact at the same location. The name Horeb has been known to mean “glowing/heat,” while Sinai is considered to have come from the name Sin, which was the deity of the moon in Sumerian culture. This could mean that there were two peaks of that mountain range, one associated with the sun and the other associated with the moon. John Calvin believed them to be the same mountain: Sinai being the eastern side of the mount and Horeb being the western side. Scriptural references linking Sinai and Horeb are abundant in Deuteronomy (4:10, 4:15, 5:2, 9:8, 18:16) as well as other places in Scripture (1 Kings 8:9, 2 Chronicles 5:10, Psalm 106:19).

If this is true that Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai are the same place, we see a problem with the traditional placement of Mount Sinai in the Sinai peninsula. There is no evidence of the Midianites living there, but rather they are seen living east of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Arabian peninsula. By looking at scripture, we can see evidence for the idea that Mount Sinai is in Arabia. 

In Exodus 18, we see Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, coming to meet Moses. This takes place in the chapter right before the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Since Jethro was a Midianite priest, it would make sense that Mount Sinai is indeed somewhere in Midianite territory. 

Exodus 19:18 tells us, “Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.” This has led some scholars to search for volcanoes, which they found in northwestern Arabia. 

Galatians 4:25 tells us, “Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem.” This would seem to agree with the idea that Sinai was in Arabia; however, at the time Paul wrote the letter, the territory known as Arabia encompassed a large portion of the southwestern Middle East, including both modern-day Arabia and the Sinai peninsula. 

Taking this evidence into account, scholars have found a few other plausible locations which may be Mount Sinai. One which has gained a large amount of support is Jabal al-Lawz in Arabia. At this location, researchers saw that the top appeared to be scorched, which would support what we saw before in Exodus 19:18. This location is near to where Jethro lived. A rock was found here that appears to be split open with evidence of water erosion. Other altars and formations have been found which would seem to also support this location.  However, other researchers have rejected this location for various reasons. When the people had arrived at Mount Sinai, God spoke to Moses and said, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself” (Exodus 19:4). Here God begins to reveal His ultimate plan for His redeemed people. It is clearly God making the move as He once again extends His grace and mercy. God is calling a people to be His own special treasure, His segula, His pride and joy, His special love, the apple of His eye. God is in love with His people; He speaks words of endearment. He reaches out in love and goes on to say, “If you faithfully obey me and keep my covenant, if you have no other gods before me and if you serve only me then I will be your God and you shall be My people.” 

What a deal! But He doesn’t stop there: “You shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (verse 6). This shows the national sovereignty and the fulfillment of Yisrael’s mission. The function of the priest within society was to serve as the model for Yisrael’s self-understanding of its role among the nations. The priest was set-apart by a distinctive way of life consecrated to the service of God and dedicated to ministering to the needs of the people.

Yisrael understood that they were to be a light to the nations among the Gentiles. Why? To bring them truth. The Bible tells us that salvation is through the Jews. God entrusted them with His teachings and a knowledge of His ways to be a light to lead the nations to Him. God “cut” a covenant with Avraham and it was passed down to Isaac and then to Jacob and finally to the whole nation of Yisrael. God gave them what we call the Ten Commandments, taken from the Hebrew phrase Asert HaDevarim that appears in Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 4:13. The Hebrew means “the ten words,” which the Jews of ancient Alexandria in Egypt translated literally into Greek as deka logoi (the English rendering of this being “Decalogue”). These words were not DOs and DON’Ts as we have been taught, but words on how to live as a people who were to be set apart and a light to the nations. It was a way of life for God’s redeemed people, the Bride, to stay in fellowship with their Groom, the one who has now betrothed them to Himself. This is all about a marriage covenant, a relationship. It included all the blessings given to Avraham and now even more.  We will see as we study this covenant that God adds to it not only blessings for keeping the covenant, but also curses or penalties for not keeping it. Before, it was all God, but like any marriage, it takes two to keep it going. Chapters 21-24 are called the Law of Moses or the Book of the Covenant, in Hebrew sefer ha-berit. Exodus 24:4 & 7 recount Moses writing and reading the commands to the people. 

This is a picture of how God’s community of people ought to relate to one another. These “laws” were not given so that they could survive the wilderness, but they were given to show the nations how God’s people were to relate to one another. People say that the Torah or God’s teachings were for then and not for now, but even our laws in this country were taken from the Torah.

 In 1 Corinthians 9:1-14, Paul addresses the issue of pay for those who make a living by the gospel, which is still used today. Verses 8-9 are a reference from the Law of Moses. We, the grafted-in church, are to be set-apart, a light to the nations, and there is only one way to do that and that is God’s way. Yeshua Himself lived by these ways, and we will see this in further chapters. 

Acts 28:23 tells us how as Paul brought light to the Gentiles, he used the Law of Moses and the prophets (the Torah) to lead them to Yeshua. The Torah is definitely for today!

What is the Torah?

The Torah is usually referred to as the first five books of the Bible. Christians refer to it as the Law of Moses. The Torah can actually contain all of the Hebrew writings, or what we call the Old Testament. This course is intended to teach not only the truth of the Torah but why Christians should be living by it. First, we must understand the truth of the Torah: what it is and what it is not. Throughout this study we will answer these questions. We will start with what the Torah actually is.The word Torah comes from the root word yara, which means “to shoot,” such as shooting a bow and arrow in order to hit the target, or in other words, to “hit the mark.” On the spiritual level it means “teaching” or “instruction.” So we could say that the Torah teaches us how to hit the mark concerning God and His righteousness. We can then broaden the Torah to include the New Testament, for it also shows us the way to righteousness and it also is instruction and teaching. Paul tells us in 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.” At the time Paul is writing this, there is no other Scripture except the Hebrew writings. His writings and the others currently in the New Testament were not canonized as Scripture until hundreds of years later. Psalm 19:7-10 tells us that the Torah of the Lord is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, and righteous. Nowhere is the concept of Torah denoted as law. This is an incorrect rendering of the word Torah.

What the Torah is Not

If the Torah is not Law, then what are the Ten Commandments? Though the Ten Commandments are DOs and DON’Ts, they are not considered as laws to God, but as guidelines for His redeemed to walk in. As you will see, the Ten Commandments were not given by an angry God waiting for one of us to get out of line so He could punish us, but a God who was in love with His people and wanted us to remain in fellowship with him. The word yara, as we have seen, means to “hit the mark.” The word chata means “sin,” which is to “miss the mark:” two different words with opposite meanings. The Torah is the instructions on how to hit the mark, thus also the Ten Commandments are instructions on hitting the mark. The word Law is an incorrect rendering of the meaning of Torah. The word Law was used as its meaning because people of non-Jewish descent who did not know the clear meaning of Torah or its historical giving at Mt. Sinai incorrectly drew that conclusion from the Ten Commandments. While there is much speculation regarding the exact physical location and identity of Mount Sinai, there is no doubt that the events which took place there are an essential part of our spiritual foundation.  All throughout scripture, we hear mention of sin.

 Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death.”  Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So if all have sinned and the wages of this sin is death, then we better understand all we can about it. So what is sin? The word for sin in Hebrew is chet, which means “to miss the mark.” It is an archery term meaning to miss the bullseye. What is this bullseye? It is the Torah. So in order to better understand sin, we must first take a look at what the Torah is. The root word of Torah is yarah, meaning “to pour, shoot, teach.” Another word which comes from this root is moreh, meaning “the early rain, archer, teacher.” From these definitions we get the imagery that the believer’s walk is like an archer shooting a target. When we sin, it is as if we are missing the target of righteousness. The traditional understanding of the Torah is the 613 commandments laid out in the first five books of the Bible; yet even before the covenant at Mount Sinai, we see evidence that the Torah was a standard meant to be lived out by followers of the one true God. “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”  (Genesis 6:5). 

If there was no way to measure wickedness, then there would be no cause to blame them. However, “Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

We see many of the commands given to those at Mount Sinai were already a lifestyle lived by their fathers. We see that the Sabbath

 (Genesis 2:3), the Appointed Times (Genesis 1:14, where “seasons” is the word moedim, meaning “appointed times”), and clean/unclean meats (Genesis 7:2) are present long before Sinai. Abraham displayed his great faith through obedience: “Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws” (Genesis 26:5). There are many more examples of this standard of righteousness expected of all of God’s creation, even before the physical giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. 

These laws are all important for being able to continue hitting the mark—each one, no matter how minor, holds weight: “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Torah until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18). Throughout the years, Torah scholars have searched for a central motif—a single command that summarizes the entire Torah. We see one such attempt in the Jewish Talmud: 

Rabbi Simlai said, “613 commandments were given to Moses—365 negative mitzvot (commandment), the same as the number of days in a year, and 248 positive mitzvot, the same as the number of parts in a man’s body. David came and reduced them to eleven (Psalm 15), Isaiah to six (Isaiah 33:15), Micah to three (Micah 6:8), Isaiah again to two—“Observe and do righteousness” (Isaiah 56:1). Then Amos came and reduced them to one, “Seek me and live (Amos 5:4)—as did Habakkuk, “The righteous one will live by his trusting [or by faith] (Habakkuk 2:4). (Makkot 23b-24a, abridged) (Jewish New Testament Commentary, by David Stern, p. 565)

These men were not advocating a rejection of the instructed Torah in favor of one or two teachings; rather, they were attempting to display the true motivation behind the keeping of the rest of the commands. This should bring to mind Yeshua’s response when He was asked which commandment was the greatest: “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind’” (Matthew 22:37). Paul also alludes to this when he says, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Torah” (Romans 13:8). The command to love does not replace the other teachings; in fact, it refers back to and relies upon the Torah for instruction on just how we are to go about showing our love both to God and our neighbor. What other standard of love can we use than the one given us by God?

God knew that we would miss the bullseye every now and then, and so He made the way for us to be redeemed, and that way was through Yeshua’s sacrifice on the cross. It is called God’s grace. This is not something new, for God’s grace goes back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve first missed the mark. But let’s make it clear: just because we have grace, as Paul tells us in Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” 

So what do we need to do to keep hitting the mark? Well, that is what the Torah is all about. The Torah is our protector. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against thee.” When we treasure something, we keep it safe. Well, God told us that we are His treasured possession 

(Deuteronomy 7:6, Exodus 19:5). 

So God gave us His word to protect us. He also gave us His Holy Spirit to help us. The whole Word of God separates us from the world. The Holy Spirit helps us to be separated. The Torah was given so that God’s people would be different among the people in the world. They would be the light in the darkness. They would be as different from the world as day is from night. 

One example of this distinction is the instruction of not eating pork. Did God have anything against pigs? No, these were His creation; yet He tells us not to eat pork. Why? So that we will be separated from the world. It is an act of obedience. It is called holiness. 

God created the Sabbath on the seventh day. Why does He tell us to rest as He rested? Because it is what separates us from the world. Six days we labor and on the seventh day we rest. Again, it separates us from the world who cannot rest from their labors because they are constantly going after worldly appetites that God’s people restrain from on their day of rest. Again, holiness and separation are what keep us different from the world. It is in keeping the whole Word of God that we are made holy and blameless and clean. The writer of Proverbs tells it correctly: 

How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. For its profit is better than the profit of silver and its gain than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast. The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens. By knowledge the deep were broken up, and the skies drip dew. My son, let them not depart from your sight. Proverbs 3:13-21

The Ten Commandments are not for the purpose of wrath, but for the purpose of love. We are loved by God and so we are treasured in His eyes, and He keeps us well-guarded and protected from the consequences of our sin, which is death. For God so loved ME that He sent His only begotten son that whoever believes (an action word; we must put that belief into action by living out God’s commandments) in Him should not perish (John 3:16). What we believers always miss is that in this passage, Yeshua tells Nicodemus first that he must be born again: born of the Spirit, who is our counselor, who leads us in the truth of God’s holy word—the whole counsel of His word. He protects us from missing the mark because he convicts us of our shortcomings and our sin and shows us our need for our Savior. It is in repentance (which in Hebrew means “to turn back to Torah”) that we can get back on the path that leads to life. What did the living Torah, Yeshua, say? “If you love Me, then keep my Torah (commandments)” (John 14:15).  

Up and Coming

As we go on, we will discuss this historical and meaningful giving of the Torah. For now, we will look at Paul and see what his definition of the Torah is and then we will look at what the Torah does for us.

The Scripture: 

Psalm 19:7-10

The Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.

 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold;

Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

We see that the Torah is perfect, sure, right,

pure, clean, true and righteous.

There are two principles that must be taken into account when seeking to understand Paul: first, look at the harmony of the scriptures (scripture cannot contradict scripture), and second, look at the context in which the passage is written as well as the context of the whole book.

Let’s take a closer look!

1. The Torah is not to be observed in order to gain justification before God. This is the whole point of Galatians. Romans 3:20a says, “By the works of the Torah, no flesh will be justified in His sight.” The Torah was meant to be a lifestyle for somebody who is already justified and redeemed.

2. Torah helps man to recognize his own sinfulness. Romans 3:20b goes on to say, “For through the Torah comes the knowledge of sin.” The Greek word here for “knowledge” should actually be rendered as “recognition.” Through the Torah, people can see the sinfulness of sin (this function of the Torah concerns those who are not yet redeemed).

3. Torah helps to bring about God’s wrath (Romans 4:15). If any person attempts to earn justification by trying to obey the Torah, then for him the Torah will serve only to condemn, for no one can achieve justification by the Torah, because no one can succeed in keeping the Torah perfectly.

4. Torah acts as a protector (Galatians 3:24). How? In Paul’s day, well-to-do families would hire a person to care for their child while on the way to their teacher. He was responsible for the child’s safety. In the same way, the Torah hems us in for our protection rather than our imprisonment, preserving the mental, moral, and social environment into which an individual was born and raised. The person was protected until the Spirit of God would lead him to the teacher, Messiah.

In a letter to Timothy, Paul says this in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work.”

How Does the Torah Protect Us?

Let’s look at the word Torah. The meaning of this word is “teaching” or “instruction.” There are many such torahs in the Torah, which is the first five books written by Moses in the Bible. If we broaden the scope of Torah, we could include the historical writings: the psalms, poems, and prophets, or what we refer to as the Old Testament or better yet, the Hebrew Scriptures. Let’s go one step further and broaden the scope of the Torah to include the “New Testament,” or the Scriptures of the renewed covenant. God’s Word is one as He is One.

Let’s look at the word mitzvot. The English rendering of this word is “judgements, commandments and ordinances.” These words emphasize the legal aspect of the Torah. This gives the Torah its rendering as “Law.” It is not a law to be obeyed in order to gain righteousness or salvation, but rather it functions as a protective barrier just like any law governs a people and protects that people in society.

The Torah, through its judgements, commandments, ordinances, and teachings, is designed to put a hedge around people to protect them. This hedge of protection operates in two ways: first, for the children on the way to the teacher as in Galatians 3:24 tells us, “ Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Messiah came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.” and second, it protects  God’s redeemed community. 

Let’s look at the first way. The Torah, as we saw earlier, is like one who cares for a child on the way to a teacher. This is called a pedagogue (note that the Greek word paidagogos differs from the modern English usage of “pedagogue”), which was like a bodyguard. So the Torah helps to create a safe environment. The person who lives within its confines will be relatively safe. This does not make the person automatically saved, but it will protect him on the way to the moment of salvation. You might say that this would be like the person who attended your church, or was part of your family, but had not yet accepted the Lord. The Torah will show them what they are missing until that life begins for them as one of the redeemed. As for the second way, if the Torah helps protect the lives of those not yet part of the redeemed community, how much more is it a safeguard for God’s holy ones, those who believe?

Two Kingdoms

The Torah with its judgements, commandments, and ordinances deals with two types of kingdoms: light and darkness, life and death, holy and unholy, clean and unclean.

The picture is an illustration of these two kingdoms. Within the borders lies blessings or curses. It is important, then, to know the boundaries of these two kingdoms; this is the importance of the Torah (using the Torah in its full meaning, Old and New Testaments). The Torah is a safeguard, a protective hedge, keeping us so we do not step over the boundary; for there are no gray areas: you are either in the kingdom of light or in the kingdom of darkness. The Torah tells us clearly what is clean and what is unclean, what is holy and what is not holy, what is life and what is death. God meant the Torah to be a protection for the redeemed community. This is truly a picture of God’s grace. Inside this protective hedge lies the blessings of God. Psalm 19:10-11 tells us, “The statutes that God laid down for us are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, and righteous altogether. By them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.” The Torah is a training manual for the redeemed, a lifestyle full of blessings when observed. All this gives a positive look at the Torah. It shows a God full of love and grace who cares for his redeemed people. God wants to remain in fellowship with His people and only sin, which is disobedience to the Torah, keeps us from that fellowship and puts us in the Kingdom of Darkness.

So we see the function of the Torah for the believer; now let’s look at the function of the Torah for the unbeliever. We already discussed the Torah as one who protects you on your way to the teacher (Galatians 3:19-29). It also helps reveal sin (Romans 7:7). If the Word of God is complete, then it must show you that you need God and His redemption in your life. The Torah reveals the Messiah to an unbeliever (Luke 24:27, Galatians 3:24). We also already discussed how the Torah brings about God’s wrath. This is what happens when you step over the protective borders of the Torah through sin: you enter into the kingdom of darkness where there is death. So in actuality, we bring God’s wrath upon ourselves and even condemn ourselves all on the basis of the Torah. The Torah helps to reveal what unbelievers are missing (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). As believers, we are to be witnesses, a light in the darkness and this is done through our lifestyle, living out the Torah; like Paul said, “We are living Epistles.”

Torah’s function for the Redeemed. 

As we saw in  2  Timothy:16-17 all scripture is profitable. This includes the Torah.

We see as babes in Messiah the Torah  is our spiritual food.  1Peter 2:2-3 says, ”Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,  and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,  if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

And the Torah is our spiritual food as we see In Matthew 4:4 Yeshua said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God.”

The Torah is wisdom as we see in 2 Timothy 3:15, it says, “And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith which is in Messiah Yeshua”

Let’s look at a few scriptures that tell us the function of the Torah for the unredeemed.

Romans 7:7, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

Galaltians 3:24 speaks of the Torah as a guardian leading us to Messiah. “ Therefore the Law has become our guardian to lead us to Messiah, so that we may be justified by faith.  

We see in John 12:48 that the Torah, God’s word, will judge us. “The one who rejects Me and does not accept My teachings has one who judges him: the word which I spoke. That will judge him on the last day”.

Deuteronomy 4:5-8 speaks of us as witnesses to the unbeliever. “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you are to do these things in the land where you are entering to take possession of it.  So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’  For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him?  Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole Law which I am setting before you today?

Covenants

– A legally binding agreement between God and His people

– Redemption in the Old Testament is marked by the ratification of covenants in which God affirms His will for His people.

– Those legal agreements are the base upon which all relationships with God are built and maintained.

– The very existence of the nation of Israel is connected to a series of covenants with God.

Covenant Primer

– Hebrew word for covenant is brit

– Several types of covenants between people in Bible times

– Loans

– Wedding covenants

– Treaties bound together two or more nations

– Covenants in the Bible itself represent agreements between men and God

Common Features

– Ancient covenants have a great deal in common with those found in the Bible

1. Common language

A. Ancient Near East Mari covenants dating from the 18^th century BCE contain the phrase “to kill an ass in peace.” The statement in Ezekiel 34:25 & 37:26, “to make a covenant in peace” is the same.

B. Hebrew word brit had its equivalent in Akkadian, the language of many Mari documents.

C. The ancient Suzerainty Treaties (International Covenants) employed such phrases as “stipulations,” “oath,” “blessings and curses,” and “witnesses.” These same terms are essential to many of the important covenants in the Tanakh (the Torah of Moses, prophets, and other writings or what we call the Old Testament).

2. Religious features

A. Another feature of many ancient Near Eastern covenants was the religious elements. Most if not all of them had religious sanctions of some kind.

B. Animals were sacrificed both to the gods and for mutual consumption of the covenant parties. The meal, therefore, was a religious act.

a. One common practice was for an animal to be sacrificed and all its parts cut in half. The symbolism illustrates a grave consequence for the party who failed to uphold the terms of the covenant. They would say, “Just as this beast is cut up, so may the party who failed be cut up.” The man who would recite this would declare his fate if he broke his treaty obligations.

b. Example: God’s covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15)

I. God had Abraham cut the sacrifice in halves, then God walked between the halved animal parts. Normally both parties making the covenant would walk between the halves of the animals being sacrificed, but in this case it was only God. God was making an unconditional covenant with Abraham. Abraham had no obligations on his part other than to receive it by faith. All the responsibility of this covenant was God’s.

C. Another common feature to the ancient Near Eastern covenants was the use of covenant signs. When an ancient covenant was made, an appropriate sign often accompanied the event. This generally took the form of an outward, visible symbol that served to remind the parties of the covenant and its terms.

a. Example: Noah

I. The sign of the covenant with Noah was the rainbow. This signified that mankind would never again be destroyed by a rain (Genesis 9:12-13). The bow, from God’s perspective, was upside down which signified, in ancient times, that the battle was over.

b. Example: Abraham

I. According to Genesis 17:11, circumcision was the sign of the covenant with Abraham, showing that this covenant would be passed down through Abraham’s seed.

c. Example: Moses

I. Exodus 31:12-13 indicates that the sign of this covenant was the Sabbath.

                         3. The Suzerainty Treaty

A. This was a national covenant between a nation and its vassal or dependent nation. Scholars have discovered that the format for many of these ancient treaties, such as those from the 13^th and 14^th century BCE Hittites, closely parallels the format of the Torah

The Suzerainty Treaty

The Suzerainty Treaty is an ancient Hittite treaty. It goes back to the 13^th-14^th century BCE. When we look at the Torah, it is set up as one of these covenant treaties. The question is, how could the Israelites be familiar with this kind of treaty when they were slaves in Egypt? The answer must be that Moses would have been familiar with these treaties growing up and being educated in Pharaoh’s court. During this time, the Hittites and the Egyptians fought for the land that had been promised, and would soon belong, to the Israelites. Let’s look at what makes up one of these covenants/treaties:

1. Preamble – a basic introductory paragraph of the covenant

2. Historical prologue – the acts of the great king, what he has done for the vassal nation

3. Stipulations – the main bulk of the treaty/covenant, the expectations of the vassal nation

4. Blessings and curses – rewards for compliance and penalties of noncompliance with the covenants

5. Witnesses – the signatures of certain prominent figures who are party to the enactment of the covenants

6. Means of succession (optional) – provision in the covenant for determining who will take the place of the great king

7. Provision for depositing the covenant (optional) – discusses where the covenant or copies of the covenant will be stored

The Torah

Now let’s compare it to the Torah according to Deuteronomy:

1. Preamble (Deuteronomy 1:1-5) – gives basic introductory remarks about the book of Deuteronomy

2. Historical prologue (Deuteronomy 1:6-4:49) – a recounting of what the Great King (God) has done for Israel

3. Stipulations (Deuteronomy 5:1-26:19) – the bulk of the book, known to laymen as the “law;” more accurately, the stipulations given by God, the Great King, to Israel for the maintenance of this covenant

4. Blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 27-30) – the consequences for Israel of keeping or breaking the covenant.

5. Witnesses (Deuteronomy 30:19) – God calls upon heaven and earth to witness this covenant

6. Succession (Deuteronomy 31:1-8) – God provides for Joshua to follow Moshe when he dies

7. Deposit/Reading (Deuteronomy 31:9-13) – Provision made to store the covenant in the Ark and to read it publicly at a certain time

Unique Features

Several unique features of the Suzerainty treaty may shed more light on the Mosaic Covenant:

1. The treaty made a distinction between those who were parties to the treaty and those who were not. The covenant alone distinguished between people dealt with by force and those according to normal peaceful procedures—those under the covenant enjoyed peaceful interaction with the Sovereign. This thought takes us back to an earlier point about the relationship between the covenants with Abraham and Moses. Specifically, it reminds us that the covenant with Moses was designed to help the recipients enjoy the blessings promised under the Abrahamic covenant.

2. Another characteristic of the Suzerainty treaty is that the treaty/covenant implies the existence of a community. God did not make the Mosaic covenant with a single individual, but with a nation. This nation was bound together with a common purpose and will. Moreover, the purpose and will of this nation was to be in complete harmony with God’s purpose and will. The covenant was meant to help facilitate that end. In order for it to function properly, the whole community of God’s people had to be united in living that covenant.

3. The third characteristic of the Suzerainty treaty is love. In the secular treaties, the graciousness of the king initiated the covenant and he agreed to enter into such a covenant with a people who were in many ways subservient to him. Likewise in a Biblical covenant, it was the graciousness of God that caused Him to institute all of His covenants.

4. The last characteristic is the provision for renewal. When the covenant makers died and new generations took over, covenants were often renewed. When covenants were renewed, new documents were prepared which brought up to date the stipulations of the earlier documents. We see evidence of this in the Tanakh. For example, when Moses and his generation died, there was a covenant renewal, such as the one recorded in Joshua 24:24.

When a covenant was renewed, the stipulations were sometimes altered to fit the needs of the generation that was renewing the covenant. However, One covenant does not set aside another; one does not invalidate another so as to nullify its stipulations. Rather it renews, expands, adapts, updates. This is the point Paul makes in Galatians 3:17.

Mosaic Covenant

1. When an individual enters the kingdom of God by faith, he also enters the Abrahamic Covenant. The Scriptures are clear in their teachings on this truth: this is the only relationship necessary for salvation. However, in order to live out that salvation, the individual must live according to God’s covenant with His redeemed. This, then, is where the Mosaic covenant comes in. “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” (Exodus 24:7). This covenant is where the believer enjoys his relationship with God through his obedience.

2. The Torah, then, was designed as a covenant both between the individual members of that community and between those members and God (the other party in the covenant). God’s plan for this community was that it would be light to the nations (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). When the nations saw this light they would be drawn to it and join the covenant community, not start their own.

3. Deuteronomy 7:7-11 and 10:15 make it clear that love is what motivated God to make the covenant at Mt. Sinai. In turn, He desired love in return from His people – whom He, by virtue of regeneration, made capable of both receiving and returning love. The stipulations, laws, and decrees that He taught them were not only descriptions of their identity as the people of God, but also the genuine expressions of the love of their “new-creation” hearts for their Redeemer. This applies to everyone He calls His own.

The Torah is not a law code, but rather a covenant. The explicit covenant formulation of Exodus 19-24 and Deuteronomy stands as strong, direct evidence that this is a treaty/covenant and not a code of laws. This shows that the Torah is the grace of God!

The Torah: A Wedding Contract

The Torah is set up as a marriage contract. In Jewish traditions, this contract was signed by the two parties entering into marriage. In Hebrew it’s called a ketubah. Ketubahs are still used today.

The Engagement

In any marriage, you first have to be engaged. Exodus 6:6-7 describes this engagement, or the betrothal, between God and His bride. It is the basis for the marriage contract or Ketubah.

1. “I will bring you out.”
2. “I will deliver you.”
3. “I will redeem you.”
4. “I will take you for My people.”

To break off a betrothal would take divorce proceedings. God set apart His bride. This phrase, “to set apart,” is sanctification.

Setting Apart His Bride

The exodus from Egypt was God delivering His bride and setting her apart from every nation. He made her His special treasure (Exodus 19:5-7). God tells his bride that she is His special possession among all peoples. In Hebrew the term is segulah. A segulah was a special treasured item or items that a king had that was very special to him and was guarded and taken care of. God speaks of His bride being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, holy meaning set apart.

Exodus 19:10 & 14 tells that the people cleansed themselves before God met with them. This cleansing is still used today. It is called the mikvah. The mikvah is a pool of fresh water. The people would immerse themselves in this water for ceremonial cleansing. This tradition is still used today by the bride, and many times the groom, before they get married.

Another Jewish wedding tradition which is still used today is the chuppah. The chuppah, or “canopy,” was used to cover the bride and groom. The actual wedding service takes place under this canopy. In Exodus 19:9, God was their canopy. He said, “Behold I shall come to you in a thick cloud.” Other references to the chuppah are Joel 2:16 and Psalm 19:4b. The canopy was symbolic of a house. To God, this represented that He was their eternal home. Exodus goes on to tell us that God had them build the tabernacle, which was a copy of our heavenly home.

The Ketubah

The Ketubah, or the marriage contract, was read and signed during the wedding ceremony. So what was the marriage covenant between God and His bride? The Torah! God lays out the contract in Exodus 6:6-7 and ends in Exodus 20-24. God ratifies this agreement in Exodus 24:1-8 with the reading and the sprinkling of blood.

With This Ring I Thee Wed

No marriage agreement is complete without an outward sign. Where is the ring? Exodus 31:12-17 tells us, “You shall surely observe My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations as a perpetual covenant.” The Sabbath was, and still is, the outward sign of the covenant, the Ketubah of the bride and the groom, Yeshua. Matthew 5:17-20 tells us clearly that Yeshua gives His approval of this ketubah. Then He backs it up in chapters 5-7 on his Torah teachings, which we call the Sermon on the Mount.

The Marriage Feast

Don’t forget the banquet! That’s coming…  Revelation 19:7-9 tells us, “Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.”  It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” Then he *said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

The Renewed Covenant

The prophet Jeremiah speaks of a day when God would renew His covenant with his people (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Understand that God was not going to nullify His previous covenants, but rather renew them. It was quite common with ancient covenants to make changes to them. This time, God was going to write His covenant on the minds and hearts of the people. He would restore them spiritually; in other words, they would be “new creations” and He would once again call them His people; this time, they would be redeemed and blood-washed.

This new covenant would be ratified by Messiah Himself, and the sign of this covenant would be His blood (Matthew 26:28). Note that this does not nullify any other covenant, it only adds to the previous ones; it has been renewed with additional promises. The concept is sort of like how we make amendments to legal documents today. God was adding His son now to the agreement, which gave us even more promises and blessings.

If faith was the condition for the promises of Abraham and obedience was the condition for the promises of Moses, then what was the condition for the blessings of the renewed covenant? The Bible tells us clearly that we are saved through our faith in the Messiah and that it is a free gift. Yet Jesus said, “If you love me you will keep my commands” (John 14:15). We see here the two previous covenants at work: our faith saves us, but our love motivates us to be obedient to God’s commandments.

 Paul speaks about the continuation of the covenants in Galatians 3:17, “What I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.”

Conditional (What people Do) and Unconditional  (What God does) Elements in the Renewed Covenant.

Conditional

Ezekiel 36:27 says, “ And I will put My Spirit within you and bring it about that you walk in My statutes, and are careful and follow My ordinances.”

Unconditional

Jeremiah 31:33, “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Conditional

Ezekiel 36: 28, “ And you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”

Unconditional

Jeremiah 31:34b “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”

Conditional

Ezekiel 36:31 speaking of repentance, “Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your wrongdoings and your abominations.”

Unconditional

Ezekiel 36 25, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.”

So this is the renewed covenant as spoken in Jeremiah 31:33-34, “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.” with Ezekiel 36:26,  “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

Yeshua and the Torah

So what exactly did Jesus say about the Torah? First, we must establish that Yeshua was a Jew. His name was Yeshua. He dressed like a Jew, He went to the synagogue and prayed like a Jew, He even ate kosher like a Jew. We have this Hellenistic idea of Yeshua, that He was something other than a Jew. Yeshua kept the Torah. We must remember that at the time of Yeshua and the apostles, the Hebrew scriptures were the only canonized Word of God. The Bible says Yeshua was the word made flesh (John 1:14). What word is this? Of course, it is the Torah, the only word of God at the time when John was writing his Gospel and Epistles.

Nothing Yeshua ever said or did contradicted the Torah; perhaps it may have shed more light or revelation onto a particular subject in the Torah, but it never contradicted it. In Luke 2:47 we read how the teachers of the Torah were amazed at what Yeshua knew about the Torah when He was twelve. Yes, Yeshua even received His Bar Mitzvah just like other Jewish boys. Yeshua used the Torah to rebuke the devil in Matthew 4, and He followed the Torah correctly in the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Yeshua’s main concern was that the Torah was interpreted correctly. Matthew 5:17 deals with exactly that.

We must remember that Yeshua was a Jewish rabbi (meaning teacher), and He taught Jewish people who were accustomed to the teachings of the rabbis. This way of teaching was called rabbinical thinking. The rabbis also used stories when they taught. In rabbinic and Jewish thought, certain words meant certain things which we today would not understand unless we would put the Hebrew customs and traditions back into the Bible along with the correct Hebrew interpretations. Matthew 5:17-19 is exactly one of these situations. This passage has been misinterpreted throughout the years because of our lack of knowledge in rabbinic thought. Yeshua said, “I did not come to destroy the Torah but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished!  Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” When someone was accused of misinterpreting a certain Scripture, the others would say that person was destroying or abolishing that particular Scripture/command, but to say they were fulfilling that Scripture was saying that they were correctly interpreting it. Paul also was a Jewish rabbi who understood rabbinic teaching and understood what Jesus was saying. He instructed Timothy in the same manner in 

2 Timothy 2:15, urging him to show himself as an approved workman to God by “analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth” (Amplified Bible).

Yeshua had a love for the Torah because it was the Word of God and He was the living Torah (The Hebrew Scriptures and the Apostolic Scriptures). To do away with the Torah would be to do away with Him. Jesus, the living Torah, is the same yesterday and today and forever. Heaven and Earth will pass away, but not one part of a single letter of God’s Word will ever pass away, for Yeshua the living Torah is forever.

The Torah Can’t Be For Me!

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation (this is the wall that divided the Gentiles from the Jews in the outer court of the Temple), having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances (Colossians 2:14 tells us of these ordinances) so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.”

Ephesians 2:14-18

“Also, you Gentiles are like branches of a wild olive tree that were made to be part of a cultivated olive tree. You have taken the place of some branches that were cut away from it and because of this, you enjoy the blessings that come from being part of that cultivated tree.”

Romans 11:17

 The Temple Warning

In 1871 two archeologists discovered what is called the Soreg. The soreg was a warning that was posted in the temple area. It said, “No foreigner is to enter the barriers surrounding the sanctuary. He who is caught will have himself to blame for his death which will follow.”    Let’s look at Paul once again in Ephesians 2:11-22 but this time let us look at His whole thought. “Therefore remember that previously you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision” which is performed in the flesh by human hands—  remember that you were at that time separate from Messiah, excluded from the people of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Messiah Yeshua you who previously were far away have been brought near by the blood of Messiah.  For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the hostility, which is the Law composed of commandments expressed in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two one new person, in this way establishing peace;  and that He might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the hostility.  And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near;  for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.  So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,  having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua Himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,  in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

We were separated from God, but through the Messiah yeshua we have been brought near, but only because we have been grafted in. 

So if we have been grafted in and made one, then what exactly have we been grafted into and made one with? Paul says that the Israelites had the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Torah, the service of God, and the promises, and that Messiah is over all (Romans 9:4-5). But didn’t God replace Israel with the church because they did not accept Jesus? Paul answers that with “No!” Romans 11:26-32 makes it clear that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Aren’t you glad that when God promises you something He doesn’t renege because you were not faithful? (2 Timothy 2:13, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, Hebrews 10:23).

So if the Jewish people are going to be saved, and we have been grafted into the promises and blessings of the covenants, then should we be making blood sacrifices? No, this is what the renewed covenant is all about.Yeshua was the fulfillment of all the sacrifices, He was the Passover Lamb, He was our Atonement; no longer the blood of goats and bulls, but His blood washes us clean. He made reconciliation with us and the Father. But He did not do away with God’s Word. He is the Bridegroom, and we are the Bride (Jews and Gentiles alike). Throughout the Scriptures it says, “to the Jew first and then the Gentile.” The promises of Abraham have to still be in effect or else we could not be grafted in. The promise to Noah has to still be in effect, or else the next time it rains, beware! 

The promise to David has to still be in effect, or else Jesus will not be sitting on His throne in Jerusalem. If all of that is still in effect, then the promises given at Mt. Sinai must also be in effect. 

Peter tells us that, “We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation set apart as God’s special people (the Bride)” (1 Peter 2:9), to the Jews first and then to the grafted-in Gentiles, not replaced, but as one redeemed people, the people of God.

As Paul writes, “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” (Romans 11:34). 

We have been given the blessings of God to enjoy, but we must then keep the covenants, and all of God’s statutes in order to receive those blessings. As Deuteronomy 30:19 tells us, “I offer you this day life or death, now choose life…”  Yeshua the living Torah, said His words were life  in 

John 6:63, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.”  And we need to respond as Peter did and say “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). 

Let’s then be careful to do all the words the Lord has commanded us to do.

Once  again Paul tells us

“ I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry  in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.  For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?  If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,  do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.”  Romans 11:13-18

 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Messiah Yeshua Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” Ephesians 2:19-21

The Priesthood

The book of Exodus recounts the revelation of God to His people to Mount Sinai. In this event, God reveals that He wants to make a covenant with them. In order for this relationship between God and His people to be maintained, a system needed to be set up so that the people could draw near and be intimate with God. This is the purpose of the priesthood and the tabernacle. 

God tells Israel at Mount Sinai, “Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6). Now, the tribe of Levi was the only tribe of Israel who could be priests, so how could God tell the whole nation this? Well, the Levitical priests were the priesthood to the nation of Israel, but the nation of Israel was to be the priesthood to the world. We see this imagery borrowed by Peter when he writes, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). To understand this, we must understand the priesthood. 

The Duties of the Priesthood 

“You shall put them on Aaron your brother and on his sons with him; and you shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve Me as priests.”

Exodus 28:41

No other people except the Levites could approach God or minister to Him, and only the descendants of Aaron could be High Priests. They were set apart by God because God requires holiness in His temple. Everything that was done at the Temple was exclusively done by them. The Levites were divided by families, and each family would take their tour of duty. We see this in Luke’s account of the announcement of John the Baptist: “In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah… Now it came about [that] he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division…”  (Luke 1:5, 8). So it was the function of the priests to maintain the Temple, fill the oil in the menorah, put in new wicks, clean the vessels, replace the showbread every week, etc. But what we most likely think of is what they do at the altar. Now, there is great depth in all of their duties, so we want to look at only a few; but first we want to look at their garments, and as we do, we will see how Israel was a chosen race, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. 

The Garments of the Priesthood 

“You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and beauty.” 

Exodus 28:2 

God requires a specific way with everything that has to do with Him, because He is Holy! God often said to Moses, “Be careful to do everything that I have spoken.” This is very important to note, because there is no place for “man-made” anything when it comes to God. We must always do things God’s way, not ours. 

There were eight garments which were called “vestments of sanctity.” The Hebrew word for “sanctity” comes from the word for “holy,” which is kadosh. Therefore, these garments were only used in the service of the Temple and at no other time. We also see this with the utensils used in the Temple; in fact, everything associated with the Temple was considered holy and was to be handled in a special way. These garments were called garments of glory. The Hebrew word for “glory” comes from the root word which has the meaning “heavy,” as in full, like the fullness of the Lord. The garments were a picture of the dignity and beauty connected with serving God. 

The Ephod 

“They shall also make the ephod of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of the skillful workman. It shall have two shoulder pieces joined to its two ends, that it may be joined.”

Exodus 28:6-7

Biblical scholars did not know what to compare the ephod to because there was no piece of clothing to compare it to. The symbolism behind it could not even be determined because there was nothing similar to it in the ancient Near East—that is, until 1920 when they discovered tablets from Ugarit. Ugarit was in the modern Ras Shamra near the Syrian coast. We find that in the Ugaritic texts, the ephod was referred to as an expensive robe, something worn by the upper class in the Near East. An ephod was also worn by people other than the priests in the Bible. Gideon made a gold ephod which caused Israel to go after other gods. An ephod had a permanent place in the Philistine sanctuary; it was behind this ephod where Goliath placed his sword. The word ephod seems to be linguistically connected to teraph (Judges 17:5, 18:20), which was the household idol of Rachel (Genesis 31:19). 

The fabric of the ephod was the same kind of fabric used in the curtains and veil of the Mishkan, the Tent of Meetings, thereby making a connection between the High Priest and the Sanctuary. The ephod contained all five colors of the Mishkan, which we will look into later. The main function of the ephod was the “stones of remembrance.” These were two stones of onyx which the names of the twelve tribes were written upon, six to a stone. Aaron wore this on his shoulders, symbolic of the shepherd who carries his lambs on his shoulders. 

The Breastplate 

“You shall make a breastpiece of judgment, the work of a skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it: of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen you shall make it.”

Exodus 28:15

The breastplate was called the “breastplate of judgment.” The breastplate was a rectangular plate with jewels hanging from gold chains. It was worn by kings. Its purpose? Well, the high priest was considered the mediator between God and the people. He was to bring the sanctity, glory, and splendor of God to the people, and he was to bring the sinful man to God. The breastplate was worn over the heart. The breastplate was set with four rows of small square stones, each row containing three stones. The exact identification of these stones/gems has been lost, and much debate surrounds the topic. An example of what the stones could have been is detailed as follows:

First row: sardius, a red stone representing the tribe of Reuben; 

topaz/peridot, a greenish stone representing the tribe of Simeon; 

carbuncle/agate, a red, white, and black striped stone representing the tribe of Levi. 

Second row: emerald/turquoise, a greenish-blue stone representing the tribe of Judah; 

sapphire/lapis-lazuli, a blue stone representing the tribe of Dan; 

diamond/quartz, a white or clear stone representing the tribe of Naphtali. 

Third row: amber/jacinth, a yellowish stone representing the tribe of Gad; 

agate, a black/grey stone representing the tribe of Asher; 

amethyst, a purple stone representing the tribe of Issachar. 

Fourth row: anthrax, a black stone representing the tribe of Zebulun; 

onyx, a black stone representing the tribe of Joseph; jasper or some multicolored stone, representing the tribe of Benjamin. 

When Aaron entered into the presence of God, these precious, beautiful stones were a memorial and testimony to God of His love for His people. These same stones will be used in the New Jerusalem which is described in Revelation 21. 

The breastplate, along with its pouch, contained the Urim and Thummim. If the stones of the breastplate are a picture of the high priest representing us before God, the Urim and Thummim are a picture of the high priest representing God to us. The Urim and Thummim were two objects (possibly stones or pieces of parchment) used as a means by which God’s judgment might be made known. The meanings of “Urim” and “Thummim” are “light” and “perfection,” respectively. The exact manner which they were used is not known today; however, one tradition, based on the meanings of the words Urim and Thummim, states that the Urim and Thummim would light up the gems of the breastplate in a specific manner, allowing the high priest to discern an answer for one who inquired. We know that they were used to determine God’s light in a matter or His perfect will. We see an example of its use in 1 Samuel 14:41-42. We see here that the word “lot” is used to describe it, although this term may be deceptive. There was no chance or luck involved; the decision was completely in the hands of God 

(1 Samuel 28:6). After the days of David, we no longer read about them in God’s Word. Those stones seem quite the mystery; scholars feel that this too, like the ephod, may have been used before the time of Moses. 

The breastplate worn by the priest was worn over the chest. We see that this covered his heart. Scripture tells us that we are to guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23). It’s our hearts that lie and are deceitful (Matthew 15:19). It is our hearts that the enemy of our soul wishes to have control over. So when battling the enemy, we are to put on the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). It is our protection, guarding our hearts. The heart is the center of our emotions. It is with the heart that we love or we hate, we forgive or we resent, we judge or we show mercy. We are to judge according to righteousness (Leviticus 19:15, Proverbs 31:9). We are to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience like we would put on clothing (Colossians 3:12). We are to wrap ourselves in these virtues and live by them daily. When we live by these virtues, our hearts are protected from the accusing finger of the enemy (Ephesians 6:11). 

The Robe 

“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. There shall be an opening at its top in the middle of it; around its opening there shall be a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. You shall make on its hem pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet material, all around on its hem, and bells of gold between them all around.”

Exodus 28:31-33

This next piece of clothing is called “the robe of the ephod.” It was the robe that the ephod was worn over. The robe was quite unique with its bells and pomegranates on the hem. The bells were for the purpose that the people could hear them and know that the High Priest was ministering before God. This way the people could pray and repent as he was officiating in their name. Also, they would know that he was not struck dead by God, but that God was receiving his offering. 

The Talmud (the collective work of the oral Torah) interprets the priestly garments this way: as sacrifices make atonement, so do the priestly vestments make atonement. The coat atoned for bloodshed (Genesis 37:31), the breeches for lewdness (Exodus 28:42), the head covering for arrogance (“let an article placed high up come and atone for an offense of hauteur”) the girdle for impure meditations of the heart “beneath which it was placed,” the breastplate for neglect of civil laws (“a breastplate of judgment,” Exodus 28:15), the ephod for idolatry (Hosea 3:4), the head piece for brazenness (Jeremiah 3:3, “brazen look” and “forehead” are two translations of the word metsach in this verse), and the robe for slander (“let an article of sound [the sound of the bells] come and atone for an offense of sound”). From this it seems that the rabbis considered the actual vestments worn by the High Priest on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) to be in some way involved with making atonement. Now if you consider Yeshua as our High Priest, He also entered into the Holy of Holies and made atonement for us; and did He not enter into that sacred place with all His glory and splendor like those garments represent (Hebrews 6:19-20)? 

How about the pomegranates? Well, a pomegranate contains 613 seeds representing the 613 commandments of Torah; thus this is a picture of the high priest carrying a constant reminder of the Torah on his clothing. 

The Head Piece 

“You shall also make a plate of pure gold and shall engrave on it, like the engravings of a seal, ‘Holy to the LORD.’… It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, with regard to all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.”

Exodus 28:36, 38

The head piece or crown was made of solid gold, and upon the head piece it was written “Holy to the Lord.” The priest was able to draw close with the name of God upon him and thus would bring acceptance to the people of Israel before God. We also approach God by His Name, for all our prayers are in the name of Yeshua. So the head piece was upon Aaron’s forehead so that he would bring forgiveness for the sacred offerings that the children of Israel consecrated. “And it shall be on his head always to bring them favor before the Lord.” One day, Yeshua will wear the golden crown of splendor upon His forehead. 

The Tunic 

“You shall weave the tunic of checkered work of fine linen…”

Exodus 28:39

Not much is said about the tunic. The tunic was made of white linen. The word used here for linen is shesh, which literally means “six.” This meant that the thread used in this garment was a six-ply linen thread. It was worn closest to the body and it represented purity. It teaches us that no one may approach God with impurity/sin. Yeshua was our High Priest, and He was blameless and pure, without sin. Yeshua Himself wore a one-piece tunic which was like the priests’, and it was this that the soldiers cast lots for at His crucifixion (John 19:23-24). 

The Head Covering 

“…and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty.”

Exodus 28:40

There were two different types of head coverings. The priests wore one type, of which Josephus writes that it was a flattish cap of woven linen that was wrapped repeatedly around part of the head like a turban and then it hung down on the back. The high priest wore a beautiful wound turban around his full head, and it then hung down on his back, and the gold headpiece was placed upon it. Yet the turban and head piece left enough room on the forehead for the tefillin. The covering of the head spoke of submission. It symbolized humility before God. Because the entire priesthood wore some sort of covering on their heads, this is why Jews wear a covering on their heads even till today. 

We too are to cover our heads. We are to put on salvation as our covering. Part of the Armor of God is the helmet of salvation. This is to protect our minds. Paul tells us that we are to pray about everything and not to be anxious, for then the peace of God will guard our minds and hearts (Philippians 4:6-7). We are to think about only good things, things of good repute, things that are honorable and lovely, that are true and right; and we are to put our thoughts on heavenly things, not on things of this world because Yeshua, our salvation, has delivered us from sin and death (Colossians 3:2-3). God has now brought us out of darkness into His light. By dwelling on what is good, we will not allow the seeds of sin to grow in our hearts. Protecting our minds is protecting our hearts! 

On the head piece was written “Holy to the Lord,” and we too have the name of Yeshua written on our foreheads. The Aaronic priest would give a blessing in which he would raise his hands and form them like the letter Shem (ש), which stands for The Name; and when he did this, God said, “I will put My name upon My people” (Numbers 6:22-27). We find that Yeshua, right before He ascended back to heaven, lifted up His hands and blessed them. When He did this, He was actually putting His name upon them through the priestly blessing (Luke 24:50).

Covering one’s head speaks of humility. I know that Paul, in 

1 Corinthians 11:7, speaks of this—that if a man prays with his head covered he disgraces himself. But my opinion is if a man disgraces himself by covering his head when he prays, then God has led His people into disgrace, for God had the priests all cover their heads, and Yeshua Himself covered His head when He prayed. In fact, Paul covered his head when he prayed because he himself said that he kept Torah to the letter (Acts 28:17). In Zechariah 3:3-5 we see that after the filthy rags were taken off Joshua the high priest, he was given a clean turban. So once again, if this was true, God would not have had His priests cover their heads. But what we need to understand is that Paul spoke and taught according to rabbinic thinking. What Paul was talking about was that a man was to be a covering for his wife and not vice versa. We see this in Ephesians 5:23 that the husband was to be the head of the wife to sanctify her. Again, Paul refers to the fact that he was speaking in reference to Yeshua, who is the head or the covering of the redeemed. 

Humility, which the head covering represents, is what we are to strive toward. The writer writes, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). You see, God is a holy God, and we are to enter into His presence with humility. 

The Breeches 

“You shall make for them linen breeches to cover their bare flesh; they shall reach from the loins even to the thighs.”

Exodus 28:42

The breeches were like pants. They went from the hip to the thigh. Some commentaries refer to them as pants; others call them underwear. Nevertheless, the reason for them was for modesty. It was to cover up any potential nakedness when the priest would ascend to the altar. 

Vestments of Splendor 

“You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.”

Exodus 28:2

God referred to the priest’s garments not only as garments of sanctity and garments of glory, but garments of splendor. “Splendor” could be translated as “beauty.” These garments added beauty to the sanctuary. These garments had the finest embroidery and stitch work, detailed weaving, and handiwork. But what also added to the beauty were the colors. The colors of the sanctuary were the same colors of the priestly garments. We are going to look at these colors and what they symbolized. 

Gold: Gold is the purest metal and is often used in connection with royalty. This showed that the priesthood was a royal priesthood. 

Blue: The sky blue color in Hebrew is called techelet. Blue was to represent heaven. It is also the same color as the tzitzit (the cords which are worn on the four corners of the garments). The priest’s robe was made of this blue. So like the tzitzit, it is a reminder to follow Torah; the priest’s robe was like one big tzitzit to remind the people to follow Torah. Now, this blue was made from the blood of the chilazon. The chilazon was a Mediterranean snail. It was very rare. It took 12,000 snails to produce 1.4 grams of dye. 

Scarlet: Scarlet is a color to remind us of our human nature. The high priest then represented mankind. The crimson color was produced by a worm called the crimson worm. The crimson red was called tola’at shani. 

Purple: Purple was a combination of the blue and scarlet. Again, because of the difficulty in making this color, it was a sign of royalty. This dark red color which resembled purple was called argaman. This too was made from the same snail as the blue; the only difference was this dye was exposed longer to sunlight.

White: White represents purity; it’s on this basis that we come to God. 

What a Picture!

Now, the Hebrew word for “splendor” means beauty, but it means much more. The same root word is also used in Isaiah 61:3 & 10 to refer to the Bridegroom. Specifically, it refers to the beautiful headwear a bridegroom used to wear. So it would seem that the picture that God was painting was one of a beautifully dressed bridegroom serving his bride in their little house, the Mishkan (the tabernacle). So here we have our Great High Priest Yeshua, who serves His Bride Israel, and those who have been grafted in, the redeemed, in their little house, represented by several things like the sukkah or the tabernacle of our hearts; and most of all, we too are being built up into a spiritual dwelling, a holy temple where our Great High Priest will reside full of glory and splendor (1 Peter 2:5). 

What a picture of such glory and majestic beauty—the Bride and the Bridegroom, the Great High Priest ministering at the heavenly altar! But what does this have to do with us being a Royal Priesthood? Well, we too have clothing that we are to wear (Revelation 19:8), and we too must minister at the altar (Hebrews 13:10). And the purpose of the priesthood was to lead the people in their act of worship, which was done by their sacrifices. 

Righteousness 

The priests wore an ephod, robe, tunic, and a sash. Scripture tells us that we are to robe ourselves in righteousness (Ephesians 4:24). We see in Revelation 19:8 that the righteous are clothed in white linen, which represents their righteous acts. So what is righteousness? Righteousness is when we comprehend holy principles and live by them. It’s purity of heart, conforming one’s heart to Divine law. Righteousness is justice, honesty, virtue with holy affection. Righteousness is being free from guilt and sin in accordance to Divine law. Righteousness is obtained only in Yeshua, for our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). God’s sanctuary is all about holiness and purity. We see this in the Book of Zechariah. This book speaks about the Messianic Age. The book starts with a call to repentance, much like John the Baptist who preceded Yeshua. Without repentance, one can not minister before the Lord. The Psalmist writes, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully” (Psalm 24:3-4). As we see in chapter 2 of Zechariah, the people are told to flee Babylon, which stands for the world and its ways. This is important because we can not serve two masters. We must forsake the world and be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We are to place our minds on things above, not on things below. 

Then in chapter 3, we see Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord. This is such great insight into the spiritual realm. Joshua was clothed in filthy rags (sin) and those rags were removed. Scripture tells us that we are to take off the old man of corruption (Ephesians 4:22). We are to put off things like anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech, immorality, impurity, evil desires, greed, and idolatry and put on the new man of righteousness, being clothed now in Yeshua (Colossians 3:8-9), for our lives are now hidden in Him (Colossians 3:3).

It’s no longer I who lives, but Yeshua who lives in me (Galatians 2:20). Joshua is told, “See I have removed your iniquity and clothed you with festive robes” (Zechariah 3:4). You see, when we repent and return to God’s ways, He then removes our filthy rags, which is our sin, and He then clothes us in clean garments of holiness and righteousness, which are the festive robes, much like garments of the Bride and Bridegroom. 

If you remember, we saw that these garments of splendor referred to the garments of the bridegroom. These are the garments of the priesthood. These are the garments of the service of the Lord. Scripture tells us that when the Bridegroom (Yeshua) comes for the Bride (the redeemed), the bride will be clothed in these festive garments. They will be white linen (purity) and they will be without spot or wrinkle, blameless and holy, now washed clean in the blood of Yeshua (Revelation 19:8). He is our covering that we put on. It is His righteousness that we wear. We also see from the book of Zechariah that standing before God was also the accuser of the brethren (Zechariah 3:1). So serving at the altar of God can also include an encounter with the accuser of our soul. So our garments are holy and festive, but also garments of a warrior, for our service to the Lord requires us to fight a spiritual battle as well as doing the work of the Kingdom. 

The Sash 

“…and you shall make a sash, the work of a weaver.”

Exodus 28:39

The sash was worn around the middle. We too have a sash that we wear—it is better known as truth. We are to put on truth as part of the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:14). Scripture tells us that God would send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth (John 15:26). So when we are led by the Spirit and walk with the Spirit, we are walking in truth and righteousness. Without truth we cannot enter the Kingdom of God, for Yeshua said that He was the way to eternal life, and that way was walking in truth (John 14:6). Of course, we know that Yeshua is the Word, and the Word is truth (John 1:14). The middle of our body is the center of gravity to us. We are securely planted when the middle of the body is straight. So placing truth around our middle, which is the center of gravity, means that we will be balanced and we will not fall. It is like the foundation of a building: if the foundation is good then the building will stand straight and tall and will not topple over. This is what truth is to us when we put truth on as our sash around our middle; we will stand straight and tall and not topple over. 

Gospel Shoes 

Of course, we can’t forget the Scripture that says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news” (Isaiah 52:7). Again, setting our minds on what is good protects our minds and hearts, and the beginning of that good news is repentance; if we repent, turn from our sins, and take off those dirty garments of the old man and put on the new man, the clean white garments, clothing ourselves in Yeshua, being covered by His blood, living in newness of life which is righteousness, and wearing the breast piece that covers our hearts and putting on salvation on our heads, walking in humility with the Name of Yeshua on our foreheads, with truth around our middle, this will give us a picture of who we are in Yeshua as we stand before God at His altar. This is what the Gospel is all about! These are the shoes that we are to walk in. Without these garments we can not stand before God. If there is something not right in our lives, we must make it right. Yeshua said, “If your brother has anything against you leave your gift at the altar and go make things right first.” (Matthew 5:24). God is a holy God, and we too are to be holy, bringing praise and renown to His Name. 

Are you wearing the vestments of the priesthood? Are your garments white and clean? Maybe you did not realize that we are to minister to God daily at His altar. People think that we can come as we are; well, that’s true when you first come to find Yeshua as your Lord and Savior, but then He cleanses you and gives you the garments of the priesthood. Today, if your garments are soiled, quickly stop where you are and repent, turn back to truth and righteousness, and Yeshua, who is our faithful High Priest who lives to make intercession on our part (Hebrews 7:25), will take those filthy garments off of you and give you the clean garments of the priesthood, the garments of service. He will welcome you to His altar where you can come and minister to Him in His presence once again.

The Tabernacle: God’s Divine Purpose

“Our Fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make according to the pattern which he had seen.” 

Acts 7:44

Our journey has now brought us to the tabernacle. Moses has received the Torah (instructions), the people affirmed that they would keep all of God’s commandments, and now God is giving them the tabernacle, which included the priesthood and the sacrifices. As we will see, this whole system which God gives the people of Israel is for the purpose of worship, prayer, and holiness:“Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises”  (Romans 9:4). God shows Moses the heavenly tabernacle and instructs him to build the earthly version exactly as he saw on the mountain. The tabernacle was like heaven come down to earth; it was like the throne-room of God among men. 

Keep in mind that the tabernacle is not the same as the temple that will be built later. Although they both follow the same model (the heavenly tabernacle), the temple had additional floors and rooms for the priests.

As believers, we tend to think of the tabernacle as something that was only relevant in the past; but as we shall see in this study, the tabernacle is ordained by God for all to come and draw near. The heavenly temple is still in action today: “After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes” (Revelation 15:5-6). Since this service is still in operation, it is important for us to understand as much as we can about these things by studying the earthly tabernacle, which is a “form and the shadow of these things that are in Heaven”  (Hebrews 8:5). 

Let’s Honor God With Our Giving

God begins His building project with a contribution: “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution’” ‘(Exodus 25:1-2). We want to note that God only wanted those who had a heart for God: “God loves a cheerful giver”  

(2 Corinthians 9:7). God then tells His people what He wants them to give, which is nothing less than items of great value—gold, silver, brass, and jewels. 

These were all items collected from the Egyptians before they fled Egypt. Yet God did not demand these items, but asked from those who had a willing heart. Is this not true of tithing? We feel that we worked for our money, so why should we give it to the church? As believers, we think that we can give God what we want to give Him; but God requires of us what He deems right—maybe our money, maybe our time, maybe even our lives, for He is the builder of not only our faith, but the spiritual house that He is building. 1 Peter 2:5 says, “You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Messiah Yeshua.” God tells the people that He wants them to construct a sanctuary for Him so that He may dwell among them. When God said, “Make Me a sanctuary (or mishkan in Hebrew),” what He was saying was that He not only wanted to dwell with man, but to have an intimate relationship with him. Remember, just a few chapters back God had betrothed Israel (Exodus 19:4-6).

We see over and over again that God tells Moses to construct the tabernacle according to the pattern that was shown to him on the mountain of the Lord (Exodus 25:9, 40; 26:30; Acts 7:44). God, the great architect, shows Moses nothing other than the heavenly tabernacle which was created at the beginning of time (Hebrews 8:2, 5). This heavenly temple is in operation today—right now, this very moment—and this is where we begin our journey to understand the meaning of the tabernacle. Moses saw this temple, and so did Isaiah, and even Paul and John; and now you will see it with your spiritual eyes. 

The tabernacle was divided into three parts: the outer courts, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies, which is the holiest place on earth. This is where Moses begins to record his conversation with God. 

So let’s get building! 

The Outer Court

There is little difference between the tabernacle which was in the wilderness at the time of Moses and the temple. There was a gate on the east side of the tabernacle. This is not a gate as we may imagine; it consists of decorated curtains. Upon entering the gate/curtain of the tabernacle, one would arrive at the outer court. It is here at the gate that our worship begins. The Psalmist writes, “Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory” (Psalm 24:7-10). The Psalmist also writes, “How lovely are your dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord” (Psalm 84:1-2). And how are we to enter in, but with thanksgiving and praise? The foremost way in which the people would joyfully enter was reciting the Hallel. The Hallel consists of Psalms 113-118, sometimes also including Psalm 136, which is known as the Great Hallel. While it is unknown who exactly wrote the Hallel, traditionally it is believed to have originated with Moses and the Israelites after the exodus from Egypt. Regardless of its author(s), the Hallel was, and still is, either sung or chanted as a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness. During the time of the Temple, the Levites would recite the Hallel, as would the pilgrims entering Jerusalem. If this was the case for the temple, and if the Hallel was written by Moses, then it is possible that it was this very song that was sung upon entering the gates of the tabernacle. Whether it was the Hallel or some other song of praise, we see that the only way we can come through the gate is with thankfulness and praise. 

The gate or the door into the tabernacle is very significant because Yeshua said that He was the Door/gate (John 10:7) and there is no other way to enter in, except through Him. Yeshua said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The gate/curtain was the only way into the tabernacle.  

Exodus 26:1 tells us that the curtains of the outer court were made of fine white linen and were seven-and-a-half feet tall. The linen curtains speak of the robes of righteousness the bride of Yeshua will wear on her wedding day (Revelation 19:6-9). Remember, we saw that these robes were worn also by the priests and they were called garments of splendor, beauty, and glory. 

When surveying the outer court, you would see the Bronze Altar and the Bronze Laver. The outer court was the place for atonement, worship, and cleansing in preparation to meet God. 

The Bronze/Brazen Altar

“And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide, the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. And you shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.” 

Exodus 27:1-2

When you enter the courtyard, the first thing you come upon is the bronze altar, also called the brazen altar. You may also hear it referred to as the copper altar; this is because bronze is mostly copper mixed with another metal. 

The altar is not completely made of bronze, but rather the structure was formed from acacia wood and then covered with bronze. Also matching this description are the two poles which were used to move the altar. The altar itself was about 7.5 feet long and wide (a square) and about 4.5 feet high. It had a horn at each of the corners of the top face. These horns were both symbolic and practical. Horns were a symbol of power—in this case, the power of God. These horns also were used to tie down larger offerings. There was a grate halfway up from the earth inside for the ashes to fall through. The utensils used along with the altar, which included various hooks, forks, pans, and shovels, were made solely of bronze and were used in regular service on the altar.   

The altar of sacrifice, as it was also called, being made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze, is a picture of Yeshua bearing the sins of man on the cross. The blood of the sacrifice was poured out upon the ground at the base of the altar, which was a picture of the shedding of Yeshua’s blood being poured out for us. The altar was the place where the people came to draw near to God. 

While sacrifice is itself inherent to the workings of the tabernacle, we see that it was already a common practice before this time. In fact, the first sacrifice is often understood as having taken place in the Garden of Eden: “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). We see this throughout the Torah that God’s people, like Noah and the Patriarchs, would build an altar and sacrifice to God for one reason or another; but through this they would draw near to God. It was only through their sacrifices that they could draw near to God. Their sins had to be atoned for. Scripture tells us that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22).

The altar was used all day long to make the various sacrifices for the people: “Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out” (Leviticus 6:13). The name used to identify it aptly describes the actions which would take place here—the word which we translate as “altar” is the Hebrew word mizbeach, which literally means “slaughter place.” It was here that the sacrificial system was put into action. 

The word “sacrifice” has a somewhat negative connotation in the English language. We define it as a giving up or destruction of something important to us. In Hebrew, the word we translate as “sacrifice” is korban, which roughly means “to draw near.” The sacrificial system, along with the rest of the tabernacle, was a way for people to have a relationship with the holy God. When the sacrifice was combined with a penitent spirit, the death of the animal symbolized the offerer’s own death to his animal, sinful nature. At the same time, the sin of the offerer was transferred to that animal, which then bore the punishment of that sin: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement” (Leviticus 17:11). 

The two types of basic sacrifices were the sin offering and the peace offerings (which not only included the peace offerings, but also the grain offerings and burnt offerings). Since Yeshua, we no longer need to bring a sin offering because it is through the blood of Yeshua that we can now draw near to God (Hebrews 10:15-25). His atoning sacrifice for our sins was once and for all (Hebrews 10:10). Now, we cannot confuse the sin offering with repentance. We still need to turn from our sins. Paul writes in Romans 6:1-2,“What then? Shall we sin because we are not saved by the law but by grace? May it never be!”  

He also says, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment” (Hebrews 10:26). Sin separates us from God, but repentance brings us back into that right standing with Him. Isaiah writes in Isaiah 1:16-20:

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, though your sins are scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool if you consent and obey.

Accepting Yeshua’s sacrifice on our behalf should make us broken and contrite to think that a holy God loved us so much that He took our place, He took our punishment. So that should lead us to the peace offering or the thanksgiving offering, which it can also be called. A peace offering was always made with the sin offering. You see, true repentance will always lead us to true thanksgiving. The Psalmist writes, “To Thee I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon the name of the Lord” (Psalm 116:17). True repentance bears the “fruit of repentance,” which is our righteous deeds, represented by our white garments. No longer do we do those dead works and ungodly deeds. The writer of the Book of Hebrews tells us, “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Messiah, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God” (Hebrews 6:1). The Word of God is alive and active; it is a two-edged sword, and when we read God’s Word and apply it to our lives, then the Word cleanses us because it changes us.

So now that the tabernacle and the temple are not here, does that mean we no longer have sacrifices? Let’s take a closer look. 

Today’s Sacrifices of the Priesthood

When the Temple was destroyed, the sages had to figure out what would replace the sacrifices. Well, the morning and evening prayers always coincided with the morning and evening sacrifices, so they figured that those would still remain. The three things that replaced the sacrifices were then teshuvah (repentance), tzedakah (righteous deeds, charity), and tephillin (prayer), all three representing the sacrifices—all three steps of holiness. The period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called the High Holy Days. It is a time to consider your deeds. It is a time for teshuvah, tzedakah, and tephillin. It is believed, traditionally, that on Rosh Hashanah the books are opened in heaven, and this is the time for us to be sure that our names are written in the Book of Life before they are closed at the end of Yom Kippur. There is so much written in God’s Word about these subjects, so we will only briefly look at all three. We have already looked at repentance, so now we are going to look at only one righteous deed, for there are so many. We are going to look at charity. 

Charity

Tzedakah is the Hebrew word for righteousness. When we repent of our sins, then we go from doing dead works to righteous deeds, one being giving. Paul talks about charity. In Philippians 4:18 he says, “But I received everything in full, and have abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice.” For the disciples of Yeshua, charity is not an option. Yeshua placed great emphasis on the commandment of charity; many of His parables and teachings centered on this important topic. In fact, Yeshua taught that if someone asks of you, you are to give to him, and do not turn him away. We are commanded especially to give to those who cannot repay us. He taught that our money is not our own, but that it belongs to God, and we cannot serve two masters. He told the rich, young ruler to sell all he had and give it to the poor, and then come follow Him. Paul tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. But when we give, we should do it in secret, not letting our right hand know what our left hand is doing. The sages taught that there are eight levels of charity, listed here from greatest expression of charity to least.

1. Giving a gift/loan to a fellow Jew or helping him find employment.

2. Giving to the poor while both the giver and the recipient are unaware of the others identity.

3. Giving to someone while the giver knows to whom he is giving, but the recipient is unaware of who he is receiving from.

4. Giving to someone while the giver is unaware of who he is giving to, but the recipient knows who he is receiving from.

5. Giving to someone directly, but without being asked to.

6. Giving to someone directly after being asked.

7. Giving to someone inadequately, but with joy and a smile.

8. Giving unwillingly.

Yeshua and His disciples would have known this teaching, for they taught from the same eight steps.

Living Sacrifices

Scripture tells us that we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of worship. You see, as true disciples of Yeshua, we too must lay down our lives as He did. He is our example. Yeshua said that we are to follow Him. Scripture makes it clear that if we choose to save our lives we will lose them, but if we choose to lose our lives then we will save them. As priests, we must lay down our lives on the altar of God and let God consume us. You see, the sacrificial altar now represents Yeshua, and we are to lay our lives upon Him. Galatians 2:19-21 tells us, “It is no longer I who live but Messiah Yeshua who lives in me.” Our lives are now hidden in Him. Yeshua was the perfect Lamb of God. He was without blemish, which was required by God’s law, and we too are to be without “spot or wrinkle” (Ephesians 5:27) as we lay our lives down upon the altar. Is this not the Bride that Yeshua is coming back for?

Sacrifices and Offerings

We must understand that the earthly temple and its worship was a shadow of the heavenly temple in heaven. The sole purpose of the sacrifices was to bring the people before God, and the priest was to be the one to assist the one offering the sacrifice. Today there is no temple, so how do we draw near to God? By the sacrifice of Yeshua. He is our sacrifice and our High Priest who assists us when we draw near to God. 

The Peace Offering 

The thanksgiving offering, freewill offerings, and the Passover lamb were all peace offerings. As believers in the one true living God, disciples of Yeshua (Jesus), we must be thankful for all that God has given us through His Son Yeshua. The Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Messiah Yeshua.” So what exactly is thanksgiving? Let’s take a closer look; for if this is what the will of God is for us, then we must totally understand its meaning. 

Webster’s dictionary tells us “to give thanks” is an expression of gratitude. The noun to be thankful or thanks is from the Greek word charis which means grace, favor, kindness, goodwill, or graciousness. This is why when we pray before our meals we call it “saying grace.” The Greek word eucharistia is where we get the English word Eucharist, which denotes gratitude and thankfulness. The Eucharist is a sacrament of the Catholic church, and is known as Communion in other Christian churches. So now let’s look closer at all of this and see what it all means for believers. 

We want to start with the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb and giving thanks. The Passover lamb was a peace offering, shelamim in Hebrew. You may have heard the word “Shalom” which means peace. Ephesians 2:14 tells us, “For He (Yeshua) Himself is our peace.” As believers, we know that Yeshua is our atonement. He is our sin offering (Hebrews 10:8‐10), but He is our Passover Lamb also (1 Corinthians 5:7).

These are two different kinds of offerings, and yet I suppose in some respects they are the same, because the sin offering reconciles us to God, which brings us peace. The peace offering was a voluntary offering and was never offered for sin or for forgiveness, but it was made in thanksgiving or in gratitude in response to God’s favor. Leviticus 3:1 tells us, “Now if his offering is a sacrifice of peace, and if he is going to offer out of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before the Lord.” 

So first we must understand that this offering was just as important as any offering to God, and that meant that the animal had to be without any blemishes or defects. We can not give God our leftovers or rejections, but what is precious or important to us; in other words, it must have value. Yeshua was our Passover Lamb, our peace offering, and the Bible tells us that He was without sin (Hebrews 9:13‐14): He was spotless, without blemish, the perfect Lamb of God. Unlike the sin offering, the peace offering was not totally burnt up; only the choice fat was burnt on the altar. The meat of the sacrifice was divided between the person who brought the peace offering and the priest who offered it on the altar. 

So the peace offering, thanksgiving offering, and the freewill offering were an opportunity to share in the table of the Lord. It was a shared meal between the offeror and his family, even his friends, the priesthood, and God Himself. It was a time of fellowship between God and man. Peace offerings were made in conjunction with the festivals. Families would come to Jerusalem and offer their offerings, including their peace offering, and enjoy God’s Appointed Times with their family and friends. Maybe this is where the tradition of the festival meals came from. 

Messiah Our Sacrifice 

So we have seen that Yeshua is our Passover Lamb, which is one of the peace offerings. We also learned that the peace offering was a voluntary offering. Yeshua said that He gave up His life; no one took it from Him (John 10:11, 15, 17‐18). We also learned that the peace offering was a shared meal. Yeshua, when celebrating the Passover Seder (which is a meal commemorating the redemption of Israel out of Egypt, the meal that He was partaking in when He said to His disciples, “When you do this, remember Me [in My crucifixion],” Luke 22:19‐20), said that He was the Passover lamb, the peace offering, and we are to eat of Him and drink of His blood, symbolically representing the shared meal at the table of the Lord, the Passover Seder (John 6:48‐58). 

So if a peace offering was in response to God’s favor, then what did that have to do with the Passover lamb and Yeshua, who is our Passover lamb? During the first Passover, the people were to place the blood of the Passover lamb on the lintels of the door frame for protection so that the death angel would pass over them during the last plague of Egypt, the plague of the death of the first born, thus reconciling them to God, redeeming them from Pharaoh; and so too with Yeshua: He has reconciled us to God, redeeming us by His shed blood, covering us (Colossians 1:18‐20), thus taking us out of the kingdom of darkness and bringing us into His kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13). 

We are no longer slaves to our sins (leaven), and we are no longer in bondage to Satan (Pharaoh). Scripture tells us that while we were still sinners, Yeshua died for us (Romans 5:8). Thus God’s favor was towards us, and thus the peace offering was offered, and for this we are to be thankful! 

So Give Thanks 

Do you know the song? “I will enter your gates with thanksgiving in my heart. I will enter your courts with praise. I will say this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!” Giving thanks was a central part of Judaism. The prayer life of Jewish people is filled with thanksgiving. The Psalmist continually tells us to give thanks. In fact, Psalm 118 is what the people would sing as they went up to the house of the Lord. “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.” It was the Father’s great love that sent Yeshua to die for us. We see in the life of Messiah that He always gave thanks (Matthew 15:36, Matthew 26:27) and all throughout the Apostolic Scriptures we are told to continually give thanks (1 Corinthians 15:57; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; 

1 Timothy 2:1, to mention a few), and Hebrews 13:15 tells us, “Through Him (Yeshua our High Priest) then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.” 

We too are to bring our peace sacrifice, for Yeshua has reconciled us to God. We even see a scene in the heavenly temple: the four living creatures giving thanks with the twenty four elders (Revelation 4:9‐10, 11:17). 

As we began this study, we saw in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 that it is the will of God for us to give thanks in everything. But Romans 1:21 tells us, “For even though they knew God they did not honor Him as God, nor gave thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”  We do not want to neglect this commandment to give thanks in all things, for there will be consequences for those who do not appreciate God’s loving gift of salvation to us. Every day we must give thanks; when we rise in the morning and lay our heads down at night, we must give thanks; and at the table of the Lord, no matter if it is the kitchen table eating our meals, the Communion table, or the altar that we come to for prayer, we must give thanks with a grateful heart for all that our Father has given us through our Messiah Yeshua.