Lechem - Bread - December 13

Lechem...  Bread...    Dec 13, 2014

**************************************************

Sh’ma

**

13 Dec 2014  ~  21 Kislev 5775

Torah parashah ~ Vayeshev (He continued living) 

B’re’shiyt (Genesis) 37:1 - 40:23

***

We know that Chanukah starts Tues - 16 Dec and goes until the evening of Wed 24 December.

And so i want to talk about Chanukah today...

But i want to start with “LECHEM”

Lechem = bread in Hebrew.

Bread is mentioned 361 times in the  KJ version of the bible.

Lamed - chet - mem

        lamed = lead, teach, yoke forward, tongue, control

        chet = fence, outside, half, divide, protect

        Mem = chaos, might, blood, out of, what , how

Strong’s # H3899 and it is defined as “bread, food, grain.”

D’varim 3:8 RSTNE p 144

        “And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your ahvot know; that He might make you know that man does not live by lechem only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of YHWH does man live.”

Yochanan (John) 6: 47-51  RSTNE p 760

        “Amein, Amein, I say to you, He that believes on Me has everlasting chayim (life).

        I am the lechem (bread) of chayim (life).”

*~*~

Interesting how YHWH works.

This week i was talking with a lady who is a christian... and she was saying how a teacher/ pastor seems to “really minister” to her for awhile and then that is it - not at all later.

I told her... what i see is that ministers typically learn some piece of truth... it might be a thread or maybe a huge rock or maybe a mountain... but it is only some truth...

and they speak it

and people - (who are starving) declare this good food and RUN after it. 

And it does (usually) have TRUTH in it...

And it is helpful.... 

but if you look at the ministers... they just keep serving that bread. 

They keep on doing and saying what they did and said last week and last month and last year.

They will still be teaching “THIER MESSAGE”....

as long as someone will listen.

but the message doesn’t change and grow - it just is.

And it was GREAT for the time it was released in...but that is all there is... and they keep passing out that bread and passing it out....

And they have stayed  - at least mostly - stuck in their wonderful revelation they have taught for the last 2 or 52 years... and not much has changed. 

Well what i know is YHWH keeps showing more.. keeps inviting his people to more....

~

A long time ago i read an interesting statement that went something like this...

“Churches are bakeries... We are supposed to go there and get hot fresh bread that is life giving. 

The problem is that most churches today only serve old stale bread  - they don’t bake it there... they get it somewhere else...

or perhaps better stated they - the churches -  don’t even know they are supposed to be baking and  serving BREAD.”

~

And we can say - that we get that and that is way too bad... and how awful that is...

Oh but there is a huge problem that comes for us with this idea of “FRESH BREAD”....

and that is... we like the idea that says... we just want to be COMFORTABLE.

we want to know what we know ...

we want to know who we are....

we want to know what we believe

and we just want to keep on believing and understanding that....

because every time things change - it seems HARD.

and Every time a leader teaches something new...

every time a leader stands up and says...

“You know.. i am really sorry but i taught that wrong... now what i understand - based on the Word of YHWH is ____ . So we are changing.”

Every time a leader says “okay here is more of the truth”

some of us say “OKAY!  Glad to know it!!”

and others of us say..  “Are you kidding? MORE CHANGE!!!” 

and then we feel a bit lost and adrift for awhile,

 because we don’t know what to do with all of it

and we don’t really know who we are and how we fit in our place in the world... with this big change.

and also there must be something that goes something like...

“are you kidding me?!!  Do you know how much i have changed already??!!! and now you are telling me there is more change!!??”

**

If you’ve been here awhile...and if you don’t know this yet...  it will make sense as i tell you today...

Ongoing - i have prayed that YHWH would keep me in a place of learning. 

So that i never serve old bread.  ....That i always and only serve FRESH LECHEM....

....A place of always getting more truth.

~

The problem might be then... that

1.  Things are always changing as we learn more truth.

2.  Things don’t seem as settled - at least not as much as we’d like to feel comfortable.

3.  Most of us just feel like we need to know what we know and have that not be changing.

4. The teacher - Janet - looks pretty clueless... always changing things. :)

The reality is...

there is a lot of change at HLM.

But core stuff - that YHWH loves us and has a plan of restoration - in Messiah Y’shua...  and that we are called to live kadosh (holy) and be

righteous priests ...

        ... this is not changing...

But as we keep asking him how to be kadosh (holy)...

....we are learning more about what that means and...

.... so things in how we live and how we serve Him change as we learn more...

and these changes aren’t very easy sometimes.

So the question we might consider ... 

do we want old lechem or fresh lechem??????

If’ it is fresh lechem we want....  we have to know that means  ----on going change

as we understand more and more of the Word of YHWH.

****

That said... i have been learning some things i want us to consider:

This week i listened to Matthew Nolan’s last Shabbat teaching...on Chanukah.

I have prayed about this.  I have talked about this.  i have cried about this.

So i want to offer this to you.

It is hard to hear.

The more i sit with it... and read Torah... the more in am convinced ...  but wow is it not the easy answer !!

~~***~~***~~***~~***

Chanukah... according to Matthew Nolan.

Let’s start with simple things:

The Hebrew word for Chanukah is used 8 times in Tanakh

and it means “dedication”.

It refers to the dedication of the altar in the front of the tent of meeting.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

Before we go any further...

.... let’s talk about what we have known of Chanukah.

The story of Chanukah ....

As part of his attempt to rule the world, Antiochus Epiphanies signed a

peace treaty with Isra’el.

(side note – What do we know about the prophecy of the end times and the peace treaty… it will NOT be honored!!)

 A brother of the high priest of Isra’el, Joshua

(who changed his name to the Greek name Jason) offered Antiochus a peace treaty that gave Antiochus power to rule over Isra’el

--in return for protecting Isra’el.

 The treaty also offered Antiochus money in return for making Jason high priest in Isra’el.

Jason also promised to build a temple dedicated to the Greek God Phallus

and a gymnasium in Jerusalem

-which would be dedicated to Greek athletics

- and which would be a recruitment center.

Citizens of Israel and of the world could come to

the gymnasium and sign up to become citizens of Antioch in significant

alliance with the Greek world government.

Antiochus accepted the peace treaty,

And Jason became high priest in Isra’el

Antiochus marched off to Egypt to expand his empire.

As he marched into Egypt, Antiochus was successful with his armies in conquering the Egyptian kingdom south of Israel.

As he was winning a big battle, a message was sent through a messenger from the Senate in Rome: "Give up Egypt or Rome will invade and attack Syria."

Antiochus tried to stall and tried to negotiate out of it.

The messenger took out a sword and drew a circle with it in the sand around Antiochus

and said "you may not leave the circle until you give your answer to

Caesar."

Antiochus was forced to make a decision -- he chose to back down and give up Egypt, which made him very angry.

In his wrath, Antiochus marched up from Egypt through Isra’el.

Then an infuriating bit of information was shared with him.

THE PEACE TREATY WAS BROKEN

Jason had lost his high priesthood and was fighting to get it back.

In addition, he had received the incorrect message that Antiochus

Epiphanies was dead.

So -- Jason was now fighting to take over the kingdom.

This word got back to Antiochus.

Imagine how Antiochus Epiphanies responded after just having lost Egypt and now finding that people in Jerusalem were fighting over his kingdom, thinking he was dead in Egypt.

 He was so angry that he ordered his lead commander to destroy Jerusalem.

History records that they did just that.

They killed thousands of Jews and took many of them into slavery.

They hacked and knocked over the porticoes in the Temple.

They robbed many of the Temple vessels.

On Kislev 25 in the year 168 BC, Antiochus marched into the Temple and

built a statue in the outer courtyard to the god Zeus, the chief god in Greek paganism.

 He made the face of the statue of Zeus look like himself.

Then he sacrificed a pig to this statue.

Not only did he offer the pig as a sacrifice, he took the blood from the pig and he sprinkled it in the Holy of Holies.

He poured its broth on the Holy Scrolls before cutting them to pieces and burning them.

Then he ordered his men to make the Temple a shrine to Zeus.

( I find it interesting that Christians call Y’shua “Jesus” or HaZeus!!!  Do you get this picture of deception here??!!)

Next he came up with a new law, which he spread throughout the land.

 This new law abolished all the religious practices of Isra’el.

Antiochus abolished the sacrifices, allowing only the pig, an unclean animal to be sacrificed.

He abolished circumcision.

The soldiers came to Modeem – and demanded Mattathias perform the pig sacrifice….   They picked out the leader of the community so the people would follow.

Mattathias refused

Because he knew if the compromise was made then the Torah would be destroyed,

 and if they didn’t have Torah, they didn’t have truth...

if they didn’t have truth  they wouldn’t  have YHWH….

…They didn’t have anything…

He would not forsake YHWH and His instructions.

He refused.

But another priest stood up and was going to do it.

BUT… Mattathias  and his sons….tore down the Greek altar

and drove off the soldiers with the battle cry….

….“Whoever is for YHWH, follow me!” 

This was the beginning of the Hebrew rebellion. 

Mattathias’ oldest son was nicknamed “Judah Macabee” = “the hammer”....because he fought so hard.

Mattathias, his 5 sons, and probably many others….engaged the Greeks in guerrilla warfare to win Isra’el's independence – for three years.

Because of their bravery and leadership, the Hebrews miraculously won the war with the Greeks and regained their freedom to worship the one true God of Isra’el.

 --The Temple which was desecrated when Antiochus Epiphanies

sacrificed a pig on the altar. The temple was recaptured by the Maccabees and rededicated back to YHWH.

**

Mattathias stod up in righteous anger and refused to sacrifice pig!

Judah the Maccabeus reclaimed the temple and rededicated it.

And then begins the oil story.. how in cleaning they found some oil but not enough... 

And the short story of the oil goes like this... there is oil, but not enough.......because it takes awhile to make it and let it sit to purify it... 

the light burned for 8 days...

**

Well, that is a great story...but according to many Jewih Rabbis - it simply isn’t true... 

The military part is true.

But allegedly - the oil part is just a legend.

***

We have to look and see what the Scriptures say.

We know that historically there was a defiling of the temple

we know that there were the battles of the Macabees

We are not disputing these things

and we know there was a rededication of the temple

we also know Y’shua was born and there was a bright star and shepherds in a field

but just just because we know those things  --

          doesn’t mean we have to connect them with christmas trees etc

often times what happens is we marry HIS-story and tradition

I don’t want to jump out of the frying pan into the fire

and in fact, maybe i did.

*

2 times in Daniel 3 the word “chanukah” is used in the dedication and worship  of the image of Nebikinizer in Babylon

**

another interesting point...

Blessing that goes with chanukah

baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech ha olam asheer kadishnu barmitzvo tov vitsivanu lel hadlig ner shel chanukah

in the English:

blessed are you YHWH our lord our god soverign of the universe who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to light the lights of chanukah

who has commanded us to light the Shabbat candles - for shabbat too

        that is simply not true...

many people recite these blessings

even believers in Y’shua...  recite these blessings and say that YHWH commanded us to do these things.

He did not command us to get two candles out on Shabbat and light them!

He did not command us to light the lights of Chanukah.

        ----   yet a  religion of man says he did!!

as believers we need to question these things

**

The story is that Antiochus Epiphanies - was angry and he was in battle and killed many and then tried to take over places by having the priests sacrifice pig...

Antiochus Epiphanies

he named himself Epiphanies.. which means “god manifest”.

isn’t that interesting?...

Yochanan (John) 10: 22-39  p 766

Do you think it just might be possible that in John 10   -

-- Y’shua is saying...

“I am the Epiphanies... I am YHWH manifest!!”   ??

**

According to Mathew Nolan’s research.. .

Chanukah is about Jewish people separating from everything that is not Jewish.

While Y’shua embraced gentiles... lost sheep of the house of the Northern Kingdom of Isra’el.

*

the Macabees were a military victory for the Jewish people....

 and some say that the story of the oil was added because the rabbis that were in charge -

-  were afraid of offending Roman rule...

-  ...so instead of glorifying the revolutionary military victory

-   

-  - they made the focus about YHWH

- to keep themselves and all the Jews safer.

**~~~~~~*****

Some thoughts ....

I like the story of how Mattithias  Macabees stood up for YHWH and did what was right in the midst of what was probably a clear threat of death.

I like reading the story that the Macabees fought and overcame - the under-dogs won!

I really like the story of YHWH doing a miracle and the oil lasting 8 days when it should not have.

I like the idea of a celebration that is sort of like Christmas... because in all honesty - i have wonderful wonderful family memories of Christmas...

i like giving gifts to my family and friends.

and as silly as it may sound - i like lighting candles.

But it doesn’t matter what i like!!

We can even say well -

in Yochanan 8:12 Y’shua says “I am the light of the world.”

and we can look at the candles and be reminded of that light.

BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT I LIKE!!

**

Points to consider

1.  Despite the Messianic/Jewish blessings that SAY - Yah “commanded us to light the lights of Chanukah and Shabbat  - That is not true.

YHWH did not command us to light lights.

2.   YHWH gave us the 7 branch Menorah.  He did not give the 9 branch Chanukia... and 9 is about illuminati.

3.   Just because Y’shua was at the temple during Chanukah doesn’t mean he was celebrating Chanukah - he could have - and probably was there to bring rebuke.

4.  Chanukah is not a FEAST OF YHWH.

So....

Some questions to consider....

1.  Can we get together and light candles and give gifts?

2.How is celebrating a feast of man - albeit pagan based - not like the Golden calf??  - IF we say we are doing it to worship YHWH.

3.   Can we get together and give gifts and not have it be a “feast of YHWH??... and not say we are doing Chanukah?? 

My greatest concern is - YHWH did not tell us to celebrate it.

and i don’t want to be in disobedience. 

Is it possible that the Jewish end of the spectrum really is as messed up as the Christian end??

It is hard to be faced with more change...

But what if we are learning about this... so we can learn to be more obedient and understand YHWH’s Truth...?

That is what we ask for....  FRESH BREAD.

I don’t want stale bread!

I invite you all to ponder these things and seek YHWH diligently. 

What i know i must do - is serve HIM as best as i understand.

I want FRESH BREAD.

AMEIN.