Mikvah Shabbat - in Sukkot
21 Sept, 2013 ~ 15 Tishrei, 5774
***
Sh’ma
**
SUKKOT
Vayikra /Lev 23:34 cjb p 137 “Tell the people of Isra’el, on the 15th day of this seenth month is the feast of Sukkot for seven days to YHWH.”
Yochanan /John 1:14 cjb p 1329 “The Word (Living Torah) became a human being and lived with us (tabernacled) and we saw His sh’khinah (unmerited favor; emet/ TRUTH)
Tishrei 22, Shemini Atzeret, and Tishrei 23, Simchat Torah, in ancient times were considered one long day and celebrated on Tishrei 22. Simchat Torah is a celebration of rejoicing in the Torah.
As it is written in John (Yochanan) 7:37, "In the last day, that great day of the feast [of Sukkot]...." This day would be known as Hoshana Rabbah, or Tishrei 21.
Yochanan 8:1-2, "Y’shua went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them." This is the next day after Hoshana Rabbah, the day attached to Sukkot called Shemini Atzeret.
Once again, in ancient times that day was also called Simchat Torah, the rejoicing in the Torah. So, in John (Yochanan) 8:5, we see Yeshua, the author of the Torah, is questioned about the Torah on the day referred to as "the rejoicing in the Torah"
The Spiritual Understanding of Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
In Deuteronomy (Devarim) 31:9-13, at the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles), you are to read the Torah. The seventh year is called the year of release (Deuteronomy [Devarim] 31:10);
all debts are to be forgiven at this time (Exodus [Shemot] 21:2; Leviticus [Vayikra] 25:1-4; Deuteronomy [Devarim] 15:1-12; Jeremiah [Yermiyahu] 34:8-22).
The seven years are a picture of the 7,000-year plan of G-d (Psalm [Tehillim] 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8).
The seventh year is the year of release and is a picture of the seventh day or the Messianic age, the Millennium, or the Athid Lavo.
Yeshua referred to this in both Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 61:1-3 and Luke 4:16-21.
The phrase, "liberty to the captives" in Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 61:1, speaks of the year of release.
Yeshua is saying, in essence, "I am that release. Trust in Me and you will be free."
In the days of Yeshua, there was a seven-year cycle of reading the Torah. In years one through three, the people would read from the Torah, the prophets and the writings. In years three through six, they would start over. In year seven, they would read from them all.
While reading, the priest would stand on a podium (bema) and give the understanding and teaching (Nehemiah 8:1-12). This was done during the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles) (Nehemiah 8:2,13-14,18).
In the future, we will experience the real Simchat Torah during the time G-d judges the believers in the Messiah according to the lives they lived on this earth.
At that time, when we hear the truth of the Bible and understand G-d's Word, we will cry when we see how we have failed to keep and follow the Bible and G-d's truths.
But G-d will say, "Do not sorrow, for the joy of the L-rd is your strength" (see Nehemiah [Nechemiah] 8:9-10).
At this time, we will not be going through the rehearsal (miqra) of the festival, but we will be experiencing the "season of our joy," the time of the Messianic kingdom on earth.
The reading, teaching, and understanding of the Torah will be at its height during the Messianic age, the Millennium.
In Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 2:1-5 and Micah (Michah) 4:1-5, Yeshua, the Messiah, the author and teacher of the Torah, will teach all the peoples of the earth the ways of the Torah.
*
After Isra’el entered the Promised land... Sukkot was associated with the fall harvest and became known as chag ha-asif = the Festival of Ingathering” (of the harvest) at the end of the year.
Certain customs were incorporated into the observance of sukkot including
--building and decorating a sukkah....
--performing a special wave ceremony of the “Four species” - the lulav...
Sukkot - 7 day holiday... with Shmini atzeret added....which marks the end of the agricultural year.
They also added Simchat Torah = celebration of the end of the Torah reading cycle for the year.
Sukkot celebrated for 8 days in Isra’el and 9 days in the diaspora.
In Isra’el the 8th day of Sukkot combines both Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah,
whereas in the Diaspora, the 8th day of the holdiay is Shmini Atzeret and the 9th day is Simchat Torah.
During the fist and last days of Sukkot no normal work is permitted (Lev 23:39)
The days in the middle of Sukkot are called Chol Ha-Mo’ed, half holidays during which usual work activities are permitted.
We are commanded to REJOICE during Sukkot for the blessings of YHWH’s provision and care for our lives
Deut 16:13-15
In ancient Isa’el, the joy of Sukkot was so great that it became known simply as “the Feast” in I Kings 12:32.
In later times it was known as z’man simchateinu, the season of our joy. itwas a time of many sacfrifices (Num 29) and a time when (on Sabbatical years) the Torah would be read aloud to the people. - Deut 31:10-13
Sukkot corresponds with the fruit harvest in Isra’el.
Sukkot prophetically anticipates the coming kingdom of Y’shua HaMashiach... wherein all the nations shall come up to Jerusalem to worship YHWH during the festival (Zech 14:16)
Today Sukkot is a time to remember God’s sheltering presence and provision for us for the start of the New Year.
In Biblical times Sukkot was considered the most important of all the holidays, referred to simply as “the Feast” I King 12:32
Do....
- gather the “four species” Lev 23:40
- to rejoice before YHWH Deut 16:13-14; Lev 23:40
- To lie in a sukkah Lev 23:42
The Four Species
- Etrog- lemon like citrus fruit which symbolizes the heart- a place of understanding and wisdom
- Lulav - a ripe date palm frond which symbolizes the spone or backbone of a person also uprightness
- Hadas - three myrtle branches - resemble the shape of eyes and therefore the sages associate them with seeing and vision; enlightenment
- Aravah two leafy branches of a willow tree and symbolizes the lips, the service of the lips = prayer
These four are held together in a fragrant bouquet that is waved during the ceremony called na’anuim for each day of Sukkot. The practice is t recite the blessing - al netilat lulav and then wave thelulav three times in six directions: forward, to the right to the back to the left, up and dow (to proclaim Yah’s omnipresence).
The four items are said to represent the tetragrammaton (YHWH) .
There is also a water drawing ceremony ... this is where Y’shua spoke of Himself as the “living water”... Yochanan 7:39
Also Rev 21:6 “And he said to me, It is done! i am the aleph and the tov, the beginning and the end. To anyone who is thirsty i myself will give water free of charge from the Fountain of LIfe.”
Yesha’Yahu /Isaiah 55:1 “All you who are thirsty, come to the water!...”
So rejoice!!!
**************************
Mikvah....
(Based a lot on Brad Scott’s teachings on Mikvah....)
The English word 'baptize' comes from the Greek word baptizo.
This word, comes from the Hebrew taval.
This parent root is formed by a tet, bet, lamed.
The pictographic meaning is = to be surrounded by the leader of the house.
It's meaning in our context and use is to dip or to plunge into water, i.e., to surround or immerse something into water.
The first appearance of the word taval translated into baptizo is in
Sh'mot/ Exodus 12:22 cjb p 72 “Take a bunch of hyssop leaves and DIP it in the blood which is in the basin, and smear it on the two sides and top of the door-frame....”
Romans 6:1-8 cjb p 1408
=baptism is associated with death...
Hebrews have always defined death as when the body stops breathing.... and if i go under water i stop breathing for a short time....
The picture God is drawing from the beginning is that when the end comes and judgment falls, those who are already judged (dead in Messiah) will be passed over.
You cannot kill that which is already dead.
The death pictured here is the “old man” of sin. This is pictured by the blood on the doorposts.
You and I are immersed in His blood, which represents His death for us.
Sh’mot 12:22 is the first occurrence of the Hebrew word for baptism in the Tanakh, but this is not the first occurrence of a baptism.
The place in which a tevilah was to take place was called a miqeveh.
This word comes from the root qavah, which means to gather together for a purpose.
{{Most Hebrew words that are associated with righteousness and holiness all share an etymological background of oneness, unity and gathering into one.
Most Hebrew words that are associated with unrighteousness and evil all share an etymological background of scattering, breaking, mixing and dividing.}}
The word for a baptismal is no exception. The first occurrence of a baptizing is actually in the very beginning.
B’resheet 1:2 cjb p 1 “The earth was unformed and void darkness was on the face of the deep and the Spirit of YHWH hovered over the surface of the water.”
The first action of God is to move upon the face of the waters.
This is because all of God's creation will be first immersed in water.
Two things are brought forth first in the Word of God....
--Light and water, both of which are still being researched as to their essence, purpose and possibilities.
The Holy Spirit or Ruach HaKodesh and water are used consistently all through scripture as figures, one of another.
Yesha'yahu /Isaiah 12:3 cjb p 455 “Then you will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation.”
What God will do for man, He does for the creation first.
In restoring a fallen creation, God first moves on the face of the waters (B'resheet1:2).
This is because the earth will be cleansed by the waters a little later. He then brings forth light (1:3). Then He cleanses the earth with water (1:6-10). After that, the earth brings forth fruit (1:11-13). Then the creation is a witness through the sun, moon, and stars (1:14-19), and the result is life (1:20-27).
In verses nine and ten of B'resheet we have the earth baptized first. All the material from whence life will come from, is first immersed and then brought up out of the water.
B'resheet 1:9-10
"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the GATHERING TOGETHER of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
Apparently, the land was still underneath the waters a result of the fall of hasatan in the beginning.
AFTER the Spirit of God moves on the face of the waters, we have the earth coming up out of the waters.
The phrase 'gathering together' in verse ten is the word ulemiqeveh.
This Hebrew word is the word miqeveh.
This is the Hebrew word for baptismal, or the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek baptizo. It means a place of gathering.
The Creator begins by immersing and cleansing the earth within which all plants, animals and people come from.
We will talk about this more as we study B’resheet coming up soon.
*
Every time we wash ourselves, we are to be reminded of what our Savior has accomplished for us.
Water baptism is a commandment from YHWH.
Vayikra /Lev 8:5-6
"Moshe said to the community,”This is what YHWH has ordered to be done.” Moshe brought Aharon and his sons, washed them with water,”...
Mattityahu 3:14-15
"But Yochanan tried to stop him. “you are coming to me? I ought to be immersed by you!” 15 However, Y’shua answered him, “Let it be this way now, because we should do everything righteousness requires.”
YHWH always begins with a cleansing of the heart....
Sh'mot /Exodus 25:2
"Tell the people of Isra’el to take up a collection for me - accept a contribution from anyone who wholeheartedly wants to give.”
Sh'mot 28:29
... is about Aharon wearing the names of the Tribes of Isra’el on his breastplate of judgment upon his heart....
D'varim 4:29
"However, from there you will seek YHWH your God; and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and being.”
D'varim 6:5-6
"and you are to love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, all your being and all your resources....”
According to the parable of the sower, which is the most important parable to understand according to Mark...
-- the fruit you produce is the evidence of what has taken place in the heart first.
*
The Eloha of Avraham... over and over gives us the natural to help us understand the spiritual.
YHWH shows us a picture of this.... He shows us this in nature by designing an unseen tomato seed in the ground to produce tomatoes.
The intrinsic difference between you and I, and a tomato plant, is that we get to choose whether we produce fruit or not.
Brad Scott says.....”One of my fundamental beliefs is that God is very smart, and we as humans are most fortunate that God has chosen to share some of His intelligence with us. I think that choosing the natural activity of washing ourselves to represent what He has done in the unseen is, well, pretty clever and insightful.
I believe that God in His mercy chose a simple, almost everyday activity to show forth what He has done for us.”
Why would someone NOT want to be baptized? Is is too much to handle? Is it just too bizarre?
Our Father has painted a beautiful yet simple picture of His rescue of mankind.
A picture that began in B'resheet chapter one and has remained constant throughout the scriptures.
*
Immersion into the natural flowing waters is not a Christian thing.
It is a YHWH thing.
*
God delivers us from the inside out,
He starts with our heart, changes our mind, and then our bodies respond.
Today we plan to have our bodies respond by being immersed... because our minds have been changed ... because our hearts have been changed.
We have come to understand more of what TRUTH is in the last few years than we ever knew in our whole lives!!!! baruch YHWH!!
**
When man is reconciled to YHVH, he is cleansed in his heart first as revealed in the construction of the tabernacle.
When we, as sons of the living God, approach God we are to wash first.
When the tabernacle or temple stood, it was a physical object that required one to enter by being physically cleansed.
But this cleansing was also produced as a result of an obedient HEART first.
One washes their flesh because their mind sent them the proper electrical signals.
The information that the mind sends to the body must come from either the spirit of man or the Spirit of God (1Corinthians 2:10-12).
Our obedience comes from the heart first.
Whatever is in your heart will determine what you believe, and what you believe will determine how you behave.
The cleansing of the heart, which only YHVH can do, leads to obedience and obedience tells us that we are to be immersed in water.
In order to cleanse the heart, the old man of sin must die, and this is why baptism is a picture of death.
The bottom line is that the washing of the flesh is always preceded by the desire to wash the heart / spirit.
Water baptism DOES NOT precede salvation, for salvation is a matter of the heart.
main points
1. The word baptism in Hebrew is directly related to hope and gathering.
2. That it prophetically speaks of the reuniting of the whole house of Israel.
3. the spiritual application is revealed in the natural.
4. God ALWAYS cleanses the heart first, then the flesh.
5. we must discern the difference between God's cleansing of the heart and our approach to the throne of God as His children.
*
During Yochanan Hamatbeal / John the Immerser’s time....
Baptism was not about the gentiles who needed to repent.
The gentiles first had to believe before they could repent.
This was directed toward the house of Judah, particularly the Pharisees and Sadducees, for they had turned away from the Torah and taught others to do so as well.
"REPENT! For the kingdom of God is at hand" cried both Yochanan and Y'shua.
How had the leaders turned away from God?
= By turning away from the Torah or the Word, which is YHWH.
Yochanan's immersion into the living Jordan River was after they had turned their hearts toward God and His Word /Torah and repented.
Water does not cause repentance.
Repentance comes from the heart.
It is also the fullfilling of righteousness that Yochanan was the witness of this cleansing, for Yochanan was a priest. It was the priests who 'inspected' the cleanness or continued uncleanness of an individual.
Yochanan's baptism was a picture of repentance, which prepares the way for YHWH.
The baptism of repentance was for the turning of a straying heart of His own back to the Torah.
Y'shua tells us that HE is the Torah.
Yochanan 5:39
"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."
Luke 24:44
"And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."
When His own people hear of the Messiah, they have already had their hearts prepared for such a revelation by Yochanan's baptism of repentance. Trusting God and obeying Him is the fruit of repentance.
If the Jewish leaders of the time were really seeking God and following His Torah, then they would have seen and received the Messiah.
They were not following the Torah and so did not bear the fruit of the Torah and welcome the prophesied Messiah of the Torah.
Mattityahu 3:7-8
"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:"
We know from the record of the New Testament, that a large majority of His own were not immersed by Yochanan. However, many of the disciples of Yochanan were prepared and readily accepted the Master later on.
Acts 19:1-6
"And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Spirit since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Messiah Y'shua. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of Adonai Y'shua. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied."
Yochanan 1:15-16
"Yochanan bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."
I believe that “fulfilling all righteousness” - is clearly understood in it's context. The word 'fulfilling' in Mattityahu 3:15 is pleroo in the Greek and mala' in the Hebrew.
It's form here is the same form in which it occurs in Mattityahu 5:17.
It is in the infinitive, active, and aorist tense.
This means that Messiah is fulfilling all righteousness and has not completed His fulfilling.
Messiah is establishing righteousness by doing what is righteous.
Baptism is the righteous thing to do. Y'shua is our pattern and example.
In Hebrews
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One YHWH, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."
=The writer of Ivrim is speaking of the various and sundry ways in which some one can be immersed in something, whether that be water, the Spirit of God, fire, or the Messiah.
There is only one immersion into the body of Messiah, and it is this immersion that Paul is referring to.
It is this immersion that everyone who has called upon the God of Israel from the beginning have been placed in.
The scriptures are clear that the Messiah was the Word of God made flesh and has eternally existed.
There is only one Seed, which is the Word of God, so there can be only one baptism into that Word.
All other baptisms are 'experienced' in our walk with the Word of God. For example, Yochanan the immerser tells us that he baptized with water unto repentance. This is a faithful human experience with water appropriately representing repentance.
But, he says, there is one after me (Messiah) who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
- this is also a faithful human experience that the Messiah appropriates.
- In other words, outside of the Word of God (Messiah) there can be no receiving of this baptism.
- I believe it is an experience which many encounter after having received the Word of God, and an event in which others encounter at the same time they receive the Word of God.
- A casual reading of the book of Acts will demonstrate that every occurrence and experience concerning the Holy Spirit is a different experience with different manifestations.
- While it appears in Acts 2:38-39, that water baptism seems to precede the receiving of the Holy Spirit, later on in Acts 10:44-48, water baptism follows the receiving of the Holy Spirit.
- The first act of God is the planting of His Word into our hearts. After that, it is different for all of us, depending on where our walk is at.
***
So i invite you to consider.... this day as a day of declaration of your intention.
This day - as a day of declaration of your purpose...
In Yirmeyahu /Jer 29:11 ... talks about the plans and purposes YHWH has for us....
and this day you step into a place that is declaring your intent not just on WHO your master is... Y’shua the Mashiach/ Messiah....
but that you have INTENT to actually SERVE Him...
and how will you do that ?
By keeping Torah.
You see.... Jewish people have always had mikvah. It is not a christian thing.... and when they got mikvahed - they were declaring into which Rabbi’s sect they were following.
Well we know the Mashiach Y’shua... but what we didn’t know was that we are to keep Torah.
So today- this is a declaration of actually ... DOING the Sh’ma...
Sh’ma Isra’el.... YHWH elohaynu , YHWH ECHAD....
Sh’ma - hear and DO...
Today - ladies and gentlemen, is our declaration that we choose to not only accept Y’shua’s blood ... but we choose to show Him that we love Him... b/c HE tells us in in His Word that if we love him we will keep Torah.
So - this is a cleansing.... a dying to our old self.... of knowing Messiah... but not keeping Torah....
to arising into not just Mashiach’s blood that saves us...but HIS LIVING WORD / TORAH - His instructions...
... to live as he has called us to live!! AMEIN!!
*****************************
