Showing posts with label image of YHWH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label image of YHWH. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

43rd B're'shiyt Teaching - Torah Portion Beha'alotcha - June 6

43 B’re’shiyt 1:17  - June 6, 2015

6 June 2015  ~  19 Sivan 5775
43 B’re’shiyt 1:17
Torah Parashah Beha’alotcha - B’midbar (Numbers) 8:1-12:16

Being created in the image of YHWH means doing what he says. - Harbour Light Ministries
  
Pin It

**
43rd B’re’shiyt teaching by Bradley Scott 
 p 50 in the study guide.

B’re’shiyt 1:17   
“Vay-yit-ten  ‘otam  Elohiym bir’qiya’  hash-shamayim  le’ha’iyr  ‘al-ha’aretz.”

“And set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light on the earth.”

“And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.”

-- No new words. 

B’re’shiyt 1:18  
“V’eim’shol  bay-yom  uval-layelah  ula’have’dyl beyn ha’or uveyn hachoshek vay-yare’ Elohiym kiytov.”

“And to rule over the day and the night and to separate between the light and the darkness and saw Elohiym  it was good.”

 -- He put them to rule over the day and over the night and divide the light from the darkness and YHWH saw that it was good.

-- No new words.

B’re’shiyt 1:19
 “Vaye’hiy - ‘erev  vaye’hiy-voqer  yom re’viy’iy.”
“And it was evening and it was morning, day fourth.”

“And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”

New word:
RE’VIY’IY          - resh -bet-ayin
          root = rabah = fourth, four - rav - to spread out

This day was to govern the signs and the seasons on earth which generally come in fours:

1. 4 elements - earth, wind, fire water
2.  regions of earth - north, south, east, west
3.     seasons - spring, summer, fall, winter
4.    lunar phases - new moon 1st quarter, 2nd quarter, full moon.

** Remember that the creation is the pattern for man. 

On the third day we had the fruits and we have the Messiah’s ressurrection = Him rising on the 3rd day.

When the 4th day started - the Messiah appeared to many people on that day....

          Yochanan 20:20 p 776
          When Messiah comes out to his own/ Talmadim - to witness that he had risen.  

And here on the 4th day we have the sun and the moon and stars being a witness.


 SUN = shin-mem-shin
          root = shemesh - to serve
           = greater light

          = sh’mesh - the center candle of the Menorah - the higher light - the ministering or the serving light. There would be no light if the Sh’mesh did not give the light.

          In Mattityahu and in Joel 2:10, and Acts 2 - we read that in the last days - It will also be darkened and turned to blood.

** This is a picture that the world has rejected these signs.... !!
          YHWH communicates through these things and man has rejected these things.

          The whole picture of the sun and the moon be turned to sack cloth and darkness and blackness  and blood - is a picture of the world rejecting these things. 

          AND of course He who rejects the Word of YHWH is rejecting Y’shua the Deliverer.  The picture of that - is the wiping out of the sun and the moon.


References...
Miz’more 19:17
Mal’akiy 4:2
Jo’el 2;10
Ma’sey hashSh’liyechiym 2:18-20
          a picture of rejection
Mattityahu 13:37 - 43
Mattityahu 17:2
Hitgalut (revelation)       1:16 and 10:1

MOON  - yod-resh-chet
          = the lesser light
          -yarecha - month, moon
          = month, chodesh= to rewew, restore and repair

          The whole idea of the moon going through its phases is the idea of the moon renewing each month. 

          This is also a picture of us - after t’shuvah - we are restored ... we returned and are renewed b/c we are forgiven and we start walking out the Truth.

          This is a picture of the “renewed” covenant... The New covenant - restoring the Melchizedek Priesthood. 

- And of course most of the world and the church today still reject that covenant and TRUTH

References:
B’re’shiyt 8:4
Sh’mot 2:2
D’variym 21:13, 33:14
Divre-haYamim Bet 8:13
Miz’mor 104:19, 51:10, 61:4, 103:5, 105:30
Ychez’q’el 46:1,3,6
Y’sha’yahu 61:4 Amost 8:5

**
So B’re’shiyt 1:19
Concludes the fourth day.
Next time we talk about animal life  and souls...in 1:20.

This is the first time - Chayim / Life and Nephesh / Soul - is seen in Word. 

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

Torah Parashah =  Beha’alotcha -

 B’midbar (Numbers) 8:1-12:16   RSTNE p 113 -

-The cleansing of Lewiym and offerings,
-Pesach the 14th of the 1st month and a second Pesach the 14th of           the 2nd month,
-Cloud by day and fire by night leading the children of Yisra’el,
-manna and Yisra’el wanted meat. 
YHWH poured out his Ruach on 70 to help Moshe, and
-the quail came... and
-a plague..
-Miryam got leperacy - out of camp 7 days and then returned. 

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

The 3rd session in talking about men and women - based on Skip Moen’s book - Guardian Angel.  - A study of women based on the Hebrew Scriptures.

Let’s review:

In the first teaching we talked about how there is so much divorce....
and... as Moen says....
“The real problem is ignorance about the Scriptural view of marriage and, perhaps even more fundamental, a non-biblical view of the relationship between men and women and the roles and responsibilities of both.”

and that Moen went on to say:

“A defective understanding of God’s design for women” (and men!!) “leads directly to broken relationships.”

and we talked about:

B’re’shiyt 1: 26-27 p 9
          “And Elohiym said, Let US make man in Our image, after Our likeness:  and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
          27 So the Word of Elohiym created man in His own image, in the image of Elohiym He created him, male and female He created them.”

Many teachers have noted that this establishes equality between male and female, assigning dominion to both without distinction.

The word
“image” = tselem

The word
“likeness” = demut

Tselem - “image” - is a masculine noun and

Demut - “likeness” - is a feminine noun.

And then we said....

“What it means to be created in YHWH’s image might be much more like what it means to be flowing water than what it means to be a chemical compound of hydrogen and oxygen...  

In other words - “the idea of being human just might be about what we DO rather than how we are constituted.”

Moen says...
“Any behavior that denies, negates or rejects these goals is not human behavior  - and the creatures that exhibit non-human behavior are not creatures that exhibit YHWH’s image.”

and then....

TSELEM - is about transferred authority and order over what destroys.  


Understanding tselem  and demut - teaches us that the image of YHWH is not a static element.

“I reflect YHWH’s image as the order maker, when I act as the order-taker.  It is action without the relationship that constitutes the image.”

Wow is this a big deal!!  We’ve heard forever it is about the relationship I have with a guy whose names starts with a J.   

But what i am saying today - what Moen is saying the WORD says - BASED ON THE HEBREW WORDS.... based on what it really says is...

-- If i want to be in HIS image, then i have to DO something. 

I am tired of people complaining that they feel “far away” from YHWH....  well...  If i feel far away - then i better get my life lined up with Torah - because that is how i am blessed!!!

“We are manifested as human beings when we act humanly, when we act in ways that manifest the image and likeness of YHWH.”

In the same way  -
          The divine name of YHWH is a verb
          - The image of YHWH is a verb.”

so....

“To be created in YHWH’s image is to reflect divine action.”

**

Then we got to “male” and “female”

“Male” in Hebrew = zakar. 
“Female” in Hebrew = neqevah

Remember
A homophone is a word that is spelled exactly the same way in Hebrew -          --but it has a different meaning.

“Zakar” (male) homophone - “to remember”
It is thinking that becomes doing.

=  “To bring something to mind in order to act upon it.”

~
Neqevah ...
= female....
-    The Arabic cognate not only means “to pierce, to make a hole”,

The homophone =
-    but also to “single out” and “to appoint as a leader”
It also means  - “a boundary setter.”

~~
We also talked about what Moen calls

YHWH’s Prime Directive....
B’re’shiyt 1:28
          “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

“The Prime Directive is a description of the acts that manifest what it means to be human: 

          to be fruitful and to increase,
          to act as YHWH’s regents to steward the earth,
          to act with designated authority. 


“Being human means acting in harmony with YHWH”s creation.

 “Where my life exhibits or endorses chaos, disharmony or life threatening behavior, I am not actings as a human being.” 

Biology is not enough to make me human.”

**
This was a really crazy new concept for us.

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

Then in the second teaching about this:

We think that the story of Adam and Chava begins with YHWH’s announcement that Adam needs a helper!”

“In the Hebrew text we find deliberate interconnections from one passage to another, reminding us that all the parts of the story are TIED TOGETHER.” 

“So if we want to understand why YHWH created woman....
we have to start with the prologue of the story.”

Think about how you thought this story began.....

And we were surprised to learn it begins with...
*
B’re’shiyt 2:5
          “And every plant of the field before it  grew: for YHWH Elohiym had  not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”

“This story doesn’t start with Adam being alone.

It doesn’t even start with Adam being in the Garden... or with the creation of Adam.

It begins before YHWH sent the rain.”

Moen goes on to say....

“In the prologue, the Tanakh connects adam and ha’adamah with a verb that sets the stage for all that follows.”

That verb is avad. 

In our Bibles it is translated as “till” the ground.

But AVAD does NOT mean “to cultivate”.  !!

“to cultivate” is suggested by the context... but AVAD doesn’t mean “to cultivate”

AVAD means = “to work” or “to serve”

and we learned that our work/ our service is to be worship unto YHWH.

~
We learned that based on the 2 words for earth in this story - If we serve/ care for the earth - doing that - replenishes us.


So we find that YHWH fused work, service and worship as an act of self-nourishment.
          = when we do what YHWH designed us to do we minister to our own source of being and fulfill his purposes.

~~
As we learned about Eden... we learned that
we don’t determine what will be pleasure in life.... 

“YHWH tells man what pleasure is and what it is not.”

We learned that
in B’re’shiyt 2: 16-17
          “And YHWH Elohiym commanded the man, saying ‘Of every eytz of Gan Eden you may feely eat:  17 But of the eytz of the da’at of tov and ra, you shall not eat of it: for in the yom that you eat from it you shall surely die.”

Was this command only about eating??....

The text reads...
“achol tochel”

but it is REALLY  - “achol achol”...

“It’s as if YHWH repeated Himself in order to underline the idea...”

--And we know that is how it works... when a word is repeated - it says it double strength.!

ACHAL =“the strength to control what is allowed”....

“In other words, this verb  for consumption already incorporates the concept of control.”

“The act of consuming acknowledges our responsibility to control what YHWH allows.”

Moen says...
“We can feast because He gives us permission, but we are still responsible for HOW we consume.”

This picture changes a few things...

== ACHAL is no longer just about food!

“This is about EVERYTHING YHWH gives in His place of delight!”

So Moen says...

It turns out...

“Eden is YHWH’s pleasure palace”

Moen says...

“here’s the best part.  Eden is located where YHWH delights to provide pleasure.  Eden marks the spot wherever YHWH puts the earth- creature in circumstances that encourage delighting in HIs gifts. 

ACHAL is about consumption,  ---not just about eating food.”

Achal is the picture of “strength to control what is allowed.”


Moen goes on to say...

“What sets Adam apart from the rest of a creation is Adam’s willingness to allow YHWH to determine what he will eat and what he won’t eat. 

Adam is not to be driven by his desires. He is to be guided by YHWH’s word. 

He is to remember what YHWH said and to act accordingly.”

**
So starting a new part of this ... (just briefly)... 

In order to finish the prologue before woman is created....
....we have to look at the consequences of disobedience.

B’re’shiyt 2: 16-17
          “And YHWH Elohiym commanded the man, saying ‘Of every eytz of Gan Eden you may freely eat:  17 But of the eytz of the da’at of tov and ra, you shall not eat of it: for in the yom that you eat from it you shall surely die.”

- This command reveals more than the translation allows. 

What we have to know here about the Hebrew language is that Hebrew handles emphasis by manipulating the structure of the language.

So it is about how the words are arranged... in order to draw attention to particular ideas. 

As we know - doubling a word puts emphasis on the idea.

Putting a word in first or last position in a sentence does the same thing.

In
B’re’shiyt 2: 16-17
          “And YHWH Elohiym commanded the man, saying ‘Of every eytz of Gan Eden you may freely eat:  17 But of the eytz of the da’at of tov and ra, you shall not eat of it: for in the yom that you eat from it you shall surely die.”

Another word is doubled - and you can’t see it in English.

It is mot. 

This verse in Hebrew doesn’t say  - “you shall surely die”.

It says “you shall die die” = “mot tamut”

Just like it says “eat eat” - “feely eat”.
In Hebrew this is “achol tochel”.

But these words mean so much more than “eat eat” or “freely eat”...

It means YHWH delightful provision. 
Everything i need is present and available to me” - (Moen teaches)

The garden is a place where true satisfaction is found under every tree except one.

At the same time - these words about dying - “mot tamut” are descriptive....
        Under the one tree - life as defined by YHWH comes to an end.

Moen says...
This is a description of the facts, not a prescription of ethical behavior.

YHWH isn’t giving Adam a RULE .
He’s telling Adam the way it is....

If you eat of this tree - then this will happen.

YHWH doesn’t demand Adam eats from every tree -  But He does offer every tree. 

It is important to notice the parallelism in these verses with 2 double words, so that we can understand the punishment for disobedience.

*
YHWH says clearly -
“Adam, if you eat of this tree you will “mot tamut” - “die die”  or in English - “surely die”.”

But then Adam doesn’t fall over dead when he eats it... in fact he lives a VERY LONG TIME!

What is this about??

Christian teaching has always said - “well, Adam died spiritually.”

BUT that doesn’t maintain the parallelism of these verses in Hebrew.

What this is really pointing out is...

The opposition is between - fully satisfied - achol tochel - that only got translated as “freely eat”....  and EMPTY = mot tomut.

YHWH is saying “It is “feast or famine”... and it is your choice Adam.”

Adam’s choice is between YHWH’s design for DELIGHT and Adam’s own decision to make his own garden.

Moen says...

“What Adam loses with his choice - is a place in YHWH’s delightful life.” 
Adam is trust out of the garden into a world of his own making without the delightful provisions of YHWH.

“As a result of disobedience, Adam suffers insufficiency.  He has to labor to find delight.”

This verse is about the idea of “FULL SUFFICIENCY under YHWH’s conditions - vs- insufficiency under self-determination.”

Remember Adam is supposed to be remembering YHWH’s plan...  and knowing YHWH’s plan - he picks the “empty”. 
wow.
Isn’t that just like us.
As though we can do it better than YHWH!

*
We tend to think that Adam’s sin resulted in spiritual separation and spiritual separation results in death... and from this we proceed to the need for repentance and redemption.

In other words... we connect Adam’s sin with Y’shua’s death, placing them both in the spiritual arena.

Of course there is a connection Moen says... but...

But this isn’t the only consequence.  ...

“Mot tamut” describes what it means to be outside YHWH’s delight.

It isn’t just spiritual death -
        - It’s alienation from the provision of YHWH!!!!

Adam’s sin turns delight into destitution.

And from a Hebrew perspective, the EVENTUAL spiritual condition isn’t nearly as important as the present reality. 

“Unlike christianity, Hebrew thought is primarily focused on this world.
What matters most is being in YHWH’s will TODAY!

SO THIS HELPS US UNDERSTAND THE 2 DOUBLES =

        The 2 doubles are  EMPHASIZING THE IMMEDIATE, TEMPORAL CONSEQUENCES OF INSUFFICIENCY;  something we would expect if we read with Hebrew eyes.  :)

********
wow!!
AMEIN!!

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Guardian Angel - What the Word Really Says About Women Part 2 - April 25

“Guardian Angel” - Part 2

25 April 2015  ~  6 L=Iyyar 5775

Torah Parashah - Tazria/Metzora Vayiqra (Leviticus) 12:1-15:33

More on “woman” from Skip Moen’s “Guardian Angel”

What The Word Really Says About Women - Harbour Light Ministries
Pin It

Review from last time - on handout...
B’re’shiyt 1:26-27
        “And Elohiym said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
27 So the Word of Elohiym created ma in His own image, in the image of Elohiym He created him; male and female He created them.”


Tselem - “image” - is a masculine noun
transferred authority and order over what destroys. 
To be created in YHWH’s image is to reflect divine action.

Demut - “likeness” - is a feminine noun.
“Being human is ACTING according to YHWH’s path to life.
 It means standing against chaos. 
.. It also means knowing what is permitted and what is not and acting accordingly.

To be human is to ACT LIKE YHWH ACTS... to reflect His choices... It is not to BE YHWH... but to reflect Him.

“Male” in Hebrew = zakar. 
“to be sharp pointed”
“To remember who YHWH is and what He said and to act accordingly”
Man =“Ish” = to show oneself to be strong and to fix in mind (remember)

Female in Hebrew = neqevah.
“to pierce”
“To single out” and “appoint as a leader”
“A prepared setting for precious stones” = “boundary setter”
Ishshah = woman

**  **  **  **  **  **  **
Today - we are going to start with...

Moen writes:

The Bible wasn’t written with verses and chapters and numbers! 

Seriously - this is news to people!

They were actually added thousands of years later!

So what happens is ... “Their addition often breaks our thinking about the text so we don’t see the continuation  of one thought into another. 

Once these artificial stops are removed, the context of our interpretation often changes. 

Such is the case with the introduction of the creation of Woman. 

We think that the story of Adam and Chava begins with YHWH’s announcement that Adam needs a helper!”

“In the Hebrew text we find deliberate interconnections from one passage to another, reminding us that all the parts of the story are TIED TOGETHER.” 

“So if we want to understand why YHWH created woman....
we have to start with the prologue of the story.”

Think about how you thought this story began.....
I am pretty sure - what I am going to teach is not what you’ve understood before... because it isn’t what I thought either...

*
B’re’shiyt 2:5
          “And every plant of the field before it  grew: for YHWH Elohiym had  not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”

“This story doesn’t start with Adam being alone.

It doesn’t even start with Adam being in the Garden... or with the creation of Adam.

It begins before YHWH sent the rain.”

Moen goes on to say....

“In the prologue, the Tanakh connects Adam and Ha’adamah with a verb that sets the stage for all that follows.”

That verb is avad. 

In our Bibles it is translated as “till” the ground.

But AVAD does NOT mean “to cultivate”!!

“to cultivate” is suggested by the context... but AVAD doesn’t mean “to cultivate”

AVAD means = “to work” or “to serve”

Moen says.. “Of course we think of working the earth as cultivating, but this translation leaves out the important Hebrew connection to --          SERVING the earth.”  !!

~
There are 2 reasons why the earth is not fruitful yet:

1.     YHWH has not sent rain yet
2.      There is no adam to serve it

“The first obligation of Man is to minister to YHWH’s creation on YHWH’s behalf”

“In other words - the fulfillment of the purpose of the earth depends on the fulfillment of the divine call to Man.”

~
Moen says - “There is another connection here that is obscured in the translation.”

“In the Hebrew text, there are two distinct words for “earth”... and
Making these distinctions clear - alters the meaning of the text.”  !!

-    “For YHWH has not sent rain upon the earth (‘erets) and there was not an adam to serve (avad) the ground (adamah).”

“Now we see that that the Man (adam) serves his own source of being, the dust from which he came (adamah). 

In other words in some sense serving the earth nourishes us.”

Moen says - and I paraphrase...

When we serve the earth... take care of it...  we actually “replenish ourselves.”

Using the Hebrew word AVAD here shows us that ‘the work and service is an act of worship.”

“From the very beginning, YHWH fused work, service and worship as an act of self-nourishment.”

“When we are doing what YHWH designed us to do, we minister to our own source of being and at the same time act as His agents to bring about His fruitful purpose.”

(Think about that - not just based on gardening!)

“Before the fall, YHWH had designed an interconnection between our spiritual self and physical nourishment.”

Moen says:
“The assignment to bless the earth in work, service and worship is a critical element in understanding the role of Chava.”

This reminds me of Chariots of Fire....
Eric Liddell’s sister asks him... “Eric, why do you run?”
and Eric responds with... 
“God made me fast and when I run fast, I feel His pleasure!”

We know this place when we get in the “flow”.... we call it in athletics...
but maybe you know it... when you come up to something and you realize as you do it... “I was born for this!”

~~
Oh but wait... there is more to the prologue of Adam and Chavah...

EDEN = a very unusual word...

Most nouns in Hebrew have gender...

But EDEN is both masculine and feminine.

EDEN actually connects - “delight and fecundity.”

Fecundity = abundant production / fruitful

Moen says....

“Eden is about to give birth to wonder and awe...”

“It was designed that way - this same “hidden” potential is found in man.   We were designed to give birth to His glory.”

We also need to notice here....  that we don’t determine what will be pleasure in life.... 

“YHWH tells man what pleasure is and what it is not.”

Moen asks:
“What happens when we decide to define pleasure in our own terms? 

=We usurp the prerogative of YHWH’s role. 

We act as though we are the source of life. 

We determine what is GOOD!!!”

(And clearly then, we are in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and not the tree of chayim!)

**
Moen says about Eden:

“What YHWH had provided inside his walled preserve is life - delightful, abundant, pregnant life. 

He has invited us to consume; to use the strength to control what is allowed under his Seal and sign.  

What is pleasant from a biblical perspective?

== “Opening the door that leads to life. “

“It is to be in Abba YHWH’s will!!”

“It is to know His blessings and His goodness!”

No wonder the world is starving...  they don’t even know He gave us instructions that are still to be followed!!

So from this we should see that YHWH “establishes the meaning of pleasure and ties it to work and to worship.”

“Man’s responsibility is not only to serve the ground from which He came, He is also to worship the Elohiym of creation.”

“To do that he must be obedient.”

“This element derived from the image and likeness of YHWH is summarized in a single command, a command that is given just before the rest of the story about Chavah.”

~~
Then right before YHWH’s statement about the need for a “helper” in B’re’shiyt 2:18 ...

in B’re’shiyt 2: 16-17
          “And YHWH Elohiym commanded the man, saying ‘Of every eytz of Gan Eden you may feely eat:  17 But of the eytz of the da’at of tov and ra, you shall not eat of it: for in the yom that you eat from it you shall surely die.”

Was this command only about eating??....

The text reads...
“achol tochel”

but it is REALLY  - “achol achol”...

“It’s as if YHWH repeated Himself in order to underline the idea...”

--And we know that is how it works... when a word is repeated - it says it double strength.!

ACHAL = Aleph-Kaf-Lamed
= “the strength to control what is allowed”....

“In other words, this verb  for consumption already incorporates the concept of control.”

“The act of consuming acknowledges our responsibility to control what YHWH allows.”

Moen says...
“We can feast because He gives us permission, but we are still responsible for HOW we consume.”

This picture changes a few things...

== ACHAL is no longer just about food!

“This is about EVERYTHING YHWH gives in His place of delight!”

So Moen says...

It turns out...

“Eden is YHWH’s pleasure palace”

Moen says...

“here’s the best part.  Eden is located where YHWH delights to provide pleasure.  Eden marks the spot wherever YHWH puts the earth- creature in circumstances that encourage delighting in HIs gifts. 

ACHAL is about consumption,  ---not just about eating food.”

Achal is the picture of “strength to control what is allowed.”

Moen goes on to say...

“What sets Adam apart from the rest of a creation is Adam’s willingness to allow YHWH to determine what he will eat and what he won’t eat. 

Adam is not to be driven by his desires. He is to be guided by YHWH’s word. 

He is to remember what YHWH said and to act accordingly.”