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Todays Parsha #37: Shlach Lecha (Send out for yourself)


PART 1: THE LAST AND CURRENT TORAH PORTIONS
ANSWERS TO LAST WEEKS STUDY QUESTIONS (BeHalotekha):

1) There is a person mentioned, seemingly for the first time in this Torah portion, whom
Josephus says Moshe knew previously. Who is that person?
In Numbers 12:1, Moshe takes a Cushite wife. However, Josephus tells us he
believes Moshe originally married this lady before he left Egypt, as this story of
Princess Tharbis is told here
243

So Moses, at the persuasion both of Thermuthis and the king himself,


cheerfully undertook the business: and the sacred scribes of both nations were
glad; those of the Egyptians, that they should at once overcome their enemies by
his valor, and that by the same piece of management Moses would be slain; but
those of the Hebrews, that they should escape from the Egyptians, because Moses
was to be their general;244 but Moses came ahead of the enemies, and took and led
his army before those enemies were apprised of his attacking them; for he did not
march by the river, but by land, where he gave a wonderful demonstration of his
sagacity; 245 for when the ground was difficult to be passed over, because of the
multitude of serpents, (which it produces in vast numbers, and indeed is singular
in some of those productions, which other countries do not breed, and yet such as
are worse than others, in power and mischief, and an unusual fierceness of sight,
some of which ascend out of the ground unseen, and also fly in the air, and so
come upon men at unawares, and do them a mischief).
Moses invented a wonderful stratagem to preserve the army safe, and without
harm; 246 for he made baskets, like to arks, of sedge, and filled them with ibis,
and carried them along with them; which animal is the greatest enemy to serpents
imaginable, for they flee from them when they come near them; and as they flee
they are caught and devoured by them, as if it were done by the harts; 247 but the
ibis are tame creatures, and only enemies to the serpentine kind: but about these
ibis I say no more at present, since the Greeks themselves are not unacquainted
with this sort of bird.
As soon, therefore, as Moses was come to the land which was the breeder of these
serpents, he let loose the ibis, and by their means repelled the serpentine kind, and
used them for his assistants before the army came upon that ground. When he had
therefore proceeded thus on his journey, he came upon the Ethiopians before they
expected him; 248 and, joining battle with them, he beat them, and deprived them
of the hopes they had of success against the Egyptians, and went on in

overthrowing their cities, and indeed made a great slaughter of these Ethiopians.
Now when the Egyptian army had once tasted of this prosperous success, by the
means of Moses, they did not slacken their diligence, insomuch that the
Ethiopians were in danger of being reduced to slavery, and all sorts of destruction;
249
and at length they retired to Saba, which was a royal city of Ethiopia, which
Cambyses afterward named Meroe, after the name of his own sister.
The place was to be besieged with very great difficulty, since it was both
surrounded by the Nile on all sides, and the other rivers, Astapus and Astaboras,
made it a very difficult thing for such as attempted to pass over them; 250 for the
city was located in a retired place, and was inhabited after the manner of an
island, being surrounded with a strong wall, and having the rivers to guard them
from their enemies, and having great ramparts between the wall and the rivers,
insomuch, that when the waters come with the greatest violence, it can never be
drowned; which ramparts make it next to impossible for even such as have
crossed over the rivers to take the city.
251

However, while Moses was uneasy at the army's lying idle, (for the enemies
dared not come to a battle,) this incident happened:-- 252 Tharbis was the daughter
of the king of the Ethiopians; she happened to see Moses as he led the army near
the walls, and fought with great courage; and admiring the subtilty of his
undertakings, and believing him to be the author of the Egyptians' success, when
they had before despaired of recovering their liberty, and to be the occasion of the
great danger the Ethiopians were in, when they had before boasted of their great
achievements, she fell deeply in love with him; and upon the prevalence of that
passion, sent to him the most faithful of all her servants to discourse with him
about their marriage. 253 He thereupon accepted the offer, on condition she would
procure the delivering up of the city; and gave her the assurance of an oath to take
her to his wife; and that when he had once taken possession of the city, he would
not break his oath to her. No sooner was the agreement made, but it took effect
immediately; and when Moses had cut off the Ethiopians, he gave thanks to God,
and consummated his marriage, and led the Egyptians back to their own land.
(Antiquities 2:243-253)
2) Exactly how long were the Israelites camped at Sinai, in both Hebrew and solar
terms?
VAYEHI BASHANAH HA-SHENIT CHODESH HA-SHENI BEESRIM
BACHODESH (10:11) = and it came to pass in the second year, in the second
month, on the 20th day of that month. This ends the nearly 2 year period that the
Israelites are at Sinai and coincides exactly with when the parallel instructions
given in Leviticus run out, with all of that book being confined to the time Israel
was at Sinai. They got there on 1 Sivan (May 5th) in 1447 BCE and now they are
leaving on 20 Iyar (May 4th) in 1445 BCE. In solar terms, this is 2 days shy of 2
full years that they were encamped at Sinai. In Hebrew terms, it is 10 days shy of
being 2 full years.

3) What one act in this Torah portion that is used as a sign of elevation is elsewhere used
as a sign of humiliation?
The answer is shaving
6

"Take the Levites from among the sons of Israel and cleanse them. 7 "Thus you
shall do to them, for their 1cleansing: sprinkle purifying water on them, and let
them use a razor over their whole body and wash their clothes, and they will be
clean. (Numbers 8:6-7 NAU)
37

Yes, every head is shaved, every beard cut off, gashes are on every hand,
sackcloth round every waist. 38 On all the housetops of Moab and in all its
squares there is nothing but lamenting, for I have broken Moab like an unwanted
pot, Yahweh declares. 39 How shattered he is! Wail! Moab so shamefully in
retreat! Moab has become a laughing-stock, a thing of horror to all his neighbors.
(Jeremiah 48:37-39 NJB)
(If you picked a passage from Isaiah 15, rather than this one from Jeremiah, I also
count that as a correct answer.)
4) Hebrews 4 mentions Joshua, who made the sun stand still. However, according to the
Talmud, only 2 other people were able to affect the sun and one of these people is
someone that Yshua actually knew. Who is that person?
Nicodemus, also known as Nakdimon, of whom we read the following:
John 3:1
31) Niqodemus is also known as Nakdimon ben Gurion in the Talmud. In (Taanith 3)
he is greatly honored as a generous aristocrat with a righteous heart. A story about
him says he borrowed 12 wells of water so a group of pilgrims could be ritually
washed and purified, on the condition that he would replace the water used, or pay
nearly 655 pounds of silver. After the pilgrims had used the water Nakdimon offered
up this prayer: Creator of the Universe! It is known to Thee, that not for the sake of
glory for me... but for the glory of Thy name, that the pilgrims in Jerusalem might
have water, did I borrow those wells. Rain fell, the 12 wells refilled, but the sun had
already set, and the lender demanded payment. So Nakdimon returned and prayed in
the Temple, and the sun reappeared. The Talmud later concludes: We have learned
in a Boraitha: His name was not Nakdimon, but Boni, and he was called Nakdimon
because on his account the sun hastened. The rabbis taught: For the sake of each of
three men alone the sun shone, and they are Moses, Joshua, and Nakdimon ben
Gurion. Knowing a bit about Niqodemus better helps us understand why Yshua
posed the question in verse 10:You are a teacher of Yisrael, and these things you do
not understand? Nakdimon had been given a preview of heavenly glory and the
power of YHWH. He knew enough to recognize Yahs Son when he saw him, and

yet still, even for this man of great piety and insight, some of the elements of the
Kingdom of Heaven have eluded him, he didnt understand. If such was the case for
Nakdimon, one can only imagine how it was for many lesser teachers of his
generation when Yshua came to them.
5) If you know the answer to #4, what is the shocking truth about the way this hero in
the Talmud may have met his end?
John 7:50
109) Niqodemus is known as Nakdimon ben Gurion in the Talmud, an endearing
name given to him for causing a very favorable rain, and for the sun to return after it
had set. The Talmud says his real name was Boni, it records that someone with a
similar name was executed as one of Yshuas five disciples: It is taught: Yeshu had
five disciples - Matai, Nekai, Netzer, Buni, and Todah. They brought Matai [before
the judges]. He said to them: Will Matai be killed? It is written (Psa_42:2) When
[=Matai] shall (I) come and appear before G-d. They said to him: Yes, Matai will
be killed as it is written (Psa_41:5) When [=Matai] shall (he) die and his name
perish-Talmud Sanhedrin 43a. Mattai is clearly Matthew. Todah is a match for
Thaddeus in Aramaic. But Buni, most likely the Boni referred to earlier is
Nakdimon. It is an odd happening that a man so revered in the Talmud should, under
another name, be executed for heresy. On the other hand, Josephus speaks of many
Rabbinics opposing the assassination of Yaakov Ha Tzadik (James the Just) so
double traditions are not without precedent. Another case is Rabbi Gamaliel, Pauls
teacher, who is remembered fondly in both the Talmud and NT.
AND NOW FOR THIS WEEKS PORTION
1) Meaning of this weeks Torah portion and summary of contents:
Shlach Lecha means send out for yourself, referring to the spies that Moshe will
send into Canaan to do a little reconnaissance on the strategic strengths of the
various peoples living in Canaan. When the spies let their fear get the better of them
and bring back an evil report, YHWH officially enacts punishment that they will
spend an additional 40 years wandering in the wilderness, or a total of 42 years from
the time they left Egypt. However Caleb and Joshua prove themselves to be the
voices of righteousness and will not give into fear.
Then, for the second time, YHWH offers to destroy all Israel and start over a new
tribe with Moshe as leader and the fallout from this occasion is most interesting, to
say the least. Chapter 15 though also follows the pattern of the previous cycle when
Abba YHWH offered to start over with Moshe, Moshe refused, and the final verdict
from Abba YHWH comes down. In both cases, Abba YHWH reassures Israel by reissuing his Torah requirements, meaning that even for those who will die in the
wilderness the tribes they are part of will live through obedience to Abba YHWHs
Word.

Read Parsha (English-Numbers 13:1-15:41). This week we will read the entire
portion.
1) Play by Play commentary where appropriate.

Vayedaber Yahweh el-Moshe lemor.


Shlach-lecha anashim veyaturu et-erets Kena'an asher-ani noten
livney Yisra'el ish echad ish echad lemateh avotav tishlachu kol nasi
vahem.
Vayishlach otam Moshe mimidbar Paran al-pi Yahweh kulam
anashim rashey vney-Yisra'el hemah.
Ve'eleh shmotam lemateh Re'uven Shamua ben-Zakur.
2) Point out key Hebrew words/terms. Color Commentary:
PARAN BMIDBAR (13:3) = wilderness of Paranseems to be a general area that
would include the town of Rithmah, which is their next stop after Hazeroth. Other
authorities believe that based on Numbers 33 that they were actually in Kadesh Barnea
(not the same place as Kadesh, their last stop. The most likely answer is both are
correct.Kadesh Barnea is another name for Rithmah, and this is my position as well.
Also, it is worth noting that the geography details mentioned above led Rashi to conclude
that this part of Numbers is out of order, in that the sin of the spies which he believed was
also at Hazeroth he puts after the Korah rebellion, though the Torah puts it before. Rashi
also points out this conclusion is due to this verse stating that they went into the
wilderness of Paran. For myself, I am still debating some of the finer points of this
position but I agree it is plausible. For more information please see the Sapirstein Edition
of the Torah with Rashis Commentary Translated, Annotated and Elucidated (Bamidbar
Volume), p. 149.
REUBENSHAMMUA.ZAKUR (13:4) = Reuben = behold a son! Shammua =
heard. Zakur = remembered, mindful. Message: Behold a son who has heard and
remembered.
SHIMEONSHAPHATCHORI (13:5) = Shimeon= he has heard. Shaphat = he has
judged. Chori reminds me of (but is not spelled like) my mountain, but it means
actually something closer to cave dweller. One could read it as He has heard and has
judged (at) my mountain and think that is a possible reference to Moshe. However, it is
probably more accurate to read it as: He has heard and head has judged (while) being a

cave dweller. That might be a reference to the prophet Eliyahu being in a cave at Mount
Sinai, but it is still at that mountain either way (1 Kings 19:1-21, especially verses 9-10).
YEHUDAHCALEBYEPHUNNEH (13:6) = Yehudah (praise), Caleb (dog clan),
Yephunneh (nimble). Possible message: Praise the nimble pack of dogs? Wild dogs are
sometimes a metaphor for enemies surrounding Israel (Psalm 22:16) and this exact line is
where Yshuas crucifixion is predicted. My best guess might be two fold. One that this
is talking about Abba YHWH inflicting judgment on wicked Israel and therefore the
praise goes to the wild dogs nimbly chasing them or possibly the bad behavior of Israel is
being thematically linked to Yshuas death somehow, though more study is needed to be
more definitive.
YISSACAR.IGALYOSEF (13:7) = Yissacar (there is recompense) Igal (he who
redeems) Yosef (Yah has added). Message: There is recompense, for he who redeems
Yah will add (rewards) to. I think this could be predicting the imagery of a suffering
Yshua in Yeshayahu 53.
EPHRAIM.HOSHEANUN (13:8) = Ephraim (fruitful), Hoshea (salvation) and Nun
(increase). Message: May your salvation be fruitful and increase!
BINYAMINPALTIRAPHU (13:9) = Binyamin (Son of my strength/right hand),
Palti (escape) and Raphu (cured). Message: The son of my strength escapes getting
cured. Perhaps a warning of disobedience that is coming upas the descendants of
firstborn Reuben prepare for the worst rebellion ever to hit Moshe. It also reminds me of
those who died in last weeks parsha at the Caves of Craving, which is interesting
because a previous series of names talked about a cave dweller.
ZEVULONGADIELSODI (13:10) = Zevulon (exalted), Gadiel (El is my fortune),
Sodi (my secret). Message: Exalted El is my fortune and my secret. If the habitation
meaning of Zevulon is intended it still works as, My habitation, my fortune and my
secret are all (from) my El.
YOSEFMANASHEGADISUSI (13:11) = Yosef (Yah has added), Manasseh
(caused to forget), Gadi (my fortune) Susi (my horse). Possible message: Yah has added
but (also) caused (me) to forget my fortune and my horse. The only person I can think of
who loses his fortune and his horse is the Pharaoh that drowned in the Sea of Reeds.
Perhaps others also fit this description though.
DANAMIELGAMALI (13:12) = Dan (judge), Amiel (my family is El) Gamali (my
reward). Judge (that) my family is El and is my reward.
ASHERSETHURMICHAEL (13:13) = Asher (happy), Sethur (secret), Michael
(who is like you El?). Message: Happy (are those who know) the secret (of) Who is like
unto You, O El.

NAPTHTALINAHBIVAPHSHI (13:14) = Naphtali (my struggle), Nahbi (hidden)


Vaphshi (meaning is unknown). Message: My struggle is hidden and ___(?).
GADGEUELMAKI (13:15) = Gad (a troop is coming), Geuel (majesty of El) Maki
(uncertain, perhaps humiliation?) Possible message: A troop is coming! The majesty of
El (brings) humiliation.
HOSHEAYEHOSHUA (13:16). Moshe did for Hoshea in effect what YHWH did for
Abram and Jacob, changed their names to fit their new status. So Abram goes from
exalted father to father of many nations when he proves himself to YHWH. So too
here did Moshe reward Hoshea (salvation) for his great service by changing the name to
YEHOSHUA (YHWH is salvation).
VEHAYAMIM YEMEY BIKUREY ANAVIM (13:20) = it was during the days (or
season) when the grapes begin to ripen. This would be early summer, probably at the end
of Sivan or very early into Tammuz. So thus far only about 3 months have passed
from the start of Numbers. If this timing is right, it is possible that the return of the spies
40 days later and therefore the punishment of adding 40 years of wandering in the
wilderness coincided on or near the 9th of Av in 1445 BCE (July 20th Gregorian), the
same Hebrew day that both temples to Father Yah would later be destroyed.
Rashi points out that anavim definitely means first fruits of the vine which refers to the
grapes and not the vine itself. For more information please see the Sapirstein Edition of
the Torah with Rashis Commentary Translated, Annotated and Elucidated (Bamidbar
Volume), p. 151.
AHIMAN (brother of fortune-13:22). Perhaps meant to showcase the prosperity and
strength of the clans living in Canaan.
SHESHAI (13:22) has a very interesting etymology. According to A.H. Sayce, who is
one of the greatest cuneiform experts of all time, SHESHAI or SHESHAY as it appears
in Hebrew may derive from SHAASU, an Egyptian word. The Egyptians actually called
the HyksosSemitic invaders who took over their country for about a hundred years and
under whom Joseph became vizier to sell grainHEKU SHAASU or foreign princes
with SHAASU meaning foreign. The reference to Zoan in Egypt attached to these
people is very intriguing because most scholars agree Zoan is Tanis, which is close to
ancient Avaris, the capital of Hyksos dominated Egypt, and Avaris itself incorporates
Goshen! The Talmud sometimes also suggests that Zoan-Tanis was where the marshes
were that held the basket holding the infant Moshe and Scripture also suggests this
linkage overall (Psalm 78:12,43).
Others think this refers to Syrian Bedouins but there is no reason it cant be a little bit of
both, meaning perhaps a closer association between the expulsion of the Hyksos and the
Hebrew Exodus than has been previously realized. However, I am not willing to argue,
as some do, that the Hyksos expulsion and the Exodus are the same people and same

event. Although, it may remain possible that the Israelites met the Hyksos post-Joseph in
this part of Numbers, after both groups were out of Egypt.
TALMAY (13:22) = name means plowman, but for our purposes it may shed light on
one of the names of the apostles. Matthew, Mark and Luke reference Bartholomew and
John doesnt but references exclusively Nathanael that the others do not. Eastern and
Western tradition agree this is the same man, Nathanael being his first name and
Bartholemew being a corruption of his surname. Some have surmised that
Bartholemew is son of Ptolemy or Ptolmais, but Aramaic transliterates even Greek
names consistently and would have done so here. For example, Aramaic reads
Andraus (Andrew) for that apostle, as it would in Greek. So the more likely scenario is
son of TULMAY which we see in this portion is a Semitic name.
CHEBRON (Hebron-13:22) = league, association, and Joshua finds a league of the
sons of Anak there.
VAYASHVU MITUR HAARETZ MIKETZ ARBAIM YOM (13:25) = and when they
returned from spying out the land after 40 days. Rabbinic tradition says the spies went
into Canaan on 29 Sivan, which fits well with the general description about the time of
the grapes ripening. If so, then 40 days later brings us right to the 9th of Ab, explaining
one reason why the day became cursed. See the note for Numbers 13:20.
DIBBAH (13:32) = bad report. Literally: whispering in the sense of gossip and rumor.
The idea is related to the concept of lashon hara (evil tongue).
ANSHEY MIDDAH (13:32) = Literally: men of measure, meaning they are very large
and massive. Its a similar etymology to what the Nephilim are called in Genesis 6 as
men of name, which means famous men.
VATISA KOL-HA-EDAH VA-YITNU ET-KOLAM VAYIVKU HAAM BA-LAYLA
HAHU (14:1) = The entire community raised a commotion and began to shout. That
night the people wept. By Rabbinic tradition, this night of weeping fell on the 9th of Ab,
the day when both Temples would later be destroyed. According to my reading just
explained of Numbers 13:20 and 25, this timing is possible, although I cannot absolutely
prove it to the exclusion of other calendar dates around that time.
VI-YEHOSHUA BIN NUN VE-CALEV BEN YEFUNEH MIN HATARIM ETHAARETZ KARU BIGDEYHEM (14:6) = And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the
son of Jephuneh tore their clothes in grief. It is important to note that Joshua and Caleb
did not rejoice over the penalties given to the other spies or a disobedient Israel. Instead
they mourn with their peoplethe fact none agreed with them in no way lessens their
grief.
MEOD MEOD (14:7) = very very good. The double occurrence acts as an extra
emphasis, such as when you have Isaiah say SHALOM SHALOM (double or perfect
peace).

KI LACHMENU HEM SAR TSILAM MEALEYHEM V/YAHWEH ITANU AL


TIRAUM (14:9) = for they have lost their protection and shall be like prey to us. Yahweh
is with us, so do not be afraid. The word is actually BREAD. Their enemies will be
devoured as easily as piece of bread.
AYIN BE AYIN (14:14) = Literally: eye to eye. Some would say this means the same
as PANIM AL PANIM, face to face, but I am not certain that is the case. Abba YHWH
says He only revealed Himself face to face with MOSHE, not the rest of rebellious Israel.
eye to eye to my mind suggests a more limited revelation of His power, but not His
whole face.
VEATAH YIGDAL NA-KOACH YAHWEH (14:18) = and now, let greatness come
into your power, Yahweh. It is interesting that Moshe is actually asking for
RESTRAINT but phrases it as STRENGTH, or KOACH. This is because Abba YHWHs
patience has been sorely tested and it will require strength to exercise restraint and not
kill all of Israel.
CHAY ANI (14:20) = I am life. Since Abba YHWH is contemplating killing all Israel,
He restrains His hand by remembering that He IS LIFE just as other Scriptures proclaim
He is also LIGHT and LOVE. It is enough for Moshe to point to just one of the positive
attributes because Abba YHWH will also call them to mind along with the others that
show Him to be merciful.
Also the full phraseology, VEULAM CHAI ANI VE-YIMALE CHVOD YAHWEH
ET-KOL HAARETZ, or but as I LIVE and the glory of YHWH fills the whole earth
suggests someone else is speaking for Abba YHWH, or else it would have said, For as I
live and MY GLORY fills the whole of the earth, and yet 14:20 says Abba YHWH is
speaking. To me this hints that Yshua is speaking for his Father in Yshuas preincarnate form.
AD MATAY LA EDAH HARAAH (14:27) = How long this evil congregation, more
literally until when is how the Hebrew reads. But I find it interesting it is phrased this
way because MATAY also sounds a lot like MATTEH, which means TRIBE. Abba
YHWH wanted obedient MATTEH, but now they are an evil group instead.
VAYISHKIMU VA-BOKER VAYAALU ET-ROSH HA-HAR (14:40) = When they
got up early in the morning they began climbing to the top of the mountain. There is a
small mountain about 3300 feet high about 12 miles SE of Kadesh Barnea. This is most
likely the mountain being talked of in the text. It is possible the peak was higher in
Moshes day than it is currently.
VAARON BRIT-YAHWEH (14:44) = the Ark of Yahwehs covenant. It is always
worth pointing out that the covenant is not Jewish law but Abba YHWHs laws and His
covenant.

One TORAH and one MISHPAT (ordinance, judgment-15:16). A MISHPAT concerns


the smaller preparations or instructions that make the main requirement (Torah) possible.
SHE (15:11) = goat or sheep. Rashi confirms my view of this word that it applies to
either species and uses the term lamb/kid to reflect that dual meaning. For more
information please see the Sapirstein Edition of the Torah with Rashis Commentary
Translated, Annotated and Elucidated (Bamidbar Volume), p. 177.
DOR = generations (15:21). DOR can also refer to a century long period or mean
habitation. It is the formula four dor that we derive the 400 year period from Jacob
to the Exodus.
ET KOL ASHER TZIVAH YAHWEH ALEYCHEM BE-YAD MOSHE MIN-HA-YOM
ASHER TZIVAH YAHWEH VE-HALAH LE-DOROTEYCHEM (15:23) = [It is like a
violation] of all that Yahweh charged upon through the hand of Moshe, from this day,
when Yahweh commanded [as well as what He will command] in future generations.
This is a very tricky passage to translate, and the bracketed statements follow from
context in the previous line above it which talks about idolatry. Rashi says on this point:
This tells us that anyone who believes in idolatry is like one who denies the Torah in its
entirety and all the prophets that prophesied, as it says, from the day that YHWH
commanded and onward. For more information please see the Sapirstein Edition of the
Torah with Rashis Commentary Translated, Annotated and Elucidated (Bamidbar
Volume), p. 181.
To me this reminds me of something Yaakov Ha Tzadik said:
Do they not hate that worthy Name, which is invoked upon you? And if in
this you fulfill the Torah of Elohim, as it is written, "You will love your
neighbor as yourself," you will do well: but if you have partiality towards
persons, you commit sin; and you are convicted by Torah as breakers of
Torah. For he that will keep the whole Torah and yet fail in one aspect of it,
is an enemy to the whole Torah. For he who said, "You will not commit
adultery," said also, "You will not kill." If then you commit no adultery, but you
do murder, you have become a defiler of Torah. So speak and so act as persons
that are to be judged by the Torah of perfect freedom. (Yaakov 2:7-12 AENT)
TZIT-TIT (15:38) = tassels. It is very interesting that this command is the last one given
prior to the Korah rebellion. Although English translations sometimes seem to read as if
it is only one blue thread with nothing else attached, the parallel term in Deuteronomy 22
is gedolim, which actually refers to a cluster of twisted threads, only one of which is blue
while the others remain undyed, in which case linens undyed state is white (Isaiah 19:9,
Esther 8:15, Revelation 19:14).
This other term for tzit-tzit (gedolim) is from Babylonian Aramaic, gidilu, which refers to
one cord with several strands on which onions are strung, one to each strand, all attached
to the one cord. Since the text says each CORNER must have such a multi-threaded cord

10

(as opposed to the plural form referring to the total of four tassels, one for each corner),
this is where the rabbis derive properly one cord of blue with all other threads white.
It is also for that reason that the rabbis wrongly suppose IMHO that they can substitute
the blue for a white thread if they are uncertain of the shade of blue, since all the other
threads are white already, as opposed to inventing a new color. However, my view is that
the shade of tekhelet blue is given in Exodus 24:9-10 where the Hebrew word describes
the paving stones at the base of Abba YHWHs throne as pure sapphire blue and
Josephus says it was meant to symbolize the sky. And finally, the Septuagint translated
the blue as hyacinthos (e.g. Exodus 25:4, many others), from which I derived a darker
shade of sapphire sky blue, since hyacinths in Israel are that color.
Still, I understand the rabbinic logic on all white a little better, since it is clear from the
text that white is fine for all the other threads and that no other color than blue or white is
permissible in the object as a whole.
But I still say we can determine the right shade of blue that is intended, or at least get
very close to it, and that therefore we should have a blue thread after all, since the Torah
specifically commands that ONE thread be blue.

Torah Question of the Week:


What does blaspheming against Abba YHWH really mean?
END PART 1

11

PART 2: THE HAFTORAH


Torah Question of the Week:
What does blaspheming against Abba YHWH really mean?
There are two different Hebrew words that express the same concept. In Numbers
15:30 we see the word RUM. Usually translated as defiantly the root meaning is to
be high, exalted, or literally, to be above the law. Then, in 15:31 we get the word
BAZAH (despise, hate), and we looked at this word before in reference to Michals
hatred of her husband David. BAZAH also means to be on high, haughty and
expresses the kind of hatred where the self is elevated and the object is lower than the
dust at their feet. This is what blaspheming (whether against Abba YHWH in Tanakh
or the Ruach ha Kodesh in the NT) really means. It means that you put your soul as
above and outside of His Rulings and in a sense make yourself a god. That is why
the charge of blasphemy was also leveled AGAINST Yshua wrongly by the
Pharisees who misunderstood Messianic prophecy and said We dont stone you for
any of the good things you did, but rather because you blaspheme, that you, a mere
man, claim to be Elohim.
Special Teaching: The Great Zadokite Mystery
Introduction
Last week we delved into some very deep calendar mysteries that were directly encoded
in the Torah text. Something as seemingly mundane as the marching patterns of the
Israelites revealed an intricate, sophisticated and eternally accurate system of
timekeeping! But now I wanted to share something less technical and more personal.
While this story is heavy on calendar too, it concerns also deep political and religious
conspiracies, suppression of truth and a level of extremism on all sides of a deeply
divisive issue.
And yet, I believe we are living in a time when a lot of these lost debates are emerging
again, this time to lend their voices to a majestic truth that may be related to our moment
in the End of Days.
To see why, I would like for all of you to consider the trials and triumphs of a group we
call the Zadokites.
Lets start at the beginning. A year after Exodus, Moshe ordains his brother Aaron as
high priest and his four nephews Nadav, Avihu, Elieazar and Ithamar also as priests, in
connection with the construction of the Tabernacle at Mount Sinai.
From this very moment (1446 BCE), it was always intended for the priesthood to
function on cycles of 24 divisions, one for each hour of the solar day. The reality

12

however was that while the system would count or be evenly divisible by 24, the actual
service cycles between Aaron and David were of much smaller multiples of 241.
As I said, at the start you have 1 high priest and 4 regular priests. Then, suddenly, two of
Aarons sons die when they offer strange fire unto Father Yah, leaving behind a
grieving father and two grieving brothers (Elieazar and Ithamar).
Centuries pass and King David is the first person to officially draw up 24 divisions, but
this was always intended from the beginning as the 24 divisions were called from the
instruction of Aaron (1 Chronicles 24:19), meaning Aaron himself set things up for this
24-based math to work as a formula. However, our focus is on Aarons descendant who
is there to help David and Solomon some four centuries later.
Enter Zadok
By this time also Aaron also had a very righteous and talented descendant to help King
David. His name was Zadok, and it will be this man and his descendants that will
faithfully (and according to Ezekiel, flawlessly) execute priestly duties in both the First
and Second Temples.
But Ezekiel, who is himself a priest (1:3), is about to make a dire prediction about most
of the other priests he serves with:
Destruction shall come. And they shall seek peace, but there is none. Calamity
upon calamity shall come, and report shall be upon report. And they shall seek a
vision from a prophet. But the teaching has perished from the priest, and
counsel from the elders! (Ezekiel 7:25-26, The Scriptures 1998)
Hosea utters a similar complaint, going so far as to say that when a priest forgets
knowledge, Father Yah forgets him!
My people have perished for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected
knowledge, I reject you from being priest for Me. Since you have forgotten the
Torah of your Elohim, I also forget your children. (Hosea 4:6, The Scriptures
1998)
The exception to the priestly brain drain though is the sons of Zadok, as Ezekiel
indicates here:
And you shall give a young bull for a sin offering to the priests, the Lwites, who
are of the seed of Tsadoq, who approach unto Me, declares the Master .
(Ezekiel 43:19, The Scriptures 1998)
1

This means I can lay out a service grid that accurately cycles the 24 divisions mathematically from
Moshes time to David and beyond to the rest of Scripture history under one series of continuous
equations. However the actual service cycles themselves during this period from Moshe to David will not
reflect 24 divisions actually on duty, as this number varied based on how many priests were available.

13

But the priests, the Lwites, the sons of Tsadoq, who guarded the duty of
My set-apart place when the children of Yisral went astray from Me, they
shall draw near to Me to serve Me, and shall stand before Me to bring to Me
the fat and the blood, declares the Master . They shall enter My set-apart
place, and they shall draw near to My table to serve Me, and they shall guard My
chargeAnd they are to teach My people the difference between the setapart and the profane, and make them know what is unclean and clean. And
they are to stand as judges in a dispute, and judge it according to My right-rulings.
And they are to guard My Torot and My laws in all My appointed festivals,
and set apart My Sabbaths. (Ezekiel 44:15-16; 23-24, The Scriptures 1998)
The same concept is expressed a third time by the prophet, in Ezekiel 48:11, and this is in
a clear contrast against the other priests who have gone astray along with the rest of
Israel.
However, while it seems likely that Ezekiel is praising the Zadokite priests of his time, he
is also setting up their prophetic future, which implies they will first be exiled and then
returned to power. That the exile of the Zadokites happened in historical fact, but we are
still waiting for them to return, because they didnt, prior to the Second Temple being
destroyed.
The obvious questions though are, how did the Zadokite exile happen and why havent
they, even in our day, returned from that exile?
Our answers come from three ancient sources that I have spent a lot of time with in recent
days synthesizing for easier understanding: 1) The Books of 1 and 2 Maccabees, 2) The
Hebrew Zadokite Fragment from Cairo Geniza and 3) the Dead Sea Scrolls corpus as a
whole, including pieces of the Damascus Document that have absorbed the Zadokite
Fragments information.
Also, some helpful resources for this research: Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea
Scrolls in English; Martin Abegg, Jr., Peter Flint and Eugene Ulrich, The Dead Sea
Scrolls Bible and Rev. R.H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old
Testament in English.
I have also consulted at length extra-biblical books within these collections such as 1
Enoch, the Book of Jubilees and various calendar treatises amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls
that tell us how the Qumran community kept time. Please let me state clearly though that
when I consult such works it is only for historical purposes, not to proclaim such works
on par with Scripture, although in some cases they can help explain context behind
certain passages of Scripture.
From all these, I have pieced together the following story, which was also somewhat
challenging because some of these references are fragmentary and while many sources
contain the same information, it is often the case that other details will be unique to a
particular source. In any event, here is the history they all present.

14

In 167 BCE, the Greek-Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes defiled the Temple in
Jerusalem with pigs blood on the altar and forbad all Jews from worshipping in the
Temple or doing other Torah observance, under penalty of death.
The result of this desecration was the Maccabean Revolt which eventually succeeded in
driving out the pagans, re-sanctifying and dedicating the Temple and creating the last
independent Jewish dynasty in Israel prior to the formation of the State of Israel in 1948.
For many folks, this is where the story ends, with a new feast called Hanukkah and a
victory over the pagans who threatened to stamp out Judaism, but the drama in reality is
far from over here. For one thing, the actual war continued even after Antiochus
Epiphanes fled and died in exile; it was picked up and prosecuted by his chief general
Nicanor, who wouldnt be defeated for another several years.
And there was also a dark side to these new Jewish kings, whom history calls the
Hasmoneans. The problem was, like Herod the Great who came after them, none of these
kings were descendants of King David or had any Judahite blood at all. The Hasmoneans
though were, unlike Herod at least, full blooded Jews, but they were from Levitical stock.
This then brought us to another difficulty with the Hasmoneans: The wanted to be both
kings and high priests, and for the latter part they were not descended directly from
Aaron! So, in addition to not having the right to rule as Jewish kings, the Hasmoneans
were also breaking Torah by trying to be kings and priests at the same time. Just ask King
Saul how well wearing both hats as they say worked out for him!
In terms of the first issue, not being of the Davidic line, the Hasmoneans and indeed most
of Israel proper seemed to pay little attention to justify2. However, in terms of the second
problem, there had to be a winner and a loser, and in this case the losers were the sons of
Zadok!
The Hasmoneans booted the sons of Zadok out of power, and this after nearly 800 years
of faithful service to the Temple, all so the Hasmoneans could promote themselves into a
priesthood they did not earn through their own lineages.
Now in truth, relations between the Zadokite priests and the Hasmoneans were never very
good and were often strained prior to this radical move. In about 140 BCE, the King and
high priest Shimon the Hasmonean leveled the original Mount Zion down to bedrock
because he felt it was the only way to purify it after pagan infestation. Josephus and
Maccabees trade details with regards to this event.
The Rise of the Wicked Priest
The response from the Zadokites was both swift and decisive. They turned Shimon the
Hasmonean into a villain known only as the Wicked Priest3, and he is demonized as
such in both the Zadokite Fragment and the Dead Sea Scrolls. For example:
2

Which is not to say no attempts at such justifications were ever made. 1 Maccabees 14:41 has Shimon
the Hasmonean proclaimed a prince rather than a king and also high priest, until such time there should
arise a faithful prophet. The problem was, for the Essenes and the Zadokites, that prophet came in the
form of the Teacher of Righteousness, who was persecuted and exiled by Shimon.
3
Some scholars, like Geza Vermes, think the Wicked Priest is Shimons brother Jonathan, but almost all
scholars agree the Hasmonean usurpation of the priesthood is the true target of the polemic. It is also
interesting to note that there were times when Shimon and Jonathan were high priests simultaneously.

15

.
4

The first saints whom God pardoned, both justified the righteous, and
condemned the wicked. 5 And all they who come after them must do according to
the interpretation of the Law, in which the forefathers were instructed until the
consummation of the period of these years. 6 In accordance with the covenant
which God established with the forefathers In order to pardon their sins, so shall
God make atonement for them. 7 And on the consummation of the period [[of the
number]] of these years they shall no more join themselves to the house of
Judah, but shall every one stand up against his net. 8 The wall shall have been
built, the boundary been far removed. 9 And during all these years Belial
shall be let loose against Israel, as God spake through Isaiah the prophet, the
son of Amos, saying: 'Fear and the pit and the snare are upon thee, O
inhabitant of the land.' 10 This means the three nets of Belial, concerning
which Levi the son of Jacob spake, by which he caught Israel and directed
their faces to three kinds of righteousness. (Zadokite Fragment, 6:3-10)
Interpreted, this concerns the Wicked Priest who was called by name of truth
when he first arose. But when he ruled over Israel4 his heart became proud and he
forsook God and took the wealth of the peoples, heaping sinful iniquity upon
himself. And he lived in the way of abominations amidst every unclean
defilement
the Spouter of Lies who led many astray that he might build his city of vanity
and blood and raise up a congregation of deceit
the Wicked Priest who pursued the Teacher of Righteousness to the house of
his exile that he might confuse him with his venomous fury
...the city is Jerusalem where the Wicked Priest committed abominable deeds and
defiled the Temple of God. The violence done to the land: These are the cities of
Judah where he robbed the poor of their possession.-Commentary on Habakkuk,
The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, p. 482-485
In fact the rhetoric against this Wicked Priest is so strong that the only other target for the
writer in this commentary are the Kittim, a shorthand term that applies to people on the
other side of the Mediterranean in general and more precisely to the Romans in
particular. The implication then is that the Wicked Priest is just as bad as the Romans and
may in fact be in league with the Romans to destroy the nation, which matches closely to
the historical reality of Roman domination over the priesthood in Jerusalem.
I also think the term violence to the land, in addition to robbing from the poor, may
also refer to Shimon the Hasmonean tearing the real Mount Zion down to bedrock, which
Josephus and Maccabees report here:

Thus, even if some of the details about Wicked Priests life better fit the biography of Jonathan (as Vermes
argues), it is still possible that Shimon was also counted as the Wicked Priest also, since both were
priests during the rulership of Jonathan, and when Jonathan died, Shimon became high priest and prince
as well.
4
A reference to him being both king and pries, like Shimon the Hasmonean.

16

136

The city of Jerusalem was fortified with three walls, on such parts as were not
surrounded with impassable valleys; for in such places it had but one wall. The
city was built upon two hills which are opposite to one another, and have a valley
to divide them asunder; at which valley the corresponding rows of houses on both
hills end.
137

Of these hills, that which contains the upper city is much higher, and in length
more direct. Accordingly, it was called the ``Citadel,'' by King David; he was
the father of that Solomon who built this temple at the first; but it is by us
called the ``Upper Market Place.'' But the other hill, which was called ``Acra,''
and sustains the lower city, is of the shape of a moon when she is horned; 138
opposite this there was a third hill, but naturally lower than Acra, and parted
formerly from the other by a broad valley.
139

However, in those times when the Asamoneans reigned, they filled up that
valley with earth, and had a mind to join the city to the temple. They then
took off part of the height of Acra, and reduced it to be of less elevation than
it was before, that the temple might be higher than it. (The Jewish War, 5:136139)
The way they filled in the valley was by tearing down the original Mount Zion! Here are
some more details:
215

For Simon overthrew the city of Gazara, and Joppa, and Jamnia. He also took
the citadel of Jerusalem by siege, and cast it down to the ground, that it might not
be any more a place of refuge to their enemies when they took it, to do them
mischief, as it had been till now. And when he had done this, he thought it
their best way, and most for their advantage, to level the very mountain itself
upon which the citadel happened to stand, that so the temple might be higher
than it.
216

And, indeed, when he had called the multitude to an assembly, he


persuaded them to have it so demolished, and this by putting them in mind
what miseries they had suffered by its garrison and the Jewish deserters; and what
miseries they might hereafter suffer in case any foreigner should obtain the
kingdom, and put a garrison into that citadel. (Antiquities, 13:215-216)
Other references in Josephus and 1 Maccabees make it clear that Shimon enjoyed
tremendous popularity, peace and prosperity during his entire reign, but these accounts
are written by the winners of this historical drama. Again, the dark side was the Zadokites
were expelled from power, and they soon fled to the desert where they joined the Essenes
in Qumran, to leave behind their testimony amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Zadokites are not Sadducees
But its at this point that history makes two sometimes confusing turns of events.
Contemporaneous with the Zadokites being removed from power was the rise of another
sect with almost the same exact name: The Sadducees, or tsaddikim in Hebrew.

17

Like the Zadokites, the Sadducees tended to be of priestly descent, and also like the
Zadokites the Sadducees deeply distrusted the majority party in power, the Pharisees,
accusing them of being corrupt.
However, thats where the similarities end as these are not the same groups at all. The
Zadokites, as we just saw, fled Jerusalem while the Sadducees flocked to it. And while
both groups hated the Pharisees, the Sadducees (eventually at least) reached a power
sharing agreement not only with them, but with the hated Romans, an act that would have
made the Zadokites blood boil and literally call down avenging angels from heaven to
correct. The Sadducees also amassed a great deal of wealth, while the Zadokites lived in
the poorest and most difficult physical conditions imaginable.
And finally, the Sadducees hated the Pharisees for their voluminous and extra-biblical
Oral Law and claimed to only follow Scripture alone (that is, along with one other book
they wrote called the Book of Decrees, but still mostly true) while the Zadokites and the
Essenes produced an entire library of extra-biblical material and a far stricter halachic
code that went beyond anything in either the Torah or the Oral Law.
But, once safely tucked away in the desert, our second odd twist of history happens, as
the Zadokites are about to do something so radical, that it might actually shed light on
why Ezekiels prophecy about their future return still hasnt happened.
Calendar War!
I promised at the outset that I was going to keep calendar details to a minimum and so I
will, but its at this point in the story that something truly shocking happens, and this
event has a direct bearing on the way we discuss calendar in Hebrew Roots down to this
day.
However, the Zadokites who went into the desert did the calendar equivalent of a terrorist
attack on their own culture: They booted out the moon from counting to those feasts and
fixed every appointed time ONLY in solar terms, so that Passover and Tabernacles would
hit the same exact day and week every year. No longer was Yom Teruah (Rosh
Hashanna) thought of as a New Moon feast nor were Passover and Tabernacle full moon
feasts. It would be like me saying Passover will come in 2017 on April 10th, like it does
every year.
Even more bizarre however was that these same Zadokites and Essenes continued
detailed calendar treatises on both the observation and precise calculation of the lunar
month! They actually would count the illumination of the moon at night in units of
fourteenths, tracking its cycle from invisibility to fullness and back to invisibility again.
They even went so far as to adopt a schedule for adding a lunar leap month at the end of
every 36th lunar month, a practice they may have also gotten from the time they were
priests in Jerusalem.
The implications for our faith walk are, as I said, massive. It speaks to the possibility that
some cling to where not a single feast relies on any part of the lunar cycle to get to or
celebrate. If thats true then the Zadokites had the true calendar and the rest of us
inherited some degree of falsehood from either the Rabbis or even the Karaites,
depending on what system we are on.

18

In one extreme case, I read an essay from a rabbi who proclaimed that the lesser light
to rule the night did not include the moon at all in Genesis 1:14-19 but only the stars.
The moon, he declared, was sick and unreliable.
But no, I am not going there myself, nor will I encourage any of you to proclaim the
moon sick. While it is true the moon is not directly mentioned in Genesis 1, there is no
doubt amongst any of the rabbinic sources that the moon was intended as the lesser
light and the fact that the Hebrew reads after that and the stars proves the stars are
separate from the lesser light that is the moon.
Even when critics point out the moon makes no light but only receives what it gets from
the sun, my answer back to them is, Of course, hence the term lesser, because it didnt
make the light on its own!
And finally, there is clarification from the Psalm 136:6, which tell us both the moon and
the stars rule the night, not to mention the fact that, as we saw last week, Joseph clearly
dreamt of the sun, moon and 11 stars as marking the harvest season (Genesis 37:5-11).
So this is a seemingly baffling situation. The Zadokites and the Essenes clearly counted
each day of the lunar month because they knew it was importantnot sickfor their
timekeeping requirements. And yetlike the rabbis deciding to wear all-white tzit-tzit
because they cant agree on the proper shade of bluethese most righteous of all priests
deliberately broke Torah and ignored the moon for setting the feasts, even after the stars
and sun gave them the right time of year! Thats the only alternative available to us,
because the possibilities of their process being right or this sect being ignorant or
apathetic about what Torah said are pretty well eliminated.
Therefore this decision may be a large reason why the Zadokites have not returnedthey
abandoned their charge! But that still doesnt answer the most nagging question of them
all.
WHY did they do it?
I read the Dead Sea Scrolls and I am astonished at the extremely high standards of the
Qumran community. Their purity rituals, the difficulties they impose on new members,
the avoidance of women, the rejection of gold and Jerusalem; all these things speak to a
degree of righteousness on steroids for them.
And to then read about the requirements of the priests and especially the sects supreme
leader the Teacher of Righteousness is to step back into time and behold a man so rigidly
Torah careful, that probably Ezekiel himself would study at his feet if he could. So, while
I can understand why a man may break Torah, this move for them to deliberately do so at
first glance makes no sense whatsoever. Is it possible, in a sense, to be too righteous for
ones own good?
One thing that I know for certain that may help answer this question is that the expulsion
of the Zadokites into the desert happens in close proximity to the time when calendar
confusion crept into the mainstream calendar of Israel, ca. 140 BCE.
As we talked about before, the historian Josephus tells us the timings of various Land
Sabbaths, and no one way of counting to the Jubilee or Shemittahs works in each of those

19

years. The first two Shemittahs, 164 and 135 BCE5, both work perfectly in my
chronology with 50 year Jubilees counting continuously forward from the time the
Israelites entered Canaan.
But then in 135 BCE Shimon the Hasmonean dies and John Hyrcanus becomes the next
priest king for Israel. The moment that happens we lose the 50 year Jubilee count in favor
of a 49 year system. I know this because after this time Josephus tells us a Land Sabbath
was in 37 BCE, when the previous count required it be two years later, in 35 BCE6.
Again, this was because two Jubilee cycles had gone by since the ascension of John
Hyrcanus, and the total time was measured as 98 years rather than 100 years.
But curiously enough, shortly after this time, the schedule had been patched back to 50
year intervals, as if the count had never been disturbed, because the next Land Sabbath
Josephus records in in 37 CE, which would only work with a restored Jubilee count to 50
years.7
Finally, the reason for this restoration back to 50 year Jubilee count and other things was
because of high priests dying at Yom Kippur. Though the Talmud exaggerates the figure
to 300 priests dying over 300 years, the actual number is maybe 1/10th that, being a time
of calendar confusion between warring sects that ran from 135 to 10 BCE. Then in 10
BCE Hillel the Elder put a stop to this confusion and restored the count back to where it
should have been.8
But even as Hillel completed the reforms, the Zadokites never mended their ways and
never returned to Jerusalem, and this is the central question I wish to answer here. Why
wasnt all this effort enough for them to come home?
My answer, based on all the evidence I have seen to this moment, is that these reforms
simply were not sweeping enough to encourage the Zadokites to return, because the
entire issue of who became a high priest in the first place was first given to non-Jewish
kings (Herod the Great and his heirs) and then put in the hands of the dreaded Kittim, the
Romans, whom the Zadokites hated above all others. The very thought of a Kittim
determining if a Zadokite could be High Priest or not was simply too horrific to bear.
From their point of view then, both the calendar and the priestly systems were hopelessly
corrupt, and the Zadokites wanted to leave no chance of anyone confusing their sect with
that of the priests in Jerusalem.
So they switched to solar time, in part to harass the other priests, giving them freedom to
travel on days when the others could not due to an Annual Shabbat and vice versa.
However on at least one occasion it backfired, when the Talmud tells us Rabbi Gamliel II

Antiquities 12:361-378; 13:234-235.


Antiquities 15:4-7.
7
nd
Antiquities 14:200-203. Caligula makes a decree that in the 2 year of the 7 year cycle the Jews should
not pay tribute to Rome because the previous year they dont harvest. The command was dated to just
nd
nd
such a 2 year, when Caligula was imperator the 2 time, and thats 38 CE, making the previous Land
Sabbath year 37 CE which is also back on time to the original 50 year count.
8
Yoma 9a, Talmud Sanhedrin 11a.
6

20

ordered the Zadokite high priest to come to Jerusalem on Zadokite Yom Kippur, which
was not a rest day for Gamliel!9
In other words, this break from Torah observance was one of the longest continuous
protest movements in history, and yet the Zadokites made sure they never lost sight of the
moon counting, perhaps looking forward to the day when they would be vindicated and
put back in charge and they could start fresh with the original system of keeping time.
Ironically though, what almost no one saw coming was that Father Yah had already
doomed the Second Temple and Qumran to destruction by the Romans, and since both
sides transgressed Torah for their own individual reasons, neither side ultimately was
allowed to continue and the Zadokites never returned to Jerusalem.
Nevertheless the question remains: Will they ever return in our future to fulfill Ezekiels
prophecies? I believe the answer to that must be a resounding yes, as Father Yahs Word
cannot return empty. But on the other hand, the way they return may be surprising to
some:
And I shall set a sign among them, and shall send some of those who escape to
the nations Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal and
Yawan, the coastlands afar off who have not heard My report nor seen My
esteem. And they shall declare My esteem among the gentiles. And they
shall bring all your brothers as an offering to out of all the gentiles, on
horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels, to My set-apart
mountain Yerushalayim, declares , as the children of Yisral bring an
offering in a clean vessel into the House of . And from them too I shall
take for priests for Lwites, declares . For as the new heavens and the
new earth that I make stand before Me, declares , so your seed and your
name shall stand. And it shall be that from New Moon to New Moon, and from
Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, declares .
(Isaiah 66:19-23, The Scriptures 1998)
And you also, as living stones, are built and become spiritual temples and Set
Apart priests for the offering of Spiritual Sacrifices, acceptable before
Elohim through Y'shua the Mashiyach. For it is said in the Scripture, "Behold,
in Tsiyon I lay a chosen and precious stone for the head of the corner; and
whoever believes in him will not be ashamed." On you therefore who believe is
this honor conferred: but to them who do not believe "he is a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense." And they stumble at it because they believe not the Word
from where they were appointed. But you are an elect race, officiating as
priests of the Kingdom; a Set Apart people, a redeemed congregation; that
you should proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness to his
precious light: who formerly were not counted as a people but now are the
people of Elohim; and also, there were (once) no mercies on you but now
mercies are poured out upon you. (1 Peter 2:5-10-AENT)
In other words, we have met the returning Zadokites already, and they are us!
9

Rosh Hashanna 2:6..

21

1) Haftorah portion (English- Joshua 2:1-24) and discuss common themes with the
Torah portion.

Vayishlach Yehoshua bin-Nun min-haShitim shnayim anashim


meraglim cheresh lemor lechu re'u et-ha'arets ve'et-Yericho vayelchu
vayavo'u beyt ishah zonah ushmah Rachav vayishkevu-shamah.
2) Our linguistic commentary
ISHAH (2:1) = can generically mean wife or female. The connotation for
Rahab is that she is a wayward woman, someone who cheated on her husband
perhaps, but not a prostitute per se who traded sex for money.
RAHAB (2:1) = large or broad.
ZONAH (2:1-rabbinic commentary) means harlot but they favor ZANAH for
describing Rahab, which is one who feeds/takes care of as in an innkeeper. The
LXX though calls her PORNE (prostitute).
VATITMENEM BEFISHTAY HAERETZ HAARUCHOT LAH AL-HAGAG
(2:6) = But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them in the stacks of
flax which she had spread out there. This is another good piece of evidence that
the Jericho campaign takes place in the spring time, just after Passover. But this
early part of spying out the land only makes sense if the month of Adar is hitting
late that year (1405 BCE) and in fact it does. 29 Adar, the last day of that month
is on March 23rd and the most probable date for this event is a few days later, on
Sunday, March 27th, which is also the 4th day of Abib.
KI VEYTA BEKIR HACHOMAH UVACHOMA HI YOSHAVET (2:15) = for
her house was on the side of the wall, so she lived in the wall. In other words,
Rahab is in an extremely strategic locations, which is why the guards seek her out
so quickly even though they have no evidence she saw these men. They have
made a likely assumption that if a group of spies came in, they would seek shelter
at the earliest possible opportunity, in a place like Rahabs house. She also
clearly is used to dealing with soldiers given her answer. It also works in this
other sense: Joshua would probably have destroyed her house in the wall FIRST
if she didnt help him.
3) Renewed Covenant portion: (English) Hebrews 3:7-19 (all the way through with
applicable footnotes.)
Hebrews 3:13
26) Look deeply into yourselves all the days, during the day which is called
today; is Messianic spiritual presence. We are present and spiritually alive in

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Mashiyach in this moment, in conversation and obedience to the Ruach


haKodesh. Our spiritual dialogue with our Father YHWH is our life, we pray
without ceasing (1Th_5:17) observing His Word.
4) Highlight common themes in Aramaic (terms in footnotes which I will read)
5) Apply these themes/issues to modern issues in the Netzari faith. (We must always
remember Yshua is our Mediator, but he is not the one who tells us there is no
such thing as a violation of Torah! The role of a mediator is grossly
misunderstood in Christendom.)
6) Relate to all or part of an Appendix portion of AENT or footnotes from a portion
(Read Divine Communication, p. 770-772 in Appendix).
STUDY QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED NEXT WEEK FOR THIS
PORTION:
1) The bad report the spies gave talked about two separate groups, Nephilim and
people of great size or giants. Does that mean the giants were Nephilim?
2) How might the words of Yshua impact on the question on #1?
3) The Punishment Pattern in Numbers 14 is repeated by two more prophets. Who
were those prophets?
4) What is probably the most surprising suggestion in the Rabbinic tradition
regarding Rahab?
5) In a very ironic twist given Rahabs profession, she utters a phrase that will be
repeated by someone who is the exact opposite of her. What is the phrase and
who said it after her?
Torah Thought for the Week:
Shaken AND Stirred: A Spy Tale Gone Horribly Wrong
Or, a Born Legacy
The following communique was intercepted from the base of Mount Sinai and decrypted
for an English speaking audience:

You will not follow the laws of the nations whom I am driving out before you; they practiced
all these things, which is why I detested them. As I have already told you, you will take
possession of their soil. I myself shall give you possession of it, a country flowing with milk
and honey. "Since I, Yahweh your Elohim, have set you apart from these peoples!
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(Leviticus 20:23-24 NJB)


The world of the spy has been glamourized in our pop culture since at least the early 20th
century. We have James Bond and Jason Bourne on the big screen and various other
dramas on television (Alias, Covert Affairs and most recently State of Affairs) that make
spy work seem to be nothing more than adrenaline packed action scenes with fast cars
and trysts with beautiful women in the most romantic places on earth. Occasionally the
super villain who tells the hero the intimate details of his plot for world domination
before leaving the hero alone to diewhat could go wrong?instead of just shooting
him then and there, makes for good parody like the Austin Powers series. But, even in
parody, Austin Powers still makes the spy world seem just as much as a party as the Bond
movies he is riffing off of.
But in this weeks Torah portion, we find quite a different spy tale and the SPECTRE of
failure is all over it. In this version almost all the spies are idiots. Theyre not the brave
lone wolf soldier who can single handedly rescue a prisoner well-guarded by 300 soldiers
in some super-secret compound. Far from it! These guys are WIMPS. No one in British
Intelligence or the CIA would touch these losers with a ten foot pole. Except for the last
two that is, and we will get to them later.
The first rule of being a good spy is this: Collect the RIGHT information and dont let
emotion cloud your judgment as to what the information really means. But before getting
to that perhaps we should look into another issue with this storys equivalent of M, James
Bonds boss. And in this case, the M conveniently stands for MOSHE. As Jack Bauer
would say, This was a bad opand we are running out of time!
Bad op MI mean Moshe. First of all, you already had good intel. You had the
greatest Intelligence in the UniverseAbba YHWH Himselfthe ultimate Insider who
actually MADE the land you were going into, He told you it was a GOOD land. He said,
GO AND TAKE IT. I HAVE GIVEN IT INTO YOUR HANDS. DO NOT BE AFRAID.
If any of our fictional spies got a report like that, I guarantee they would sign up for that
incursion immediately. The ultimate Authority has given you the green lightGO. But
did the real spies of Numbers 13 & 14 take that advice?
Of course not, especially since even previous humanitarian missions involving manna
and quailOperation Skyfall in other wordsresulted in a total lack of appreciation and
even stretched M to the breaking point.
In a stunning preview of how bad bureaucracy can get, they needed to spend MORE time
seeing the land FOR THEMSELVES. So they cried out to Moshe, and as Ops
Commander he should have called for the Abort. He should have said, Abba YHWH
said its good so its good. Go attack! But he didnt. Why? Just like Bond and Bourne,
sometimes bad politics gets in the way of a good op.

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Moshe knew his people were struggling with their faith. He probably felt that if they saw
the land for themselves it would give them confidence that Abba YHWH was telling
them the truth. That was a rational, man-based decision, and that was the problem.
See, while its true that Abba YHWH gave the command for them to spy out the Land,
this can be a bit deceiving. It wasnt that Abba YHWH wanted Israel to spy out the land;
rather it was His response to their incessant whining that things were better in Egypt,
from the food to the quality of the land, as if Abba YHWH didnt know how to give a
good land to them. So I firmly believe Abba YHWH wanted them to conquer it
WITHOUT sending out spies, so they would take His Word for how good the Land was.
It was also a test for Moshe. Even though Abba YHWH commands the spies to proceed,
He was hoping Moshe would protest and say, But You already said the Land was good,
so we should NOT send out spies. I mean they protested everything else Abba YHWH
told them so why not here, when it would have actually been beneficial for them to do
so? It was just like when men became defiled at Pesach time.they faced what looked
like a contradiction in Torah commands so they ASKED ABBA YHWH for clarification.
Again, why not do that now? Why not say, again, this seems to contradict what You,
Abba YHWH said before so please confirm what You want?
As a result, instead of showing his people the need to bring their faith UP, he met them
where they were with their faith DOWN. Sometimes thats a good thing to be sure, but
not here.
This is because their expedition did not result in what Abba YHWH wanted. He said,
Take it now and dont be afraid. They said back to Him, We really want to wait and
were terrified of these big people all over the place. [The Canaanite misinformation
campaign, Operation Nephilim Scare is in full effect.]
But if Moshe had put his foot down, the spies would not have come back with the bad
report and Israel would not have had to wander in the wilderness until that whole
generation dropped dead for their lack of faith.
Again, YES, Abba YHWH told them to send out spies, but its the context in which He
did so that should have been probed and double-checked to see if that was REALLY His
will. First rule of any good spy: Know how to assess the REAL AGENDA of the
situation. Read between the lines, guys. Thats your job.
And also like any good spy drama, the commander is held responsible for the mistakes of
his crew, so Moshe himself will not be allowed to enter into the Promised Land either.
They even cover up the place where spy master Moshe will be buried, lest other bad ops
arise from people worshipping his grave.
To be fair though, Ms colossal op is not a total failure here either. Sometimes the seeds
of tomorrow are more important than the grand failures of today. M has a new recruit.
Hes licensed to kill but more importantly, hes anointed and ready to lead. And so a new

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generations legacy is Bourne, even though M had offered, like any good secret
operative, to be blotted out of the official record. Good thing for us though that new
generation went forward and Moshes request for the ultimate anonymity was overruled
by a Higher Authority.
And lets talk about that white op now in our Haftorah portion shall we? Like any
great Bond film, the key is the exciting opening sequence that kicks off the whole drama,
so lets open the dossier on Joshua and recap a bit.
(Insert deep, gravelly movie announcer voice here)
Dateline: Goshen, Egypt, 2,454 Years after the Creation of Adam (1447 BCE)
In a world of slavery and hardship, he rose from obscurity to be the second in command
to more than 600,000 fighting men as the hopes of a nation of 2 million rested on his
shoulders.
I know, dont give up my day job
Seriously though, Joshua cut his battle teeth against one of the worst foes of the daythe
Amalekites. And then he continued to survive where countless other Israelites perished
because he was faithful to Abba YHWH. So we need to add the Golden Calf and Graves
of Craving disasters to the long list of Joshuas achievements against adversity. And it is
out of this training ground that the ancient version of the Mossad recruits Joshua to go
into Canaan.
But first, Joshua needs to study his tactics. He takes a full year after Moshes death to
think about what has to be done for Jericho. During that year, he has no doubt
consolidated his power and figured out who he can trust, to keep his friends close and his
enemies closer. When the time is right, he debriefs the next generation and lets them
know the risks of the op and the even greater risk of destruction for disobeying Abba
YHWHs intel. And to help him, the mysterious Man of Elohim has a covert
meeting with Joshua to make sure he knows whats expected of him from Above.
Joshua has learned from the mistakes of the previous generation, and his op goes as
smoothly as anything dreamed up in the mind of Hollywood. He even recruits a
prostitute to help him destroy Jericho, uses top secret signals to direct the op and gives
her witness protection in return. Now THATs entertainment! You might even say that
as spies go, Yehoshua was Bar None. But you can call him Josh.
In any case, whether Joshua sees all the fruits of his labor during his own lifetime kind of
misses the point because in the end he has given all of us our future and his enemies a
Born Ultimatum.
Im Andrew Gabriel Roth and thats your Torah Thought for the Week!

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Next week we will be exploring Korach, or Numbers 16:1-18:32. Our Haftorah portion
will be 1 Samuel 11:14-12:22 and our Renewed Covenant portion will be the whole book
of Yehuda, 1:1-25! Stay tuned!

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