December 2019
Brit Hadashah Reflections
Brit Hadashah Reflections 10
Hebraic understanding Hebrews and Revelation
A wonderful letter to Jews exalting the Name and Person of Yeshua. No-one knows the identity of the author or the time of its authorship. The most speculated names associated with this letter are Rabbi Sha’ul and Barnabas, but that matters little to the content. The author was one who had a fervent desire to see Jews come to faith in Yeshua, and just as importantly to continue in that faith in the face of opposition and discouragement. However, its content has often been portrayed by Christian teachers as abrogating the Torah. That was not its purpose, and there are great lessons for believers of every culture and background contained in its message. Again we remind ourselves that the chapter and verse convenience was not present in the original, even though we will take the chapter divisions for our study and ‘reflection’. Additionally, there is significant quotation of the Hebrew Scriptures in this letter. The source document for these quotations is the Septuagint, also known as the LXX, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and which was completed about 130 years before the birth of Yeshua. (so where those Scriptures are quoted the wording may not exactly accord with your own favourite translation!)
“For the Torah, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually, year by year, make those who approach perfect.” So opens the reading for this week. But in my paraphrase “because if the sacrifices did make one perfect they would not need to be continued, since having been made perfect one would have no more consciousness of sin.” But the writer continued “But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.”
In the above statements, reference is made to ‘a shadow’. Shadows are cast by something real, but that shadow is not identical to reality. It is, well, just a ‘shadow’. The reality is much clearer and better. And the writer stated that the ‘shadow’ (which in this case was the sacrificial system of ‘drawing near to God’) cannot make for perfection, whereas, by implication, the reality can and does make for perfection. For most gentiles reading this there, would probably be a kind of ‘ho hum’ response to this. What is all the fuss about? We all know the sacrificial system was imperfect. And from that springs the prevailing thought that ‘everyone knows that Yeshua’s sacrifice made the old system obsolete’. But ‘everyone’ didn’t know that. This letter was written to Messianic Jews. They had become believers in Yeshua, and it is assumed today that they had willingly discontinued the sacrificial system. But had they? Well the truth is that we do not know. But what we do know is that they had all been brought up in the culture of Orthodox Judaism. As, for many centuries, had their forefathers. At least 1,500 years of practise and teaching on this matter. Reminded of it continually at Passover each year, hearing it read in the synagogues and in their homes. It was culturally ingrained in them. Our Christian communities today have little or no understanding of that. I have tried to think of a possible parallel for the Christian. Imagine being taught that the universally observed and revered festivals of Easter and Christmas (ignoring the fact that they are both unbiblical derivations of pagan festivals) were to be discontinued. No longer relevant to your Christian faith. That is possibly the nearest case of the change which the believing Jew had to contemplate. Selah.
But of course, in His infinite love, compassion, and grace towards those people called by His Name, God has removed the earthly Temple from existence. It is no longer possible for the Torah commanded sacrificial system to function anyway. But we do not know whether the writer to the Hebrews had any knowledge that the destruction of the Temple was a very close probable event, as Yeshua had prophesied, or even if it had already taken place, which is unlikely. (A close friend asked just a few days ago whether I thought that the early believers in Yeshua continued with the sacrificial system after they came to faith. I don’t know. But Paul was told by the Jerusalem Council in Acts 21 that ‘miriads’ of Jews had become believers and that ‘they were all zealous for the Torah!’ suggesting to me that they observed the commands of God to the very best of their ability. What do you think that means?)
The sacrifice which Yeshua made, taking the yolk of sinful man, overcoming death and hell by His resurrection, then taking His place, seated at the right hand of the Father as our Great High Priest (something of a stumbling block for the followers of Ellen White with her doctrine of investigative judgement following the martyrdom of Stephen!) Then for the second time in this letter the writer makes reference to the new covenant. Read it carefully in verses 16,17 and see if it refers to a present scenario or a future one. Whatever you think, the next statement is indisputable. The Messianic Jews receiving this letter, and those who read it today can avail themselves of the blessing of entry into the very presence of God through the mediation of Yeshua our Great High Priest. The ‘superiority’ of Yeshua is again the message of the writer to the Hebrews. And its message is relevant to all believers. But there is a bit of a ‘sting in the tail’ here. It is a message to those who do not take advantage of the salvation offered to believers. We do well to remind ourselves of it daily.
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”. By implication, without the safe accompaniment of Yeshua, our Great High Priest.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Brit Hadashah Reflections
Brit Hadashah Reflections 9
Hebraic understanding Hebrews and Revelation
A wonderful letter to Jews exalting the Name and Person of Yeshua. No-one knows the identity of the author or the time of its authorship. The most speculated names associated with this letter are Rabbi Sha’ul and Barnabas, but that matters little to the content. The author was one who had a fervent desire to see Jews come to faith in Yeshua, and just as importantly to continue in that faith in the face of opposition and discouragement. However, its content has often been portrayed by Christian teachers as abrogating the Torah. That was not its purpose, and there are great lessons for believers of every culture and background contained in its message. Again we remind ourselves that the chapter and verse convenience was not present in the original, even though we will take the chapter divisions for our study and ‘reflection’. Additionally, there is significant quotation of the Hebrew Scriptures in this letter. The source document for these quotations is the Septuagint, also known as the LXX, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and which was completed about 130 years before the birth of Yeshua. (so where those Scriptures are quoted the wording may not exactly accord with your own favourite translation!)
Taking up where we left off last week, the writer makes reference to the coming obsolescence of the first Covenant. The requirements of which the people had willingly agreed, both to do and to be obedient to its specifics. Then broke it! The Book of that Covenant specified, among other things, the procedural rituals which God required for those who wished to draw near to Him with sacrificial gifts and offerings. The description in the text requires no amplification. There was a requirement for purification of the officiating priest, through the sprinkling of the ashes of a red heifer mixed with water (Numbers 19), and a blood sacrifice. That officiating priest could only go so far (or so near, to God as the Covenant document allowed). But there was also an inner chamber, referred to as the Holiest of All, in which was the Ark of the Covenant containing a golden pot of Manna, Aaron’s rod that budded and the tablets of the covenant. On that Ark was the mercy seat and the cherubim of glory. It represented the place of God’s dwelling among the people. The very description paints a picture of awe, majesty, mystery and reverence. Instant death awaited any who might dare to venture presumptuously into that Holiest place. The High Priest alone was allowed there, and that only once each year on the ‘mo’ed (appointed time) of Yom Kippur, the tenth day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. His preparation required him to first make a blood sacrifice on his own account, and then a further blood sacrifice for the unwittingly committed sins of the people.
Now all of the foregoing was a God ordained temporary method of ‘drawing near’ to Himself until such time as He provided a permanent way of ‘drawing near’, also by blood sacrifice, but this one in perpetuity. Another sacrifice, not of bulls and goats, which required the mediation of a man appointed priest, properly cleansed and prepared, to officiate from time to time. But a sacrifice offered just once, for all time, by the One who is the Great High Priest, ‘drawing near’ to a holy God with His own blood. And as the writer to these Messianic Jews reminded them, this occurred at the time of the crucifixion of Yeshua, the moment when the thick ‘veil’ which separated the Holy Place from the Holiest Place in the Jerusalem Temple was miraculously torn apart.
The superiority of Yeshua is reinforced. Angels, Moses, Priests, and now the sacrifice itself. “For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, (the purification ritual for priests of which they were both familiar and trusting) sanctifies for the purifying of flesh, how much more shall the blood of Messiah Yeshua, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works (the ongoing priestly sacrificial service) to serve the living God?” This was a trust and faith issue for them, as it is for us today. But there is more! “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant (first spoken of by Jeremiah) by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant.” (which they broke!) I paraphrase here “there is no testament without a testator, who must die, a situation which requires blood to be shed, for the inheritance to become available.” In this context testament and covenant are the same. Then the writer alludes to other covenantal arrangements in which there is always “blood” used to seal that covenant. “almost all things are purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission (for sin).” And so it is that Yeshua (by His death) became the guarantor, His blood the seal, by which the new covenant (with Jews) and its conditions and promises will be fulfilled. Everything that is necessary for the New Covenant to be implemented has been put in place. Yeshua is already seated at the right hand of the Father, awaiting the appointed time of His return to rule and reign in Jerusalem. Those of us who are alive today still have time to get right with a Holy God through the perfect sacrifice made by Yeshua for our salvation. But the writer to these Messianic Jews has a word of unchallenged truth and promise for all who read this letter. “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgement … To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Brit Hadashah Reflections
Brit Hadashah Reflections 8
Hebraic understanding Hebrews and Revelation
A wonderful letter to Jews exalting the Name and Person of Yeshua. No-one knows the identity of the author or the time of its authorship. The most speculated names associated with this letter are Rabbi Sha’ul and Barnabas, but that matters little to the content. The author was one who had a fervent desire to see Jews come to faith in Yeshua, and just as importantly to continue in that faith in the face of opposition and discouragement. However, its content has often been portrayed by Christian teachers as abrogating the Torah. That was not its purpose, and there are great lessons for believers of every culture and background contained in its message. Again we remind ourselves that the chapter and verse convenience was not present in the original, even though we will take the chapter divisions for our study and ‘reflection’. Additionally, there is significant quotation of the Hebrew Scriptures in this letter. The source document for these quotations is the Septuagint, also known as the LXX, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and which was completed about 130 years before the birth of Yeshua. (so where those Scriptures are quoted the wording may not exactly accord with your own favourite translation!)
Hebrews 8 is the “main point of the things we are saying” said the writer to the Messianic Jewish community. So far, he has taken time to explain why Yeshua is superior to angels, Moses, the Aaronic priesthood, and now is seated at the “right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.” I wouldn’t think there could be much more to commend Him as worthy of our praise, worship, and faithful obedience. But there is! “Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices.” So Yeshua, the Great High Priest, of necessity, “also has to have something to offer.” What could that possibly be? This my dear friends is ‘the main point’. The Levitical Aaronic priesthood served as priests in the manner “as a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things.” And there is NO shadow unless there is something REAL casting that shadow is there? The Levites served in the capacity as mediators of the first covenant according to the instructions God gave to Moses, the Torah.
Now we need to get it firmly in our minds as to what that Covenant is. We are taught in our churches that the Torah IS the first Covenant. Further, that it is now obsolete. (Hebrews 8:13 is cited for that observation) But a close examination will reveal that this is not what that Scripture says. More on that at the end of this ‘reflection’. A Covenant, according to any good dictionary is an Agreement. Other words used in the same context are: contract, treaty, pact, accord, deal, pledge, promise, guarantee, undertaking, and commitment. So it can be seen that there are at least two parties to a Covenant aren’t there? Regarding the Torah, God provided Moses with the details, that’s what the Torah is. But Moses on two occasions brought the matter before the people. First, in Exodus 24:3, he told them what God had revealed to him. The people said “All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” So Moses went away and wrote the words in a book. Then in Exodus 24:7 we read “Then he took the “Book of the Covenant” (which he had written) and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, (for the second time) ‘All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” That, my friends is when the Covenant was made. It’s called the Mosaic Covenant. Which they broke! It seems that the fact that this first covenant was breakable was the reason why it was described as weak.
Now the writer to the Hebrews says the Great High Priest, Yeshua, is the Mediator (negotiator, intermediary) of a better covenant, established on better promises. But before we try to understand what those “better” things are, we note what will NOT change. Some things are the same. Firstly the parties to the Covenant are the same. God Himself (the mediator being Yeshua, who is the guarantor of the new Covenant by offering His shed blood), and the House of Israel and the House of Judah. Secondly, the contents of ‘Book of the Covenant’ are the same. Thirdly it is worthy of note that there is NO gentile inclusion in either Covenant either. So that is the same. So what is different? The first Covenant relied on the willing assent of the people. The new Covenant will be “put in their minds and written on their hearts”, not written in a book. It will be an unbreakable Covenant, because it will part of the DNA of each person. “None of them shall teach his neighbour … for they shall ALL know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” Does anyone see those conditions being met in society today, even in Israel? The answer is obvious. But the good news is, as the writer to the Messianic Jews said, this new Covenant is coming, mediated by our Messiah Yeshua and guaranteed by His blood. He said so. At the last Passover Seder he shared with His disciples when He offered them the “Cup of Salvation”, the third cup of the Seder after the meal. “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins.”
So what about Hebrews 8:13? Obsolete? No. Becoming obsolete? YES. That is a future day, “not until heaven and earth pass away” (Matthew 5:18). But for now, “not one jot or tittle will pass from the Torah”, and when it does, it will be replaced by the same Torah which, unlike the first, will be unbreakable. Put your trust in the blood of Yeshua for that.
Shabbat Shalom
RS
Brit Hadashah Reflections
Brit Hadashah Reflections 7
Hebraic understanding Hebrews and Revelation
A wonderful letter to Jews exalting the Name and Person of Yeshua. No-one knows the identity of the author or the time of its authorship. The most speculated names associated with this letter are Rabbi Sha’ul and Barnabas, but that matters little to the content. The author was one who had a fervent desire to see Jews come to faith in Yeshua, and just as importantly to continue in that faith in the face of opposition and discouragement. However, its content has often been portrayed by Christian teachers as abrogating the Torah. That was not its purpose, and there are great lessons for believers of every culture and background contained in its message. Again we remind ourselves that the chapter and verse convenience was not present in the original, even though we will take the chapter divisions for our study and ‘reflection’. Additionally, there is significant quotation of the Hebrew Scriptures in this letter. The source document for these quotations is the Septuagint, also known as the LXX, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and which was completed about 130 years before the birth of Yeshua. (so where those Scriptures are quoted the wording may not exactly accord with your own favourite translation!)
The writer opened up with some insight into the person, Melchi Tzedek. This Priest of the Most High God who received ‘tithes’ from Abraham. There is sufficient information for commentators to speculate about this mysterious identity. The description is impressive. King of righteousness. King of peace. Without father or mother. No genealogical background. He wasn’t born. He did not die. Made like the Son of God. A perpetual priest. Could there possibly be a better description of Almighty God Himself? Well the writer doesn’t go that far, but many commentators have. It is a fact that mankind has extreme difficulty in understanding the nature of God. We are constrained by our own limited understanding, and we have an almost insatiable desire to try to think like God. But that is impossible. It would be better to just say that some things are beyond our understanding, but by faith we believe.
Drawing on the experience and role of the Levitical priesthood, the writer said that the ordinary person was required to present their tithes to the Levite. This is principally because the Tribe of Levi was not the beneficiary of a ‘land portion’ in the Promised Land (Moses and Aaron were great grandsons of Levi). The Levites were specifically called to be priestly servants in the House of the Lord (a situation which arose because this tribe was the only one which did not worship the golden calf when Moses was up the mountain hearing from God), and gave ‘blessing’ to those who came to them to present their ‘tithes and offerings’. In that capacity, the recipient of the tithe, who blessed the giver, was considered ‘better’ than the giver of the tithe. Now there is none higher to the Jews than Father Abraham. But even Abraham gave tithes to Melchi Tzedek, and was blessed by him. An indication of the relative ‘ranking’ between the two.
A quick reminder here that the writer has a purpose to demonstrate to the Messianic Jews the superiority of Yeshua over all that was before or after Him. And now the attention focuses on the Priesthood. So he asks the question. “If perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the Torah), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchi Tzedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?” Fair question. The priests always come from the Tribe of Levi. But Yeshua was of the Tribe of Judah. Moses did not say anything about priests coming from Judah. So IF a priest (in the likeness of Melchi Tzedek) arises, we know he was not called because of earthly connection. He would be according to “the power of endless life” (without beginning and without end).
Now we need to take very careful note of what follows, because it is often taught as abrogating Torah. It is NOT. We read “For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law (Torah) made nothing perfect; on the other hand there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.” There was a sacrificial system contained within the Torah, designed to cause adherents to “draw near to God (physically as they came to the priests in the Tabernacle or Temple) when presenting their various sacrifices and offerings. No one was made ‘perfect’ by that system. It was a system requiring repetitious obligation. The command of itself did nothing to alleviate the sin. It was in the obedience to it that the supplicant ‘drew near to God’, offering that supplicant the opportunity of repentance. We are often taught that the Torah IS the Mosaic Covenant. It is not. The Torah is the “Book of the Covenant” which sets out the terms and conditions. The ‘Covenant’ is the agreement of the people to be obedient to it.
“Yeshua has become surety of a better covenant.” There is opportunity next week, as we look at Hebrews 8, to discuss this in much greater detail. The writer continued with his summation of why Yeshua is superior in His priestly role than all the other, Levitical, priests who preceded Him as an advocate and intermediary between sinful man and YHWH Elohim. Please read it carefully yourself from verses 20 to 28. It is a clear, precise statement of why Yeshua is so qualified to be the Great High Priest in the order of Melchi Tzedek.
Shabbat Shalom
RS